God is Faithful

The true believer can best understand the distinction between positional truth (perfect position in Christ) and experiential truth (fellowship with God) by considering God's righteousness. Since Jesus satisfied the just demands of a holy God in His first coming by being the perfect sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 9:11-14) on man's behalf, the believer is given His righteousness by faith in who He is and what He accomplished. Receiving it happens in a moment, at salvation, since He became to us righteousness as a past event But by His doing [ek autos – out of Him] you are in Christ Jesus, who became [ginomai – aorist indicative passive] to us wisdom from God, and righteousness [dikaiosune – standards of a higher authority] and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Experiencing this righteousness is a byproduct of a living faith, as 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us: He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become [present active subjunctive] the righteousness of God in Him. Becoming the righteousness of God is conditional. According to Romans 1:17, For in it [the gospel], the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." The original Greek could be better translated as “by or out of faith into faith.”  When the believer exercises his faith in a given situation, he experiences the righteousness of God, and this leads to another opportunity to trust God. 

Perseverance 

It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; If we endure [hupomeno – remain under, persevere], we will also reign with Him; if we deny [arneomai – reject] Him, He also will deny us; If we are faithless [apisteo – put no confidence in God], He remains faithful [trustworthy], for He cannot deny Himself.                        2 Timothy 2:11-13

The essence of a living faith in the living God is a trust in His commitment to His people. It is a mystical identification with the death and life of Christ. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). There is a clear contrast between death and life and it is spiritual; it is a reference to the cross of Christ and the believer’s connection to that cross (Luke 9:23). If we endure or persevere, we will also reign with Him furthers the believer's identification with Christ – in His suffering and glorification (Romans 8:17). Christ endured and will one day reign (1 Corinthians 15:25), and those saints who endure will reign with Him, in this life (Romans 5:17) and the life to come.

In the likely event that the believer is not consistently faithful or trustworthy, that does not nullify God’s commitment to believers. If we reject Him, He will also reject or disown us, speaks of the possibility of apostasy and the Lord's ultimate rejection of those who professed Christ only temporarily. Instead of identifying with Christ, the apostate finally dissociates himself with Christ. If we are faithless, He remains faithful, speaks not of the apostate, but of a true child of God who nevertheless proves unfaithful or not trustworthy. Christ cannot disown Himself; therefore, He will not deny even unprofitable members of His own body. True children of God cannot become something other than children, even when disobedient and weak. Christ's faithfulness to Christians is not contingent on their faithfulness to Him. These verses are a lifeline for every believer.

Testings

Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation [peirasmos – putting to the test] has overtaken you but such as is common to man [anthropinos – manners, custom, nature, or condition]; and God is faithful [pistos – trustworthy], who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape [ekbasis – a going out] also, so that you will be able to endure it [hupophero – bear up under].                  1 Corinthians 10:12-13

In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul addresses the Corinthians’ false sense of freedom in their standing in Christ by identifying idolatry, immorality, testing the Lord, and grumbling against His perfect plan. After kicking out these props of false security, Paul points to the One on whom the Corinthians could rely. The temptations that seized the Corinthians were similar to those people had always faced. Those testings could be met and endured by depending on God, who is faithful. Instead of looking within to find the strength to endure, the believer is assured that God will not allow tests that cannot be successfully managed. Often, the solution to the believer's spiritual testing is not a change in circumstances but a new attitude toward the situation. For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore, also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us (2 Corinthians 1:20).

A Hindu Perspective

Mahatma Gandhi made the following statements about God and His role in people’s lives, He could not see God as living and personal:

"I worship God as Truth only. I have not yet found Him, but I am seeking after Him. I am prepared to sacrifice the things dearest to me in pursuit of this quest. Even if the sacrifice demanded my very life, I hope I may be prepared to give it.”

“The Absolute Truth, the Eternal Principle, that is God. There are innumerable definitions of God, because His manifestations are innumerable. They overwhelm me with wonder and awe, and for a moment stun me. But I worship God as Truth only. I have not yet found Him. But I am seeking after Him .... I have had faint glimpses of the Absolute Truth, God, and daily the conviction is growing upon me that He alone is real and all else unreal.”

