by Jim Silva
As a youngster I often heard these expressions used by the adults: "He's an honest man"; "He can be trusted"; "He's a man of his word," and "His word is his bond" Of course, they were referring to someone who could be depended upon to keep their word. Someone who was dependable and reliable. Someone who was trustworthy and faithful to their word. Later as a young man who had the responsibilities of a family and consequently had to deal with others I found that not everyone abided by these principles and I soon learned, rather painfully, that not everyone was honest, trustworthy, reliable or dependable. Other phrases: "the buyer beware" and "promises are made to be broken" and some others ,which are not worthy of mention, replaced the ones that I had heard as a youngster. As a result, I soon learned to be wary and selective about whom to trust and whom to depend upon. I suppose each of us has had to make choices at some point in our lives when dealing with our fellow human beings. We have had to learn whom we can trust or cannot trust and who may or may not be dependable or reliable. Some times it seems to us that no one can be trusted or believed!
Fortunately, as Christians we don't have to make such choices when dealing with our creator. We can be sure that God is the only one in whom we can put our trust. He is the only one in whom we can have complete faith that we will be dealt with honestly, fairly and reliably. We can be sure that His word is his bond and we can depend on it. Why do we know that we can trust God and put our faith in His word? Agur, the writer of Proverbs 30, tells us: "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him." (Proverbs 30:5) and Jesus told the rich young ruler: "none other is good except God, the Father" (Mat 19:17).
But we have other evidence that God has always been faithful to His word. The beginning of the Hebrew nation was the result of the fulfillment of the promise made by God to Abraham. (Gen. 12:2,7) Because Abraham had been obedient, God promised that he was to found a new nation, the Hebrew nation, and that they were to receive the land promised by God. (Gen. 17:2 - 8) We know that this promise was fulfilled and that this "seed" (or descendants) of Abraham was to be: "as the dust of the earth." (Gen. 13:16) We know also that this "seed" was the same seed, which had been promised by God through Eve and which was to crush (bruise) Satan (Gen. 3:15) and was to be fulfilled in Jesus the Christ. (Gal 4:4) Today we still have God's promise, except that it is no longer between a nation but rather between God and individuals. Paul tells us: "if ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise."(Gal. 3:29)
The promise that God made to Abraham also contained a mandate to serve Him. (Gen. 12:18). This promise inherently required that the Hebrew nation not only serve God but also to be obedient to Him. We find from our study of the Old Testament that when they were not obedient they were punished. Just as a master might punish a disobedient servant, so were the Israelites punished. We find that this pattern continued throughout the Old Testament and continues into the New Testament. We conclude then that obedience is a requirement for salvation's promise that is in Christ Jesus and we find that God is as faithful as ever insofar as we are obedient. He expects no less obedience from us today than He did from the Hebrew nation.
We are to serve Him in obedience to His commandments (Acts 5:29) and to "love Him because He first loved us". (Jn 4:19) John, writing under the influence of the Holy Spirit, tells us that God says: "if a man loves Me he will keep My commandments." (Jn14:15) To say that one loves God yet does not keep His commandments makes that person a liar and the truth is not in Him. ( 1 Jn. 2:4) We conclude then that: If we expect loyalty from God then we must be loyal to Him!
We learn from our study of Scripture that the promises of God are trustworthy (Josh 23:5-15); that they are backed by His oath (Heb. 6:12-20); confirmed by Christ (Rom. 15:8) and centered in Christ. (2 Cor. 1:19-20) We also know from our study of the Epistle of Peter that God's promises are "exceedingly great and precious." (2 Pt 1:4) and that they are the essence of our life. Moreover, we have God's promise that our faithfulness will be rewarded if we persevere to the end. (REV 21:3,4) And we know that this reward is certain because God has always been faithful to His word. We may not be able to see God but He is not far from any one who would seek Him and put their trust in Him. The Psalmist says: "Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded." (Psalms 22:4-5) And again, we are told: "they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee." (Psalms 9:10) Finally, Paul, writing to the young preacher Timothy says: " For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe." (1 Timothy 4:10)
In an earlier statement I said that: if we expect God to be loyal, we must be loyal to Him. To that I would add these four others:
The prophet Micah expressed our relationship with God in these words: "He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Micah 6:8)
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Page last updated: March 03, 2003