My Faithfulness
6 min read
10 Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.
12 The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.
13 Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps.
— Psalm 85:10-13
The love of Christ stirs in us faithfulness, and our faithfulness taps into the love of Christ.
Faithfulness is simply the fruit of being full of faith—through and through. The more that our hearts and minds are filled with faith in Christ, the more our lives demonstrate faithfulness to Christ and His church, which is His body.
Faith in Christ has to be credited to us as righteousness, because there is no righteousness in us (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:9). And through faith in Him, His righteousness is imputed to us.
But faith that is not demonstrated through our faithfulness is not really faith (James 2:18-26). In other words, truth faith in Christ must be demonstrated through our faithfulness to Christ and His church.
But why do I include the “church” in this formula (and by “church” I mean every local, Bible-believing, gospel-teaching church)? It is because the individualistic, entertainment-hungry nature of our world has infiltrated the hearts and minds of many believers so that the local church is considered as something completely separate from Christ Himself. In that way, it has become very easy and convenient for Christians to say, “I AM devoted to Jesus,” but then treat their church as just another activity in their lives, like work or school or kid’s sports—and maybe even secondary to those activities.
The devil snickers every time a believer demonstrates that attitude and promotes it to others—especially to the next generation.
The Bible never, ever decapitates Christ from His church. And so if we are ever claiming faith in Christ, we had better be demonstrating faithfulness to our local church.
And on this point, there may be some who would want to define the boundaries of “faithfulness to our local church” to fit the values and priorities of their own lifestyles. A church cannot survive such a me-centered “faith” (1 Corinthians 3:10-15). We might indeed be saved, but at the very least, such a casual attitude toward the church seriously risks the faith and faithfulness of the next generation.
The entertainment-hungry nature of many believers also tries to decapitate Christ from His church. That nature is demonstrated in the program, productivity, and performance emphasis of many churches and churchgoers at the expense of Christ-centered community and relationships. That nature is especially true in larger churches.
The remedy for us is Christ—to see like Christ, to think like Christ, to speak like Christ, to go like Christ, to be like Christ. Of course, as sinful people, we cannot really do all that. But first of all, that truth should instill in us a great sense of humility. Second of all, that truth must not prevent us from trying to pursue the holiness of Christ.
Biblical truth is quite burdensome for many believers, because they are not inclined or willing to devote their lives to being like Christ. But to be like Christ is not meant to be burdensome (Matthew 11:28-30). It does, however, take a reorientation of our values and priorities.
That is the burden. But once we cross that hurdle, there is great joy and blessing. And while the demonstration of our faithfulness always requires some sacrifice, it’s not what we would call hard or difficult.
Father, You are holy and righteous. You have sent righteousness down in Your Son so that His righteousness might be credited and imputed to us. Your ways are so out of this world. But let my joy be found in Christ and Christ alone. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
