OVERCOMING DISHONESTY, UNBELIEF, DISOBEDIENCE AND REBELLION
(week 04/17)
OLUBI JOHNSON
Dishonesty: not accepting truth in your heart, causes a withdrawal of God’s light from the heart leading to an obscurity of the invisible spiritual realities of God’s existence and power: which is unbelief.
The Holy Spirit through Paul shows us this in:
Romans 1:18-20 AMP: For God’s [holy] wrath and indignation are revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who in their wickedness repress and hinder the truth and make it inoperative. (19) For that which is known about God is evident to them and made plain in their inner consciousness, because God [Himself] has shown it to them. (20) For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification], [Psalms 19:1-4]
This attitude of dishonesty and unbelief, disconnects man from God’s life and so light causing darkness, so man does not have the ABILITY: wisdom and strength to obey God which leads to disobedience.
Romans 1:21-32 KJV: For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. (22) Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools (23) and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. (24) Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. (25) They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. (26) Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. (27) In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. (28) Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. (29) They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, (30) slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; (31) they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. (32) Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
It is this attitude of heart that has led to the terrible condition of the natural human heart as shown in
Jeremiah 17:9 AMP: The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind]? [Matthew 13:15-17; Mark 7:21-23; Ephesians 4:20-24]
The good news is that God knows man’s heart condition and CAN CHANGE this terrible condition of man’s heart!
Ezekiel 36:26-27 NKJV: I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. (27) I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
This terrible deceitful condition of the human soul: will, mind and emotions is also in Christians (because even though our spirits are born-again our souls (will, minds and emotions) still have the sin-nature) and we need to use the blood (Hebrews 13.20-21), the Word (1 John 2.5) and the Spirit (1 John 4.12-13) to renew our minds:
Ephesians 4:21-23: when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. (22) You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; (23) to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
Sadly, a Christian can deteriorate from being honest and humble in heart to becoming rebellious and stubborn, like Saul, IF they do not CONTINUE to exercise honesty and humility of heart.
1Samuel 15:17 KJV: So Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the LORD anoint you king over Israel?
1Samuel 15:22-23 KJV: So Samuel said: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. (23) For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.”
So, Saul DETERIORATED from being honest and humble in his heart to becoming disobedient, rebellious and stubborn.
In our article next week, we will see in more detail how to overcome and avoid this.
