Why Do Christians Doubt? Part 1

In this break from the teaching series on James, Andrew Grey preaches on the question of Why Christians Doubt. This is from Sunday 3rd May 2026.

Transcript

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Romans chapter 5, verses 1 to 5. Let me pray and then read. Father in heaven, we bless you that you make yourself known to us. You hold yourself out and invite us to receive from you. Thank you for your Holy Spirit who authored these words and who desires to work them in us now. And we ask that they would bring to us life and truth, joy and encouragement as we repent and believe and rest for the first or the umpteenth time on our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. Let's listen then to the true and living words of God, Romans chapter 5, verses 1 to 5. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Thanks be to God for his word to us today. Those are some wonderful words that I have just read. Do you ever think to yourself when you hear such things, but is it true? Or is it true for me? Do you ever find yourself, perhaps in the middle of the night, asking questions like, Am I really a Christian? Is the gospel true or just a con? I'm a Christian, but I am so stuck in sin. Or I know that Jesus died on the cross, but did he really die for me? Does Jesus really love me? I can remember, particularly as a teenager, being deeply troubled by questions like that, you know, lying in my bed in the dark, in fear and sadness and tears. You know, am I a real Christian? What do I do with my doubts? Now there are two great challenges in Christian ministry. The first is to persuade people who are not Christians that they are not Christians and that they need to turn from sin to Christ, to turn away from living for themselves, and to come to Christ as a saviour, but also as a Lord, who from that point on will take control of their lives. That's the first great challenge in Christian ministry. The second is this it is to help people who are Christians to believe and feel that they really are Christians, that they have, as we just read in verse 1 of Romans 5, that they have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and with all of the comfort and the challenge that brings. Now, the sermon this morning, the aim is this it is to help the troubled Christian deal with doubt. That is some Christians more than other Christians, that is, all Christians at some point in time. Now, most Sundays throughout the year, regular as you know, we preach uh expositional and sequential sermons. We take one book of the Bible or one section and we just work sequentially through, taking uh sequential portions of scripture. And we're doing something different today. Uh, we're looking at a doctrine, uh, a doctrine of the doctrine of doubt and assurance. And we're going to see how many different places in the Bible speak to this problem. There's a fairly full outline in the order of service. We're not going to look at all of those scriptures, but we will look at a few. And to begin with, like when you whenever you go to the doctor, the first thing you need to do, well, you need to try and diagnose the problem. So here is a painful puzzle. Why do Christians doubt? What stops a Christian person from feeling like they even are a Christian? Someone who actually is a child of God may not feel like they are a child of God. What does the Bible have to say? Well, it gives us some potential avenues to understand. First, bad theology. If we misunderstand the gospel, it's not surprising if we do not have confidence as Christian people. For example, if we imagine that in any way we merit or earn our salvation, then of course we will have masses of doubts. We will lack assurance. So if we look at Romans 5, verse 1, and actually we our own version in our own heart reads, Since we have been justified by our works, well then our assurance and our confidence before God will be destroyed. Or, subtle spin on that one. If we think that everything that Jesus has done is necessary but needs to be added to, supplemented by us in some way, then of course, similarly, we will lack assurance. And so many of the letters in the New Testament were written to deal with that, to persuade Christian people that Jesus really is 100% sufficient. Jesus plus nothing equals everything. I've got Jesus, I do not need to add anything to him. Or another example, take the Thessalonian Christians, haven't got time to go into details. They had wrong ideas about the resurrection of Jesus and the return of Jesus, and so they found themselves living the Christian life with zero hope. Bad theology screws us up. Or maybe we don't understand that right now we are called to live by faith, not by sight. There are things about glory to come for the Christian which we do not yet enjoy now. Maybe we've swallowed lies or heresy, frankly, about how if you really trust Jesus, then you will have no hardships in your life. Whereas Jesus says, if you follow him, you have to take up a cross and follow him. Or in our reading just now, Romans 5, verse 3, part of God's package deal for the Christian is suffering. Sufferings are part of God's plan. The Lord purposes and uses them. Bad theology. But suppose you do actually understand the gospel and still you doubt, what else might be going on? Second, Satan's work. From the very third chapter of the Bible, Genesis 3, we see the tempter at work. And we see his character. He comes to us snake-like and whispers in our ears, Did God really say this? And he whispers, Is God really good? Does he really want what is best for you? Is he true? And all the while his great desire is to undermine our faith in Christ. Now Satan cannot ultimately harm a Christian, but he does still prowl around like a roaring lion seeking to disrupt our walk with Jesus. And one wicked ministry of the devil is as the accuser. It's how Revelation 12 describes him, the accuser of our brothers. He accuses people before God. It's as if he says to our consciences, you are unforgivable. There's one really graphic example of this in the Old Testament in Zechariah chapter 3. It's an amazing vision we're given of Satan at work. There is a character, there's Joshua, the high priest, and Satan accuses him. He points out, he observes that Joshua is wearing filthy garments. He's stained with sin. And what Satan wants