What are seven Bible verses for those who fear they are losing their faith or can lose their faith?
Hebrews 10:22-23 “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”
The author of Hebrews (Paul?) was apparently writing to a Jewish audience because of all of the references to the Old Testament sacrificial system. Of course there were thousands Jews who were saved because the early church was composed entirely of Jews to begin with (with a few exceptions), so in writing to the Jews, he says that they can now draw near “in full assurance of faith” if their consciences are clear so they could pray to God, and they needed prayer because many of them faced severe persecution from their own families, being disinherited, and falling out of favor in their society. That meant they’d be shunned by Jewish society having been barred from the synagogue, therefore he wanted them to “hold fast the confession,” and not deny Christ publically, but also have that “hope without wavering,” because it’s backed by a God Who is always faithful.
First John 3:19-20 “By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.”
The Apostle John seems to be trying to convince the church to know that they are of the truth, as if trying to remove their doubt, so John seeks to reassure their hearts in order to have confidence in God’s greatness, including His forgiveness. Even if a person’s heart condemns them, “God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.” God forgives once and for all, once we confess them (1st John 1:9). Plus, the Apostle Paul declared that “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1), so our hearts have no justification in condemning us.
First John 4:4 “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
The tender language of this letter is that of a loving father writing to his children, and to him, because of his age (90 years +?), everyone was a child. John is the longest living and last living of the original twelve apostles. In almost all of John’s letters (1st, 2nd, and 3rd), he wants them to have confidence in their faith because they’ve overcome them. The “them” may be the wicked spirits or perhaps those in the world who are the enemies of Christ. Regardless, John wants them to know that God, Who is in them, is greater than he (Satan, and his demons) that’s in the world. It’s no contest; therefore they can know that, “you are from God.”
Romans 8:34 “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”
If you want to see if you are putting too much importance in your feelings and not enough into God’s Word, I recommend reading Romans chapter 8. This chapter is perhaps the most comforting and reassuring chapters in all the Bible. The Apostle Paul, in referring to the judgment of God, asks, “Who is to condemn?” Remember the condemnation’s been lifted (Rom 8:1). If God’s interceding on our behalf, and He is at the right hand of God (the place of honor and authority), and Christ “is the one who died” for us, the answer to “Who is to condemn?” is absolutely no one.
First John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.”
Rather than thinking that those who left the church have fallen away, perhaps they never fell forward in the first place. In other words, they might not have backslidden because they never slid forward in the beginning. A “falling away” could be the tares falling away from the wheat. John is saying if they went out from us, they weren’t really of us (the church) at all. When one church I know of took a stand against watering down a biblical teaching in the Bible, it divided the church. In time, Jesus will divide the sheep from the goats.
Romans 8:38-39 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
What greater Bible verses are there than these two verses to bring us comfort because of our security in Christ (John 6:37-39; 10:28-29)? Once a person’s been brought to repentance and forsaken their sins, and then put their trust in Christ, nothing in all of creation, seen or unseen, and not even death can separate us from God. Jesus ended our separation that our sins had brought (Isaiah 59:2), but now, there’s no more separation possible between us and God because of Christ (Acts 4:12).
Hebrews 10:26-27 “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.”
The author of Hebrew seems to be giving a very serious warning to those who haven’t yet put their trust in Christ, and who have not came forward to make a public profession, followed by a believer’s baptism. To those on the fence, he asks a very sobering question; “How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace” (Heb 10:29), warning, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb 10:31). If that didn’t make them flee to the cross, nothing would.
Conclusion
Today would be a good day to make sure of your salvation and to make your calling and election sure (2nd Pet 1:10). There are a lot of people who think they’re going to heaven, and will even declare, “Lord, Lord,” but Jesus will say to them, “Depart from Me, for I never knew you” (Matt 7:21-23). If you feel like you’ve lost your faith, you might be putting too much stock into “feelings” over God’s truth, but make sure you are. If you have already repented and trusted in Christ, remember that feelings are subjective; therefore they are subject to error. God’s Word is objective truth. Feelings have no effect on God’s truth so let God’s truth have an effect on your feelings.
Article by Jack Wellman
Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.
