General: to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in;
in a moral or religious reference:
used in the NT of the conviction and trust to which a man is impelled by a certain inner and higher prerogative and law of soul
to trust in Jesus or God as able to aid either in obtaining or in doing something: saving faith
mere acknowledgment of some fact or event: intellectual faith
Unbelief – G0570 apistia
disbelief
weakness of faith
Context
Having faith in God and His word
Both can exist simultaneously in our minds
The presence of unbelief does not mean that there is no belief or faith in a person’s mind
Think of belief as gas in a gas tank
Add water (unbelief) to the tank.
There’s still gas in the tank, but something has been added that dilutes it and can render it ineffective
Mark 9:14-29
We have a man whose son is bound by a demon
He brings him to Jesus because he believes there is a possibility of Him helping
The man’s belief in Jesus is not complete – he asks “if you can do anything….”
Jesus brings the man a correction
The man accepts the correction – “I believe, help my unbelief!”
James 1:5-8
James warns against double-mindedness.
Unbelief is not simply the lack of belief; it’s believing something contrary
Our minds are not empty voids – we are going to believe something
What our natural senses tell us?
Our bodies have five senses that are always providing data to our minds.
We see things around us
We hear what other people say
We have feeling in our physical bodies – pain, sickness, strength, etc.
We smell and taste
This is the reality of the natural world around us
God’s Word?
This can only come by the measure of faith that God has given us.
What God says will very often go against what see to be the natural reality
Isaiah 55:8-9 – The Lord’s ways are higher than our ways. The realities of the spirit realm are greater than those of the natural world.
We have to make the decision what we will believe
1 Kings 18:21 – Elijah challenged the people to choose between the Lord and Baal, to stop wavering between two opinions
If we decide we want to believe God’s word over the natural, the Holy Spirit is there to help us.
Romans 12:2 – Paul instructs us to renew our minds
Man’s default setting is to believe his senses. It’s our natural wiring.
It takes renewal of the mind to trust what God says, when it defies the senses.
Belief in the Lord and His Word is essential to unlocking everything that God has for us
2 Peter 1:2-4:God has placed everything we need in order to live a full and blessed life in our spirits.
Our souls are the only interface to our spirits. What we believe will determine whether we allow the good things that God placed in our spirits can affect our lives or stay bottled up.
Ultimately the decision rests with us whether to walk in the victory that God has for us or not
