The Mystery of Godliness

What's in this sermon

The shape of the argument

43 units across exposition, application, illustration, theological claim, and conclusion. The pastor's argument is built from these moving parts.

Pastoral correction · unit #23

"Calls the congregation to stop making excuses for sin and to move into direct obedience. Grounds this call in two reasons: God's worthiness and God's ownership (believers were bought with a price). Warns that persistent disobedience should provoke the fear of God."

Doctrinal loci· 11 surfaced

Sanctification · 25 Christology · 13 Pneumatology · 4 Hamartiology · 3 Soteriology · 3 Doxology / Worship · 2 Ecclesiology · 2 Ethics / Moral Theology · 2 Providence / Sovereignty · 2 Bibliology · 1 Covenant Theology · 1

Bible citations· 27

Illustrations· 5

analogy · unit #5 — Uses an extended analogy of tracing electrical wiring from an outlet back to the power plant to illustrate what 'mystery' means—the ultimate source of power behind all observable effects.
cultural reference · unit #13 — References a cultural moment in recent church history where young theologians over-corrected from 'What Would Jesus Do?' moralism by rejecting Jesus as example entirely. The pastor critiques this as a false dichotomy—the Bible does both.
analogy · unit #28 — Applies the incarnational pattern to marriage in Ephesians 5. Paul calls husbands to a kind of incarnation—leaving a home where they were cherished and entering a world where they may be taken for granted, just as Christ left glory to be taken for granted. The promise is vindication: if you trust God and become the suffering servant, God will vindicate you.
historical example · unit #38 — Begins the illustration of the twelve spies. Sets up the promise of the land: God will give Israel cities and vineyards they did not build as recompense for stolen labor. The spies return with massive fruit, demonstrating the land's goodness. Notes that this fruit prefigures Jesus as the firstfruits of God's promise.
historical example · unit #39 — The ten spies saw the promise and the fruit but could not get past the giants, battles, and fortified cities. Their challenges loomed larger than God's recent faithfulness—the plagues, the exodus, Moses' deliverance. The pastor allegorizes this as the believer's response to godliness: 'It's just too much. I've failed so many times before.' The problem is forgetting God's recent redemption.

Theological claims· 13

A biblical mystery is the core reality at the center of all observable phenomena, and Paul is identifying the core power source of godliness. unit #6
Christianity dignifies believers by revealing its central mystery upfront to everyone, rather than requiring progressive initiation like other religious systems. unit #7
Jesus is more than an example but not less than one, and passages like 1 Peter 3 and Philippians 2 present a pattern of Jesus trusting the Father and being vindicated by the Father that believers are meant to follow. unit #12
The question Paul is answering is not 'What is Christianity?' but 'How does godly transformation actually happen in believers' lives?' unit #14
The mystery of godliness is that the same power the Father used to raise Jesus from the dead and exalt him is available to believers now to produce godly transformation. unit #18
God vindicates believers' choices to trust him and put sin to death with the same power he used to vindicate Jesus' trust by raising him from the dead and exalting him. unit #19
The dominant error of this generation is the belief that one can have God without godliness—that gospel-centeredness excuses a lack of behavioral holiness—when in fact there is no such thing as a believer who has God without a desire for godliness. unit #21
Whatever God requires, he empowers—the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in believers to produce godliness. unit #24
The real problem is not moralism but lukewarm behavior in response to a glorious gospel—this will not produce assurance or peace, and if it does, fundamental biblical truths have been missed. unit #25
The epic of Jesus—the pattern of okayness, crisis, and restoration—is the original narrative pattern embedded in 1 Timothy 3:16, and all other stories echo it. unit #26
Godliness in every area of life requires departure from one's preferred way and surrender to God's way—the same pattern as Jesus' incarnational diminishment. unit #29
The mystery of godliness is that when you enter the humiliation-exaltation cycle by leaving comfort and pursuing God, God is with you, and there is always more upside in the glory than in the grind. unit #35
The same God who raised Jesus from the dead and exalted him is with every believer who trusts God through seasons of weakness and vulnerability, no matter how small or large the area of obedience. unit #36

Quotations· 5

"Therefore, in view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices." — Paul (unit #23)

"You are not your own. You were bought with a price so that you would honor God with your bodies." — Paul (unit #23)

"He will make the rightness of your cause shine like the noonday sun." — Psalmist (unit #32)

"Unless the seed falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed. But when it dies, it bears much fruit." — Jesus (unit #34)

"Humble yourself under the mighty hand of the Lord, and in due time he will lift you up." — Peter (unit #34)

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0 · Establishes the immediate biblical text and signals that explanation will follow before continuing the reading

Beginning in verse 14 of 1 Timothy 3, I hope to come to you soon, but am writing these things to you, so that if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God. How one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness. I'm going to stop reading there because I want to explain what you've seen so far.

1 · Defines godliness as acting in accordance with one's beliefs about God and identifies the elder/deacon qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 as a concrete portrait of godly character

Paul is talking really this entire chapter about godliness. Godliness just means acting in accordance with one's beliefs about God. It means reflecting the nature of God in your behavior. And if you want to know like, well, what is godliness practically, you could go back through the list of qualifications that Paul issues in the beginning of 1 Timothy 3. In fact, I'll just read some of those to you. These are qualifications for an elder or a deacon. And really what we're seeing here is just a list of godliness. A godly character, qualities. An overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober minded, self controlled, respectable, hospitable, not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. So godliness is described in that section that leads up to this point that he's making about the mystery of godliness.

