Which Came First? Unbelief or Rebellion?

ALL – Psalm 84:1-12
ALL – Proverbs 25:15
OT – Jeremiah 23:21-25:38
NT – 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17

Interesting passage for the day: He will completely fool those who are on their way to hell because they have said “no” to the Truth; they have refused to believe it and love it, and let it save them, so God will allow them to believe lies with all their hearts… – 2 Thess. 2:10-11, The Living Bible

Thought: We like to think we’re pretty decent people, not rebels-at-heart. God wants to bust that myth. So here’s an issue of myth-busters for us:

Myth: We disobey God because we don’t know any better and haven’t been given a chance to believe Him.

Truth: The reason we disobey God is not that we don’t believe God; the reason we don’t believe God is that we disobey God and rebel against Him.

At least, that’s what this passage teaches. A deceiver is coming who will fool a bunch of people. But what people will he fool? He will fool people who are “on their way to hell because they have said ‘no’ to the Truth.” They heard the Truth, but they rejected it. They “refused to believe it and love it.”

Do you see? The problem people have with the Truth is not that they can’t understand it. It’s not even that they can’t believe it. It’s that they don’t want it. They rebel against it. They refuse it and reject it and hate it.

The result of this willful rebellion against the Truth? “God will allow them to believe lies with all their hearts.” Deception. Deception is made complete as God permits them to believe the lies they themselves have chosen to prefer over His Truth. The rebellion comes first, and then the unbelief.

Isn’t that how it was with Eve, when you really think about it? She HAD the truth. God had made it plain to her that she was free to eat from every tree except one. When the serpent questioned her on the limitations God had set up, she made it clear that she knew exactly which tree was off limits. And then the serpent lied to her. At that point she had a choice to make between obeying God’s instructions and following the serpent’s suggestion. How did she make her choice? “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it” (Gen. 3:6, NIV). She chose to go with her desires and the serpent’s lie rather than to trust God’s words. She had believed God up to that point, but then she rejected His words and rebelled against them. Before she could believe Satan’s deception, she had to willfully reject God’s Truth. Rebellion came first in her heart, then unbelief and outward disobedience.

Every human being on earth is the same. We have all rejected God’s Truth before falling into disbelief. “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:18-20, NIV).

What came first? The disbelief or the rebellion? The answer is clear: the rebellion. In my heart and yours. The gospel is God’s power for saving those who believe—who stop rebelling and instead bow humbly before His Truth. As a former rebel, I beg everyone out there to stop choosing to be fooled by deceivers and instead to submit to God’s Truth. Jesus died to pay the penalty for your sins. You know the Truth. Why reject it?

Question: If you reject the Truth, I would be interested in knowing why you want to reject it. What is it that you want to have or to do that you think you would lose if you believed and submitted to God’s Word?

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