DEFINITION: The biblical meaning of unbelief is refusing to believe in God and His Word. Unbelief is a lack of faith.
FACTS ABOUT UNBELIEF:
The Bible says you are a fool if you do not believe in God. “The fool says in his heart, “‘There is no God'” (Psalm 14:1).
Some people refuse to be convinced. Jesus said that if people would not listen to the Moses and the prophets, then they would not believe even if someone rose from the dead to confirm the reality of God and His Word (Luke 16:31). Even supernatural miracles will not convince someone who refuses to be convinced (John 4:48).
If you do not believe in God, you are condemned. Jesus said, “Whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:18).
Unbelief hinders you from receiving God’s promises. You may believe in God, but if you are filled with unbelief regarding the promises in His Word you will miss many great spiritual blessings. God promised Israel their land, but their unbelief kept them from claiming it for forty years! They could not enter in because of their unbelief (Hebrews 3:19) .
Unbelief hinders the work of God. Jesus did not do miracles in Nazareth because of their unbelief (Matthew 13:58).
If you deny Christ, He will deny you. “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33).
DEALING WITH UNBELIEF:
Examine reasons for unbelief. What caused you to reject God and His Word? Perhaps it was disappointment because of unanswered prayer or a great tragedy you experienced. Perhaps you received false teaching. Go to the root cause of your unbelief.
Recognize the vital importance of believing in God and His Word. Your eternal destiny is at stake: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (John 3:36). Revelation 21:8 says those who refuse to believe will be separated from God for eternity.
Confess unbelief as sin. Whatever is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:23). Confess your unbelief to God and ask forgiveness.
Ask God to help you believe. As the father who brought his ailing child to Jesus, cry out by faith: “Lord, I believe. Help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).
Study the Word, pray, and fellowship with believers. These three basics will strengthen your core beliefs in God and His Word. Faith comes by the Word of God, and fellowship with other believers strengthens it (Romans 10:17; Hebrews 3:12-13).
WHAT GOD’S WORD SAYS ABOUT UNBELIEF:
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” (Psalm 14:1)
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water. (Jeremiah 17:13)
Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33)
Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. (Matthew 13:58)
Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. ” (Matthew 17:19-21, NKJV)
“Lord, I believe. Help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).
Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. (Mark 15:14, NKJV)
If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead. (Luke 16:31)
If you are the Christ,” they said, “tell us.” Jesus answered, If I tell you, you will not believe me, and if I asked you, you would not answer. (Luke 22:67-68)
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God–children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John 1:12-13)
Whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (John 3:18)
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him. (John 3:36)
Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, Jesus told him, you will never believe. (John 4:48)
You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. (John 5:39-40)
The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe. (John 6:63)
For even his own brothers did not believe in him. (John 7:5)
I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am [the one I claim to be], you will indeed die in your sins. (John 8:24)
Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? (John 8:46)
Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. (John 12:37)
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.” (Acts 16:31)
Yet he (Abraham) did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. (Romans 4:20-21)
That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10)
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)
See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3:12-13)
So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. (Hebrews 3:19)
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. (1 John 3:23)
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars–their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)
(See also the topics of “Doubt” and “Faith” in this database.)