2 · Applies the definition of godliness to the congregation by listing specific areas where godliness must be expressed: ambition to care for others, sexual purity, self-control, gentleness, freedom from money-love, and honoring God in relationships

And you and I are called to act like we have been redeemed by the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And so godliness includes a godly ambition to care for others. Godliness includes sexual purity, sexual integrity. Godliness includes self control. Godliness includes gentleness. Godliness includes freedom from the love of money. And godliness includes, like looking at the relationships that God has placed you in and trying to honor him with the relationships that he has placed you in.

3 · Signals completion of the first point (the importance of godliness) and transitions to the second point (the energy behind godliness), introducing the phrase 'mystery of godliness' as the new focus

And that's what Paul's talking about in our text today. He's talking about godliness, about how one should behave if they are a follower of Christ Jesus. And so the first point of the message I've covered, it is just the importance of godliness. But now let's look at the next section where he says in verse 16, great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness. Let's now turn from the importance of godliness to talking about the energy behind godliness.

4 · Distinguishes between what godliness is (the qualities), why godliness matters (membership in God's household), and how godliness happens (the mystery)

Paul is telling us now the how of godliness. Early in the chapter, he's saying, well, this is what godliness is. And he lists all these qualities that's the what of godliness. And then he says, this is how you ought to behave if you are a Part of the household of God. Well, that's the why of godliness. And now he's turning and talking about the how when he says, great indeed is the mystery of godliness. The word mystery, when it's used in religious context, it almost always refers to, like, the thing behind the thing, the power at work, at the deepest heart of the factory, so to speak.

5 · Uses an extended analogy of tracing electrical wiring from an outlet back to the power plant to illustrate what 'mystery' means—the ultimate source of power behind all observable effects

Suppose that one day you go to plug in a light and you just get super curious, like destructively curious. Like I used to be as a kid, I'd take everything apart, you know, because I wanted to know how it worked. And most of the time I would take it apart and I didn't know how it worked, but I would just take everything. So let's suppose one day you go to plug in a light. You know, enough of all this mystery. I want to know exactly what powers this light. And so you look at the outlet and you're like, wires, okay? So you just take a hammer, you just knock a big chunk of drywall out, right? And now you can see the wires. And you start tracing those wires and they'll take you down to a box in your basement, most likely. And you'll think, oh, is this the mystery? Is this the thing that was lighting the lights? Like, no, got to keep following the wires. And there's some bigger wires at the top of the box. And so you follow those outside and that takes you to some even bigger wires that go to a substation. And now the wires are really big and you're like, is that the mystery? Is the substation the mystery of power? No, you got to keep following those lines and eventually you wind up, you know, at a coal powered plant, most likely, or a nuclear plant. And that's where the power is coming from.

6 · Applies the electrical analogy to biblical usage: a mystery is the core reality powering all downstream effects

When the Bible talks about a mystery, it's talking about stripping all the layers away and finding the core, the thing that is powering everything else. And that's what Paul is talking about in this section. He's talking about the mystery of godliness, the deepest thing at the center of everything.

7 · Contrasts Christianity with other religious systems that gate-keep their central truths behind levels of initiation

And really, every religion has a mystery. They have a thing behind a thing behind a thing. But in many religions, like the Masons or the Mormons or the Scientologists, it's like you have to gamify the system. You know, it's just like a video game. You have to get this level, then you have to get that level, and you have to get this level. And eventually you become, you know, a 33rd degree Mormon with a minor in basket weaving. And, you know, the mystery you know, you gotta climb the levels. Christianity is such an ennobling and dignity instilling thing because it goes to every single individual on day one and said, here's the mystery.

8 · The pastor vulnerably confesses his own long-held misreading of the text—believing 'great' modified the mysteriousness rather than the thing itself—and corrects himself publicly, modeling hermeneutical humility and inviting the congregation into his interpretive journey

Now I've read this text my whole life, you know, whatever, most of my life, and I have to confess something to you and I hope that you won't leave me hanging if you. Because I'm going to ask you to show your hands if you were with me on this. I've read this this whole time for all these years and thought that it was the mystery that was great. In other words, the mystery was great in mysteriousness. Does that make sense? Like, I thought that's what Paul was saying. I thought he was saying that the mystery is super mysterious, that the word great corresponded to the superiority to the mysteriness of the mystery. Did anyone else think that? Okay, thanks, Josh. You know, to me, I'd read this countless times and that's what I thought. I just thought it meant it's like it's a super hard thing to see. It's a super hard thing to understand. And then as I've done more work on it this week, I realized, you know, that's idiot. That's not what's happening here. Like Paul, Paul is just saying that the thing is great, the power station is great, the central truth is great.

9 · Deepens the definition of 'mystery' using two analogies: the holy of holies at the center of the temple, and the heart at the center of a person

And again, in ancient times, the word mystery isn't quite used to mostly communicate hiddenness, although it does communicate that it's mostly to communicate, well, let's put it this way, what the holy of holies is to the temple, that's what a mystery is in the Bible, right? What the heart is to a person. That's what a mystery is to the Bible. It's the center operating system that's usually covered up by a bunch of other layers that are meaningful, but they're downstream. They're essentially effects of this internal cause.

