Is It OK To Question My Faith?

“I just gave Suzie the Gospel and she walked away distraught.”“Why? Does she not believe that she is saved?”“Well, she did, but now she says she’s not sure.”“Hmmm…I guess it’s better to figure that out now than later, huh?”“Thank you, my friend, I needed to hear that…I was feeling poorly about ruining Suzie’s day.”“That may be so, but you may have just won a soul.”The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
And he who is wise wins souls.
Believers are left here on earth after salvation to fulfill Jesus’ “Great Commission”:And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”If you’re a believer, this ought to give you the straightest perspective on your purpose in life. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that our objective is to make friends with this world. In fact, it says just the opposite. Scripture states that if you’re a friend of the world you are an enemy of God.You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.Like any friendship, friendship with the world exists in degrees. In brief, to the degree a person shares in the doctrines of the world, to that same degree they are enemies of God. This would include, first and foremost, the truth about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Conflicts with socially accepted norms and standards like “political correctness” are antagonistic to a believer’s great commission. There are similar perversions that have seeped into churches, too, where pastors preach in fear of offending their sheep…what a shame. What are they afraid of?…losing friendships with the sheep?…gaining empty seats???The world says, “We’ll give you god, but you can’t have Jesus, he’s too restrictive for our taste.” Huh? That’s right - to be on good terms (aka “friends”) with the world, one must err on the side of the “all spiritual roads lead to Heaven” mumbo jumbo. It’s interesting to observe how many professing Christians are friends with the world this way, conceding other ways as viable to salvation, as if it were within their ability to judge. Frankly, this would make Jesus a liar, who said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). If Jesus is a liar, then we can’t trust anything the Bible has to say! If that were true, what happens to our own faith, supposing the “author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2) cannot be trusted? Our faith would be in vain. Thank God it’s not, for we share ”in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago” (Titus 1:2).It’s not just important that we get the Gospel correct, it’s paramount! It’s not just important that we get some of it right, either, we’ve got to get all of it right! There’s no wiggle room, nor did Jesus or any of His apostles ever teach there is. In fact, if you read the Bible, what you’ll find is account after account of evangelists actually offending those they are presenting the Gospel to.For this is contained in Scripture:
“BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone,
AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”
This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve,
“THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,
THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,”
and,
“A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE”;
for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.Being offensive to the unsaved is to be expected. It’s why we who take the great commission to heart are undoubtedly and regularly persecuted. “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also” (John 15:20). People are persecuted when someone else has taken offense with them. In the case of the believer who’s out evangelizing, it’s the whole world that takes offense. So, what do you think is the natural repercussion of this?This brings up an even more sensitive area of evangelism - the churches (not the Church, Christ’s Body of believers, as there is a distinction). We know from scripture that at any moment in time, there are unbelievers present in the churches, even though they profess to be believers. “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19). The professing “Christian” unbeliever is not an uncommon phenomenon. Even Jesus taught the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares on this topic in Matthew 13:24-30. One of the key principles in that parable is that tares (unbelievers) may look just like wheat (believers), but in the end, the Lord will judge them separately.Knowing just these aforementioned facts, that Jesus is offensive to some and the churches have unbelievers in them, ought to spawn enough tenacity in the soul of any evangelist worth their salt to address the issue of the Gospel head on every chance possible. If some are offended, then the Gospel-bearing believer stands with Paul, who wrote to the Corinthian church, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test” (2 Corinthians 13:5)? Would such a statement have been offensive to some in the church? Indeed, for the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write it for a reason, after all. But how about those who were actually already saved…how might the unadulterated Gospel strike them?If a true believer’s salvation is severely challenged, the end result is always a reaffirmation of faith. That’s a wonderful fruit to bear in the soul. If a believer is to take Paul’s advice to “examine” themselves, and they indeed pass “the test…that Jesus Christ is in [them]”, then hallelujah!In a clearly insufficient analogy, suppose you’re born beautiful (you are wonderfully made, btw - Psalms 139:14) and you only hear the words “you’re beautiful” once in your life. How would that existence compare to the one where you hear “you’re beautiful” every day of your life? Which would you prefer? Why? If you’re “beautiful”, you’re beautiful, right? Why would you ever benefit from hearing it more than one time in your entire life?