Mill Creek Blog

Many people confuse doubt with unbelief, and at times this can become an issue to explore when thinking through the subject of assurance of salvation and the understanding of who we are in Christ. John MacArthur raises eight basic reasons behind such doubts that have bearing on this important issue. He lists them as: 1) lack of strong preaching on assurance. The church as a whole may not address this issue enough. 2) Confusion on the issues of guilt and forgiveness. 3) Ignorance of the sovereignty of God in salvation. We do not save ourselves, God saves us. 4) Uncertainty as to the exact time that a person came to faith in Christ. 5) Temptation and the pull of sin being confused with actual sin. 6) An inability to see God’s purposes in a trial. 7) Being caught up in a fleshly, unrepentant lifestyle. 8) Outright disobedience to the truth.[1]

But we can be relieved of the anxiety in the struggle we may feel. Nearly every believer at one time or another  struggles with these kinds of questions: Did I truly believe? What about the occasional doubts that may come to me... does that mean I lost salvation, or never had it? Could I commit the "unforgiveable sin" that Jesus mentions in the gospels?

Doubt in itself, though it may feed upon an unbiblical suggestion, is not always a sinful experience. It can be a temptation only. It is only when it is confronted with the truth of scripture and yet continues to disbelieve that it becomes sin.

This Sunday, we will be looking directly at what has become a "problem passage" for some: Mark 3:22-35. We will address a biblical framework to answer the questions Jesus raises when confronting the unbelieving Pharisees. We'll also notice how this contrasts with the people Jesus saw as a family of faithful followers. The goal: to confront our own doubts, to answer any nagging questions, and to settle our souls in the assurance that can be ours in salvation through Jesus Christ. 

The crowd was always there. They were hungry, they were hurting, they were curious. The weren't necessarily committed to Jesus...not necessarily convinced. They were a crowd.

The "twelve" were a group set apart from the crowd. Jesus "called them" to a particular purpose. They were convinced and committed.

After 2000 years little has changed. There is still a crowd of the curious. They like Jesus and hang around his periphery. But there is also an inner core, those who love Jesus and are committed to him.

Do you know what the difference looks like?

This Sunday. Mark 3:7-21.

I admit it. I was raised in an immersive Christian environment from the age of 7. That meant Church 3 or 4 times a week, AWANA programs, youth programs, Christian school all the way through High School, Bible College, Seminary -- pretty much the deluxe model with all the bells and whistles. And I am thankful for much of what learned. But...

I have absorbed some of the worst that Christian culture has created.

Somewhere along the way I decided that being around unbelievers was somehow wrong. I judged others by how well I thought I did at being a Christian. I imposed more on my own expectations of what it meant to follow Jesus on myself (and others) than Jesus ever intented. I struggled with guilt over not meeting my own standards, confusing my plans with God's purposes. In short, I struggle with being the kind of religious person that Jesus confronted in His own ministry. I have to guard against having the heart of a Pharisee.

This Sunday we  will will continue our look at the gospel of Mark. And we will see what Jesus had to say about this sort of thing...

The Servant’s Controversies: self-righteous religion unmasked (Mark 2:23 – 3:6)

Jesus was a figure of controversy in His own day, so it is no surprise that for those of us who follow Him now, controversies erupt around Who He is and the meaning of Christianity in our culture. What is most interesting is that the biggest confrontations that erupted around Jesus came not from those who were irreligious, but from the leaders of the most religious people of His day. Obviously religion itself may not be all that God intended when it is entrusted in human hands. Jesus’ own statements about what constitutes a proper understanding of God and His Word help frame how we represent His message to our culture. And it does us a great deal of good to analyze our own handling of His message in the light of those who were serious about their religion in the gospels…