ANG KATAPATAN NG DIOS

Ang katapatan ng Dios
God’s Faithfulness

Ito ang second sa serye natin tungkol sa mga attributes at karakter ng Panginoon.

Who is God? God is the sum of all His attributes – descriptive words that inform us of His makeup.

Ang bawat isang attribute or characteristic o karakter ng Dios ay nakikita nating napiperfect sa Dios. Ang bawat expression ng bawat isang attribute ay reflection lang sa bawat karakter ng Paginoon.

All the characteristics of God are perfect and in perfect harmony with one another. The facets on a diamond could serve as an illustration. Each cut makes a surface on the diamond, and light goes in and out of all the surfaces making a sparkle. If one surface is marred you do not have a perfect diamond and it will not sparkle like a flawless diamond. Each perfect surface is one of the attributes of God.

There are faithful people, but if we want to see real faithfulness we look at God. Faithfulness is one of God’s attributes and we are going to discuss that today.

If God was faithful but He was not totally righteous, what is it that He would be faithful to? If God is love but is not just then what does He love?

You see the attributes of God interact and are perfected by the other attributes.

Each adds to the beauty and perfection of the others. If any one were missing, none would be perfect.

Sa serye na ito tatalakayin natin ngayon ang kanyang faithfulness..

Napakahalaga na maintindihan natin ang karakter ng Dios. Ang karakter niya ang ating batayan kung ano ang tama at mali. It is because He is faithful that we should be faithful.

Naisip ba natin kung bakit tama o’ mali ang isang bagay. Tama ang isang bagay hindi lang dahil sabi ng Dios. Tama ang isang bagay dahil ito ay batay sa Kanya. Something is wrong because it is at odds with the character of our perfect God.Itong konsepto na ito ay parang wala na. Ang mali ay ginagawang tama sapagkat nalilimutan na natin ang tunay na tama na Siyang ating Panginoon.

As we enter this subject we are standing on holy ground. We are not walking on the disputable territory of the opinions of men but the declaration of Scripture.

Paano ba natin nalalaman na Siya ay faithful? How do we know God is faithful? Ayon sa salita Niya, ang Dios natin ay faithful at Siya ay di marunong magsinungaling. He has proven Himself faithful in the lives of the characters throughout Scripture. Ang Biblia ay nagpapahayag nito at sa isang maiksi na word study makikita natin kung gaano ka faithful ang ating Panginoon. You will see that when His faithfulness is mentioned often another characteristic of God is mentioned alongside it.
1. Siya ay kapanapanalig. He is a reliable God.
Ex 34:5-7 (NIV)Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."
Here God declares Himself to be abounding in faithfulness. The Hebrew word used here for faithfulness is emeth. It is used in Genesis 24:27 when the servant of Abraham looks for a wife for Isaac and is led right to her; he declares that God has been emeth with Abraham. God answered Abraham’s prayer and provided a wife for Isaac. That was an expression of God’s abounding faithfulness. Faithfulness is translated ‘true’ in the KJV. Strong’s concordance says emeth means: firm, sure, reliable, and stable. That is what God declares Himself to be.

Hasn’t He proven Himself emeth with you? Has He answered your prayers and provided for your needs? Have you found Him to be reliable? Then you have experienced His faithfulness. I can certainly tell you He has been faithful toward me. Even when I was faithless, ignoring His warnings, fighting His Holy Spirit, He was faithful. He was faithful to discipline me, faithful to continually to convict me when I walked in rebellion, faithful to provide a way to escape, faithful to bring brothers and sisters to help, faithful to teach me. He has been nothing but faithful (emeth) to me.


2. Siya ay ang ating sariling sandigan. He is our support.
Deut 7:9 (NIV)9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.
This word is aman: To support, confirm, and be faithful – It is used of the support pillars for a door. Here it is used in connection with His covenant of love. He is the One that confirms it and supports it. “He is the faithful God,” means you can count on His love continuing in your life. Where do you run when the earth shakes? Between the door pillars, the faithfulness of God! Where do those who do not know God run when there is trouble? There is no one else that can support us like God can.

3. Siya ay matuwid at di nagbabago. He sticks withwhat is right and never ever changes.
Deut 32:4 (NIV)4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.
Here the word ‘faithful’ is Emuwnah – firm, steadfast – You can count on God to do what is right with consistency. He is never one way this week and of a different bent the next. He is steadfast! When you go to Him, you always know what to expect. He’ll never be out to lunch, sleeping on the job, not ready to hear your need. No, our God is steadfast. He is always on the side of good because He is good.

4. Higit pa sa ating pangangailangan ang kanyang faithfulness. His faithfulness is greater than what we think about Him.

Psalms 36:5(NIV)5 Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.
Do you recall the old children’s song, “So high you can’t get over it, so low you can’t get under it, so wide you can’t get around it, you gotta go in through the door”? His love and faithfulness are always bigger than our need.

I’ve been tempted to doubt God’s faithfulness, His dependability. I think we all have doubted. If we did not doubt we would believe every word of Scripture as if it was a contract with the most capable, most dependable person to ever live. Come to think of it, it is! Has there ever been anyone more capable, more dependable than Jesus? Then why do we not utterly trust His every Word? We certainly should.


