FAITHFULNESS

GOD'S ATTRIBUTE OF FAITHFULNESS

The second attribute in the expression of character is that of FAITHFULNESS arising out of the truth of God. This is the manifestation of the trueness of God in relation to His creatures in general and to His redeemed people in parti­cular. The inward reality of God always corresponds exactly with the outer ex­pression.

1. The divine announcement as expressed in the Biblical passages must have produced astonishment in the midst of a pagan world. Men had come to think that God "was altogether such a one" as themselves (Psa. 50:21). They thought of God as fickle, vain, unstable, turning in one direction or another under the pressures of circumstance. Then through the mouth of His prophets, God declared that He was faithful.

God declares of Himself that He is the "God of truth" (Isa. 65:16). In this passage the word for truth is "Amen," meaning firm, stable, unyielding, absolute. And out of this Hebrew word comes the word translated faithful. This expresses the fact that God acts in accordance with His nature. This faithfulness abides forever, and inasmuch as He is self-affirming, He cannot deny Himself (2 Tim. 2:13). Therefore His faithfulness will extend to all the generations of existence (Psa. 119:90). This faithfulness is so great that human sins, however mountainous, cannot cause God to forsake His promises (Lam. 3:23). This faithfulness is universal in its sweep of the created order, and reaches to the illimit­able heights of heaven and to the stars that are without number (Psa. 89:37). And it will never fail (Psa. 89:33).

In all His performance, God is faithful. He is a faithful creator

(1 Pet. 4:19) preserving and maintaining the universe. There are no limits to which it does not reach, ascending to the skies (Psa. 36:5), and assuring us that the sun will rise each morning (Psa. 89:2), that the planets will keep on schedule in their courses (Psa. 89:37), and that seed time and harvest will continue without variation (Gen. 8:22; Psa. 119:90).

This faithfulness provides for and undergirds the salvation in Christ. Christ is faithful in His entire ministry (Isa. 11:5 ASV; Heb. 3:2). As the faith­ful One, He initiates us into participation with Him (1 Cor. 1:9; 12:13), serves as High Priest in our behalf (Heb. 2:17), pleads our cause as Advocate (1 John 1:9; 2:1), and assures us that every promise will be fulfilled (Heb. 10:23; 11:11). With absolute faithfulness He establishes our goings and preserves us from the evil one (2 Thess. 3:3 ASV). In times of deep trial and testing He gives us victory (1 Cor. 10:13), encouraging us in the midst of opposition and warning us of the perils in the way (2 Tim. 2:13; Heb. 10:23). With an imperceptible gentleness He brings our stubborn wills into submission to His own holy will (Psa. 119:75), and through every changing circumstance of life preserves us completely for Himself (1 Thess. 5:23-24).

2. The essential meaning of faithfulness as resident in and displayed by God can be discovered only by resort to the Hebrew and Greek terms. The root word out of which the Hebrew word faithful comes means that which is firm. Hence the word faithful comes to mean reliable, steadfast, dependable, and trust­worthy. By examining the context of Deut. 7:9 where God is described as "faith­ful," the description is of One who keeps His covenant with His people with all its stipulations (cf. vs. 8-10). God made promise to Abraham to protect and preserve His people who owned Him as their God. He therefore brought them out of Egypt and through the wilderness. To those who rejected claim to God and repudiated the covenant with its warnings, upon them fell judgment.

In the New Testament, if we include the references to Christ, the asser­tion that God is faithful occurs 15 times. The Greek term is a form made on the stem of the word for faith. The word faith means persuasion of will. Therefore, the word faithful means performance over the pattern of persuasion, or persuasion issuing in performance. God is described in His activity as a faithful creator (1 Pet. 4:19); faithful in calling (1 Cor. 1:9), cleansing (1 John 1:9), reconciling (Heb. 2:17), promise (Heb. 10:23; 11:11), preserving (1 Cor. 10:13; 1 Thess. 5:23-24; 2 Thess. 3:3), in person (2 Tim. 2:13; Rev. 19:11), and in witness (2 Cor. 1:18; Heb. 3:2; Rev. 1:5; 3:14).

3. The divine evaluations of faithfulness in men are measured over the pattern of Himself. God exalts the faithful and holds them in high esteem. Such men as Abraham, Moses, Nehemiah, and Daniel stood high in His estimation (Neh. 9:8; Gal. 3:9; Heb. 3:5 Num. 12:7; Dan. 6:4). God's response toward faith­fulness in men gives some idea of the worth with which He regards this quality. He preserves the faithful (Psa. 31:23), and His eyes of blessing follow the faithful (Psa. 101:6). All of God's children will come some day before a throne for evalua­tion of their service, and a special recognition of "well done" will be given to the faithful servant (Matt. 24:46 T5:21,23). God is especially concerned that faithful men be inducted into the ministry (2 Tim. 2:2), and to those who are faithful unto death there will be a crown of life (Rev. 2:10).

There is one supreme and indispensable quality for stewards. That is faithfulness (1 Cor. 4:2). This quality begins with faithfulness to God (Luke 16:11), and is itself a fruit of the indwelling Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23 ASV). Where this quality is demonstrated toward God, it is assured that in all minor details of responsibility there will likewise be exhibited the quality of faithfulness. In the courage of this conviction, therefore, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope firm without wavering, for He who promised is faithful" (Heb. 10:23 NASB).

In God's faithfulness we have the guarantee that our faculties in their normal exercise do not deceive us; that laws of thought are also laws of things; that the external world, and second causes in it, have objective existence; that the same causes will always produce the same effects; that the threats of the moral nature will be executed upon the unrepentant transgressor; that man's moral nature is made in the image of God; and that we may draw just conclusions from what con­science is in us to what holiness is in Him. We may therefore expect that all past revelation, whether in nature or in His word, will not only not be contradicted by our future knowledge, but will rather prove to have in them more of truth than we ever dreamed. Man's word may pass away, but God's word abides forever (Isa. 40:8; Matt. 5:18). God's word is a "faithful word" (Titus 1:9; 3:8; 1 Tim. 1:15; 4:9; 2 Tim. 2: 11).