A Godly Man Is a “Gospeled” Man

 1 Timothy 4:6–16

⁶ If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in
the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. ⁷ Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; ⁸ for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. ⁹ The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. ¹⁰ For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

¹¹ Command and teach these things. ¹² Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. ¹³ Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. ¹⁴ Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. ¹⁵ Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. ¹⁶ Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

A godly man is not a man who has merely cleaned up his life, but a man who has been captured and animated by the gospel — and the gospel is the greatest thing in the cosmos. The gospel is a person, and His name is Jesus Christ.

The Question Every Man Is Asking

A question resonates in every man's mind, whether he ever says it out loud or not. It is not "How do I make more money?" It is not "How do I get ahead?" It is not even "How do I keep my family together?" The question is this: How do I become a godly man?

Every man has some picture in his head of what that might look like. Maybe it is a grandfather who prayed at the table. Maybe it is a pastor. Maybe it is a man in this church whose life you quietly admire. And alongside that picture, most of us carry a private list — a list of things we think we need to do, or stop doing, to get there. Read your Bible more. Pray more. Be more patient. Get your temper under control. Stop looking at what you shouldn't be looking at.

Now, none of those things are bad. But here is the problem. If we think godliness is the total of our efforts to improve our behavior, then godliness becomes a ladder, and every man is somewhere on it, and none of us is at the top. And the man at the bottom of the ladder looks up at the man near the top and thinks, I could never be him. And the man near the top looks down and quietly thinks, If they knew me, they wouldn't be impressed.

That is not godliness. That is performance. And performance will either make you proud, or it will crush you — but it will never make you godly.

So let me say the thing I want you to remember from reading this, and then let's spend the rest of our time unpacking it:

A godly man is a “gospeled” man. And the gospel - good news of Jesus Christ - is yet profoundly the greatest thing in the cosmos.

1. Godliness Is Not Achieved; It Is Received

Look at how Paul talks to Timothy. In 1 Timothy 4:6, Paul writes, "If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed."

Notice the order. Paul does not say, "Timothy, if you train hard enough, you will become a good servant." He says Timothy is already a servant of Christ Jesus and has already been trained in the words of the faith. The training Paul describes is not Timothy climbing toward God. Instead, it is Timothy being shaped by what he has already received.

This is the whole difference between religion and the gospel. Every other system in the world, every other approach to manhood, says: do this, and you will become that. The gospel says: this has been done for you, and now you live in the reality of what you already are.

Paul goes on in verse 10 and says something remarkable: "For to this end we toil and strive, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe." Paul toils. Paul strives. Paul works harder than anyone. But his hope is not in his work, trying to save himself by earning God’s favor. His hope is set on the sovereign, grace-giving God alone who saves. The labor flows from his God-given salvation; he does not earn or merit it.

Here is why this matters so much for us as men. If godliness is something you achieve, then your standing before God rises and falls with your performance this week. You had a good week — you read your Bible every morning, you were patient with your kids, you didn't lose your temper in traffic. You feel close to God. You had a bad week — you snapped at your wife, you wasted hours you'll never get back, you gave in to the thing you swore you were done with. You feel far from God. And so your whole spiritual life becomes a roller coaster, and you are exhausted.

But if godliness is something you receive, then your standing before God is anchored entirely outside of you —to Jesus Christ and what He has done for you. Having good days or good weeks doesn’t make God love you more. Your bad days or weeks don't make Him love you less. And that is what finally frees a man actually to grow, because he is no longer growing to earn anything. He is growing because he has been given everything.

A godly man is a “gospeled” man. You cannot become godly by trying harder. You become godly when the Good News captures you and animates you, making you truly alive.

2. The Gospel Is the Greatest Thing in the Cosmos

Now let me press on this, because I don't want you to hear "the gospel" as a word you already know and therefore stop listening. The good news of Jesus Christ is not one item on a list of Christian things. It is not the entry-level lesson you graduate past on your way to deeper things. It is the greatest thing in the cosmos.