I Shall Not Lack

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want [not lacking]. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.                        Psalm 23:1-3

So, He told them this parable, saying, "What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  Luke 15:3-5    

Psalm 23, accepted as written by David, has always been regarded as one of exquisite beauty. The main subject is the watchful care which God extends over the believer, and the consequent assurance that he feels God will still watch over him, and supply all his needs. The leading thought, the essential idea, is his full belief that God would provide for him and that he would never be left wanting.  Two facts or images illustrate it:

(a) That God was his shepherd; that He had always manifested toward David the care which a shepherd takes of his flock, and

(b) That God had prepared a table before David in the very presence of his enemies, or that he had abundantly led him in their very sight, when they were endeavoring to destroy him, thus giving him assurance that God never would leave him,

One of the parables Jesus tells in Luke 15 is that of the lost sheep. The Lord promises that, as the Good Shepherd, He will leave the ninety-nine to find the one who has drifted away.

David’s Trust in the Lord

David’s relationship with God was very similar to the new covenant relationship believers in Christ experience in the Church Age. Paul uses many of his quotes to make his case (i.e., Romans 4:6-8). In Psalm 37, David expresses his living faith and confidence in God and His provisions for all of David’s needs.

Do not fret [harah – don’t get angry] because of evildoers, be not envious toward wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb. Trust [batah – trust, confidence, expressing a feeling of safety and security relying on the Lord] in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate [feed on His] faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires [petitions] of your heart. Commit [galal – entrust] your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday. Rest [damam – state of motionlessness] in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger and forsake wrath; do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land. Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; and you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there. But the humble [anaw – low in rank] will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.                       Psalm 37:1-11

Every believer must come to grips with his response to the presence and effects of evil men on life. One should not be envious of sinful people and their prosperity because they will wither like the grass and will soon die. Rather, one should trust in the LORD who can answer prayers of the heart. The promise, He will give you the desires [petitions] of your heart, is based on the condition to delight yourself in the LORD. One who delights in Him will have righteous desires. If a person trusts in the LORD, God will gloriously vindicate him. Therefore, the righteous should not envy or fret when the wicked succeed. Fretting leads only to evil.

David describes the impending judgment on the wicked - they will shortly be cut off, and the contrasting truth that the meek will inherit the land. This promise of inheriting the land was reiterated and broadened by Jesus.

Deliverance

I sought [daras – seek, inquire of] the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces will never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The Angel of the Lord [Jesus] encamps [hanah – pitch one’s tent] around those who fear [reverence] Him, and rescues them. O taste [taam – taste, experience] and see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! O fear the Lord, you His saints; for to those who fear Him there is no want. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing.           Psalm 34:4-10

David reports of his deliverance. Because he cried and was delivered, he was convinced that God's people are never put to shame. Instead, they are radiant because God hears them and rescues them from their troubles. He declares that the Angel of the LORD (Jesus) camps around those who reverence the Lord. In military imagery David envisioned divine protection. Those who trust in the LORD experience genuine happiness - if they taste and see. All who fear the LORD, that is, all who are genuine worshipers, will lack nothing, or no good thing.

Hold Fast

Let us hold fast the confession [homologia – confession] of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.                  Hebrews 10:23

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

Readers of Hebrews were being tempted to forsake their confession of Jesus Christ by going back to the old covenant worship. The writer did not exhort them to hold on to their salvation because their security was in Christ and not in themselves. Rather, he invited them to hold fast their confession of their future, their hope, since it was supported by two unchangeable things – God's oath and His promise (Hebrews 6:17-20). As a result of His commitment to me, I can be faithful and have a ministry to Him.

When You Speak to Me

Twila Paris wrote an amazing song that describes what a relationship with the Lord looks like when the believer is fully convinced of His faithfulness:

When You speak to me, when I take the time to listen

There is more than what I think I feel

When You speak to me, when I sit and still the motion

There is nothing left but what is real

There is an answer to every question, the answer is You

CHORUS:

And the heavens open when You speak to me

Pouring light into my waiting heart

And the music fills an ocean silently, quietly

When you speak to me

 

When You speak to me, when You call me and surround me

There is peace to cover any pain

When You speak to me, when You place Your word inside me

I am filled and I am strong again

There is a reason for every longing, the reason is You