Tag Archives: unbelief

THE GOSPEL IN HEBREWS – 6

March 21, 2025Bible Studydisobedience, rest, unbeliefLuella Campbell

Since Jesus is superior to Moses as the Son over God’s household and the Old Covenant, the writer to the Hebrews warns his readers of the danger of unbelief.

Hebrews 3:12-13 NLT
[12] “Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. [13] You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.”

During their journey through the wilderness, the children of Israel repeatedly tested God’s patience by complaining against their hardships…hunger and thirst for example, despite the miracles He did for them.

“Don’t be like them! Through their unbelief, they failed to enter the rest God promised them in the Promised Land.”

Hebrews 4:1-2 NLT
[1] “God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. [2] For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God.”

There is an even greater rest for those who are faithful in suffering…the rest of faith in Jesus that frees us from the hard work of trying to earn our salvation.

Hebrews 3:14 NLT
[14]”For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.”

The Israelites who rebelled against God never saw the Promised Land. They died in the desert, leaving behind the next generation that entered Canaan and took possession of the land God gave them. However, what the Israelites failed to understand was that their new life in the Promised Land was to be a life of faith in God and obedience to His commands. They would have rest from their enemies around them and from the struggles of life through their faithfulness to God and in His care.

The Israelites rested from the hard work of travel and war, only to suffer punishment because they failed to trust God. There is an even greater rest for those who believe in Jesus, a rest from the ravages of sin and unbelief.

Hebrews 4:6-7, 9-10 NLT
[6] “So God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God. [7] So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts…”
[9] So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. [10] For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world.”

So, the writer urges his readers, “If you go back to Judaism, you will never enter the rest of faith in Jesus.” God’s rest is a rest of heart and conscience from the penalty and power of sin. Don’t miss it through unbelief in God’s Word.

Hebrews 4:11-13 NLT
[11] “So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.
[12] For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. [13] Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.”

As the Israelites of old, we cannot dodge the scrutiny of God’s Word. God sees and knows the depth of the human heart. He knows when there is unbelief in our hearts that refuses to obey Him. He responds to those who truly believe His Word and trust in the one He sent to deal with our sin.

As David prayed…

Psalms 139:23-24 NLT
[23] “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. [24] Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

… let us, also, willingly invite the Father’s scrutiny of our innermost being. Then we will enter His rest, escape the penalty of our sin, and enjoy all the benefits He has promised us in Jesus, the author and finisher of our salvation.

To be continued…

KINDNESS AND STERNNESS

May 5, 2021Bible Studykindness, sternness, unbeliefLuella Campbell

KINDNESS AND STERNNESS

“Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God; sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in His kindness. Otherwise, you too will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature and, contrary to nature, were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?” Romans 11:22-24.

That puts paid to the pernicious “once saved, always saved” doctrine!

There is a never-ending supply of God’s grace for those who “continue in His kindness.” Of that we can be absolutely confident. However, God’s covenant with His people is a two-way agreement. In one sense, He has done it all. There is nothing we can add to what Jesus did by His life and death to make it more effective. He has redeemed us from slavery to sin, reconciled us to the Father and restored us to His family as His sons and daughters. “He has given us everything we need for living a godly life…” 2 Peter 1;3a. He has placed His Spirit within us to nuture and guide us in His ways.

But, like the Israelites who were cut off because of their unbelief and disobedience, we can also be cut off if we persist in living according to the flesh. There is ample evidence in the Scriptures, both in the Old and the New Testaments that the initiative to remain in union with God is ours. Consider what Jesus said to His disciples on the eve of His crucifixion:

‘If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” John 15:6.

Sobering words from the Master Himself!

Paul was equally adamant that the life of God in us must produce the fruit of that life.

“Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” Romans 8:5, 6.

From where does the idea come that we can continue to live as we like and still remain in the vine? Our union with Jesus is both passive and active – passive in that we need do nothing to remain in Him because He has called us into His rest, yet active in that we continue to trust Him, obey His Word and walk in the Spirit.

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.” Romans 8:14.

There is no limit to God’s kindness towards those who believe and obey what He says, but only punishment for those who do not. He cannot do otherwise because He has done everything necessary to restore us to Himself but leaves the choice to us. Answering an altar call or signing a decision card, or even receiving Jesus as our personal Saviour is not the criterion – only faith and obedience are.

For the Jew as well as the Gentile, the way back to God is the same. They, and we, cannot count on our ancestry to guarantee our relationship with the Father; it is individual and personal, just as God revealed to Habakkuk:

“…The righteous person will live by his faithfulness.” Habakkuk 2:4b.

Like many of God’s promises, eternal life is conditional. It is a partnership between us and God. We believe and He responds to our faith by energising us to obey. The Holy Spirit is the “fuel” who gives power to our choices. We act upon the promises of God and He moves us closer to the image of His Son.

