SPECIAL TOPIC: GODLINESS

This is a pivotal term in the Pastoral Letters (i.e., 1 Timothy; 2 Timothy; Titus). It refers to both the doctrinal and daily lifestyle implications of the gospel (cf. 1 Tim. 3:16). It describes not the exceptional, but the expected. It is a compound term from "good" (eu) and "worship" (sebomai). True worship is daily living by means of proper thinking (cf. 1 Tim. 4:16a). Notice the number of times this word is used in the Pastoral Letters:

1. NOUN (eusebeia), 1 Tim. 2:2; 3:16; 4:7,8; 6:3,5,6,11; 2 Tim. 3:5; Titus 1:1
2. ADVERB (eusebes), 2 Tim. 3:12; Titus 2:12
3. VERB (eusebeo), 1 Tim. 5:4
4. The related term theosebeia, 1 Tim. 2:10
5. The negated term (ALPHA PRIVATIVE, i.e. asebeia), 2 Tim. 2:16; Titus 2:12

Copyright © 2014 Bible Lessons International