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I. The faithfulness of God:
А. The faithfulness of God being reliable.
B. The faithfulness of God making God incapable of being unfaithful.
C. The faithfulness of God being the guarantee of the covenant and the promises of God.
D. The faithfulness of God causing the believers to receive forgiveness.
E. The faithfulness of God causing the believers to be preserved.
F. The faithfulness of God being food to the believers.
G. Offending the faithfulness of God by not believing the word of God.
II. The righteousness of God:
А. The righteousness of God being the foundation of God’s throne.
B. The righteousness of God making God incapable of being unrighteous.
C. The righteousness of God being fulfilled by the death of Christ.
D. The righteousness of God empowering the gospel of God.
E. The righteousness of God giving authority to the grace of God.
F. The righteousness of God causing believers to be forgiven.
G. The righteousness of God causing believers to be cleansed.
H. The righteousness of God causing believers to be justified.
I. The righteousness of God causing believers to gain eternal life.
J. The righteousness of God being obtained by faith.
The Bible frequently speaks of the faithfulness of God and the righteousness of God. Furthermore, it often speaks of them in relationship to each other (1 John 1:9; Psa. 143:1; Isa. 11:5; Rom. 3:3-5). The faithfulness of God is related to His word; the righteousness of God is related to His actions. Both the word of God and the actions of God are related to man. If we want to know God, we must know His word and His actions. If we want to know His word and His actions, we must know His faithfulness and His righteousness.
Many know only that God is loving and gracious. They have not seen that God is also faithful and righteous. Love and grace speak of God’s heart and God’s favor. God’s heart is love, and His favor is grace. God’s heart and favor toward man speak of love and grace. Although the love and grace of God are sweet, they do not contain an intrinsic guarantee that the love and grace of God must be provided. The love and grace of God do not place any responsibility or restrictions upon God in relation to a believer. If He wants to love us, He can love us. If He does not want to love us, He is not required to love us. If He wants to grace us, He can grace us. If He does not want to grace us, He is not required to grace us. In matters related to love and grace, God is under no obligation. His love and His grace come to us based only on His heart and His favor. Consequently, while He loves and gives grace willingly, He is under no obligation to do so. Even though His love and grace will not cease, God could, legally speaking, stop loving and gracing us. Legally speaking, He is not required to love and grace us. If He did not love and grace us, He would not be wrong as a matter of law. However, God’s faithfulness and righteousness are matters related to law. His faithfulness restricts Him, and His righteousness requires Him to act in a legal manner. His faithfulness requires Him to not go against His word, and His righteousness requires Him to not be unrighteous in His actions. His faithfulness requires Him to act according to His word, and His righteousness requires Him to do things according to a legal standard. We need to know not only His love and grace but also His faithfulness and righteousness. Those who know His faithfulness believe His word, and those who know His righteousness treasure His actions.
1. “In the heavens themselves You will establish Your faithfulness” (Psa. 89:2).
When Psalm 89 speaks of God making a covenant with David, it speaks of the love of God and the faithfulness of God (vv. 1-2, 24, 33, 49). God loved David, and because of His love, God was gracious to David. However, in order to give David and his seed the evidence and assurance that His love was reliable and unchangeable, God made a covenant with David based on His faithfulness. Therefore, the faithfulness of God is the guarantee of His love. The love of God is related to His heart; the faithfulness of God is related to His word. It is difficult for man to grasp with assurance the love that is in God’s heart, but he can grasp God’s faithfulness through His word. By His word God expresses His heart to man so that man can know it, and by His faithfulness God guarantees His love toward man so that man can believe it. His faithfulness is established in the heavens; nothing on earth can touch it or change it. Therefore, it is reliable.
1. “Nor will I be false to own My faithfulness. / I will not profane My covenant, / Nor will I change what has gone forth from My lips” (Psa. 89:33-34).
Since the faithfulness of God is established in the heavens, God will not be false to His faithfulness. God will not be unfaithful or break His covenant with man. He cannot alter the word that He has spoken to man.
2. “Shall their unbelief annul the faithfulness of God? Absolutely not!” (Rom. 3:3-4).
