The SERIOUS Pitfalls of UNBELIEF

It is so amazing that the Bible brings out the danger of unbelief in the book of Hebrews that contrasts unbelief with the Sabbath rest.

“Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the Gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the Word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.  For we who have believed do enter that rest. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.” (Heb 4:1-11)

The Sabbath rest for us is more than observing the one day a week called the Sabbath. It is entering into that rest of salvation; that new identity that we have been given at the new birth. It is putting on Christ and hiding ourselves in His victory. That’s why throughout the Gospels and the epistles so much is said about denying ourselves, dying daily, being crucified with Christ and living according to the new man.

The only way to enter into that Sabbath rest is to put on that new identity and not be conformed to the world but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind; we must constantly remind ourselves that Jesus won and that we are on the WINNING side, and that we can rest fully from our own labors. It is the exercise of fully putting on Christ, fully walking by faith and not by sight, fully living spiritually and not carnally.

If we do not live by faith, paradoxically we live in unbelief because the opposite of faith is doubt, or unbelief. We stand strong in Christ by faith (see 2 Cor 1:24); however, the reverse is also true: we fall away from Christ through unbelief. “Wherefore let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he falls.” (I Cor 10:12)

James likened a doubting person to a wave of the sea, unstable, driven to and fro: “For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.” (James 1:6)

Jesus’ disciple Thomas refused to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead until he saw the risen Lord. Jesus said to Thomas, “Be not faithless, but believing… because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” (John 20:27-30)

The Bible mentions two kinds of unbelief. One kind of unbelief is doubt accompanied by a desire to believe: “Lord, I believe; help Thou my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24) Jesus had mercy on the father who said this, for this man’s son was possessed by an evil spirit. Although the father had his doubts, he was willing to exercise faith, so Jesus healed his son.

Another kind of unbelief is an obstinate, hard-hearted refusal to believe: “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” (Hebrews 3:12) This kind of unbelief is akin to rebellion and rejection.

• Some no longer have faith at all (2 Thes 3:2).
• Some have shipwrecked their faith. (I Tim 1:19)
• Some will leave the faith for the doctrines of devils. (I Tim 4:1)
• Some have denied the faith by not providing for their family. (I Tim 5:8)
• Some have cast off their first faith. (I Tim 5:12)
• Some have turned aside after Satan. (I Tim 5:15)
• Some have erred from the faith for the love of money. (I Tim 6:10, 21)
• Some will overthrow the faith of others. (2 Tim 2:17-18)
• Some are reprobate [disqualified] concerning the faith. (2 Tim 3:8)

Not everyone who sets out on the road to salvation will hold fast to FAITH in Jesus, for many will fall away in unbelief. Heb 10:38-39 tells us, “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition [the opposite of salvation]; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”

We know that salvation is definite and eternal because Jesus said, “He that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out. This is the Father’s will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” (Jn 6:37-39)

But look at what happened to the people of Israel in the wilderness who failed to reach the promised land. Those Israelites were the same ones who experienced the brutal oppression of slavery, they witnessed God’s plagues upon Egypt, they watched the Red Sea part for them, they trembled at God’s power revealed at Mount Sinai, they tasted bread from heaven, and they drank water from a rock.

But they ended up wandering in the wilderness for 40 years and did not enter into the promised land (except for Joshua and Caleb) because of their unbelief. “But with whom was He grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware He that they should not enter into His rest, but to them that believed not?” (Heb 3:17-19)

So it’s not a light thing to harden our heart. “the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.” (Jude 1:5)

Those Israelites were delivered from the bondage of Egypt, they were spiritually baptized in the Red Sea (1 Cor 10:2), and they were led by a pillar of cloud and fire through the wilderness. But then, they were broken off like a branch from a vine (Romans 11:20-32) because of their unbelief. As a result, that generation did not reach their final destination of the promised land.

The Bible indicates that there will be a great apostasy during the end times. The “great apostasy” is mentioned in 2 Thes 2:3. The KJV calls it the “falling away,” while the NIV and ESV call it “the rebellion”. And that’s what an apostasy is: a rebellion, an abandonment of the truth.

The sobering truth is that unbelief will keep you from the promises of God, but more importantly, unbelief will prevent you from keeping the FAITH.

On the other hand, forgiveness is always available when there is true repentance. Read the story of the prodigal son.

Salvation is a free gift to all, but it is not cheap. Jesus said that those who cannot give up all to follow Jesus are not worthy of Jesus (see Matthew 10:38). Salvation is a one-time deal, but FAITH is a lifetime journey that requires dying daily to yourself and learning from the Lord. Jesus said, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross DAILY, and follow Me.” (Mat 16:24)

Our new identity is a lifelong STANCE. There is an enemy of your soul (the “tempter” — see 1 Thes 3:5) who seeks to draw your heart away from faith in Christ and get you caught up with the entrapments of the world so that you fall away. “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.” (2 Pet 3:17)

Discipleship cannot be a “works trip”. It is entering into that identity and abiding there. That is what “entering into that rest” is all about. Discipleship is not service for God, but if you love God, and truly understand what a mighty great price was paid for your redemption, then you’ll serve Him out of LOVE, from a standpoint of love, not duty or “works”. The old law was “works” but God wants our heart. He wants a relationship.

We must GUARD our hearts diligently and cling to Jesus Christ so that we do not lose faith and walk out of that rest. “Labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” (Heb 4:1,11)