The Faithfulness of Jesus to God the Father

Hebrews 3:1-2 reads as follows: "Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to him who appointed him, as Moses also was faithful in all his house." (NKJV)

Reading this passage and its surrounding context awhile back got me to thinking about the faithfulness of Jesus. We seldom think about Jesus being "faithful," that is in the sense of being faithful to God, even though we know he lived a sin-free life. I think there is profit to be had in looking into this subject in as much as Jesus is to be our example. It is Jesus who said, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." (Matt. 16:24 NKJV) Following Jesus would include following him in faithfulness.

While Jesus was in the beginning with God and the Holy Spirit when the words were uttered "let us make man in our image, according to our likeness" (Gen. 1:26 NKJV, see also John 1:1-11) once Jesus entered the world, sent by God the Father (John 17:18), he became not only the Son of God but also the Son of Man and became subject to the Father. Paul said, in speaking to the Corinthians, "I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God." (1 Cor. 11:3 NKJV) Paul said earlier, in the same book, "And you are Christ's (speaking of the Corinthian Christians—DS), and Christ is God's." (1 Cor. 3:23 NKJV) When Paul wrote those words Jesus was back in heaven but if he was then subject to the Father then certainly he was subject to him earlier while on earth.

We also know that when this world comes to an end and the Day of Judgment has come to be history that Jesus who now sits at the "right hand of the majesty on high" (Heb. 1:3 NKJV) ruling "till he has put all enemies under his feet" (1 Cor. 15:25 NKJV) will then himself "be subject to him who put all things under him, that God may be all in all." (1 Cor. 15:28 NKJV)

We are really talking here about decisions made by the Godhead before the creation of the world itself. Sometime before the foundation of the world the Godhead made the decision that once the world was created and man placed upon it that Jesus would, at some future point in time, a time known only to God, take upon himself the form of man, enter into the world, and become its Savior by the sacrifice of himself on the cross for the sins of man. Yes, God knew his creation, man, would sin before man was created.

Jesus was our Savior chosen to be so before the foundation of the world. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world (read that again a second time for emphasis—DS), that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." He was "foreordained before the foundation of the world." (1 Peter 1:20 NKJV)

Jesus was born into the world to be a sacrifice for man's sin. "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death (emphasis on what you have just read—DS) … that he, by the grace of God might taste death for everyone." (Heb. 2:9 NKJV) Jesus came into the world for the express purpose of dying "for everyone." This was by God's gracious act. Jesus was the Lamb of God (John 1:29), "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (Rev. 13:8 NKJV)

Yes, Jesus was and is God. Only God can save us. Jesus was our Savior chosen to be so by the Godhead before the foundation of the world. However, while Jesus was/is God (see Heb. 1:8, John 1:1-2, Phil. 2:6, and other passages) when he took on the role of the Son of Man coming to earth in bodily form he himself became subject (willingly) to the Father.

The Hebrew writer makes this clear when he says:

"But to the son he says: 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions.' " (Heb. 1:8-9 NKJV)

Jesus who was himself God (read the verse above again) had a God. Who did Jesus pray to if not to his God and Father? Who did he sing praise to (Heb. 2:12) if not to his God? Who did he put his trust in (Heb. 2:13) if not in his God?

It was "in all things he had to be made like his brethren" (Heb. 2:17 NKJV) and thus his faith in and dependency upon the Father, God in heaven. Now please do not misunderstand. The most difficult subject that a man can study and never really understand is how both deity and humanity dwelt within Jesus at the same time. I am avoiding that subject in this article like the plague. I am only saying here that in Jesus' role as the Son of Man he had a dependency on God the Father just as all men do. Even as the Son of God, sons are subject to their fathers and must always show them honor and respect.

The Bible says Jesus was "faithful" to God who appointed him as the apostle and high priest of our confession (Heb. 3:1-2). The text also points out how Moses had also been "faithful." What does the word faithful mean? What makes a person faithful? When we speak of the faithfulness of Jesus what does that mean?

A good synonym for faithful would be the word "reliable." Other synonyms might be "dependable" or "trustworthy." My Merriam-Webster's Pocket Thesaurus says of the word faithful, "firm in adherence to whatever one is bound to by duty or promise."

The Bible speaks of God being faithful. "Therefore know that the Lord your God, he is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy." (Deut. 7:9 NKJV) What does that mean? It means if God said it you can depend on it. God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), neither can he grow weary and tired or weak and unable to fulfill what he has said. When God makes a covenant with man God will keep his part right down to dotting every i and crossing every t. He will fall short in nothing in keeping his part of the covenant. Man must remember, however, that the covenant God has made with his people is conditional, not unconditional.