to do is to present Joshua to himself and before God as so filthy he's utterly unforgivable. So if you've ever felt like that, whenever a Christian feels like that, that's the work of Satan. Now, gloriously, in the gospel in Christ, the Lord takes away those filthy garments and he gives us pure robes to wear. He gives us, he imputes to us his perfect righteousness. But if you ever wondered, why does Satan have a grip? Why does Satan have a grip even on the soul of a Christian? He's a defeated enemy. The spiritual powers and authorities, they're disarmed by the cross, Colossians 2. So if I'm joined to Jesus, why do I still feel the pull of Satan's lies? Should I not be entirely immune to them? That takes us to our next potential reason for doubt. Our own sin, sin struggles. That is, there is something in me, there is something in even in every Christian on which Satan can get a grip, can get a purchase. Every Christian battles with the flesh. Your Bible is still open at Romans 5. Just look over to chapter 7, please, for a moment. Romans 7 and verse 22. Here the Apostle Paul describes the battle for man's soul. He writes, For I delight in the law of God in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind, and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am. He says, and you know, everyone Christian, every Christian knows this feeling. The good that I want to do, I don't do it. The evil I don't want to do, I do do it. So we we you feel this kind of inner tug, this tug of war. So Christian people were born again, we have new natures, we've been given new hearts that love Christ, but we still possess a sinful nature, what the Bible sometimes simply calls the flesh. And that's the reason, the tug of war between the flesh and the new creature, the flesh and the spirit. At its worst, it's double-mindedness. Remember, we've been thinking about that in the book of James, the split soul. I love Christ, I don't love Christ. I love Christ, I don't love Christ, and I'm okay with that. That's like the worst case scenario. That person might even not be a Christian. What Paul articulates here though in Romans 7, it's actually part of real Christian experience. It's hideous, but it's also normal. So I guarantee, if you belong to Christ, you have felt that war this week. And it can be so discouraging. It's probably the worst part of being a Christian, knowing that I still have sinful desires, that war against the Holy Spirit who dwells in me. And that battle can make you doubt. The fact of that battle can make you doubt. Now, of course, being aware of that battle and being troubled by that battle is actually a wonderfully encouraging sign of the new creature who's been born again and he's been brought onto the battlefield on Jesus' side. But sometimes we indulge sin, don't we? There's a battle going on and we don't fight it. And that will do us harm. It doesn't just dishonour Christ and hurt other people, it does something to us and our walk with God. Maybe it's just simply we're not seeking to grow as a Christian, we're neglecting those means of grace that God has given us. Well, that'll do something to us. We need things like church and worship and fellowship and Bible and prayer and to give ourselves to them. If we don't look to grow in them, we shouldn't be surprised if our faith in Jesus gets rocked. And in some corners of the Bible, places like Hebrews, you know, Hebrews chapter 5, uh, we read about immature Christians who ought to be going on and growing, but have kind of grown slack, they've grown lazy. And specific sins, specific disobedience, well, that does something to us. Maybe it's like in Psalm 73 that we read earlier. It's a wonderful Psalm. Go away and read that again. Uh, as Asaph looks back on a period in his life where he just frankly couldn't be bothered being a Christian. Everyone else is getting ahead in life by rejecting the God of the gospel. Why should I bother? I mean, he's he's he's going in a deeply double-minded direction. Now, I want you to do a little bit of page flipping with me for a moment. Please keep a finger in Romans. We will come back to it, but I'd like you to look to Psalm 32. So, Psalm 32 in the Black Church Bibles, that's page 462. So we're talking here about how struggles with sin lead to doubt in the minds of the Christian. So here's King David now reflecting on his own experience, and I want us to look at just two verses, Psalm 32, verses 3 and 4. He recalls, For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me, my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. And then I acknowledged my sin to you. So try try and put yourself into David's shoes for a minute. Again, this is entirely relatable if you're a Christian. David had been nursing some sin. We don't know what it was. He had kept silent about it. That is, it was a hidden sin. He hadn't confessed it to anyone, certainly to God, not. But what did that feel like? Did it feel like a joyful walk with God? Did it feel like happy communion with his creator and redeemer? No, it was like wasting away and groaning. It almost felt physically painful. Understand that feeling? No joy and confidence in the Lord. It was like a spiritual torture until he confessed his sin to his gracious God and experienced the blessing of sins forgiven. And it's not just that sin is miserable, God makes it miserable. I don't think there's anyone as unhappy as a sinning Christian. You know that the God of the gospel is true, you know that the way of holiness is right, and when we when we thumb our noses at our God and live in disobedience, it is an utterly miserable experience when we're torn in two in that way. Connected to that, our next heading. Fourthly, our father's discipline. We see in that Psalm, Psalm 32, verse 4, the Lord's hand was heavy upon him. So what King David was feeling was the work of God. He wants his children to be pure and mature, and so he disciplines those whom he loves. Hebrews 12. So when he bumps into sin and immaturity in his people, he may choose for a while to remove a feeling of assurance from us, and we shouldn't be shocked by that. Here's an Old Testament example. King Hezekiah. He was rescued from death, then he became proud, and we are told, it's 2 Chronicles 32, that God left him in order to test him. God left him. Now just think about that for a moment. It's not that