Faith, Doubt & Unbelief
I thought I was reading an interesting piece about reverse-conversion. It was promoted by a childhood friend of mine who is now a priest. The author grew up in an evangelical church in Alabama knowing that salvation was by faith alone in Jesus Christ. He went on to Wheaton College and then to seminary at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, studied church history, and got his Ph.D.
Along the way, he lost his belief in salvation by faith alone.
He embraced the theology that salvation was by faith and works, and that the Bible or 'Scripture alone' is not the sole authority for God's Word. And then I heard this pastor on the radio promoting the idea that to doubt God's Word is alright, even citing characters in the Bible as examples. This pastor continued to say that it was alright to pray and doubt at the same time, not giving heed to what the Book of James declared about being double-minded.
What could have lead these people, who have so much knowledge of the Bible, to reject Jesus' message of salvation? And are these examples of the saying which I have heard said so many times; 'If you're always in and out, you we're never in.'?
I have seen this re-conversion first hand when I was in college. He was a friend and a brother in Christ who worshipped and fellowshipped with us for more than a year. And then there was a group of so called "Christians" who was preaching salvation through faith and works; as well as literally hating your own family if you are to truly follow Christ (Taking Matthew 10:34-39 way out of context, using it as a hammer to convince believers to reject their beliefs).
They were hostile to our group and very persuasive among the student population. They also had very good knowledge of the Bible; they memorized many verses by heart.
And so my friend, taken by their charisma, left our fellowship. He joined their group and was very zealous himself. He even tried to convert some of us secretly. But we held our ground. Every time we saw him we asked how he was and continued to show him the same love and respect that he received before. Even though his group was hostile to our group, we did not engage them in, I guess, a fight that they desperately wanted.
We did not engage their group but we continued to treat our brother with love and friendship.
Then we lost contact because he moved to a different campus. After more than a year we heard from him again. This time he re-reconverted. He came back to his original faith in Christ. It wasn't clear as to how he came to believe again. He just said that he grew tired. His relationship with his family suffered and he wanted to make it right. He also said that he missed fellowship with us. The last news I heard about him was that he rejoined a church that worships the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and holds the Bible as God's Word; and he is still growing in the Lord.
If we call out to Jesus in faith, He even helps our unbelief.
In these examples, it was not knowledge of God's Word that made them to lose their original faith and doubt their beliefs. The Ph.D holder and the pastor had exceptional knowledge of the Bible and this lead them to doubt, and ultimately, unbelief in their original perspective. My friend was persuaded by people who had extensive knowledge of the Bible to make him doubt his beliefs.
So is it too much or too little knowledge of the Bible that makes individuals change their faith? Certainly neither!
God commands us to diligently study His Word to guide us for life, rightly dividing the Word of truth. Jesus said that His gospel is to be received like little children. Children, because of their utter dependence, show great faith in the one in whom they find security. It is clear that anyone who comes of age wherein he or she is able to understand right from wrong will be able to receive Jesus' message of salvation.
This is very hard to accept for people who are independent, knowledgeable, and strong in their own sight. It is even harder to accept for individuals who have been given praise and honor by the people surrounding them.
But that is exactly what Jesus taught about the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. This simple statement can be understood by little children. And yet, for the religious, the rich, the powerful; to accept it is like a camel going through the eye of a needle.
It is not knowledge of God's Word that causes people to lose faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. Rather, it is pride that causes doubt and unbelief.
For the unbeliever, his ego is the stumbling block for salvation.
For the believer, the Lord Jesus Christ has pre-eminence in everything in life.
The moment anything else replaces His authority, that is pride.
For anyone to believe that what Jesus did on the cross is not enough, that His resurrection power needs to be supplemented by good works which an individual can do; that is pride.
For anyone to say that he can do all things with the help of Christ is not saying that he can do all things through Christ.
It is so easy for us to say that there are things that we do entirely on our own, like choosing which pair of socks to wear in the morning. And yet, for us to be able to get up and put on socks, we must first be alive to do it; we must first be able to breathe. And who gave us that life? Who gave us the ability to breathe?
Can a lump of clay boast about the things it can be molded into without acknowledging that there is a Molder who creates the masterpieces?
Pride is such an easy trap to fall into. Therefore, the more we know, the greater should be our humility in giving God all the glory. Let us learn to recognize when we are trying to replace Jesus' Lordship of our lives. Pride comes before downfall. It is the simple truth.
Modesto Mendoza and his wife, Haydee, live in Houston, Texas with their three children. He is a teacher, engineer, and yokefellow who is, most of all, a child of the Living God.