In speaking of the children of Israel that came out of Egypt with Moses the Psalmist says, "For their heart was not steadfast with him, nor were they faithful in his covenant." (Psalms 78:37 NKJV) They entered into a covenant relationship with God at Mt. Sinai in the desert but they proved unfaithful in keeping their part of the covenant and thus were not allowed to enter the Promised Land due to disobedience (Heb. 3:18, 4:6). Jesus, who came many years afterwards, did not prove unfaithful in keeping that same covenant—the Law of Moses.

We can see then that being faithful means, on man's part, being obedient to the covenant he is under with God. Have you ever read or paid any attention to the cover page or title page of your New Testament? The New Testament I am using as I write says on its cover page "The New Testament of Our Lord And Savior Jesus Christ." The older versions used to read differently. I am now looking at the cover page for the old American Standard Version of 1901 and that cover page reads "The New Covenant Commonly Called The New Testament Of Our Lord And Savior Jesus Christ."

God has had two covenants with man. The first he made with the Jewish nation. This was the Law of Moses delivered on Mt. Sinai and is the covenant that Jesus kept faithfully and under which the thief on the cross lived and died (mentioned for the benefit of those who think he died under the Christian dispensation of time). The second covenant is the New Covenant commonly called the New Testament which all of mankind has lived under, or put another way been subject to, since Christ's death on the cross. Much of the books of Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews are devoted to this very subject of the change of the law or the covenants under which men live.

As has been said, to be faithful is to be obedient to the covenant under which one lives, in our case the New Testament. The New Testament, or New Covenant, is God speaking to you and me his will. He speaks through his word. I cannot be faithful to God while disregarding his words directed to me. If he gives me a command and I try and keep it you can call that me trying to work my way to heaven, some feel that way about obedience, but your calling it that will not make it so. It is, instead, an effort on my part to be faithful to the one who has spoken to me his word, one who is telling me what his desire for me is.

We say truthfully that Jesus was the Lamb of God, for John the Baptist called him that (John 1:29, 36), and the Hebrew writer says he "offered himself without spot to God." (Heb. 9:14 NKJV) He was "a lamb without blemish and without spot," says Peter. (1 Peter 1:19 NKJV) The only thing that brings blemishes and spots to a man's soul is sin. Sin is "the transgression of the law." (1 John 3:4 KJV) The faithfulness of Jesus was such that it led to a perfectly sinless life. Peter says of him that he "committed no sin, nor was guile found in his mouth." (1 Peter 2:22 NKJV) He was "without sin." (Heb. 4:15 NKJV) Was Jesus trying to work his way back to heaven by being obedient? Should I not try and be obedient?

While living on earth Jesus was under commandment from God not just pertaining to those things contained in the Law of Moses but more. Jesus had been commanded to speak the words he spoke. "For I have not spoken on my own authority; but the Father who sent me gave me a command, what I should say and what I should speak." (John 12:49 NKJV)

In Hebrews 3 Jesus' faithfulness is contrasted with the unfaithfulness of the children of Israel who left Egypt, led by Moses, as they headed to the Promised Land. They did not enter into the Promised Land because they did not obey and they did not obey because they did not believe (Heb. 3:18-19). The warning given to the Hebrews then living, to whom the writer of Hebrews was writing, was not to "fall after the same example of disobedience." (Heb. 4:11 NKJV) Disobedience is unfaithfulness.

I ask a question easily enough answered. Was Jesus under a command from God to give up his life on the cross for the sins of men?

Jesus answers himself. After the last supper Jesus made this statement, "But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here." (John 14:31 NKJV) At that point in time the only thing left was the cross. They left their present location for the garden where Jesus prayed and was later arrested.

Another passage that tells us the same thing in different language is Heb. 10:5-7. "Therefore, when he came into the world, he said: 'Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you had no pleasure. Then I said, "Behold, I have come—in the volume of the book it is written of me—to do your will, O God." ' " (NKJV) It was God's will that Jesus die on the cross for man's sins.

"By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Heb. 10:10 NKJV) Jesus came into the world for one purpose—to fulfill the will of God which was that we be "sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ." (Heb. 10:10 NKJV)

John 10:17-18 also helps clarify:

"Therefore my Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from my Father." (John 10:17-18 NKJV)

What command was it that Jesus had received? The command to lay down his life and take it again—the command to go to the cross.

Jesus was obedient (faithful) unto death. "And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." (Phil. 2:8 KJV) The words "the point of" are italicized in the NKJV Bible meaning they were added by man (the translators) and are not in the original so the actual text should read, "And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross." Yes, the cross was a commandment given to Jesus.

It can be difficult sometimes for a man to obey, to be faithful, but ultimately unfaithfulness is far more costly. Jesus' prayer and weeping in the garden shows it was not easy for him to be faithful either. He went through much agony to be faithful. We need to be willing to suffer also if we are to live faithfully.

