To live a holy and godly life is the only way to true freedom and joy here in this life, and in the end to the greatest glory when Jesus returns. And those that are waiting for that Day can make it come sooner by striving even more to live holy and good lives.
“Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be? You must live holy and godly lives, waiting for and hastening the coming day of God … Therefore, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found by him in peace—pure and faultless … Therefore, dear friends, since you have been warned in advance, be on guard so that you aren't led off course into the error of sinful people, and lose your own safe position. ” 2 Peter 3:11-12,14,17 (CEB).
It is now more important than ever before to encourage each other to live holy and godly lives. It is our only salvation. Most people want to do anything except live holy and godly, and they will perish as a result.
Love what He loves and hate what He hates
To fear God, or to live holy means staying far away from everything that has to do with sin and impurity. Only the love of Christ can separate us so radically from sin, and only in this love will we not be put to shame at His coming. If we love Him, then we will hate what He hates and love what He loves. No one should have any doubt about this when they read the Bible.
Timothy had followed Paul's teaching and life and was exhorted to train himself to be godly. We also should follow the example of Jesus' and the apostles' life as well as the lives of the other saints and God-fearing people—not study them on a human level, but follow them in spirit and in truth.
What is a godly life?
What is a godly life, or the fear of God? “To fear the LORD is to hate evil. I hate pride, arrogance, evil behavior, and twisted speech.” Proverbs 8:13 (GW). A godly life is fellowship with the Lord and to hate what He hates.
A godly life, or the fear of God, makes us firm and unshakable so that we do not take part in the ways of the ungodly and lose the security of our firm faith. In our time, ungodliness rules over the world as never before. People are deceived and deceive others. Everything is leading toward destruction and lawlessness. People are seeking a freedom that does not exist and instead of becoming free, they are getting caught up in more and more chaos and misery, and the end of all this misery will be the Antichrist, the lawless one.
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, ’I will never leave you; I will never abandon you.’” Hebrews 13:5 (GNT).
It looks like there will be times of prosperity before Jesus returns. People will build and plant, eat and drink, marry and give in marriage until the day when Jesus returns. The love of money makes people blind to the true and eternal treasures. In Noah's days, as well as in Lot's days, people were led astray by earthly things, and they perished. It was always just a few who were saved. Let us be wholeheartedly along with the few who strive to live holy and godly. Then we will not be put to shame when Jesus returns.