Think about what the gospel actually claims. It claims that the God who spoke the universe into existence — who hung the stars and set the oceans in their place — looked at a race of rebels – who are guilty of cosmic treason against the thrice-holy God - who had turned their backs on Him. And yet instead of wiping us out, He came for us. The eternal Son stepped into time and space (that He created) and took on human flesh. He lived the life we were supposed to live but didn't. He died the death we deserved to die. He rose from the grave, defeating sin and death and hell, and He did it all so that men like you and me — idolaters - men with tempers, and lusts and pride and fear — could be forgiven, adopted, and made new.

That is not a small thing. That is the hinge on which all of history turns. That is the greatest news that has ever been announced in the history of the world, and it is greater than anything else in the universe, because everything else in the universe will one day pass away — and this will not. Your career will end. Your house will be sold. Your body will wear out. The gospel will still be standing.

Frankly, you can spend your whole life around the gospel and never be gripped, saturated, and transformed by it. It's possible to know the words, to know the songs, to speak Christianese, to know the right answers — and still have a heart that has never actually been amazed, ravaged by the grace and love of God. You can be near the gospel without being radically transformed by it.

Paul says in verse 15, "Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress." The word there is about being in it — soaked in it, saturated by it. Not skimming it and not visiting it on Sunday. Immersed.

So let me ask you plainly: When was the last time the gospel actually moved you? Not informed you. Not reminded you. Moved you — so that you sat there and thought, I cannot believe that is true, and I cannot believe it is true for me. If it has been a long time, that doesn't mean you have matured past the gospel. It is a sign that you have drifted from it.

3. You Cannot Be Godly Without Knowing, Understanding, and Appreciating the Gospel

Here is the heart of it. A man cannot be godly unless he knows the gospel, understands the gospel, and appreciates the gospel — and the gospel is Jesus Christ – His person and His work.

Not a concept. Not a formula. Not a set of propositions you could recite on a test. Jesus Christ Himself. The gospel is not information about a person; it is a person. To know the gospel is to know Him.

You must know it. Not vaguely, not secondhand. You need to know what actually happened. You need to know who Jesus is, what He did, why He had to do it, and what it means for you. A man who cannot explain the gospel to his own children does not yet know it well enough.

You must understand it. Knowing facts is not the same as understanding them. Understanding means you see why it had to be this way — that a holy God cannot simply wave sin away, and that a holy God cannot simply ignore it, and that therefore the cross was not an overreaction but the only way. Understanding means you grasp that you were not a good man who needed a little help; you were a dead man who needed to be made alive by someone else’s righteousness and resurrection. Nothing but Jesus’ blood and righteousness!

And you must appreciate it. This is where so many of us fall short. We know it. We can explain it. But we are not thankful for it. We are not amazed by it. We treat the greatest news in the cosmos the way we treat a fire extinguisher. We’re glad it's there, hope we never need it, never think about it. And that is precisely why we are not godly. Godliness is not a personality trait; it is the overflow of a heart stunned by grace, a heart of stone turned into a heart of flesh.

Listen to what Paul says in verse 16: "Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers." The man who watches his life and the teaching — that is the man who is being shaped. And notice: it is the teaching that saves. The doctrine. The gospel. Not the man's willpower.

What This Looks Like on Monday

So what do you do with this? Let me give you three concrete things.

First, stop trying to be godly and start being “gospeled.” That is not a call to passivity. It calls you to reorder your life around the good news. Every morning this week, before you check your phone or look at your email, read one passage of Scripture that tells you who God is and what He has done. Not for information. For worship. Let the gospel hit you before the world does.

Second, preach the gospel to yourself, as you read Scripture aloud. When you sin this week — and you will — do not run from God. Run to Him. Say it plainly: Lord, I did that. I loved the sin more than You. I confess I sinned against. It was wrong. And You died for it. Thank You. The man who learns to do that stops pretending and starts growing.

