What’s an easy definition for the word “faithful”? Taking the word apart and rearranging it a bit, we can easily seethat the words “full of faith” would make for an easy definition. For example, if we get a car loan, the lending institution wants to know if we’re faithful in paying our bills. We may not lend money to a stranger, but we might to someone we know well. It’s about someone having a proven character. But we want to know about God’s faithfulness. Is He a proven character? Can He be counted on always to keep His promises?
So then, is God faithful? He certainly is! He created everyone and everything. He’s made promises throughout the millennia and kept every one of them. He promised Jesus would be born and grow to be the savior of all. He vowed to destroy death, and through Jesus, He did exactly that. He’s also promised a resurrection to all people of all time. We’ve seen the resurrection of several New Testament people: Jairus’ daughter, the widow’s son in Nain, Lazarus, and His own resurrection. We know He has the power to make the resurrection a sure thing. We’ve seen it so in the Bible.
I believe in the general resurrection of the dead, just as He promised, though it hasn’t happened yet. I also believe Him when He said some would rise to heaven and some would be cast into hell.
God, you see, is faithful.
Consider the Scriptures. Consider this from 1 Corinthians 1:9, NKJV, “God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Savior.”God is faithful, friends, unto the salvation of our souls. We are called to salvation by the gospel, 2 Thessalonians 2:14, NKJV. At our salvation, we belongto the fellowship of His Son. Whatever His views, they become our views; whatever He feels, we feel; His sufferings are our sufferings; His inheritance is our inheritance, and His resurrection is our resurrection.
Consider 1 John 5:13, NKJV, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”
It’s easy to know, to know, that we have eternal life. Why? How? We believe in the name of the Son of God that He has the power of resurrection and salvation. And in His name, we have called upon Him for salvation. And that salvation is through trusting and obeying Him. It would make no sense to say we believe but never do as our Lord directs. We know we are saved by keeping His commandments, 1 John 2:3, NKJV. We believe, so we obey. That’s not difficult to understand. It’s easy.
Then, there’s Hebrews 10:23, NKJV. We are to hold fast our confession. Now, just what is that confession? What are we confessing? We confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that we live as Christians by believing in His name and submitting to His will.
Holding fast to that confession means we are faithful to God just as God is faithful to us. Nothing will separate us from that confession. The storms in life cannot shake the confession of our Lord Jesus. We hold the confessionto our home in heaven. Without this, we fall from grace, redemption, and heaven. We must hold to it for eternal life.
But again, this verse also explains why we trust God for our salvation. The verse goes on to say that He is faithful. There’s never been a time when God has been unfaithful to His word. By His power, we see His promises fulfilled through the ages.
Google this: God’s promises fulfilled in the bible. You’ll be astounded by all the Bible references.
What, then? We live as saints. We are strangers, pilgrims, and sojourners. We are headed for a city that can never be shaken, the New Jerusalem. In our steps home, we endeavor to live righteously, obeying whatever it is our Lord commands.
Don’t waste time serving the devil. Serve the Lord. The only way to happiness in this old, dark world is to trust Jesus and obey Him. It’s the only way to heaven.