Foundational Truths – God – Faithful

At the mention of the word faithful or faithfulness we usually think first of a spouse, close friend, or maybe even a pet.  I know that we here as the world headquarters of The Old Dead Guys are very blessed in that the entire staff consists of all three.  Yet I think the faithful pet is more faithful to the other half of our staff.  Anyway, when we think of God in terms of His being faithful we often times will have a limited understanding (as with most things pertaining to God) usually overlooking the obvious until someone points it out to us.  I think God’s attribute of being faithful is one such case.

Webster’s 1828 states of Faithful:

1. Firm in adherence to the truth.

2. Firmly adhering to duty.

3. Constant in the performance.

4. Observant of contracts, (true to one's word).  

5. True.

6. Constant; not fickle; as a faithful lover or friend.

We see Webster really gives a complete picture of God in His being faithful.  For instance God is the epitome of truth therefore He displays a “firm adherence” to it (Ps 119:140, 160: Jn 17:17).  He is also constant in “performance” (Heb 13:8; Jas 1:17).  We can therefore see Him as “observant of contracts (covenants)” (Php 1:6).  And it is his consistency in performance that leads Him to not be fickle.  Imagine a god that changed his feelings at a whim but not so with the God of creation He is steadfast, unchangeable.

But notice something else regarding His being faithful.  Because of this we can begin our days by His faithfully “raising” the sun each morning.  We set our clocks because He keeps the “electronic transition frequency in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum of atoms” unchanging (wiki Atomic clock).  Our cars function (most times) our houses stand erect and all things subsist because He upholds the basic atomic structure of all things (Col 1:17).  Yes He is very faithful.

But His faithfulness is on its greatest display in my opinion in salvation in that all who come to Him He does not reject (Jn 6:37).  He bids those who are thirsty to come to Him, drink freely (without reservation or hesitation) from the water of life without cost (Rev 22:17).

In short God's faithfulness applies to every aspect of who and what He is.  His faithfulness applies to His...

Temporal blessings (1 Ti 4:8; Ps 84:11; Isa 33:16)

Spiritual blessings (1 Cor 1:9)

Support in temptation (1 Cor 10:13)

Support in persecution (1 Peter 4:12, 13; Isa 41:10)

Sanctifying discipline (Heb 12:4-12)

Direction in difficulties (2 Chron 32:22; Ps 32:8)

The enabling of His own to persevere (Jer 32:40)

Bringing to glory (1 Jn 2:25).

So praise Him for His faithfulness, for His faithful love to and for His elect, and for His faithfulness to complete in us that which He has began (Phil 1:6).

SDG