7 Faithfulness
“What does the Bible say about faithfulness?”Faithfulness is steadfastness, constancy, or allegiance; it is carefulness in keeping what we are entrusted with; it is the conviction that the Scriptures accurately reflect reality.
To be faithful is to be reliable and unwavering, and the Bible speaks of this type of faithfulness in four ways:
As an attribute of GodAs a positive characteristic of some menAs a characteristic that many men lackAnd as a gift of the Holy Spirit.
Biblical faithfulness requires belief in what the Bible says about God-His existence, His works, and His character.
Faithfulness no 7 of the fruit of the Spirit; it is the result of the Spirit working in us.
But the Spirit is also our seal of faithfulness.
He is our witness to God’s promise that if we accept the truth about God, He will save us.Faithfulis also used in the sense of "believing," as in the case of the Christians in Ephesus and Colossae
Ephesians 1:1This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.
I am writing to God's holy people in Ephesus,[a] who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.1Colossians 1:22 We are writing to God's holy people in the city of Colossae, who are faithful brothers and sisters[a] in Christ.May God our Father give you grace and peace.Scripture speaks often of God's faithfulness. Over and over we learn that when God says He will do something, He does it (even when it seems impossible).
When He says something will happen, it happens.
This is true for the past, the present and the future. If this were not the case – if God were unfaithful evenonce – He would not be God, and we could not rely on any of His promises. But as it is,
1 Kings 8:56
56 "Praise the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the wonderful promises he gave through his servant Moses.
God is eternally reliable, steadfast, and unwavering because faithfulness is one of His inherent attributes. God does not have to work at being faithful; Heisfaithful. Faithfulness is an essential part of who He is
Psalm 89:8
8 O Lord God of Heaven's Armies! Where is there anyone as mighty as you, O Lord? You are entirely faithful.
Hebrews 13:8
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.In His faithfulness, God protects us from evil2 Thessalonians 3:33 But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.
He sets limits on our temptations1 Corinthians 10:13
13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
He forgives us of sin
1 John 1:9
9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
He sanctifiesus
1 Corinthians 1:9
9 God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Philippians 1:6
6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
When a person walks consistently with God, in humble service to Him, he or she can be called "faithful."
When Nehemiah had to leave Jerusalem to return to Persia, he put Hanani and Hananiah in charge.
The reason for his choice of these men was that they were "more faithful and God-fearing . . . than many"
Nehemiah 7:2
2 I gave the responsibility of governing Jerusalem to my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah, the commander of the fortress, for he was a faithful man who feared God more than most.
Nehemiah needed men of character whom he could trust.
Men who would not take bribes, who were committed to the welfare of the people, and who would uphold the integrity of the office.
Notice, also, that faithfulness is associated with fearing God.
The better we truly know God, the more we will want to imitate Him
Ephesians 5:1
Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.
Other examples of faithfulness include Tychicus or Epaphras Not much is known about them, for example.
Tychicus Ephesians 6:21
21 To bring you up to date, Tychicus will give you a full report about what I am doing and how I am getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful helper in the Lord's work.
Epaphras Colossians 1:7
7 You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ's faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf.[a]
Onesimus Colossians 4:99 I am also sending Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, one of your own people. He and Tychicus will tell you everything that's happening here.
Hebrews 11 is often called “The Roll Call of the Saints.”
It is a list of Old Testament characters who knew God and trusted They steadfastly believed His promises.
MosesHebrews 3:2
2 For he was faithful to God, who appointed him, just as Moses served faithfully when he was entrusted with God's entire[a] house.Moses trusted God that his service would bring Israel to the Promised Land, but he never lived to see God’s people become a settled nation.
Some of the names included in this "faithful list" are unfamiliar to most people.
Joseph had faith that the Israelites would escape Egypt and return to the Promised Land, but that didn’t occur until four hundred years after his death.
Abel’s understanding of God made his sacrifice real and authentic.
Noah trusted God’s word about the coming judgment as well as God’s promise to save his family (Genesis 6-9).
Abraham and Sarah believed against all evidence that they would have a child. Abraham never saw his descendants become "as numerous as the stars in the sky."
