1 Timothy 1:1-20 • Godliness Flows from Knowing Christ-and His Grace

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Christianity is Christ. It’s not a lifestyle. It’s not rules of conduct. It’s not an organization. Christianity is a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. It is essential that we know who He truly is and discover that the treasure we have in Jesus Christ is worth devoting our lives to Him. In the last article, we learned that 1 Timothy and Titus are full of fashion facts. To adorn ourselves with godliness, we need to dress ourselves with truth that strengthens our devotion to God. This is post #3 in the 1 Timothy & Titus blog series. In this article, we will see that godliness flows from knowing Christ and His amazing grace.

The Need for Love and Protection

Several years ago, a homeless tortoise shell cat sat across the street, looking at our house. Two months later, she came to our back door and looked inside. We opened it, put out some treats and milk for her, and after 3 weeks she decided to come inside & stay. We gave her a new name—Pokey. We gave her love and protection from the scary world outside. She found in us a treasure that was worth more than the substitutes she had while looking in from the cold outside. It was worth committing her life to, and believe me, she fully enjoyed it!

Have you felt a need for love and protection from a scary world like that? I did. Jesus Christ took me in more than 40 years ago. As a college girl nibbling on some treats given to me by a campus ministry, one night I recognized the treasure Jesus offered to me—a relationship with Himself and all that comes with it. And I jumped right in. God adopted me and brought me into a place of blessing and love and acceptance. It’s been so worth it.

Two thousand years ago, God took in a rebel named Paul, gave the treasure of Himself and sent him out to invite others to receive that treasure also. Some of those who responded lived in the region of Ephesus on the west coast of modern Turkey. That’s where Timothy was when he received this letter from Paul. Many who heard the good news went back to their towns and planted churches all over western Turkey, multiplying Paul’s ministry. But there was trouble in the church of Ephesus. Paul left Timothy there to keep it on course and wrote the letter to him called 1 Timothy. In that letter, Paul reminded everyone that the treasure they received in Jesus Christ was greater than anything they could substitute for Him.

Christianity is Christ!

Christianity is Christ. It’s not a lifestyle. It’s not rules of conduct. It’s not a society of people who are joined together by the sprinkling or covering of water. Christianity is a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you have heard the good news of the gospel and believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who gave Himself for your sins, you have eternal life just by believing in Him as your Savior. But more than salvation, Jesus Christ calls us into a close relationship with Himself as sisters, brothers, and friends. And He shows us how to adorn ourselves with godliness. All of this is wrapped up in the Gospel message.

For a clear explanation of the gospel and how we enter into it by faith, read the blog, “The Gospel: God’s Cure for Our Fatal Sin Disease.”

Simply put, faith is a full commitment to Christ. God acted. We are to respond to His action by saying yes to faith in Jesus Christ and jumping into the new life God has for us. Instead of believing in your own ability to earn God’s favor, you now trust in what Christ has done for you. That’s biblical faith. That is what Paul did. And it is why he was devoted to the God who saved him from himself.

Why Paul Was Devoted to God

In the first letter he wrote to his close friend Timothy, Paul described how he had experienced God’s grace in his own life. My favorite part of 1 Timothy chapter 1 are the words Paul wrote about God’s grace to him. It is because of God’s grace that Paul could definitively say, “To live is Christ.”

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 1:12-14)

Shown mercy because of grace

The Apostle Paul looked at his own history, which was filled with horrid behavior, filled with what many would consider unforgivable deeds. You may have thought of your own life in that way. You can finish the phrase, “even though I was once a…” with the characteristics that defined your life before Christ.

God chose to extend His grace to Paul and show him mercy. Not just a little bit of grace. Abundant grace. Overflowing grace. Paul did not deserve anything but punishment and shame. God’s grace overcame that.

God’s grace is His undeserved favor abundantly poured out on those who desperately need Him.

Grace is God giving favor to someone, not because they are good enough to deserve it but because His love chooses to do so. God chooses to have His grace overflowing to every believer from the moment of salvation. And we continue to receive God’s abundant grace throughout our lives on earth.

Paul had not opposed Jesus Christ and His church because he wanted to dishonor God. Paul believed he was serving God by persecuting Christians. He was mistaken about who Jesus Christ was. “For this reason,” God had mercy on him. Instead of getting punishment, God showed him mercy. Mercy is not getting what we deserve.

