Understanding the times - doubt

To grab hold of and understand a biblical understanding of 'eschatology' is an enormously worthwhile exercise for Christians. The arrival and life of Jesus was an event that has no parallel in all of earth's history. It was unique in that the divine 'incarnated' himself to become flesh but also in that Jesus rose from the dead. This resurrection is described as the firstfruits of many in 1Cor15. Romans describes us as being united to Christ in his resurrection by faith. So, this means that we can say that we are NOW with Christ in heaven BUT our experience tells us that us that we do NOT YET know that this is not the case as we live in our earthly bodies struggling with sin. This helps us to understand the times we live in! Helps us to understand why we can say with Paul that we are dead to sin and also be exhorted to not let sin reign in our mortal bodies (Rom. 6).

This is particularly helpful in thinking about the issue of 'doubt'. Doubt is a common Christian experience and while there are many books that offer help there is little theological work done in understanding it. There is a tension that arises from our justification as based in our union with Christ and our fallen human nature. The tension is eased as we discover an 'eschatological' framework for understanding sin from Romans 6 (as seen above). It is from this perspective that we see doubt as a conflict between our justification and our sanctification. Doubt is the double mindedness; it is having a foot in ‘both-camps’, one in Christ and one in Adam. Having understood this we can avoid two theological errors of not taking doubt seriously enough or taking it too seriously. Not only does it help with these pastoral questions but this perspective aids in understanding the many Scriptural references to doubt that occur in the New Testament.

It is this divided-heart that underpins all the Scriptural references to doubt. James 4: 8 shows the double-mindedness of doubt. ‘Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded’ (James 4:8). You can see the internal division of a person when the resurrected Jesus confronts them. ‘And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts’” (Luke 24:38). You can see the divided heart so torn by its options that it cannot make up its mind. “Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him (Mark 11:23).” You can see the double-mindedness of doubt in peoples’ reservations: ‘And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted’ (Matthew 28:17).

I haven't fleshed out some of the pastoral implications of this but the groundwork and framework for thinking about doubt has been laid and hopefully in the future I can post something fleshing out some more implications - but at the very least we can say that doubt is a common Christian experience.