We don't have time to examine all characters , so lets just look at Abraham and Sarah .When God predicts that He will cause a son to be born to a husband and wife who are nearly one hundred years old, more than just His power is in question. His credibility is likewise at stake. Is He reliable? Is He trustworthy? Can we expect Him to do what He says He will do? When that promise was made to Abraham, he literally fell on his face and laughed
Genesis 17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed as he said to himself, "Can a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?"
Abraham had not yet fully come to believe that God's Word could be trusted. And neither had Sarah, his wife. When she heard the same promise, she too laughed
Genesis18:12 So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, "After I am worn out will I have pleasure, especially when my husband is old too?"
Her faith had not grown beyond the example she observed in her husband.
The narrative in Genesis does not record specifically when it happened, but at some point in their walk with God, both Abraham and Sarah became convinced that God would do what He promised to do. The Apostle Paul told us about Abraham: Romans 4:19-21"And without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform".
The writer to the Hebrews tells us the story from Sarah's perspective: Hebrews 11:11 "By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised".
She not only believed that God could give her a son, but also that He would because He is a faithful God.
His Word is reliable and His promises are trustworthy.
The faith of Abraham and Sarah was not misplaced. Genesis 21:1-2
"Then the LORD took note of Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him" It happened just exactly as God said it would and when He said it would. God is truly faithful.
Rahab trusted God to protect her family when the Israelites destroyed Jericho (Joshua 6).
Gideon’s mustard-seed faith routed an entire army (Judges 6-7).In that list in Hebrews 11is the example of Enoch, who “obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He will reward those who seek Him” (vs. 5b-6). Enoch understood that God rewards those who seek Him and trust Him with all their hearts.None of these figures saw God’s promises completely fulfilled. Abraham and Sarah were able to witness the birth of Isaac, but neither lived long enough to see their line become a mighty nation.We trust what God does because we trust Him, not the other way around.
In other words, we trust God even when He is silent and we see no miracles. That is part of faithfulness. We know God is reliable, steadfast, and true.
Faith, or a faithful commitment to who God says He is, is basic to walking with God. As Jesus traveled, He responded to people’s faith and reduced His involvement where there was no faith
Mark 6:1-6Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
6 Jesus left that part of the country and returned with his disciples to Nazareth, his hometown. 2 The next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. They asked, "Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?" 3 Then they scoffed, "He's just a carpenter, the son of Mary[a] and the brother of James, Joseph,[] Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us." They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.4 Then Jesus told them, "A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family." 5 And because of their unbelief, he couldn't do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief.The Old Testament saints also had faith in the invisible work of God Hebrews 11:33 By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.And none of the Old Testament saints lived to see their Messiah.
But they were faithful. They believed God would do as He promised.
They lived by faith and not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:77 For we live by believing and not by seeing.Faithfulness is believing that God is who He says He is and continuing in that belief despite the unpredictable changes of life.
Practicalyl, that means we trust what God says in the Bible, and not necessarily what the world or our own eyes tell us.
We trust that God will work out everything for good.
We trust that He will work His will in us.
And we trust that our situation on earth is nothing compared to our future reward in heaven.
The only way we can have such faith is by the Holy Spirit’s influence. He testifies to the truth and impels us to seek God.
But we should be faithfulness, even in small matters, God sees that and we will be rewarded in the end
Luke 19:1717 "ÔÇÿWell done!' the king exclaimed. ÔÇÿYou are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.'The Bible also warns us of the consequences of unfaithfulness. These warnings are necessary because, as the old hymn says, we are "prone to wander . . . prone to leave the God I love."
Our hearts are too often found fickle, despite our best intentions
Proverbs 20:66 Many will say they are loyal friends, but who can find one who is truly reliable?
Jeremiah 17:99 "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?
Matthew 26:75
75 Suddenly, Jesus' words flashed through Peter's mind: "Before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me. " And he went away, weeping bitterly.Faithfulness affects every relationship we have.
The Bible says it is a gift from God.
When we receive Christ as Lord, the Holy Spirit indwells us and brings the blessings of love, joy, peace and faithfulness (Galatians 5:22).
The fullness of these blessings depends on walking with God and yielding to His Spirit.
We should be faithful to read and abide by God's Word and to seek the Lord in prayer
Psalm 1:1-2
1 Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.2 But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.