We cannot influence the faithfulness of God. Even if we do not believe, our unbelief cannot annul the faithfulness of God or cause God to be unfaithful. Our lack of faithfulness has no impact on God, who is eternally faithful.
3. “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself” (2 Tim. 2:13).
God’s faithfulness is established upon Himself. God Himself is the support for His faithfulness. The faithfulness of God can be established without change because God Himself does not change. Our faithfulness is determined by our person. If we are bankrupt, our faithfulness will be bankrupt. In contrast to us, however, God is never bankrupt and never changes; consequently, His faithfulness is eternally reliable. Even if we are faithless, He remains faithful because He cannot deny Himself.
4. “It was impossible for God to lie” (Heb. 6:18).
Although this word is not very deep, it is very beautiful. God cannot lie! God cannot lie because He cannot be unfaithful. His faithfulness requires Him to bear responsibility for His word. He will accomplish what He speaks.
5. “God is not a man, that He should lie” (Num. 23:19).
Man is not faithful, and man lies. But God is not man. He is different from man; He is faithful. He would never lie or be unfaithful.
6. “God, who cannot lie” (Titus 1:2).
This description is very sweet! Since God is the God who cannot lie, He can never be unfaithful and will never be unfaithful.
1. “You swore to David in Your faithfulness” (Psa. 89:49).
When a man speaks an important word, he must point to and base his word on something in order for people to have confidence in his oath. When God speaks an important word to man, He also makes an oath. His oath points to His faithfulness. He swears by His faithfulness, which is established upon Himself. The base of God’s oath is His eternally unchanging being; hence, it is eternally reliable.
2. “He who has promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:23 see also 11:11).
God is faithful; therefore, the word of His promise is faithful and reliable. His faithfulness is the guarantee of His promise.
3. “God is faithful...For as many promises of God as there are, in Him is the Yes; therefore also through Him is the Amen to God” (2 Cor. 1:18, 20).
God’s promises are all Yes and Amen in Christ because the God who promises is faithful. His faithfulness ensures that none of His promises are empty.
4. “God, the faithful God who keeps covenant” (Deut. 7:9).
God is faithful, so He keeps His covenant. His faithfulness causes Him to keep His covenant and to be restricted by His word. His faithfulness is the guarantee of His covenant. It guarantees that He will never forsake the word of the covenant that He established with man.
A covenant is a word that goes further than an ordinary word. A covenant is a guaranteed word. The word that God spoke to us in the Bible is a covenant. It is not ordinary; it is guaranteed. It is a covenant. Therefore, the Bible is called the Old and New Testaments. God is the guarantee of this covenant. His faithfulness cannot be eradicated or changed. It causes Him to be restricted by His word in the Bible and to guarantee that the word is reliable.
1. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins” (1 John 1:9).
If we confess our sins, God must forgive us our sins because of the blood of the Lord Jesus. He has spoken this word to us, and He has established it as a covenant with us based upon the redemption accomplished by the Lord Jesus. His faithfulness causes Him to be restricted by this word. According to this word, when we confess our sins to Him, His faithfulness forces Him to forgive us of our sins. If He did not forgive us, He would be unfaithful.
1. “May your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, who also will do it” (1 Thes. 5:23-24).
God promises to preserve us. His faithfulness forces Him to accomplish this promise. Therefore, His faithfulness also causes us to be preserved.
2. “The Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one” (2 Thes. 3:3).
The Lord must guard us from the evil one, Satan, according to His promise, because He is faithful.
3. “God is faithful, who will not allow that you be tempted beyond what you are able, but will, with the temptation, also make the way out, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13).
According to His promise, God’s faithfulness causes Him to make a way out for us when we are tempted so that we may endure lest we be tempted beyond what we are able.
1. “Trust in Jehovah, and do good; / Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness” (Psa. 37:3).
Food causes people to be full, satisfied, and strong. The faithfulness of God functions as food to those who believe His word based on His faithfulness. If we believe in God because of His faithfulness and grasp the word of God, we will be filled, satisfied, and strong.
