22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
In this post I continue with comments about the Fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23. The fruit is nine character virtues which result when a Christian’s life is controlled and guided by the Holy Spirit. They are spiritual expressions of a life transformed by Jesus Christ. The word focus for this post is the noun faithfulness – πίστις / pistis (which is used in Galatians 5:22), and the related adjective faithful – πιστός / pistos.
πίστις / pistis is the Greek noun that is usually translated into English as “faith”, referring to the faith a person has in God or saving faith. But in the context of Galatians 5:22-23, which is a list of character virtues or ethical qualities, it has the sense of “faithfulness” or “reliability” or “fidelity”.
Faithfulness is the virtue of being the kind of person in whom others can place their confidence. It is the virtue of the person who is reliable and trustworthy in dealing with others.
The person who is characterized by faithfulness (πίστις / pistis – noun) is faithful (πιστός / pistos – adjective) and worthy of trust. The adjective is used more frequently than the noun in the New Testament to describe the person of faithfulness.
Faithfulness is a characteristic of God (1 Corinthians 1:9 and 10:13; see also Deuteronomy 7:9) and Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 3:3). Because of this, the message of the Gospel is trustworthy (Titus 1:9), God is faithful to do what He promises (Hebrews 10:23), and He forgives and cleanses us from sin when we confess (1 John 1:9).
Since believers are to be imitators of God, they should also exhibit the characteristic of faithfulness. God chooses faithful men and women to do His work.
Here are links to all the posts for the Fruit of the Spirit:
Lexical Form: ἡ πίστις πίστεως <Hear It> Gloss: faith, trust, faithfulness, reliability, fidelity, belief Part of Speech: Third Declension Feminine Noun New Testament Frequency: 243 Strong’s Number:G4102 (Link to Blue Letter Bible Lexicon)
Lexical Form: πιστός (masculine), πιστή (feminine), πιστόν (neuter) <Hear It> Gloss: faithful, reliable, believing Part of Speech: Adjective New Testament Frequency: 67 Strong’s Number:G4103 (Link to Blue Letter Bible Lexicon)
Unless otherwise noted, English translations of Bible verses are by the author from the Greek text and are not quotations from any copyrighted Bible version or translation.
Koine Foundations 
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