The Fruit Of The Spirit: The Seventh Fruit—Faithfulness (Part 2)

Once we have some understanding of God’s faithfulness, we can begin to think about what it means in our lives. The fruit of faithfulness is another one of those wonderful virtues that the Holy Spirit produces in the Christian’s life. The Spirit not only gives us new life, but he also joins us to Christ. The result is a fruitful life (John 15:5). These spiritual fruits, including faithfulness, are a blessing from God that make our lives and the lives of people around us more pleasant. Our faithfulness does not save or justify us. But because we are saved and justified, the fruit of faithfulness will show up in our lives.

The Christian does have a duty to keep in step with the Spirit and bear fruit for the Lord. Following the Lord’s commandments, we must be truthful, reliable, dependable people who do not bail out or run away from commitments and duties. Faithfulness is that deep-down dedication to be constantly loyal and consistently dependable. Paul’s appeal is for us to be “steadfast and immovable” while we do the Lord’s work (1 Cor 15:58). Faithfulness includes keeping our promises or vows and doing what we said we would do. Faithfulness means following Christ through all the highs and lows in life. And it means being firmly dedicated to speaking, believing, and obeying the truth come what may.

Faithfulness is not simply being loyal only when you feel like it. Faithfulness is not just being loyal to people you like. This fruit of the Spirit means faithful all the time to all people and in all circumstances. Whether the Lord gives us much or little, he wants us to be faithful with whatever he has given us (Luke 19:17). Do you know what that famous geyser in Yellowstone National Park is called? Of course you do. Everyone does: “Old Faithful.” It is so-called because it erupts consistently every day, rain or shine. Similarly, the Christian is called to be faithful every day, rain or shine.

I should also mention that the Bible says unfaithfulness is a sin. In the prophet Hosea’s day, the whole land of Israel was guilty of being unfaithful to the Lord, like an adulterous woman who is unfaithful to her husband (Hos 1:2). Hezekiah prayed a confession to God that the Israelites had been unfaithful and disobedient to God (2 Chr 29:6). Being unfaithful to God is another way to explain breaking the first and second commandments: worshiping and serving other gods instead of the true God. Our prayers of repentance should include repenting for unfaithfulness.

Positively, Scripture does give many examples of God’s people who were faithful. It does not mean they were perfectly faithful. But it does mean that overall, they were genuinely faithful in many ways. Moses and Daniel were called “faithful” (Num 12:7, Dan 6:4) The men and women in the church of Colossae and the pastor-evangelist Epaphras are examples of faithful Christians in the New Testament (Col 1:2, 7). Many of Paul’s other co-workers were faithful, including Timothy, Tychicus, and Silas (1 Cor 4:17, Eph 6:21, 1 Pet 5:12).

When Os Guinness was a boy, he lived in China because his parents were missionaries there. For various reasons, his parents once sent Os to a boarding school when he was rather young. Before he went, his dad wrote “Found Faithful” on a little stone and gave it to young Os. This was his dad’s way of encouraging the boy to stay on track in the Christian life by being faithful to God and others. Guinness said he lost the stone when they had to flee China while the communist army was on the move. But even though he lost the stone, Guinness said the saying stuck with him: “Found Faithful.” He wrote, “Followers of Jesus are called to be ‘found faithful’ always, everywhere, and in spite of everyone and everything.”1

Faithfulness to God

The Christian can reason like this: “God has been faithful to me. With the help of the Spirit, I will be faithful to him.” For the Christian, that logic makes perfect sense. It is how Paul encouraged believers in Colossians: “Continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel” (Col 1:23). Continuing in the faith means constantly trusting in Christ. A Christian aiming at faithfulness will say: “Come what may, I will trust in the Lord.” Christians are not like those who turn away from God, but those who are faithful (Heb 10:39). Faithfulness means resolve: I will not turn my back on Christ or desert him. I will not jump from the ship of faith or forsake the Lord’s call. I will remain committed to following him no matter what, at any cost.

Faithfulness to God also has to do with obedience. For example, Psalm 119:30 says, “I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me.” A faithful Christian is one who will obey the Lord even when it is difficult or inconvenient. A faithful Christian is one who obeys Christ even if no one else around is obeying him. We might even call it a “holy stubbornness”—being faithful to obey God no matter what others say or do.

This fruit of faithfulness also shows up as we worship the Lord together. A believer who is committed to following the Lord faithfully will also faithfully worship the Lord with his people. That is the logic of Hebrews 10. It says there that the Lord is faithful to keep his promises, so we should not give up meeting together as some people have done (Heb 10:23–24). Sadly and unbiblically, some Christians do not make it a habit of faithfully attending worship. Faithfully worshiping God frequently, however, is a biblical injunction and practice. That is why the OPC and other Reformed churches include a line about worship in a membership vow: “Do you promise to participate faithfully in this church’s worship and service?”2 It is a biblical vow that all Christians should endeavor to keep.

