What does living in Rebellion against God mean
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A person who is in willful rebellion against God and is comfortable in that lifestyle would be evidence of an unchanged heart . That said we all have this struggle with rebellion if we are honest with ourselves. It just comes out in vast different ways through our sin patterns, brokenness, wounding, etc. . Paul describes it as a civil war going on inside the believer Spirit versus the flesh. However we now observe this civil war at work in us and can choose through Holy Spirit working in us to do what pleases God more and more it will be our desire to please God. We are given the power through the Spirit to Choose against the rebellion which is in the flesh and instead Choose the way Holy Spirit would want us to do which is to please God.
“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.”
Romans 7:15-23 NIV
“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.”
Romans 7:15-23 NIV
Sister Christian Rebellion means a willful desire to go against what you know is right, either by word or by deed. And because of this the blessing you could have had, you stole from yourself by doing the will of the enemy. Who's job is to keep you in rebellion!! So, he can rob and steal from you as much as he can. Why??
Because dear sister that is his very nature! (John 10:10) I know about this well sister!!! because I did the very same thing as you are doing now!! When I became a believer, I thought well i believe in Jesus now, so no change is needed, but did I find out the hard way!!! example Let us say we were bitter enemies, but after Jesus came into my life, I came to you to say how sorry I was for treating you so mean, and you say ok I forgive you, then I keep being mean to you anyway!
I have rebelled against my own word to you!! How can you ever trust me again?? You can't! You see sis you are only hurting yourself as well as others who love you. The choice of course is yours, but I would do an about face if I were you! Only bad things happen to rebellious people, I sure found that out the hard way!! Don't wait as long as I did, make that change, and you will be blessed beyond measure even as I am now!! Blessing sis!!
Because dear sister that is his very nature! (John 10:10) I know about this well sister!!! because I did the very same thing as you are doing now!! When I became a believer, I thought well i believe in Jesus now, so no change is needed, but did I find out the hard way!!! example Let us say we were bitter enemies, but after Jesus came into my life, I came to you to say how sorry I was for treating you so mean, and you say ok I forgive you, then I keep being mean to you anyway!
I have rebelled against my own word to you!! How can you ever trust me again?? You can't! You see sis you are only hurting yourself as well as others who love you. The choice of course is yours, but I would do an about face if I were you! Only bad things happen to rebellious people, I sure found that out the hard way!! Don't wait as long as I did, make that change, and you will be blessed beyond measure even as I am now!! Blessing sis!!
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Well I can tell you my experience.
I was very close to Jesus from ages 15-21. I was exemplary to a lot of people, both Christian and non-Christian, of what true Christianity looked like. I had made very conscientious choices about what foundations I put in my life, and I was rock solid.
Due to my lifestyle of living so very focused on the Lord, I got to the point where no one was pouring into me anymore. I tried changing churches for better instruction, but no one was really taking care of me. A lot of the people, it not all the people, closest to me were hurting me as well, but in being stalwart, I never complained.
Finally I got to the point where I broke down. Something you don't hear about very often, but can and does happen, is that the extraordinary pressures of life got to me, and I began to crack spiritually. In the next 16 years I got worse and worse, and the rift between me and Christians (and Jesus) grew. I don't think I have ever personally met another Christian who tried as hard as I did while also having so many obstacles. Consequently, it is almost impossible for me to find Christians who are mature enough to help me. Over time I appeared to regress in maturity and in faith and in behavior, and now I appear less than average spiritually, so many mediocre Christians look down on me.
I sought a lot of help but never got back on my feet. In the time I spent trying to get back on my feet, I explored things considered sinful by most people.
Regardless of what anyone tells you about rebellion, the answer is repentance.
My problem has not been an unwillingness to repent, but handicaps in life I now have which make repentance seem pointless. And when you sit around handicapped, you might wind up filling your time with activity that is less than holy.
I guess the point of what I am trying to say is that sometimes rebellion is due to a heart that is unwilling to turn to Jesus, but sometimes what looks like rebellion on the outside is just coping with misery.
If you want to change, then you need to identify which of these two causes is your problem. If you are living in sin due to true rebellion, then you need to get on your face, acknowledge your sin to Jesus, and beg Him for forgiveness until His peace washes over you. But if you have external factors causing you to sin, then this is different. Maybe your circumstance causes you misery. Maybe your loved ones don't respect or love you. Maybe a lot of people misjudge you and wrong you everywhere you go. If enough pain happens, it can bring us to a different level beyond simply getting right with God.
If it is the second reason, you need to look for a safe place for yourself to be, and spend a lot of alone time with Jesus. You should know that it will take time to rebuild or build your relationship with Jesus. If you have been in rebellion, or apparent rebellion, for a long time, then I think it is reasonable to expect it to take time building trust with God. Habits tend to go away more easily when they aren't based on pain, but when they are based on deep rooted pain, it can take a long time. For example, I met an old woman who explained her life story to me. She was once a young Christian virgin with high standards, hoping to marry a godly husband. Then she got raped, I think maybe even gang-raped. After that she changed. She became promiscuous, and was promiscuous for the rest of her life. Is that rebellious?
