In this message we shall continue to consider God’s attributes.
First Corinthians 1:9 says, “God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” This word is a continuation of 1 Corinthians 1:8, strengthening the thought with the assurance of God’s faithfulness. In His faithfulness He will confirm the believers till the end, making them unreprovable in the day of the Lord’s return. In His faithfulness He has called us into the fellowship, the participation in His Son, and He will keep us in this participation and enjoyment in His fullness. His fullness is an assurance to us for this enjoyment.
First John 1:9 also reveals God’s faithfulness: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous that He may forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God is faithful in His word (1 John 1:10), the word of the truth of His gospel (Eph. 1:13), which tells us that He will forgive us our sins because of Christ (Acts 10:43). If we confess our sins, He, according to His word, forgives us, because He must be faithful in His word.
In 1 Corinthians 10:13 Paul says, “No temptation has taken you except that which is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able, but will with the temptation make also the way out, that you may be able to endure it.” On the one hand, we should take heed not to be tempted, lest we fall. On the other hand, God in His faithfulness will not allow any temptation to befall us beyond what we are able to endure, but will always make a way out for us. This is a word of promise and encouragement.
First Thessalonians 5:23 and 24 say, “And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, who also will do it.” Here we see that the faithful God who has called us will also sanctify us wholly and preserve our entire being complete. This is Paul’s word of assurance to the believers concerning the faithfulness of God. Surely this divine faithfulness is a sweet attribute of God.
In addition to faithfulness, God has the attribute of truthfulness. In Romans 3:7 and 15:8 the word “truth” actually denotes truthfulness. Although truthfulness is very close to faithfulness, there is a difference between these two attributes of God. Faithfulness must have a basis, and the basis of faithfulness is truthfulness. The truthfulness, genuineness, trustworthiness, of God is a divine attribute in God’s dealing with us.
In 2 Corinthians 1:12 Paul speaks of the singleness, or simplicity, of God. Have you ever realized that God is simple? Simplicity is one of His attributes.
God is wise and almighty, but He is also single and very simple. When we talk to certain brothers, we find that they are extremely complicated. But our God is simple with us. Whenever we talk to Him, we find that He is not full of complications. When He says “white” or “black,” He means white or black, not gray.
No matter how God may feel about us at a particular time, He is always simple with us. Imagine what would happen to us if God were not simple and if He thought about us in a complicated way. Would you like God to consider your situation and examine you in a complicated way? None of us would be favored by God if He were to deal with us in this way. But because of God’s simplicity, His singleness, we have received unreserved blessing from Him all the time.
The source of confusion and division among Christians is the complications within the believers. If all Christians became simple, there would be no problems. The problems in a local church always come from complications. This was the situation among the Corinthians, to whom Paul wrote concerning his conducting himself in the simplicity of God. The simplicity of God is a divine attribute, an attribute of what God is in His faithfulness. To love and enjoy Christ in simplicity (2 Cor. 11:3) is to experience God in His attribute of simplicity.
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