…yet, your heart says you would. What if someone comes along and says, “you’re ugly”? Would it help if shortly after you hear the words “you’re beautiful, don’t listen to them”? I hope you see the analogy here. If you’re saved, and someone challenges your salvation, then when the Word in your soul reaffirms it, you are all the better off, for the Spirit has spoken directly to you. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26). With the right perspective, any challenge to our faith results in our faith flexing, resulting in reassurance. “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God” (1 John 3:21). Technically, it’s not required, but it sure can be a blessing to be reminded that you’re faith is not in vain and eternal life is yours to keep!The more severe the challenge, the greater the fruit!Let’s consider one last example to reaffirm Jesus’ own stance on being offensive. The truth is that He never had a problem with presenting Himself as the standard for the Gospel, standing up for truth, even if it was grotesquely unsettling to those in His periphery.The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME.”Given the simple fact that the epicenter of Jewish culture was the Temple, Jesus’ activities that day would have been horrendously offensive to the arrogant. Good! As I’ve taught many times from my own pulpit, “The truth is always offensive to some, particularly the arrogant.” There’s always fallout when arrogance meets its superior, humility (Jesus is the manifestation of humility). So be it. You must expect to meet the same end when you stand up for the Gospel. The beauty of this scene in John 2 is that we see immediately in John 3 that one of the Pharisees (of the “offended” crowd), Nicodemus, came to Jesus seeking truth. He is ultimately saved as a result, proving that the so-called “offensive” Gospel of Jesus does its rightful work in those who are actually open to it.I have learned through practical experience, even in the churches, that if you stand up for the Gospel…not just the socially acceptable “nice” parts of it that point to how God loves and efficaciously saves man…but the “offensive” parts of it that put man’s humility to the test prior to his own conversion…I’ve learned that you will be persecuted, it’s just a matter of time, and sometimes even by other individuals who are too weak to be standing alongside you from their own pulpits. Nowhere in scripture are we encouraged to compromise the Gospel in order to keep the peace in the churches. "If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men” (Romans 12:18). “If possible” means that, like Jesus and His apostles, we are to approach others with a peaceful heart. However, we cannot ever compromise the fullness of the Gospel, leaving out the fiercely judgmental side of it, just because we’re afraid some may be offended. Frankly, people’s eternal salvation is in view. We must accept that conviction often draws out the worst in people.So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them.If someone chooses to attack you because you give them the Gospel and it offends them somehow, maybe even challenges their own profession of the faith, then reply with a simple, “Thank you, that makes me a little like Jesus!” Tell them why it is that you’re so adamant about sticking to your guns…quote Paul if you must, for it is scripture, after all:But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.Be encouraged, my brothers and sisters in Christ. Unfortunately, the true Gospel is becoming increasingly offensive in this world, while other versions of it are prospering. And as the so-called “Christian” churches begin morphing into unholy gatherings, where some counterfeit, watered down gospel is preached, may I encourage you to press on in the face of adversity, for all of this was prophesied long ago.I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.In the eternal estate, when all the battles have been fought, you might have your own “Suzie” reminding you of how grateful she is that you didn’t kowtow to the pressures of those peddling counterfeit gospels and counterfeit saviors, ones without the supreme constitution of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the righteous Judge of all men. And won’t that be a wonderful time indeed…

…and on the flip side, if you happen to be “Suzie” in this example, then be grateful to those who have had the courage (the faith) to challenge you with the true Gospel, for they are the best friends you’ll ever know.

Love in Christ,
​
Ed Collins