That Basic Sin of Unbelief

“Whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23).

In T. Austin-Sparks’ book, “The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus,” he explains how the law of life operated in many of our forefathers; ultimately, it culminated in Jesus Christ, but herein this quote below he explains how it operated in Abraham.  But first, this verse of scripture: “For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all” (Romans 4:16).  Now that quote from Mr. Austin-Sparks: 

“Whatever is not of faith is always of the nature of death. Doubt is death, unbelief is death, lack of trust is death, and all things that are in that category.  Questions, controversies, anything that is short of simple faith brings us to a standstill, brings under arrest.  It is death.  So then, the law of life in Abraham is seen operating along the line of faith, which faith worked deeper and deeper, producing life in ever increasing measure.  These two things go together.  The deeper the faith the stronger the life.  Similarly, the greater measure of life implies the deeper faith … Here … we note that we are reversing Adam’s evil.  In … Abraham … God is working backward.  He is reversing Adam’s evil.  When you come to Abraham, you see in him God’s triumph over THAT BASIC SIN OF UNBELIEF (emphasis mine).  In Christ Jesus … [Abraham was] … gathered up, not in a figurative or representative way but in a living, actual way, and Satan’s triumph in Adam’s deception and fall was completely reversed, completely undone; for Christ was manifested to destroy the works of the Devil.  But even here it means, you see, the works of the Devil are being destroyed in something more than a merely figurative way.  God is reversing the course of things and undoing Adam’s mischief, correcting things.”

And indeed, faith corrects things!  Our English language inadequately defines faith as “allegiance to duty or person; fidelity to one’s promises; sincerity of intentions; firm belief in something for which there is no proof; complete trust.”  What!?  FIRM BELIEF IN SOMETHING FOR WHICH THERE IS NO PROOF!!!!  Are you kidding me?  That is not faith!  Not even close!  I’ll let Dr. Chuck Missler, after citing this verse of scripture— “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1)—rebut this foolishness:

“In our culture, faith is frowned on as mere imagination—the hopes and wishes of the common man.  Evidence is what matters, we are told—and not just any form of evidence.  We’re told we can only ‘know’ things after they have been demonstrated time and again through stringent scientific method, and even then, future experiments might change up what we thought was true … The Bible offers a different position.  True faith IS substance.  It IS evidence.  The word ‘substance’ in Hebrews 11 is HYPOSTASIS, and it means ‘confidence’ or ‘assurance.’  It has the connotation of a foundation or superstructure, something stable and unmoving on which things can be built.  It is substance that gives real existence.”

And indeed, when we look at the meaning of the word “faith” in the languages of scripture, we find that the Hebrew word for faith means, “firmness; security; fidelity; established; trustworthiness”; in the Greek, it means, “persuasion, reliance upon, agree, obey, moral conviction, constancy, make friend.”  Somewhere in my past I heard faith defined as “clinging to.”  Because this is in accord with many of these other definitions, and it’s something I have found true in my experience, I trust it.

And this is saving faith—effectual faith—because it clings to Jesus Christ in holy matrimony; and faithfulness in marriage is the essential tie.  Clinging one to another is the essence of a faithful marriage (and the essence of what real faith means).  Do you doubt that fidelity in marriage to God is the key to real faith?  I offer proof: “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God” (Romans 7:4).

The oneness of union with God/Christ is the only hope for glory!  As scripture clearly states, “I am the Lord … and my glory will I not give to another” (Isaiah 42:8).  Yet, “Woman is the glory of man” (1 Corinthians 11:7), and God, being married to His bride/people—even the backsliders—ensures His glory is shared/given to those who are one with Him.  But in a sense, He never gives it to anyone—just as He said; His bride merely walks in it by the phenomena of the two becoming one.  As intimated, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

THAT BASIC SIN OF UNBELIEF is so fundamental as to ultimately be the unpardonable sin; the Holy Spirit convicts of sin “Because they do not believe in me [Jesus Christ]” (John 16:9).  To further elaborate, the unpardonable sin is STUBBORN unbelief in Jesus Christ—an unbelief that refuses to relent even in the face of incontrovertible evidence to the contrary.  Jesus is all that He claimed to be, and the Holy Spirit is ever dramatically affirming His divinity and role in the salvation process.   Faith saves; unbelief damns.  God damns nobody!  As the unfaithful prophet Jonah learned the hard way, “They that observe lying vanities (looking to falsehood and running away from God) forsake their own mercy” (Jonah 2:8).

I love the way James Smetham characterizes his struggle with THAT BASIC SIN OF UNBELIEF: “I think that I can trace every scrap of sorrow in my life to simple unbelief. How could I be anything but quite happy if I believed always that all the past is forgiven, and all the present furnished with power, and all the future bright with hope because of the same abiding facts which do not change with my mood, do not stumble because I totter and stagger at the promise through unbelief, but stand firm and clear with their peaks of pearl cleaving the air of Eternity, and the bases of their hills rooted unfathomably in the Rock of God. Mont Blanc does not become a phantom or a mist because a climber grows dizzy on its side.”

I plead with you all!  THAT BASIC SIN OF UNBELIEF is completely unjustified, completely without foundation.  Please, please, please, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12).