Third, let the gospel shape how you lead at home. Your wife and children don't need a man who has it all together. They need a man who knows he doesn't, and who knows where to go to receive the grace he needs. Let them hear you repent. Let them hear you give thanks. Let them see that the greatest thing in your life is not your job, your truck, or your reputation — it is Jesus Christ.

Conclusion: The Greatest Thing in the Cosmos

Men, a godly man is a “gospeled” man. There is no other kind.

You cannot manufacture godliness by discipline. You cannot grit your teeth into it. You cannot fake your way into it. You become godly the same way you became a Christian in the first place — by being captured and animated, again and again, by the good news that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom you are the foremost.

And that news — that news is the greatest thing in the cosmos. It is greater than the stars. It is greater than every kingdom that has ever risen and fallen. It is greater than your best day and stronger than your worst. It will outlast the sun. This good news – this gospel – radiates in a bad news world – and it has a name – Jesus Christ!

So do not spend your life chasing lesser things when better things, a better world, a better future await you!. Do not spend your years trying to be a good man by your own strength, signaling virtues, pleasing others. Know the gospel. Understand the gospel. Appreciate the gospel. Immerse yourself in it until it saturates everything you are and all your aspirations and affections.

And then watch what God does with a man who has been “gospeled.”

 by Dave Brown, WACMM Director and Pastor-at-Large

 

 

What Happens When the Election is Over? How Should Christians Live?

What should our posture be as men of God after the November 3, 2026 election is over? 

How do we reflect Christ's love to our neighbors and friends? Here are five important postures:

1. Gratitude

This sounds counter-intuitive. Can we find something praiseworthy in a divisive, partisan season? Even if we will be grateful when we can stop getting hit with text messages, mailers, and TV ads, we can find room for gratitude that, unlike most people in human history, we even have a politics to complain about.

We can choose the people who hold public office and the policies they enact. We may wish our point of view had more influence or got more votes, but at least we have some measure of influence. Today, billions of people long for that kind of freedom. So we should thank God for the privilege of living in America, no matter who wins the election. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 urges us to “in everything, give thanks.” READ MORE

PLEASE NOTE: Would you like to explore some issues like: Are Christians obligated to vote? What about the statement "Lesser of Two Evils? How about "one issue" voting? What are our civic duties as Christians? Check out this very helpful article by Dr. Alfred Poirier HERE

Pursuing and Enjoying Sexual Purity

We live in a sexualized culture—a very, very sexualized culture. You already know that, of course. 

You can barely walk out your door or turn on a screen without seeing clear evidence of the fact. As Christians, we are always in danger of being swept along with the current of the culture around us. For that reason, I, like every other Christian, pursue sexual purity in my own heart and life. God calls us to nothing less. Thankfully, the Bible was written by people who also lived in sexualized cultures, and the wisdom they offer transcends the ages. (See, for example, Proverbs 7, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4, 1 Peter 1:15, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, John 4:16-18, and so on).

Sexual purity isn’t just avoiding what is evil; it’s pursuing and enjoying what is good.

Sexual purity has two components to it: the turning away and the turning toward, the stopping of one kind of behavior and the beginning of another. I have seen in my own life that I am never far from making the focus of sexual purity all of those negative commands: Don’t do this, don’t behave that way, don’t carry on that habit. And I think we sometimes send the message that if you simply stop all of those evil behaviors, you will be sexually pure. But sexual purity is also a positive command. In fact, I think we can say that it is foremost a positive command. Sexual purity isn’t just avoiding what is evil; it’s pursuing and enjoying what is good.

Sexual purity is not ultimately turning away from sin, but delighting in God’s gifts. The final purpose is not to stop pursuing the bad stuff, but to pursue and enjoy the good. Sexual purity is abstaining from immorality, forsaking the dirty novels, overcoming pornography, making that covenant with your eyes. These are all good and necessary. But sexual purity is so much more than that. It’s so much better than that. It’s so much more positive than that.

