Stumbling Faith (11 of 34)
Jerry Vines
Genesis 12:9-13,13-4
3/23/03
It is sometimes the case that those who come to know the Lord in the early days of their life, they have stepped out on faith, they are walking by faith, living for the Lord, and very early on in their faith journey they stumble and fall. Now they do not lose their salvation. The Bible teaches us that when God saves us, He saves us for eternity. So we do not fall away in the sense that we lose our salvation. But it is possible for a believer to stumble in the faith and not be everything that God wants them to be.
It doesn't have to be that way. In Jude 24 the Bible says, "Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling." Falling is better translated stumbling. God is able to help us keep from stumbling. The Bible says in Second Peter 1, verse 10, "if you do these things, you shall never fall." That is, you will never stumble.
Yet is it not the truth that along the way, we as Christians do stumble. James 3, verse 2 says, "For in many things we all stumble." It is possible to stumble in the faith.
One of the reasons the Bible gives us the lives of these Bible characters is not to encourage us to stumble, but to encourage us when we DO stumble. We read about some of the great heroes of the faith. We read about David, a man after God's own heart. Yet, we know that David stumbled. We read in the New Testament about the great preacher on the day of Pentecost, Simon Peter, yet he denied the Lord and stumbled in his faith.
So here is the father of the faithful, the great friend of God. He has taken the beginning steps of the journey of faith. But very soon, after he begins the journey, he stumbles in his faith.
The Bible does not give these examples in order to encourage us to stumble, but to encourage us WHEN we stumble to show us that it is not all over and to show us that God can use us again and God can get us on our feet again.
I want us to follow stumbling faith on the part of Abraham ...
Jerry Vines
Genesis 12:9-13,13-4
3/23/03
It is sometimes the case that those who come to know the Lord in the early days of their life, they have stepped out on faith, they are walking by faith, living for the Lord, and very early on in their faith journey they stumble and fall. Now they do not lose their salvation. The Bible teaches us that when God saves us, He saves us for eternity. So we do not fall away in the sense that we lose our salvation. But it is possible for a believer to stumble in the faith and not be everything that God wants them to be.
It doesn't have to be that way. In Jude 24 the Bible says, "Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling." Falling is better translated stumbling. God is able to help us keep from stumbling. The Bible says in Second Peter 1, verse 10, "if you do these things, you shall never fall." That is, you will never stumble.
Yet is it not the truth that along the way, we as Christians do stumble. James 3, verse 2 says, "For in many things we all stumble." It is possible to stumble in the faith.
One of the reasons the Bible gives us the lives of these Bible characters is not to encourage us to stumble, but to encourage us when we DO stumble. We read about some of the great heroes of the faith. We read about David, a man after God's own heart. Yet, we know that David stumbled. We read in the New Testament about the great preacher on the day of Pentecost, Simon Peter, yet he denied the Lord and stumbled in his faith.
So here is the father of the faithful, the great friend of God. He has taken the beginning steps of the journey of faith. But very soon, after he begins the journey, he stumbles in his faith.
The Bible does not give these examples in order to encourage us to stumble, but to encourage us WHEN we stumble to show us that it is not all over and to show us that God can use us again and God can get us on our feet again.
I want us to follow stumbling faith on the part of Abraham ...
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