“What is some did not have faith? Will
their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?”
Romans
3:3
The
Apostle Paul’s passionate answer to those questions in verse 4 is “Not at all!”
A lack of faith on our part usually manifests itself in two forms. It either
expresses itself as faithlessness: which is our inability to see God’s
faithfulness in our situation. Or it displays itself as unfaithfulness: which
is our inability or disinterest in modeling His nature. Typically faithlessness
proceeds unfaithfulness.
Both
of these expressions highlight that fact that we, apart from Christ, have
character flaws. Because of our fallen nature, we truly do not have the ability
to model His nature:
“The acts of the sinful nature are obvious:
sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred,
discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and
envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those
who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Galatians
5:19-21
To
combat this fallen nature and it’s proclivity towards sin, God gave to us the
fruit of the Spirit to help enable us to partakers of His divine nature:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Against such things there is no law.”
Galatians
5:22-23
Faithfulness,
as part of the fruit of the Spirit, is an important component in our character
development. In Matthew 23:23, Jesus referred to faithfulness as one of the
more important matters of the law and in Revelation 2:10 admonished the church
in Smyrna to remain faithful. He even acknowledged man named Antipas for his
faithfulness.
Faithfulness
in the life of a believer is more than just a good practice, but it is an
indicator of a life being transformed as we partake in the divine nature. Godly
character is incomplete without a strong foundation of faithfulness.
Our
witness for Christ will be lacking or compromised if we fail to make
faithfulness a priority.
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