THE SIN OF UNBELIEF

And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me. (John 16:8-9)

He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18)

In these verses we can see that we are not con- demned for all the evil things we have done. They are not our real problem. They appear to be our problem because of the deceitfulness of sin, but they are not as we shall see. All of our sins have been forgiven, past present and future because they were placed upon Jesus and were taken away. If we do not believe this then we are not believing in Christ and it is this unbe- lief which is our only true sin.

If we look a little deeper into this we can say that we are really not responsible for all the wrong things (sins) which we committed. This is why God does not con- demn us for them. There cannot be condemnation where there was no responsibility (ability to respond). This might sound like the craziest thing you ever heard and you might condemn it as false teaching so I will show it to you clearly.

God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2 Tim. 2:24-26)

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. (John 8:34)

The new testament is very clear, in particular (Rom. 6:16-17) and elsewhere that we in our natural condi- tion are slaves to sin. We do not see ourselves as slaves but rather as people who have free choice. But our slavery comes from our decision to go our own way and living for self. This means that no matter what we do we end up serving ourselves. Our very best efforts all end up short of the mark. A slave must do what his master tells him, so as long as he remains in captivity he cannot be held respon- sible for his actions no matter how evil they become.

If however someone offers him a key to unlock his captivity and he refuses to take it he will be without excuse. He may have his reasons to stay in captivity, after all there is a lot of pleasure in living for self and one might not want to surrender it easily. Neverthe- less, if we refuse to use the key we remain in slavery. The person who is in captivity thinks that he is making the choices in his life but he is not. Someone else is living through him and is deceiving him into thinking it is himself. You will see that sin is his master in the following verses.

For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I know not: for not what I would, that do I practise; but what I hate, that I do. But if what I would not, that I do, I consent unto the law that it is good. So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me. (Rom. 7:14-17)

For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me, but to do that which is good is not. For the good which I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I practice. But if what I would not, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me. (Rom. 7:18-20)

Consider the words “sold under sin” in the very first verse. This is the terminology of someone who is sold as a slave. Also consider the words “it is no more I that do it” There a lot of things he would love to do but he ends up doing the things he hates.

The things his master of sin tells him to do. The master in these verses is called “sin” and Paul discovered by revelation from Christ that he was in such bondage to the power of sin that he considered it was not himself who was doing the evil deeds, but sin itself which lives within every one who has chosen to follow his own way in life.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isa. 53:6)

There it is in one verse. Our sin is simply going our own way and living for ourselves. Sin took us captive by deceiving us into thinking that we could live for ourselves and not for the purpose which God intended. Our heavenly father placed all of that iniquity on His son and took it away so we could now come out of the prison of living for self by believing unto Christ. Living for self can seem innocent enough at the beginning butItisonlyaswegoonwewillnoticethatwedo things we hate doing. For example: we end up telling lies to others and getting into arguments and into situations we did not choose and many other things. The things we do might change as we get older but we will still see bad fruit. It is like Jesus said. A bad tree produces bad fruit.

In Christ, our father has already forgiven us for all our iniquity but if we refuse to use the key of trusting in Christ we will be guilty of sin. Every one of us only has one true sin. This sin is the sin of unbelief in Jesus. All the other sins in the Bible are but the outworking of unbelief in Jesus and this is why Paul calls them the works of the flesh. These works have power over us when we are not believing in Jesus and depending upon Him. So we see that they are not the real issue before God. These have all been forgiven and taken away in Christ so the real issue is the evil heart of unbelief. This is the only sin the spirit of God will convict us of.

No matter how big your sin or sins are you must know that they have already been taken care of and buried with Jesus. This means that they no longer exist between God and you. If you feel that they do stand between God and you then it is you who is keeping them there. This is unbelief and it is a greater sin than all the other sins you have ever committed.

You are not believing in what Jesus has done for you. This is the real sin.

Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.(Heb. 3:12-13)

It is very important to see this because as a believer you will be tempted to tackle your individual sins of the flesh, believing you are doing the right thing and you will experience total frustration and futility. This will be doomed to failure simply because the Spirit of God will not be with you and you will be acting on your own apart from Christ. It will be an act of unbelief because you will be attempting to do something which has already been accomplished. It is not your business to be dealing with your works of the flesh (sins). Your business is to believe in Christ and look away from yourself and your works to Him. This is the real issue, abiding in Him. This is one aspect of the deceitfulness of sin. The following verse shows that the Spirit of God is dealing with the root of unbelief. Dealing with our wicked works is like cutting bad branches from a tree. The branches are not the problem.

And even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit

is cut down and thrown into the fire.”(Luke 3:9)

Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a cor- rupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. (Matt.7:17-19)

The condemnation we experience will be from our own conscience and our accuser will accuse us night and day before God. We know this because the condemnation will be directed at our evil works and not for our unbelief in Christ. This is intended to keep us in bondage by misdirecting our attention toward our works. Our heavenly father does not condemn us at all, even if we fail to believe in Christ. His attention is upon loving us and speaking His word of faith to our hearts. If you read the gospels you will see that when Jesus rebuked His disciples it was not for evil works which they did, it was for their unbelief. The following few verses makes this very clear.

“Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” (Heb.3:15)

And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. (Heb.3:18-19)

And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his works should be reproved. But he that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, that they have been wrought in God. (John 3:19-21)

If you have not come to Christ yet or if you have and you are hiding in the darkness then these verses will tell you why. It is because you hate the light that He brings and you want to continue to live for yourself in your evil deeds under the cover of that darkness. As we have mentioned before, your evil deeds are not a problem to God. They have already been taken care of in Christ and His cross. Your real issue is a heart of unbelief. An evil heart of unbelief will keep putting your sins between yourself and God and convince you that it is God who is putting your sins between you and He. Your heavenly father will never place anything between Himself and you because He has taken it all away in the death of His only son. His arms are open wide and you can come with absolute confidence even while you are in your sins. As a matter of fact, especially when you are in your sins. It is only your unbelief that is between God and you and it is not your father who has placed it there. It is you. Here is that lovely verse again.

When He (the spirit) is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me. (John 16: 8-9)

It is only our unwillingness to believe this that can stop us and this is what we call unbelief which is the only true sin. But let us go just a little further. If unbelief is sin and Jesus became sin on the cross then even our unbelief has been done away with. This means we are

entirely without excuse in holding onto it. We have absolutely no right to stay in this unbelief. No right whatsoever. It also means that the power of unbelief is completely broken and need not trouble us ever again. Indeed the truth makes us free.

Now that you have understood this message and seen the glory of what God has done in His son you will either have to give up completely and surrender to Christ or go into a deeper darkness by hardening your heart.

Today if ye shall hear his voice, Harden not your hearts. (Heb. 3:14)

He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in him: he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he hath not believed in the witness that God hath borne concerning his Son. (1 John 5:10)

If you have not realised it by now let me tell you that this is nothing but the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is determined to save you He just needs your permission. He will not undermine your personal autonomy. He is not a liar. When He says there is nothing between He and you you can believe it.

The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the mar- riage feast: and they would not come. Again he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them that are bidden, Behold, I have made ready my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come to the marriage feast. (Matt. 22:2-4).

In His Love, Noel Tuite.