This podcast covers Lesson 9 of Adorn Yourself with Godliness Bible Study by Melanie Newton.

Godliness Leaves No Room for Rebelliousness

The influence of the rebellious

“For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. … They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him.” (Titus 1:10-11,16)

• Influential fakers were acting religious, playing a part to gain influence and power over genuine Christians. According to the Bible, such influential fakers were and are, “detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.”
• Why do people who have tasted the goodness of the Gospel rebel against it? We can recognize three different reasons why someone would give up on the Gospel and go their own way. I covered the first one in the podcast for Lesson 5. Some abandon the faith because they are turned off by the hypocrisy of legalism and discouraged by the hopelessness of legalism. But, we can see two other situations that feed rebelliousness.

Disappointment in God’s answer to a specific prayer feeds rebelliousness.

• Human nature has not changed one whit over the millennia of recorded history. Nations, jobs, and life experiences have changed. But, human responses to authority, hardships, fellow humans, and God have not changed. Jeremiah 42:3,6
• People want their own way, and they want God’s blessing on them to do that. When God doesn’t answer a prayer a certain way, they turn their backs on God. We more quickly say, “My will be done” than we say, “Your will be done, O Lord.”
• So, we hold onto expectations of what we want. When God chooses a different answer, we don’t like it. We don’t trust His goodness, and we run away from Him instead, usually in anger. So, disappointment in how God answers a specific prayer feeds rebelliousness.
• What is the answer? Trust God. Trust His goodness in whatever He chooses to do. It will always turn out better than anything you plan. Don’t let disappointment in God’s answer to a specific prayer feed rebelliousness in you.

Hanging on to a favorite sin feeds rebelliousness.

• Whenever we read about a professing Christian who claims to no longer believe in Christ, often buried in the story is sinful behavior they don’t want to give up. Jeremiah 44:4, 16-17
• People who are in rebellion like to hang onto their rebellion against God and encourage others to do the same. Having honest doubts and questions that you are willing to explore is not sin. Rebellion against God is sin.
• As long as you live in your earthly body, you will be tempted to sin. Don’t let yourself hang onto a favorite sin so that it feeds rebelliousness in you.
• If you are a Christian, let it go. Here’s how to deal with recognized sin in your life:
• Remember that your identity is child of God.
• Agree with God that you’ve sinned against Him and mourn your sin.
• Depend on the Holy Spirit to help you obey God in the future. Ask His help to overcome that sin, to let it go.
• Trust in Him to help you overcome the consequences of any sinful choices that you’ve made and to do so in a way that brings glory to Him.
• That’s living a life that pleases the Lord in every way. That will lead to restored godliness in your life.

Conclusion

• In response to those in rebellion against God, stop enabling them. Don’t buy their products. Don’t let their words into your homes. Pray for the Holy Spirit to convict them of their sin of rebellion and turn to the God of forgiveness and complete renewal. Titus 1:11
• Stay devoted to God even when you don’t get your way or what you want to happen. He is bigger than any of your plans. Trust Him.

Let Jesus satisfy your heart with such love for God that you will want to live a life that pleases Him.

 

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