The Fruit of the Spirit is Faithfulness

Over the past few weeks, we have been looking at the Fruit of the Spirit. The Fruit of the Spirit is the character of God in your life.

It is the fruit of the Spirit- the Spirit of God. When you are saved the Spirit makes His home in you. He begins to transform you into a godly person. This process is called sanctification. The Spirit of God is making you more and more like Jesus.

He creates within you a love for God and people. That love is expressed through action.

He works His patience in you. You can bear with people and circumstances in a Christ-like manner.

He works His kindness in you. You’re moved to treat people in a kind way.

He works His goodness in you. You can discern good from evil and you choose to practice that which is good.

Now we come to faithfulness. Some translations such as the KJV translate this word as faith. That’s because the same Greek word (pistis) is translated as both faith and faithfulness. Context determines the translation. The context suggests here that Paul is referring to trustworthiness. He’s not just saying bearing the fruit of the Spirit means we have faith. He is saying it means we are faithful. Let’s consider what it means to be faithful.

1. God is faithful.

A. We see the faithfulness of God clearly in Jesus Christ.

Faithful to the eternal plan of God. He became a man. He left glory and came into this world.

Faithful to the commands of Scripture. He kept the Law perfectly.

Faithful to the death of the cross.

Revelation 1:5 says Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the king of all rulers.

Revelation 19:11 says of Him:

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.

Proverbs 18: 24 prophesied of Jesus saying

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Paul said as he awaited the executioner:

At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me…But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me.

Think of the faithfulness of Christ in your life:

Faithful to seek you when you were lost.

Faithful to save you when you were condemned.

Faithful to strengthen you when you were weak.

B. God is faithful to forgive us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

Even after we are saved. We come to Christ again and again for forgiveness and He is faithful to forgive us. Would that work with anyone else?

How many times do you reckon you have asked God to forgive you? Every time He has been faithful to do so.

C. God is faithful to deliver us from temptation.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Cor. 10:13

No matter what sin I am tempted to commit God has promised to always give me a way to escape it.

If you get saved later in life this is a promise you can relate to. When you are settled in sin, and you think about coming to Christ there are questions that you might ask yourself.

How am I going to stop doing these sins?

How am I going to stop living an ungodly life.

God promises to make a way of escape. I’m so glad I escaped a lifestyle of sin. I didn’t know how to live for God. God did it! God provided:

Here’s a church

Here’s a friend

Here’s a Bible study

Here’s a wife

D. God is faithful to guard us from evil.

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. 2 Thess. 3:1-3

The devil is alive. He is on the prowl. God promises to guard us from Him.

If you are living for God, you will be attacked by evil people. The more you live for God the more you will be attacked. It’s not your job to protect yourself. Your job is to live for God. It is God’s job to protect you. He will do it!

E. God is faithful to keep us.

Paul says of God in 1 Corinthians:

who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Cor. 1:8-9

God promised to keep you until the end. If you are saved, I promise you will make it to heaven. God has promised to keep you. He is faithful to do so!

Listen to 1 Thess. 5:23-24

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

2. God expects His children to be faithful.

A. We are to be faithful to God.

Illustration: When two people get married is faithfulness implied? Do we only get married for the benefits?

Financial

Children

Companionship

Do we get all those benefits without faithfulness? No! Faithfulness is implied. It is expected.

Our salvation is likened to the covenant of marriage. We do not get saved just for the benefits. What did you tell the Lord when He saved you?

Did you tell Him you were sorry for your sins?

Did you tell Him you loved Him?

Did you tell Him you would serve Him?

Well then, be faithful to what you told the Lord!

God is faithful to us. Our response should be to be faithful to Him. Paul said that Christians are stewards of God and:

Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. (1 Corinthians 4:2).

B. We are to be faithful to our family.

Imagine with me for a moment a woman is asked about her marriage.

Did your husband provide for you? Yes.

Did your husband raise his children? Yes.

Was your husband kind to you? Yes.

Was your husband faithful to you? No.

When you hear that you know he was not a good husband. Faithfulness matters above all. All the good deeds in the world will not cover the sin of unfaithfulness.

Faithful to love your wife as Christ loves the church.

Faithful to respect your husband and follow him as he leads you in the Lord.

