Faithfulness..Just Living for God

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, ‘the just shall live by faith.’” Romans 1: 16, 17 (KJV)

     Faithfulness, what do you know about faithfulness?  What is the difference between faith and faithfulness?  What does it mean to be faithful to God?
     Faithfulness is defined as being trustworthy or loyal.  When we think of faithfulness, we think of the commitment of love in a marriage.  Each spouse promises to love and stand by each other through everything.  A result of this love is faithfulness to each other.  It should be the same with God.  Jesus taught the disciples to pray by calling God, “Our Father which art in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9)  God, our Father, loves us and desires for us to love Him and to be faithful to Him as He is faithful to us.  All through the scripture God promises that ‘He will not leave you or forsake you.’ (Deut. 31:6)  In Isaiah 41:10 God promises, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God.”  Our God is faithful, and He loves us so much that ‘he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting live.’ (John 3:16)  Now, my dear sisters, this is faithfulness.
      There is a difference between faith and faithfulness.  You see, faith is belief without seeing.  It is through faith that we are saved.  We can’t save ourselves by showing faithfulness, because faithfulness comes after faith.  As we read in Ephesians 2:8, we see that it is “by grace” that we “are saved through faith and that not of ourselves, because it is the gift of God.”  Faith is the action of believing, and faithfulness comes after we receive Christ as our Savoir.  I like how Eli Brayley explains the difference in his article, “Faith or Faithfulness.”  (http://www.timothyministry.com/2014/07/faith-or-faithfulness.html)  He writes that faith is outside of self.  Faith is to believe in someone or something outside of ourselves.  As Christians, we believe in God and have total faith in His Word.  Now, faithfulness is internal, because trustworthiness and loyalty comes from within us.  Faithfulness does not save us but is what we do after we are saved. 
     When we open the Bible, we read about many faithful men and women.  There is Moses’ faithfulness to God through obedience to lead God’s people to the Promised Land and his faithfulness to God’s people.  Abraham’s faithfulness is shown through his obedience and faith for the son promised to him.  Ruth was faithful to her mother-in-law.  In the New Testament, we read about the faithfulness of Jesus as he teaches, heals, and gives his life so we will have eternal life.  Then, there is the faithfulness of the apostles who spread the gospel of Christ.  Paul proclaims in Romans 1:16, 17, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, ‘the just shall live by faith.’”
     From within the gospel of Christ ‘is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.’  This is the starting point of our faithfulness.  It is not from a checklist of things to do, but it is from the Bible where we experience the righteousness of God and draw closer to him.  Hebrews 10:22-23 instructs, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised).  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.”  This is faithfulness, loving God, spending time in the scriptures and prayer, following where he leads, serving, teaching, and encouraging one another.