Sin separates us from God, no doubt. When I met that woman she was in a bad place in life. And life apart from Jesus separates you from His protection. But it is very hard, even for Him, to heal what is badly broken.
Now at this time I have been seeking the Lord seriously for a few weeks. I have been seeking Christian fellowship and I have been on my face praying for hours most days. For some reason I can do this, whereas I couldn't it before. The reason why is pretty unhelpful: my external factors changed. In other words, it was neither something I did right nor was it a miracle, just plain dumb life. For some reason I feel more able to pray and seek the Lord's face, and I am taking advantage of the opportunity to try to get right with Him because I don't know when my external factors will change again and I won't be in the right frame of mind to pray to him anymore.
So repent while you can, if you can.
If you are on the fence, try praying, "Jesus, I don't want to repent. But I want to want to repent." This worked for me when I was 15-16.
A lot of repentance is only made possible by the conviction of the Holy Spirit. And you can't control God. But you can invite Him.
Peace.
I was very close to Jesus from ages 15-21. I was exemplary to a lot of people, both Christian and non-Christian, of what true Christianity looked like. I had made very conscientious choices about what foundations I put in my life, and I was rock solid.
Due to my lifestyle of living so very focused on the Lord, I got to the point where no one was pouring into me anymore. I tried changing churches for better instruction, but no one was really taking care of me. A lot of the people, it not all the people, closest to me were hurting me as well, but in being stalwart, I never complained.
Finally I got to the point where I broke down. Something you don't hear about very often, but can and does happen, is that the extraordinary pressures of life got to me, and I began to crack spiritually. In the next 16 years I got worse and worse, and the rift between me and Christians (and Jesus) grew. I don't think I have ever personally met another Christian who tried as hard as I did while also having so many obstacles. Consequently, it is almost impossible for me to find Christians who are mature enough to help me. Over time I appeared to regress in maturity and in faith and in behavior, and now I appear less than average spiritually, so many mediocre Christians look down on me.
I sought a lot of help but never got back on my feet. In the time I spent trying to get back on my feet, I explored things considered sinful by most people.
Regardless of what anyone tells you about rebellion, the answer is repentance.
My problem has not been an unwillingness to repent, but handicaps in life I now have which make repentance seem pointless. And when you sit around handicapped, you might wind up filling your time with activity that is less than holy.
I guess the point of what I am trying to say is that sometimes rebellion is due to a heart that is unwilling to turn to Jesus, but sometimes what looks like rebellion on the outside is just coping with misery.
If you want to change, then you need to identify which of these two causes is your problem. If you are living in sin due to true rebellion, then you need to get on your face, acknowledge your sin to Jesus, and beg Him for forgiveness until His peace washes over you. But if you have external factors causing you to sin, then this is different. Maybe your circumstance causes you misery. Maybe your loved ones don't respect or love you. Maybe a lot of people misjudge you and wrong you everywhere you go. If enough pain happens, it can bring us to a different level beyond simply getting right with God.
If it is the second reason, you need to look for a safe place for yourself to be, and spend a lot of alone time with Jesus. You should know that it will take time to rebuild or build your relationship with Jesus. If you have been in rebellion, or apparent rebellion, for a long time, then I think it is reasonable to expect it to take time building trust with God. Habits tend to go away more easily when they aren't based on pain, but when they are based on deep rooted pain, it can take a long time. For example, I met an old woman who explained her life story to me. She was once a young Christian virgin with high standards, hoping to marry a godly husband. Then she got raped, I think maybe even gang-raped. After that she changed. She became promiscuous, and was promiscuous for the rest of her life. Is that rebellious?
Sin separates us from God, no doubt. When I met that woman she was in a bad place in life. And life apart from Jesus separates you from His protection. But it is very hard, even for Him, to heal what is badly broken.
Now at this time I have been seeking the Lord seriously for a few weeks. I have been seeking Christian fellowship and I have been on my face praying for hours most days. For some reason I can do this, whereas I couldn't it before. The reason why is pretty unhelpful: my external factors changed. In other words, it was neither something I did right nor was it a miracle, just plain dumb life. For some reason I feel more able to pray and seek the Lord's face, and I am taking advantage of the opportunity to try to get right with Him because I don't know when my external factors will change again and I won't be in the right frame of mind to pray to him anymore.
So repent while you can, if you can.
If you are on the fence, try praying, "Jesus, I don't want to repent. But I want to want to repent." This worked for me when I was 15-16.
A lot of repentance is only made possible by the conviction of the Holy Spirit. And you can't control God. But you can invite Him.
Peace.
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1st of all, can a Christian live in rebellion against God? i think for a short while because he or she backslid. yes, christians fall a bit but it can't be too much because then the question is, is he or she born again in the 1st place? the big issue is the Holy Spirit will convict you as soon as a Christian sins! no, we don't always listen the 1st time but you know & God certainly knows when too much is too much!! how many sins can constantly be committed & how long can a Christian live in rebellion? our spirits tell us when to stop this or that & you have the H.S.'s conviction telling you.