10 · Reads 1 Timothy 3:16 and acknowledges the surface reading that the mystery is simply 'Jesus,' but signals that while this is true, it is not precise enough to capture what Paul is communicating here

So Paul's going to tell us what the mystery of godliness is. And he does that by telling us in verse 16, he was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world and taken up in glory. So this is obviously talking about Jesus. And you could say, well, the mystery of godliness is Jesus and be done with it and we could go home. And that's not untrue. It just doesn't happen to be what Paul is trying to communicate here. It's certainly true that Jesus is in some ways the center of our faith. The power at work in our faith the power at work that causes us to behave differently. For instance, Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith.

11 · Draws attention to the grammatical structure of 1 Timothy 3:16—Jesus is the object of verbs, not the subject

But I want you to look at this again. Look at verse 16 again, where it starts with he was manifested. Read this again. He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. And one of the things I think you should notice here is that Jesus is portrayed in this passage as the object, not the agent. And I think this is important. When you read your New Testament, you'll see passages like this where Jesus is being acted upon, mostly namely by the Father. Okay, that's the typical idea here. And when you see those where Jesus is. Because we typically think of Jesus as the power, as the one who is doing the work. And there's nothing wrong with that. There are plenty of verses that talk about Jesus in that respect. But when you see verses like this where Jesus is being acted upon by the Father, it is typically, almost always him being held out as an example for us to follow. These are kind of the big brother Jesus passages.

12 · Clarifies that Jesus must be more than an example but not less than one

And now understand that if all you have of Jesus is an example, you don't have enough. You're not going to be saved. Jesus is more than an example, but he's not less than an example. And so there's these sections of Scripture where Jesus is being acted upon mostly by the Father. Sometimes. Like, there's a passage in 1st Peter 3 where it says he was reviled, but did not return with reviling, but trusted himself to the Father. There's an example of that older brother Jesus kind of thing. Like, look, look how he handled this. Look what God did for him. Philippians 2 is probably the classic one. It's. It's a verse we seem to wind up reading almost every week. I've thought about that. We really. We really hit Philippians 2. If, if you ever were forced to make a, you know, a memorization commitment, that'd be the one, probably because we'll help you. We wind up reading that verse almost every week, that section, almost every week. But that's another one of those sections where Jesus is being acted upon. He becomes a servant. He surrenders. So that's Jesus acting there. There's some agency there. But the whole point of the end is because he surrendered to God and trusted the Father. The Father did what? He gave him a name above every name. And that's another one of those older brother passages where you're supposed to look at it and say, okay, how did he act here.

13 · References a cultural moment in recent church history where young theologians over-corrected from 'What Would Jesus Do?' moralism by rejecting Jesus as example entirely

There was this kind of confusion that came into the church maybe 15, 20 years ago. Some young men in particular thought they were super smart. And they started saying, you know, people always talk about what would Jesus do. But I think we need to focus on what Jesus has done. And it's like, yeah, you sound super boy, you've uncovered everything, you smart young man. It's like, let's do both, because the Bible does both, right?

14 · Reorients the interpretive question from the general ('What is the Christian faith?') to the specific ('How does godly transformation happen?')

And this is one of those passages where Jesus is seen as the object, not the agent. Now I want to remind you before we get into the details here, we're not asking just what is the center of the Christian faith in general. We're asking a more specific question than that. We're asking how does godliness happen? How does God. That's what we're asking. How do people start being self controlled when they're not? How do people with a temper overcome their temper and become men of peace? How do women without emotional self control develop emotional self control? Like that's what we're asking. How does someone who loves money stop loving money inordinately? We're asking, where does the behavior change come from?

15 · Introduces the genre of 1 Timothy 3:16 as a poem or hymn (authorship uncertain), calls it 'the epic of Jesus,' and previews that clarity will come by turning to Ephesians, another Pauline letter to the same audience

And Paul is telling us with this, what is a poem. We don't know if he's the author of the poem or if he's just citing something that was well known at the time. There's disagreement about that. But he's sharing a poem with us. And that poem is essentially the story, or as I call it, the epic, the epic of Jesus. It's really just the same pattern over and over again. And we'll get into that in a moment. But here's how I can help you see this more clearly. Paul wrote another letter to this church, not just Second Timothy, but also a letter called Ephesians. And it's all the same people that he's dealing with in these letters.

16 · Turns to Ephesians 1:15-17 as the parallel passage that spells out the mystery more clearly

And in Ephesians he spells out in more clarity what he's alluding to here. So if you would, if you have your Bibles, look at Ephesians 1, verse 15. Because we have this sense now that the mystery of Godliness has something to do with what the Father did for Jesus. We have some sense now. We've traced this to the point where we can say, how do people change? How do people become more like Christ? How do they, how do they put away a life dominating problem with lust or anger or whatever, or whining or grumbling? You know, how do people change? How do they become godly? And Paul's left is in this place like, well, just look at Jesus and look at how God. Look what God did for Jesus, okay? In Ephesians, he spells it out even more clearly beginning in verse 15 of chapter 1. For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation and of knowledge in him. Now, here, just before we go further, you can see Even in verse 15, Jesus is really more of the object than the agent. I said 15, I meant 17. The God of our Lord Jesus, the Father of glory. So you see, Jesus is being held in that older brother position here. He's being held out of us as like one of us. The one of usness is heavily emphasized in this idea.

