is unbelief forgivable?

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

Jxy

New member
Sep 24, 2020
3
1
3
#1
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
 

Truth7t7

Well-known member
May 19, 2020
7,685
2,496
113
#2
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
When believers stop seeking forgiveness for sin, the wall of separation is built one brick at a time

It's a beautiful thing, just one request from a repentant heart, and the wall falls down, thank you Jesus!

1 John 2:1KJV
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
 
S

Scribe

Guest
#5
You can repent. However it sounds like you are having a difficult time finding true repentance. Maybe you will hit rock bottom a few times and cry out to God and He will deliver you and your backsliding will be cured. I hope you don't have to suffer too many hard knocks before you believe that all sin produces the fruit of death. Whether you believe it or not stupid choices have consequences.
 

CherieR

Senior Member
May 6, 2017
2,271
1,430
113
#6
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
I believe unbelief is forgivable. Jesus came for us all. Look to him and trust in him as the Savior. If I may ask, what are you struggling with unbelief over specifically?
 

PennEd

Senior Member
Apr 22, 2013
13,614
9,127
113
#7
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
If you were in complete unbelief, not only would you NOT be here asking this question, but more importantly, you wouldn’t care in the least.

You would go about your life, seeking only to fulfill your selfish sinful desires, and certainly would no longer be bothered about unbelief.

Now having said that, do you believe Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, conceived by the a Holy Spirit, born to a virgin, suffered,was crucified, and died to pay your sin debt, and rose to life on the 3rd day?
 

breno785au

Senior Member
Jul 23, 2013
6,002
767
113
39
Australia
#8
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
Every now and then I try and understand that scripture you posted in light of a real life circumstance.
I have friend, his brother used to be heavily involved in the church, not quite sure to what capacity but suddenly went down a path where he did not want anything to do with the faith. Drinking, sex, drugs, gambling at casinos, cut off communication with people then got into a serious accident one day where he could have died and he woke up to himself, repented and returned to God.
Some may question, was he born again to begin with - yes he was.
Come to think of it, I think the keyword here is fallen away, what does that mean? I will look into it, does it mean what I gave an example of or something else?
If it does, then according to the scripture, it would be impossible for him to be brought back.
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
21,465
6,722
113
#9
I believe God will choose what is not to bring down what is. He will also justify the ungodly. This latter I know because He loves even me.

We should not concern ourselves in judgin others to condemnation while yet in this age for not extending mercy to all is denying ourselves mercy.
 

laymen

Senior Member
Apr 6, 2014
680
102
43
faithlife.com
#10
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
The fact that you are thinking about this is a Great sign!
2 cor 13:5 Says:Try your own selves, whether ye are in the faith; prove your own selves.
American Standard Version.

Paul gives and example of this from his own life in Rom

Rom 7:19For the good which I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I practise.
American Standard Version.


But I want to address the "It is impossible for thos who have once been enlightened" Part !
Let's look at this in context of what was said fully in that part of the bible from Heb.
26For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, .................

39But we are not of them that shrink back unto perdition; but of them that have faith unto the saving of the soul.
American Standard Version. (1995). (Heb 10:26–39). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Php 1:6being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ:

American Standard Version. (1995). (Php 1:6). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Don't worry God can give you the what you need if you only ask with a open heart and willingness to follow.

Read the word daily build up your faith:

The only way we grow is to add to our faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God.
 

Blik

Senior Member
Dec 6, 2016
7,312
2,428
113
#11
When we turn to Jesus, we turn to wanting eternal life and at that time living eternally in a sin free place becomes the most important thing in our life. We know it is sin that keeps us from eternal life, and we give up our sin and become, through what Christ did, righteous and fit for this eternal life. At that time we want eternity more than we want sin, scripture calls that repentance.

This is a moment by moment thing. Sometimes the ways of the flesh seem more important, and the hope of eternal life seems just a fantasy. We give up on living with Christ in eternity. Our Father knows this about us, and always welcomes us back.

We are given baptism and the Holy Spirit to help us stay true to Jesus. Even in our earthly life, His way is full of all that is good. What seems so attractive in the sin filled life only leads to darkness. The way of Christ i freedom, the way of sin is bondage.
 

mustaphadrink

Senior Member
Dec 13, 2013
1,987
372
83
#12
As far as I understand it, the only unforgivable sin is to call the work of the Holy Spirit the work of satan.
 

throughfaith

Well-known member
Aug 4, 2020
10,467
1,593
113
#13
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
Did you recieve the Holy Spirit when you believed ?
 

throughfaith

Well-known member
Aug 4, 2020
10,467
1,593
113
#14
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
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.
 

Subhumanoidal

Well-known member
Sep 17, 2018
4,101
3,199
113
#15
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
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.”
 
S

Scribe

Guest
#16
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
I believe that the context of Hebrews 6 and 10 are about a Jewish believer turning from faith in Christ's sacrifice alone and returning to the temple sacrifices. There is no other sacrifice but Jesus Christ.
 

GraceAndTruth

Well-known member
Sep 28, 2015
2,031
637
113
#18
At some point you were in unbelief .
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.
 

throughfaith

Well-known member
Aug 4, 2020
10,467
1,593
113
#20
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.
The doctrines of grace ? what is that ?