The Difference Between Faith and Fideism

God's Faithfulness

Junk Drawer - Previous Publications
Written by Douglas Wilson
Sunday, 01 April 2012


"If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself" (2 Tim. 2:13, NIV).

When we first catch a glimpse of the faithfulness of God, faith is the natural response. Faith is not the ladder which we climb in order to discover the faithfulness of God. It is the other way around. God is faithful, period. When we see that, faith is the natural response.

A misunderstanding concerning this shows up in many of our expressions. One that pertains to those in Christian work is the expression "living on faith." If that were strictly true, many of us would be in trouble. We do not "live on faith," we "live on faithfulness."


By saying this, I do not mean to belittle the importance of faith. It is very important. But it is not the foundation, the faithfulness of God is. By exercising faith, we build on the foundation. However, we cannot begin building until we see that the foundation is really there. Once we understand that, it creates in us a natural desire to build. Our faith then gets to work.

There are many ways to see the faithfulness of God. One is to look at His dealings with men in history. Another is to count on God's promises in Scripture. Many of them are explicitly linked to the faithfulness of God: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful . . ." (1 John 1:9); "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful . . ." (1 Cor. 10:13); "He will keep you strong to the end . . . God . . . is faithful" (1 Cor. 1:8,9).

The more we meditate on and consider the faithfulness of God, the more we will desire to commit ourselves to that faithfulness. That desire is faith.

We know from Hebrews 11:6 that faith is necessary to please God. If I see His faithfulness, I respond in faith. If I respond in faith, I please God. But whether I please Him or not, He remains faithful. He cannot disown Himself.

However, this is not a blank check to be faithless. It is impossible to count on God's faithfulness and remain faithless. The only way to remain faithless is to refuse to believe in the faithfulness of God.

Let us turn from our desire to place our faith in our own ability to generate faith. We need to replace it with an increased consciousness of God's love for us and His faithfulness to us. The result will be a faith that moves mountains.  "By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised" (Heb. 11:11, ESV).

Originally published in Roots by the River (June/July 1980), a publication of Community Christian Ministries. Originally published, that is, with the exception of the last verse cited, Heb. 11:11. Can't believe I left that verse out.