Beware of Unbelief

Beware of Unbelief We live in an anti-God world. Cultural commentators routinely call our society "post-Christian." Among many groups, particularly those who style themselves to be "progressive," humanity has grown beyond the need for the belief in a Supreme Being, saying that those who still cling to such superstitions (as they see them) are either dead weights impairing social progress or enemies to be defeated. Many actively cheer on cultural trends that shoulder aside traditional or Christian ideas and morals. While living in a different age, first-century Christians faced similar anti-Christian attitudes. The pagan majority considered the nascent church a movement that needed to be resisted and eliminated. The Romans thought it atheistic because Christians would acknowledge neither the emperor as a god nor any of the other gods of their pantheon. Other peoples were loath to give any space to a "new god," especially a Jewish Messiah. Similar things could be said for societies of every age since. As the apostle Paul writes in Romans 8:7, ". . . the carnal mind is enmity against God." Whether the society in question is pagan or nominally Christian, Christians always face opposition because "the accuser of the brethren" (Revelation 12:10), Satan the Devil, incites men and governments to resist and persecute the people of God. The combination of demonic antagonism and human enmity has made life difficult for Christians since the first Pentecost. The oppression is not always physical. In fact, intellectual and emotional opposition are more common, and actual physical abuse and bloodshed are often last resorts against the faithful. Paul writes of not being ignorant of Satan's devices or tricks (II Corinthians 2:11) and standing "against the wiles of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11). He says, ". . . the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness" (II Corinthians 11:3). He warns that Satan can deceive us by appearing as "an angel of light" (II Corinthians 11:14) and his ministers or servants, as "ministers of righteousness" (II Corinthians 11:13, 15). Those arrayed against God's people use every method at their disposal to turn the elect from God before resorting to harsher measures. So, the author of Hebrews cautions, "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God" (Hebrews 3:12). The enemies of Christianity want to undermine our belief by hook or by crook. If they can get us to doubt God, His sovereignty, His goodness, His power, His holiness, or any of His divine attributes and prerogatives, they have found a chink in our armor that they can exploit to turn our hearts against Him and toward evil. His statement's context begins with comparing the faith of Jesus and Moses (Hebrews 3:1-6). While the Jewish Christians to whom he wrote his epistle worshipped Jesus, they esteemed Moses highly. To them, he was the Old Testament's paramount figure, the great lawgiver, the one to whom God spoke face-to-face. In comparing him to Christ, using faithfulness as the yardstick, Hebrew's author asserts that Moses fell far short of Him. He concludes that, yes, Moses was faithful in the way that a loyal, responsible household servant does all the master commands. Jesus, though, is far superior to Moses because He is the Son over His own house, and not only that, He built the house! He faithfully—and perfectly—accomplished everything His Father appointed Him to do. Moses' faithfulness illustrates an incredibly high standard, but Christ's faithfulness exceeds even that exponentially! In the passage's concluding verse, the author turns his thought toward the reader: ". . . but Christ [was faithful] as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end" (Hebrews 3:6). Our goal is to possess the perfect, unwavering faith of Christ. As Paul says elsewhere, we in God's church are members of "the household of God" (Ephesians 2:19; I Timothy 3:15). In Galatians 6:10, he calls it "the household of faith." To remain part of that household, the Family of God, one must be faithful, believing and acting in faith to accomplish God's will. If we depart from belief, Hebrews 3:6 implies quite distinctly, we can no longer be considered part of it. We must, then, "hold fast the confidence . . . firm to the end." This phrase suggests that outside forces will try to tear our confidence, trust, and reliance on God from our grasp. This appeal parallels Jesus' warning in Matthew 24:13, "But he who endures to the end shall be saved." Only if our faith is strong all the way to crossing the finish line—whether that be death in Christ now or being changed at His coming—will we complete the salvation process and receive the fullness of the Christian hope. Next, the author of Hebrews presents the example of the Israelites in the wilderness as a negative illustration (Hebrews 3:7-11). They walked on a similar journey of faith through the wilderness to the Promised Land as we do through this world to God's Kingdom. God went with them every step of the way in the pillar of cloud and fire, and they observed His providence and miraculous intervention countless times. He even spoke directly to them at Mount Sinai and through Moses. Yet, they stopped their ears, hardened their hearts against Him, and rebelled repeatedly so that He finally decreed, "These rebels will all die in the wilderness. They do not deserve to enter the Promised Land and receive the rest I have prepared for them." As the author later writes, "So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief" (Hebrews 3:19). Our wilderness trek is spiritual, and the obstacles in our way are usually ideas and influences out of the world. They can be conspicuous or subtle: sexual "rights" or egalitarianism; Christian nationalism or heavenly citizenship; Satanism or tolerance; atheism or intellectualism; etc. Christians are too easily tricked into accepting faith-eroding ideas by cunning arguments that sound so good, so humane, so wise, but like the serpent beguiled Eve, the concepts are corrupt and ungodly, originating in the deceitful mind of Satan. Such is the worldly "Christian" argument supporting, for instance, LGBTQ+ initiatives. Its advocates argue that since the gospel promotes love for all people, God's love not only extends to those who practice ungodly sexual sins but accepts and normalizes their perversions. A reading of Romans 1:18-32 should disabuse any Christian of this satanic reasoning, but some, misunderstanding the love of God, have been caught in this trap. Godly love is based in His law, not some ethereal, too-sweet notion of universal, non-judgmental acceptance. As Isaiah 8:20 exhorts, "To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Thus, God's saints need to be careful to guard their belief with the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). Satan and his demons, along with their deluded human pawns, are involved in a full offensive against "the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). They are fighting on multiple fronts, engaged in a culture war, a psychological war, an ethnic/racial war, a political war, a religious war, and many more besides. To enhance their efforts, they work to make God's people distracted, depressed, frustrated, frantic, tired, confused, overwrought, and shaken. God knows that the battle is furious and arduous. But through the apostle Paul, He tells us to take a stand and give up no ground against our foes (Ephesians 6:13). Do not give in to the forces of unbelief! Do not surrender the high ground! Do not let the Captain of our salvation down! "Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown" because He is coming quickly (Revelation 3:11)! - Richard T. Ritenbaugh