5

Be Wise

Writing in 1745 Philip Doddridge expressed this conviction: ‘I am persuaded that much of the credibility and comfort of Christianity is lost, in consequence of its professors fixing their aim too low and not conceiving of their high and holy calling in so elevated and sublime a view as the nature of the Christian religion would require, and the Word of God would direct’ (The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, chap. xx).  In 1738 the two brothers Charles and John Wesley had overwhelming experiences of the grace of God in Jesus Christ and they began their apostolic labours to spread scriptural holiness throughout the land of England.  One of the characteristics of the Christianity of the early Methodist societies was that they aimed high, believing that God called them to be the best for him that they could possibly be.

Regrettably Christian believers all too often choose to aim low: they accommodate Christianity to what is achievable by minimum effort and commitment.  It seems that only in times of spiritual renewal or revival do large numbers of Christians actually feel the interior call to aim for the highest – to be stretched in mind, heart and will in the loving and serving of God.  Christian spirituality is all about aiming high and being practically committed to fulfilling that aim.

A GOAL AND IDEAL

Wisdom teaches that success in any department of life usually requires both having high standards/ideals/goals and being wholeheartedly committed to them.  Without a goal at which to aim activity can be pointless.  Consider the following examples.

The pilgrim always has the holy place in mind on the rough journey.  The long-lost son earnestly desires the moment when he will be re-united with his mother/father.  The mountaineer looks and keeps looking to the summit of the mountain, and uses all his skill to get there.  The lone sailor keeps in mind the shore to which he sails, and uses all his navigational and marine skills to get there.  The athlete trains regularly in order not only to take part in the race but to win it.

Christians have a Goal: believers are motivated by an Aim; the forgiven people of God are impelled by a Vision and an Ideal.  That vision, ideal, aim and goal is nothing less than perfect, holy and loving union with the Lord God, who is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  They follow Jesus who, for the joy that was set before him, gladly endured the shame and suffering of Calvary.  The Lord Jesus is the Forerunner (Greek prodromos: the scout, the advance guard, the One who goes first to make it safe for others to follow – Heb 6:20). So they keep their eyes upon him, looking always to him for he is the Pioneer (Greek, archgos), a person of pre-eminence who blazes a trail for others to follow and acts thus as Guide, Leader and Pioneer – Heb 12:2).

The Psalmist, living in the Old Covenant, could only look forward to the coming of the Messiah; but, nevertheless, his heart longed for close fellowship with his God.  So we have the memorable lines:

As the deer pants for streams of water,

so my soul pants for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When can I go and meet with God?  (Ps 42:1–2)

As one who had been encountered and commissioned by the risen, ascended Messiah, Paul cried out:

I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him at his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Phil. 3:8–11)

In other places, Paul speaks of his hope for the redemption of the body, the granting by God of a body like unto the glorious resurrection body of Christ (Rom 8:18ff; cf 1 Cor 15:35ff) in which free of sin we shall truly enjoy dynamic, loving fellowship with God-in-Christ.

The Goal and Ideal operate both as that at which we aim today and that at which we aim always.  Here the work of the sculptor, painter and composer will help to illustrate the point.  Only the sculptor knows what will emerge out of the piece of rock at which he chisels.  He knows what he has to do: it is clearly there in his mind’s eye; and the work of each day is a step towards that perfection, and can be, indeed ought to be, a perfect step.  Much the same applies to the work of the painter: he sees clearly that which will be the final result of his work and each hour of painstaking labour is a part of the whole and can be, and ought to be, perfect in itself.  Then take the work of the composer of a symphony or even of a short melody.  Each bar can be, and ought to be, perfect as he writes it down but ever in his mind is the completed whole, the music which is constantly being heard in his inward ear.  The sculptor, the painter and the composer find joy in their vision of what will be the result of their labours; and they find joy in the hard work – perhaps even suffering – of their labours day by day or hour by hour.

Jesus himself enjoyed a perfect fellowship with his heavenly Father throughout his ministry (as the Gospel of John makes abundantly clear).  Yet, even that perfect daily fellowship, was not the final perfection: for he looked forward to, desired, and prayed for that greater fellowship and glory that he knew was before him through the path of Calvary and resurrection from the dead (John 17:1,5,24: Heb 12:2).  Believers in Jesus, who look to him as their Forerunner, Pioneer, Lord, and Guide, are likewise called to both a daily and a future communion with God (Matt 8:11; Luke 22:29–30).

As John put it: ‘God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.  Love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The man who fears is not made perfect in love’ (1 Jn 4:16–18).

Paul prayed: ‘May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The One who calls you is faithful and he will do it’ (1 Thess 5:23–24).

Finally to quote John again: ‘Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ’ and therefore ‘we walk in the light to the light’ (1 Jn 1:3 and 7).

BOTH TODAY AND TOMORROW

Over the centuries Christians have felt the call of God to follow Christ towards the Goal – the redemption of their bodies in the new order of the kingdom of God.  And they have expressed this cause in various ways.  Some have heard God saying, ‘Be perfect . . .’; others have heard the divine voice saying, ‘Be holy . . .’ and yet others have heard the heavenly call to ‘Be righteous. . .’ and to ‘Be godly. . .’  Many ordinary people have heard the call in terms of ‘Be like Jesus . . .’ and ‘Be victorious for Jesus’ sake . . .’

Whatever the dominant motif/model used as the basis of an individual’s thinking/desiring/longing there has been a general agreement in all sections of the Church that in its full and ultimate realisation the ideal belongs to the new age of the kingdom of God.  Only when our hearts, minds and wills are totally renewed by the Spirit and cleansed from all stain of sin; and only when we are clothed in our new resurrection bodies and have our place in the company of the redeemed, who worship and serve God unceasingly for Christ’s sake, shall we be truly and really perfect, holy, righteous, godly and victorious.  But even the perfection and holiness of heaven will be one that admits the growth from glory unto glory.

At the end of his City of God Augustine put the matter in these words: ‘There [in heaven] we shall rest and we shall see; we shall see and we shall love; we shall love and we shall praise.  Behold what shall be in the end and shall not end.’  In the perfection of soul and body we shall see God through Jesus our Lord; as we see him we shall love him with all our being; and as we love him we shall praise him everlastingly.  What begins in glory will grow into a richer perfection, holiness, love and praise.

