The Essence of Faith and Faithfulness
The fruit of the Spirit encompasses qualities like love, joy, and peace, which are cultivated through daily discipline. Faith, often interchangeably used with belief, obedience, and trust, plays a central role in Christianity. Faithfulness, demonstrated through obedience and works, reflects a deep trust and hope. To have faith is to act upon strong beliefs, while faithfulness involves acting on one's faith with resolution.
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The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Galatians 5:22
They all come from the Holy Spirit. None are products of human nature. All start with an attitude which results in some form of action. All require continued diligence with humility, self-denial and personal obedience. To walk in the Spirit requires daily discipline. Being a child of God does not guarantee you will bear any Spiritual fruit. Not all trees bear fruit. The quality of fruit is directly linked to one s environment. They are readily available to all believers, but one must acquire them on God s terms.
In the New Testament, and even in the Old, there is only one Word that is used for faith. However, in a theological dictionary there are over fifty pages dedicated to defining this one word. Any nuances pertaining to the word faith are completely determined by context. Even then, concepts are often interchangeable.
: (Pistis) Faith The word itself is not necessarily a religious word. It can be used in both religious and secular contexts. In ancient Christianity faithful became the lead term for the relation of man to God. At the very foundation of Christianity is faith or belief that there is a God and one can know Him. That God sent His son Jesus to die for our sins. (Jn 2:22). (Heb. 11). (Acts 3:16). (Rom. 4:18). (II Tim 4:7). Can be translated as believe Can be translated as obey Can be translated as trust Can be translated as Hope Can be translated as faithfulness
21 "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.' Mt 25:21 1 Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy. I Cor 4:2 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: Eph 1:1
Faithfulness is not so much an attitude as it is a resolution. In persecution one remains faithful. In temptation one remains faithful. Faithfulness is demonstrated with obedience. Faithfulness is demonstrated with works. Faithfulness is an expression of trust. Faithfulness is linked to hope.
To have faith is to possess a belief that is so strong that it leads one to action. To be faithful is to act on one s faith. To have faith is to acknowledge that you believe in something. To be faithful means you actually do something about what you believe.
To be faithful is to believe, trust, hope, obey, and act on what you know to be true. To be faithful is to refuse to engage in any activity that could cause another to question your relationship to Jesus. To be faithful is to stand firm and not compromise on what you know to be true. To be faithful is to endure hardship for what you believe and not deviate in your convictions.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. According to Romans 12:3 everyone is given a measure of faith. However, God intends for that faith to grow and develop all the days of our lives. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Rom 10:17 As we study and obey God s Word we grow in faith. As we study and obey God s Word the Holy Spirit will produce His fruit in our lives. As the Holy Spirit produces His fruit in our lives, we will become more and more faithful to the things of God. This faithfulness will not be produced by some legalistic need to obey. We will not be faithful because it is the right thing to do. We will become faithful because we love Jesus and through the power of the Holy Spirit we will have the resolve to stand firm in what is right.
November 17, John Allen Chau landed on the North Sentinel Island where he attempted to share the gospel with a stone aged culture that has killed everyone to date that has landed on the island. He was 26. John Allen Chau returned to the prohibited island even after being shot: It's worth it to declare Jesus to these people. You guys might think I m crazy in all this but I think it s worth it to declare Jesus to these people. Please do not be angry at them or at God if I get killed. We will never know if God really lead John to sacrifice his life. The question is: If God called us to the same fate, how many of us would be willing to go? We are quick to extol virtue on people who died for faith hundreds of years ago. However, when they do it today, we automatically question their motives.
