1 Timothy 3:14-16

In the New Testament the Church has many names/titles/pictures.  It is a flock, the people of God, a temple of living stones, the bride of Christ, branches in a vineyard, a holy nation, a royal priesthood and the body of Christ.  Note three additional labels that fit a Church (local or universal) from today’s passage:

·        The house of God.  The Greek term can refer either to the home or those who live in the home.  Our context (1 Tim. 3:4,5,12) indicates it refers to the people of the household: the brothers and sisters, parents and children (like Paul a father to Timothy).  Further, we are stewards or household servants, given something to dispense to the other family members.  It is a great picture of the Church.

·        The Church of the living God.  Church means an assembly of people called out from where they are.  We have been called out of the world by God, the living God.  We live because God lives.  If you review the titles for the Church listed above you will note that every picture of the Church involves life in some way.  A local church must be organized, but it is nevertheless not an organization but an organism, a living entity (cf. Eph. 4:16).

·        The pillar and ground of the truth.  The Church deals in truth, in sound doctrine or teaching.  The Church provides a setting where people can be grounded in the truth so that they can go out into the world and show that truth in a living way to the world around them.  Having been grounded, we then hold up the truth for all to see, just as a pillar set on a solid foundation displays the building for all to see.

Paul is giving us truths to help us live as God’s family, as living expressions of sound doctrine.  How can we live up to this calling?  The answer is in the mystery of godliness.  In the Pastoral Epistles godliness is a term that refers to the entirety of our lives.  The secret or mystery for living this life is seen in the lines of what may have been a hymn in the New Testament Church.  What do those lines say in v16?  They speak to us of the earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ …

o   The Word who became flesh.

o   Who was declared righteous by the Spirit (Rom. 1:4).

o   Who was observed in His earthly life by wondering angels, angels wondering how God would fulfill His purpose and plan.

o   Who was preached among the Gentiles, He being the focus of the gospel.

o   Who was believed on in the world, the only Object of saving faith.

o   Who gloriously ascended to the Father’s right hand.

What you see here is the full life of Christ, from birth to ascension.  And how is that the mystery of godliness?  As Paul says elsewhere, we are reconciled by the death of Christ and saved by His life (Rom. 5:10).  We have died, yet we live, yet it is not us but Christ living in us (Gal. 2:20).  Godliness is yielding ourselves as living sacrifices to the living God who has met the righteous requirements of God’s law.  In this way that righteousness is fulfilled in us as well (Rom. 8:3-4).