Ephesians 6:18
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.[a]
The Old Testament taught that "the just will live by faith"
Habakkuk 2:4
4 "Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.[a]
and that truth is quoted, amplified and illuminated three times in the New Testament.
We obtain that faith, and our faithfulness, by the grace of God.
He is faithful to His children, and by His grace we will one day hear the words,
Matthew 25:23
23 "The master said, ÔÇÿWell done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's celebrate together!'
Faithfulness has two different meanings.If we mean the faithfulness of God or Jesus, as we mentioned earlier,it refers to His steadfastness, honesty, firmness, and God’s utter dependability based on His unchanging character. If we mean human faithfulness, it refers to our steady allegiance to God and our trust in Him. A “faithful” man is “full of faith”; he believes in the reality of God as revealed in Scripture.Faithfulness is created within us when we allow the Spirit to work in us. Not only does the Spirit induce us to be faithful, He explains why we should be faithful.
John 16:13-14
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.
The Spirit discloses Jesus’ character to the world.
1John 5:6-7says the Spirit testifies that Jesus is the Savior.
6 And Jesus Christ was revealed as God's Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross[a]-not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony. 7 So we have these three witnesses[]–
And Scripture says that the Spirit bears witness to salvation. Hebrews 10:1515 And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is soIf we are full of faithfulness, we believe God; we trust that He always has our best interests at heart.
We trust that we are ultimately safe.
We believe that He loves us John 3:1616 "For this is how God loved the world: He gave[a] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
He wants to be with us John 14:2
2 There is more than enough room in my Father's home.[a] If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?[]
He is powerful enough to save us John 14:6
6 Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
He is working in us Philippians 1:6
6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
And we live with the confidence that we will receive God’s promised blessings, even if we never see them in this lifetime.Faithfulness is necessary when God’s promises seem to completely contradict what we see.
When God’s ways are hidden from usIsaiah 45:1515 Truly, O God of Israel, our Savior, you work in mysterious ways.When evil strikes, when hardships come one after another-that’s when we need the Spirit to produce His fruit of faithfulness in us.Faith is the opposite of fear.
Faith protects us from fear, and fear erodes faith.Ephesians 6:13-17lists the armor of God13 Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.[a] 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith tostop the fiery arrows of the devil.[] 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Faith, “in addition to all,” is the shield.
If our shield of faith is strong enough to put outallthe flaming arrows of the enemy, we are spiritually invulnerable.Mark 4:35-41tells the story of Jesus calming the storm.
35 As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's cross to the other side of the lake." 36 So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). 37 But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.38 Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, "Teacher, don't you care that we're going to drown?"39 When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Silence! Be still!" Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he asked them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?"41 The disciples were absolutely terrified. "Who is this man?" they asked each other. "Even the wind and waves obey him!"
After being roused by the terrified disciples, Jesus stopped the wind and the waves and said,v. 40“Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
We are used to being told that trials bring about spiritual growth. Here’s another side of things: it wasn’t that Jesus was intentionally using a fierce storm to grow the disciples’ faith; it’s that He didn’t even consider the situation worth mentioning.
The disciples feared because they had no faith.
Their faith would eventually grow to the point where imprisonment became an opportunity for a praise service
Acts 16:22-2522 A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. 23 They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn't escape. 24 So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.
25 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.
Faith in God means not fearing worldly troubles, not just because God’s sovereign will is for our benefit, but because God's Word tells us in Philippians 3:8
8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ
The Bible has much to say about the gift of faith:“For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23b). Whatever actions are not informed by God’s identity and character and not driven by trust in Him must be sin.“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).Hopeis “the eager anticipation of good.”
A faithful person knows God and trusts that He will fulfill His promises-those things he hopes for but are still unseen.“The righteous shall live by faith” (Galatians 3:11).
The fruit of Spirit gives us life; we don’t simply endure-weliveby faith.God is faithful, and He grants that quality to His children.The Holy Spirit produces in believers His faithfulness. As a result, we believe God is Who He says He is and that He will do what He says He will do. His faithful character directly affects our lives. We have nothing to fear as we wait for Him to fulfill His promises. This assurance is a fruit of the Spirit.**********************************************
The Explanation of God's Faithfulness
The Old Testament word for faithfulness is related to the word for truth. They both come from the same root which means "firmness" or "stability." Faithfulness actually grows out of truth. What is true must also be trustworthy. Even a pagan soothsayer named Balaam had to admit that the God who tells the truth will also keep His Word. He said to the king of Moab,
God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen?
