Faithfulness: Our Response to a Faithful God

"Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases to be,For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men." -Psalm 12:1

"That they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments, and not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit was not faithful to God." -Psalm 78:7-8

"My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in a blameless way is the one who will minister to me." -Psalm 101:6

"Remove the false way from me, and graciously grant me Your law. I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances before me." -Psalm 119:29-30

"I have chosen the faithful way!" This should be the declaration of all of us who claim to be followers of Christ... there should not be any hesitation. Yesterday we looked at the faithful nature of the unchanging God, who will be faithful for all eternity. He sent His Son to fulfill what was lacking in our faithfulness to Him. The precious blood of Jesus was shed so that our unfaithfulness might be reconciled before God...

So, what is our response to such loving faithfulness? What are we, in turn, going to do in response to this demonstration of unmerited favor? We, as children of God, must commit our lives to the work of the Gospel. We have been commanded to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20).

Here is where faithfulness comes into play... How well do we fulfill this commission that our ever-faithful Savior has required of us? How often are we so saturated with the message of Christ that we can't help but spill it over into our conversations at work, or with our lost friends on the weekends?

This is just the tip of the mountain that we call "faithfulness." Look at what we have been saved out of... we were saved from our sins and eternal punishment in hell! We were once wretched creatures, without hope, who had no chance for righteousness in our own strength. "But God..." Yes, dear Friends... we were the unrepentant souls, "but God..."

In response to this truth, we must echo what Paul has said in Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." Our response to Christ's work in our lives MUST be faithfulness.

Have we so delusioned ourselves as to believe that we can be saved by Holy God from the depths of our sins and then go on living in the patterns and ways of this world? No! "How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" (Romans 6:2b). Remember, we were crucified with Christ, we have died to the old sin-nature!

I have said all of this to make one point... We must become the same faithfulness that we see in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Again, this is not something we can ever hope to attain on our own, but it is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. However, we cannot sit back and wait for a bolt of lightening to strike and a loud voice to come from the sky, revealing to us all faithfulness and all knowledge and wisdom. We must begin to pray and act in accordance with the will of God. This is faithfulness... that we would see the commands of God, in His Word, and fulfill them to the very best of our abilities and with every effort we can muster.

Friends, I am not really sure how else to stress the importance of our faithfulness as Christians. Faithfulness looks something like "total devotion in every aspect of your life!" Commitment to being more like Christ... this is faithfulness! There is so much involved in being a faithful follower of Christ... and yet, it is simply: Doing the will of our Father, who is in Heaven.

Faithfulness means that, even when we cannot see clearly what God is going to do, we follow Him without question or hesitation. This is a lot to ask of a human being, living in 21st century America, brought up in a culture that says that everything we believe must be supported by facts and hard evidence in order for us to accept it. We are taught, by our society, to look at all of the evidence before we take our first step... Christ says "follow Me!"

Friends, it is hard to be completely faithful, in every circumstance, to a God who asks us to trust Him... but has He ever given us a reason to doubt His ability to take care of us? Look at the track-record of our God... Faithfulness it the theme of the Old Testament, even in light of the unfaithfulness of His people! The ultimate end of His faithfulness being brought to completion in the work of Christ on the cross. This work completed the faithfulness that God promised all throughout the history of the Old Testament. And it is still the completed work of His faithfulness to us!

Trust God! And from that trust, become a faithful servant of His will. Faithfully witness, to those around you, of the love and mercy of our God. Faithfully lead your families in the study of His Word. Faithfully hold to the commands of the Scriptures. Do not waver, do not falter... but if you do, confess your sins before God and His faithfulness will once again restore your relationship with Him. "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)

I'm afraid that's all I have for you today. I hope this hasn't been too confusing, and hopefully it has encouraged you to be a faithful witness for Christ. I'm afraid that I am sorely lacking of a deep understanding of faithfulness... but that's what this study (or in today's case, more like ramblings) is all about!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .