TEEN TREE 
OF LIFE
THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
Part 7
July 7, 2019
Before you begin, ask yourself a very important question: Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on The Cross for all of your sins? If you answered yes, you will need to be sure that you are filled with The H oly Spirit. How do you do this? You name your sins to God The Father in His Son’s Name. This is called rebound. As a Christian, you must rebound any time you sin. This is taught in 1JOHN 1:9: If we confess [name] our sins [directly to God], He [God] is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, if you have never believed that Jesus Christ died on The Cross for all of your sins, all you have to do is say to yourself that you believe in Him and you are saved! The Bible verse which teaches us this is ACTS 16:31: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (GAL 5:22-23) The seventh quality of the Fruit of The Spirit is faithfulness. The Greek word faithfulness is pistis. It’s an easy word to say – it’s said just like it’s spelled. Pistis is usually translated as God’s Word or Bible doctrine but in GAL 5:22-23, it means a great deal more. With respect to the Fruit of The Holy Spirit and what is produced by us through Him, pistis means the character of one who can be relied on. So, when faithfulness becomes part of your character, you will be a person someone can have faith in and rely on and trust.
Pistis is defined as the trust a person has in someone else. It refers to our trust in God and His Word. As a result of what The Spirit produces in the mature believer, it also refers to being faithful, trustworthy, reliable, and stable. It also refers to confidence and assurance.
Since faithfulness is another Divine quality which is being reproduced in the believer by The Holy Spirit, it’s important to understand what Divine faithfulness is, so that we can identify what The Holy Spirit will accomplish in us!
First, every believer starts with the same amount of faith but none of us end up with the same amount. It all depends on how much we use the Filling of The Spirit in our lives. Everyone has the same chance at the start of salvation. We start out with an equal amount of faith and with equal privilege and equal opportunity. This is taught in 2PE 1:1-4 The Message Bible: I, Simon Peter, am a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. I write this to you whose experience with God is as life-changing as ours, all due to our God’s straight dealing and the intervention of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master. Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust. Here is one of the most important lessons a believer can learn: What happens with your faithfulness, after you are saved, is entirely up to you!! It’s up to you to choose to seek His Kingdom. It’s up to you to stay in God’s Plan for your life and to study, learn and apply God’s Word. That’s how your faith increases.
One of God’s most incredible attributes is His Faithfulness. When the apostle Paul wrote 2 TIMOTHY, he was physically deteriorating and imprisoned in a cold dungeon, chained like a criminal. 2 TIMOTHY was one of Paul’s last letters. He died soon after he wrote it. Look at what he wrote about God’s Faithfulness: Fix this picture firmly in your mind: Jesus, descended from the line of David, raised from the dead. It’s what you’ve heard from me all along. It’s what I’m sitting in jail for right now—but God’s Word isn’t in jail! That’s why I stick it out here—so that everyone God calls will get in on the salvation of Christ in all its glory. This is a sure thing: If we die with him, we’ll live with him; If we stick it out with him, we’ll rule with him; If we turn our backs on him [deny Him], he’ll turn his back on us [deny us]; If we give up on him, he does not give up—for there’s no way he can be false to himself. (2TIM 2:8-13 The Message Bible) This my friends, is God’s Faithfulness in a nutshell!
God’s Faithfulness is also taught by Paul in 1COR 10:13 (The Message Bible): No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it. No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.
PSA 33:4 (New International Version) says this about God’s Faithfulness: For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. Moses wrote: Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. (DEUT 7:9 New International Version) God is faithful to us because He is satisfied with the sacrifice His Son made on The Cross. Because of this, His faithfulness doesn’t depend on your spiritual progress. Our Lord and Savior did all the work and we get the benefits.
Divine faithfulness shows itself in many different areas. It’s shown in God’s discipline to the believer who has turned away from Bible doctrine. It’s shown as blessing to the mature believer. Faithfulness is a loyal attitude to someone you love, respect, and admire. It’s also a loyal attitude to someone whose authority you recognize. God’s faithfulness is also shown in His Perfect Plan. God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1CO 1:9) The Message Bible puts it this way: Just think—you don’t need a thing, you’ve got it all! All God’s gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale. And not only that, but God himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until things are all wrapped up by Jesus. God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that. (1CO 1:7-9)
Think about this: God is faithful to the believer who has turned away from Him and His Word. That’s Who Our Heavenly Father is! One way His faithfulness is expressed to us, is in logistical grace. Logistical grace is defined as the Divine planning, support, provision, and blessing which God gives to every Church-Age believer. God give logistical blessings to us, whether we’re winner or loser believers. Logistical grace is designed to help us carry out God’s Pre-Designed Plan for our lives. Logistical grace includes everything you need to carry out the plan He personally designed for you!! It includes food, water, clothes, a home, air to breathe, a Bible, a pastor-teacher, and much, much more! Logistical grace is a free grace gift from God. An interesting thing about logistical grace is that God gives it to us out of His Justice. Justice is defined as the principle or quality of fairness. When someone is just, he has a concern for justice (fairness), peace, and genuine respect for people. That describes exactly who and what God is to us.
In 1THESSALONIANS, Paul, as he is ending his letter to the church he founded in Thessalonica, wrote: May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable [faithful]. If he said it, he’ll do it! (1TH 5:23-24 The Message Bible). This is why we should NEVER worry about the basic things we need to live. God will always provide everything we will ever need. NEVER FORGET: it was harder for God to find a way to save us than it is for God to bless us in time. God’s Perfect Faithfulness to you in eternity past without question leads to His Perfect Faithfulness to you in time.
Think of how faithful God has been to you over the years. Think of how many times you got yourself into a jam and how His Grace and Faithfulness rescued you. Think of how many times you were worried about the future and God came through!
Only God will be totally faithful to you. This is because of His Perfect Character. Divine faithfulness is God’s expression of Grace to believers. His faithfulness is based on who He is. Because He is Perfect, Fair, and Stable, He will be all these things to us. The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. (LAM 3:22-23) That’s incredibly comforting to know, isn’t it?
{to be continued}