We spent last week looking at some of the critical characteristics that Christians must have. In our last blog, I emphasized the importance of having faith. Tonight I want you to think about the importance of faithfulness. These two characteristics are obviously closely related. We might even say that they are intertwined because if one has the proper kind of faith, faithfulness will be a fruit of it. Faithfulness involves the works produced by faith.
James 2:21–22 (ESV)
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;
In offering up Isaac on the altar, Abraham, as impressive as it was, was merely being faithful to God. God gave him a command and he showed that he was willing to obey it. That’s faithfulness. Being faithful to God primarily involves obeying His commandments, whatever they may be.
The truth is, there is no such thing as an unfaithful Christian. You might be an unfaithful child of God, but being a Christian includes more than just being a part of God’s family. It involves having the mind of Christ and following in His steps of obedience. Since Jesus was perfectly obedient, having never sinned, we cannot continue in any sin and claim to be His followers.
Are we considered unfaithful the moment we sin? No! God gives us the opportunity to repent when we sin; after all, none of us are perfectly obedient like Jesus was. However, when we determine not to obey God in any area, and we continue in that disobedience, we are living unfaithfully before God. Christians do not do that. While we all sin (Romans 3:21), true Christians do what Peter told Simon to do when he sinned—we repent and pray to God for forgiveness (Acts 8:22).
Notice the gracious nature of this. God has set up a system of salvation that makes moral perfection unnecessary for salvation. This is the major difference between the law of Moses and the law of Christ. The law of Moses demanded perfection because it did not make provision for sin. This is how Paul put it.
Acts 13:38–39 (ESV)
38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
The law of Moses could not set man free from sin because it was never intended to do that. It was not God’s plan of salvation. It was only meant to lead people to Christ (Galatians 3:24). The law of Christ, however, is God’s plan of salvation (Romans 1:16). Its beauty is seen, not only in the forgiveness that it gives to those who are baptized into Christ (Romans 6:3-4), but the forgiveness that it affords Christians who sin and repent of it (1 John 2:1-2). For the law of Christ to have this power, Jesus had to die on the cross, condemning sin in His flesh (Romans 8:3), and allowing it to do what the law of Moses could not do. Thank God for His grace.
Our part is to simply be faithful. We must obey God, and remember that His commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:3). Obeying is in our best interest now and for the obtaining of eternal life. If we trust God, which we have seen is an inseparable part of saving faith, we will believe this and therefore be faithful. Followers of Christ sin from time to time, but what they do not do is live in sin. Are you faithful? It is another critical characteristic of being a Christian, and whether you are or not is completely up to you. By His grace, God has given us the resources to be faithful (2 Peter 1:3), and He leaves the rest to us.
As you wind down for the night, think about these things.