Fruit of the Spirit-Faithfulness

Send us Fan Mail- It is unfortunate that authorized versions of the Bible somewhat confuse the meaning of the seventh fruit of the Spirit by translating it as “faith.”- “Faith” by itself is not a fruit of the Spirit, but is one of God’s gifts- 1 Corinthians 12:7-10, “7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by [a ]the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.”- Even the faith that saves is described as the “gift” of God.- Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,”- The actual construction of the Word in Galatians 5:22 is “faithfulness,” which is translated in some theological circles as “fidelity.”- Another scripture where the meaning is “faithfulness”, but uses the word “faith” is Romans 3:3, KJV, “For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?”- The NKJV says, Romans 3:3, “For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect?”- As mentioned in Galatians 5:22, faithfulness, as a characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit, is also trustworthiness, loyalty, reliability, constancy, and/or steadfastness. - That as we are the body of Christ, faithfulness from God is manifested, and our faithfulness to Him must be grounded in belief in Jesus Christ- Even in the world, faithfulness is the foundation on which our community rests- We see faithfulness being translated into faithlessness on the world stage, involving international treaties and agreements