17 · Reads Ephesians 1:18-21 in full, emphasizing the phrase 'the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe' and highlighting that the Father raised Jesus from the dead

So that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation and the knowledge of him having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that you may know what is the hope to what he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe? This is where you maybe if you put your finger on that, if you've got the. Got your Bible open. What is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ when He raised him from the dead? So in this verse, who raised Jesus from the dead? Did Jesus raise Jesus from the dead? Did the Father raised Jesus from the dead? He's being done to he's being. He's receiving the action of the Father. He. He raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power, dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but but also in the one to come.

18 · Draws an explicit parallel between 1 Timothy 3 ('the mystery of godliness') and Ephesians 1 (Paul's prayer for revelation and knowledge)

Let me draw your attention to the similarities. Paul in 1 Timothy 3 says that there's a mystery of godliness. It's a central thing hidden in some respects by all the things downstream from it. And in Ephesians, Paul says, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. What is he praying for? That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him. The word mystery doesn't appear in Ephesians, but It's the same idea. There's something hidden from you that is important for you to see. So important for you to see that Paul is praying that you see it. What is he praying that you see? Well, he's praying that you see how the very same power at work to raise Jesus from the dead and seat him at the right hand of the Father is available to you now to make you godly. That's the mystery of godliness.

19 · States the thesis with maximum clarity: the mystery of godliness is that God uses the same power, intention, and effort to vindicate believers' choices to put sin to death that he used to vindicate Jesus' trust in the Father by raising him and exalting him

The mystery of godliness is that the energy working on us is the very same energy at work on Jesus when he trusted the Father, was raised after surrendering to death and was elevated to the right hand of God. The mystery of godliness is simply God is going to use the exact same power, intention, effort to vindicate your choice to put to death sin to vindicate your choice to choose Him. God is going to confirm that choice in the same way that he confirmed Jesus choice to trust the Father.

20 · Acknowledges the congregation's remaining confusion and promises further clarification to come

Now we're going to. I could sense a bit still lack of like fully grasping it. Just bear with me because we're going to. We're going to get there.

21 · Identifies two main errors about godliness: (1) the belief that one can have God without godliness—the dominant error of this generation, where gospel-centeredness is used to avoid behavioral holiness; (2) the belief that one can have godliness without God—moralism

There are two main errors related to godliness. I suppose that there are three. One of them would just be like to always define it into something that's very low. Like, you know, it'd be like to remove the concept of sin. That would be an error too. But the two main errors that I want to present to you that are kind of dealt with in this idea is the first is that you can have God without godliness. And this is, in my opinion, this is the error of our generation. I think that everybody is scrambling around in their gospel, centeredness, trust, trying to tell us about the second error, which is you can't have godliness without God. When we need to be told you cannot have God without godliness, your sexual life has to look a certain way. You don't get to just make up the rules. You don't get to dumb down the standards of holiness that have been presented forever. You need to act as God is calling you to act. There is no such thing as a saint who has God, who does not also have a desire for godliness.

22 · Confronts the congregation directly with the suspicion that beneath articulate theological knowledge lies significant moral compromise

So the first error to me is extremely important to underline. In my opinion. There is probably more than we realize, an undercurrent, even in our own congregation, of pretty significant compromise on the areas of just simple holiness. And we show up and we are able to articulate not only the gospel, but even the reformed version. And we are really something with what we know, but our Lives are. You know what vermiculated means? Worm ridden. When you pick up a log and you see all the holes in it.

23 · Calls the congregation to stop making excuses for sin and to move into direct obedience

So let's be super clear here. This is how one ought to behave who is in the household of God. That's what we're talking about. What we're talking about is being done with the excuses, being done with the oh, I've struggled with that too. And moving into the stop it section. And we dare do that for two reasons. Firstly, because God is worthy. You are not your own. You were bought with a price so that you would honor God with your bodies. So we dare say it because it's absolutely what is required. It's absolutely the appropriate thing, as we saw in Romans 12. Therefore, in view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices. So let's make sure that we understand. You can't have God without godliness. And if you can see areas of your life with just like where you keep hitting the snooze button on obedience, you should be afraid, my friends. This should stir up in you the fear of God because you can't have God without godliness.

24 · Balances the call to holiness with the promise of empowerment

And we can say that to one another because it is both required, but also because it is empowered. This is the great theological truth that keeps us away from running away from the high call of the Gospel is whatever he requires, he empowers. If he bids us to fly, he'll give us wings. Indeed he has. And so what we're seeing in this mystery of godliness idea is that the very same power that that rose Jesus from the dead is at work in you to make you more godly.

