THE UNBELIEF THAT LOOKS LIKE FAITH
FAMILIAR WITH GOD, IGNORANT OF CHRIST
There is a kind of belief in the God of the Bible that emanates from a heart that rejects God at the same time. It acknowledges that God is sovereign but not willing to allow Him to be. This is unbelief that resembles the true confidence and faith in God.
It looks very religious. It believes in God and fears Him. It has high regard on His reality and power, but is ignorant of the real nature of Jesus, the Son of God, and lacks a genuine personal trust in Him.
This kind of belief is no different from the faith of demons, who fear God and trembles before Him.
“You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” (James 2:19)
The half-brothers of Jesus lived and grew up with Him. Like Nicodemus, they truly believe that His miracles are signs that God is with Him (John 3:2).However, the Holy Scriptures reveal that His brothers did not really believe in Him (John 7:5).
The gravest failure anyone can experience is to espouse a sincere belief in the possibility, power, and providence of God yet remain ignorant of who Jesus actually is and what His works are all about.
THE LORD REVEALED HOW DECEPTIVE THIS PRETENTIOUS FAITH CAN BE
Many are misled to take this path of faith because of its convenience, ease, and popularity. Self-will is its guide. Tragically, it leads not to life, but destruction.
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14)
It looks and behaves like true believing. Externally godly and superficially righteous, but it is all facade. The heart remains untouched by God, the soul still unconverted, and the spirit unregenerated. Faith in Christ is nothing more than a reputation and image.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn-bushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.” (Matthew 7:15-17)
The true nature of veiled unbelief is unmasked by its characteristic insubordination to the Father’s will.
WE HATE THE UNCOVERING OF OUR HEARTS
The unbelief that looks like faith in Christ can be hidden by a cloak of Christian spirituality, skills, and services, all done in the name of God. However, the true disposition of the heart remains unyielding to the will of God and stubbornly committed to the self.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21-23)
This is the reason why Jesus Christ is inwardly rejected by many despite the miraculous signs that reveal His divine authority. His person, presence, and proclamation expose the true heart of man under the veneer of religion and self-righteousness. Our natural hearts dislike anyone that exposes what we really are. In response to His bothers, Jesus said,
“The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.” (John 7:7)
THE BLESSINGS OF GRACE THROUGH FAITH
“By grace you have been saved through faith. This is not your own doing; it is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8)
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified.” (Romans 10:9-10)
“Everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His Name.” (Acts 10:43)
“Whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:18)
“These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His Name.” (John 20:31)
These are the blessings of undeserved grace from God that are received through faith in Jesus Christ.
THE TRAGIC CONSEQUENCES OF UNBELIEF
Think about what is at stake here in your own life. Imagine the terrible price of not trusting Him and surrendering to Him as your own Lord and Savior.
There is no salvation for your soul when God judges the sins of man. There is no justification but only an eternal condemnation under God’s wrath forever. There is no forgiveness of sins and no eternal life.
By His grace, God the Father lovingly offers His Son to be Lord over your life and the Savior of your soul from His righteous judgment against disobedience.
Anyone who repents from his sinful, self-centered living then comes to Christ, embrace Him as his Sovereign Ruler over life, and accepts His death on the cross as God’s only provision to atone for all his sins, will be forgiven, justified, and given eternal life.
The only way any man can reject this marvelous gift of God’s graciousness is if he cannot bring himself to trust Jesus as Lord over life and Savior for his soul. Because to believe in Christ means a yielding of our lives to Him, a sincere submission to God’s will, and an admission of guilt for all our sins done against Him. This is the narrow path that few have chosen.
MAN’S GLORY OVER THE GLORY OF GOD
If Jesus is nothing more than a miracle worker to bless our lives, the way His unbelieving brothers saw Him, He can never be Lord and Redeemer to us.
This explains why even if God in the flesh comes to the Feast of Tabernacles, a yearly Jewish celebration dedicated to honoring God’s hand over His people, Jesus was unwelcomed and unrecognized by those religiously observing the holy festival in Jerusalem.
“The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” (John 7:11-12)
This ignorance is the foundation of unbelief. And the heart refuses to believe because it cherishes the glory of man as more precious than the glory of God.
“Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of Him.” (John 7:13)
“How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? (John 5:44)
IMPLICATIONS FOR YOU
What is your faith all about? Is it more than religious activities and a list of creeds and commandments? Is God nothing more than a heavenly benefactor than confers blessings and provisions on your life? Is Jesus Christ significant for you just because of His amazing miracles and crucial assistance for needs?
This may look like faith, but it is essentially unbelief.
“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (2 Cor. 13:5)
However, if your life has been surrendered to Jesus Christ as your sovereign King seated at the throne of the Most High, yielded to His rule and reckoned that His will is far more supreme, then you truly believe in Him. This faith is centered on who He really is.
If you seek to honor His name and sincerely delight in seeking His glory above yours or anyone else, then you possess a faith that comes from God. This is the faith that the natural heart does not possess and cannot fabricate apart from Spirit’s work.