Lessons I Learned From The Mystery of Godliness

I recently had a book discussion on an incredible book called The Mystery of Godliness by Major Ian Thomas.

Though I’ve read this book before, several of the key premise points deeply stirred me afresh.

In this episode, I want to give you some lessons I learned from The Mystery of Godliness and in so doing, share the “mystery” itself.

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Show Notes / Additional Resources

• Learn more about Major Ian Thomas in this short bio-sketch I wrote

Favorite books and messages from Ian Thomas:

• The Mystery of Godliness (can actually get this and Saving Life of Christ together in one volume)
• The Saving Life of Christ
• The Indwelling Life of Christ
• Sermon: A Grain of Wheat
• Sermon: Knowing Jesus
• Sermon: Let God Be In You
• A Bravehearted Thot: Salvation
• A collection of other messages by Ian Thomas on SermonIndex

Quotes mentioned from the book The Mystery of Godliness by Major Ian Thomas:

• The life He lived qualified Him for the death that He died … the death that He died qualifies you for the life that He lived! (p257 + 259)
• It takes God to be a man! Man, that is, as God intended man to be! God created man to be inhabited by God for God! (p185)
• “It is not difficult for man to live the Christian life, “ someone once said. “It is a sheer impossibility!” A sheer impossibility, that is, without Christ – but for all that He says, you have all that He is, and that is all that it takes! (p161)
• I cannot – God never said I could; but God can, and always said He would! (from Indwelling Life of Christ, p31)
• The moment you come to realize that only God can make a man godly, you are left with no option but to find God, and to know God, and to let God be God in and through you … (p181)
• True godliness leaves the world convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that the only explanation for you, is Jesus Christ … (p178)
• The Christian life can be explained only in terms of Jesus Christ, and if your life as a Christian can still be explained in terms of you – your personality, your willpower, your gift, your talent, your money, your courage, your scholarship, your dedication, your sacrifice, or your anything – then although you may have the Christian life, you are not yet living it. (p162-163)
• If the way that you live your life as a Christian can be explained in terms of you, what have you to offer to the man who lives next door? The way he lives his life can be explained in terms of him, and so far as he is concerned, your happen to be “religious” – but he is not! “Christianity” may be your hobby, but it is not his, and there is nothing about the way you practice it which strikes him as at all remarkable! There is nothing commendable of which he does not feel himself equally capable without the inconvenience of becoming a Christian! // It is only when your quality of life baffles the neighbor that you are likely to impress them! It has got to become patently obvious to others that the kind of life you are living is not only highly commendable, but that is beyond all human explanation! That it is beyond the consequences of man’s capacity to imitate, and however little they may understand this, it is clearly the consequence only of God’s capacity to reproduce Himself in you! // In a nutshell, this means that your fellowmen must come convinced that the Lord Jesus Christ of whom you speak, is essentially Himself the ingredient of the life you live! (p163)

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Question: What is your favorite quote or illustration that Ian Thomas gives?

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About NRJohnson

NRJohnson (Nathan Johnson) is a Christian who has an overwhelming passion for Jesus, the Gospel, and Studying God’s Word. He is a writer, teacher, and communicator who helps other believers understand and apply the Bible as they grow and mature in their faith—desiring that they gain greater intimacy with Christ, experience the victorious Christian life, and transform the world through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Read more about him here.

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