The Law of Faithfulness 1 Corinthians 1:4-9

1 Corinthians 1:4-9 The Law of Faithfulness

⁴ I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, ⁵ that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, ⁶ even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, ⁷ so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁸ who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

God is faithful. I doubt I really understand just how faithful He really is!

The law of Faithfulness says:

> UNITY depends upon PURITY and PURITY depends upon FAITHFULNESS.

1. THERE IS A FAITHFULNESS THAT IS RELATED TO GOD’S CHARACTER:

> A definition of the word “character”:

> The description of the traits and qualities of a person.

> There is implied the permanence of “an engraving instrument”

> Faithfulness, as applied to God, is the character that:

supremely “engraves God into our memory and understanding.”

> Faithfulness is an ATTRIBUTE of God’s character.

> God is absolutely reliable; not arbitrary; not fickle.

> The extensiveness of God’s faithfulness- see Psalm 36:5

“Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens;

Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.”

> The everlastingness of God’s faithfulness- see Psalm 119:90

“Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
You established the earth, and it abides.”

> The exceedingness of God’s faithfulness- see Lamentations 3:22-23

“²² Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
²³ They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”

> Faithfulness is an ACTIVITY of God’s character.

> The Old and New Testament: a long account of God’s faithful activity.

> Our lives are a long account of God’s faithful activity towards us.

1. THERE IS A FAITHFULNESS THAT IS RELATED TO GOD’S CALL.

> 1 Corinthians 1:9

“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

> Because of the attribute and activity of God’s faithfulness, men and women are CALLED to a QUALITY of life that is otherwise totally impossible.

> A Christian’s life is “a life of Redemptive Provision in Christ.”

> 1 John 1:9

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

> We are sinners by choice and by practice. Therefore, on our own we cannot possibly have true fellowship with God nor mankind.

1 John 1:7

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

> A Christian’s life is “a life of Corrective Protection in Christ.”

1 Corinthians 10:13

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear (endure) it.”

God’s Permissive Faithfulness:

God is always aware of our circumstances.

God is always aware of every temptation that comes to us.

God will never allow any temptation outside His permissive will.

God’s Protective Faithfulness:

God made us; therefore, He knows our limits and honors them.

God provides us with the power to resist and strength to endure.

1. THERE IS A FAITHFULNESS THAT IS RELATED TO GOD’S COMMUNION.

> 1 Corinthians 1:9

“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

> One of the best translations used here for “fellowship” is “communion.”

> THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS A COMMUNION OF UNITY.

> We have available continuous fellowship with the very Son of God.

> No club or organization could ever provide such unity.

> The person of the Holy Spirit lives inside us. That’s maximum unity.

> THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS A COMMUNION OF PURITY.

> The Holy Spirit daily works to make us become more Christ-like.

> Someday, upon the rapture, a final unity and purity will take place.

> THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS A COMMUNION OF FAITHFULNESS.

> When we truly allow our faithful Jesus to be the Lord of our life:

> There is UNITY with God and MANKIND.

> There is PURITY with GOD and MANKIND.

> There is FAITHFULNESS to GOD and MANKIND.

> There is FAITHFULNESS IN SERVICE.

> There is FAITHFULNESS IN SOUL WINNING.

> There is FAITHFULNESS IN GIVING.

> There is FAITHFULNESS IN OUTREACH.

> There is FAITHFULNESS IN WORSHIP.

> There is FAITHFULNESS IN BIBLE STUDY.

> There is FAITHFULNESS IN PRAYER MEETING.

God is faithful and His faithfulness does not depend upon our faithfulness.

But we are called to be faithful.

And we are to be held accountable concerning our faithfulness.

And we will be rewarded and judged concerning our faithfulness.

The law of Faithfulness says:

> UNITY depends upon PURITY and PURITY depends upon FAITHFULNESS.

“Great is Thy Faithfulness” Thomas Obediah Chisholm (1866-1960)

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
there is no shadow of turning with thee.
Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;
as thou hast been, thou forever wilt be.

Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed thy hand hath provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

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A native of the small Kentucky town of Franklin, Thomas Obediah Chisholm (1866-1960) was born in a log cabin. He lacked formal education. Nevertheless, he became a teacher at age sixteen and the associate editor of his hometown weekly newspaper, the Franklin Advocate, at age twenty-one.

In 1893, Chisholm became a Christian through the ministry of Henry Clay Morrison, the founder of Asbury College and Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. Morrison persuaded Chisholm to move to Louisville where he became editor of the Pentecostal Herald. Though he was ordained a Methodist minister in 1903, he served only a single, brief appointment at Scottsville, Kentucky, due to ill health. Chisholm relocated his family to Winona Lake, Indiana, to recover, and then to Vineland, New Jersey, in 1916 where he sold insurance. He retired in 1953 and spent his remaining years in a Methodist retirement community in Ocean Grove, New Jersey.

By the time of his retirement, he had written more than 1200 poems, 800 of which were published. They often appeared in religious periodicals such as the Sunday School Times, Moody Monthly, and Alliance Weekly. Many of these were set to music.

Hymnologist Kenneth Osbeck provides the background for “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” Chisholm had sent a number of his poems to the Rev. William H. Runyan (1870-1957), a musician with the Moody Bible Institute and one of the editors of Hope Publishing Company in Chicago. Runyan wrote of the hymn: “This particular poem held such an appeal that I prayed most earnestly that my tune might carry over its message in a worthy way, and the subsequent history of its use indicates that God answered prayer. It was written in Baldwin, Kansas, in 1923, and was first published in my private song pamphlets.”

George Beverly Shea (1909-2013), the famous Canadian-born singer of the Billy Graham Crusades, introduced this hymn to those attending the evangelistic meetings in Great Britain in 1954. It immediately became a favorite.

A phrase in Lamentations 3:22-23 provides a basis for the refrain: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Stanza one emphasizes God’s unchanging nature: ” . . . there is no shadow of turning with Thee;/Thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not.” Perhaps James 1:17 provides the scriptural basis for this concept: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

In stanza two, the natural created order, including the cycle of the seasons, bears witness to the faithfulness of God. The final stanza brings the eternal, unchanging God into contact with humanity. We receive from the presence of God “Pardon for sin and a peace that endures.” Indeed, William Runyan’s tune was the ideal musical complement to the warmth of the text. The subtle changes in harmony and the solemnity of the melody amplify the text, bringing the climax on the word “faithfulness” perfectly at the end of the refrain.