25 · Dismisses the second error (moralism—godliness without God) as less pressing than commonly assumed

And the second error, of course, is a sense of godliness without God. I don't think this is the issue. It is ascribed to be. But perhaps I'm wrong and there are a bunch of us who are scrambling out there trying to reach moral perfection through our own flesh. Maybe that's really what's going on. If that's going on, I have one piece of counsel. Stop it. This too is impossible. But one thing I've noticed is of the kind of people who are trying to muster their own morality is that it's never very loving and it's never very sacrificial. I'm not sure it's the problem we present it to be. I have a pretty clear sense, in my humble opinion, that the real problem lies in us attempting to have a glorious gospel, a glorious Jesus, and an extremely lukewarm set of behaviors in response to this. I just don't Think that's. I don't think that'll even bring you any assurance or peace. And if it's bringing you assurance, you've missed fundamental parts of what the Bible says.

26 · Introduces the concept of 'the epic of Jesus'—the narrative pattern of okayness, crisis, and restoration

So that seems to be the mystery. The mystery is, is that the God who is at work in Jesus is at work in us. And what we see in this passage is what I've referred to before as the epic of Jesus. There's always essentially one story, and that is a character is in some reasonable state of okayness. There's a crisis, and then there's a restoration. It's sort of the story in the situation of Jesus. It's important to understand that this epic of Jesus follows something similar. Something similar, in fact, I would say it doesn't follow it. It is the original version of it. And we see that basic pattern reflected in this passage.

27 · Explains the first phrase of the poem: 'manifested in the flesh' means Jesus clothed himself in weakness and entered a diminished, undeserved situation

In verse 16, he was manifested in the flesh. What does that mean? Well, friends, that's just referring to Christ clothing himself in weakness. It's referring to him being put into a situation that is hard, a situation that's hard, that he doesn't deserve. When Jesus took On flesh, Philippians 2 says, he took on the form of a servant. You know, he took a diminished role. So the first part of the epic of Jesus is diminishment. He has left something he was before.

28 · Applies the incarnational pattern to marriage in Ephesians 5

You know, this idea of incarnation is really interesting. It shows up in surprising places. In Ephesians 5, Paul is calling men to leave their fathers and mothers and love their wives as Christ loved the church. And he says, this is a great mystery. Again, he kind of throws out the mystery language. It's like, what is he talking about there? He's like, well, man, husbands, just so you know. Like, one of the things going on there is this idea that in an ideal world, you would have left a home where your mom and dad loved you and where you were just their little superstar. And now you have to enter a world where no one appreciates you and maybe not even your wife a lot of the time. And you're taken for granted. And you literally take on the condescension of Christ, who left glory and embraced being taken for granted, even by people who loved him the most. And Paul's saying, like, that's the way. That's the Jesus way. It's like, but if you do that, you'll be vindicated. God got your back, but you got to trust him. You essentially have to stop being like, pursuing a life where you're like a special little boy and become the suffering servant. But when you become the suffering servant and like a sheep, you just shut up and do it. God's got your back.

29 · Universalizes the epic: godliness in every area of life requires the same pattern—departure from one's preferred way, surrender to God's way

This is the epic of Jesus. This is the epic of godliness. And the pieces fit into every area of life. What is required for godliness to occur is some realization that the way you're living now is your preferred way, but not the right way. And so there's the departure element, there's the giving up, there's the surrendering. It's a letting go of the way you think things ought to be and a surrender to the way that God says things ought to be.

30 · Identifies the emotional barrier to godliness: the terrifying sense of being stripped bare and vulnerable, like Adam and Eve's realization of nakedness

Now, what keeps us from doing this is it's very scary. Sin made men and women naked. It made them not. It didn't make them naked. It made them realize they're naked. Friends, doesn't it feel when you're, like, ready to trust God and walk away from an old sin, an old pattern of living, doesn't it feel in some respects like you're being declothed, like you're being stripped bare, like you're walking through vulnerability? There's a reason Jesus died stripped bare. So what does godliness entail? It entails some moment of leaving away that you prefer, a way that seems right in your own eyes. And trusting God through a season of this isn't. This is not how I want my life to be. Trusting God through a season of disappointment, trusting God through a season of waiting, trusting God through a season of self denial.

31 · Addresses the congregation's hesitation to pursue godliness: the fear of immediate failure

And one of the reasons why I think we are so hesitant to pursue godliness in a kind of open way is, is that as soon as you start trying to be godly, you're going to fail. And so you're going to be walking through a season where this new commitment, like, I am not going to do X, Y or Z, or I am going to do X, Y and Z. Friends, the first kind of early season of that is going to be you failing because you are trying to do something you are new at. This early season of godliness is similar to the way that Jesus left his comfort, his glory, and took on flesh and walked in humility. The difference being what Jesus left was good. What we leave when we're called to godliness isn't right. Right. But there's a similar. It's a similar feeling. It's the similar idea. It's. It's the similar idea of trusting God and going into the hard thing.

32 · Returns to the poem's second phrase: 'vindicated by the Spirit

So when it says he was manifested in the flesh, it's this idea of, I've just gotten a lot smaller than I want to be. I've just gotten a lot weaker than I want to be. I've just gotten a lot more vulnerable than I want to be. And then it says, he was vindicated by the Spirit. Well, what's the word? Vindicated. Vindication happens when someone's done you wrong. Or vindications happens. Happens when you've made a choice that everybody else thinks is crazy. There's a psalm that says, he will make the rightness of your cause shine like the noonday sun. God's big on vindication. If you trust him, he will vindicate you. So, again, what we have here, and even the idea of him being vindicated, is that Jesus had to basically be scoffed at and mocked and ridiculed and seen as a disappointment, maybe even to his own mother. Potentially had to just be so small, so weak, and so frail. And friends, this is really what keeps us from changing. I'm positioning godliness as, like, sort of like leaving a sin and choosing righteousness. But sometimes it's like leaving a good thing. That's like time to move on and doing the bigger thing, the harder thing, the next thing. And what keeps us from change is this feeling of being unclothed, of being hypervulnerable, of entering into a new state of weakness.

