Unbelief

Akita Suggagaki said:

Mark 9:23-25​

23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”​

24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”​

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Belief must be some kind of continuum that differs for every topic. I believe the Bible is the Word of God but I do not believe that it is entirely literal.​

I believe that Jesus us the Son of God but I am not entirely sure what that means.,​

I believe that Jesus rose form the dead but I am not sure how to believe in his ascension.​

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You simply believe in the facts presented, and if there are any implications of those facts, you trust in those implications.
For example, I believe that Jesus' crucifixion atoned for the sin of those who believe in him.
Therefore, I trust that my sin is forgiven and I am saved from God's condemnation on sin at the Judgment.

God died a merciless death for the sins of the whole world.

Believe like a little child because it’s said in the Bible. It is Gods Word.

Akita Suggagaki said:

Atonement, forgiveness and salvation are a bit easier to believe because they are not testable. They are matters of faith.
But God's love when faced with disasters, God's protection when faced with catastrophe, not so easy.

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We have no promise of deliverance from disasters and catastrophe.
We have only the promise that God is with the those in Christ in such situations.

None of us moves mountains.

The apostles also couldn't remove the evil spirit from the boy in the passage you quoted. They asked:

After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.” Mark 9:28-29

Perhaps when our belief is weak, prayer is what we should be doing. We might find the mountain doesn't need to be cast into the sea.

Akita Suggagaki said:

I find that everyday I need to remind myself. "What is it that believe?" And recommit.

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If you have the fortitude to recommit daily then you are doing better than most. We all have our doubts but then you remember why you do what you do. God is truly amazing.

We believe God for things He has promised.
Example God promises that anyone who believes in Jesus for Eternal Life at the very moment of belief in Jesus, receives Eternal Life.
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We trust God for things He has not explicitly promised.
Example you may trust in God to heal you or someone you pray about.

Akita Suggagaki said:

"Your faith has saved you." Luke 7:50, Luke 18.42

There is great power in faith.

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The power in faith is the Holy Spirit.

There is no faith that the Holy Spirit does not give (Php 1:29, 2 Pe 1:1, Ac 13:48, 18:27, Ro 12:3).

Akita Suggagaki said:

Atonement, forgiveness and salvation are a bit easier to believe because they are not testable. They are matters of faith.
But God's love when faced with disasters, God's protection when faced with catastrophe, not so easy.

And Jesus never hid that from us, challenging us to love him more than parents, not to worry about what we will eat or wear, to take up our own crosses and die to self. Blessed are we then.

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If i may just relay a few points on how i believe faith occurs. You are right it is a continuum but at some point you may pass into faith. The faith one has is based on what that believer has heard from God. I say this because "faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word (rhema) of God." (Rom 10:17) Rhema is the spoken word. So when facing trouble or safety to some extent what you have heard in the past will matter. The word matters a lot. For instance a mind stayed on God will have perfect peace. God told Joshua that if he meditated on the law day and night he would be prosperous and have good success. (Joshua 1:8).

Some afflictions like health issues arise and some do find faith for their healing or deliverance. Others either are turned down such as Paul for his thorn in the flesh or many simply fail to even try or are not persistent enough. One might have faith in one area of life, but fail in other areas. It really just depends on what time they have spent on that area and how much they have heard from God.

Every Christian that is saved has heard from God and accepted their need of salvation. They confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead.

Rom10:10 "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

This is why some teach a positive confession. but confession alone is not enough you have to have it in your heart. It would be a rare circumstance that God would speak to someone to have them walk on water. The reason there are more miracles and healings in the poorest nations is that desperate people seek God more and thus they get to the place of faith for a matter because they have no other options.

Akita Suggagaki said:

Mark 9:23-25​

23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”​

24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”​

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Amen! God is so good that if we pray for His help and have a willing heart to do what He is asking, He will help us with our unbelief.

Akita Suggagaki said:

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Belief must be some kind of continuum that differs for every topic. I believe the Bible is the Word of God but I do not believe that it is entirely literal.​

​

I believe that Jesus us the Son of God but I am not entirely sure what that means.,​

I believe that Jesus rose form the dead but I am not sure how to believe in his ascension.​

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Do I believe enough to walk on water? To cast a mountain into the sea? No​

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Do I believe enough to not worry, to have no anxiety? No.​

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Lord, help me to believe in truth, even when I do not like it.​

Guard me from believing in untruth, in lies and deceptions.​

Help me to the gift of my reason to sort it all out.​

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Unbelief is hearing God's Word and not doing it.

Luke 6:46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?

Jas 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Jas 1:23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
Jas 1:24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
Jas 1:25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

The Bible correlates unbelief, with disobedience, rebellion and sin

Heb 3:7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: "TODAY, IF YOU WILL HEAR HIS VOICE,
Heb 3:8 DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS IN THE REBELLION, IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS,
Heb 3:9 WHERE YOUR FATHERS TESTED ME, TRIED ME, AND SAW MY WORKS FORTY YEARS.
Heb 3:10 THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THAT GENERATION, AND SAID, 'THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN MY WAYS.'
Heb 3:11 SO I SWORE IN MY WRATH, 'THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.' "
Heb 3:12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;
Heb 3:13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called "TODAY," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Heb 3:14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,
Heb 3:15 while it is said: "TODAY, IF YOU WILL HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS IN THE REBELLION."
Heb 3:16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses?
Heb 3:17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness?
Heb 3:18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?
Heb 3:19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.