Since God cannot lie, we can count on Him to do exactly what He promised-to be perfectly reliable, always steady and stable, never fickle or indecisive.
That is His faithfulness. His Word is infallible and unfailing. Since it is without error, it will surely come to pass.
It is interesting to note how often faithfulness and truth are used together in Scripture. For example, Isaiah said, Isaiah 25:1"Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth".
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
The Apostle John also said that God's words are "faithful and true"Revelation 21:5, 22:6. He said that Jesus Christ, the living Word in flesh, is "the faithful and true Witness"Revelation 8:14, and that at His return to the earth He will actually bear the title, "Faithful and True"Revelation 19:11.
All of God's attributes operate in conjunction, never in isolation.
If everything about Him is true, then He has no alternative but to be faithful.
We sometimes go back on our word because we are unable to do what we intended to do, such as when we have been hindered by a storm from taking our children on a picnic we promised them.
But God is omnipotent. He can do anything He pleases, even control the weather. He has no reason to be unfaithful.
We may also be unfaithful because we are influenced by others.
For instance, a wife may have promised her husband that she would prepare his favorite dish for dinner.
But some friend, whose acceptance and friendship she desires, have invited her for coffee.
She lost track of time and it was too late to keep her word.
But God is totally self-sufficient. He does not need anyone else's approval to meet His needs. He is His own reason for everything He does.
We may fail to keep our word because we lose interest.
God never loses interest. He is immutable. He never changes His mind.
We may not follow through because it no longer suits our selfish purposes.
But God is love; He acts for the good of others rather than for His own selfish interests.
Scripture praises God's faithfulness. The Psalmist said it surrounds Him (Psalm 89:8); that is, it is part of His being and affects everything He does. Moses assured the people of Israel that because God is faithful He could be expected to keep His covenant and carry out His promises (Deuteronomy 7:9).
He has done exactly that. For example, He gave them the land He promised them, He gave them victory over their enemies, and He gave them rest from their conflicts just as He said He would. "Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass" (Joshua 21:45).
That is the essence of God's faithfulness.
God's faithfulness to His covenant promises is assured even if His people forsake His law, refuse to walk in His judgments, violate His statutes, and break His commandments (Psalm 89:30, 37).
Although He will discipline them, He will not violate His covenant, alter the utterance of His lips or, as He says, "deal falsely in My faithfulness" (Psalm 89:33). He can be counted on to do what He promises.
God's faithfulness is unlimited (Psalm 36:5).
The Psalmist went so far as to say,Psalm 119:89-90
89 Your eternal word, O Lord, stands firm in heaven.90 Your faithfulness extends to every generation, as enduring as the earth you created.
Because God has spoken in truth and His word is sure, every generation can count on what He has said.
No wonder Jeremiah exclaimed with joy,Lamentations 3:23
"Great is thy faithfulness"
The Extent of God's Faithfulness
Since God's faithfulness is part of His essence, it affects everything He says and everything He does. Several specific applications of His faithfulness are made in the New Testament.
First of all, He is faithful in assuring our salvation. The spiritual lives of the Corinthian Christians left much to be desired, but Paul commends them for "awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:7-9). Paul is confident that the Lord will make them steadfast and preserve them from falling away, right up to the moment they enter His presence. That confidence does not rest in the strength or ability of the Corinthians, but in the faithfulness of God. If He promised eternal life to those who receive His Son, then He will deliver what He promised. He will never allow them to perish.
A similar assurance is expressed about the Thessalonians: "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass" (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). Paul longs to see every one of them standing before the throne of God, wholly set apart unto the Lord, perfectly pure and blameless. He is confident that they will, not because they have the innate power to make themselves holy, but because the One who called them is faithful. God promised to glorify every person He called and justified-every one without exception (Romans 8:29-30). God does what He says He is going to do.
What a satisfying assurance! Once we have acknowledged our sin and trusted Christ as our Saviour, there is no need ever again to worry and fret over our eternal destiny. Our faithful God confirms us in Him forever, and with that issue eternally settled, we can give our attention to growing in our knowledge of Him.
