The attributes of God

The Faithfulness of God

An attribute of God · Lamentations 3:22-23

The faithfulness of God means he keeps every promise and never abandons his own. He is reliable to the last, true to his word across every generation, steady when we are not. His compassions fail not; they are new every morning; great is his faithfulness. Because God is faithful, our hope does not rest on our grip on him but on his grip on us.

It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.Lamentations 3:22-23 (KJV)

What the faithfulness of God means

Faithfulness is God's utter reliability. What he says, he does; what he promises, he keeps; whom he loves, he loves to the end. He is not fickle, not moody, not here today and gone tomorrow. He is a Rock, and the whole point of a rock is that you can stand on it in the storm. His faithfulness is tied to his truth and his unchangeableness: because he cannot lie and does not change, he cannot fail to keep his word.

This faithfulness is personal, not just principled. God is not merely faithful to abstract rules; he is faithful to people, faithful to his covenant, faithful to you. Even when we are faithless, Paul says, he abideth faithful; he cannot deny himself. Our unfaithfulness does not cancel his, for his faithfulness rests on his own character, not on our performance. That is why it is unshakable. If it depended on us, it would have failed long ago; because it depends on him, it endures for ever.

How the Bible reveals it

The whole Bible is the record of a God who keeps his word. He promised Abraham a people and a blessing to all nations, and though centuries passed and the promise seemed impossible, he kept it. He promised to bring Israel out of Egypt, and not one word of all his good promise failed. Joshua could say at the end of his life that all came to pass, not one thing had failed.

The Psalms sing of it: thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds, and is unto all generations. The most piercing witness comes from Jeremiah in Lamentations, sitting amid the rubble of Jerusalem, having lost everything. Even there, at the bottom, he finds the ground still holds: It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Faithfulness is discovered most clearly not on the mountaintop but in the valley, where it turns out God was holding us all along.

Common misunderstandings

Some assume God's faithfulness means an easy life, that if God is faithful nothing hard will happen to his people. But the saints who most praised his faithfulness often did so in prison, in exile, in grief. Faithfulness does not promise the absence of trouble; it promises his presence in it and his purpose through it. He is faithful, and will not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able to bear.

Others fear that their own weakness could break the relationship, that if they stumble God will let them go. But the bond was never held by our strength. He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it. And some measure God's faithfulness by their timetable, and conclude he has forgotten when the answer is slow. Yet he is not slack concerning his promise. His delays are not denials; his clock keeps perfect time, and not one promise will fall to the ground.

Why the faithfulness of God is good news

We are changeable creatures. Our love cools, our resolutions break, our courage fails. If everything depended on our faithfulness, we would be lost. The good news is that the covenant hangs on his faithfulness, not ours. He will keep you. He will finish what he started. The One who called you is faithful, and he will do it.

This is the ground of Christian assurance and peace. Every morning his mercies are new, which means each day begins with a fresh supply from a God who has never once failed. You can build your life on his word as on bedrock. When feelings shift and circumstances darken, faithfulness is the anchor that holds. He has said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. He has never broken that word to anyone, and he will not begin with you.

How the faithfulness of God is seen in Jesus Christ

Jesus is the Amen, the faithful and true witness, in whom all the promises of God are yea and amen. Every promise God ever made finds its yes in him. He was faithful to the Father in all things, obedient even unto death. He kept faith with his disciples who abandoned him, seeking them out after the resurrection to restore them.

On the cross he was the faithful one standing in the place of the faithless. And having promised to prepare a place and to come again, he will keep that word too, for he is the same yesterday, today, and for ever. When you feel your own grip loosening, look to him, who holds you in a nail-scarred hand that will not let go. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. The faithfulness of God has a name, and it is Jesus.

A note offered humbly and for all Christians: God is one, simple, and undivided in his being, and these attributes are not parts of him but the one God seen from many sides. His holiness is loving, his love is holy, his justice is merciful, and his mercy is just. He is also greater than all our words, and no page can contain him. What we can say, we say only because he has graciously revealed it, above all in Jesus Christ, who is the image of the invisible God.

Related: The Immutability of God · The Truth of God · Who is Jesus? · All the attributes of God