IBS Application for Romans 3:3-4

“What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, ‘That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.’"

I will be honest, these past couple of weeks have not been easy for me. I’ve struggled to hold on to God’s promises and trust that He speaks to me. I do not always do everything the way I know that I ought to, nor with the right heart, and I question whether or not God is with me in what I’m doing or not because of how often I mess up. I question whether He *wants* to stand with me, seeing as how I seem to be a servant that keeps folding when the day-to-day battles stay hard and who continuously struggles to keep his feelings in check. However, this short passage captures a truth in my walk with the Lord that He is eager to make sure I know everyday: That He is ever faithful in His words and deeds, even when and especially when I am not.

Why this is, I don’t know if I’ll ever know beyond to other truth which I found to be so profound in my last IBS, which is that God just loves me, and I haven’t done, nor could I do anything to make Him love me more or less, and His love for me is boundless. But in building off of that truth, I will now examine how I, and how we all, experience that love in our lives daily.

In the context of this text, Paul is addressing how the work of Christ is able to bring all out from under the condemnation that exists for all who are judged by the Law, for the Law cannot be upheld by anyone except Jesus, for all people sin and fall short of the standard put forth by the Law. Paul is essentially trying to explain that the Law was never meant to be upheld by any sinner, but to teach all people that they cannot earn salvation from their sins, nor could they gain true righteousness through it. In short, it exists to teach us that we need a Savior who can and has already fulfilled the Law in order to be delivered from sins.

In the middle of this explanation, He states that the Jews, who were those who knew the Law and were charged with keeping it, do have an advantage in their lives because they do know what is required. However, this knowledge of the Law only serves to work against anyone who knows it, should they fail to realize their need for grace and mercy. What should have been a benefit to all who are taught the Law only serves to condemn them, because all are unfaithful to keep it perfectly.

But there is a great hope for all who know the Law, and who have been called by the Lord. It is the Lord Himself, who cannot help but be faithful to His people for it is His nature to be faithful, even when His people are not. He fulfills His promises, is faithful to continue speaking to them, and is faithful to discipline them when they do wrong. But He never truly abandons those whom He has called.

As such, the Lord remains my one true hope in this life. All others who whom I put my trust in may falter in their faithfulness, and others have left me behind out of frustration or simply because they have stopped caring for me, but the Lord has remained ever faithful to me. Even when I hurt Him, even when I cease to uphold my promises to Him, even when I completely lose faith in Him, He is still faithful. He is still here. He still loves me. It’s a mystery, but it is a glorious mystery.

I know not any other way that I can practically apply this to my life than to simply walk in the knowledge of this truth with comfort and joy, to thank Him for His faithfulness, and to pray that He would be faithful to keep me on the path He has laid out for me. I will make it a point to do these things as often as I am able for the next three days.