The Mystery of Godliness
14 These things I write to you, hoping to come to you shortly, 15 but if I wait long, that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in God’s house, which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 16 Without controversy, the mystery of godliness is great: God was revealed in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, and received up in glory.
The letter states its purpose, calls the church the support of the truth, and then quotes six lines whose first word the versions divide over.
Verses 14 and 15 give the letter's own account of itself. Paul hopes to come soon; if he is delayed, this is written so Timothy will know how one ought to behave in God's household. Every list of qualifications and every procedure in the letter hangs on that sentence.
The household is then described in three phrases, and the third is the striking one: the assembly of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. The image is architectural — the church is not the truth, and not its source, but what holds it up where it can be seen.
Verse 16 then quotes something already in circulation. It is marked as a mystery, meaning something formerly hidden and now disclosed rather than something obscure, and its six clauses are rhythmic and self-contained: revealed in flesh, vindicated in spirit, seen by angels, preached among nations, believed in the world, taken up in glory.
The English translations divide over the first word. Some read God was revealed in the flesh; others read he who was revealed in the flesh. The two Greek forms differ by very little in old handwriting, and the witnesses split.
The thing to say plainly is that nothing here is load-bearing. The deity of Christ is not argued from this line and does not need it; Scripture establishes it where no such division exists. Either reading leaves all six clauses standing, and nothing is lost to readers whose Bible carries the longer one.
held with reason What this mark means