However, the Ideal has always been felt to be realisable in some sense here and now in the practical realities of this sinful world and evil age.  The call of God in the gospel has been, and still is, felt to be not only to a future Goal but also to strive for the Ideal now.  Put in theological terms, the Goal/Ideal is both eschatological (belonging to the eschaton, that which shall be after the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus) and a moral imperative (‘today I ought to be perfect, holy, righteous and godly’).

Certainly there have been discussions and debates as to the best way of stating both the Ideal/Goal and that which is truly attainable and possible here on earth day by day.  Many exaggerated claims have been made and much imprecise language has been used – usually in sincerity.  Yet despite knowledge of mistakes and failures Christians continually feel the urgent call as from God to aim for the highest and to be what God wants them to be. And being in and with the Lord Jesus, they know that they are on the winning side.  They claim victory in the name of Jesus.

BE VICTORIOUS

There is a long tradition in the Church expressed both in prose and poetry which portrays the Christian community as the army of Christ, soldiers involved in warfare against deadly foes.  This is based on a firm foundation in the New Testament.  Not only is Jesus presented in the Gospels as contending with, and finally overcoming, Satan, (Mk 1:13; Jn 13:27; 16:11), but also the Christian life is portrayed in the Epistles as involving warfare against both Satan and sinfulness (Eph 6:10ff).

There is a struggle to resist temptation, to reject sinful desires (1 Pet 2:11; Jas 4:1–2), to stay on the narrow way (Lk 13:24), to pray effectually for others and for the progress of the gospel in the Church and world (1 Cor 9:24–27; Rom 15:30; Col 2:1f; 4:12).  In fact Paul urges his readers to put on the armour of light (Rom 13:12) and take the weapons of righteousness in both left and right hands (2 Cor 6:7).  And he explains that ‘though we live in the world we do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds’ (2 Cor 10:3–5).  Then in Ephesians 6 he describes these weapons and the nature of the battle against Satanic power.

This warfare is on behalf of Christ and the gospel but it serves also, in the wise providence of God, to be a means of personal growth towards perfection, holiness and righteousness.  All warfare brings suffering: Jesus did not achieve the victory of his resurrection without the anguish and pain of Calvary.  Victory is to share in the victory of Christ and warfare is to share in his suffering.  Thus the victory available daily to the Christian as an essential part of any genuine spirituality is the victory of grace and faith (1 Jn 5:4); and finally it is the victory of the resurrection of the body in the fulness of the kingdom of God (1 Cor 15:54–57).  We must bear this call to be victorious in mind as we examine perfection, holiness, righteousness and godliness.

REMOVING OBJECTIONS

Before moving on to explain the call to perfection, we must face two objections.  The first is that the aim of perfection, holiness and righteousness can be judged to be selfish: it can be merely the pursuit of self-fulfilment and self-transcendence: and it can only be an expression of personal survival and salvation.

However, if we look closely into what the call to perfection, holiness and righteousness implies and requires we shall find that it is dynamically the equivalent of the pure worship, contemplation and adoration of God.  Perfection is the perfect loving of God: holiness is the seeing of God with a pure heart, and righteousness is being in a right relationship with God through Jesus, the Mediator.  In fact it is being perfect, holy and righteous for Christ’s sake.  Thus while a profound self-fulfilment and self-transcendence is achieved it is done so through, with and in Jesus Christ, because we are made in the image, after the likeness of God himself.

The second objection is often heard these days.  It goes like this: surely the ideal of service is more urgently needed in our unhappy and unequal world than the ideal of personal perfection: surely the realisation and extension of the kingdom of God is more important than the ideal of holiness: and surely worship, contemplation and adoration ought to be a means to an end – the serving of people in need.  Many today seem to insist that the pursuit of peace and justice is the first duty of the Church and that meditation, prayer, worship and contemplation are to be infused with this practical theme.

The answer to this objection does not include the downgrading of serving the needy and deprived or the neglect of evangelising the non-Christian world.  Rather it ensures that serving and evangelising proceed from and with the right motivation. For only when serving others flows from the pure worship and contemplation of the living God will it be a serving with humility.

Gazing upon God in the face of Jesus Christ we praise and adore him: we find nothing in ourselves that is praiseworthy and we recognise that we depend wholly on his mercy and grace.  Thus we go forth from contemplating his glory and compassion relieved of our desires for self-assertion, self-justification and to be patronising.  We are, therefore, prepared to serve the neighbour in humility and in the love of Jesus.  Worship in spirit and in truth and the contemplating of the God of all glory and grace are the only guaranteed basis of unselfish, humble service.  Where service is made the Ideal with worship being a means to that end, the great spiritual danger is of patronising people rather than humbly serving them.  Jesus constantly engaged in humble service because his priority in life was communion with the Father in heaven.

So the Ideal/Goal of perfection, holiness and righteousness in terms of worship, contemplation and adoration of the Lord God is the divine way into that form and type of service and ministry which is exemplified in Jesus.

6

Be Perfect

To be perfect is the state or condition of being completed or finished without any defect or excess.  Yet the perfection of the red rose in bloom is a different perfection to that of a handcarved chair; and the perfection of the mathematical formula is a different perfection to that of the four-leaf clover.

And obviously, the perfection of God himself is a different perfection to that attainable by his creation.  If God possesses absolute perfection as the eternal and infinite Lord, then the perfection reached by human beings (made in his image, after his likeness) must be a relative perfection.

Therefore, in talking about Christian Perfection – which has been the title of many books and sermons over the centuries – we are talking about relative perfection.  As the Lord is holy love in his eternal and infinite Being, so we are to be filled with that holy love in our souls to the fullest extent human creatures are capable of being filled.

And, we must remember that our capability of being filled will be extended in the age to come when, free of mortal bodies, we are living in immortal, glorious bodies and, free from the stain and pull of sin, we are living in the presence of God himself.

We need to bear these distinctions in mind as we reflect upon the call of God to be perfect.  We must not be either tempted to diminish it or to extend this attainable perfection of the human creature.

