Based on Hebrews 3 (New King James Version)
“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. For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ’ Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’ For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.”
If there is something crucial and necessary, it is faithfulness. This is one of those things that cannot be compromised. And unfortunately, this is something that is missing a lot today. We live in a time where few people are faithful. There is much unfaithfulness everywhere. We live in a society that is unfaithful. And, above it all, there is much unfaithfulness towards the Lord. This is where the infidelity is greatest, and quite frankly, there can be no salvation unless a person is faithful to the Lord. The Lord requires a faithfulness that is very different to what is preached commonly.
To start, we will see one of the most abused and misinterpreted passages in all of the Bible, and of course, such misinterpretation is convenient because it favors infidelity. Let’s see the following: If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13. A great number of people that rely on God’s grace in an erroneous way use this passage to excuse unfaithfulness. And with this, they think they can be unfaithful to God and that everything will be fine in the end. And, that this justifies depending only on the Lord’s grace, and not on works, or that you can sin freely, and so on, thereby opening a big door to self-justification and disorder. Unfortunately, they take this verse out of context and create all kinds of excuses to do whatever they please. But a verse that is taken out of context or misinterpreted and distorted cannot erase or invalidate what the rest of the Bible says, because the Word works in conjunction with itself, and not by parts. And if something does not agree with the rest of the Scriptures, then quite simply, it is a false teaching. This is Satan’s specialty, using certain parts of the Word to make lies sound like the truth.
Let us see the context then: “This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” 2 Timothy 2:11-13. This passage is more of an example of the faithfulness God looks for in order for there to be salvation. Let us look at it better, and especially just as it is written, in a conditional manner (because absolutely everything in the Lord is conditional). It first says that we should die with Him so that we can live with Him. It says that we should endure so that we can reign with Him. It also says that if we deny Him, that He will deny us. So then, if we understand the aforementioned conditions, then we should conclude that being faithless cannot consist of significant problems, and of course, when we understand more clearly the original, that the faithlessness that is being spoken of here has to do with imperfection, and that He understands our weak condition, and that we are not perfect yet, but, it does not give room to the abuse that many preach about, that a person can live however they want, and that no matter what they do, that everything will be fine. The Scriptures also say this: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.” Hebrews 12:1-4. In this passage, there is no mediocrity, no selfishness, and no justification for a life of disorder and lack of Godly fear. We are all sinners, even when we came to Christ, but there should be a process of transformation. We cannot stay in the same condition we first knew the Lord. There should be pursuit, an advancement, a patience that must be cultivated. And the only things that cultivate patience are trials and tribulations, those that go beyond God’s discipline (Hebrews 12:5-11).
Now then, how can we walk this path that does not seem as simple as many make it sound (because following Christ is not a path of roses, per se). This is what we read: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:1-3. “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 10:34-39. “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:4. “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.” Revelation 21:7. We must overcome through Christ. And there is something that we must always keep in mind. Our relationship with God should always be based on love, and love is never forced. God does not force anyone, especially when it has to do with being faithful. And love for the Lord occurs when there is an appreciation for Who He is and for what He has done for us. So then, are you faithful to the Lord, in the manner that the Word says? Lord bless! John