1. “You swore to David in Your faithfulness” (Psa. 89:49).
When a man speaks an important word, he must point to and base his word on something in order for people to have confidence in his oath. When God speaks an important word to man, He also makes an oath. His oath points to His faithfulness. He swears by His faithfulness, which is established upon Himself. The base of God’s oath is His eternally unchanging being; hence, it is eternally reliable.
2. “He who has promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:23; see also 11:11).
God is faithful; therefore, the word of His promise is faithful and reliable. His faithfulness is the guarantee of His promise.
3. “God is faithful...For as many promises of God as there are, in Him is the Yes; therefore also through Him is the Amen to God” (2 Cor. 1:18, 20).
God’s promises are all Yes and Amen in Christ because the God who promises is faithful. His faithfulness ensures that none of His promises are empty.
4. “God, the faithful God who keeps covenant” (Deut. 7:9).
God is faithful, so He keeps His covenant. His faithfulness causes Him to keep His covenant and to be restricted by His word. His faithfulness is the guarantee of His covenant. It guarantees that He will never forsake the word of the covenant that He established with man.
A covenant is a word that goes further than an ordinary word. A covenant is a guaranteed word. The word that God spoke to us in the Bible is a covenant. It is not ordinary; it is guaranteed. It is a covenant. Therefore, the Bible is called the Old and New Testaments. God is the guarantee of this covenant. His faithfulness cannot be eradicated or changed. It causes Him to be restricted by His word in the Bible and to guarantee that the word is reliable.
1. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins” (1 John 1:9).
If we confess our sins, God must forgive us our sins because of the blood of the Lord Jesus. He has spoken this word to us, and He has established it as a covenant with us based upon the redemption accomplished by the Lord Jesus. His faithfulness causes Him to be restricted by this word. According to this word, when we confess our sins to Him, His faithfulness forces Him to forgive us of our sins. If He did not forgive us, He would be unfaithful.
1. “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” (1 Thes. 5:23-24).
God promises to preserve us. His faithfulness forces Him to accomplish this promise. Therefore, His faithfulness also causes us to be preserved.
2. “The Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one” (2 Thes. 3:3).
The Lord must guard us from the evil one, Satan, according to His promise, because He is faithful.
3. “God is faithful, who will not allow that you be tempted beyond what you are able, but will, with the temptation, also make the way out, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13).
According to His promise, God’s faithfulness causes Him to make a way out for us when we are tempted so that we may endure lest we be tempted beyond what we are able.
1. “Trust in Jehovah, and do good; / Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness” (Psa. 37:3).
Food causes people to be full, satisfied, and strong. The faithfulness of God functions as food to those who believe His word based on His faithfulness. If we believe in God because of His faithfulness and grasp the word of God, we will be filled, satisfied, and strong.
1. “He who does not believe God has made Him a liar because he has not believed in the testimony which God has testified concerning His Son” (1 John 5:10).
If we do not believe the word that God has spoken in the Bible, we make God a liar and offend the faithfulness of God. This is the greatest offense to God. When we speak the truth to someone and he does not believe, this is an insult and an offense to us. In the same way, if we do not believe God’s word, this is an insult and offense to Him. Therefore, we must be careful not to offend the faithfulness of God by not believing His word.
If we believe God, we should also believe His word. God has given us His faithful word, and it pleases Him when we believe His word and hold Him accountable to it. There is an old saying that speaks of “catching” a man with his word in order to gain a bargaining advantage. If we can hold a man, who is faithful to his word, accountable for his word, we should expect even more to hold God, who is more faithful than man, accountable for His word. God is not afraid of being “caught” by His word. In fact, our use of His word in this way manifests His faithfulness and glorifies Him. Our unwillingness to hold Him accountable is a despising of His faithfulness, and it is an insult to Him. He abhors this to the uttermost!
2. “We make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:10).
If we do not believe the word of God, we make Him a liar and trample the faithfulness of God. Thus, there is no way for us to obtain His word, and His word will have no place in us.