We sometimes hear someone described as a “godly man,” especially at a funeral or when reflecting on a believer’s life. “He was such a godly man,” they say. But in truth, there is only one truly godly MAN who has ever walked this earth, the Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture shatters every illusion of human ‘godliness’ apart from Christ, declaring without exception, “there is none righteous, no, not one.” Romans 3:10. Godliness, in its truest and fullest sense, is not a moral achievement nor a benchmark of human character. True godliness begins not with imitation, but with imputation, the gift of Christ’s righteousness to sinners who have none of their own. I Corinthians 1:30. We read that “great is the mystery of godliness,” I Timothy 3:16, and that mystery is not found in our moral attainments or outward displays of Christ-likeness, but in the staggering reality that His righteousness is imputed to us by grace. Godliness is not a virtue we produce, but a righteousness reckoned to sinners through the finished work of Christ. It does not arise from our striving to reflect Christ, but from the wondrous fact that Christ, the only truly godly MAN, stood in our place and clothed us in His perfect obedience. Isaiah 61:10. What we often call “godliness” in others, be it devotion, reverence, piety, &c., may indeed be the fruit of grace, but it is never the root. The true root is always Christ. Hosea 14:8. And herein lies the mystery, that what God requires of man, He has fully provided in His Son, in whom alone we are complete. Any ‘godliness’ seen in the believer is not self-originated, but flows solely from union with Christ. His obedience is counted as ours. His righteousness is imputed to us. The life we now live in the flesh, we live by the faith of the Son of God. May the LORD keep us anchored in this mystery, and may all our thoughts of godliness begin and end in Him. MPJ