A DOUBTFUL AND UNBELIEVING MIND

St. Matthew 14:31  O you of little faith, why did you doubt?

St. Mark 6:6 – And he marveled because of their unbelief.

Topic:  Are we dealing with doubt or unbelief?

Subtopic:  A doubtful and unbelieving mind

We usually speak of doubt and unbelief  together as if they are one and the same.  Doubt and Unbelief have different meanings. 

Doubt –1 Kings 18:21 – How long will you halt and limp between two opinions?

To stand in two ways, implying uncertainty, being anxious, through a distracted state of mind, of wavering between hope and fear. Doubt causes a person to waver between two opinions. Doubt is not something that God put in us. Romans 12:3 –God gives every man a measure of faith.      God has placed faith in our heart, but the devil tries to negate our faith by attacking us with doubt.

Unbelief - is always rendered as disobedience.

Matthew 17:14-20¹⁴And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,  ¹⁵Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for oft times he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.  ¹⁶And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.  ¹⁷Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.  ¹⁸And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.  ¹⁹Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? ²⁰And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Jesus said, How long shall I be with you, and how long shall I suffer you.  In other words,How long do I have to teach, train and transition you to react and respond and reproduce according to your faith in ME!  Because they were not  stepping out on what they were taught and what they heard, they were unable to produce the spiritual fruit that Christ expected of them!   

Romans 10:17 For FAITH cometh by HEARING and HEARING by The Word of God.