Community Influence On Godly Living And Worldliness
The concept of community influence on godly living and worldliness is deeply rooted in biblical teachings and Christian tradition. According to 1 Timothy 2:2, believers are encouraged to live peaceful and quiet lives, displaying the beauty of the Good News and allowing the church's mission to proceed without unnecessary complications [7]. This emphasis on communal living is not limited to personal piety but extends to the broader community, where the benefits and responsibilities of a relationship with God are realized (Exodus 12:6) [4].
In the view of the early Church Fathers, the distinction between the heavenly and earthly cities is crucial in understanding the influence of community on godly living. Augustine notes that the celestial city knows that one God only is to be worshipped, and that to Him alone is due that service which the Greeks call latreia [3]. This singular devotion to God is contrasted with the earthly city's division of allegiance among various gods.
The New Testament underscores the importance of unity among believers as a witness to the world. Jesus prays that his disciples may be one, just as He and the Father are one, that the world may believe that the Father has sent Him (John 17:21) [2]. This unity is not merely a human achievement but is rooted in the indwelling Spirit of the Father and the Son, which knits believers into a living unity.
The practice of godliness is also closely tied to the community's influence. According to John Gill, godliness encompasses all the graces of the Spirit, including faith, hope, love, and fear, and is characterized by outward worship and acts of holiness in life and conversation (1 Timothy 6:6) [1]. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit are seen as essential to the community's life and witness (2 Corinthians 13:14) [5].
In Reformed theology, the influence of the Holy Spirit is understood as crucial to the community's godly living. Charles Hodge describes the gratia gratum faciens as the influence of the Spirit that renews or renders gracious, and habitual grace as the Holy Spirit dwelling in believers [6].
The interplay between community influence and godly living is thus a complex and multifaceted concept, rooted in biblical teachings and developed through Christian tradition. As believers live out their faith in community, they are shaped by the influences of the Spirit, Scripture, and one another, and are called to display the beauty of the Good News to the world.
Sources
- 1 Timothy (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Timothy 6:6: But godliness with contentment is great gain. By "godliness" is not meant any particular grace, but all the graces of the Spirit of God; as faith, hope, love, fear, &c. the whole of internal religion, as it shows itself in outward worship, and in all acts of holiness of life and conversation; and which the doctrine that is according to godliness teaches and engages to; and this is gain, very great gain indeed. A man possessed of true godliness is a gaining, thriving, man: such as are godly, or truly gracious, they are come into good and happy circumstances, and are ”
- John (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on John 17:21: that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they may be one in us--The indwelling Spirit of the Father and the Son is the one perfect bond of union, knitting up into a living unity, first all believers amongst themselves; next, this unity into one still higher, with the Father and the Son. (Observe, that Christ never mixes Himself up with His disciples as He associates Himself with the Father, but says I in THEM and THEY in US). that the world may believe that thou hast sent me--sentest me. So the grand impression upon th”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 2: Augustine — City of God, Christian Doctrine — CHAP. 17.--WHAT PRODUCES PEACE, AND WHAT DISCORD, BETWEEN THE HEAVENLY AND EARTHLY CITIES. (part 2): to another, oil to another, the woods to another, money to another, navigation to another, wars and victories to another, marriages to another, births and fecundity to another, and other things to other gods: and as the celestial city, on the other hand, knew that one God only was to be worshipped, and that to Him alone was due that service which the Greeks call <greek>latreia</greek>, and which can be given only to a god, it has come t”
- Exodus (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Exodus 12:6: 12:6 the whole assembly of the community: Both the benefits and the responsibility of a relationship with God are realized in community.”
- 2 Corinthians (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on 2 Corinthians 13:14: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ - All the favor and beneficence that come from and through the Redeemer of the world; as the Lord, the ruler and governor of all things; as Jesus, the Savior of all men by his passion and death; as Christ, the distributer of all that Divine unction which enlightens, comforts, harmonizes, and purifies the mind. May this most exalted, glorious, and all-sufficient Savior, be ever with you! And the love of God - God, your Maker, in that infinite love which induced him to create the world, and form man in his own image and in hi”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 138: Spirit on the mind which precedes and excites its efforts to return to God. By the gratia gratum faciens is meant the influence of the Spirit which renews or renders gracious. Cooperating grace is that influence of the Spirit which aids the people of God in all the exercises of the divine life. By habitual grace is meant the Holy Spirit as dwelling in believers; or, that permanent, immanent 655 state of mind due to his abiding presence and power. Such is the established theological and Christian usage of this word. By grace, therefore, i”
- 1 Timothy (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 Timothy 2:2: 2:2 all who are in authority: Those who had the power to persecute or to protect the church (see also Rom 13:1-7; 1 Pet 2:13-17). • live peaceful and quiet lives: The point was not for Christians to blend in and be unnoticed, but to display the beauty of the Good News and allow the church’s mission to proceed without unnecessary complications (cp. 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Pet 3:13-17). • The word godliness and its cognates (also at 1 Tim 3:16; 4:7-8; 5:4; 6:3, 5-6, 11) sum up the beliefs, attitudes, and lifestyles that accord with right and reverential knowledge of God, ob”