Sexual purity is pursuing your wife’s heart, mind, and body. Sexual purity is freely and joyfully making love to your husband. Sexual purity is relishing the memory of the last time and enjoying the anticipation of the next time. Sexual purity is teasing him about what’s to come. Sexual purity is allowing your eyes to linger and to feast upon her.

Husband, you aren’t sexually pure when you stop looking at porn, but when you love making love to your wife—when you treat her body with holiness and honor. Wife, you aren’t sexually pure when you forsake sexual temptation or sexual apathy, but when you participate in and enjoy sexual fulfillment with your husband.

Do you see it? Sexual purity is not ultimately about what to avoid, but what to pursue and what to enjoy. It’s about putting those old and ugly behaviors to death in order to free yourself to pursue the better ones. God wants to free you from sin so you can enjoy his gifts. God’s purity is a positive purity.

(A note for those who are single: God’s purity is a positive purity even for you who cannot enjoy the sexual relationship at this time. The commands to abstain from sexual immorality free you to the joy of obedience and to the blessings of obedience—the freedom experienced by Jesus who led a perfect and perfectly whole life without sex. I will write more about this on another occasion.)

by Tim Challies (born 1976) is a Canadian theologian, pastor, popular blogger, and bestselling author.

6 Reasons Why Christians Behave Badly

It’s not fun to be treated poorly by anyone, but why do people who are supposed to be loving, kind, and forgiving—yes, I’m referring to we Christians—behave badly? Here are six reasons:

1. Some people who claim to be Christians aren’t.

There are people who think they are Christians because they grew up in homes with parents who considered themselves Christians—and maybe even went to church regularly. Growing up in a Christian household doesn’t make a person a Christian. Just as the Pharisees saw themselves as more righteous than other people because of their heritage (Luke 3:8), some people think it is a matter of the family into which they are born when it comes to one’s standing before God.

Belonging to Christ is not a matter of heritage; rather, believers are declared righteous based on both Christ’s perfect sacrifice and perfect righteousness counted to them by God’s grace alone through faith alone. The new life within every believer comes from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, not from one’s family lineage.

2. All Christians are still sinners.

Even though Christians are hagios (holy; set apart; Col. 3:12) as God’s adopted children, they are also in the process of dying to the old self (mortification) and living unto God (vivification). This work of sanctification by God’s word and the Holy Spirit is a gift from God given to all believers.

Christians will not be free of their sinful flesh until they pass from this life. Growing in holiness is a lifelong process that is never complete in this life. The Heidelberg Catechism(opens in new tab) in question 114 summarizes the state of believers:

Q. Can those who are converted to God keep these commandments perfectly?

A. No, but even the holiest men, while in this life, have only a small beginning of this obedience; yet so, that with earnest purpose they begin to live not only according to some, but according to all the Commandments of God.

It is true that Christians can be selfish, thoughtless, mean, and rude—just like non-Christians. Christians, however, have God’s Word and the Holy Spirit working in their hearts to conform them to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18). Believers also struggle with laziness, lack of discipline, pride, and various temptations, like everyone else does.

Christians may not realize the harm they have caused to others, and this doesn’t excuse their sinful behavior. Yet, we must remember that all of us have acted wrongly at various times in life, and we need to forgive others—both Christians and non-Christians—as our heavenly Father has forgiven us.

3. Some Christians come off as “preachy” in their efforts to be helpful.

Christians do have a responsibility before God to stand up for and uphold what is right. Just because we may not like some aspect of God’s truth doesn’t mean that we don’t need to hear it. Still, sometimes Christians can wind up coming off as judgmental or having a “holier-than-thou” attitude.

What non-Christians need to hear most of all is the truth that all of us are sinners in need of a restored relationship with God through Jesus, and what they really need to be shown is the love of Christ.

