The Place of Doubt in the Christian Life

"Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" I strongly believe these words are some of the most profound words ever uttered, not only in Scripture, but in all human history. So much is contained in this simple confession of faith and doubt. So much of the struggle of the human soul is revealed in these six simple words. In Mark 9 Jesus encounters a father who has a demon-possessed son. The demon possessing this man's child has been plaguing him since his childhood, maybe even since he was born. The father has watched for years as his son, under violent assault from a power outside of his control, has thrown himself into fire and water. For years, this unwelcome enemy has been attempting to destroy his son, and the father has never been able to protect his boy in the way all good fathers do.

But one day, in the midst of this terrible darkness, a glimmer of hope beams in. The father hears about a wandering teacher named Jesus, who apparently has demonstrated power to cast out demons and even heal people like his son. The father brings the boy to Jesus' disciples, a last ditch effort to try and procure healing for his tormented child. But the disciples cannot cast the demon out. What a sinking moment! All those years of despair and helplessness, interrupted by what appeared to be a ray of hope, but his son's demon is simply too powerful to be defeated, even for these trusted devotees of Jesus.

Is it any wonder that in Mark 9:22 the father seems to doubt Jesus, "But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." If You can do anything, Jesus. If you can help me, please do it. Otherwise, just leave me in the darkness of my despair and fatherly failure. Jesus' response seems almost callous in the face of all these things: "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." The father had an "if": if you can do anything. Jesus also has an "if": if you can believe.

It's here that the rubber meets the road in our thinking on faith and doubt. Jesus tells this man, essentially, "If you have faith, all things are possible." If you have faith, your son will be healed. Sounds almost like Jesus has gone into the Word of Faith camp! Is Jesus saying here that if a person has faith, they can have anything they want? And, on the contrary, if they don't get their prayers answered, they did not have enough faith?

The father's response is telling: "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" Lord, I have faith; help my doubt! There are three things that we see in this father's words that help us think through our faith and doubt as Christians.

First, notice how the father addresses Jesus: "Lord". This is the essence of faith: the confession that Jesus is Lord (Phil 2:11). The father has faith in Jesus as Lord, even though his faith may be nothing more than a mustard seed.

Second, notice how the father's faith is mingled with doubt. He does not simply say, "Lord, I believe you perfectly." Far from it! Lord, I believe; help my unbelief! He has true faith that Jesus is Lord and can do something to help heal his son. But that true faith is small and surrounded by a sea of doubts. Anyone who would tell you that being a Christian means not having doubts is either deceived or a liar. Any televangelist or faith healer who says that you need perfect faith, or doubtless faith in order to receive good things from the Lord never read this part of their Bible.

Do you and I not struggle, Christian? Do we not have doubts about God's promises or the trustworthiness of His word? Can you say with no deceit that you don't wrestle with God in any of these ways? If so, I envy you! But for most of us, doubts are a common companion. We read of stupendous miracles in God's word and we hear the serpent's whisper again, "Did that really happen?" "Can I really believe that?" We struggle with it! And true faith can and does exist in the midst of those doubts and questions.

But notice the third and final thing from this father's plea: his doubts are not a welcome companion. He cries out, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" The Greek word for help boethei is the same word used when he asked Jesus to "have compassion on us and help us." He asked for Jesus' help in ridding his son of the demon, and he asks for Jesus' help in overcoming his doubts. This father has doubts, but he does not do what so many modern evangellybean Christians do by making his doubts a perverse source of pride; as if true spirituality was achieved by doubting God more than believing Him. Doubts are a present reality for the believer, but they are an unwelcome one. The Bible condemns unbelief as a sin. Although we remain wrestling with sin in this life, all sins, including doubt, are things to be overcome by faith.

We are not told anything about the father after Jesus casts out the demon. We imagine, however, that the experience strengthened his new faith in Christ and further established his trust in God's promises. This is one thing that separates biblical faith in God's promises from the prosperity gospel teaching. The prosperity gospel generally tells you that doubts are something to be overcome so that you can receive God's promises, having spoken them into your life by the "word of faith". But true bible religion teaches that our doubts are to be overcome as we receive God's promises, receiving them totally by faith through God's undeserved mercy.

In short: true faith is often surrounded by doubt, even for the Christian. But God's promises remain sure and true. Our doubts are unwelcome burdens to be overcome, not by closing our eyes tighter and praying harder, but by simply receiving God's gracious promises through faith, even if that faith is no bigger than the mustard seed.

Our Summer 2019 Update!

Walking Through Westminster, WCF 17.1-3 "Of the Perseverance of the Saints"

Westminster Confession of Faith 17.1-3

1. They, whom God hath accepted in His beloved, effectually called and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.

2. This perseverance of the saints depends, not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father; upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ; the abiding of the Spirit and of the seed of God within them; and the nature of the covenant of grace; from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof. 

3. Nevertheless they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalancy of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their perseverance, fall into grievous sins; and for a time continue therein: whereby they incur God's displeasure, and grieve His Holy Spirit; come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts, have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded; hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves. 

Summary

Can a Christian lose their salvation? That is one of the most debated questions in the history of theology. We certainly know that apostasy, falling away from the faith, is a reality in our world. We all know stories of people who profess faith in Jesus, or grow up in the church as apparently faithful covenant children, and then 20 years down the road, they are painting their hair purple, living in open rebellion against God, and treating the church as just another embarrassing step in the process of "progressing" on into true maturity and enlightened living.

The question before us is whether that person ever had a saving relationship with God, or not. Did they have something real and really lose it? Or did they never have the real thing and only lose the appearance of it, the sham covering?

The Confession echoes the Bible's teaching when it declares that, "They, whom God hath accepted in His beloved, effectually called and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally away from the state of grace." If God has set His hand on a human soul to save them, then they assuredly must be saved. The basis for that truth is that God is the one doing the saving; not the sinner. Two important words come up in relation to this truth: monergism and synergism. Monergism is the reality that salvation is all a work of God. Synergism is the mistaken belief that the sinner must work with God in order to reach salvation. If we were in any way required to contribute to our salvation, we would surely make a mess of it and our perseverance would be thrown into the ether. But because salvation is of the Lord, not of us, we can rest assured that the saints will persevere all the way to eternal life, no matter how much they may struggle on the way there. 

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