UNBELIEF IS SIN
26th Sep 2018
“Make sure there is no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and throw you off course.” is Hebrews 3:12 in The Message. To describe unbelief as evil and sinful seems rather harsh. The NIV puts it, “See to it brothers and sisters, that none you have a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.”
The context is that God’s people wandered around the wilderness for 40 years because they were full of unbelief and did not trust God to take them into the Promised Land.
I find this very challenging. Is there any unbelief in my heart concerning the issues of life that surround me? If there is, Scripture calls this unbelief - sin. So what am I to do? I believe I need to examine the various unresolved situations in my life and ask myself whether I am full of fear or have a clear position of faith?
Fear and unbelief come from the lies of the enemy, so we need to stand against that fear in the Name of Jesus and ask God for a word of faith. Paul was clear in his instruction to Timothy when he said, “You have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
We had been battling over a tough situation in our family, and been seeking to drive out fear and unbelief, when Joyce asked the Lord for a “word of faith”, and was given, 1 Peter 5:10 which says, “….after you have suffered a little while, that God will himself restore you and make you strong firm and steadfast.” Those words drove out the fear and unbelief in our hearts and have become our place of faith and prayer.
As I came across those words in Hebrews 3, I was shocked to realise that unbelief is described is such stark terms, I am determined to root our any unbelief that I discover lurking around and to seek God for a “word of faith” to dispel all unbelief.
by Charles Sibthorpe