I have talked to people who have struggled for years about the assurance of their salvation. They have been perpetually preoccupied with whether or not they really are saved, and this has hindered them from growing in God's grace. They will not graduate from that plateau until they take God at His Word and realize their salvation is settled forever. It is like a marriage in which the wife is asking herself, "Does my husband really love me? Is he really committed to this marriage?" As long as those doubts persist, she will never be free to grow in her relationship with her husband. Similar doubts keep us from growing in our relationship with the Lord. "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved" (Acts 16:31). A faithful God will do what He promises. He will save you when you trust His Son. You can count on it, because He is faithful.
Secondly, He is faithful in providing for our victory. God wants us to enjoy victory over sin and triumph through trials, but He has not left us on our own to achieve it. He offers us help. "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it" (1 Corinthians 10:13). The word temptation may refer either to a trial from God who seeks to purify and strengthen us, or a solicitation to sin from Satan who seeks to destroy us. In either case, God promises to protect us from more than we can bear and to provide with every temptation or testing a way of escape. His faithfulness guarantees it.
The term way of escape was used of a narrow mountain pass through which a trapped army might escape an impossible situation. God always has an escape available when temptation strikes. When we yield to temptation, it is because we have ignored His provision and refused to take His way out. In the case of trials, the way of escape may simply be the strength to endure, but it will be there. We can count on it. A God who never fails to keep His Word has promised it.
A similar promise was made to the Thessalonians: "But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one" (2 Thessalonians 3:3). God promised to guard them against Satan's attacks by strengthening them, buttressing their faith, and providing the support they required. When I have succumbed to temptation, it has not been because God failed to keep His Word, but because I chose at that moment to ignore what He had made available. The mountain pass to freedom was in sight, but I closed my eyes to it and walked headlong into Satan's trap. God's strength was accessible, but I chose to handle the situation myself.
God has been faithful to His promise. He has given us His Spirit to live in us and help us, and He is the Spirit of power. He has equipped us with His Word which sets Satan on his heels. He is continually available for communication through prayer. He has created us with a human will by which we may choose to flee from the enticement to sin (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:18; 10:14; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22). When we step out by faith to obey Him, He meets us there with His strength. These are resources which He has faithfully provided, and when we use them we enjoy His victory.
In the third place, He is faithful in forgiving our sins. Unfortunately, most of us only use God's resources for victory intermittently, and as a result we sin. But God's faithfulness reaches us even then. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). In that verse our sins are viewed both as a debt that needs to be forgiven and as a stain that needs to be cleansed. We can enjoy blessing in both of these circumstances, when we acknowledge our sins to God, when we agree with Him that they are vile and repulsive, an offense to His holy nature.
God forgives us on the basis of two aspects of His character. One is His righteousness or justice. He has already punished His Son in our place, so justice has been served and He now has no reason to withhold forgiveness. The second is His faithfulness. When He looked ahead to Israel's new covenant nearly six hundred years before Christ, He said, "I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more" (Jeremiah 31:34). We share in the benefits of that new covenant (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:6). Though our sins seem so horrible that God could never be expected to forgive them, He says He will, and He is always faithful to His Word. Confess your sins to Him, then take Him at His Word. Believe that He has forgiven you and cleansed you from all unrighteousness.
Finally, God is faithful in sustaining us through suffering. One of the times we are most tempted to doubt God's faithfulness is when suffering strikes our lives. It often makes no sense to us and we see no reason for it. We may search our lives, and although we find some sins which we have previously overlooked, we still cannot believe we deserve what God has allowed to happen to us. We begin to think that He has forgotten us or really does not care about us.
The people of Jerusalem in Isaiah's day were beginning to think that way. Israel was a tiny nation surrounded by giant powers which were continually menacing her. Listen to her complaint:
But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, And the Lord has forgotten me" (Isaiah 49:14).
But the Lord was right there with words of encouragement.
Can a woman forget her nursing child, And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me (verses 15-16).
He had allowed them to suffer, but He could never forget them in their suffering because He is faithful. And He does not forget us. He really does care.
