is unbelief forgivable?

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GraceAndTruth said:
AT some point we are all in unbelief. We come when called.
Being "of the world" brings to one's faith a perspective that isn't possible for those who were churched from a very early age.
I've had an interesting journey, from atheist to agnostic, to believer as a babe in Christ learning the basics, graduating to the doctrines of grace where my real education in Christ began.
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I too have come from no background in church ..All i have is the bible.
 
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Matthew 11:28-30
 
throughfaith said:
Until you see for yourself in the scriptures that you cannot be lost ,you will go round and round and round with this uncertainty. If you recieved the Holy Spirit after you believed the Gospel then its until the day of redemption.
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I get tired of reading some of the trite answers given which have no basis in scripture. Do your homework first and then say what the scripture says, not what you think it says.
 
GraceAndTruth said:
Its all you need, but some knowledge of history is good to know, as I am finding out in the on-going debate over Daniel. :rolleyes:
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That is an oxymoron. If all you need is the bible, then you don't need some knowledge of history.

And don't forget Paul had no Bible. All he had was the OT and revelation given to him by the Holy Spirit.
 
mustaphadrink said:
That is an oxymoron. If all you need is the bible, then you don't need some knowledge of history.

And don't forget Paul had no Bible. All he had was the OT and revelation given to him by the Holy Spirit.
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Well, aren't we just so fortunate today that the perfect came!
Just because the bible is the authority and fully sufficient for all doctrine, faith and morals does not mean we should not be educated on other subjects. History is particularly helpful to scripture for places and prophecy fulfilled (a faith builder). For instance Cyrus was named the one who would free Israel 300 years before Cyrus defeated Babylon and let the captives free.
 
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Subhumanoidal said:
Unbelief starts with a question. And expands into more questions. And as those questions go unanswered or not answered well enough, that is when unbelief sets in.
Many Christians try to ignore the questions they face because often times Christians will treat doubt as a sin and make the one questioning feel shame and this can actually weaken one's faith in the long run.
Some will simply not seek answers because they're afraid the answers they get may not be what they want to hear. So they ignore them in hopes they will just go away.
And yes, there are some that don't get satisfactory answers. This may be because those around them have poor teaching and theology, or that the doubter demands such detail in the answers they seek they make it impossible to be satisfied.

All of these will eventually lead to unbelief. There is a source for your unbelief, but you have to look internally to find what that is. Then deal with it directly. If not you will continue down the road you're on.

After Jesus was crucified the reports spread that he had been risen. Thomas didn't believe they were true (he was dubbed Doubting Thomas), yet when Jesus came to him, knowing his doubt, he was not rejected.

John 20

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
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Sage advice...
It is definitely not something that can ever be helped by condemnation, or by pushing the questions under the carpet. Bottom line, the person must deal with it head on, like you said. I believe it's our weakness. Others might just help a little, but I think showing love is more helpful than explanations. An answer might give momentary comfort, but what asks questions from the inside needs to find peace.
Jude 1:22 And indeed, have mercy on those who doubt;
 
Yes!

Mark 9:23-25
New King James Version
23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; (B)help my unbelief!”

25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!”

Here a man professes belief, but also confesses unbelief, and Jesus has mercy.

Also John the Baptist, while in prison sent a messenger to Jesus asking him is he is the Messiah. Jesus returned his message with a powerful reminder.

Confess your sin and he is just and righteous to forgive them.

So I say confess your unbelief to the Lord and ask his help. He will indeed help you just as he helped the two examples from the bible.

I'm sorry that you struggle with this stuff so much. I tell you that the problem isn't with you as much as it is the theology that you are taught. For your own good please find a confessional, Orthodox, LCMS church or WELS church.

This doubt and pain and turmoil caused me to study and pray, and search the scriptures, and brought me to security and a solid foundation in Christ when I discovered true doctrine and theology. I immediately abandoned western evangelicalism and revivalist heterodox denominations, and clinged to the orthodoxy of old. Now secure knowing that Christ has done all for me has lead me to a place of Loving God and Jesus without strain or effort, because I am not bound by the law of deeds, and commands, but bound by the gospel promise of Jesus. And because this I find in my actions a conscience toward God, a true liberty to do good.
 
mustaphadrink said:
I get tired of reading some of the trite answers given which have no basis in scripture. Do your homework first and then say what the scripture says, not what you think it says.
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Ok then read slowly because there is no way to twist this verse . Sealed by the Holy Spirit UNTIL the day of redemption .
 
mustaphadrink said:
I get tired of reading some of the trite answers given which have no basis in scripture. Do your homework first and then say what the scripture says, not what you think it says.
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I find it sad that you would consider a message to comfort a brother that nothing can separate him from God , ' trite ' . ?
 
Jxy said:
so ive been struggling with unbelief a lot and i worry that i may have fallen away and when i say unbelief i mean unbelief as in the opposite of belief not some sort of questioning but genuine unbelief and im just curious if this is forgivable seeing as when i believe and continue believing i am saved and when i am not believing am i essentially unsaved? and im just curious if this is forgivable? “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. maybe unbelief is what falling away and maybe i cant repent of not sure
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2 Tim 2:13, If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself. When we are born again, we are quickened together with Christ. Eph 2:5, We are in him, and he is in us.
 
Lord I believe, help my unbelief...

^There was a situation where this was uttered by a man with regard to a healing. I've taken to praying about it.

With the equation of flesh and spirit in opposition to each other there is some "wrestling" to do.


Well...I posted a long post about it all but decided I'll wait. possibly my own observations will help as I've struggled with unbelief at times. I don't want to just throw out a bunch of random possibilities though...places that it has come from for other people, unlikely places, etc.

My experience has been that it can come from a LOT of places. A good few of these places are on our end. Those we can do something about. Determining where it's coming from can sometimes be incredibly important.


I pray you'll stick around a bit and figure out where your unbelief is coming from. I can throw out a bunch of places mine has come from but this isn't a discussion on unbelief, this is personal @Jxy

Can you think of what might be at the root? Have you been living solidly for the Lord and it's crept in or have you been doing your own thing and it's crept in? Sin in your life you've been ignoring? Drifting? Bored?

Any more information would be helpful.

Forgiveness is definitely out there man but part of being forgiven is to walk in forgiveness even when we have doubts, so addressing these doubts if possible seems to me a good place to start.
 
I totally lost the flow and repeated myself with edits, alas. So tired...end up second guessing things.

It is definitely important to resolve though if you can as quickly as possible. It can get firmly rooted and yield some pretty ugly fruit depending on whether it's intentional or not.
 
@Jxy

Have you had an opportunity to think about where your unbelief may be coming from? I find it important to take or "make" the time to do that in order to steward the faith that I have.
 
Jxy said:
so ive been struggling with unbelief a lot and i worry that i may have fallen away and when i say unbelief i mean unbelief as in the opposite of belief not some sort of questioning but genuine unbelief and im just curious if this is forgivable seeing as when i believe and continue believing i am saved and when i am not believing am i essentially unsaved? and im just curious if this is forgivable? “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. maybe unbelief is what falling away and maybe i cant repent of not sure
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you must address what is causing you to struggle to believe. The word of God tells us in Hebrews 11:6 " But without faith, it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. "

two things that are important here 1. is faith 2. is Believe Faith is the noun, belief is the verb. You Must put your faith into action which is believing. Whatever your situation maybe you must obey God's word and see it work in your life. God will not make you obey or believe. You have all the faith you need. BUT if you are placing it in things that are not godly, you will not please God nor will you overcome.
 
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