“Through these (His own glory and goodness), He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world caused by evil desires.” 2 Peter 1:4.

I think that the issue is not so much about being saved and then living in the flesh but about thinking one is saved but has never been born again of the Spirit of God. Saying the “sinner’s prayer” or answering an altar call does not save anyone. Paul said,

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ¹¹ As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” ¹ Romans 10:9-12

The evidence that one has truly been born again of God’s Spirit lies in the transformation of the life from ungodliness to the new life that seeks after God and lives according to the Word.

“No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. ¹⁰ This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.” 1 John 3:9-10

Acknowledgement

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – NO SENSE OF GOD!

August 3, 2020Bible Studyconvulsion, take pity on us, unbeliefLuella Campbell

NO SENSE OF GOD

¹⁹ “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
²⁰ So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
²¹ Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”
“From childhood,” he answered. ²² “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
²³ “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
²⁵ When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
²⁶ The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. Mark 9:19-27

If our understanding of prayer is that the essence of prayer is changing our awareness from self-awareness to God-awareness, then Jesus’ diagnosis of the disciples’ powerlessness to deliver the demon-possessed boy, “No sense of God”, and the reason for their powerlessness, “There is no way to get rid of this demon except by prayer,” makes a whole lot of sense.

What made Jesus so effective in His campaign against evil, both in His teaching and in His works? Was it because His God-awareness put Him in perfect alignment with the wisdom and power of God? Since He functioned as a human being and not as God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, where did His God-awareness come from? Jesus was the last Adam, born innocent but not righteous. His righteousness was won through a hard-fought battle against the continual onslaughts of the enemy. Satan had one objective – to destroy Jesus’ unity with God and by getting Him to act independently of His Father. He succeeded in the Garden of Eden with Adam but he failed with Jesus.

Jesus had two powerful weapons, the Word of God and prayer. He spent thirty years in obscurity, becoming saturated in the use of these two weapons. Then He emerged into the limelight to engage His enemy and prove His true sonship by overcoming the enemy’s many-pronged attacks. “He learned obedience from what He suffered.” Hebrews 5:8. Did He learn obedience through trial and error? No, He learned the power of obedience by obeying. Obedience made Him stronger and stronger in His ECHAD and in His perfect dependence on the Father.

So, what He taught His disciples that day through their failure to rescue this child from his tormentors was what they and we need to learn to fulfil and complete His mission on earth. God’s kingdom can only come and His will be done through disciples who learn to imitate their Master; people whose minds are saturated with the word of God, who are constantly practising the presence of God, walk in the Spirit and live in unity with the Father. Such people are as serious a threat to Satan as Jesus was.

A Universal Message

September 20, 2015Bible Studyall creation, preach, rebuked, the Eleven, unbeliefLuella Campbell

A UNIVERSAL MESSAGE

Later, Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; He rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16: 14-16)

Although this final section of Mark’s gospel was not in the original manuscript, it is quite clearly the work of someone who was in the inner circle. Note how his addition links in with what had gone before.

The Eleven! The disciples were often officially called “The Twelve” but one had failed and dropped out. Whoever wrote this short ending was well aware of this and re-named the group “The Eleven”. After the ascension of Jesus, Peter took it on himself to convene a meeting of the believers to choose a man to replace Judas. However, although Matthias was chosen by lot, it is clear from the early history of the church that God’s choice to replace Judas and complete the Twelve was not Matthias but Paul.

When Jesus appeared to the Eleven after His resurrection, according to this anonymous writer, His first words were to rebuke them for their unbelief. Mark had made it very clear that no one believed the report of the women or the two whom Jesus had accompanied on their way home to Emmaus. Even the women themselves had fled from the tomb in fear after seeing and hearing the message of the young man. What a slap in the face for their Master!

Although Jesus had appeared and reappeared to His disciples at various times and places, it was never the same as it had been before. He was no longer with them constantly to teach and guide them on their journey with Him. He has promised that the Holy Spirit would come to take His place but His promise was yet to be fulfilled.

The additional ending to Mark’s story is a summary of the forty days between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. He tied up all the loose ends of Peter’s denial and their desertion, making sure that they were all aware that their past was behind them and that they had a commission to fulfil which had not been withdrawn because of their failure. On the contrary, they were better prepared to do their Master’s will, now that they had tasted the terrible consequences of their independence and self-sufficiency. Already, some of Jesus’ teachings and warnings were coming home to them with painful clarity.

Jesus informed them that the sweep of their commission was far greater than just the human race. That didn’t mean that they had literally to preach to animals and inanimate creation, but it did mean that His death and resurrection had implications for the whole universe. The twelfth apostle, Paul, caught the impact of this and reported it to the readers of his letter to the church in Rome and, of course to all those down the centuries who have benefitted from his correspondence to them,

For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. (Rom. 8: 19-22)

A day is coming, said Paul, when all of creation, not just those who have believed and were baptised, will be restored to the original plan of the Creator. Tied up with the good news of redemption through the blood of Jesus, is the hope of restoration and renewal for all of the created universe.

