Growing Together – Day 23: Faithfulness
READ: Hebrews 11: 1 - Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Ephesians 2: 8 - For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…
“The health and life of the inner man consists in a true living faith in the mercifulness of God and a sure confidence in the forgiveness of sins which Christ the Lord has acquired and earned for us;” (Martin Bucer, A German Pastor during the Protestant Reformation, from his book, Concerning the True Care of Souls, 1538)
REFLECT: It was helpful for me to realize that this word (faithfulness), as it’s listed in the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, is just faith. The fruit, the product, of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our life is faith. When I see the word ‘faithfulness’ in our English translations I get the appropriate and true sense of ongoing faith, of faith being lived out, of sincerity, of keeping promises and remaining faithful, but I had missed the original sense of simply – trusting. If the Holy Spirit is in my life, one of the evidences is that I trust God, I trust His word, and I trust His trustworthiness.
WATCH: In this video, J. I. Packer, a soft-spoken and beloved champion of Biblical faith, explains what faith is. May we all experience more of the kind of ‘thrilling’ life that is exemplified and described here: