(I Tim. 3:14-16)
The Apostle Paul closes this
portion of his epistle by definitely stating that his reason for writing
"these things" is that Timothy might know how one ought to behave
oneself in the House of God.
We are told that the House of
God is "the Church (or Assembly) of the living God." It is no longer
a building of material stones, as in the Old Testament days, but a company of
"living stones" — believers. It is formed of all believers living on
earth at any given moment. No local assembly is ever called the House of God.
Further, it is the Assembly of
the living God. The God who dwells in the midst of His people is not
like the dead idols that men worship, that can neither see nor hear. That our
God is living is a truth of blessed but solemn importance, but one we can
easily forget. Later, the Apostle tells us that we can "both labor and
suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God" (in the tenth verse
of the fourth chapter).
The living God is a God that
delights to support and bless His people. Nevertheless, if the holiness that
becomes His House is not maintained, God may make manifest that He is the
living God in solemn governmental dealings as he did with Ananias and Sapphira,
who experienced the truth of the words that "it is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10:31).
Moreover, we learn that the
House of God is "the pillar and ground (lit. "base") of the
truth" (I Tim. 3:15). The "pillar" presents the thought of
witness; the "base," that which supports. The House of God is not said
to be the truth, but the "pillar," or witness of the truth. Christ on
earth was "the truth" (John 14:6). Again, we read that "Thy Word
is truth" (John 17:17). However much the Assembly may have failed in its
responsibilities, the fact remains that as established of God upon earth, it is
the witness and support of the truth. God has no other witness on the earth.
It is important to remember that
the Assembly is not said to teach the truth, but to witness to the truth that
is already found in the Word of God. Nor can the Assembly claim authority to
decide what is truth. The Word is the truth, and carries its own authority.
Seeing then that the Assembly is
the House of God—the living God—and the witness and support of the truth, how
important that we should know how to behave ourselves in the House of God. With
a view to godly behavior the Apostle speaks of "the mystery of
godliness" or, the secret of right behavior.
One has written of this passage:
"This is often quoted and interpreted as if it spoke of the mystery of the
Godhead, or the mystery of Christ’s Person. But it is the mystery of godliness,
or the secret by which all real godliness is produced; the divine spring of all
that can be called piety in man" (J.N.D.). The secret of godliness lies in
the knowledge of God manifested in and through the Person of Christ. Thus
in this beautiful passage we have Christ presented as making God known to men
and angels. In Christ, God was manifest in the flesh. The absolute holiness of
Christ was seen in that He was justified in the Spirit. We are justified in the
death of Christ; He was sealed and anointed altogether apart from death—the
proof of His intrinsic holiness. Then, in Christ, as Man, God was seen of
angels. In Christ He was made known to, and believed on in the world. Finally,
the heart of God is made known by the present position of Christ in the glory.
All this is spoken of as
"the mystery of godliness" because these things are not known to the
unbeliever. Such indeed can appreciate the outward conduct that flows from
godliness, or piety, but the unbeliever cannot know the secret spring of
godliness. That secret is known only to the godly, and the secret lies in the
knowledge of God; and the knowledge of God has been revealed in Christ to the
believer.