If you’ve ever had questions about your faith, you’re not alone. Maybe you’ve wondered, Is doubting God a sin? or Does my lack of confidence mean I don’t have real faith? These are big questions, and they matter. But before you panic when doubts hit, let’s take a moment to see how God’s Word answers faith questions.
Quick Answers
- Jesus doesn’t criticize doubt. Instead, He meets people in their doubt.
- Jesus invites us to examine our doubts to find a healthier faith.
- Doubt itself isn’t a sin, but doubt can lead us to sin.
- Is doubt a sin? No. Spiritual doubt isn’t a sin. God can actually use our doubts to lead us to a life-giving faith.
Doubt and Sin in the Bible
Before we go too far, let’s define our terms. This article is about Christian spiritual doubts, in other words, doubts about God, faith, Jesus, the Bible, and anything else related to the Christian faith.
Doubt is common among Christians today, and it’s been common for a long time. Even people in the Bible experienced times of intense spiritual doubt.
Reasons for Spiritual Doubt
In the book, The Benefit of Doubt, Pastor Craig Groeschel lists a few reasons why we doubt God.
- Doubts may be driven by circumstances.
- Doubts may be driven by intellect.
- Doubts may be driven by emotion.
- Doubts may be driven by other people.
- Doubts may be driven by a relationship with an absent or abusive father.
- Doubts may be driven by personality.
- Doubts may be driven by decisions.
Do any of these reasons resonate with you? If so, you’re not alone.
Doubts are common, but are they bad? Let’s move on to our next quick definition to find out.
What Is Sin?
In this article about sinful choices, we define sin as: Any action, thought, or desire that goes against our identity as God’s partners in renewing the world.
We were made to love God and bring Him honor and glory. We do this by embracing our identity in Christ as loved, accepting God’s gift of salvation, and partnering with God to make the world more like Heaven. That’s our purpose. Sin is anything that gets in the way of our purpose.
So what about doubt? Does doubt count as a thought that gets in the way of our purpose? Well, let’s see what the Bible says (and doesn’t say) about sin and doubt.
Jesus Didn’t Equate Doubt With Sin
One of the clearest clues about God’s attitude toward doubt is found in how Jesus responded to doubt. When He responded to followers struggling with belief, He didn’t yell at them for doubting—He invited them to seek God.
The Story of Doubting Thomas
Thomas was a consistent, devoted follower of Jesus, yet he’s often remembered for his moment of spiritual doubt. Even today, he’s sometimes called “Doubting Thomas.”
After Jesus’ resurrection, Thomas had a hard time accepting the truth that his friend was alive. Which makes sense, right? After all, people don’t often come back from the dead. So instead of believing the stories he heard from fellow Jesus followers, he demanded proof.
… the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” John 20:25 NIV
How did Jesus respond? If Thomas’ doubts had been a sin, Jesus probably would have forgiven His friend and told him to “sin no more.” But that’s not what happened. Instead, Jesus gave Thomas permission to bring his doubts straight to Him:
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." John 20:27 NIV
Jesus didn’t label Thomas’ doubt a sin. Instead, He invited Thomas into a closer relationship. We don’t know what Thomas did next, but church tradition teaches that Thomas continued to faithfully follow Jesus for the rest of his life.
What does this story show us? Jesus doesn’t criticize doubt. Instead, He meets people in their doubt.
What About Peter’s Doubt?
Peter also faithfully followed Jesus while dealing with doubt. In one famous story, the disciples saw Jesus walking on water toward their boat. While Peter jumped out of the boat and walked on water toward Jesus, he panicked when doubts hit.
But did Jesus let Peter drown simply because he lacked confidence? No. Instead, Jesus reached out and caught him.
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:31 NIV
Peter’s doubt caused him to lose focus. Instead of looking at Jesus, he was distracted by the waves and wind. It’s easy to read Jesus’ words as a criticism, but remember—Jesus is a teacher, and the disciples were His students or apprentices. Asking Peter this question was a way of helping Peter to examine his doubts to help him grow.
Also, consider that, on other occasions, when Peter did sin, Jesus confronted him strongly (one time, He even called Peter “Satan”). Jesus didn’t do that on this occasion. Instead, He invited Peter to a deeper faith. A faith focused on Jesus despite the challenges of life.
What does this story show us? Jesus invites us to examine our doubts to find a healthier faith.
Doubt and Peter’s Denial
Throughout Jesus’ ministry, Peter (and presumably the other disciples) struggled to understand Jesus’ mission. Peter seemed to hope that Jesus had come to be an avenging, conquering king sent by God to punish the enemies of Judea.
Now, let’s fast forward in Peter’s story to the night of Jesus’ arrest, before His crucifixion.
When Jesus was arrested, mocked, and beaten, Peter’s doubts went into overdrive. He must have thought Jesus had tricked him, or that Jesus was simply delusional. No matter what was going on in his head, we see the result of his doubts in Scripture. When asked if he was one of Jesus’ disciples, He lied repeatedly and became explosively angry in order to save himself.
Doubt isn’t a sin, but it can cause us to sin. For example, doubting the historical or scientific accuracy of the Bible isn’t sinful, but making fun of people who hold certain views of the Bible is a sin.
Peter’s desire for Jesus to be a violent conqueror didn’t match Jesus’ true identity as a sacrificial Savior, and that’s why Peter doubted.
Doubts can help us let go of old, hurtful beliefs and reshape our view of Jesus’ identity in order to have a healthier faith.
Doubts can help us let go of old, hurtful beliefs and reshape our view of Jesus’ identity in order to have a healthier faith. Peter’s doubt helped him let go of old beliefs and replace them with true faith in Jesus.
What does this story show us? Doubt itself isn’t a sin, but doubt can lead us to sin.
What About the Rest of the Bible?
These three stories of doubt help us create a framework for doubting God and avoiding sin that holds true to the Bible. People like Job, Habakkuk, and Elijah also experienced some kind of doubt, but they weren’t met with judgment, either. Instead, their doubts were met with care and an invitation to a richer, more meaningful faith.
Faith Means Trusting God in the Tension
Doubt and faith often go hand in hand. In the Bible, the disciples were given permission to take their doubts straight to Jesus. Faith doesn’t mean having all the answers; it means trusting the living God even when we don’t fully understand.
Everyone doubts. Doubt is part of the human experience. And, yes, doubt is even part of faith. That means you don’t have to eliminate every doubt before seeking God. Instead, you can run toward Jesus for answers instead of away from Him.
So, Is Doubt a Sin?
The Bible doesn’t equate doubt with sin. But it does invite us to respond to doubt by seeking truth and growing in faith. Doubts are never an excuse to break God’s Word and cause harm to ourselves or others—instead, they act as a springboard for seeking a healthier faith in Jesus.
If you’re having feelings of doubt about God’s existence, His promises, or His mercy, you’re not alone. And you don’t have to stay stuck. Instead of letting doubt pull you away from Christ, let it draw you closer to Him. Jesus responds to followers struggling with doubt not with condemnation, but with compassion and truth.