Lesson 7. Mistakes in Faith. The “Foundations of Faith” School. Senior Pastor Dmitriy Leo prepared this teaching for Father’s Blessing Church in October 2021.
Lesson 7. Mistakes in Faith
1. Doubting in Faith
Jas. 1:6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that person suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. 8 A person with a double mind is not steadfast in all his ways.
A double mind – literally, in Greek, double-minded, or doubting and wavering.
Not steadfast – inconsistent, changeable
Doubting in faith is regarded by heaven as a deficiency in a person. Such a person is inconsistent in all his ways, even if he is not yet aware of it.
The apostle James gave a clue in verse 5.
Jas. 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, – and it will be given him.
Here, the subject is not only wisdom but also any needs, because in verses 7 and 8 James refers to all of a person’s requests to God.
In general, this continues James’s thought about the trials of faith that people go through. We need to ask God for wisdom, and He will show us what to do during this trial.
But we discussed this in the previous lesson; those who have not seen it can watch it.
Conclusion. We need to ask God in faith and not doubt, either at once or later, knowing that He gives generously to all without reproach.
2. Rejecting the conscience
1 Tim. 1:18 I entrust this command to you, my son Timothy, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, so that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, suffered shipwreck concerning the faith; 20 among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I handed over to Satan so that they may learn not to blaspheme.
Shipwreck - to suffer shipwreck, failure
We need to wage war with faith and a pure conscience, not with faith alone. Faith without a pure conscience can lead to shipwreck.
Conscience is the standards written in every person’s heart for how to think, speak, act, and live correctly. Conscience speaks to both believers and unbelievers.
When a believer does not hear the Lord, his conscience still convicts him—unless he has rejected it.
The apostle Paul writes that a good conscience can be rejected, and this will lead to problems.
For example, a person plans something evil, and his conscience begins to convict him. It is like a red warning light. But the person rejects this signal and does what is wrong. At the same time, he firmly believes that God will answer him according to his faith.
But time passes and God does not answer because the person does not act according to the Word of God. The person asks again, but there is still no answer. Then the person becomes discouraged, begins to speak negatively about faith, and may ultimately experience a collapse of faith.
Conclusion. Ask in faith, stand in faith, live by faith, but know that by rejecting a good conscience, you will suffer failure in faith. All the more so if you reject the Word of God or the voice of the Holy Spirit.
3. Deception
1 Tim. 4:1 Now the Spirit clearly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons (demons),
Depart – to go away, withdraw, fall away, leave, or turn aside.
These are not doctrines of demons, but literally doctrines of demons. It is important to be vigilant regarding revelations that go beyond commonly accepted biblical foundations.
The names given to these revelations are attractive, but keep in mind that for success in any area, what is written in the Bible is sufficient for you.
Do not think that something completely new and challenging everything will help you solve your problems.
For more than 2,000 years, our predecessors solved problems and received answers to all their needs based solely on the old, good Word.
On the contrary, modern extraordinary revelations have not solved people's problems and have sometimes only brought new problems into their lives.
Conclusion. A person can go very far from the faith and become immersed in deception and the doctrines of demons. Accordingly, such people stop seeing miracles through faith, but they do have special revelations that cannot be shared with everyone. Think carefully about whether it is worth it.
4. Love of Money
1 Tim. 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil; and by giving themselves over to it, some have wandered away, from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Giving themselves over to it – to strive, pursue, desire.
Wandered away – to turn aside, go away, or fly far away
Love for money and the desire to become wealthy lead people away from the faith. This desire drives people to pursue money, expand their businesses, devote themselves to financial goals, spend time pursuing a big dream, and so on.
This path requires much dedication, time, and effort to earn money. It also leads a person away from the faith toward total dedication to business.
The Apostle Paul writes that such people themselves have subjected many sorrows.
Most likely, they will indeed earn a lot of money, but also experience many sorrows.
But the path of faith is different. God balances the spiritual and physical aspects of your life.
Conclusions
We learned about four mistakes people make in the faith. These are not all the mistakes, but they are mistakes deserving special attention.
1. Wavering in faith.
2. Rejecting the conscience.
3. Deception.
4. Love of money.
Prayer on the lesson topic
– to believe and waver
– not to reject one's conscience
– not to fall into deception
– not to fall into the love of money
