WHEN 'UNBELIEF' IS GOOD

There is a knock at your door. 

You open it to find a few well-dressed, polite members of some religious group. Through forced smiles, they begin the process of creating a friendly rapport so that the purpose of their visit will seem less intrusive. They might ask a few questions to get you engaged ... and then turn to a well-rehearsed 'sales pitch' about their beliefs. 

Be careful. 

The Bible gives us this admonition ... Beloved, believe not every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)

So 'unbelief' is just as important as 'belief'.  

We are called to be 'unbelievers'. It is as necessary to our walk of faith as 'exhaling' is to 'inhaling'. You cannot fully believe God's truth without understanding and rejecting that which opposes it. 

Any church that doesn't trust in the sufficiency of Christ for every aspect of salvation puts forth an egocentric theology steeped in pride. They teach that the only way to appease God is by conforming to their ill-conceived, false doctrines. 

These people often put forth a convincing argument by mishandling the Word of God ... and those who are not students of the Bible can fall prey to it. 

Paul's writings were said to be ... things that the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they also do to the rest of scripture. (2 Peter 3:16)

The spiritually immature can be caught in the undertow of a false gospel ... tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, (Ephesians 4:14)

We navigate a world full of lies, a hostile environment in which falsehoods are 'winked at' ... and widely accepted. Don't be pressured into believing a form of religion that adds to, takes from, or negates altogether the Gospel message.

The indwelling Holy Spirit will prompt you to exercise 'unbelief' in everything that seeks to replace truth with error. 

Heed Him.