Answer

I feel like I wandered into a difficult corner. I want to understand my actions in light of Scripture. There are many times when I do not do something that I know would be good for me, or I have to weigh priorities. My question from yesterday remains; is it unbelief, or disbelief.

In a Christian, I would expect, each act of sin could be called unbelief by some. Failure to trust the God who says, "Trust Me," looks like a lack of faith. But, as the Bible does not talk about people flitting about from faith to faithless. Maybe more specific definitions would be helpful, but today I'd simply like to hear how Jesus uses these words.

"O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me." So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?" "From childhood," he answered. "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." " 'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again."I am comfortable letting this question rest with my voice crying out, "I do have faith. Help me overcome the weakness of that faith."

-Mark 9:19-24

The situation is hard to understand. The same words seem to be used to describe the people in opposites, multiple times. Unless we say that Jesus healed the son despite a lack of faith on the man's part, we have to assume the man's statement to be true that he believes, and has unbelief. For me to apply this section I did some research, and it seems that though almost the same word is used by the man for belief and unbelief, there is a difference. In English, he is basically saying emotionally, "I do believe in/on you, help me overcome my disbelief."


This is reassuring because it places the faith that I or anyone has in the power of God as it should be. It is a gift, and a treasured on at that. As a sinner and a saint, I can find myself in faith, believing in God as my Savior, knowing him and the love he shared through his sacrifice, and also I can find myself disbelieving the effects of the same faith. Acting like it is too good to be true.


A couple things are reassuring. One, that it would be by faith that the father in Mark 9 would recognize his unbelief, and that the disciples themselves had struggled with prayer in the episode. They were unable to remove this demon, because in Jesus' words, "this type can only be removed by prayer."

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