Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Holy conversation & godliness

2 Peter 3:10-13

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. [Seeing] then [that] all these things shall be dissolved, what manner [of persons] ought ye to be in [all] holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Well what a fantastic Scripture for the final post on the New Testament's use of eusebeia - one that indeed deals with finality itself. I love discussing the "end-times" so to speak, but I believe these verses speak for themselves.
The day of the Lord is coming in a sudden and dramatic manner and we ought to take note of this fact and prepare ourselves in those things which will not be swept away in this awesome event.
Those things being in this case "holy conversation" and godliness. Holy conversation actually refers to much more than speech, but is closer in meaning to a general application towards all communication and conduct. So in all our way of life and dealings with people and situation, we are to have a mind for holiness. This is very complimentary to our examination of eusebeia as a concept of living out the correct attitudes and actions towards God in reverence.
It is with this correct attitude and focus that we can look past the terrible destruction of the heavens and elements to the hope of new creation full of righteousness, where the godly life can be lived out in perfection.

We hope you've enjoyed exploring these foundational Scriptures that deal with our topic of godliness/eusebeia. As time progresses we aim to look both at the Scriptures in more detail and also tackle issues relating to godliness and (post)modern society. May we all go forward in strengthening our devotion in love and reverence...

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