God’s Faithfulness
In any good story or movie on relationships, there is almost always a time when the main character reaches a pivotal point in the relationship. There is tension, conflict, arguing, or strife of some kind, and there is a point when we are left wondering if they will run away or commit to being faithful.
We root and cheer for them to remain faithful. We want them to hang in there and fight for their relationship. It helps us feel that maybe we are someone that is worth fighting for as well.
Well, God thinks you are (worth fighting for). He is faithful.
This is the final blog post in a series where we’ve been studying the attributes of God, and in this post we will look at God’s attribute of faithfulness.
GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
God is faithful. It’s part of his nature.
Here’s the way Ray Pritchard defines God’s faithfulness:
God's faithfulness means that because he is the truth, everything he says and does is certain. That means he is 100% reliable 100% of the time. He does not fail, forget, falter, change or disappoint. He says what he means and means what he says and therefore does everything he says he will do. (Ray Pritchard)
What does Scripture say about God’s faithfulness?
Who is like you, Lord God Almighty? You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you. (Psalm 89:8)
God’s faithfulness is like no one else’s faithfulness. It is so much a part of Him that the psalmist declares, “Your faithfulness surrounds you!”
"Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds." (Psalm 36:5)
God’s love is unfailing, and His faithfulness is so big that it “reaches beyond the clouds!”
“Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.” (Psalms 117:1-2)
God is an eternal being, and if faithfulness is part of His nature, then that means His faithfulness will endure forever!
GOD IS FAITHFUL TO HIS PROMISES
In the opening pages of Scripture, after Adam and Eve disobey God and bring sin into this world, God makes a promise in Genesis 3 about how He would send Someone to crush Satan’s head. God is saying that He would destroy sin and death, but instead of getting better, things got worse. Way worse. God eventually sent a flood to deal with how bad things were. Had God forgotten His promise?
About 300-400 years later, God shows up and shares another promise with Abraham in Genesis 12.
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Gen. 12:1-3)
At the time, Abraham and his wife were old, and they were dealing with infertility. But God had made a promise, and He is faithful. When they least expected it, God showed up and provided a child and eventually began to grow the Israelite nation through him.
About a thousand years later, God meets with a prophet named Nathan and tells him to share this promise with the King of that Israelite nation, King David.
Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever. (2 Samuel 7:16)
Wow, what a promise! Forever! The only problem is that not too long after this promise is made, the Israelite nation gets split apart and taken into captivity, and they suffer and go through some really dark days. As a matter of fact, it’s such a dark time that there is a period of about 400 years where God doesn’t even speak.
People are wondering about these promises that God had made. He’s not even speaking. Where is He? Is He not faithful after all? Did we mistake His character? Is He not who He said He was?
But then, we see these words written in the opening verse of Matthew 1:1…
This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham… (Mt. 1:1)
In other words, Matthew was making the connection that Jesus is connected to the promises made to Abraham in Genesis 12 and to David in 2 Samuel 7.
Maybe He had not forgotten about His promises. Maybe God was faithful after all!
After making this opening declaration about Jesus, Matthew next describes His birth and where He’d come from, and he eventually tells us that as Jesus was dying on the cross, He declared with His final breath, “It is finished!”
What was finished? The promise of Genesis 3 was finished. God had said that Satan would strike at His heel, but God would crush His head and defeat the power of sin and death forever.
Well, through Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection three days later that is exactly what happened. Paul says it this way in 1 Cor. 15:56-57…
The sting of death is sin…But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 15:56-57)
God fulfilled His promise all the way back from Genesis 3 to crush the serpent’s head.
He fulfilled His promise to Abraham to build a great nation and that someone through Him would bless all people.
Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, He has seated Jesus at His right hand to rule and to reign forever, just as God had promised King David.
God is a faithful God, and He fulfills His promises. Even when it seems to us that God isn’t coming through with His promises, He is faithful.
And because of God’s faithfulness to accomplish what He did through Jesus, we can also declare that God is faithful to forgive.
GOD IS FAITHFUL TO FORGIVE
Jesus took every one of our sins (past, present, and future) to the cross and paid the penalty for them. He was faithful to His attribute of Justice, and He punished sin and evil. God poured out His wrath on Jesus instead of you and me, and now He gifts us forgiveness if we’ll receive by faith.
Therefore, no matter who you are, where you’ve been, or what you’ve done, God is faithful to forgive all your sins if you’ll just receive His grace by putting your faith in Him as your Lord and Savior.
And if you have put your faith in Him, that’s what has happened to you. You’ve been completely forgiven for every sin you have ever committed and every sin you’ll ever commit…
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.(Col. 2:13-14)
God is faithful to forgive all of your sins.
GOD IS FAITHFUL IN TEMPTATION
Satan knows that you are forgiven, but He still works hard at tempting you to sin because He knows that is not God’s best for you.
