#37.

We Are Commanded to Show Faithfulness in Fellowship

Hebrews 10:2325 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He
who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and
good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but
encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

We find many imperatives in the pages of Scripture for believers to manifest the fruit of
faithfulness in the life of the local church. In order to see this more clearly, let's first remind
ourselves what this fruit looks like. What does it mean to be faithful? We saw before that it
is "the state of being someone in whom complete confidence can be placed
trustworthiness, dependability...." (Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Vol. 1: Greek-English
lexicon of the New Testament: Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd
edition.) (376). New York: United Bible Societies.)

If you are faithful, then, it means at least the following:
You will be as good as your word. You will not promise something and then fail to
deliver. Once you have taken on a responsibility, people will not have a moment of
concern over whether you will do it or not. This aspect of faithfulness has to do with
truthfulness - and we know we are commanded to be truthful as God's children
(Exodus 20:16, Ephesians 4:15).
You will be able to be relied upon to stand for the truth of the Gospel and not give
way, no matter the cost to you personally. This faithfulness to the Truth is
commanded by Christ Himself - we are to be faithful to Christ and to His Word until
death (if He calls us to it) and He will give us the crown of life (Revelation 2:10).
Understanding that you are gifted to play a unique role in the life of the fellowship,
you will seek opportunities to serve the Lord with your gifts. This aspect of
faithfulness has to do with service in the body, which we are commanded to do (1
Peter 4:10).
Turning to our text, you will be faithful in your attendance at the gatherings of the
Body - you cannot be faithful to a church by being absent from its meetings!
Accordingly, the writer to the Hebrews commands his readers to be faithful, reliable,
dependable in their attendance in the church.
Finally, we can advance an argument for the believer being under an obligation to show
faithfulness in fellowship by considering our Savior. He is the shining example of
faithfulness. Was there any way, in any part of His life, in which He was not utterly reliable,
trustworthy and dependable? If that were true, how could we ever be certain that we would
be saved through trusting in Him? Since being fashioned in the likeness of Christ is part and
parcel of the experience of every believer, we must show faithfulness to all, but especially to
our brothers and sisters in the church.

So from these few, simple considerations, we arrive at the understanding that Christians
must be faithful in their fellowship, manifesting the fruit that God produces in them through
the working of His Holy Spirit.

Why is this an encouragement to enjoy fellowship? Quite simply because it is a great
blessing to be faithful in a fellowship, and to be in a fellowship that is full of faithfulness,
where all the believers are growing more like Christ in His trustworthiness! How would a
true child of God be able to easily miss opportunities to experience that?

Are you faithful, reliable, dependable and trustworthy in your responsibilities, your
promises, your service, your steadfastness for the truth and in your attendance at your
church?

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