A form of godliness

“having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” 2 Timothy 3:5
We see these traits, given in 2 Tim. 3:2-5, all too prevalent in our society and even in the church, today. People are indeed lovers of themselves, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. They are proud, unforgiving, abusive. We could go through the whole list, but I’ll just focus on this aspect for now, and leave the others for a later time perhaps.
What does it mean to have a form of godliness? We would also call it, putting on an appearance of godliness. These people speak in Christian jargon, “praise the Lord, brother!”, but their lives are far from what a Christian ought to be. The Bible tells us that by their fruits we will recognise them. Time and time again, we are told that it’s not what comes out of our mouths that is important, but what comes out of our lives.
Then there are people who claim to know God, but they deny Jesus Christ is the Son of God or that He is Lord of their life. The Bible tells us that these people don’t know God at all (1 John 2:23). They don’t know the power of God – the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling us, enabling us to live a righteous life, pleasing to God.