When Christians recognize that they are sinners just like everyone else and their salvation rests completed on the finished work of Christ done on their behalf, they can better focus on loving others and sharing the good news of the gospel with them, instead of trying to “fix” people’s sinful behavior.

When the Holy Spirit takes up residence in the hearts of believers, he has promised to complete the work of conforming God’s children to the image of Christ (Phil. 1:6). Christians do need to hold fellow believers to account regarding their sin in a respectful and loving manner, while at the same time being careful not to add burdens to Christians that God never meant them to bear (Acts 15:10; Gal. 6:1-2).

4. Some Christians think it’s okay for them to sin since they are forgiven in Jesus.

Some Christians are wrongly taught that they can act however they want and that it’s okay because God will forgive them because of Jesus’ sacrifice for their sins. The technical name for this kind of thinking is antinomianism(opens in new tab). They don’t understand that there are duties and responsibilities to being a child of God, and believers must always seek to honor and obey their heavenly Father, even though they will do so imperfectly in this life (1 Cor. 6:20).

When the Holy Spirit indwells believers, he convicts them of their sin and leads them to repentance (John 16:8). When people choose to sin on a regular basis without any regard for God’s law, they are following their own way and not Christ.

5. Christians sometimes react sinfully when they experience misery in this world.

When Christians suffer due to various circumstances—including physical or emotional illness, broken relationships, the death of someone dear, abuse, and financial distress—they don’t always respond in a Christ-like manner. Sometimes the hurt is so great that they act out in confusion, despair, anger, and even emotionally or physically harmful behavior to others.

Christians also give in to sinful desires, even though they know they shouldn’t. This is why Jesus specifically tells his followers to pray to their heavenly Father, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13).

Because Christians continue to fight against sin in this life, it is critically important for them to be in regular fellowship with other believers in a local church where they can be cared for and nurtured by their pastor, elders, and deacons with proper oversight and receive the preached word, sacraments, and loving discipleship.

6. Some Christians are confused about their faith.

It is important to point out one other reason why many Christians don’t live out their faith very well at times. Since the high point of Protestant Reformation teaching in the late 1600s, there has been a decreasing focus on foundational doctrine and an increasing focus on experiential-based faith.

Without a core understanding of who Jesus is, why he came, and what he did (that no one else could do), believers can be confused about what their faith is and how to share and live it out daily. And that confusion can lead to poor behavior that turns off non-Christians from ever wanting to know more about Jesus.

Final Thoughts

It’s easy to get discouraged by certain Christians at times, but you likely know many kind-hearted, loving Christians as well. They would give the shirt off their backs for you, and it’s not because they are getting anything for it.

They want to share with you the love they have received from their heavenly Father in Christ. The old saying is true: Christians aren’t perfect, but they are forgiven. And God is growing them in holiness—even though it may be hard to tell at times!

Yet, there is one who never hurt anybody. This one loves the world so much that he gave his life so that you could be at peace with God. You can trust this person to save your soul, care for you always, and receive you into his kingdom. This person is no less than the Son of God. Jesus lived the perfect life and offered up his perfect body so that all who trust in him will live forever to the glory of God in perfect happiness as life was meant to be.

When you are tempted to write off Christianity because of Christians, remember that we live in a fallen world for the time being, and Christians live with the effects of the fall along with non-Christians.

God is not willing that any should perish (2 Pet. 3:9), and he is patiently gathering all those who will come rest in the arms of Jesus. And these beautiful arms stretched themselves out on a cross to die a horrible death because of God’s unfathomable love for us:

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13).

by Le Ann Trees is a widely published writer, editor, and speaker. She holds a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Westminster Seminary California and is managing editor of Beautiful Christian Life. 

Christians in Politics and On Social Media

It’s clear one of the big questions facing Christians and church leaders today is “How should we engage in politics?”

The more I’ve reflected on current debates, the more I’ve come to see that there is an even bigger, more vital question: “Who will we be?”