33 · Observes that adults can control their lives and construct a comfortable identity

You know, it's crazy that when you're an adult how much you can control your own life. It's crazy, like, at least until, you know, you get to be older and you start getting sick and things. But early on, man, it's shocking how you really can, like, just make your life out to what you want it to be. And you don't realize is that whole time is you've been fortifying a very particular identity that you feel most comfortable with. And so this theme of Jesus incarnating him, leaving him, becoming, this is part of the mystery of Godliness. Because what we see is that when he did that, God was with him.

34 · Acknowledges uncertainty about some details of the poem but identifies the clear pattern: decline followed by elevation

And then really from that point forward, we aren't really sure what Paul meant by seen by angels. It could be ministered by angels would be a better way of thinking that. And it could be referring to Jesus being tempted in the desert. We don't really know some of the things here, how the order and so on and so forth are up to much debate. But the one thing that you can see is that you essentially have decline and then elevation. This is the pattern, the Bible. It is the pattern of the seed. Unless the seed falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed. But when it dies, it bears Much fruit. And this is the pattern that Peter talks about when he says, humble yourself under the mighty hand of the Lord, and in due time he will lift you up. I talk about it as the humiliation and exaltation pattern.

35 · Summarizes the mystery of godliness: when you offer yourself into the humiliation-exaltation cycle by leaving comfort and pursuing God, God is with you

So what's the mystery of godliness? The mystery of godliness is that when you offer yourself up into the humiliation exaltation cycle, when you live through the epic of Jesus, when you leave comfort in pursuit of more of God, in pursuit of godliness, God's got you. He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up into glory. That Ephesians passage says, not only did God raise him from the dead, when Jesus surrendered and emptied himself of everything, this is the leaving thing. Jesus is leaving life, right? Not only did God raise him from the dead, but he seated him at his right hand, far above every name, and so on and so forth. And so there's always more upside on the glory than there was on the grind of godliness. There's always more upside. And this is the mystery of godliness.

36 · Personalizes the mystery: when any person chooses to trust God and go through a season of weakness and vulnerability, the same God who raised Jesus and exalted him is with them

It's simply that when a person, no matter how lowly, no matter what's a big thing or a small thing, when a person says, I'm not gonna lean on my own understanding, I'm gonna trust in you. I'm gonna go through a season of feeling small, weak, vulnerable, like my whole world's about to cave in completely naked, Whatever the thing is, I'm gonna to go through that. The great mystery is, is that the very same God at work to raise Jesus from the dead and seat him at the right hand of the Father and make his name known throughout all of the nations, a name that is above every other name, that same God and that same power is helping you when you've decided that you're not gonna cuss anymore or you're gonna get emotional control of yourself, or you're gonna deal with lust once and for all. The same God of hosts who roused Jesus from the dead and has exalted him in all of the earth is with you. He's got you. You can trust him.

37 · Signals transition to a concluding Old Testament illustration

Let me conclude by telling you a story from the Old Testament that's been on my heart.

38 · Begins the illustration of the twelve spies

Not long after the Egyptians were freed, the Israelites were freed from Egypt, God brought them right up to the cusp of the promised land. And, you know, he had hyped the promised land up quite a bit by this point. He had said, I'm going to give you vineyards. You did not plant and cities you did not build. This is the justice of God. Israel had their labor stolen from them in Egypt, and God's going to give them cities they don't have to build as repayment for their labor being stolen, and vineyards they don't have to plant for their labor being stolen. So there's just like abundant justice in all of this. The deal is, is that they get the promised land. All they have to do is go in and fight and overcome the occupants that are already in the land whom God has judged, like extinction, level judging. And so prior to entering, Moses sends the 12 spies into the land to scope it out, and they return with a massive amount of fruit. Now, one of the things, just as an aside, if you're ever wondering why is Jesus called the first fruits from the dead, so on and so forth, this idea of fruit coming back from the promised land that everybody can taste, that's in some respects what communion is. Jesus is the fruit of God's abundance will, God's abundant will, God's abundant plan for us. Jesus is in some respects a first fruit at many levels. They come back with this fruit and the Bible says it's so big that they have to carry it in special ways, and so on and so forth. And, you know, showing that the land was indeed good.

