Hebrews 10:23 and 11:11 declare that “He who promised is faithful”, and that is one of the major themes of the New Testament writers. How do we know that God is faithful, and what does it reveal?
We know that God is faithful to fulfill His promises from the report of His actions towards the Israelites in the Old Testament. Joshua 23:14, “And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.”
And in the New Testament, from 2 Cor 1:18-20, “But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”
So, both the Old and the New Testament writers agree that God is faithful. But what does it mean to be ‘faithful’? Two of the major understandings of ‘faithful’ are ‘loyal’ and ‘accurate’. From the scriptures we can readily agree that God is ‘loyal’. The example God used through the prophet Hosea is fairly blatant in this regard in that though ‘His people’ were as a harlot, yet He was the ever forgiving, loving and loyal husband. And even St Paul writing to the church at Thessalonica (2 Thess 3:3) states, “But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.” Such as a loyal friend would always be there, as the writer of Hebrews declares in chapter 13 verse 5, “For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
But what about God’s ‘accuracy’ or ‘correctness’ or ‘justness’ or ‘truthfulness’? The scriptures give us many examples of God’s ‘accuracy’, especially regarding the prophecies foretelling the coming of Jesus, or the birth of Isaac, or the exile to Babylon. They have all been correct, and nothing shows God to be two-faced in His dealings with mankind. All of this is crucial, for at the ‘tree of judgement’ in Eden, Satan accused God of infidelity – of lying – and Adam agreed. The history recorded in the Old Testament is about God’s honesty, His faithfulness, His truthfulness, and His reliability.
When we read of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness, we should note that Jesus consistently uses the truthfulness of God’s word as His defence. The attacks against God’s honesty continued throughout the ministry of Jesus, even from some of His own disciples. Even suffering mankind’s death sentence on the cross, Jesus continued to trust God. That trust was fulfilled on the third day. On the cross Jesus, the Last Adam, vindicated the honesty of God, and thus also proved Satan to be the liar. Mankind was now free to believe God and awaken from the curse of Satan’s lie.
Thus, as God was proven to be trustworthy, this leads us to now being able to eagerly anticipate the fulfilment of God’s promises towards us. The promises of eternal life. The promises of health. The promises of dominion. The promises of co-reigning. The promises regarding the triumphant return of King Jesus. The promises of the punishment and banishment of Satan and his cohorts. As Jesus justified God, now God justifies You-manity!