Overflowing grace

Paul exclaimed that God’s grace is so abundant that it’s like a vessel overflowing or a stream overflowing a waterfall into a pool below (like the picture at the beginning of this blog). It covers and fills whatever is around and beneath it. What a beautiful word picture! Abundant grace. No one is more guilty than Paul. If God poured out His grace abundantly on Paul, He does that on me and you as well.

You received this same grace overflowing to your life the moment you trusted in Jesus Christ. And God’s grace is overflowing to your life every day because you are in Christ.

An example of Christ’s immense patience

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:15-16)

Paul was bold and forceful. Jesus made him wait sometimes, change directions, and live with discomfort and danger to teach him how to rely on God more than on himself. Jesus let him sin long enough to make it stick in his memory and confirm the mercy and grace shown to Paul was God’s gift that was not deserved.

Paul’s life was changed from the inside out. He became a beacon of Christ’s life shining through his own life. Christ displayed Himself through Paul’s life because grace overflowed into his life. Paul understood God’s grace so well because he desperately needed it for life. He firmly believed this truth: Christ is everything we need for life.

Read the blog, “Acts 8-12 • Paul, A Misdirected Life Transformed” to see how Christ took Paul’s misdirected life and transformed his character traits to be something Jesus could use.

Love and gratitude

Remember that our definition of godliness is “devotion to God expressed in a life that is pleasing to Him.” Godliness begins in the heart and mind (devotion to God) then is lived out in words and behavior (expressed in a life that is pleasing to Him). We adorn ourselves with godliness for God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ because of our love for them and gratitude for what they have done for our salvation and everything we have been given for life now and in the future.

Through getting to know Him and what He has done for us, we discover the wonderful truth that the treasure we have in Jesus Christ is worth devoting our lives to Him. And our devotion to God grows as we learn how much we can trust Him.

Devotion to God Grows through Trusting Him

How do you learn about trusting God? You learn it through trusting Him with something. Some need. Some situation. Some relationship. Making decisions.

Two aspects of trusting God

There are two aspects to trusting God.

First aspect: Trusting God while you do your part His way. To do your part His way involves your knowing what His way is. That comes from knowing what He says. That comes from reading and studying the Bible. You trust that His way is the best way so you are willing to step forward and do your part His way. Sometimes that involves just waiting.

Second aspect: Trusting Him to do His part alongside what you are doing. You have to trust God to work in the background of life and to make things happen in those areas over which you have no direct access. Only God can change the heart and mind of someone. And, God orchestrates situations in unexpected ways. You have to trust Him to work and be patient to let Him do so.

As you experience those two aspects of trusting God, you get to know Him better.

For more understanding of the two aspects of trusting God, read the blog, “Jeremiah 29:1-14 • The Two Aspects of Trusting God.”

Wanting to please Him

Knowing God and trusting Him increase our devotion to Him, our loyal love for Him. And that leads to expressing our devotion in a life that pleases Him—a life of godliness. Godliness flows from knowing Christ.

Four times in 1 Timothy chapter 1, Paul expressed his devotion to Christ Jesus our Lord. And he finished telling his story with these magnificent words expressing how much he knows His Lord and is devoted to Him:

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever! Amen. (1 Timothy 1:17)

Our sovereign king is the only God, the only one deserving of honor and glory, and the one who deserves our love, gratitude, and obedience to Him. Truth about God leads to wanting to live your life to please Him. That is why false teaching is so dangerous. It not only leads you away from truth. It also makes you more interested in pleasing yourself rather than God. The flesh takes over.

The treasure you and I have in Jesus Christ is more powerful and valuable than anything you could substitute for Him. After chasing everything the world has to offer, nothing is more satisfying than Him. The way to overcome any adversity and suffering is to stay devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ is everything you need for abundant life. He is the answer to your specific needs and meets those needs in your life as you trust in Him to do it. Your life will also be changed from the inside out. Christ’s life will shine through your life as you learn to live dependently on Him and His grace overflowing to you.

You can say with your heart to Him, “My treasure in you, Lord Jesus, is more powerful and valuable than anything I could substitute for You. Please confirm that in my heart.” Then, watch what He does!

In the next post, we will see how important loyalty to God is to adorning yourself with godliness.

Let Jesus satisfy your heart with such love for God that you will want to live a life that pleases Him.

All of the above information is covered in the Adorn Yourself with Godliness Bible Study covering 1 Timothy and Titus in the New Testament.

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