What is the difference between faith and faithfulness? Faith is belief, assurance of God’s word and all that he has done. Faithfulness is living in accord with that truth. In other words, faith leads to faithfulness. This is an important distinction to maintain in Christianity. We are not saved through faithfulness. Neither are we saved by faith and faithfulness. If either were the case, how many of us would measure up? I mean, who among us always lives in accord with their beliefs? I know that I do not. But I want to.
The next fruit of the Spirit that the Apostle Paul brings up in Galatians 5 is ‘faithfulness.’ Understanding the distinction I’ve drawn above is important when we come to this fruit. Like all the others, we must remember that this is something that God works in us by his Spirit. Moreover, the faithfulness that he calls us to have is simply a reflection of his own faithfulness.
God’s faithfulness is his perfect loyalty and consistency in being true to his name, his character, and his word. This is something that is part of who God is, his nature. The prophet Jeremiah declared, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.” This was after Jeremiah surveyed the destruction of the Temple and the fall of Jerusalem in the Old Testament. He knew that even though God had brought judgment that even that was in accord with his nature, with his steadfast love.
This faithfulness of God is seen clearly in Jesus. As the one who was the perfect image of God, very God of very God, and the “exact imprint of his nature” (Hebrews 1:3), his faithfulness is shown in many ways. It is seen in his words. What he said came to pass and he was faithful to fulfill all the promises he made. We also see his faithfulness in his actions, all the way to the cross.
The promises of God’s faithfulness sustained believers in the Old Testament and the same is to be true for us. Many of us have probably sung that wonderful hymn, “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” That song speaks of God’s faithfulness to us because of who he is – and because of who we are as his children. Whatever the season (summer and winter, springtime and harvest), whatever the struggle (pardon for sin and a peace that endureth), God does not give up on his people.
That brings us, then, to Paul’s words in Galatians 5:22. God’s faithfulness is the ground of our faithfulness. While ours will pale in comparison to his – as it is riddled with our sins – we are nevertheless called to be faithful to our God. Paul speaks of this, elsewhere, in 1 Corinthians 15. The whole of the chapter is a masterful explanation and defense of Christ’s resurrection and our own resurrection that is yet to come.
At the very end of that chapter, Paul writes, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” The words Paul uses here give us a way we can think about faithfulness to God. To be steadfast means that you are settled in your thinking or belief. You are not one of those who are tossed to and fro like the waves in your thinking about God. Immovable describes the same sort of position (showing that Paul believed it important). Abounding in the work of the Lord means that we love God and love our neighbor.
Throughout our lives, we ought to keep the end in mind. Paul says that “in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” All that we do in this life is not in vain because, one day, Christ will return to judge the living and the dead. The end is what matters. That’s what Paul is saying.
Paul knows that you and I are going to struggle with these words. We are not always immovable. Sometimes our faith is shaken, whether it is by a tragedy or it is by someone questioning us. We ought to build up our faith in those days when things are not difficult so that when they are, we know where to turn. When the storms of life come, and they will, we must be prepared to cling to Christ. We are saved through faith alone, in Christ alone. Saved through faith and called to faithfulness.
Pastor Everett Henes, the pastor of the Hillsdale Orthodox Presbyterian Church, can be reached at pastorhenes@gmail.com.