What then can we learn from Jesus' faithfulness that will help us to be faithful? It seems to me the big lesson is the total surrender of the life, the will, to God. We as human beings are always thinking about "what I want to do." Jesus did not live that way. It was for him and must be for us "not my will, but yours, be done." (Luke 22:42 NKJV) A total surrender of one's life to God is the answer to faithfulness.

And, I ask in closing, what is the command that God has given you and me? We find it in what Jesus said to the angel of the church of Smyrna, quoting from the original King James Version, "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." (Rev. 2:10 KJV) So we see there is a sense in which we too are under the commandment of death—when faithfulness requires it. Jesus was/is our example. Polycarp, a second-century Christian, was burned at the stake for his faithfulness. How strong is your faith today? Is it strong enough to be faithful? No doubt we all need to work on both our faith and our faithfulness.

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What Must a Person Believe to be Saved by the Gospel of Christ

That the gospel of Christ must be believed (as well as obeyed) to receive Christian salvation is made abundantly clear by the apostle Paul in one of the best-known passages found in the Bible—Rom. 1:16: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." (Rom. 1:16 NAS) It thus becomes essential that we learn what it is that an individual must believe in order to be saved if we seek the salvation of our souls. What is included in the gospel that must be believed?

Paul helps us out and gives us a good start in defining the gospel in 1 Cor. 15:1-4: "Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." (NAS)

We learn from this passage two things found in the gospel, thus things that must be believed. (1) Christ died for our sins. (2) He was resurrected from the dead. We will discuss each. We will not discuss his burial for that has never been an issue.

One must believe that Christ died for a purpose, to accomplish a goal—he died for our sins. He died as a propitiation for our sins. "He himself is the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 2:2 NAS) Or, as some other translations put it, "he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins" (NIV, CSB, NRSV). Jesus was "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29 NAS) He "appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." (Heb. 9:26 NKJV) He was God's sacrificial lamb who died to make atonement for the sins of mankind.

God cannot be a God of justice nor can he maintain his honor if he allows man to violate his law and run amok without consequence. No one respects a law or its author if the law can be broken without a penalty for doing so. "Sin is the transgression of the law" of God. (1 John 3:4 KJV)

God cannot be glorified by men who show disrespect by violating his laws at will. When men violate God's law by sin it shows disrespect for God and dishonors him. It displaces the natural order of things and puts man over God, man's will over God's will, man over his maker. God will not allow that to happen. "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap." (Gal. 6:7 NAS)

"The wages of sin is death." (Rom. 6:23 NAS) One could almost say God, by definition of what it means to be God, has to punish sin. His nature demands it, and justice calls for it.

While God will uphold his honor and his glory the Bible also teaches that God loves man, "for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son" (John 3:16 NKJV), and does not desire that any man perish for he is "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9 NKJV) As far back as Ezekiel we read the words of God, "'I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,' says the Lord God. 'Therefore turn and live.'" (Ezek. 18:32 NKJV) "God is love." (1 John 4:8 NAS)

God's desire for man is man's salvation, but "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23 NAS) The question then became one of how God could save man and, at the same time, be just? Sin had to be punished if justice was to exist.

The answer was to punish sin through his son's death on the cross. "He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by his wounds you were healed." (1 Peter 2:24 NAS) Christ took man's place. He took man's punishment for sin. Thus, one thing man must believe, that is absolutely essential to salvation, is that Christ died for our sins just as it is stated in 1 Cor. 15:3 and that he obtained atonement for them in his death.

A second thing Paul says we must believe is that Christ was raised from the dead. He says in Rom. 1:4, in speaking of Jesus, that he was "declared with power to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead." (Rom. 1:4 NAS) Jesus' resurrection proved that he was who he claimed to be, proved him to be God's son, which meant he had the power to forgive sins and save man. His resurrection was essential. Paul goes so far as to say, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless." (1 Cor. 15:17 NAS) Why would that be true? Because without the resurrection, it would have shown Jesus to be an imposter.

Think about it as follows. If Jesus was lying all the while he was on earth about who he was and what he was doing that would make him a liar and a deceitful man. Would a righteous God resurrect such a man and join in the deception? Not if God is good and just. If Jesus is not resurrected, it shows God wants no part of him. However, Jesus was resurrected, which showed that God placed his stamp of approval on Jesus' life and teaching and his sacrificial death, to provide a means for the forgiveness of sins.

In believing Jesus was resurrected, one is thus accepting of the fact that Jesus was and is the Lord and Savior of man and the Son of God. Jesus predicted his own death and resurrection (see Matt. 16:21, 17:22-23, 20:18-19 and other similar scriptures throughout the other gospels) and taught the necessity of his own sacrificial death (John 3:14-15) in order for man to be saved. His resurrection provided proof that his word was good in all that he taught and that man can have faith in him.

