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refers to godliness. These denied the power of godliness while retaining its form; form
indeed without substance.
We have seen in an earlier article that "godliness" is one of the key words of these
pastoral epistles, and we are not surprised to find that Satan maintains his reputation, and
promptly brings forward a substitute. The apostates of the last days are said to "deny"
the power of godliness. What does this mean? Will they actually declare by word of
mouth the emptiness of their "form"? That cannot be, for it would be the first step in
repentance thus to acknowledge the bankruptcy of their creed. The apostle has used the
word arneomai, seven times, and we shall learn from some of these references, how men
in the last days can "deny" the power of godliness, without uttering a single word.
Arneomai "TO DENY".
"If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath
denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel" (I Tim. 5: 8).
"If we deny Him, He also will deny us" (II Tim. 2: 12).
"He cannot deny Himself" (II Tim. 2: 13).
"A form of godliness, but denying the power thereof" (II Tim. 3: 5).
"They profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable
and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate" (Titus 1: 16).
"Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly"
(Titus 2: 12).
"Moses . . . . . refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter" (Heb. 11: 24).
Men in the last days will deny by their works the "power" of godliness. What is this
"power"? The apostle had reminded Timothy that:
"God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound
mind" (II Tim. 1: 7).
and had followed this statement with an exhortation to use this power, saying:
"Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner;
but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God"
(II Tim. 1: 8).
It would appear from these two passages that Timothy knew whence this power came
and what it was, but we shall have to go back into the apostle's ministry, and discover for
ourselves the essential nature of this power, denied by the men of the last days.
Godliness, we have already discovered, is:
"The religious character of moral reverence . . . . . God-fearing, to be God-fearing as
to doing something . . . . ."
"The energy of piety in the life, both internal and external, not the religion that leads
to piety, but the religious life that manifests religion" (Article No. 23, Vol. xxxv, p. 50).
Everything, therefore, that leads up to this "manifest religion" would constitute some
part of the "power" of godliness. It would include "the gospel of Christ" for that is the
power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1: 16). It would include the cross and the preaching
of the cross, for that, too, is the power of God (I Cor. 1: 18). This power of God is placed