Is having doubts a sin against God?

[Lord's Servant]

Yet if the doubts are about "the faith" then perhaps clinging to "the faith more"
will simply make or allow something to
remain unchanged that God wants to change ?
Note that Always -
God's Word,
and Jesus,
remain unchanged and unchangeable.

Alright then because I've been praying to God to take these doubts away and they do but they come back and I just fear that I'm going to no longer believe in God and He will send me to Hell

 

[VanillaSunflowers]

Ah I see then thanks for the scriptures and that's true about doubts makes us cling to the faith more.

I don't think there is anything God does not know about his children. Including their natural tendency toward doubt.
I had my own a time or two. And in my case when that happened I prayed and meditated daily. I asked God to comfort me in that time and to show me his true power and presence in all things. Especially that place I was in my life. And he did.

One thing I did was after meditating I'd pray and tell God that I was seeking wisdom in his word. And if he would guide me to the page he wanted me to know as his message to further my journey toward confidence and security please, please Lord, show me that passage.

Then I'd take the Bible holding it in my hands cradling the spine of the book. With one hand I'd thumb through the upright pages while praying that request with my eyes closed. God show me your words to bring me through. And then I'd let me fingers fall when I felt called to.
In those pages where my fingers landed I'd read the first scripture that my eyes rested upon. It was amazing how relevant it was to my quest in that moment.

I offer that as my experience. Maybe it will help you too.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Alright then because I've been praying to God to take these doubts away and they do but they come back and I just fear that I'm going to no longer believe in God and He will send me to Hell

Yes, I saw that in some posts.
Choose TODAY who you serve. Jesus or other ?
Then stick to it. (all day, every day, forever)
The ONLY way you'll know you are serving Jesus,
is by staying in prayer all the time(He will teach you how)
and by reading His Word every day and testing yourself - be sure you are doing what He says.(not what men say)

 

[Greg J.]

How can I bring them captive to Christ then? Because I've been praying to God so He can get rid of these doubts

God transforms us through our obedience (one passage: Luke 6:46-49). If you genuinely believe in God and Jesus' sacrifice, and are doing your best to be pleasing to God, then you aren't even close to losing your salvation. The degree to which you are succeeding or failing in this effort is not a part of whether you stay saved or not.

It will (usually) take quite a while for God to transform our thinking, but even if you don't perceive any difference, he is at work through your obedience and time spent with him. I memorized the following verse and recited it to myself for many years. It took about 3 years of constant use before I noticed my mind was a little different. (Now it is a lot different.)

Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. (Romans 13:14, 1984 NIV)

Don't let how long it might take trouble you. If you succeeding in doing the best you can with it today, then you are doing the best you can.

It gets monotonous hearing the same suggestions to study the Bible, worship, pray, and fast, such that we can easily respond with "that's fine." But we would be better off responding to those needs as emergencies. And while quantity of time spent in those pursuits matters, developing the habit of doing a little bit every day will prove much more valuable in the long run. There's a lot of ways to approach this. One might be to read through a book in the Bible over the course of weeks, trying to understand each sentence as you read for just 10 minutes after getting up each morning. When you have tried to understand a verse for a while and can't, just move on.

 

[Lord's Servant]

God knew about every single sin you have committed, are commtting, and will commit BEFORE Jesus went to the cross, and He went to the cross without hesitation - yes, doubt is sin, but you aren't going to be sin-less as long as you are in a flesh body - focus on the fact that before you sin, God made your forgiveness for that sin available to you, and all you have to do is believe that to receive His already-available forgiveness. it's not what you do to beat yourself up for your sin plus what He did at the cross that causes you to receive forgiveness; you can't earn His forgiveness through self-condemnation nor can your sin exceed His already-available forgiveness - you simply have to receive His already available forgiveness as a free gift - regardless of your performance - good OR bad

Thanks and ah I see but how can I overcome these doubts?

 

[Lord's Servant]

God transforms us through our obedience (one passage: Luke 6:46-49). If you genuinely believe in God and Jesus' sacrifice, and are doing your best to be pleasing to God, then you aren't even close to losing your salvation. The degree to which you are succeeding or failing in this effort is not a part of whether you stay saved or not.

