After a person hears, believes, repents, confesses, and is baptized into Christ, the journey is not over, but is just beginning. Many times, those who obey the Gospel and become Christians quickly realize that life continues to have its challenges or new ones even more so because Satan is more determined than ever to drag them away from the Lord. That is why the scriptures spend so much time teaching us about remaining “faithful” to the Lord.
When we hear the phrase, “faithful Christian,” most of us think of someone who is consistent in their attendance to the meetings and worship services of the church. However, being a faithful servant of God is much more than “going to church every time the doors are open.” Being a child of God certainly includes consistent worship but also must include study, giving, benevolence, and most importantly, love. Christianity should encompass one’s whole life, not just one portion of it. We don’t turn off our Christianity when the last “Amen” is said. Being a Christian is not something we do; it is who we are!
Paul used marriage as a metaphor for our relationship to God. “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.” (2 Cor. 11:2) So in this sense, we can think of our faithfulness to Christ as we would our faithfulness to a spouse. Is it acceptable for a husband to carry on an affair with another woman while married to his wife? So, is it acceptable for a Christian to participate in activities of the devil while claiming Christ? The New Testament does not fall short in its warnings against unfaithfulness. (Jn. 15:6; 1 Tim. 1:19; Heb. 3:12; 6:4-6; 10:26; 2 Pet. 2:20; 3:17; 1 Jn. 2:18-19; Rev. 3:1)
So how should we be faithful to the Lord? Let’s return to our example of marriage, don’t our marriage vows include the phrase “til death do us part”? A faithful marriage is to last a lifetime. (Matt. 19:6), so is our faithfulness to the Lord. “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
-Borrowed from Maud Church of Christ