ODJ: faith full

May 23, 2015 

READ: Galatians 3:1-26 

So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith (v.9).

Rather than use the closing “Faithfully yours,” many Ugandans end their correspondence with “Faith full,” followed by their name. Each time I’m the recipient of a letter with that closing (which is often in a country where many people still communicate with pen and paper), I ponder what it truly looks like to be “faith full”—to have a heart that brims with confidence in the Lord.

While faithfulness describes the quality of being loyal to someone or something, “faith full” implies being filled with the utmost faith in someone or something. With that in mind, according to Galatians 3:9, it’s not our good works or attempts at faithfulness that make us right with God, but it’s our reliance and trust in Jesus.

“Let me put it another way”, wrote the apostle Paul. “The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian. For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:24-26).

In Acts, Stephen was “a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5). It was because of his faith in Christ and not merely his faithfulness to God’s Word that Stephen was chosen by the disciples to engage in important work.

If our good deeds or faithfulness in keeping the law made us acceptable to God, we could boast in ourselves. But the gospel points us to a relationship with Him and being made righteous by Him through faith in Christ as modelled by Abraham (Romans 4:1-3).

—Roxanne Robbins

365-day-plan: Isaiah 53:1-12