Should Christians Doubt Their Faith?

If you would like to learn more about how to do this, consider listening to the following sermons by Pastor Caldwell:

Description
For Christians, can faith and doubt exist together? Can a Christian doubt God and still have faith? Is it okay to doubt; is doubt beneficial for Christians?

If Christianity is the ultimate truth, then why do Christians so often question their faith or go about doubting what they truly believe? This is the question presented for discussion this week on the Straight Truth Podcast. Dr. Richard Caldwell and host Dr. Josh Philpot take up this topic and help us think through these things biblically. Dr. Caldwell begins by sharing a few reasons why we doubt and some of the reasons behind them. First, we have an enemy of our souls, Satan. A second reason for doubt is due to the fallenness of our flesh, the ongoing battle with sin. A third is due to the smallness of our being, the smallness of our constitution.

Dr. Caldwell shares that Mark 9:17-24 is a good passage to turn to that helps us look at and consider doubt. Gathered up in this passage is a whole host of things we can take note of. Jesus never encourages doubt or acts as if it is neutral. He actually rebukes the lack of faith of many gathered here, not just the man with the demon-possessed son. Dr. Caldwell states that we ought never to get to a place where we praise doubt, glorify it, or where we act as if there is nothing negative or dangerous about it. It is not a good thing to doubt the Words of God. We need to encourage faith in one another and never take doubt as a badge of honor.

In this same passage, Jesus has compassion on the man who is lacking in faith. He doesn’t refuse to help the boy due to the lack of faith of his father. This man was struggling to believe what could be done by Jesus. Yet, he still believed that Jesus could do something because he was the one that brought his son to Jesus(vs.17). We see Christs' compassion despite this man's doubt and weak faith. We can know that when we struggle with doubts that God is greater than our doubts. He is greater than our ability to believe Him. He does things all the time that surpasses our weakness in the realm of faith, and that’s encouraging. So we don’t magnify our doubts or act as if they don’t matter. We must encourage ourselves to believe the Lord. But when we do struggle as this man did, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”, we can know that God is not bound by our weakness. The compassion, grace, and mercy of Christ surpass our capacity and ability to believe.

Dr. Philpot says that this instance from Mark 9 shared Dr. Caldwell is about doubting that God can actually do something about our circumstance(s). But what can he share with us when we doubt our own faith?

Dr. Caldwell says that sometimes our doubts are not tied to God as much as they are actually to us. He shares that he has talked to people who don’t doubt who Jesus is, what He came to do, what He did, and what He goes on doing. These people believe the truths of Jesus, but they doubt their place in His story. They doubt they belong to Him. What should these people do with their doubts?

Dr. Caldwell tells us that if we have believed the biblical gospel, desire the Lord Jesus Christ, love Him, and want to serve Him, these are not natural desires. These evidences in us are supernatural as we do not naturally desire or love God. Therefore, we need to take our doubts to the Word of God, and we need to take hold of God's promises which are not centered on us but on Christ. We are not saved by faith. We are saved by Christ. We need to believe these things, be encouraged by them, and follow Him.

God does not play games with people's minds and souls. He does not tease people with the gospel. This is not what we are offered in Christ. This is not what is presented to us in the Old and New Testaments. He is a God who is willing to save. He desires for people to forsake their wickedness and be saved. He does not play games like that. His offer is real; it is genuine and sincere. He offers an invitation of rest for our souls that is genuine. We must turn from our sins, look to Christ, and be saved. We are to look to Christ and live!

You may be struggling with doubt right now. Your doubt might be in a particular circumstance or area of your life. It might be intellectually related or the kind of doubt that could ultimately damn you (unbelief). You might be weak in faith due to forgetfulness or a whole host of other things.

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