Fathful to raise your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

When considering elders Paul said the first thing to do is consider their family. Are they faithful at home?

Are they the husband of one wife?

Are their children believers?

God expects you to be a:

Faithful husband/father

Faithful wife/mother

Mom and dad, do your children see faithfulness in you? We have parents today who are glued to screens. They are letting technology raise their children.

Don’t forsake your family for a secret relationship.

Don’t forsake your family for a screen.

Don’t forsake your family for a hobby or a dream.

Faithful child- children have a job. Honor your father and mother. Obey your father and mother.

C. Be faithful to the Word of God.

The Bible says in the last days some will depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.

The world, the flesh and the devil will try and pull you away from the Bible.

You ask, “You still believe the bible preacher?”

I believe it more today than I did the day I was saved. I study this book every week. The more I study it the more I am impressed with it.

Don’t listen to the liars in this world. They’ll tell you the Bible is filled with:

Fairy Tales

Fantasies

Foolishness

Let the world laugh at you.

Let the devil lie to you.

You hold fast to the Word of God. You be faithful to God’s Word.

Just before Paul died, he said:

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

There is a lot of stuff in this world I’m not keeping. I throw some things away. I hope when I die my family don’t have much to go through.

Where’s that old shirt he wore? He threw that thing away.

Where’s that old tackle box he wore out? He threw that away.

Where is His Bible?

Which one? There’s so many! He didn’t throw that away!

Here’s the one he started reading when he first got saved.

Here’s the one he got when he went to college.

Here’s the one he got when he became a pastor.

Here’s the one he got when that one wore out.

A shipwrecked faith is all you gain by being unfaithful to God’s Word.

Paul said in 1 Timothy:

This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander,

To reject the Bible is to reject the faith. Paul said it’s like a shipwreck when you do that. Nothing good comes from a shipwreck:

A journey cut short- you don’t make it to the Promised Land

Loss of life- You lose your soul.

Loss of cargo – Those you were carrying with you suffer.

Paul named two people. Hymenaeus and Alexander were not faithful to God’s Word. They shipwrecked their faith. Don’t add your name to the list. Be faithful to hold fast to God’s Word to the end.

D. Be faithful to God’s church.

A Sunday doesn’t pass that Jesus isn’t in church. He has promised to be faithful to his church. He expects His people to be also. Listen to Hebrews 10:

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Be careful not to become one of these people who say, “I don’t get anything out of church, so I don’t go.” That’s the language of a taker. That’s the language of a selfish person. We come to church to give!

Give praise to God!

Give witness to the community!

Give encouragement to brothers and sisters!

Give attention to the Word of God!

Give an ear to the needs of others!

Faithfulness to God’s church is on the decline. It is becoming a major problem. If we are not careful, we will see many churches shut their doors. When they do some of the very people who stopped being faithful to the church will ask “What happened?”

Folks, it’s not church unless we are here. It is just a building otherwise. It’s just a piece of property. We are the church. When a member is not here a piece of the body is missing. If there is something urging you to not go to church it is not the Spirit of God. He will always encourage us to be faithful to church attendance.

One of the most frightening verses in the bible to me is 1 John 2:19. It says:

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

John is warning those who are tempted to turn away from the faith. What does Paul say about such people?

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;

if we endure, we will also reign with him;

if we deny him, he also will deny us;

if we are faithless, he remains faithful—

for he cannot deny himself. 2 Tim. 2:11-13

If we turn our back on Christ’s church Jesus has choice but to deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful.

Faithful to what?

To His Word.

God has told us what will become of those who don’t love Him. He’s not going to change His mind. He will be faithful even if that means we pay the consequences.

What do we want to hear when we see the Lord? We want to hear “Well done good and faithful servant!”

If you desert the church, you are doing something Jesus promised He would never do. When you are faithful to the church you are like Jesus.

The fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness.

Are you faithful to God?

Are you faithful to God’s Word?

Are you faithful to your family?

Are you faithful to God’s church?

Here’s the good news for all the unfaithful. God can make the unfaithful faithful. If we come to Christ, He can transform us completely. He has promised to do that for all who trust in His sacrifice and call on His name in faith and repentance.