1. “He who does not believe God has made Him a liar because he has not believed in the testimony which God has testified concerning His Son” (1 John 5:10).
If we do not believe the word that God has spoken in the Bible, we make God a liar and offend the faithfulness of God. This is the greatest offense to God. When we speak the truth to someone and he does not believe, this is an insult and an offense to us. In the same way, if we do not believe God’s word, this is an insult and offense to Him. Therefore, we must be careful not to offend the faithfulness of God by not believing His word.
If we believe God, we should also believe His word. God has given us His faithful word, and it pleases Him when we believe His word and hold Him accountable to it. There is an old saying that speaks of “catching” a man with his word in order to gain a bargaining advantage. If we can hold a man, who is faithful to his word, accountable for his word, we should expect even more to hold God, who is more faithful than man, accountable for His word. God is not afraid of being “caught” by His word. In fact, our use of His word in this way manifests His faithfulness and glorifies Him. Our unwillingness to hold Him accountable is a despising of His faithfulness, and it is an insult to Him. He abhors this to the uttermost!
2. “We make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:10).
If we do not believe the word of God, we make Him a liar and trample the faithfulness of God. Thus, there is no way for us to obtain His word, and His word will have no place in us.
1. “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne” (Psa. 89:14).
The faithfulness of God is supported by God Himself, and like God Himself, it cannot change. The righteousness of God is the foundation of His throne, and like God’s throne, it cannot be shaken. In relation to Himself, God cannot be unfaithful; in relation to His throne, God cannot be unrighteous. God’s being is related to His word and is a matter of faithfulness; God’s throne is related to His actions and is a matter of righteousness. God speaks to man according to the faithfulness of His inner being. He cannot contradict Himself because He cannot be unfaithful. God rules on His throne according to the righteousness of His inner being. His throne cannot be shaken because He cannot be unrighteous.
1. “Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justly?” (Gen. 18:25).
From His throne God governs the universe. He is the Lord who judges all the earth. He cannot be unrighteous. If He were unrighteous, the foundation of His throne would be overturned, and everything in the universe would be in chaos.
2. “Does God pervert justice? / Or does the Almighty pervert righteousness?” (Job 8:3).
God’s position and laws require righteousness. He cannot pervert justice and righteousness.
1. “Him who did not know sin He made sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).
We are sinners before God. God’s righteous requirement condemned us and required us to be punished. Nevertheless, God desires to save, so He caused the Lord Jesus to receive His righteous punishment on our behalf in order to satisfy His righteous requirement. The Lord Jesus did not know sin, so according to God’s righteousness, He did not have to receive God’s punishment. On our behalf, however, the Lord Jesus offered Himself up as a substitutionary sacrifice for us. He bore our sins and also was made sin on our behalf. Thus, in His righteousness, God judged Him. According to the righteousness of God, God’s judgment was carried out because of the sins that Christ bore and because He was made sin. Because the Lord Jesus received the righteous judgment of God on our behalf, He also satisfied God’s righteous requirement for us. Now the righteousness of God requires God to forgive and justify us. We have become the righteousness of God in the Lord Jesus because He fulfilled God’s righteousness. Since He fulfilled God’s righteousness on our behalf, God must justify us in Him. Therefore, the righteousness of God is manifested in those who are in Christ. In Christ we have become the righteousness of God. Just as Christ became sin for us, we have become the righteousness of God in Him. He was joined to us and made sin so that we might be joined to Him to become the righteousness of God.
1. “The gospel...is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes...For the righteousness of God is revealed in it” (Rom. 1:16-17).
The gospel of God is powerful and can save everyone who believes it because the gospel is based on the righteousness of God. This does not depend on man’s righteousness. Since the righteousness of God allowed the Lord Jesus to be our Substitute, judging us and our sins in Him, God must forgive our sins and justify us when we believe in the Lord Jesus. This righteousness of God is the base of the gospel, and it is revealed in the gospel. The gospel is powerful because it requires God to save us; He must forgive us and justify us.
1. “Grace might reign through righteousness” (Rom. 5:21).
