Proverbs 28:20
"A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent"
This verse highlights a profound contrast between two types of people: the faithful and the greedy. The faithful person is described as one who lives with integrity, adhering to truth and righteousness. Such a person is promised abundant blessings, not necessarily in material wealth but in spiritual prosperity.
In contrast, even those who are considered faithful by human standards often seek their glory and desire to enrich themselves, whether through wealth or popular standing, in deceptive ways that lead to their destruction and that of those who follow them. As Proverbs 20:6 says, “Most men will proclaim everyone his goodness, but a faithful man, who can find?”
So, who, then, are the faithful according to the Word of God?
The LORD Jesus Christ is the FAITHFUL ONE: The description of a faithful man aptly reflects the LORD Jesus Christ, the Faithful One to His Father. Because of His faithfulness to the Father, in earning and establishing the Righteousness necessary for God to be Just and justify the elect sinners whom the Father gave His Son to save, Christ has received from the Father all that was promised to Him—the very souls of those He came to save (John 17).
He abounds with blessings, and from Him, all blessings flow (Hebrews 2:17). His faithful obedience to God the Father accomplished righteousness and redemption. He now justly declares righteous and forgiven those whom He has saved. He not only abounds with blessings, but all spiritual blessings are given in Him, by Him, and through Him alone (Ephesians 1:3). Such blessings include electing grace, adoption as sons, acceptance before a Holy God, redemption, forgiveness, the riches of His grace, regeneration, wisdom, justification, sanctification, glorification, faith, joy, hope, and love—all granted because of the singular faithfulness of the LORD Jesus. The LORD Jesus came in faithfulness to His Father to earn and establish the righteousness necessary for God to justify, once and forever, those that the Father gave Him. All salvation is uniquely attributed to the faithfulness of the LORD Jesus alone.
Believers are called the FAITHFUL, that is, ‘full of faith’—God-given faith in Christ alone. It may also mean ‘full of truth,’ which refers to the revelation of Christ in the elect sinner by the Spirit of Christ, who is THE TRUTH (Ephesians 1:1; Colossians 1:2). As ‘faithful ones’ [‘full of faith ones’], believers continually endeavor, determine, and strive to live out their lives under the TRUTH as it is in Christ. The grace of God never leaves its recipients indifferent. As one writer put it, “The truth of grace is in him, and he knows and believes the grace of God in truth—unmixed and untainted with works.” He is God-taught and, therefore, embraces it, values it, and abides in it (John 6:45, John 8:31). This is how the faithful are described in Scripture.
Gospel ministers are called FAITHFUL (1 Corinthians 4:1-5). They faithfully preach the pure Gospel as it is in Christ, not merely a system of doctrines. They are faithful to preach it, simply, and plainly—not with an eye to pleasing men, but to pleasing God. Furthermore, they do not exalt themselves, but exalt the Redeemer and Substitute. They seek the things of Christ and His glory, continuing to do so in the face of all opposition.
O, that the LORD would raise up such faithful preachers in our day, to the honor and glory of THE FAITHFUL ONE, the LORD Jesus Christ Himself.
Komentarze