It will (usually) take quite a while for God to transform our thinking, but even if you don't perceive any difference, he is at work through your obedience and time spent with him. I memorized the following verse and recited it to myself for many years. It took about 3 years of constant use before I noticed my mind was a little different. (Now it is a lot different.)

Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. (Romans 13:14, 1984 NIV)

Don't let how long it might take trouble you. If you succeeding in doing the best you can with it today, then you are doing the best you can.

It gets monotonous hearing the same suggestions to study the Bible, worship, pray, and fast, such that we can easily respond with "that's fine." But we would be better off responding to those needs as emergencies. And while quantity of time spent in those pursuits matters, developing the habit of doing a little bit every day will prove much more valuable in the long run. There's a lot of ways to approach this. One might be to read through a book in the Bible over the course of weeks, trying to understand each sentence as you read for just 10 minutes after getting up each morning. When you have tried to understand a verse for a while and can't, just move on.

Alright then thanks and I'll read the bible when I get up in the morning I'll pray more

 

[One name]

"Everything that is done without faith is a sin"

 

[One name]

If righteousness could be gained through the law Christ died for nothing

 

[One name]

◄ Romans 14:23 ►
Parallel Verses
New International Version
But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

 

[com7fy8]

Thanks and ah I see but how can I overcome these doubts?

I understand that faith is a gift of God, produced by God. It is "faith working through love" (in Galatians 5:6). So, it is not only about intellectual arguing and beliefs of ideas, but how we become in love with God (Romans 5:5). And we have this faith, as God proves Himself to us, in us > it is not blind. We believe in Him, because He has proven Himself to us, not only with intellectual proof.

Those who saw Jesus could tell it was for real, because God made it real . . . in His light. His light makes us able to see. Light is not words, but communicates deeper than words. Sunlight doesn't say a thing, but sunlight shows and tells you so much more than words can tell

So, in faith, we have this deeper and so-personal communication with God Himself.

 

[Soyeong]

I'm beginning to have doubts about my faith.It recently began when I was just doing something I can't remember what but I had doubts about St. Paul like this thought about he didn't see maybe he was hallucinating Him or maybe it was from the sun and then others thoughts began to pop into my head that God's prophets had mental illnesses and was just imagining things and then prayed to God that He will get rid of these doubts because I felt like I was committing a horrible sin against Him and I'm worried that these doubts will bring me more doubts and I'll abandoned the Christian Faith and then God will send me to Hellfire

Having faith is acting in a way that demonstrates that you trust someone while doubting is acting in a way that demonstrates that you don't trust someone. Investigating whether a belief should be held as true is not the same thing as holding a belief with uncertainty. You can't help whether a thought enters your head, so there is no sin in that, but you are responsible for what choose what to do with it. We are told to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

 

[com7fy8]

the good reasons that you have for holding the belief in the first place

Well . . . we have motives for believing what we believe . . . not only intellectual reasons. Our character can effect what we are willing to believe and our real reasons why.

So, in case I am in doubt about something, why? What could be a motive behind my doubt?

Possibly, God knows my belief is not real in love, and so He is not going to sustain me in my belief. I have at times supposedly lost my faith, but then I was on time out for correction so I could find out how to love, and not only smart-talk and judge people. So, there could be God's reason why He does not sustain and encourage me.

Also, there are people whose faith is in their religious group and their practices and their human leaders' personalities. But we in Jesus "first trusted in Christ" (Ephesians 1:12); Paul, here, does not say we first trusted in ourselves and our ability to choose, nor did we trust in just going along with a certain group with their ideas and practices.

And here is a little bit of all which is guaranteed to happen if a person trusts in Jesus >

Matthew 11:28-30

 

[Gabriel Anton]

Peace be with you.

You probably know something that the devil and the power of darkness find threatening. You have to Fight the spiritual henchmen of the devil to keep and hold on to your Faith in God using God as your Light.

God bless you.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Alright then thanks and I'll read the bible when I get up in the morning I'll pray more

It's possible that the stronghold , so to speak,
is something you learned that must be unlearned in order to continue.
This is very frequent in all of the lives I've ever been acquainted with in my
life of several decades.
There's a multitude of things it could be, so
devoting your life to Jesus and asking Him to reveal this,
is one of the only, if not the only way, to find out.
It could also take years to find out.
But His Timing Revealing the Truth is Perfect, never late.