The grace of God reigns through righteousness. To reign is to rule with authority. Thus, the righteousness of God gives authority to the grace of God. The grace of God can come to us with authority because it has passed through the procedure of God’s righteousness. Since God’s righteousness has justified us and enables us to meet the standard of His righteous requirement, the grace of God cannot be withheld; rather, it comes to us because we have the right to enjoy God and all that He is and has.
1. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins” (1 John 1:9).
According to the righteousness of God, the Lord Jesus was judged on our behalf. When we confess our sins, God is required to forgive us our sins because of the blood that the Lord Jesus shed while being judged according to God’s righteousness. According to God’s word in the Bible, He must forgive us because of His faithfulness. According to God’s act in righteously judging the Lord Jesus on our behalf, He must forgive us because of His righteousness.
1. “He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Just as the righteousness of God requires Him to forgive us because of the redemption of the Lord Jesus, it also requires Him to cleanse us.
1. “Whom God set forth as a propitiation place through faith in His blood, for the demonstrating of His righteousness, in that in His forbearance God passed over the sins that had previously occurred, with a view to the demonstrating of His righteousness in the present time, so that He might be righteous and the One who justifies him who is of the faith of Jesus” (Rom. 3:25-26).
God has judged the sins of the saved ones in the ages of the Old Testament and the New Testament according to His righteousness through the Lord Jesus. In the Old Testament age God’s righteousness caused Him to pass over sins, and in the New Testament age God’s righteousness causes Him to justify those who are of the faith of Jesus. He exercised forbearance under the old covenant and justifies the believers under the new covenant because He is righteous. Both His forbearance and His justification manifest His righteousness. Man needs only to believe in the blood that has been shed by the Lord Jesus for him, according to God’s righteousness. In the Old Testament age the blood of the sacrifices was a type of the blood of Jesus Christ. God’s righteousness also requires God to justify those who are of the faith of Jesus, enabling man to obtain God through the Lord Jesus and causing God to be propitiatory toward man. Whether in His forbearing of man under the old testament or His justifying of man under the new testament, He is propitiatory toward man because of His righteousness and according to the requirement of His righteousness. His being propitiatory toward man matches the requirements of His righteousness. The vicarious death of the Lord Jesus satisfied every demand and fulfilled every requirement that God’s righteousness placed on us. His righteousness has resulted in our being accepted and justified.
1. “So also grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5:21).
We who believe in the Lord Jesus receive not only forgiveness, cleansing, and justification through the righteousness of God but even eternal life, the eternal life of God. Although our receiving of the eternal life of God is out of God’s grace, it is through His righteousness. Without the righteousness of God, we could not receive the eternal life of God as grace. God would have no way to give us grace. His righteousness opens the way for His grace to reign and for His life to be given to us legally. The grace of God gives us the living water of eternal life for our enjoyment, but the righteousness of God is the pipe that enables this living water to flow into us. We must be justified in order to receive eternal life.
1. “The righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ to all those who believe” (Rom. 3:22 see also 1:17).
The righteousness of God is given to all those who believe through the faith of Jesus Christ; it is obtained by man through faith.
2. “Righteousness...which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith” (Phil. 3:9).
The righteousness that we receive through faith in Christ is the righteousness of God. This righteousness is obtained by faith.
3. “The Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have laid hold of righteousness, but a righteousness which is out of faith” (Rom. 9:30).
Although the Gentiles did not pursue the righteousness of the law, they obtained the righteousness of God by faith in Christ.
4. “Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own righteousness, they were not subject to the righteousness of God” (Rom. 10:3).
If man despises the righteousness of God and seeks to establish his own righteousness, he is not subject to the righteousness of God and will not obtain it. This is the situation of the Jews.
5. “If righteousness is through law, then Christ has died for nothing” (Gal. 2:21).
Man’s righteousness before God is not obtained by keeping the law but by faith in the death of Christ.
Both the faithfulness and the righteousness of God are eternally reliable. All the responsibility for our standing before God rests upon these two matters; they are like two hands that bear us before God.
