Reckless

By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. 1 Timothy 3:16 NASB

Godliness – A lot of trouble occurs when theological constructs get in the way of linguistic groupings. Take the Greek group euseb-, for example. In this verse, the word eusebeias is translated “godliness,” but even the TDNT notes, “Except in the Pastorals and 2 Peter, the euseb– group never refers in the NT to Christian faith and life.”^[1]   Foerster goes on the say, “In this regard the NT follows the OT, sensing that eusébeia relates to divinity rather than to God and that it implies a moralistic view of conduct,”^[2] and follows with “Christian eusébeia is not moralistic, for it is rooted in the Christ event (1 Tim. 3:16). It is not just outward worship, nor a mere concept of God, nor a virtue, nor an ideal. Over against a Gnosticizing asceticism that regards creation as bad and dissolves its orders, true eusébeia, born of faith, covers everyday conduct in honoring God as Creator and Redeemer, . . .”^[3]

What are we to conclude? In this Pastoral letter from Paul, eusebeia is about the mystery of a way of life, a manner of conducting oneself so that the Messiah is revealed in one’s actions. Notice that Foerster rightly regards this as a first Century expression of what it means to be divine, but that is not the same as what it means to be YHVH. The Messiah reveals what true divinity is all about, namely, how one lives! Because we are the products of 2000 years of another definition of divine, we make the mistake of thinking that Paul, an orthodox Jew, is speaking about the Messiah as YHVH, but neither the culture or the language really supports this. What Paul says is that Yeshua was revealed in the flesh as the walking, living, breathing representative of the character of YHVH, was vindicated in his claims by the Spirit (the resurrection, as Paul notes in Romans), was seen by men and angels, proclaimed among the people groups of the Mediterranean world and taken up in glory (as was Elijah). Does Paul say anything here that could not be explained entirely in orthodox Jewish context of the first century? If not, then why the translation of eusebeias as “godliness,” unless, of course, with Foerster, we realize that “godliness” is not a statement about ontology but rather a recognition of morality.

Why is this such a great mystery, according to Paul? Perhaps it’s simply because no one expected it to come about in this way. Paul uses a word, mysterion, that has little application in both the LXX and the Tanakh. In fact, even in Rabbinic Judaism the word was rare until after the destruction of the Temple, and Paul clearly wrote this letter before that event. Why does Paul choose this infrequent word? Because he is borrowing a concept from Greek philosophy. Mysterion was a word about the hidden agenda of God. But now this agenda is plain for all to see because it is made evident in the Messiah. Now that the life of Yeshua is past tense, men are able to connect the dots and recognize what God was doing. It is no longer mystery. But it was once. Once it was the greatest of all hidden agendas since no one actually saw how God would pull it off. Perfect hindsight is the essence of Hebrew prophecy, and Paul has the privilege of writing about his hindsight understanding. It isn’t a mystery to us, but perhaps if you can put yourself in the shoes of Paul’s audience, you might have a greater appreciation for what he has just written. And then you will realize that the unveiling of the Messiah is the greatest solved mystery the world has ever seen.

Topical Index: godliness, eusebeia, mystery, mysterion, Messiah, 1 Timothy 3:16

^[1] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (1012). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.

^[2] Ibid.

^[3] Ibid.