Fruitful
Living
Faithfulness
Session
7
Introduction
Life
throws at us a huge variety of contrasts:
·
rich and poor, labour and
conservative, truth and falsehood etc.
These
contrasts appear in every facet of life: work, leisure, shopping, and church
One
of the big biblical contrasts is the contrast between old v new.
The Galatian context
In
the book of Galatians, the old is represented by the legalists and their
champions are the Judaisers. The new brigade emphasises grace, and is championed
by the apostle Paul
Paul
says the old cannot provide the solution, which is freedom, but the new can. The
way of grace, reliant on the Spirit, is the only way, according to Paul. And
this ‘new’ way produces spiritual fruit, the seventh of which is
Faithfulness
Gal 5: 19-25
Faithfulness
and faith are clearly related (Gk pistis):
Faith is belief in action. Faithfulness is an outcome of faith in action and
reliance on the Holy Spirit.
Gal
5:22 Faithfulness = a sense of decency, duty and trustworthiness, even when
severely tempted.
Like
the Queen….
Ps 33:4 “The word of the Lord is right
and true; he is faithful in all he does”.
Parable
of the shrewd manager (Luke 10)
ME 16/06