In terms of focus, the question of identity—“who we are”—must precede the question of function—“how we live.” Unless we develop Spirit-filled character and virtue, as those who claim the name of Jesus Christ and seek his way, we’re bound to stumble in our engagement. Who we are, in some measure, determines the path of engagement, the way we live as salt and light in a fallen world.

I’m less worried about the right way to engage, and I’m more concerned about the right heart of the engager.

Lately, when someone asks me about how best to engage in debate on Facebook or how best to be a truthful witness on Twitter, I respond less with the “dos and don’ts” of social media etiquette or the good, bad, and best practices. Instead, I turn to questions of personal devotion, to prayer, to church membership, and what one’s Bible reading is like.

“Who are you?” is the bigger question, and there’s a second just like it: “Who do you want to become?”

Apart from a vision for who we are and what we’re becoming, we will be blind to the adverse effects that engaging politically could have on our souls. We’ll deceive ourselves, thinking we’re fighting the good fight, engaging in online battles, patting ourselves on the back for our righteous stances, our sick burns that “own” the opposition, while inside we shrink into brittle, shallow, hollowed-out ghosts, following every wave of political controversy, as our methods of engagement change us in ways we don’t anticipate.

To be calm in a time of turbulence, to be single-minded in a season of instability, to retain perspective in a moment of hysteria, to be a steady ship in choppy seas, to be at peace in a world of anxiety—this kind of leadership will not come from arriving at the “right” answer to the question of how best to engage politically. It will only come about as part of an ongoing process of developing our souls and disciplining our desires and discerning faithfulness in a world gone crazy. It will require a deep and abiding presence in the Word of God and in prayer for our world. Meditation, not scrolling. Deep reading, not scanning. Careful attention, not distraction. It will require the Lord’s work in the Lord’s way, as Francis Schaeffer famously preached.

I fear that far too many of us have a profound awareness of what’s happening on Twitter or Facebook but a superficial understanding of God’s eternal Word.

The incentives of our times push against the inward soul-work necessary to be a thoughtful (literally “full of thought”) and wise presence in a world of clanging cymbals around every controversy.

The microwave impresses us because it’s fast. You can warm up a Hot Pocket for dinner, but you can’t enjoy a microwavable roast. Which is why now, just as in the past, we who follow Jesus must prioritize the crockpot and the oven. In a world of Hot-Pocket hot takes that emphasize instant wins and immediate
results, the savory feast stands out—food impossible to enjoy apart from time and attention, as the fruits of holiness seep into our souls, forming us into the image of the Christ we’re called to represent.

When we do engage in the public arena, when we do speak up and speak out on various issues—as indeed we must, if we’re to be faithful to the gospel in this moment—we must do so in ways that stand out from our neighbors, and perhaps even from fellow church members. We must display wisdom that comes through in our carefulness, our love, our discernment, and, yes, our restraint. We must exhibit a calm that shows up in our demeanor, a joyfulness amid conflict, a boldness matched by graciousness.

We don’t need more soldiers running haphazardly through minefields, whacking aimlessly at every potential obstacle; we need the gift of steady warriors who know this battle is not against flesh and blood, who can discern the lasting from the ephemeral, who see dangers coming from multiple directions, and who maintain a core of conviction and kindness and of substance in a world of shallowness.

How should we engage? First ask the question, “Who will we be?”

by Trevin Wax - vice president of resources and marketing at the North American Mission Board and a visiting professor at Cedarville University. A former missionary to Romania, Trevin is a regular columnist at The Gospel Coalition and has contributed to The Washington Post, World, and Christianity Today. He has taught courses on mission and ministry at Wheaton College and has lectured several times on Christianity and culture at Wycliffe Hall of Oxford University. He is a founding editor of The Gospel Project, has served as publisher for the Christian Standard Bible, and is currently a fellow for The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics. He is the author of multiple books