One of the students who attends our Zoom Bible study asked, “Is it a sin to doubt?”
I hesitated to answer her with a bold, “Yes.” I have sensed a deep yearning and thirst for God in all of the students and in no way do I want to mislead them or cause them to feel judged.
A.W. Tozer says it this way: “Thirsty hearts are those whose longings have been wakened by the touch of God within them.”
As I thought about the student’s question, doubt came into my own heart. When does doubt become sin? Whose voice am I listening to? Am I hearing from God?
Whether we are touched by God or not, everyone doubts. It’s a normal human reaction. Who am I doubting? God or myself? Who am I listening to? God or myself? Each one of us who has been touched by God is on a journey of learning to trust Him, trust his words and trust His love for us.
When we doubt God’s voice, we doubt God’s love for us and question His words. We mistrust, act in doubt, and it becomes sin. A classic example is when the serpent said to the woman, “Has God said?” We know what happened. God’s words were questioned, acted on, and Adam and Eve’s doubt caused them to fall into sin.
When we listen to our own voice, we have cause to doubt ourselves. Rightly so, because we will believe in how we feel and our world around us. Doubt includes mistrust, skepticism and uncertainty. When these emotions creep into our minds, we may believe them and listen to our own voice as if we are our worst enemy. We will speak curses on ourselves.
I framed the answer around a teaching I heard from Watchman Nee in 1970. Nee’s teaching is based on Paul’s words to the Thessalonians — a person is a three-part being: spirit, soul and body. “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23, NKJV).
Nee writes in “The Spiritual Man” that the spirit (God-consciousness) is the innermost part for communion with God, the soul (self-consciousness) is the seat of personality (mind, emotion, will) and the body (world-consciousness) interacts with the physical world.
The Lord wants us to rise up and hear His voice, commune with Him. It is a place where we refuse our emotions, worries and fears. We stop listening to the voice of our self-consciousness and surrender to His voice. According to Paul, he urges the believers to “Rise up from your coffin and the Anointed One will shine his light into you” (See Ephesians 5:13-15).
King Solomon came to the Shulamite. She heard his voice. “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away” (Song of Solomon 2:10, NKJV). He urged her to come out of her wall and skip on the mountains with him.
King Jesus does the same for us. According to Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV), “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Doubt is against God and against us. It comes from the darkness in us. By calling it for what it is, and turning to God who is a rewarder to those who diligently seek Him, we are opening ourselves up to God’s voice and God-consciousness in us.
The devil will use doubt to cause us to sin. We must always be reminded that we have an enemy within and without who will try to mute the voice of God.
Final brushstroke: It is a lifetime journey, living by faith and refusing to believe anything that opposes God and His love for us. The question is not “is doubt sin?” but “whose voice are we listening to?”
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Views expressed do not necessarily represent those of The SUN.
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