Title: The consequences of godliness and ungodliness
Contents
There was a famous person in the Puritan days, and that person was Jonathan Edwards. He was married to a woman of good faith. At the same time, in a New England neighborhood, he had a friend named Max Juke, who was married to a prodigal woman who had no faith at all. Someone traced the ancestry of these two people and issued a report, and the results were as follows.
First, the Edwards family had a total of 617 descendants, including 12 university presidents, 75 professors, 60 doctors, 100 clergy, 75 military officers, 80 writers, 100 lawyers, 30 judges, and civil servants. 80 people, 3 members of the House of Representatives, 1 senator, and 1 vice president.
In contrast, his friend Max Juke had 1292 descendants, of which 309 were infant deaths, 310 professional beggars, 400 crippled, 50 prostitutes, 60 thieves, 70 murderers, and so on. 53 such ordinary people were surveyed. This may be an extreme example, but it clearly shows the difference between a family of faith and a family without Christ. In any family, children of faith are bound to come from parents who have good faith.
A person more pitiful than a person who deceives others is a person who lives in his own deception. A more pitiful person than the one who lives in his own deception is the one who lives in his deception and does not even know that he is living in his deceit. Moreover, the self-deception associated with the cult of a religion in which eternal salvation and destruction is at stake is tragic.
2. vain piety
James, the brother of the Lord, said, "If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this man's religion is in vain."
The pious trescos (θρ?σ-κο?) of “considering oneself pious” means ‘religious’ or ‘religious’. And the latter piety is trescheia (θρ?σκε?α), which means observance of religious rites such as prayer, fasting, offerings, or worship.
The point of James, therefore, is that anyone who considers himself religious or pious, zealously observes all religious rites, but all these observances may be in vain. In that case, religious people who consider themselves to be pious are, in the end, falling into self-deception.
Even now, there are church members who consider themselves to be deeply religious while diligently observing all Christian rites, such as praying hard, giving a lot of offerings, and fasting. However, when such members of the church stumble over the following two things, God considers them all in vain.
First, don't gag your tongue. No matter how good your faith is and how zealous you are in all your religious ceremonies, it is of no use unless you bridle your tongue. If you use your tongue a lot, mistakes are bound to follow. We have seen too many people accusing and condemning others in the name of religion rather than refraining from speaking out, but rather using the Word of God. Also, there are some people who blame God for their doctrine.
After all his wealth was taken away, he lost his ten siblings he loved in an instant, and it was difficult to tell whether he was alive or dead due to the great pain, Job had a bad spear, and he had to sit on ashes and scrape with tiles nonstop. . Even his wife said, “Do you still keep your integrity? Curse God and die.” Three friends who seemed to comfort such a job and who were proud of their faith came to him. They had the idea that no one knew the will and providence of God better than they did.
So they made very lengthy comments on Job, who was in that terrible agony. The gist is that Job's misfortune is the price of sin, whether seen as a traditional religious doctrine, as an experience, or as an attribute of God. They further aggravated the suffering of Job, who was already in heartbreak, by accusing him of accusing him of paying for the sins of Job's children if it was not Job's sin.
Jonah, who was captivated by the doctrine that God only saves Israel and destroys Gentiles, once complained to God that he did not destroy the city of Nineveh. In fact, there are many believers who complain to God that He does not do them according to their will or their wishes.
The more you use your tongue, the more mistakes it will make, so it is wise to save it as much as you can.
“I have the power and skill to do a lethal blow,” Blake said. I can win without killing. I can destroy homes, churches, and nations. I have destroyed the lives of countless people. I travel on the wings of the wind. No matter how innocent a person is to me, I despise truth, justice and love. I have my victims throughout history and all over the world. I have more slaves than the sand of the sea. I never forget and I never forgive. My name is slander.” wrote about the tremendous destructive power of the tongue.
The second factor that makes our godliness in vain is to deceive our own hearts. Self-deception is closely related to not bridging the tongue. Calvin said, "Self-deception is the basis of the hypocrisy's savagery." Wesley said, "To criticize and criticize others is to deceive one's own heart."
To accuse God and others, to accuse God and to condemn others, is a self-deceit of acknowledging that one is righteous and even more like a god. Therefore, all the piety of the church members who do not bridle their tongues and deceive themselves while observing religious ceremonies and rites is in vain.
3. True piety
Then, what is true godliness that God accepts? The godliness of us Christians is not to conform to any doctrine or ethical norm, but to be pure and undefiled before God the Father.
This true godliness is, first, to look after orphans and widows in their affliction. In other words, giving love to those who need our love and mercy. I hope you guys believe that the highest religious rites and liturgies offered to God are pure love for the poor.
Jesus taught in parables that the practice of love is more important than a religious ceremony. In other words, when all the people who were hit by the robber died, the priests and Levites, or religious leaders, who pretended not to see him and passed by were the Samaritans who took care of him. In the end, Jesus' parable is intended to show that true religion is the practice of love, and that is the way to become a neighbor. The Apostle Paul also declared in Galatians 5:6, “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any effect, but faith working through love.”
The second element of true godliness is to keep oneself unstained by the world. Here, “secular” or “world” refers to human life that has nothing to do with God’s will. In other words, it refers to a lifestyle dominated by Satan that prevents people from believing in God by all means. “The whole world around us is full of evil. Almost all the principles of life, actual actions, and fantasizing reason are contrary to the will of God. The moment of obedience to them, the innocent soul is paralyzed and stained with sin.” In order to keep the purity of our faith untainted by the world of sin, we must always abide in Christ.
Seth, a descendant of Adam and Eve, was God's son in the place of Abel. Those descendants are also people who have walked the path of godliness. In Genesis 4:25-26, it is said that the descendants of Seth praised God. However, Cain's descendants went the way of indulgence and corruption. In Joshua 7, there is a man named ‘Achan’, who secretly hid a coat, silver, and gold among the spoils taken during the war, which later contributed to Israel’s defeat in the Battle of Ai. This Achan is introduced in Joshua 7:1 as 'Achan the son of Carmi, the grandson of Zabdi, the great son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah'. We see that ungodly fathers will bring forth ungodly descendants. It would be heartbreaking if a child who shed tears of blood and groaned because of their parents' mistakes succeeded. Therefore, only God is in control of our lives. If you turn your back on God, you lose everything. If parents who sacrifice everything for their children do not instill the most important God in their lives, this is nonsense among nonsense. We must realize the profound lessons of our parents' faith, the consequences of godliness and ungodliness.
4. Conclusion
The tongue is the most difficult part of the human body to control. All the piety of the man who does not bridle his tongue or who indulges in self-deception is in vain. We must show the Lord's love anytime, anywhere and in any situation, and be careful not to be stained by the world of sin. We earnestly pray for all of us to live a pure, undefiled, and godly life before our Heavenly Father.