JESUS’S CALL TO PERFECTION

Only twice does Jesus use the word perfect (Gk teleios) with reference to the life to which God calls believers.  To examine these will give us insight into what is intended by this call.

a. If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven (Matt 19:21).  Here Jesus is addressing a sincerely religious young man who is desirous to have eternal life, to be in communion with God both in this life and the life to come.  The young man claims to be perfect (= blameless) in terms of Jewish teaching and believes he has always kept the ten commandments and loved his neighbour as he loves himself.  Yet he recognises that he still has not made it; there is something not quite right: he is lacking in some particular.  So Jesus tells him what is missing.  He must sell all he has, distribute the proceeds to the poor, and then follow Jesus.  In other words he must give up all for the kingdom of God.

But what does perfect mean?  It is spiritual and moral maturity – total commitment, entire consecration and wholehearted dedication to the kingdom of God and the Messiah, Jesus.

The young man, who was rich, could not bear the thought of losing his riches and, with sad face, went away.  Later, Jesus explained why he had put this apparently impossible goal before the young man.  'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible’ (v. 26).  In other words, there is no limit to the help, mercy and grace which the eternal God can and will give to those who ask and are open to receive.  The young man could be perfect – by grace.

b. Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matt 5:48).  This is from the Sermon on the Mount and occurs in a paragraph in which God’s example is being presented.  God makes his sun to shine on the evil and the good: and he sends the rain to fall upon the righteous and the unrighteous.  His love and mercy, his compassion and kindness, extend to all, whatever be their moral state.  Thus God’s attitude and action are to be imitated by those who are his children.  ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven’ (5:44).  The perfection here is the perfection of loving as God loves.  She/he who exercises such perfect love (cf 1 John 4:18) will be a person (in terms of the beatitudes, Matt 5:1–11) who is poor in spirit, meek, merciful and pure in heart.

If the Gospel of Matthew contains the Sermon on the Mount, the Gospel of Luke contains the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:20–49).  Here in verse 36 we read: ‘Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.’  Again this occurs in a paragraph in which the kindness of God towards the ungrateful and wicked is emphasised; and, further, disciples have been urged to ‘love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back’ (v. 35).  To be perfect is, at least, to be merciful.

We need to ponder this call to perfection carefully because the words of Jesus, ‘Be perfect . . .’, have been so influential in the Church over the centuries and in all geographical areas.

(i) First, let us take a look back into the Old Testament.  Here we find that there are many calls to Israel to imitate God’s character.  They are particularly clear in the Book of Deuteronomy.  Here is one which occurs in the context of a general call to obey God’s commands, to love and to serve him:

And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees . . . For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.  He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.  And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt . . . (10:12ff)

Here perfection includes both the imitation of God’s mercy towards the fatherless, widow and alien (i.e. those with particular needs) and a life of fear (reverence), walking in God’s way, loving and serving God, and obeying all his commandments.

(ii) In the second place, let us consider what following Jesus and walking in his way requires.  To follow Jesus was not to be a student in a school run by a rabbi, where study of the ancient writings and attendance at lectures was the norm.  To follow Jesus was practical in the sense that Jesus, like a master-craftsman, called men to be with him in order to follow and imitate.  Discipleship was not matriculation in a College of Rabbis but apprenticeship in the kingdom of heaven.  Bearing this in mind, we can note the following about walking in the way or following in the way of Jesus into perfection.

This way is one of renunciation.  ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me’ (Mark 8:34).

And, ‘Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple’ (Luke 14:33).  Perfection here is via self-giving and suffering, and requires total surrender to Jesus as the King of the kingdom.

This way is one of obedience.  ‘Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother’ (Mark 3:35).  And, ‘Why do you call me "Lord, Lord," and do not do what I say?’  Perfection is via the way of complete obedience to the will of God as revealed by Jesus.

This way is one of humility.  ‘If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all’ (Mark 9:35).  ‘Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’ (Mark 10:43–44).  Here we encounter perfection as the imitation of Jesus as the truly humble one – the one who says, ‘I am among you as one who serves’ (Luke 22:27), and ‘Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls’ (Matt. 11:29).

(iii) In the third place let us call to mind what we may call a spiritual law which operates in pure Science, the Arts, Music and Literature.  Nothing truly enduring or really valuable is created and brought forth except by those whose aim is illimitable and whose standard is perfection.  The true artist is such because he attempts more than he can ever achieve.  The genuine poet is such because she attempts to say more than she can say.  And the musician who is a composer is such because he attempts more than he can express.  The moment the artist, poet and composer believe that their art is final in its accomplishment and the scientist holds that truth is perfect in his grasp, in that moment they cease to be what they claim to be.

So, also, in Christianity, the ultimate aim of the disciple of Jesus must be in its very nature illimitable.  The perfection of God is eternal and infinite holy love and the disciple is called to imitate such a God.  Thus the disciple will always be aiming for the highest and in so doing will (by the grace of God) achieve what is pleasing to his heavenly Father, day by day.

A man’s reach should exceed his grasp

Or what's a heaven for . . . ?        (Robert Browing)

(iv) Finally, we can now appreciate one reason why Jesus was so opposed to the religion of the Pharisees and Scribes.  He had some very strong criticism to make of their interpretation and practice of Judaism (see, for example, his seven woes in Matthew 23).  Not only was it legalistic and lacking compassion, it was also spiritually complacent.  They were satisfied with their moral and spiritual achievements and did not feel the inner urge to press on to a deeper, closer and richer union with God.  Absent from their spirituality was the longing for the courts of the Lord, the hungering and thirsting after righteousness and the desire to see the face of God.

And spiritual complacency is a sin that is never far away from any of us.

To summarise: Jesus set before his disciples the goal of perfection and offered the boundless grace of God as the source and strength of that perfection.

PAUL’S TEACHING ON PERFECTION AND MATURITY

In the King James Version we find that the word ‘perfect’ occurs more often in the Letters of Paul than it does in modern translations.  They use other words instead – mature, complete and whole.  This helps to make clear that Paul saw perfection in two different but complementary ways.

