FAITH...DOUBT...UNBELIEF!
Many people believe doubt is the opposite of faith. That is not true! The opposite of faith is unbelief.To believe is to be "in one mind" about accepting something as true.
To disbelieve is to be "in one mind" about rejecting the truth.
To doubt is to waver between the two.
To believe and disbelieve all at once is to be "in two minds."
For instance...Someone might say, "I believe that Jesus was the Savior of the world...but I don't believe he was the Son of God." They would be "in two minds." What about someone who says, "I believe that I am going to heaven, but I don't believe God will send someone to hell."
Another person said that "doubt" is "faith asking questions."
What is doubt ? "Faith in two minds."
The truth about doubt is that it is "the wavering between the truth and the lie that the enemy wants and desires to place you."
However...God's answers are either black or white. No gray area! Truth or lie! The question..."What is truth?"
Underline these passages...or at least write down these passages and read over and over. It is black and white. It is as plain as any explanation can be. Acts 2:32-33..."God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear."
Acts 3:15..."You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this."
Acts 4:12..."Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
Jesus...John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."
Without faith it is impossible to please God! Be consistently faithful!
FAITH
The definition of FAITH according to Webster is "an unquestionable belief in God, religion, etc.; loyalty and allegiance in a person or thing; a religion or system of religious beliefs."1 According to the Word of God, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1); and, it is "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear" (Hebrews 11:3). Although Webster's definition fits into the world view of what man would consider faith, it is too ambiguous and far-reaching to understand the Christian meaning of faith due to the inconsistency of what is said. There is only one God. Although Webster sounds like he is referring to one God, we cannot be for certain that he is referring to the One and Only God. Faith is belief in the Christian God. This is the foundation for all of our reasoning as a Christian. Otherwise, a person has no foundation...just an opening in his mind for logic and reason. And that logic and reason is enmity against God. Human reasoning or presupposing your own authority is enmity against God; which is a sin against God.
The believer (the born-again Christian that knows Jesus Christ as his personal Savior) is directed to avoid philosophy which has its roots in worldly, humanistic, and non-Christian presuppositions (Colossians 2:8), "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.") It is imperative that the Christian who prefers to know the truth and desires the truth to set him free understands that God's word demands unreserved allegiance to God and His truth in all our thought(s) and scholarly endeavors. Therefore, he must make every academic pursuit and every thought related to Jesus Christ. To not use the principles of Christ in our thoughts at any point is to deny the wisdom and knowledge of truth God has placed in us when we accepted Him as our Savior and Lord. Does this mean that those that fail to place Christ Jesus as the pivotal point of all relationships and all activities are non-believers or non-Christian? No... but it does mean that the Christian that places reason or fact before faith is inviting the enemy into his thoughts, presuppositions and actions and will eventually lead to false religion or false and uncharacteristic actions of faith.
1 Webster's New World Dictionary of American Language, College Edition, page 522.