Scripture also calls Christians to be faithful to the Lord even in suffering and persecution. For example, Christ says to his church, “Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev 2:10). Remember the man named Faithful in Pilgrim’s Progress? He was put on trial and sentenced to death because he would not swerve from his devotion to the truth. There was a song about Faithful after he was brutally martyred: “Well, Faithful, you have faithfully professed / unto your Lord with whom you shall be blessed / Sing faithful sing! And let your name survive / For though they killed you, yet you are alive!”3

One other area of faithfulness to God to consider is in stewardship. Jesus tells us to be good stewards of what God has entrusted us (Matt 25:14–30). This means we do not squander the gifts the Lord has given. It means using the things he has given us for his glory and the good of others. Jesus will commend his people who are good stewards: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much” (Matt 25:23). To hear this commendation from Christ is indeed one of the goals Christians should have.

Faithfulness to Others

God is faithful to us, his people. We imitate the Lord out of gratitude by being faithful to him. And Scripture tells us to be faithful to other people as well. This is a huge topic! We cannot cover it all, but let me give a few areas in which the Bible talks about faithfulness to others.

First, the words that we speak should be faithful. We need to tell the truth. Our words should not be deceitful; we must keep our vows and promises. If I say I will help my neighbor when he needs help, I practice faithfulness by doing what I say and helping him. If you sign a contract or seal the deal with a handshake, faithfulness calls you to keep your word and not back out of what you agreed upon.

Second, the fruit of faithfulness involves the relationships we have with friends and family. We all know the proverb, “A friend loves at all times” (Prov 17:17). Similarly, another proverb says, “Do not forsake your friend” (Prov 27:10). Faithfulness to friends and family grows out of the love we have for them. It is a loyal, Christ-like love.

I have thought about this one a lot. It is my (sanctified?) pet peeve when friends or family bail on each other—especially Christians! When I see friends or family forsake each other, it doubles my resolve to be loyal in my relationships. I purposely try to be a reliable Christian friend or family member, even when it is difficult. I try to be the kind of Christian friend or family member I want others to be to me. If I mess up or have a difficult trial in life, I do not want my friends and family to flee. I want them to help me through it. I would do the same for them (Matt 7:12).

This goes for husbands and wives as well. Spouses must be faithful to each other in marriage (Heb 13:4). Purity, trust, truth, and love combine with faithfulness to make a marriage glorifying God and good for both spouses. Speaking of family, faithfulness is an attribute of a good church family. Whichever local church family God has put you in, you should be a faithful part of it. It is a good thing for church families to practice loyalty and for members to be reliable brothers and sisters in Christ. Will you stick by your church family when the going gets tough? If someone messes up or goes through a dark trial, will you be there to help them through it? Practicing the fruit of faithfulness means you say “yes” to those questions.

Third, the fruit of faithfulness extends outside the church, home, and family. It includes faithfulness to our neighbors. The people we are called to love are the people we should be faithful to. It is a biblical thing to be dependable workers. It is pleasing to God when we are reliable citizens, neighbors, or students. It is a good aim in life to be faithful in all areas. To be unreliable, undependable, and unfaithful people does not shine a good light on the Christian faith. But God is glorified when we display this fruit of faithfulness in all the various areas of our lives.

Conclusion

This might be a good refrain for life: “I will be faithful to God; I will be faithful to others.” When the great Christian preacher and evangelist John Stott was bedridden in his old age, one of his Christian friends asked Stott, “How can I pray for you?” Stott replied, “Pray that I will be faithful to Jesus until my last breath.”4 That prayer should be our prayer as well. To repeat, we want to hear the voice of Jesus commend us one day for our faithfulness: “Well done!”

It is not easy to be faithful to God and to others. We struggle with selfishness. The world does not always value faithfulness. Satan tempts us to be unfaithful. Faithfulness is part of Christian spiritual warfare that takes endurance, prayer, and fortitude. Thankfully, God forgives us when we are unfaithful. And thankfully, our salvation does not depend upon our faithfulness but upon God’s great faithfulness. And in the Lord’s faithfulness to us, we find the strength and motivation to be faithful to him.

Notes

  1. Os Guinness, Impossible People (Downers’ Grove: IVP, 2016), 28.
  2. The Book of Church Order of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Directory of Public Worship, IV.B.2. Emphasis Mine.
  3. John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress, vol. 3 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2006), 132.
  4. As quoted in Os Guinness, Impossible People, 34.

© Shane Lems. All Rights Reserved.

You can find this whole series here.


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    Post authored by:

  • Shane Lems
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    Shane Lems is a graduate of Westminster Seminary California and has a DMin from RTS Orlando. He has been a church planter and pastor in the URCNA. Since 2013 he’s been serving as pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Hammond, WI. He is married and has four children. Shane has written numerous articles for Modern Reformation, New Horizons, and other publications. He is also the author of Doctrines of Grace: Student Edition and manages a book blog, The Reformed Reader.

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