First of all, there is a perfection of human beings which is final and absolute, but it belongs only to the future kingdom of God in heaven.  Putting this in terms of his personal pilgrimage, Paul wrote: ‘But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus’ (Phil 3:13–14).  The picture in Paul’s mind is that of the runner who knows how distracting a backward glance can be and who exerts every effort to press forward with the race.  He seeks to run without swerving for he hastens to the goal, to Jesus Christ himself who is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven: he seeks to attain to the resurrection of the dead, to fulness of life in an immortal body with a renewed heart, mind and will (v. 11).

Paul also spoke of this future perfection in his great hymn of love (1 Cor 13).  ‘When perfection comes, the imperfect disappears’ he wrote.  And continued: ‘Now we see but a poor reflection: then we shall see [God-in-Christ] face to face.  Now I know in part: then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known [by God].’  To see God will be to experience everlastingly the love of God (13:13).

In the second place, there is a perfection which is relative when compared with the perfection which shall be in the age to come.  This relative perfection can be called a maturity.

There is no doubt that Paul saw his work as an apostle not only to make converts for Jesus Christ but to lead the converts on (both as individuals and as societies of believers) to maturity of faith, hope and love.  Not a maturity which has a final form but a maturity which always has a potential for growth toward God as long as the believer is alive.

Apparently, Paul thought of the growth within the Christian life in terms of human growth from infancy through childhood to adulthood.  True adulthood is (relative) perfection.  This is clear from his use of the word teleios in 1 Corinthians.  First of all in 2:6 he claims that the apostles ‘speak a message of wisdom among the mature’ but the members of the church in Corinth were not yet ready for that wisdom.  They were not spiritual and mature but worldly (3:1ff).  Then in 14:20 he urges them in this manner: ‘Brothers, stop thinking like children.  In regard to evil be infants but in your thinking be adults.’  They were to be mature and adult in their thinking.  It is one thing to be childlike and another to be childish.  The Corinthians were not employing their minds in the worship and service of Christ as they ought.

If we turn to the Letter to Colossae we meet this relative perfection in several contexts.  Paul claimed that ‘we proclaim Christ, admonishing everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.  To this end I labour, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me’ (1:28–29).  Here we can take teleios (perfect) to refer to the ultimate perfection, but in the context it is better translated/understood in terms of true maturity.  Paul exerted all his energy and looked to God for help in order to present his converts to Christ as mature believers (in contrast to immature children).

The next example from Colossians is very much a corporate perfection/maturity.  ‘Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity’ (3:12–14).  Here the word is teleiotes (perfect harmony).  The maturity of a Christian community is seen when its members live together harmoniously by exercising the virtues, of which the most important is love.

The final example occurs in Paul’s description of the prayers of Epaphras (see 1:7).  ‘Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings.  He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured’ (4:12).  Here teleios (mature) means obeying God’s will in practical living day by day so that they can stand firm against heresy and persecution and temptation.  His prayer that they will be ‘fully assured’ may mean ‘have clear convictions as to the essence of the gospel’ or ‘filled with a profound sense of God’s grace and will’.

If we were to turn to the Letters to the Thessalonians we would meet much the same view of relative perfection/maturity.  For example his prayer: ‘May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.  May he strengthen you so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus Christ comes with all his holy ones’ (1, 3:12–13; see also 2, 4:6–8).

The perfection which was the goal of his ministry was one that admitted of continual growth: however, it was possible for him to say that some churches and some individual converts had actually reached a stage which could be called ‘maturity’ as compared with others who were as yet children in their Christian faith and duties.  Yet that maturity which by the grace of God some had reached was not the top of the mountain but a staging post on the way up.

There is no spiritual complacency in Paul’s doctrine of maturity.  His own testimony is that of always needing to run the race, to fight the good fight, to press on towards the mark, to set his mind on things above, to reach out towards Christ in glory and to win Christ’s commendation.  Whatever depths of love he has experienced there is more to be experienced: and whatever heights of union with God he has reached there are yet greater heights to climb towards.

Yet Paul is clear that the first steps into maturity are reached by walking in the way of Christ, regenerated, guided, filled and inspired by the Holy Spirit, whom he calls the Spirit of Christ (Gal 5:16–18; Rom 8:9ff).  In fact the task of the Holy Spirit, who comes in the name of Christ to continue and complete his work, is to form Christ in human hearts and to recreate souls in the perfect image of God (which Christ himself is – Col 1:15; 3:10; cf 2 Cor 4:4).  Thus the goal of (relative) perfection or maturity (as also the goal of perfection in the gospels) may be expressed in terms of imitating Jesus.

Being indwelt by the Spirit, the believer is inspired to think, feel, desire, determine, speak and act like Jesus, perfect Man.

The imitation of Christ occurs both explicitly and implicitly as a theme in Paul’s Letters.  Here are some explicit examples:

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.  Each of us should please his neighbour for his good, to build him up.  For even Christ did not please himself . . . (Rom 15:1–4)

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus . . . (Phil 2:5)

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Eph 5:1–2)

We may reflect upon the fact that to imitate God/Jesus is to reach both for relative perfection (a maturity which becomes more mature) and final perfection (which itself admits of a growth from glory unto glory).

Spirituality, we may conclude, is all about moving from a condition of immaturity to maturity and imperfection to perfection in the imitation of Jesus.  The Greek word teleios derives from telos, meaning goal or end: there should be no standing still.

7

Be Holy

The call to be holy is consistently heard throughout the whole Bible.  So also is the call to be sanctified.  And the reason for this pervasive and persistent call is that the Lord God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is ‘the Holy One’.  The heavenly choir forever sing: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come’ (Rev 4:8, echoing Isa 6:3).

One of the most important statements both in the Old and New Testaments is this: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’ (1 Pet 1:16, citing Lev 19:2).  The holiness of God is his singular and radiant majesty, his absolute purity and perfect righteousness.  And, since we are made in the image and likeness of God, we are to imitate his holiness, to be holy as is truly appropriate for a child of God to be. In other words, to be holy, even as Jesus was/is holy.