How can we appropriate this great doctrine of God's faithfulness and enjoy calmness and contentment when hard times come? The only way is to do what Peter suggested: "Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right" (1 Peter 4:19). As the Creator, God has the power to carry out His perfect plan for our lives and to accomplish His perfect purposes through our suffering. And as the faithful Creator, He can be counted on to do it. Therefore we can consciously entrust ourselves to His care with complete confidence, and hand the safekeeping of our lives over to Him, believing that He will do what is best. When we do that, we will have peace in the midst of adversity.
I recently met a successful salesman who was struck totally blind at the age of forty-four. Not only was his sales ability hindered but his enjoyment of sports and his capacity to appreciate the great outdoors seemed to be terminated. His anger with God was intense. On one occasion he laid on the floor and cried, begging God to take his life and threatening to commit suicide. It seemed as though God said to him, "Don, trust Me. I have a great plan for your life." But still the resentment lingered.
A short time later he insisted on going for a walk. When no one in the house was free to take him, he angrily fumbled around and found his cane, located the front door, and against his wife's protests made his way down the front steps and across the yard, determined to prove something to himself and his family. He crossed the road, and in a state of disorientation accidentally stumbled into a creek. As he sat there waist deep in the water, it seemed as though God was saying, "Are you cooled down now, Don? Trust me. I have a great plan for your life." That was the moment he entrusted himself to his faithful Creator. A few years later he was serving the Lord effectively as a representative for a mission to the blind, finding more joy and satisfaction in his Christian life than he had ever known before. God is faithful in sustaining us through suffering.
The Encouragement of God's Faithfulness
God will not only be faithful in assuring our salvation, providing for our victory, forgiving our sins, and sustaining us through suffering, but He will also be faithful in keeping every promise He has ever made. That is the greatest encouragement we could possibly have. The Bible contains thousands of precious promises from God, and at least one of them will have application to every conceivable situation we can possibly encounter-financial reversal, terminal illness, the loss of a loved one, family tensions, or anything else. A faithful God can be trusted to keep every promise. The writer to the Hebrews encouraged his readers with these words: "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful" (Hebrews 10:23).
After assuring the Corinthians of God's faithfulness, Paul makes this astounding statement: "For as many as may be the promises of God, in Him they are yes; wherefore also by Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us" (2 Corinthians 1:20). The words "in Him" refer to Christ. Jesus Christ is the absolute certainty that all God's promises will be fulfilled. A God who loves us enough to give us His Son will certainly keep all His other promises as well. Christ's coming was as though God had written beside every promise in the Bible, "Yes, so be it, I will keep My Word." When we believe His promises, our lives bring glory to Him-as Paul said, "to the glory of God through us."
People in the world today are fed up with empty religious claims. They want to see something that does what it says it will do. Few things give evidence to the reality of life in Christ more powerfully than a believer who exhibits genuine peace in trying circumstances. That is the by-product of knowing a faithful God and believing His promises. When we are assured that He cares because He is loving and good; when we are convinced that He is in control because He is omnipotent; when we believe that He is with us and knows all about the problem because He is omnipresent and omniscient; when we believe that He is working everything together for good because He is sovereign and wise; then we will have peace when things around us are falling apart. And that will make a powerful impact on the world.
It is important to understand that some of God's promises are conditional. If we fail to keep the conditions, and as a result God does not fulfill the promise, His faithfulness obviously cannot be impugned. We must study the context to see if there are any conditions stated or implied.
Many other promises in the Word are absolute and unconditional. God is going to keep them whether we believe He will or not. He will fulfill His Word whether we are faithful to Him or not. The Apostle Paul said, "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself" (2 Timothy 2:13). To be faithless may also mean to be unbelieving. When God's promises are unconditional, neither our faithlessness nor our unbelief will affect His faithfulness. They will rob us of our peace, our joy, and our testimony, but He will just keep right on doing what He promised to do, keep right on being faithful to His Word. What a wonderfully faithful God! Believe Him. Experience the peace, the joy, and the power which faith in His Word will bring. Then you too will exclaim enthusiastically, "Great is Thy faithfulness!"
Action To Take:
Think back to a time in your life when you doubted God's faithfulness. Now list the ways He has since proven Himself faithful, the things He has done which He promised in His Word He would do.