Faithful
Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Going straight to the Cross
This past weekend's theme of "Faithful Men" at a
Christian workers encounter is still echoing in
Randal's mind.
Faithful
by J. Randal Matheny
Faithfulness has gotten a bum rap. It's been
equated with a works-based righteousness. It got
discarded by a faith-only religion. The prevailing
idea is that, sure, God may say such-and-such, but
after all, his grace will cover it all, if you're
really sincere and depend on Jesus for your
salvation.
* How could God give a one-size-fits-all plan for
the church's work and worship, when we have so
many cultures, situations, and contingencies to
deal with?
* He says obedience is necessary to be saved --
we understand that -- but, hey, nobody's
perfect.
* Yes, he hates divorce, and we do read that
Jesus said marriage is a life-time covenant,
but the Lord knows you just couldn't live in
that situation.
* And what about those people in the desert with
no water for immersion or in the Amazon jungle
who never heard the name of Jesus Christ?
By our justifications, exceptions, and lowered
requirements we make God a liar and undermine
HIS faithfulness.
Paul challenges us to faithfulness by God's own:
"If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He
cannot deny Himself" (2 Tim. 2:13 NASU).
Faith and faithfulness are two sides of the same
coin. Even the Greek word for faith, pistis, is
translated as faithfulness in many contexts.
If we have faith, we will be faithful. No
separating the two, in God's book. We might want
to think twice before etching it in ours.
We can theologize, philosophize, and fantasize all
we want, but if God says he will punish the
disobedient, we can be sure he will do as he
promised. For God will be faithful to himself,
even if we aren't to him.