The Mystery Of Godliness

Ever since the fall, man’s nature has been inclined toward evil; and while he still has the power of choice, he cannot in his own strength break with sin, change his nature, or live a godly life. The Bible declares: “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” Jeremiah 13:23. Yea, “he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.” Proverbs 5:22. The Apostle Paul realized this when in his struggle against the evil of his nature he cried out. “The good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.... O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Romans 7:19, 24.FAFA 193.2

There is only one who can deliver man from sin, and He is abundantly able and always willing to do it. “Thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins,” and His gospel is “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” Matthew 1:21; Romans 1:16. Here is abundant power available to all who will believe and accept it, so that there is no excuse for continuing in known sin. And sin brings us no happiness, for it always carries with it a trail of woe. God’s Father-heart of infinite love has been wrung with anguish for the sufferings of man, and He has settled it that sin with its terrible consequences shall never be permitted to enter His eternal kingdom; therefore our only hope of entering heaven is to part company with evil.FAFA 193.3

But as man cannot in his own strength rid himself of sin, his only hope is to let Christ take charge of his life. When Christ dwells in our hearts by His Holy Spirit, He changes our aspirations, our likes, and our dislikes. Sinful habits, which we in vain have tried to break, fall off as the leaves of autumn, and we receive the power of His love to conquer sin and live a happy Christian life. (John 15:5; Romans 8:10-13) And while Christ would gladly do this work for everyone, for He wants “all men to be saved,” yet He will not use force to accomplish it, but is patiently standing at the door of every heart asking permission to come in and supply the needed power to conquer sin. (1 Timothy 2:3, 4; Revelation 3:20) Sad to say, most people refuse Him admittance. “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” John 1:12.FAFA 194.1

Here, then, is the secret of victory in Christian life: “the mystery of godliness,” “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” 1 Timothy 3:16; Colossians 1:27. Then we are not left alone in our struggles, for He works in us “mightily” (v. 29), but He always wants our co-operation: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12, 13. By this co-operation of the human and the divine such marvelous changes are wrought in human lives and such Christlike character is developed that angels marvel at it, and even worldlings are forced to recognize in the change from sin to godliness a mysterious power with which they are unacquainted.FAFA 194.2

The life of Jesus on earth was a living demonstration of this mystery. He combined in His own person both the human and the divine natures. “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh.” 1 Timothy 3:16.FAFA 194.3