39 · The ten spies saw the promise and the fruit but could not get past the giants, battles, and fortified cities

But here's where the divide on godliness happens. Ten of the spies saw that the promise of obedience, saw the promise of God's blessing. They just couldn't get over all of the barriers, namely the giants and the battle and the fortified cities and so on and so forth. See, the things that laid before them as challenges were bigger than the God, than the work of God that had been done for them already. So it wasn't like. It's important to understand it wasn't that long before that God had afflicted Egypt with plagues and redeemed them from slavery. And that wasn't long before that that God had ripped a, had snatched baby Moses out of the jaws of death and delivered him into the throne of the throne room of Pharaoh. But 10 of the 12 spies saw this next thing. This growth in godliness is the way I'm allegorizing this. They saw that, they saw the giants, they saw the challenges, they saw what they would lose, they saw what they could lose. And just like, it's just too much. I just can't battle against this sin. I've failed so many times before. It's just too much to like, do this next level of obedience, like, to be more generous, to be more committed to do this, to do that. It's just too much. And of course, the problem with that is they're just completely forgetting about God's recent redemption and how he had been faithful in the past.

40 · Applies the illustration directly to the congregation: when doubting whether God will be with you in pursuing godliness, look to Jesus—the Father did not abandon him but carried him all the way through

This is adjacent to the mystery of godliness. If you're ever doubting whether God will be with you when you're trying to overcome this or that thing, whenever you're trying to just obey friends, you can look to Jesus Christ and say, you know, the Father did not abandon him. The Father not only blessed him, but carried him all the way through. And it really is by his suffering that we are brought many sons, as many sons and daughters into glory. Yes, to be more godly would require facing certain giants, but I need to stop making excuses about that. Is God for me or not? Is the God who was for Christ for me? Is the power at work in Christ at work in me? Is God committed to never letting anyone be put to shame who calls on his name and trusts in him? Is the power of God at work in Christ enough to help me overcome X, Y or Z or grow in this way? Well, of course it is. Of course it is.

41 · Invites the congregation to communion with a call to humility and trust

So for communion today, I want to invite you to come with a sense of humility before the Lord, understanding that in even this sermon he may be inviting you to take another step of faith in some area of your life, and that as you partake of this symbol, this reminder of the Lord's body and blood, that you understand very clearly, I can trust the God who did this for me. I can trust the God who did this deliverance for me. I can trust him.

42 · Reads the words of institution from 1 Corinthians 11 and invites the congregation to partake of communion

First Corinthians 11:23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Would you come.

Where this fits

Recent preaching context

The three sermons immediately preceding this one in the preaching schedule.

Oct 1, 2023

Elders: Burly Church Fathers

God loves his people so much that he stirs up godly ambition in men to serve as overseers — spiritually burly church fathers who bring steady, dad-like care to the household of God — and the church must both celebrate this ambition and examine it, recognizing that the first qualification for eldership is sincere desire to do the work.

Oct 3, 2023

Podcast: The Epicenter of Godly Ambition

Godly ambition—the stretching out of our current lives for maximum kingdom impact—flows not from confidence in our own capacities but from gratitude for God's past faithfulness and humility that recognizes He alone is the source of our accomplishments.

Oct 8, 2023

Deacons: Servants of the King

Deacons are trustworthy stewards of the church's physical blessings who, through faithful service, gain both honor in the community and deep confidence that God is working through them.

October 15 · This sermon

The Mystery of Godliness

The mystery of godliness is that the very same power God used to raise Jesus from the dead and exalt him to the Father's right hand is at work in believers to produce godly transformation when they trust God and surrender their preferred ways for his ways.

Take it further

Discuss · apply · pray

Small groups

6 discussion questions

Chris described 'the mystery of godliness' as the core power source Paul identifies for actual transformation in believers' lives. When you…

Daily readings

5-day reading plan

This week we meditate on the mystery of godliness—the power source of transformation—moving from the foundational claim that Christ's resurrection power is available to us, through the pattern He exemplified, to the invitation to enter that humiliation-exaltation cycle ourselves.

Family table

The Power That Raised Jesus

This prompt invites your family to connect the resurrection power Chris described—the same power God used to raise Jesus from the dead—to a…

Couples

The Power That Raises the Dead

What area of your life did the sermon convict you most deeply—where is the Spirit calling you to trade comfort for godliness, trusting that…

Memorize

Ephesians 1:19-20

This verse encapsulates the sermon's central mystery: the same resurrection power God wielded to exalt Jesus is actively available to believers now for godly transformation. It directly connects Christ's vindication to the believer's empowerment, making it the theological anchor for understanding how sanctification actually occurs.

Small-group discussion

6 questions for your group this week

Chris described 'the mystery of godliness' as the core power source Paul identifies for actual transformation in believers' lives. When you hear that phrase—'mystery of godliness'—what did you expect it to mean before the sermon, and how did that expectation shift as Chris unpacked it?

→ What difference does it make to know that this mystery is revealed openly to all believers rather than kept secret for the spiritually elite?
According to the sermon, the question Paul is answering in 1 Timothy 3:14-16 is not 'What is Christianity?' but 'How does godly transformation actually happen in believers' lives?' What specific examples did Chris give of where this transformation should be visible, and why do you think he emphasized those particular areas?

1 Timothy 3:14-16
The sermon presented Jesus as more than an example but not less than one, pointing to His pattern of trusting the Father and being vindicated through resurrection and exaltation. How does understanding Jesus' humiliation-and-exaltation cycle change the way you think about your own seasons of obedience that require laying down comfort or preference?

