147: Abraham Did Not Waver

Romans 4:20 says that Abraham “did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief.” That word “waver” is the Greek word “diakrino,” and it is often translated “doubt.” Abraham did not “doubt” the promise of God. We see this same word used in a famous quote of Jesus:

“Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt [diakrino] in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” (Mark 11:22-23, brackets mine)¹

The word “doubt” means to separate or distinguish. In the context of Mark 11 and Romans 4, it means “to be at variance with one’s self.”² When Abraham believed God about being the father of many nations and bringing forth a son, he was not “at variance with himself.” He knew he was righteous by faith, and he knew the promise of God was for him.

“Diakrino” is actually made up of two Greek words: the preposition “dia”³ which means “through or because of” and “krino”⁴ which means “make a judgment.” “Krino” is often translated “condemn” in English. Putting “dia” and “krino” together we get “because of being condemned.”

When we know we are righteous, we know that we will never be condemned, and we will never be limited to only what is possible in the natural realm. My mother died of cancer a few years ago. I would be getting into doubt by believing that I will die of cancer because my mother died of cancer. Other examples of doubt are “I’m too old to run a mile, or I’m too overweight to get married, or I’m too young to get that job, or I’m not educated enough to be successful.” If we believe like this, we are saying that God’s power is limited to the system of this natural world, and we are condemning ourselves by believing that since we are only human, our destinies are bound by the realm that we see. Instead, we need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus! He’s the author and perfecter of all faith, and with Him nothing is impossible!⁵

(from pages 232-233 of Unveiling Jesus)

Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!

Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.

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¹Scripture taken from the New King James Version®.  Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.  Used by permission.
²G1252 (diakrinó), Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, website: http://biblehub.com/greek/1252.htm, accessed 6-4-14
³G1223 (dia), Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, website: http://biblehub.com/greek/1223.htm, accessed, 6-4-14
⁴G2919 (krinó), Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, website: http://biblehub.com/greek/2919.htm, accessed, 6-4-14
⁵Hebrews 12:2, Matthew 19:26″