 

[FireDragon76]

I have the same issues sometimes- I've struggled with OCD and depression off and on my whole life. Most of the saints in Christian history go through a period of scrupulosity where they become terrified of sin. Most outgrow it.

I can see in my own case its probably partly biology, probably partly a generational curse caused by the trauma of World War II, something my grandfather never mentally recovered from. Guilt and responsibility are a big part of my family's ethos on my dad's side.

Cappadocious has talked about this before- western people just have a disciplined consciousness. We try to make everything less messy instead of accepting the ambiguity and chaos of a fallen world. Becoming more spiritual involves becoming more disciplined, and invariably, more rigid, instead of more accepting and compassionate

I found this prayer from Thomas a Kempis, maybe it would help you

"My Lord and God, do not abandon me; remember my need, for many evil thoughts and horrid fears trouble my mind and terrify my soul. How shall I pass through them unhurt? How shall I break their power over me? You have said, “I will go before you. I will open the gates of the prison.” Do, O Lord, as you have said, and let Your coming put to flight all wicked thoughts"

 

[DiscipleHeLovesToo]

Thanks and ah I see but how can I overcome these doubts?

you magnify what you focus on - if you focus on doubts, you magnify doubts and bind your faith in God; if you focus on God's word, you reduce doubts and release your faith in God.

Rom 10:17 KJV
(17) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

punctuation was added by the transliterators, so this could also be read as:

So then <effective> faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. (text enclosed in "<>" added by me)

focusing on the word of God will reduce your consideration of doubts and 'unbind' your mustard-seed sized amount of faith that can move mountains if not 'bound' by doubts

Pro 4:20-22 KJV
(20) My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
(21) Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.
(22) For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

you push doubts out of your head by pushing in the word of God

here's a great place to start:

http://moorelife.org/listseries.php?xml=rss/TruthOrTradition.xml
http://moorelife.org/listseries.php?xml=rss/WithoutADoubt.xml

 

[longwait]

Those thoughts must be from the devil. Bind those thoughts in Jesus name and repent of it.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

I have the same issues sometimes- I've struggled with OCD and depression off and on my whole life. Most of the saints in Christian history go through a period of scrupulosity where they become terrified of sin. Most outgrow it.

Read Revelation out loud all the way through.
No, not like mumbo jumbo at all -
Yhwh says whoever does so HE BLESSES.
Also, you will see that most people on earth do not outgrow it.
Oh, 'many' are healed, but not most by far.
By reading Revelation, perhaps Yhwh's Blessing / Truth/ will set you free.
Truth IS the remedy.
Truth IS Yhwh's Own Remedy. (He says so).
Most people on earth never learn this, or they learn it and reject it.
But Yhwh saves a remnant for Himself.
Seek to be His. Seek His Kingdom.
Along WITH salvation, HE gives RIGHTOUESNESS(not sin), PEACE(not doubt and fear), and JOY(not depression).
Righteousness, Peace, and Joy are Jesus's GIFTS, along with eternal life,
TODAY. (not someday by and by).
See this in The Book Revelation. (and Matthew)

 

[Deadworm]

You're in good company. Jesus was plagued by doubts at key points in His ministry.
(1) Jesus was tested by Satan throughout His life (Luke 4:13). Jesus "was tested in every way just as we are (Hebrews 4:15)," and that no doubt includes powerful doubt.
(2) His doubts can transform His prayer life into emotional outbursts "with loud cries and tears (Hebrew 5:7)."
(3) In Gethsemane, Jesus pleas with God to release Him from His fate: "Father, for you are things are possible; remove this cup from me (Mark 14:36)." Most Christians only recall His ultimate surrender to God's will: "Yet not what I want, but what you want."
(4) On the cross, Jesus doubts God's care and feels abandoned by Him: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me (Mark 15:34; quoting Psalm 22:1).?"

 

[NothingIsImpossible]

Common trial for christians. Though sometimes it does lead to them leaving for good. But the fact your on here questioning it, thats a good sign. It means you do believe despite some doubts. Your looking for help. If you didn't bother asking or looking then it would mean you would just stop believing all together.