To put some content in this divine command to imitate the holiness of God we need to examine briefly the concept of holiness in the Old Testament, before turning to the New.  However, before doing this, it is perhaps necessary to recall that though we are dealing with two groups of words – holy/holiness and sanctify/sanctification – there is both in the Old and New Testaments only one basic group (having one stem).  In the New this is hagi (so hagios = holy; hagiaz = I sanctify) and in the Old this is qds (so qados = holy; qadas = to hallow).  We get the word holy/holiness from Old English and sanctify/sanctification from the Latin.

THE OLD TESTAMENT

Here the idea of sanctification (being holy or made holy) has particular reference to the coming before God in worship at the sanctuary or holy place.  Those who are to meet God are to cleanse themselves by washing body and garments.  This is well illustrated in Exodus 19.  The tribes of Israel are camped before Mount Sinai where God is to reveal his will for Israel to Moses.  Sanctification includes washing of garments, abstaining from sexual relations, not touching the mountain where God reveals his glory, and maintaining a state of watchfulness.  Though the emphasis is apparently on external purity underlying it is an internal preparation to receive the content of God’s covenant.

Together with the idea of cleansing, holiness means being dedicated or consecrated to God and his service.  Thus the special places and implements used in divine worship are holy – holy temple, holy altar, holy (sabbath) day, holy sacrifices/offerings and holy furnishings (see the book of Leviticus).  Further, the priesthood, being set apart for God’s service in the sanctuary, is also holy (Lev 21:7).

However, as we have indicated, holiness and sanctification do not consist only in external purity and dedication.  In the laws found in Leviticus the command to be externally cleansed is found alongside the command to obey God’s moral laws (see, for example, the so-called Holiness Code in Lev 19ff).  And purity of heart is much emphasised in the psalms:

Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  (51:10)

and:

Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?

Who may stand in his holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol

or swear by what is false.  (24:3–4)

It is also a constant theme in the message of the prophets:

‘Even now’, declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.’  Rend your heart and not your garments.  Return to the Lord your God for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. . . Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly.  (Joel 2:12–16)

Here the holy is presented both as embracing the external and the internal – purity of heart and dedication to the service and worship of the Lord.

We also find in the Old Testament an insistence that all true holiness and sanctification is inspired by and brought into being by the holy Lord himself.  He is the One who sets Israel apart by his election and choice of them (Ex 31:13; Lev 21:23; 22:9, 16).  So though Israelites are to sanctify themselves through self-dedication and service, that dedication and service is only possible through the guidance and strength of the holy Lord.

THE NEW TESTAMENT

Here we find that though there are a few echoes of the cultic meaning of sanctification (e.g. Matt 23:19) and of the idea of consecration to God (1 Cor 7:14; 1 Tim 4:5), the prominent and decisive meaning is moral.  ‘Without holiness no-one will see the Lord’ (Heb 12:14) complements, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God’ (Matt 5:5).

In fact, holiness is defined with reference to Jesus Christ and to the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Christ.  Jesus is the ‘holy One’ not only because he was wholly consecrated to God’s service as the Messiah but also (and more importantly) because he was filled and constantly re-filled with the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit was the source in him not only of ministerial gifts but also of meekness and lowliness of heart/mind.

The Holy Spirit continues to fill his human nature as he lives in heaven.  Raised from the dead by the Spirit of holiness (Rom 1:4) and exalted into heaven in his glorified human body/nature, Jesus is still filled (and as Man is continually being filled) with the Holy Spirit.  Thus he remains the One – the Holy One – from and through whom the Holy Spirit goes forth to act in and upon those who believe the good news of salvation.  God the Father sends the Holy Spirit via the Lord Jesus to the world: so the Spirit descends and works among human beings as the Spirit of Christ, bearing his name and distributing his power, virtues and characteristics.  All this was explained by Jesus in his long talk to the disciples on the eve of his crucifixion (John 14–16).

We may say that Christ the Lord acts through the Spirit and in the world in two complementary ways.  First of all, he bestows spiritual gifts upon the Church – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, along with speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, prophecy, words of wisdom and knowledge, power to perform miracles and power to believe against all the odds (see 1 Cor 12 and Eph 4:1–16).  These very special – in some cases supernatural – gifts are given not for personal benefit but for spiritual growth in holiness, for ministry, and for edification of all the believing fellowship.

In the second place (and this is our particular concern) Christ the Lord acts through the Holy Spirit to bring sinners to repentance and faith and then, following spiritual birth/conversion, into a life of consecration to God’s service and purity of mind, heart and will.  The special work of the Spirit in leading sinners to faith in Jesus is described in John 16:7–11.  He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin, righteousness and judgement.

At regeneration (birth from/by the Spirit) God begins the work of recreating the soul in the image of God, according to the model which is Christ.  As the Holy Spirit lives in heart and mind he leads believers not only to rejoice in God and his salvation, but also to mortify sinful desires, resist temptation and consecrate the whole self to the Lord Jesus.  And, as the Holy Spirit does his work of purification and renewal, he also brings spiritual gifts from the exalted Lord Jesus.

In fact we learn from the New Testament that the past, present and future tenses of the verb hagiaz (to sanctify/make holy) apply to the people of God who trust in Christ.  In union with the Lord Jesus by faith through the Holy Spirit, believers are declared to be both righteous (justified) and holy (sanctified). God the Father, seeing them not in their moral uncleanness but in the purity of Christ, reckons them to be holy.  ‘Christ Jesus . . . is our righteousness, holiness and redemption’ (1 Cor 1:30); ‘You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God’ (1 Cor 6:11).  The knowledge of this union and of how God the Father estimates it ought to be the basis of a complete consecration to God’s will day by day.  What God judges we are in Christ we are by the Spirit to become.

Thus, for the present time believers are called to be holy.  The position is explained by Paul in the opening of several of his Letters.  For example: ‘To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be holy . . .’ (1 Cor 1:2).  In the first of his Letters he wrote: ‘It is God’s will that you should be holy’ (1 Thess 4:3–4) and went on to explain how this means practical, moral purity.  And near the end of that Letter he offered this prayer for present and future: ‘May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it’ (1 Thess 5:23–24).  In a later Letter, after describing the great promises of grace, he wrote:

‘Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God’ (2 Cor 7:1).