What else must one believe to be saved by the gospel of Christ? One good way to find out is to examine the preaching of the apostles and evangelists as recorded in Acts as they went out into the world attempting to convert people to Christ. First, a couple of premises need to be laid down for if you do not accept the premises you will not accept the apostles' and evangelists' inspired teaching on the subject. Premise one is that they preached the gospel. Premise two is that what one taught by inspiration as essential all taught by inspiration as essential, whether the item is mentioned or not. If this were not the case, then you would have multiple gospels being preached with one apostle preaching one thing and another something different.

In Peter's gospel sermon in Acts 2, the first such sermon ever preached after Christ's ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, Peter preached repentance and baptism for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). Was one required to believe him? Was this something a person had to believe to be saved? Was what he preached a part of the gospel? Did he preach by inspiration that day? Is a man required to believe he must repent of sins? Is a man required to believe he must be baptized for the remission of sins? If a man is not required to believe it, why preach it to people? Why preach it to people who need the gospel if it is not a part of the gospel?

Sadly, most of the world is not willing to accept Peter's gospel preaching in Acts 2, but 3,000 that day did. "So then, those who had received (does the word 'received' mean believed?—DS) his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls." (Acts 2:41 NAS) The truth is deep down people know Peter preached by inspiration; they know he preached the gospel, but their religious tradition will not allow them to accept the part about baptism.

Philip in Samaria (Acts 8:12), Philip also in preaching to the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:35-38), Ananias in preaching to Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:17-18 and Acts 22:16), Peter in preaching to Cornelius and his household (Acts 10:48), Paul in preaching to Lydia (Acts 16:14-15) and to the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:31-33), Paul again in Corinth (Acts 18:8) and then later to the 12 at Ephesus (Acts 19:1-5) all preached baptism in preaching the gospel. How do we know? We know because in each account at the end of the preaching, we find those who were receptive to the preaching being baptized. It is impossible to be baptized if you are ignorant of baptism which is the case if it is not being preached, preached as a part of the gospel in those conversion accounts. Thus, we see that one must believe there is a need to be baptized after repentance and then do it.

Well, what else? Well, a man must believe he needs to confess Christ and then do that as well. "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." (Rom. 10:9-10 NAS)

The only scripturally qualified candidate for baptism is a person who believes and has repented of his sins. One can only know a person is a believer if they tell you, which requires a confession by the mouth of the Lord Jesus. The fact that some religious groups sprinkle those too young to know or believe anything and call it baptism does not make it so. Scriptural baptism has prerequisites. Without those, you just have someone getting wet. Even worse, those people grow up believing a lie, believing they have been baptized. Bible baptism requires a penitent believer in Jesus Christ, which disqualifies infants, toddlers, and young children.

In John 3:16, we are told that "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life." (NAS) Who is this person one must believe in? The text teaches it is the only begotten Son of God. It is "he who believes in the Son" who has eternal life (John 3:36 NAS). One must believe Jesus was and is the Son of God.

John, near the end of his gospel, speaking of things that had been written, says, "These have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in his name." (John 20:31 NAS) Jesus said, "Unless you believe that I am he, you shall die in your sins." (John 8:24 NAS)

When Jesus asked his disciples in Matt. 16 who men said he was, they told him, but then he asked a more specific question, "But who do you say that I am?" (Matt. 16:15 NKJV) Peter responded, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Matt. 16:16 NKJV) Upon this fact, Jesus built the church (Matt. 16:18) of which he is the Savior (Eph. 5:23). This foundational truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, is the confession men need to make out of believing hearts to obtain salvation. Men must believe Jesus was/is the Son of God and be willing to confess the same.

The faith we hold must lead to an "obedience of faith" (Rom. 1:5, 16:26), which is to say it is not just a conceptual faith held inactive in the mind but one that leads a man or woman to act according to that which they have come to believe. As James says, "faith without works (obedience—DS) is dead" (James 2:26 NAS). Dead things do not bring life (salvation). If one's faith stops at the point of intellectual faith alone, and leaves out repentance, confession of Jesus, and baptism, then it is dead. It is dead for two reasons. One, it stopped short of full faith in the gospel message, which required these things, and two, it was never "obedient to the faith." (see Acts 6:7 NAS)

The last thing that must be believed is that God is a rewarder of those who seek him. "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." (Heb. 11:6 NAS) When one believes and obeys the gospel, he has been a seeker after God. We must then believe, having done that, that God has forgiven us of our sins. They are cast off, done away. We are forgiven. This is the gospel that we must believe.

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