He doesn’t want you to live in the abundant life of Jesus. He wants you to settle for way less. He wants to rob you of experiencing what you have in Jesus.
So, he tempts you to sin, and that temptation can feel strong sometimes, but God is faithful in times of temptation!
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1 Cor. 10:13)
Paul says, “No matter how strong the urge is and no matter what the temptation is that you face, there is always a way out!”
God is faithful in times of temptation, and when you turn to Him and trust in His power to overcome whatever you are facing, He will not fail you.
You can experience victory over sin in your life because God is faithful!
GOD IS FAITHFUL TO PROVIDE FOR YOUR NEEDS
When Jesus was teaching His disciples during His earthly ministry, He taught them not to worry. He even gave the example of how God takes care of the sparrows and the lilies of the field and says, “How much more valuable are you to God than them?”
God will provide for your needs.
My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)
God has more than enough to meet your needs, and He is faithful to do so. Now, He may not always provide what we want, but He will provide what we need. He is good and all-wise, therefore, whatever He provides is what is best for us.
You can trust God with your needs. He is faithful!
GOD IS FAITHFUL TO YOUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH
The moment you put your faith in Jesus for salvation the Spirit comes to dwell in you and unites you in a spiritual union with Christ. You become regenerated, born again, and even become a new creation in that moment.
You’ve been changed at the core of your being into who someone who is holy, righteous, and good; and God is faithful to grow you up on the outside into who you’ve already been made into on the inside.
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)
Look at verse 24 again: Faithful is He who calls you, and He will bring it to pass.
Because God is faithful, He will sanctify you entirely. He will work from your spirit out through your soul (your mind, emotions, and will) and through your body to conform you to the image of Christ that you’ve been made into in Christ already.
Wow, what a faithful God!
GOD IS FAITHFUL EVEN WHEN YOU ARE UNFAITHFUL
Adam and Eve were unfaithful to God, and yet, we see that God was faithful to them.
All throughout the Old Testament, the Israelite nation was unfaithful to Him, but God was still faithful. He fulfilled His promises to them and was faithful to them even when they were unfaithful to Him.
The apostle Paul tells us that He is still that way with us today:
If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is. (2 Timothy 2:13)
Do you see how faithful God is to you if you are in Christ? Even if you fall for Satan’s temptations, turn your back on Him, run from Him, hide from Him, or get angry with Him, God is faithful. Faithfulness is one of God’s attributes. It’s part of His character, and He cannot deny Himself.
APPLICATION OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
Because of God’s attribute of faithfulness, there certain applications for our lives we need to be aware of.
WHEN YOU DOUBT YOUR SALVATION, REMEMBER GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
There are times in most of our lives when we doubt whether we are really saved. Maybe it’s because of recurring sin and something we’ve done, or maybe it’s a big sin from our past that we just can’t believe God would really forgive.
Whatever it is that causes you to doubt your salvation, remember God’s faithfulness.
Christianity is not about your faithfulness to God, it’s about His faithfulness to you.
WHEN YOU ARE TEMPTED TO SIN, REMEMBER GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
When you face temptation to sin, and it feels like there’s no way out, remember that God is faithful to provide a way out.
You are strong in His mighty power to overcome the enemy’s attacks in your life. Because of God’s faithfulness, you are not fighting for victory but from a place of victory when it comes to temptation.
WHEN YOU HAVE MADE A MESS OF YOUR LIFE, REMEMBER GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
If you have made an absolute mess of your life, and Satan has convinced you that you are worthless, are a screwup, and that you always will be, remember God’s faithfulness.
Remember God’s unfailing love. Remember His promises to you. Turn back to Him and trust Him. He’s never left you. You are in His grip and in His love, always.
WHEN YOU ARE DISCOURAGED, REMEMBER GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
Everyone has times when we get discouraged about what is going on in our lives. Our situations and circumstances are falling apart, and we wonder, “Why are all of these things happening in my life? You said you were a good God. It feels like you aren’t doing anything about this situation!”
Do you remember the story of David and Goliath? The Israelites were so discouraged. Goliath was just making their lives miserable, and I’m sure they were wondering, “Where are you God? Why aren’t you doing anything?”
Do you remember when King Saul asks David why he thought he could slay the giant? David replied this way:
“The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”(1 Samuel 17:37)
What’s David doing here? He says, “God has been faithful to deliver me in the past, so I know He’ll be faithful to me now!”
When you start to doubt God’s goodness and His faithfulness in your life because of discouraging situations you are in, renew your mind to His faithfulness. Remind yourself of all the ways God has been faithful to you. Remember that He is good. Even when you don’t see it in the middle of your situation, God is faithful to be at work for your good and His glory.
God is faithful, and you can trust Him.