Finally, holiness is the goal to which the whole Church of God moves.  ‘Praise be to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight . . .’ (Eph 1:3-4).  Thus ‘Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing of water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless’ (Eph 5:25–27).  In fact the hope within the gospel is that you will be presented holy and blameless and free from all accusation in and by Christ to the Father (Col 1:22–23).  There is no possibility whatsoever that the wicked will enter the kingdom of God in the age to come (1 Cor 6:9–11), for without holiness no one will see the Lord.

Holiness as a goal of the Christian life is that moral and spiritual quality we see in the Lord Jesus Christ.  And this begins when the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in the soul and sanctify the whole personality.  But this beginning is but a seed and this seed has to grow so that the soul is re-created, renewed and refashioned as the old ego is gradually eliminated.  Only with resurrection of the body will the individual soul reach that final goal of holiness and be able to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ in the perfection of heaven.

8

Be Righteous

One of the fundamental characteristics of authentic Protestantism – be it Presbyterian, Lutheran, Anglican, Baptist or Methodist – is the insistence that ‘we are justified by faith’.  This is shorthand for ‘we are declared and accounted righteous in God’s heavenly court through the reckoning to us of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we believe and trust’.  And it is based upon the clear teaching of St Paul particularly in his letter to Rome.  There we read that ‘Jesus our Lord was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification’ (4:25) and ‘we are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus’ (3:24) and ‘we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law’ (3:28).

THE OLD TESTAMENT

Paul’s teaching is developed from the Old Testament by the guidance of the Holy Spirit as he reflected upon the saving work of the Lord Jesus.  There we find that to call God righteous is not, in the first place, to speak of his essence or being as God: it is rather to speak of his attitude to and relationship with Israel, his covenant people.  He always acts rightly towards them sending them blessing or judgement, according to the terms of his gracious covenant.  ‘You are always righteous, O Lord’ confessed Jeremiah (12:1).  However, because by nature God is full of mercy and grace, his righteousness will include, Isaiah prophesied, sending his great salvation to his people, even though they break his covenant and do not deserve any mercy.  In fact salvation becomes a synonym for righteousness: ‘I am bringing my righteousness near; it is not far away; and my salvation will not be delayed.  I will grant salvation to Zion, my splendour to Israel’ (46:13).  Paul developed the theme of God’s righteousness becoming his provision of salvation.

With regard to the Israelites, righteousness refers to being in and maintaining a right relationship with the Lord their God, with his Law, and with fellow human beings.  When viewed in the strictest terms and by the highest standards, the truth of the matter is that Israel was not righteous: ‘All have turned aside, they have become corrupt; there is no-one who does good, not even one’ (Ps 14:3; 53:3; cited by Paul in Rom 3:10-12).  However, individual Israelites did seek to fulfil their covenant obligations to God and fellow Israelites and they are called ‘righteous’ (e.g. Ps 33:1; 119:121; 146:8).  We have to describe this as a relative righteousness for when the full extent of the heart, mind and will are open before God the real truth is ‘no-one living is righteous before you’ (Ps 143:2).

Not only did the prophets look forward to the display of God’s righteousness as salvation for Israel, they also spoke of a future anointed servant of the Lord (Messiah) of the lineage of king David, who would lead his people, Israel, into God’s salvation.  In describing the future Messiah, the word ‘righteous’ is often used or implied.  For example, in Isaiah 11 the future descendant of David is described as being the one upon whom the Spirit of the Lord will rest and:

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,

or decide by what he hears with his ears;

but with righteousness he will judge the needy,

with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;

with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.  (vv 3–5)

Again Paul developed this theme of the Messiah as the embodiment and the bringer to mankind of God’s saving righteousness.

PAUL’S TEACHING

Jesus is this Messiah.  As our Substitute and Representative Jesus not only perfectly obeyed the covenant/law of God on our behalf but he also bore the penalty due to us for having broken God’s law – as Isaiah had prophesied (52:13 – 53:12) concerning the suffering of God’s righteous servant.  Therefore there is a gospel to proclaim: there is forgiveness and acceptance with God: there is justification – being declared and accounted righteous for Christ’s sake – in God’s presence.  The power and thrill of this message throbs through the early chapters of the Letter to Rome.

However, the fact that Paul taught that God’s righteousness as salvation in and through Jesus, the Messiah, is received in faith and trust is not to be understood as suggesting that to be righteous/just in daily living is of no consequence.  He vehemently rejected the very suggestion that since God’s grace is so rich and freely available we could sin the more to receive the more grace.  ‘Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase?  By no means!  We died to sin (with and in Christ in his death); how can we live in it any longer?’ (6:1–2).  And he proceeded:

Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.  Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.  For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law but under grace. (6:11–14)

In other words justified sinners have a new Master who is the embodiment and personification of all that is right and they are to serve him wholeheartedly and without any hesitation or reserve.  Paul had no doubts for he repeated himself to say: ‘You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness’ (6:18).

But how are sinners who are accounted righteous to offer their whole selves as instruments of righteousness and be actual slaves of righteousness?  The answer is provided by Paul in chapter eight.  Not only has God the Father sent his Son to fulfil for us ‘the righteous requirements of the law’ (8:4) but he has poured out his Spirit upon us for the sake of his Son.  In the strength and by the guidance of the Spirit we are to live righteously – in a right relationship of loving communion with our God and in right relationships with God’s creation.  The latter means imitating the Lord Jesus in his attitude to fellow human beings.  Our aim each day is to die to sin and to live righteously, aiming for the highest understanding and expression of God’s righteousness in our lives.  It is a struggle at times but Christ is on our side (Rom 8:10)!

We aim to be righteous now because we are slaves of Jesus, the Righteous One, and because we shall be truly righteous in mind, heart, will and body in the life of the age to come.  ‘Through the obedience of the one man (Jesus) the many will be made righteous’ (5:19).  God has not only accounted those in union with his Son to be righteous, he intends that we aim now to be righteous and certainly after the Second Coming of Jesus to earth we will finally be made righteous.  Paul took up this theme in the Letter to Philippi:

I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection of the dead. (3:8–11)

Justification by faith is a glorious truth: but it is the beginning of a fervent desire and wholehearted commitment to be made righteous in mind and body.  To be justified (Old English = rightwised) is to become just (righteous) and to aim to be like Jesus, the Just/Righteous One.  ‘Be righteous because Christ is your righteousness.’

