Doubt Is Not Apostasy
Most Christians face a night when faith feels thin. A verse will not make sense. A prayer goes unanswered. A friend walks away, or a hard question from a classroom or a screen will not leave you alone. You may wonder whether you are losing your faith, and you may be afraid to tell anyone. Hear this first: doubt is not apostasy. Many of God's people have stood where you are standing, and the Lord was patient with them.
A wavering between trusting God and not trusting Him. The word used of Peter on the water and of some on the mountain in Galilee, distazō, pictures a person halting between two positions (Matthew 14:31; Matthew 28:17).
The Bible is durable. It can handle your questions, your doubts, and your concerns. Struggling with faith does not mean you have lost it, as long as you keep coming back to the Word of God as your source of truth. In fact, a struggle shows that a battle is still going on. Someone who has stopped caring does not lie awake. You do not have to have everything figured out. You are trusting the God who does.
Where are you taking your doubts? Everything in this study comes back to that. Doubts carried to Christ tend to lead home. Doubts carried away from Him tend to harden.
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For Deeper Study
- Know Why You BelieveAmazon Paul E. LittleA short, warm classic that answers the most common questions about the faith in plain language.
- The Case for ChristAmazon Lee StrobelA former skeptic's interviews with scholars on the historical evidence for Jesus.
- Cold-Case ChristianityAmazon J. Warner WallaceA homicide detective applies the tests for reliable eyewitnesses to the Gospels. Helpful for doubts about whether the story is true.
- The Thomas Factor: Using Your Doubts to Draw Closer to GodAmazon Gary R. HabermasA short book on the kinds of doubt and how to meet each one, by a Liberty University scholar of the resurrection.
- Eternal Security: Can You Be Sure?Amazon Charles StanleyA warm, readable defense of eternal security for those who doubt their own salvation.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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What Is Apostasy?
Apostasy is a falling away from the faith a person once professed; it does not undo a new birth but reveals the truth, so its warnings stay sharp, the believer stays secure, and only God can say who is His.
Open Doctrine