A GODLY PERSON IS SINCERE

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A GODLY PERSON IS SINCERE
by Philip Owen

Godliness should be the ambition of every believer. But in order to achieve such a goal, we must be able to define and describe it. In one sense, godliness encompasses the embracing of every word of God. But in an attempt to provide us a handle on that gigantic task, Thomas Watson has given us a biblical list of attributes of the godly. Among them is sincerity.

Our English word “sincere” comes from the Latin sine cera, which means “without wax.” In the ancient world, dishonest pottery dealers would fill in cracks and imperfections in their clayware with wax, allowing them to sell inferior products for more than they were worth. The only way to reveal the fraud was to hold the vessel up to the sunlight. An object thus tested was said to be “sun-judged,” which is the literal meaning of the Greek word translated in the AV as sincere or pure. From this it is easy to understand the various shades of meaning contained in the idea of sincerity. A godly person who is sincere is uncontaminated, unalloyed, and pure. A sincere person is one who is continually being judged by the light of the Word of God.

“Be sincere.” Paul prays for the Philippians that they might “be sincere and without offense [“blameless”] till the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God” (1:10, 11). To be sincere is to be “filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ.” In other words, sincerity eschews mere externalism or outward show of good works. Sincerity has its roots in the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit (“by Jesus Christ”). It entails, not an outward conformity to some standard of righteousness, but submission to the work of God so that He produces in us genuinely righteous works that glorify Him alone.

Have sincere conduct. Paul rejoiced to the Corinthians that “in simplicity and godly sincerity” he had had his “conversation [“conduct”] in the world, and more abundantly toward” them (II Cor. 1:12). If Paul’s prayer for the Philippians emphasized the internal character of sincerity—that it is essentially the product of the Holy Spirit working upon the inner man—his rejoicing with the Corinthians focuses on the fact that what we are internally is manifested externally. Our conduct, whether out in the world or among Christian brethren, is to be sincere. It must reflect the true character of God as revealed in the Word and produced by His Spirit.

“Keep the feast . . . with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Old Testament saints were required to observe the Passover by eating bread free of leaven, which was a figure representing the corruption of sin. Paul exhorts the Corinthian church to continue that tradition. That is, what Israel did once annually in type, we are to do daily in reality. Christ is our Passover, we are to worship Him and work for Him daily in “sincerity and truth.” We are to live pure lives that accord with the truth of God’s Word. Sincerity is not to be the occasional garb of the saint, but his daily work clothes.

Speak sincerely. There must be no disconnect between our actions and our words. Paul puts this truth in terms of faithfully proclaiming God’s Word: “For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ” (II Cor. 2:17). A godly person is one who lives by the Word of God, who testifies according to the Word of God, who demands that the Word of God say what it has to say, both to himself and to others without preference or partiality. A godly person is sincere.

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A GODLY PERSON IS SINCERE by Philip Owen

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A GODLY PERSON IS SINCERE
by Philip Owen