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Originally Posted by Esther
Sure it is!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Esther
Hummm
Doubt is a sin, isn't it?
He could be right.
Are you anixous about this?  |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel Alicea
Is doubt a sin too?
I believe UNBELIEF is ...
Doubt is not necessarily unbelief
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stmatthew
Rom 14:23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because [he eateth] not of faith: for whatsoever [is] not of faith is sin.
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From discussions at Synadelfos:
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I submit that doubt is not the absence of hope - unbelief is. Hope leads us to the bridge to a place called faith.
Doubt .... means we're still open to the possibility of a miracle ... unbelief means we've closed up shop.
Let me explain.
You've been feeling really sick ... and You're sitting in the doctor's office and he's told you he has the results of your blood tests.
Which would you rather hear ....???
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Option A - Total Unbelief
Sir, or m'am ... we've looked at all the medical exams and you are going to die within 6 weeks. There is no hope.
or
Option B - Doubt .. Perhaps yes ... perhaps no
Sir ... we've looked at all the medical exams and it doesn't look good ... but there is a slight chance you can survive this ...
I'll take option B ... doubt ... it means there's still hope ...
Doubt is not the absence of faith ... it is a crossroads ... a choice to be made between unbelief or deeper faith.
The key is bringing our doubt to Jesus, our Hope. Bringing doubt and laying it down at the feet of the magnitude of our situation and allowing it to kill our hope will result in UNBELIEF.
Doubt is simply asking "What if".
Jesus can work w/ and around our doubt ... it's our unbelief that will condemn us.
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Some Examples:
1. Jesus himself is our example of doubt. He struggled in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross he cried out, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?”
He knew his mission was to die ... yet he asks if this cup could be passed ... is this not doubt?
Let's be continue to be honest about our doubts and to express them in the context of Christian community. Let's not be ashamed of our. Let's have the courage to share them with your sisters and brothers in the faith.
That's why the faith-based discussions we have on these forums are so vital. We have the chance to feed faith through the Word of God and our fellowship to one another. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
Many of us come from a culture where doubting is frowned upon ... asking faith based questions are stifled ... not being lock-step in what we believe is chastised.
Guess what?
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2. I've got doubts ... But like the man , in the book of Mark, who told Jesus just on the verge of a miraculous breakthrough .....
"I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
Did Jesus stop in his tracks and say ... well if there's some doubt ... I can't give you what you want ... the deliverance of your demon-possessed son.
No ... he rewarded the measure of faith he did have.
Presbyterian minister, Frederick Buechner has a great definition of doubt:
“Whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God, if you don’t have any doubts, you are either kidding yourself, or asleep. Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving.
How many of us have doubted,at times that God will forgive us for the last thing we got mixed up in ... yet still ask for forgiveness. And yet he does ... despite our tinge of doubt.
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3. John the Baptist it seems doubted even for a brief moment that Jesus was the Christ, the Anointed One that was to come. John asked through his disciples "are you the One to come or should we expect someone else (
Matthew 11:2)? Earlier he had emphatically declared that Christ was the One to come since he had seen the Spirit as a dove descend upon the Lord (
John 1:33-34). There seems to be doubt in John's prison experience although he had declared "BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD ... WHO TAKES AWAY THE SINS ON MEN.
a) John knew Christ experientially. He lept in the womb. He saw the dove and heard the voice at the baptism. He publicly acknowledged his need of Christ.
b) However, in the lowest season of his life when he, a prophet of God, was falsely accused and imprisoned on the vengeful whim of an evil woman, he was filled with doubt. What had happened to the promise? Was he really the Christ or not?
c) The beauty of this passage is the response that Jesus had to John's doubt. He did not chastise him, rather he set the facts before him...
again, without accusation. He also proceeded to publicly honor him and reinforce the reason for his calling.
Doubt does not set God against man, but rather "he was touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin..."
Hebrews 4:15-16 Doubt sets us up to find answers, to find help in time of trouble, to find grace in time of need.
4. Consider the Old Testament.
Judges 6:11-7:22
Remember the story of Gideon? How did the Lord respond to Gideon's doubt? He responded by providing for his need and his questions. God literally gave him the signs he requested: the supernaturally burnt offering, the angel face to face, the fleece (twice). The Lord also graciously allowed Gideon to fear and doubt when he was commanded to act: he allowed the surreptitious nighttime removal of the altar to Baal; he told Gideon to take his servant with him into the enemy camp (in case he was afraid and he was); he allowed him to overhear the dream which foretold his (Gideon's) victory.
Both of these recorded instances of man's doubt in the face of God's graciousness gives me hope the God will deal with me in the same manner. In my moments and seasons of doubt, he will and he has led me to find answers without condemnation. "For there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus..."
Romans 8:1 Questions bring answers. "Seek and you shall find..."
Doubt is not a sin. It is a symptom in search of a diagnosis. Then the master surgeon can do his work in our lives.
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5. And it appears in context that some of the 11 disciples doubted His resurrection ... even when face to face w/ the Risen Lord and having worshipped Him.
Matthew 28 16-20
16 But the eleven disciples proceeded (P)to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.
17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him;
but some were doubtful.
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19" Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Seems they doubted the Work of the Lamb in His Resurrection ... yet Jesus still commissions these doubt-filled men in the next few verses.
Notice Jesus meets the disciples on a mountain in Galilee where he had appointed to meet them. We can't necessarily infer that it was their first encounter w/ the Risen Lord since the Gospel narratives give various "conflicting" first appearances to the 11 disciples.
Matthew also tells us the rumors were circulating as to the disciples committing a fraud. The powers thay be paid soldiers to spread word that the disciples had stolen the body and that reports of the resurrection were false. The story of fraud was believed by many because Matthew says the rumor still persists when he wrote his Gospel.
The disciples meet Jesus ... and they worship him but some while worshipping .... DOUBT. We don't know why they doubted ... humans often can see things even in front of their own faces and still doubt ... or perhaps they had doubts because they knew that He would be leaving them soon ... NONETHELESS ... THEY ARE WORSHIPPING THE RISEN LORD W/ DOUBT.
What is Jesus reaction to this?????
Does he complain ... does he rebuke them? Does he ask for a time out?
He could've said ... "You guys have to be kidding me!!! I told you I would resurrect and you're seeing me w/ your own eyes and YOU STILL DOUBT!!!!"
No ... he persists to re-assure them ... telling them that ALL AUTHORITY HAD BEEN GIVEN TO HIM ... and that they had his authority to go ... make disciples, baptize and teach the Word.
My soul followeth hard after thee....Love one another with a pure heart fervently. 
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