Our Faithfulness Sustained by God’s Grace

There are so many wonderful songs and Scriptures about God’s grace and His faithfulness. We are right to be so thankful for these amazing and undeserved works of God which every child of God knows about first hand! We enjoy thinking, studying, and shouting about God’s gifts to us, but are we skipping out on the importance of what we as God’s children should be giving to Him?

Faithfulness Is Critical

Faithfulness is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-26), and our lives should be producing it. I like to think of faithfulness as “commitment in action.” It encompasses repentance, obedience, and heartfelt devotion. Faithfulness to God’s ways and His word is necessary to our walk with Him. Without faithfulness, we become purposeless. If you’re going to take a dog with you on an important hunt, you’d better take a faithful dog, because only a faithful dog can help his master achieve the purpose of the journey. God’s Word commands and urges us in many places to be or to remain faithful to Christ. If we have the power or choice to be faithful, then guess what? It is also our power or choice to not be faithful, which means that we are responsible for that behavior. Whether it is in a “small” way or a “big” way, not being faithful to the Master requires an immediate and sincere adjustment within us.

Understanding Grace

So, we didn’t walk in faithfulness to the Lord – we messed up, and we know it. This is the point when we may mistakenly expect grace to bale us out. What is grace? We talk about grace as if it is another person of God whose purpose is to enable or at least overlook our shortcomings. But grace, as incredibly amazing as it is, does not have a mind or a will because it is a gift from the one and only awesome and true God. GOD is where grace comes from and it is HIS to give. Here is a terrific description of grace:

Human Nature & A Higher Calling

When we haven’t been faithful to God, our tendency is to “set it right” in the least humiliating way possible. We should be asking God [by His grace] for His forgiveness, but forgiveness is humbling and repentance requires us to change. So, rather than take the Biblical path to a restored relationship with God, we take an apathetic approach that satisfies our pride’s desire to make our sin look less alarming to others or even to ourselves. We try to accomplish this when we misunderstand the purpose of grace and throw the word around in our mind and social circles until we are satisfied that we are “right with God.” It’s a completely empty and meaningless parade of self, but more sadly, it stops us from growing in the Lord and walking closer to Him. I’m sure you’ve heard a line that sounds similar to “I’ve really been struggling, but I’m thankful for God’s grace!” That sounds pretty good, right? But what they should have been saying is “I’ve hurt You, Lord, and I need your grace and forgiveness!” You can see the difference in point-of-view. Instead of going through the uncomfortable and humbling process of repenting, they are happily (or at the least, apathetically) reveling in their perceived extended kindness from God. It is counter-intuitive for us to think that we can flippantly try to claim His grace while we persist in our unchanged behavior. We cannot achieve all that the Lord has called us to and is expecting from us, if we do not take seriously His lordship and commands. Wow, have we deceived ourselves! And as a result, we not only cheapen the purpose of grace, but we leave ourselves trapped in the same apathetic attitude, producing the same behavior(s) that were displeasing to God.

Real Grace

Grace is God’s gift bestowed freely by Him, and He gives it for the purpose of helping us live a righteous life, not to justify or reward an unrighteous one. Grace isn’t a salve in a bottle that we can open up and use when we feel like it. We should feel grateful for God’s grace, because we are not entitled to it, and our walk with Him is dependent on His grace. Rather than emptily boasting of God’s grace in a self-inspired effort to avoid humility and change, we should be asking forgiveness and fervently desiring and asking for His grace.

“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age..”
– Titus 2:11,12

Our Faithfulness for God’s Glory

Grace does not make sin beautiful. That’s why God teaches us and commands us to turn away from sin. Sin is always ugly and displeasing to the Lord, and there is no place for sin in the presence of God. That’s why we strive to be holy as He is holy. We are not perfect, and we are humans living in a fallen world. God knows that, which is why He gives us grace. However, He has also, through grace, given us the power we need to live a sanctified life. Believing that we cannot live out faithfulness to God is not at all Scriptural. Not only is faithfulness possible because we walk in grace, but our faithfulness is also required by God. We must give our very best to the Lord, and run the race like we want the gold. No excuses, no entitlement, and no justifying our behaviors. When we are living faithfully, grace is in action, and God receives all the glory. God’s grace will never make sin beautiful or pleasing or acceptable to Him. His grace is given to us out of His love for the purpose of helping us become closer to Him than we could ever be on our own. God’s grace is why repentance is beautiful and faithfulness is possible.

“So that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
– Romans 5:21