 |  |
#9.
"He is faithful that promised" (Heb. 10: 23).
pp. 108 - 110
The closing words of the preceding article, which dealt with the close connection
between the promises and the Word of God, spoke of glorifying God for His faithfulness.
The faithfulness of God to His Word of promise is absolutely essential, that we are apt to
treat it as we do other essential things, such as the sun in the sky, or the air we breathe. It
is not good, however, to take as a matter of course so glorious a fact, and we will
therefore devote this short article to that which must underlie both the Word of God and
the work of Christ, namely, the faithfulness of the Lord.
A most precious light upon our faith in God is shed by a recognition of this great basic
truth. When Rom. 4: 3 speaks of Abraham's faith it says:--
"For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him
for righteousness."
When we turn back to the passage that is quoted we find a slightly different wording:--
"And he believed in the Lord: and He counted it to Him for righteousness" (Gen. 15: 6).
The shallow critic who sees no further than words, may raise a quibble, or consider
that such difference nullifies verbal inspiration. To those who love the Word such a
difference is worth twenty sermons on faith. When Abraham believed God, he actually
believed in the faithfulness of the Lord, which is implied in the words; "He believed in
the Lord", and every act of faith on our part must be nothing short of that. If God could
be unfaithful at any point or in any thing, our faith would be nothing worth. Faith in God
demands as its rock foundation faithfulness on the part of the Lord, and the two
statements concerning Abraham illumine the fact. We find it carried forward by the
words written concerning Sarah's faith:--
"Through faith . . . . . she judged Him faithful Who had promised" (Heb. 11: 11).
Not only are we apt to forget how the whole fabric of God's Word and purpose hangs
upon His faithfulness to His own promises and to the word of His Son, but we are also
likely to forget how much hung upon the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ to the
undertaking to which He was pledged in love. So, in Gal. 3: we read:--
"For if the inheritance be out of (ek) law, it is no more out of (ek) promise . . . . . for if
there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have
been out of (ek) law . . . . . but the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise
out of (ek) the faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe" (Gal. 3: 18-22).
Now if the expression, "the faith of Jesus Christ", means the believer's faith in Jesus
Christ, we have in effect this statement:--