What is the cause of weak and wavering faith in Christians?

What is the cause of weak and wavering faith in Christians?

Israel encountered challenges when they deviated from the laws of Moses, similar to how current issues stem from straying from Paul's teachings. Paul was entrusted with the "dispensation of the Grace of God" for today's believers. The primary cause of a weak and wavering faith is not a departure from the entire Word of God, but rather a shift away from the specific doctrines taught by Paul.

Do believers truly backslide and "lose fellowship with God?" Is it necessary to "strive to maintain our relationship with God?"

Many Christians believe they must perform certain actions to have a relationship with God. Conversely, they fear that God will distance Himself or judge them if they fail to maintain their relationship with Him. These mindsets are common among many Christians who are not informed about the truth in God's word.

• What happens if a Christian does not confess their sins daily?
  
• What happens if a Christian does not tithe?
  
• What happens if a Christian does not get water baptized?
  
• What happens if a Christian continues to love the worlds attractions?
  
• Is God displeased with a Christian if they become sick or come into misfortune?
  

Psa 51:1-11  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.  (2)  Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.  (3)  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.  (4)  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.  (5)  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.  (6)  Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.  (7)  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.  (8)  Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.  (9)  Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.  (10)  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.  (11)  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

Today, many believers model their lives and prayers on the above verses. When they sin, they follow David's example in Psalm 51, pleading with God to erase their transgressions, to wash away their iniquity, and to cleanse them from their sin. 

• Do you follow this routine in your own life?
  
• If a Christian does, then verse 11 must be especially troubling?
  
• Will God will take His Holy Spirit from a Christian if they commit “bad sins.” Will they be lost again, now going to hell, now cast out of the family of God?

Notice other “Old Testament” verses that worry believers today:

Psalm 88:14: “Lord, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?”

Isaiah 45:15: “Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.”

Isaiah 57:17: “For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.”

Isaiah 59:2: “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

The key to understanding the above verses is to remember that Psalms is not written to or about us—it is to and about Israel. Similarly, Isaiah's prophecies concern Israel, especially Judah and Jerusalem (Isaiah 1:1). The instances where God "hides" His face in Psalms and Isaiah reflect His response to Israel's disobedience and idolatry, not His stance towards us in the current Dispensation of Grace.

If we misinterpret these scriptures that they are applicable to us, rather than understanding the proper division of truth as commanded in 2 Timothy 2:15, it will lead to confusion and a contradicting doctrine. This is why so many Christians are miserable today. They are trying to do thing that God is not demanding today.

Consider the book of Galatians as it illustrates this issue. After Paul founded churches in Galatia, false teachers came in and overthrew the faith of these believers. These false teachers were perverting the grace of God, telling the Galatians that they had to have works to either be saved or to keep their salvation. 

Hence, Paul wrote,

Gal 3:1-6  O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?  (2)  This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?  (3)  Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?  (4)  Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.  (5)  He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?  (6)  Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

How did we get saved? By works? No, by faith in what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. It is wrong therefore to think that our faith and lives would operate any differently on a daily basis. Our faith will function on the basis of the cross of Christ, not our efforts and performance in religion. We were never saved by works, so we will never stay saved by works. We were saved by grace (the cross), and we will stay saved by grace (the cross).

1Co 1:8-9  Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  (9)  God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Did the Corinthians—despite their host of social, spiritual, and church problems—have “the fellowship of [God’s] Son Jesus Christ our Lord?” Yes, God's relationship with them was not based on their performance, which lacked Christian values and actions. It was due to the grace of Jesus Christ. Despite their misbehavior, they were destined for heaven, blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places through Jesus Christ, eternally forgiven, and always accepted in the Beloved. They simply needed to immerse themselves in the Bible and allow His Word to equip them to live as the people God had created them to be in Christ.

Religion has corrupted our understanding of faith, leading us to believe we must earn God's acceptance. If you find yourself wondering, “Why does God sometimes feel distant if He’s really close?” it’s because you haven’t been thinking correctly, in line with the truth that is written in God's Word. To change this, you must get into Paul’s letters, from Romans to Philemon, and learn the fundamentals of your faith.

If your mind is not constantly being exposed to, and renewed, by the truth and life in God's Word, you won’t be focused on “the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5-9). Instead, you’ll be caught up in “the things of the flesh [sin].” This is why Christian's struggle in the world. They haven’t lost their salvation or the Holy Spirit; they’ve simply ignored God’s Word, which results in the “quenching” (or hindering) the Holy Spirit’s work in them (1 Thessalonians 5:19). In other words, they’ve slipped back into old (carnal, false, and imaginative) ways of thinking and living instead of relying in what the truth of the written Word of God says.

There is only one combat the lies of the enemy. It is to know and believe the truth of the Word and allow this to fill your mind,

Col 3:16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 

Eph 5:15-19  See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,  (16)  Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.  (17)  Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.  (18)  And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;  (19)  Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;