IN THE GOSPELS

The gracious justification of sinners by God is taught in the Gospels, particularly in the parable told by Jesus of the tax-collector and Pharisee who went up to the Temple to pray (Luke 19:9–14).  The penitent tax-collector who prayed, ‘God be merciful’ went home ‘justified’.

And the call to be just/righteous is a constant theme in the Gospels, especially that of Matthew.  Jesus is portrayed as often rejecting the apparent righteousness of the Jewish religious leaders for it is incomplete, even hypocritical.  Further, it is only external, having to do with outward performance of duties and not involving the custody of the heart and mind. In solemn words Jesus spoke to them saying: ‘Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness’ (Matt 23:27–28).  Though they seemed to be in a right relationship with the law of God they were in fact breaking it in their hearts.

Jesus expected his disciples to aim high.  ‘Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness’ (Matt 6:33); ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness’ (Matt 5:6), and ‘Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you certainly will not enter the kingdom of heaven’ (Matt 5:20).  In fact the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew and the Sermon on the Plain in Luke provide a full account of what it is to be righteous, to do righteousness/justice and thereby to walk humbly with God.  And the portrayal of final judgement by Christ at the end of the age in the vision of the Son of Man separating the sheep and goats (Matt 25:31–46) clearly teaches that the righteousness of those who inherit the kingdom of God will be one that is found in attitude and action.  ‘Whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me’ Jesus will say to those who have freely loved the needy in righteous behaviour.

Following the judgement by the Son of Man, God will establish righteousness as the characteristic of the new age.  ‘Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father’ (Matt 13:43).  Those who are declared righteous are to live righteously, longing for the perfect righteousness of the kingdom of heaven.

REFLECTIONS

Protestants have usually spoken of the Christian life in terms of having been justified by faith and being sanctified by the Holy Spirit (see further my book, Justification and Sanctification, 1983).  This is, of course, correct as far as it goes.  However, as we have seen, the verb hagiaz (to make holy, to sanctify) and the verb dikaio (to justify, to rightwise) are used in the past, present and future tenses.

1.  In Christ we have been, therefore in God’s sight we are, both sanctified and justified.

2.  In Christ we are being made holy/saintly and righteous/just through the influence of theindwelling Holy Spirit.

3.  Through, in and with Christ we shall be made fully holy and righteous, true saints and really just, at the resurrection of the body for life in the age to come.

Thus the call to be holy and the call to be righteous are different but complementary emphases within one general aim and direction.  If holiness and sanctity are all about being pure in heart and wholly consecrated to God, then righteousness and justice are all about being in right relationships and doing what is right for Christ’s sake.

9

Be Godly

To be described as godly, pious, devout and religious is not necessarily welcomed by the modern Christian.  These terms seem to have an old-fashioned ring about them: they bring to mind ‘strict Puritanism’, ‘Victorian values’, ‘tough personal discipline’, ‘lack of freedom’, ‘Sabbatarianism’, ‘solid reliability’, and ‘self-reliance’. Joy seems to be absent from them!

Our investigation would, however, be incomplete if we did not recognise (1) their important place in the vocabulary of the Church over the centuries, and (2) their roots in the Bible.  Let us begin with the latter.

IN SCRIPTURE

The Greek word which translators render as godliness, piety, devotion and religion is eusebeia.  The basic meaning of this word relates to the reverence or fear of God – having a right attitude towards one’s holy, Creator, Judge and Redeemer.  We recall that the ‘fear of the Lord’ is a very important aspect of a right relationship to God within the Old Testament – see e.g. Ps 2:11; 19:9; 22:23.  The word eusebeia is used quite often in 1 and 2 Timothy and 2 Peter and so we shall take our examples from these Letters.  Here are five:

(i) Giving instructions to his younger brother in Christ, Paul said to Timothy:

Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.  For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.  (1 Tim 4:7–8)

The modern American Roman Catholic translation, the NAB, renders the first as life of piety and the second as discipline of religion.

The meaning of eusebeia is reasonably clear, however we translate it.  It is that which is gained (with God’s help) through spiritual (in contrast to physical) training.  It is being blameless in attitude and conduct towards God our Father.  And as the TEV renders, eusebeia ‘is valuable in every way because it promises life both for the present and for the future’.

(ii) As a general principle Paul laid down that:

Godliness with contentment is great gain.  (1 Tim 6:6)

The NAB offers religion (and so do the NEB and JB).

The person with the inner resources of faith, hope and love has soul-sufficiency: she/he is not desirous of external possessions recognising (as 6:7 states) that ‘we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it’.  Godliness here is living by faith, trusting God, hoping for the fulfilment of his promises and loving him and his creation.

(iii) Speaking of the days immediately before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to earth, to judge the world, Paul said the following:

There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves . . . treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having the form of godliness but denying its power.  (2 Tim 3:1–5)

The NAB renders ‘as they make a pretense of religion but negate its power’.  People will have all the outward trappings of religious practice – say their prayers, read their Bibles, use the language of Sion, and so on – but the inward reality of souls impelled by faith, hope and love will be missing.

(iv) Writing of that which the Lord Jesus Christ provides for the inner life of his disciples, Peter explained:

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.  (2 Pet 1:3)

The NAB renders as ‘everything necessary for a life of genuine piety’.

In union with (i.e. true knowledge of) Jesus Christ the believer has everything she/he needs (not would like) for everlasting life and for true, inward faith, hope and love.  This need is well supplied by Jesus through the Holy Spirit.

(v) Speaking of the judgement of God upon the present physical universe, Peter drew this conclusion from the divine intervention through the Second Coming of Jesus:

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought we to be?  You ought to live holy and godly lives, as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. (2 Pet 3:11)

The NAB renders ‘holy in your conduct and devotion’.  Perhaps Peter is seeking to cover both the ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ lives, using holiness for purity in word and action and godliness/devotion for inner purity of thought, desire and intention.

