Dear friend,
First, I’d like to provide you with some assurance in regards to doubt affects your salvation. Know that doubt is common to all and you are certainly not alone in this. And God does not change how He feels about you because of your doubt, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” (2 Timothy 2:13) You will only be judged on one thing and one thing only. Do you believe in Jesus? Do you trust in Christ as the only Savior, the only way to heaven? “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18 NASB) And once you’ve made that decision to trust in Christ, you CANNOT lose that salvation! Salvation is a gift from God and it’s not one that you can give back. “For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.” (Romans 11:29). “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:28). That is all God wants to know. Did you accept His son?
Here are some helpful articles in that regard:
Even in safety though, you will still have doubts. First it is important to invest in your relationship with God by practicing the spiritual disciplines. These include reading/studying God’s word (listening to God), prayer (talking to God), and fellowship with other Christians. In this way you will grow in your relationship with Christ. See http://www.gotquestions.org/spiritual-disciplines.html for more on the spiritual disciplines.
In addition to maintaining your relationship with God, there is more you can do to stave off doubts. Are your heart and your mind are battling each other? You love God with your heart, but your mind is protesting, am I correct? Know that your heart and mind do not have to be in conflict. Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your MIND.” (Matthew 22:37)
God does not encourage us to go on our feelings alone. This is because our feelings are untrustworthy. Jeremiah 17:9 says “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” Ecclesiastes 9:3 says “the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead.”
This is why we can’t trust our hearts. The experience that caused me to finally trust God was downright supernatural. But it was also an experience that no other person witnessed and that I could never prove. As the years have passed, my memory of it becomes fuzzier and fuzzier. So even though it was enough for me in the very beginning of my Christian walk, later it simply wasn’t enough. That’s when I started loving God with my MIND and seeking to test my faith for reliability.
Let’s look at what the bible says about using our minds.
Proverbs 3:13 “How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding.”
In 1 Chronicles 1:7-12 and 1 Kings 3:5-14, God tells Solomon to ask Him for anything. When Solomon requests “wisdom and knowledge”, God is so pleased with Solomon that He not only gives him wisdom and knowledge, but blesses him with riches beyond belief.
In Acts 17:11, the Bereans are commended for the fact that they tested everything they heard. They were excited about what they heard, but want to make sure it was true, so they searched the scriptures to make sure of it.
In Acts 17:17, it talks about how Paul used reason to convince people of the truth: “So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present.” It also mentions how Paul reasoned with people in Acts 17:2, 18:4, and 18:19.
God made us a promise in James 1:5 where it is said “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
Once we understand that we are expected to use our minds to test the claims found in the Bible, where do we start? This is where we get into “apologetics”. Apologetics is simply the science of defending the Christian faith. This is where it gets FUN! Christ claimed to be “the Truth” (John 14:6). Truth has nothing to fear when objections are brought against it, because it’s TRUE! The reason for apologetics is 1 Peter 3:15, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who aasks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”. Even when you aren’t doubting, others will. You will need to be ready with an answer for them. I think you’ll find that, as you study, you’ll be answering your own questions as well.
The great thing about Christianity is that, because it’s true, it is incredibly easy to substantiate its claims. There is so much evidence that it takes just as much faith (and I’d argue even more so) to be an atheist than it does to believe in God, particularly the God of the Bible. For instance, J. Warner Wallace (a homicide detective) was a staunch atheist until he examined Christianity in his mid-30s and found it to be true based on the evidence. He ended up writing “Cold Case Christianity”, which I highly recommend.
The point of all this is that when your heart is no longer enough to keep your faith, you have the evidence to fall back on. And as you look at the evidence, your heart will be renewed. So start looking at the evidence behind Christianity. I’ve only been doing it for a couple of years and I’ve only scratched the service! Also, be sure to check out http://www.gotquestions.org/blind-faith.html.
Finally, friend, while you are going about this process I have a prayer for you that has come in handy during my times of doubt. It comes from Mark 9:24. It is simply this: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (NIV). And He will friend, He will!
I hope this helps. Your friend in Christ, Embassador J
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Here are some tips on finding those answers:
If you type “apologetics” into the search box at GotQuestions.org, you’ll find a few articles that will give you an overview of apologetics.
Some of the different categories under apologetics and an appropriate Got Questions article.
- Theological Arguments such as cosmological, teleological, ontological and moral arguments.
- Fulfilled prophecies, especially messianic prophecies
- The historical reliability of the scriptures
- Archeological proofs
- Miracles
- Showing contradictions in the unbeliever’s worldview. This is called presuppositional apologetics and involves studying other religions in order to see how they fall apart under examination. Since Christianity is true, it will not fall apart under honest examination.
Online Resources
Recommended Books
“Reasonable Faith” by William Lane Craig
“Evidence That Demands a Verdict” by Josh McDowell
“I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist” by Norm Geisler and Frank Turek
“The Case for Faith” by Lee Strobel
“Cold Case Christianity” by J. Warner Wallace
“Jesus: The Greatest Life of All” by Charles Swindoll
“God-Breathed: The Undeniable Power and Reliability of Scripture” by Josh McDowell
“The Popular Handbook of Archeology and the Bible” by Geisler and Holden
“The Miracles of our Lord” by Charles Ryrie
**If you know of other great resources, please let me know in the comments!**
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