The Fruit of the Spirit is Faithfulness

1. Read: Galatians 5:22-23

2. About the Text:

1) One of the fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness.

2) Faithfulness means staying true to your commitments; it is loyalty.

3) Faithfulness means being responsible.

4) “Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2).

5) “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much” (Luke 16:10).

3. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.

1. In Communication

1) “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89).

2) 1 Peter 1:25 – “‘But the word of the Lord endures forever.’ Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.”

3) “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35).

4) Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

2. In Commitments

1) “Your faithfulness endures to all generations” (Psalm 119:90a).

2) “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments” (Deut.7:9).

3) “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9).

4) Hebrews 10:23 – “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”

3. In Creation

1) “You established the earth, and it abides. They continue this day according to Your ordinances, For all are Your servants” (Psalm 119:90b-91).

2) “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease” (Gen.8:22).

3) “Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17).

4) Romans 8:31-39

1. Our identity is in Christ

1) Galatians 2:20 – “I am crucified with Christ . . . .”

2) Colossians 3:3 – “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

3) This happens when we are baptized into Christ. Romans 6:3-4 – “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

2. Faithfulness is Living for Christ.

1) Colossians 2:13 – “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.”

2) Romans 6:8 – “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”

3. Faithfulness is Enduring for Christ

1) Christ endured! – Hebrews 12:2-3.

2) 1 Corinthians 15:58 – “Wherefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast . . . .”

3) James 5:11

4) 2 Timothy 4:7-8 – “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

5) Revelation 2:10 – “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

4. Faithfulness is Serving Christ

1) Attendance

a. We need the fellowship. By attending you exhort me! (Hebrews 10:25).

b. We need to worship God – John 4:24.

2) Bible Study

a. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

b. Bereans “more noble” (Acts 17:11).

3) Imitating Christ

a. Walk in his steps (1 Peter 2:21).

b. Live for Christ (Philippians 1:21).

1. Husbands and Wives

1) Genesis 2:24 said, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

2) Matthew 19:6

3) Ephesians 5:22-24 says, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.”

4) Ephesians 5:25, 28-29 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her…. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.”

2. Parents and Children

1) “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother,’ which is the first commandment with promise: ‘that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth’” (Ephesians 6:1-3).

2) “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).

3. Business Relationships

1) “Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:22-24).

2) “Not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men” (Ephesians 6:6-7).

1. The Fruit of the Spirit is Faithfulness

1) God and Christ are Faithful

2) Faithfulness to God and Christ

3) Faithfulness to One Another

2. Invitation