Philippians 2:5-11

→ Can you name one specific area where you're being called to that kind of trust and diminishment right now?
Chris claimed that 'the same power the Father used to raise Jesus from the dead and exalt him is available to believers now to produce godly transformation.' How do you currently experience that power in your daily pursuit of holiness, and where do you sense you're not yet grasping or accessing it?

Ephesians 1:18-21
The sermon surfaced what Chris called 'the dominant error of this generation'—the belief that one can have God without godliness, or that gospel-centeredness excuses behavioral holiness. Where have you felt the pull of that error in your own thinking or in the church, and what would it look like to reject it concretely this week?

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

→ What specific sin or area of disobedience are you using that false reasoning to excuse?
At the close, Chris said that when you enter the humiliation-exaltation cycle by leaving comfort and pursuing God's way, 'there is always more upside in the glory than in the grind.' What does that promise require you to believe about God's character and His faithfulness, and what would trusting that actually cost you in a specific situation you're facing?

Psalm 37:6

Daily readings · Monday–Friday

5-day reading plan

This week we meditate on the mystery of godliness—the power source of transformation—moving from the foundational claim that Christ's resurrection power is available to us, through the pattern He exemplified, to the invitation to enter that humiliation-exaltation cycle ourselves.

Monday Ephesians 1:18-21

Paul prays that we would grasp the immeasurable greatness of God's power working in us—the very power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand (Ephesians 1:20). This is not merely historical fact but present reality: that resurrection power is operative in our lives right now, working godliness from the inside out. We begin the week anchored in this staggering truth: the power source of our transformation is nothing less than the power of the resurrection.

Tuesday Philippians 2:5-11

Christ emptied Himself, humbled Himself, became obedient—and then the Father exalted Him to the highest place (Philippians 2:7-9). This is the pattern we are called to replicate: surrender of our preferences, trust in the Father's way, and vindication through His power. We see in Christ's trajectory the template for our own transformation—not as mere moral instruction, but as the narrative shape of what happens when we abandon our will for His.

Wednesday 1 Peter 3:9

Peter calls us not to repay evil with evil, but to bless instead—to trust the Father's vindication rather than our own retaliation (1 Peter 3:9). This seemingly small act of obedience—choosing blessing over bitterness—is an exercise in the same trust Jesus exercised: we put down our claim to justice and let God be just. When we do, we step into the vindication cycle; we participate in the same power that raised Christ, now working to vindicate our trust.

Thursday Ephesians 5:25-33

Paul calls husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church—a call that demands laying down self-interest for another's good (Ephesians 5:25). This is not mere sentiment but the same self-emptying pattern Jesus modeled: He gave Himself up for us. Every dimension of godliness—marriage, finances, sexuality, speech—requires us to die to our preferences and embrace God's design. We are invited into the humiliation-exaltation cycle not in one grand moment, but in the dailiness of surrendered love.

Friday John 12:24

A kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies—and in dying, produces much fruit (John 12:24). Jesus speaks of His own coming death as the necessary path to fruitfulness, and this word applies to our pursuit of godliness as well. Every choice to deny comfort and embrace God's way is a seed falling to the ground; every such death produces resurrection life within us. We need not fear the smallness of our obedience or the cost of transformation—the Father who raised Jesus is guaranteeing the harvest.

Sunday-evening family table

The Power That Raised Jesus

For the parent

This prompt invites your family to connect the resurrection power Chris described—the same power God used to raise Jesus from the dead—to a real choice one of you made to obey God instead of taking the easy way. Listen for how your children understand that God's power isn't just for big spiritual moments, but for everyday obedience.

Chris said that the same power God used to raise Jesus from the dead is available to us right now to help us say 'no' to sin and 'yes' to God's way. Can you think of a time this week when you had to choose God's way instead of what felt easier or more fun? What happened? How did God help you?

works for ages 7+

Couples · three questions over coffee

The Power That Raises the Dead

What area of your life did the sermon convict you most deeply—where is the Spirit calling you to trade comfort for godliness, trusting that God will vindicate that choice?
How have we, as a couple, been tempted to separate gospel-centeredness from actual holiness, and where do we need to repent together and pursue the same humiliation-exaltation pattern Jesus walked?
What specific act of obedience—no matter how small—can we each commit to this week, and how can we pray for one another to trust that the same power that raised Jesus is at work in us?

Memory verse this week

Ephesians 1:19-20

and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places

Why this verse: This verse encapsulates the sermon's central mystery: the same resurrection power God wielded to exalt Jesus is actively available to believers now for godly transformation. It directly connects Christ's vindication to the believer's empowerment, making it the theological anchor for understanding how sanctification actually occurs.

Where this was preached

About the church

Providence Community Church

Lenexa, KS
Sundays · 10:00 AM
About us · What we believe

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# Providence Community Church

A church preaching expository sermons through the books of the Bible.

## Sermons
- [Elders: Burly Church Fathers (2023-10-01)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2023/10/elders-burly-church-fathers)
- [Podcast: The Epicenter of Godly Ambition (2023-10-03)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2023/10/podcast-the-epicenter-of-godly-ambition)
- [Deacons: Servants of the King (2023-10-08)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2023/10/deacons-servants-of-the-king)
- [The Mystery of Godliness (2023-10-15)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2023/10/the-mystery-of-godliness)

## About
- [About the church](/about)
- [Plan a visit](/visit)

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