Hezekiah lost his salvation, but it was like a disciplinary leaving, or maybe it was the frowning face of God turned toward him. Still his father in heaven, but frowning rather than in loving smile. And why does he do that? Because he loves us. He's like a father with his children. He won't let true believers continue to have full assurance while they're persisting in sin. Lastly, fifthly, human frailty. We live in a messed up world, don't we? We live in a world that is full of the consequences of sin. It's a frustrated world. It's twisted. It's so good and there's such beauties, but it's twisted out of shape. It's fallen. And that's why we have to live with frailties and weaknesses. Things go wrong with our bodies, things go wrong with our minds. And that can make it so much harder to clearly see Jesus. I'm not talking about sin, talking about different forms of suffering. Those things can tempt us to sin. Weakness, frailty. Take one example, old age. It can be full of wisdom and joy, but it can also be extremely hard. Solomon in Ecclesiastes 12, this passage in which he encourages people to remember your creator in the days of your youth before old age comes. And old age, says Solomon, its problems are not just the failing of the body, but it does something to your soul. Or it can do. Your ability to appreciate pleasure diminishes, desire fails. It can become harder to appreciate Christ. Things that are not scary are felt as being scary. Things that are not fearful, you fear them. You jump at the sound of a bird. It's human frailty and weakness, and that can diminish our awareness of the Lord and inject us with fear and doubt. Now, I don't know what you make of all of that. You sort of stand back and look at it all, different things that are involved in a Christian's walk with Christ. One thing, really obviously, a Christian's walk with Christ, it is a dynamic one, if you can put it like that. It's not static. When you're brought into union with Christ, our experience of that, our communion, if you like, well, it is a dynamic one. And from our end, from the Christian's experience, it can often be clouded with doubt for a whole bunch of different reasons. Maybe some of us are in that pit this morning. Perhaps we can see some of these factors in our own experience. Or maybe we are just all at sea. We don't know why we are how we are today, why we're so troubled or doubt-ridden or fearful. Now, here is one reason why the Christian so desperately needs fellowship with other brothers and sisters. We need people in our lives with whom we can share such burdens. Actually, part of the job and the privilege of a church elder is shepherding folk through days or seasons of doubt and fear. We're not meant to suffer in silence. But what do we do? What do we do? In a few weeks' time, actually on the on the Sunday in the bank holiday weekend at the end of May, we're going to have the second part of this sermon. We're back into James next week, so I'll book for the rest of the term, but we're going to interrupt again at the end of May and think how the Bible wants the Christian to fight doubt and grow confidence. So, Lord willing, on that Sunday, we'll see how the Bible encourages us to become convinced. You know, I am convinced that nothing can separate me. We'll think about looking at Jesus and using the tools that Jesus gives to grow our faith. We'll think about the place of looking at our lives and our obedience. That's for another time. For now, I want us to finish simply with God's word for doubting Christians. And it's very simple, and we must never ever forget it. Christians are saved by Jesus through faith. Christian people, we are not saved by feeling sure. We are not saved by never having doubts. Strictly speaking, it is not even that we are saved by faith in Christ. Because here is the gospel that Christ saves us through faith. Christ saves us through faith. I wonder if you'd come back to Romans chapter 5 one last time. Romans chapter 5, that's page 942. And here we'll finish. Look down at verse 8. But God. But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Christ saves us. Consider the plan of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to send the Son, born as a man, his obedience as the second Adam, His death on the cross bearing our sin and the wrath that our sins deserve, his resurrection and ascension, how even now he is our high priest who prays for us, his sending of the Holy Spirit, who joins us to Jesus and gives us new hearts. Christ saves us. It is simply a tool, it's simply a hand that reaches out and takes hold of that gift. And often it is mixed with doubt. Remember the man who once came to Jesus, Mark 9, 24, and he said, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. That so often is the character of a Christian's faith. And so it's really important for us to know that saving faith and feeling sure about it are actually two different things. Saving faith and the assurance of salvation are actually two different things. It's lovely that we've got a baptism this morning. As part of the baptism service, we will hear Carissa tell us about her faith in Christ. That's not what the main thing that baptism is about. Baptism is a picture of the gospel. Jesus comes to us in our weakness and our sinfulness. He pours out his Holy Spirit. And when we respond in faith, true faith, a faith that works itself out in love, but maybe faith as small as a mustard seed, or then we get to enjoy and simply receive all that Christ has done for us. Let's bow our heads. I'm going to lead us in prayer. Almighty God, Heavenly Father, we thank you that you know us, each one of us, through and through. We thank you for your compassion and your kindness. Thank you for your holiness and your might. And we pray for each one of us that you would get your word deep inside of us. We pray for a really clear sight of the Lord Jesus, who he is and what he has done. And we pray for your firm hand to keep hold of your sheep. You promise to be the good shepherd who will never leave or forsake his flock. And we ask for comfort when we need it. And we pray too today that for any who has not yet heard the call of the gospel and responded, that you would grant your gift of repentance and faith. And we thank you that in Christ we always have a sure and ready Saviour. In whose name we pray. Amen.