THE ENEMY OF FAITH: UNBELIEF

THE ENEMY OF FAITH:  UNBELIEF 

Terxt: Mrk 6:5-6 “And because of their unbelief, He couldn’t do any mighty miracles among them except to place His hands on a few sick people and heal them. And He was amazed at their unbelief.”

Unbelief is a state of not believing. When Jesus went to Nazareth, people there could not believe Him because they thought they knew Him as one who was from their own town. Because of their unbelief, we are told that He could not do any mighty miracles there. Imagine that nothing could stop Jesus from performing mighty miracles in Nazareth, not even the devil and his demons could stop Him but the unbelief of the people there stopped Him. He saw that they had needs that required His intervention but His hands were tied by the unbelief of the people. Because of His mercy, He just healed a few.

Unbelief is the enemy of faith. Unbelief hinders God from working mighty things among His people.

Unbelief is a more deadly enemy than even Satan Himself.

Heb 3:12 warns us of the danger of unbelief: “My friends, be careful that none of you should have a heart so evil and unbelieving that you will turn away from the living God”

Unbelief is an evil state of the heart. Unbelief has the capacity to turn people away from God. Even after people have seen God’s miracles in their lives, if they allow unbelief to creep into their hearts, they will find themselves cut off from God. Unbelief leads to rebellion against God. That is what happened to the Israelites (Heb 3:16-19). Even after they had seen God’s great miracles as He delivered them from Egypt, still they rebelled because of unbelief.

Unbelief can begin in a subtle way. People who backslide and turn away from God begin by disbelieving a section of the scripture. Eventually they are led to compromise and live in sin. They are then cut off from God even though they may still profess their faith in God. That is what has happened even in the church today.

People who practice homosexuality and lesbianism and at the same time want to be Christians are living in unbelief and rebellion. They have disbelieved 1 Cor 6:9-10, Gal 5:19-21 and the judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah as reported in Genesis chapter 18 and 19.

Unbelief can also come into ones heart in a subtle way through self-sufficiency. Some people after they have got the money they need may be tempted to think that they don’t need God, so they stopped believing His word not realizing that ones life and everything else is sustained by God alone. Others are driven away from walking by faith through fear that leads them into unbelief, which in turn leads them to trust other things rather than God.

Each time we fail to walk by faith as believers in Jesus Christ, we disappoint Jesus. In Mrk 9:19; Jesus lamented saying: “…you faithless people, how long must I be with you until you believe? How long must I put up with you” This happened when the disciples of Jesus failed to drive away demons from an epileptic boy.

The father of the boy came to Jesus and said: “…have mercy on us and help us. Do something if you can”. What do you mean if I can? Jesus asked. Anything is possible if a person believes. The father instantly replied, but help me not to doubt” (Mk 9:21-24).

Even the father of the boy prayed a prayer or made a request to Jesus in unbelief by saying that “do something if you can”

That prompted Jesus to ask him the question saying: “What do you mean if I can?” In other words Jesus was saying don’t you realise who I am, don’t you believe that through me the whole universe was created, don’t you realise that I am the life, don’t you believe even after you have seen and heard about all the sickness I have cured, having known that, can you still ask if I can deliver your boy? Just believe. Everything is possible if a person believes.”

Instantly the father of the boy cried out and said he believes and asked Jesus to get rid of doubt from his heart and the boy got delivered. What about you, what are you failing to believe God for because of unbelief? Jesus is asking you now saying, how long must you remain saved before you can believe me for all my promises for your life? May be you are not saved yet. He asks you the same question saying for how long must you stay before you believe that I am the only one who can save you from sin, for I am the way, the truth and the life and without me, you will never see God.

Whoever you are, stop doubting, stop rationalizing God’s promises and come out of unbelief. And God will bless you. If you have not yet made Christ your Lord and saviour, you can do that now by saying this simple prayer.

“Dear Jesus, I come to you as a sinner. I repent of all my sins. Today I have decided to believe in you as my Lord and saviour. Give me the grace to begin a new life. Strengthen my faith and bless my life. Amen.”

If you said that prayer of commitment, you have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus.

Find a good Bible based church near you, where you can fellowship in order to grow spiritually. You can let us know about your commitment through phones and mails. WE shall be glad to answer any question you have. May God bless you.