Why did this writer make clear that baptism was to be an integral part of a believer’s initiation into the kingdom of God? Ritual washing was a common practice in Judaism, not a unique rite of Christianity. It was not a once-off occurrence among the Jews but a common practice because it testified to the washing away of old things; e.g., of uncleanness after physical healing or childbirth; of a preparatory stage in a person’s life, e.g., for the priesthood, and identification with a new group or movement. John’s baptism was symbolic of the washing away of old ways of thinking and believing (repentance) and identification with John and his teaching about the Messiah.

How unfortunate that the Greek word, baptizo, was transliterated instead of translated, making it appear to be something unique to Jesus. Baptism was not understood to be part of salvation, but a cut-off point for everyone seriously committed to following Jesus. It is the declaration of intent as well as the witness to what has already happened within.

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life. (Rom. 6: 3-4)

How sad that the church has made baptism to mean something different from Jesus’ original intenion. It is impossible for babies and young children to make such a commitment, or for parents to do it on their behalf. This is about mikvah, washing away the old life and entering into a new one, in union with Jesus through faith; and the public confession of identification with Him in His person and mission – to reveal the Father and to establish His kingdom on earth.

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Watch this space. My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), companion volume to Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master, will soon be on the bookshelves.

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Failure

July 23, 2015Bible Studyfire, Spirit, unbelief, waterLuella Campbell

FAILURE

When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet Him. ‘What are you arguing with them about?’ He asked. A man in the crowd answered, ‘Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.’ (Mark 9:14-18).

Jesus’ disciples weren’t doing very well, were they? The ones with Him up the mountain were hopelessly uncomprehending and the ones down below were out of their depth with a demon-possessed boy. They were supposed to be practising to be disciples but all they could produce at this stage was failure.

Imagine the disappointment and exasperation the father of the boy must have felt! Of course he understood that these men were followers of Jesus and that they, therefore, should be able to do what He did. But they couldn’t. The evil spirit just would not obey them. Didn’t the spirit know that he was supposed to get out when they told it to? Apparently not.

‘You unbelieving generation,’ Jesus replied, ‘how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.’ (Mark 9: 19).

Jesus exploded! After all this time with them, all they could produce was unbelief and failure. What was wrong with them? How long would it take Him to convince these knuckleheads that He was who He was and that He had given them authority to do what He did? Exasperated, He called for the boy to be brought to Him. What was the use of having disciples when He had to do it all Himself?

What was their problem? His outburst, in the words of Eugene Peterson (The Message), reveal their mind-set, still stuck on their circumstances instead of being aware of God.

‘What a generation! No sense of God! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this?

In this outburst, Jesus revealed the difference between the attitude of the disciples and His attitude – God-awareness. Adam and Eve lost their God-awareness the moment they disobeyed Him and stepped out of His felt presence. They hid from Him because they were afraid. Why were they afraid? They were aware of their nakedness? What happened to change everything? Because of their rebellion, they became painfully self-aware and their self-awareness took over.

Jesus was so God-conscious, so one with the Father, that He did everything in God. There was no situation too big for Him to handle because He and the Holy Spirit were one. Yes, Jesus was frustrated with His disciples and yet, failure was as much, if not more, their training ground as success. Isn’t it true that we learn more from our failures than from our successes?

Jesus was annoyed but not fazed by their inability to drive out the demon. He knew that when the Holy Spirit fell on them, they would be launched into a new kind of life, filled with revelation and authority way beyond their wildest dreams. This is still boot-camp. They were still battling with the basics, but their time was coming.

So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

Jesus asked the boy’s father, ‘How long has he been like this?’ ‘From childhood,’ he answered. ‘It has often thrown him into the fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. ‘If you can’? said Jesus. ‘Everything is possible for one who believes.’ (Mark 9: 20-23).

Now we are beginning to understand why the disciples failed with this boy. This was a particularly stubborn and defiant demon. It even tried to resist Jesus. It had been squatting in this boy for years and was not about to give way without a fight.

The father’s wistful request brought an indignant retort from Jesus. “If you can”? He echoed. Of course He could. He would never ignore a cry for help. But His mercy needed trust. If the father trusted Jesus, it would happen.

Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’ (Mark 9: 24).

Now it was all coming together – God-consciousness that made them more aware of God than the circumstances, and the authority that flowed from that God-consciousness; and confidence that Jesus could do it. This was a lesson the disciples had to learn. It was not about them. It was about Him. They could do it because He said so and He had confidence in their confidence in Him.