5. Ang kanyang faithfulness ay saganang bukal para sa atin. His faithfulness is like an abundant spring for us.

Psalms 86:14-15 (NIV)14 The arrogant are attacking me, O God; a band of ruthless men seeks my life-- men without regard for you.15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
Abounding faithfulness! When we are under attack, when it seems like everyone is against us, we can count on the abounding love and faithfulness of our Father. He is seeking our best, in contrast to those that seek to harm us. Compassionate and gracious, abounding in love and faithfulness, what an awesome God!

6. Ang kanyang Faithfulness ay kanaisnais ipahayag. His faithfulness is worthy to be proclaimed.

Psalms 89:1-2 (NIV)1 I will sing of the Lord's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. 2 I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself.

David wanted to tell every generation of God’s faithfulness. The youth can trust Him to raise them up to be men and women of God. The adults can trust His faithfulness in guiding them into the ministry He is leading them into. The aged can count on His faithfulness to see them through to their heavenly home. He says the foundation of this faithfulness, this eternal love of God, is fixed in heaven itself, not here on this changeable realm. Four of the last five scriptures have tied love with faithfulness. He is faithful to you because He has set His love on you.

7. Ang kanyang Faithfulness ay ine-express Niya kasama ang pag-ibig

Psalms 91:4 (NIV)4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
2 Thess. 3:3 (NIV)3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
His faithfulness protects you. You surely must realize that Satan would destroy you in a moment for he came to kill, steal and destroy, but the Lord is faithful to protect you! Take that protection away for an instant and we would be gone. Thank God for His faithful covering. Don’t step out from under it. Walk in obedience.

Psalms 119:75 (NIV)75 I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
Illness can be an expression of His faithfulness. If there is something we need to learn, or something we will not heed any other way, His faithful love will bring us into affliction. God does not always want to heal. Those who He loves, He chastens and He scourges every son He receives.

Isaiah 25:1 (NIV)1 O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.
All He does is in perfect faithfulness. You will notice that perfection is applied to all His attributes. There is not even a tiny flaw in His faithful acts. All that God has planned will happen, and it is all planned in consistency with His perfect faithfulness. We are so used to thinking of God as being like man that we have a hard time really grasping how perfect and wonderful He is. He is utterly trustworthy. Where are you placing your trust?

Lam 3:22-23 (NIV)22 Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
His love and compassion are always new every morning – what great faithfulness!


Jesus name is Faithful and True. The Old Testament word for faithful was often translated true. He is truth, and because of that He is also faithful. Here faithfulness is mentioned alongside justice. God’s love is His faithfulness toward those who receive what Jesus has done for them, and His wrath is His faithful justice toward those who reject Him and all the goodness that He is.

From these passages we have a clarification of this attribute and how it is displayed toward our lives. We also see what we should be like. Let me go over these Biblical implications of the faithfulness of God as declared in these passages.

He is dependable to answer our prayers and to meet our needs. We can count on His love continuing in our lives. He will always be consistent. In every thing He does and in all
His ways, faithfulness is displayed. It is huge (reaching the skies). It never changes. It seeks what is best for us. It protects us. Sometimes it afflicts us to teach us. It assures us that all God’s promises will be kept. It is perfect – without the slightest flaw. It brings new compassion each morning. It will see us to be made complete, blameless in body, soul and spirit. It limits our temptations, providing a way out of temptation. When we confess sin it applies forgiveness and cleansing. It is inseparable from truth and it should be a part of our character.

What should this mean to us in our everyday lives? We may believe God is faithful but do we act on it. To act on His faithfulness means not to worry about tomorrow. It means fretting and fear have no place in our lives, for God is entirely trustworthy. It should give us a sense of peace regardless of our situation. We will all face times when it will be hard to see His faithful love in circumstances in our lives, but if we are believing what we know of His character, we can praise God in the midst of the trial, knowing He is faithful. In the Psalms, David pours out his complaint to the Lord and then says, “But in the past You delivered me and I know You will do it again.” Then he begins to praise God. That was His confidence in God who is always faithful. He has delivered you in the past and He will deliver you in the future. Have the same confidence in His faithfulness that David had!

Today, faithfulness has hit an all-time low in our society. Divorce comes from a lack of marital faithfulness, insecure children from a lack of parental faithfulness, ruined businesses due to financial unfaithfulness. Since God is calling us to the faithfulness that is His own character, how does this work in your life? How can you express His faithfulness to your mate, children, employer or employees, and those you come in contact with every day? Can they see God’s faithfulness in your actions? Is God calling you into a deeper walk of faithfulness today? In what area of your life? And how will you let Him express it in you? He is faithful and He will help you to live in an expression of His faithfulness if you are willing.

When I look back on my life, I see many times when I doubted the faithfulness of God. As time passed I could see that God was faithful even when man was not. God was faithful, even when I was not. If you are in a time of wondering, let me encourage you that one day you will see, God has been faithful. I say that with all certainty. One day you will see His faithfulness has never wavered one tiny bit. It never has. It never will. Just as God is good all the time, He is faithful all the time. We can say with certainty that God is faithful all the time. And all the time God is faithful. Let this truth sink into your heart and affect the way you see and interpret the world around you.

I have shared with you this list of Scriptures and some of their implications so you can examine what God desires to work into your heart and life. He wants sons and daughters that look like Him. Be a godly expression of faithfulness in the world in which you live for His glory, in response to His faithfulness to you.