I’ve spent the last eighteen months slowly reading through the Old Testament. One of the wonders of this massive portion of Scripture is how God is always faithful to His people who repeatedly prove to be undeserving. I’m fascinated by His choice to bind Himself to faithless people.
Over and over, God’s people are rebellious—and often indifferent—toward Him. And no matter how great their faithlessness or how deep their betrayal, His faithfulness is greater and deeper.
As appalled as I am by their behavior, I admit it feels embarrassingly familiar. You see, their story is my story too. It’s your story. Most importantly, this is God’s story. He is unfailingly faithful. It’s the only way He knows how to be. Scripture teaches, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful—for He cannot deny Himself” (2 Tim. 2:13).
I’m tempted to think of God’s faithfulness as a high-level theological doctrine, something I believe, but which ultimately lacks hands and feet. And while this topic is weighty, it’s also practical. It engages not only our minds, but our hearts as well.
God’s faithful nature isn’t just something to be acknowledged and appreciated during Bible study. His faithfulness matters on Monday afternoon, during nap time, on date night, in a meeting with our boss, and even during a season of remote learning. It matters when I fail, and it still matters when I fail again.
How does God’s faithfulness impact our past, our present, and our future?
We can be healed because He died for us.
We’ve got a problem. A big one. We’re all sinners (Rom. 3:23), and our sin separates us from God (Eph. 2:12). We’re unable to repair the damage to our relationship with Him. Essentially, our sinfulness has led to our brokenness.
But God loves us so much that He can’t leave us in our broken state. He sent His Son to die for us, to forever settle the debt we owed (Rom. 6:23). Christ was broken for us so we might be healed. (Isa. 53:5). Christ’s faithfulness cost Him greatly, but He did it for us because He cannot deny Himself.
God’s faithfulness impacts our past brokenness by shattering it. Through Christ, we experience true restoration and healing. He’s solved our biggest problem. “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13–14). By His wounds, we are healed.
We can be holy because He is helping us.
The implications of God’s faithfulness aren’t limited to the past. Yes, he’s already saved us, but He’s still being faithful to us right now. In his book, All of Grace, Charles Spurgeon wrote, “The saints shall persevere in holiness, because God perseveres in grace.”
God didn’t save us only to forget us. We’re not only saved from wrath but for holiness. “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Pet. 1:14–15). This is a clear, biblical call to holiness—one that’s linked to the holiness of God.
God’s faithfulness impacts our present by empowering us to say “no” to sin and to say “yes” to Jesus. It changes the way I talk to my husband. It alters how I spend my free time and my money. It impacts my speech and my attitude. We’re saved to obey God for the sake of His name among the nations (Rom. 1:5). He will glorify Himself through our grace-fueled obedience.
We can be hopeful because He will welcome us home.
God’s faithfulness toward us has past, present, and future implications. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain” (1 Cor. 15:1–2).
We’ve received the good news about Christ saving sinners, we stand in it, and we are being saved by it. This doesn’t mean our salvation is a work in progress. We were justified the moment we believed (Rom. 8:30). This ongoing aspect of our salvation concerns the full and future redemption we’ll experience when we’re reunited with Jesus in glory.
We don’t believe in vain. Our hope is secure and our future inheritance is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven” for us (1 Pet. 1:4). We can confidently set our hope on Christ’s promises as we wait for “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13). He’s coming back for us. He’s coming to take us home.
God’s Game-Changing Covenantal Faithfulness
Like our ancestors, our hearts are prone to wander and we’re unworthy of God’s unwavering devotion to us. But God entered into a covenant with us anyway. He chose to bind Himself to His people. And despite our faithlessness, He remains faithful because He cannot deny Himself. This is game-changing good news!
The implications of God’s faithfulness toward us leave no parts of our lives untouched. We’re being renewed daily (2 Cor. 4:16). But our enemy wants us to look in the mirror and still see the same old broken, sinful, and hopeless reflection staring back at us.
Lean in, sister. Look closer. We look like our Father. It’s His image we bear. Don’t you see the family resemblance? God does. And you better believe Satan does too. He’s threatened by it and will do anything to distract us from seeing the truth that God’s covenantal faithfulness toward us changes everything.
It’s out of deep gratitude for what He’s done for us, for His empowering presence among us, and for His promise of eternal life with Christ that we strive to do all things each day for His great glory.
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