So we see that eusebeia describes the inner life of the soul – mind, heart and will – directed (in the power of the Holy Spirit) towards the Lord Jesus in faith, hope and love (see Tit 2:12).

IN THE CHURCH

We must now turn to the use of the words godliness, piety, devotion and religion in the Church.  We shall discover that they are all used with reference to spirituality: specifically to that to which spirituality is aimed.  Let us begin with ‘religion’.

1. Religion.  In the Roman Catholic Church there is a long tradition of calling those who enter a monastery or convent by the noun ‘religious’.  It is said that they have entered into religion, meaning they are seeking eusebeia – to be truly and inwardly godly, devout and pious.

The word has also been used by Protestants as the equivalent of godliness and holiness.  An important example is the title of the book by Philip Doddridge to which we have already made reference – The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul.  It covers such topics as genuine conversion to God; repentance, faith, hope and love; testing, temptation and suffering; meditation and prayer and receiving the sacraments; and the right approach to death and true usefulness while on earth.

In the much loved and widely used Book of Common Prayer (1662) ‘religion’ is used in prayers; ‘O Lord, we beseech thee to keep thy Church and household continually in thy true religion . . .’ (Epiphany 5) and ‘Grant unto all them that are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s religion, that they may eschew those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same . . .’ (Easter 3) and ‘Graft into our hearts the love of thy name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness . . .’ (Trinity 7).

2. Devotion.  When used by modern Christians this noun is often used in the plural, devotions, and refers to an act of worship which will include hymns, Bible reading, prayers and an address.  In this sense devotions are an expression of devotion.

In both Roman Catholic and Protestant teaching on the spiritual life, devotion has to do with an entire consecration of oneself to God (literally, making a vow of one’s whole self to God).  Here is an explanation of devotion by John Nicholas Grou (1713–1803):

True and solid devotion is that disposition of the heart by which we are ready to do and to suffer, without exception or reserve, everything which comes from God’s good pleasure, everything which is the will of God.  And this disposition is the most excellent of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit . . .

Devotion is something most interior and which has to do with the inmost life of the soul, for it affects that within us which is most spiritual: that is to say, our understanding and our will.  Devotion consists, then, neither in reasoning, nor in imagination, nor in anything we can seize by our senses . . .  The principle of devotion is, that God being the one source and the one author of holiness, the reasonable creature ought to depend upon him in everything, and be absolutely governed by the Spirit of God.  We must be always attached to God in the depths of our souls, always attentive to his voice within us, always faithful to accomplish what he asks of us each moment.  (Manual for Interior Souls, new ed. 1955, pp 1–2)

And of course, many books on spirituality have in their titles the word ‘devout’.  There is the famous English study by William Law, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life (1728) and the even more widely read Introduction to the Devout Life, by Francis de Sales (which I have recently edited in a paperback edition for Protestants).

3. Piety.  One of the influential books of the English Reformation was The Practice of Piety (1610) by Lewis Bayly, Bishop of Bangor.  By 1735 it was in its fifty-ninth English edition.  Piety was godliness: not formal Christianity, but religion with spiritual power and lively faith.

This positive meaning of piety was much used in Germany with reference to what has come to be called the Pietist Movement within the Lutheran Church.  It was a revival of vital religion and joyful godliness in the context of the nominal and formal worship and practice of the State Church.  One of the important books of the movement was entitled Pia Desideria (1675) meaning ‘Pious Wishes’ (for the renewal of the Church and inner renewal of Christians) and its author was Philip Jacob Spener.

The two Wesley brothers, John and Charles, were influenced by the Pietist Movement (through the Moravians) and they used piety in a positive way.  In the preface to the first edition of A Collection of Hymns for the use of the People called Methodists (1780), there is a preface by John Wesley, and its last paragraph reads thus:

That which is of infinitely more moment than the spirit of poetry is the spirit of piety.  And I trust, all persons of real judgment will find this breathing through the whole Collection.  It is in this view chiefly that I would recommend it to every truly pious reader, as a means of raising or quickening the spirit of devotion; of confirming his faith; of enlivening his hope; and of kindling and increasing his love to God and man.  When Poetry thus keeps its place as the handmaid of Piety, it shall attain not a poor perishable wreath but a crown that fadeth not away.

It may be claimed on behalf of the successive Methodist Hymnbooks that they present the longing and aiming for perfection, piety and devotion in more compelling terms than any other hymn book.

4. Godliness.  In the most important of all Anglican books of theology, Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity (1597), Richard Hooker provided a comment on godliness which was shared by all Protestants and Roman Catholics of his time.  He wrote: ‘Godliness is the chiefest top and wellspring of all true virtues, even as God is of all good things’ (Book V, chap.1, sec.2).  His meaning is that God alone is the origin and source of all that is truly good: and godliness (= true religion) is the highest expression as well as the true source of all genuine virtues.

In the Book of Common Prayer, the prayer for Trinity 22 begins: ‘Lord, we beseech thee to keep thy household, the Church, in continual godliness . . . devoutly given to serve thee in good works . . .’  And the prayer for the following Sunday is: ‘O God, our refuge, our strength, who art the author of all godliness . . .’

And in the preface to the 1876 edition of the Methodist Hymnbook we read these moving words:

Well does it become all the lovers of Scriptural Christianity, but especially the Methodists, to be thankful to God, the Author of every good gift for the endowments and labours of Charles Wesley, which were so long and faithfully consecrated to the promotion of vital and experimental religion, and by which the ‘power of godliness’ which it is the mission of Methodism to spread, has been alike exemplified and vindicated . . .

Here we encounter not only the evangelical use of ‘godliness’ as practical holiness and righteousness but also the specifically evangelical emphasis upon ‘vital and experimental religion’ – that is, religion that is truly experienced as the power and love of God in the heart.

So, in summary, we may say that spirituality is related to religion, devotion, piety and godliness as the road to London is related to London itself.  Spirituality is all about travelling in vital religion, true devotion, lively piety and the power of godliness to God in and with and through Jesus Christ.