The doctrine of the faithfulness of God

1. Definition: Divine faithfulness is the grace expression to the believer of God’s perfect character, God’s perfect essence. Divine faithfulness is possible because of the propitiatory work of Christ on the cross that removed any compromise of God’s essence. So that faithfulness is the consistency of God’s character to do the same thing every time on the basis of who and what Christ is. Faithfulness is consistency, and divine faithfulness has its counterpart with the believer.

2. God’s faithfulness is manifest to the royal family in rebound — 1 John 1:9. Why is He faithful? He is faithful because He is consistent with His character; it is consistent with His essence. He always does the same thing, He never varies because any believer is more raunchy than another believer. God is consistent and He can afford to be consistent because of the blood of Christ. He is consistent, He is without compromise, and therefore being consistent He is faithful, He always does the same thing every time.

3. God’s faithfulness in His perfect plan. God is perfect; His plan is perfect. God is faithful; His plan therefore represents and reflects faithfulness — 1 Corinthians 1:9. “God is faithful through whom you have been called into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” We have been called into fellowship with His Son. Where is His Son? He is sitting at the right hand of the Father in the holy of holies with the curtain torn apart. And we have been invited into the holy of holies.

4. God’s faithfulness in provision and blessing — 1 Thessalonians 5:24. “Faithful is he who calls you and he also will bring it to pass.” If you are unbending, faithful to the Word, He will also bring it to pass — supergrace blessings. But if you are bending instead of unbending, if you are vacillating, if you are positive one day and negative the next, if you are distracted by your own mental attitude sins, by other people, by other situations, then “he also will bring it to pass,” i.e., divine discipline. So it is an open verse and it depends upon your attitude toward Bible doctrine.

5. God’s faithfulness in testing — 1 Corinthians 10:13. “No testing has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tested beyond what you are able [beyond your capacity]” Capacity is based upon doctrine resident in the soul ; “but, with the testing , will provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

6. God is faithful to the royal family of God — Hebrews 10:23, “because the one having promised is faithful.” He can’t be unfaithful.

7. God is faithful to the reversionistic believer — 2 Timothy 2:13, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful; for he cannot deny himself.” In other words, God cannot turn around and say, “All right, you are unfaithful to me, I’ll show you, I’ll be unfaithful to you.” He cannot do it because He is God.

8. God is faithful to the believer in the realm of the angelic conflict — 2 Thessalonians 3:3, But the Lord keeps on being faithful, he will support and guard you from the evil one [Satan].”

9. Conclusion:

a) Faithfulness is the consistency and the stability of God. In other words, faithfulness is God being God.

b) God cannot be inconsistent with His own essence. God cannot destroy Himself as God, He can’t say He wont be God any more and stop being God. Immutability prohibits forever any possibility of God having any human instability.

c) He cannot change His essence and therefore God can never be unfair to you.

d) God is consistent with Himself, therefore He is consistent with us. Therefore He is faithful to us.

e) One of the acts of consistency on the part of God is to make a promise and keep it.

f) There never was a time when God was unfaithful, the thought is blasphemous and unthinkable.

g) Unfaithfulness is totally incompatible with God’s character.

h) The very existence, function, provision, and blessing of the royal family now and forever, depends on the faithfulness of God. Therefore, it depends on the character of God. God is unbending.