theophiles.org - Making sense of "God is faithful"

Written by PerpetualAgnostic

Wednesday, 23 May 2012 10:48

What to Christians mean, when after some hardship they proclaim "God is faithful." ?

I assume they're proclaiming joy that God followed-through with some promise, even when they weren't certain He would. But this is confusing to me, because often when I hear Christians proclaim God's faithfulness, they neglect to mention specifically how they determined that He was faithful in that circumstance.

Comments

emperorbma - grammatical analysis

|2012-05-24 10:09:15

The basic grammatical element word for faithful is the Hebrew word אמונה ("emunah") which is directly related to the Hebrew term for truth אמת ("emeth") and affirmation אמן. ("amen") In a basic summary, it is an affirmation that God is truthful in His Promises and a proclamation of His Salvation revealed within those promises. The basic sentiment is that God's promises are reliable and trustworthy and God will enforce them.

Biblically, it has the following references (at least):
Exodus 34:6 - (God's faithfulness to those who love God)
Deuteronomy 7:9 - (God's faithfulness to those who love God)
Deuteronomy 32:4 - (praising Divine justice and rebuking human wickedness)
Psalm 57:3 - (Divine protection from evil)
Psalm 61:7 - (Divine protection)
Psalm 71:22 - (praising Divine justice)
Psalm 86:15 - (God's faithfulness to those who love God)
Psalm 89:8 - (praising Divine justice)
Psalm 98:3 - (praising the Divine promise of Salvation)
Hosea 11:12 - (comparison of God's grace to human sinfulness)
Joel 2:23 - (praising Divine Providence and renewal)
Isaiah 25:1 - (praising Divine Providence and creative acts)
Romans 3:3 - (comparison of God's grace to human sinfulness)
Corinthians 1:9 - (Divine sustenance for the faithful)
1 Corinthians 10:13 - (Divine limiting of allowed temptations)
2 Corinthians 1:18 - (exhortation of believers to honesty)
Hebrews 3:2, 5, 6 - (comparisons between Christ and Moses)
2 Timothy 2:13 - (God cannot deny Himself; basis of Divine faithfulness)

[Remembering that God "causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust," the latter passage indicates that some of His grace is even provided to the unbeliever, though they do not recognize it as such and reject the gift of Salvation included with it...]

Consequently, proclaiming God's faithfulness is pursuant to this. It is a believer recognizing and thanking God for providing them with the grace needed to walk with Him and a trust that even if one doesn't get exactly what one asks for that it is still pursuant to His promise...

emperorbma

|2012-05-25 20:35:40

I went ahead and published this since it didn't seem to be...

PineHall - God's Goodness

|2012-05-27 17:44:31

I don't know if I have ever said "God is faithful". I tend to say "God is good" instead. It is a similar statement in many ways, at least I think so. It is a reminder of God's mercy and grace, and is a praise to God.

whitemice - God's Goodness

|2012-07-09 06:15:28

+1 I don't know if I've ever said "God is faithful". I probably don't say "God is good" much either. It just seems like a platitude.

Something good happens to me - "God is good"
Something bad happens to me - ...

Most three letter sentences aren't worth the saying. If it will fit on a bumper sticker it is probably rubbish.

As to "God is faithful", I'm not sure what that even means. That God keeps his promises? That he will follow through with the general arc of Scripture? Yes, I'd agree with that. But does he HAVE TO? No. The LORD's response to the sons of Eli is sobering -

Quote:

Therefore the Lord God of Israel declares, "I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever;" but now the Lord declares, "Far be it from Me - for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed.
"Behold, the days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father’s house so that there will not be an old man in your house." - 1st Samuel 2

There are promises wrapped in promises, and some supersede the lesser. Many people are far to quick to attribute the promises they like as binding for themselves and neglect other [possibly more broadly stated] promises.

holmegm

|2012-08-06 09:49:01

It's a bit like asking a child to "prove" - or precisely define - what it means that his parents are always faithful. If they are, he just knows it.

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Last Updated on Friday, 25 May 2012 19:35

Our valuable member PerpetualAgnostic has been with us since Monday, 07 April 2008.

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