The Fruit Of The Spirit Is....Faithfulness

Greek word 'pistis'. Means pretty much the same as we understand it in English.

Examples of pistis in the NT

a) Trust. Romans 3:25
b) Content of belief. Acts 6:7
c) Trustworthiness. (Which is the usage in Galatians). Romans 3:3

'The character of one who can be relied on' - Thayer

Faithful, to be trusted, reliable - Vine
The virtue of reliability - Barclay
'The faithful' was the favourite and most common name for Christians in the first century - Merril Unger

The basis of our faithfulness is God

Deuteronomy 7:9
Psalm 36:5
Psalm 89:1
1 Cor 1:9
1 Cor 10: 13

Practical applications of faithfulness

a) Be faithful to God. The parable of the talents. Matthew 25.
Don't be like the one who displayed a lack of faithfulness.
Exodus 3-4. Moses had lots of excuses, but for every one, God provided a remedy. He will make a way for us to be faithful.
Luke 16:10. Be faithful in small things.
Jeremiah 12:5. If we aren't faithful in small things, how can we be faithful when the going gets tough.

b) Be faithful to Church, and the work that God calls us to.
The Church needs reliable, trustworthy and loyal people.
Examples of unfaithfulness:
i) neglecting to meet together
ii) lack of participation in the Church
iii) leaving it to others to do all the work. 90% of the work is done by 10% of the people.
iv) no concern for our brothers and sisters
Proverbs 25:19. Unfaithfulness means we are of no use to the Body.
Proverbs 18:9. We actually undermine the work of the Church.

Do we need to be more faithful? Ask yourself the question - If everyone in my Church was as faithful as me, what sort of Church would it be?

c) Be faithful to our families and relationships in general
i) Fathers. Ephesians 6:4.
ii) Mothers. Titus 2:3-5.
iii) Husbands and wives. Ephesians 5:22-25
iv) Children. Ephesians 6: 1-3
God's pattern for the family is based on faithfulness to one another.

Stewart Bloor

www.sicm.org