Fighting Doubt by Using the Word of God

What do you do if you believe you are saved and yet doubts keep intruding?

You have fought the battle before. You believe you are saved, you may know you are saved, but whispers of fear have assailed your mind and disturbed your confidence and your peace. The pain is very real, but so is the cure.

If you believe you are saved and yet doubts of salvation continue to intrude on your mind then first you must examine yourself. 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” If you pass the test, if the Spirit Himself testifies with your spirit that you are a child of God (Romans 8:16) then next you must ask yourself whether or not you take God at His Word. Do you trust God? God says, “these things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). God says, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Romans 10:9-10). God says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). So, you have to ask yourself if you believe God’s Word to be true and if you believe God keeps His promises. And if you answer is a resounding “Yes! I do believe.” then how do you apply truth to the torrent of the storm of doubts you are experiencing?

First: Acknowledge that the enemy is attacking your helmet of salvation. The enemy doesn’t want you to live in the confidence of the promises you have In Christ. Just think about the power of even a few of those promises! In Christ you have every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly Places, In Christ you are holy and blameless, In Christ you are predestined to adoption as sons, In Christ His grace is freely bestowed on you, In Christ you have redemption, the forgiveness of your sins, In Christ you you have an inheritance, In Christ you are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, In Christ you are seated with Him in the Heavenly places, In Christ you were created for good works which God prepared beforehand so that you would walk in them, In Christ you have boldness and confident access to God through faith! Can you doubt the enemy wants to make you live in uncertainty of your salvation? Can you doubt he wants to make you uncertain of whether or not you are In Christ?

Second: Lift your shield of faith and wield the sword of the Spirit. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews11:1). The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). So, the shield of faith is believing God and the sword of the spirit is knowing and wielding the specific promises He has provided in His Word. Remember Abraham, “with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform” (Romans 4:20-21).

Third: Remember you are not the only Christian fighting this battle. No battle is completely unique to ourselves. Remember what the apostle Peter said? After telling us to resist the devil and be firm in our faith, he tells us that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by our brethren who are in the world (1 Peter 5:9). So, pray for each other. Pray for your church family, pray for your brothers and sisters around the world, pray for your neighbor, pray for me, pray for those who are fighting the same battles you are. “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18). Finally, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all (2 Corinthians 13:11,14).

Part 2: Lift the shield of faith and swing the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

Since originally writing this article I have learned how common this battle is among believers. Below are some specific scriptures to hold fast to. The Word of God is living an active, but God gave us the whole Bible for a reason. So, let us answer the doubts with specific truths from scripture. Don’t merely speak the words into the air; but believe them, act on them, having faith that you are being sanctified through His truth, the Word of God (John 17:17). I have also included a list of Hymns and Spiritual songs to bless you as you strive.

If the enemy is asking: “How could you possibly be saved? You were too sinful.”

Then answer:

“If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 2:17
“I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:32
” but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us?” Romans 5:8

If the enemy is saying: “But you keep sinning?”

Then answer:

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:8
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

If the enemy is saying, “What if you didn’t do it right? What if you didn’t pray the right words or do the right things to be saved?”

Then answer:

For by grace I have been saved through faith. And this is not my own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that I may not boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:4-7

If the enemy is saying, “Just get saved again. Just say you aren’t saved and then you can always pray the prayer of salvation again.”

Then answer:

“but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.” Hebrews 3:6
“For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” Hebrews 3:14
“Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God…And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises… so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 6:1, 11-12, 18-20 (It would be better to read all of chapter six. Actually, it would be better to read the entire book of Hebrews, circling every reference to “hold fast,” “full assurance,” and “confidence.”)

If the enemy is saying, “Ok, you were saved, but now you have lost your salvation.”

Then answer:

“Therefore, He [Jesus, the guarantee of a better covenant] is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25 NASB 1995
“And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,” Hebrews 5:9
It would be a blessing to you to read through the book of Hebrews circling the words “forever” and “eternal”

If the enemy is saying, “Your salvation was a gift from God, but now you have to find a way to repay your debt.”

Then answer:

“Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,and since we have a great priest over the house of God,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.” Hebrews 10:18-23
“For, ‘Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.’ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 10:37-11:1

If the enemy is saying, “What if you’re wrong? What if you’re deceiving yourself?”
Then answer:

“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” Hebrews 11:6
“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
“And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.” 1 Chronicles 28:9
“Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Hebrews 6:9-12

If the enemy is saying, “God’s approval and affirmation of you is not enough. You must also gain the approval of man.”

Then answer:

“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10
“For you [the Lord], you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind” 1 Kings 8:39
“For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7b
“Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous— you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God! My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.” Psalm 7:9-10
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 5:6-11

So, my Brother and Sister! Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

Hymns to bless you:

“I Run to Christ” Chris Anderson
“Christ Our Hope in Life And Death” Matt Boswell
“Before the Throne of God Above” Charitie Lees Bancroft
“Christ the Sure and Steady Anchor” Matt Boswell
“On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand”
“In Christ Alone”
“He Will Hold Me Fast” Matthew Merker
“Firm Foundation” John Rippon
“Great is Thy Faithfulness”

All Bible passages taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted.

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