| Online Bible Study - John Series - Lesson 13 |
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Goal
The Goal of This Lesson Learning not to harden our hearts to the living God by understanding what unbelief is. Hebrews 3:14-19 (NKJV)
14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” 16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. At the end of this Lesson, you should be able to understand and share with others the answers to the following questions: What is unbelief according to the Scriptures?
How do we move from unbelief to belief?
Summary
Lesson Summary
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Romans 10:17 (NKJV)
If faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, then unbelief (the opposite of faith) is a result of not having read or heard the “word of God” and acting upon it.
The remedy for not knowing the word of God or Scriptural promises is to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15) (KJV).
Now, if you fail to act on the word of God that you’ve read or heard, this too is unbelief. You see, there are those unbelievers and believers alike who know about God’s word or promises, but are not persuaded to act upon them whether it be for salvation or for “the things of the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:14) (KJV). The remedy for this type of unbelief is simple, obedience to His word.
As partakers of Christ, we must not harden our hearts by refusing to believe the word of God or His promises. To do so would mean that we are disobedient by refusing to be persuaded by God’s word or promises.
Lesson
Lesson: UNBELIEF
In this lesson, we will examine select verses from John Chapter 7 that speak to “unbelief” and the sources of unbelief. We will look at the unbelief of Jesus’ brothers, the Galilean community, and the Pharisees. Before we do so, we need to get a better understanding of what the Bible tells us unbelief is. Scripturally speaking, there are two types of unbelief.
Lack of Knowledge
First, there is unbelief based on a lack of knowledge of the Scriptures or the Word of God. This affects both believers and unbelievers alike. For example, some people have no knowledge about salvation unless someone shares with them the gospel of peace. “14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”(Romans 10:14-15) (NKJV).
You may believe in Jesus and acknowledge His Lordship over your life, but you may never have heard the Word that you need Jesus to baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Jesus declares, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”(Acts 1:8) (NKJV). This promise was not just for the believers in the first century, but for us today as we witness Jesus to those in the “uttermost part of the earth”.
Hence, you can see how important it is for every believer to share the good news or gospel of Jesus Christ to those they meet as the Holy Spirit leads. Although an unbeliever may never open and read the Bible, every believer becomes a living epistle that is to be read of men (2 Corinthians 3:2). As someone has poignantly said, “You may be the only Bible that someone will read.”
There is a simple remedy for not knowing the word of God or His promises found in the Scriptures. You need to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”(2 Timothy 2:15) (KJV).
Unpersuaded to Act on God’s Word
Second, there is unbelief based on when a person has knowledge of God’s word or promises, but the individual does not act upon that word or promise. You see, there are those unbelievers and believers alike who know about God’s word or promises, but are not persuaded to act upon them whether it be for salvation or “the things of the Spirit of God”(1 Corinthians 2:14). The remedy for this type of unbelief is simple, obedience to His word.
John Chapter 7
Chapter 7 provides us with insight on these two types of scriptural “unbelief”.
Verse 5: Family Members
Jesus revealed to His brethren (His brothers and sisters) at His hometown in Nazareth that He is the Messiah (Luke 4:21). By the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, His brethren did not believe in Him and in fact had tempted Jesus by telling Him to reveal Himself to the world (John 7:3-5). The reason why Jesus did not openly announce to the people that He is the Messiah is because according to Isaiah, the Messiah “shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear His voice in the streets” (Luke 12:19). We see that His brethren’s unbelief was based on a lack of knowledge of the Scriptures on who the Messiah is and what He is called to do.
Verse 43: Local Community
There were some Galileans who believed that Jesus is the Messiah because of the miracles that Jesus performed (Luke 7:31), but there were others who did not believe (Luke 7:43). The ones who did not believe was based on a lack of knowledge of where Jesus was born.
Verse 52: Religious Leaders
The Pharisees did not believe that Jesus is the Messiah because they said that the Scriptures revealed that the Messiah would come from the seed of David and out of the town of Bethlehem, not Galilee (Luke7:42). The Pharisees reasoned with themselves that since Jesus was from Galilee (Luke 7:52), He could not be the Messiah.
As partakers of Christ, we must not harden our hearts by refusing to believe the word of God or His promises. To do so would mean that we are disobedient by refusing to be persuaded by God’s word or promises.
In looking at Jesus’ brethren, the Galilean community, and the Pharisee’s unbelief, we see how they did not fully understand who Jesus is and had many misconceptions about Him. A large part of why these people did not believe was because they did not know how to righteously judge the word or situation. Jesus’ brethren only looked at Jesus from the standpoint of being the eldest brother and not by the life of Jesus. The Galileans and Pharisees both were wrong in their understanding of where Jesus was born and, therefore, they had no foundation to believe that Jesus is the Messiah because they thought Jesus was from Galilee. The Pharisees also interpreted the Scriptures and stated that no Prophet comes from Galilee. In the next Lesson, we will look at how to “judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24) by receiving, following, and listening to the Holy Spirit (John 7:39). Harmony of the Gospel
Harmony of the Gospel
The “Harmony of the Gospel" is an Interactive-Online Bible Study of the Gospel according to John in conjunction with the Matthew, Mark, and Luke Scriptures. This study is published on the 2nd Thief Ministries Website at http://www.2ndthief.org/. As we study John chapter by chapter, we will also look at parallel passages in Matthew, Mark, and Luke that let us see the harmony of the Gospel. Although there are four accounts, there is only one Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Discussion
Discussion
You should now understand the answers to the questions posed at the beginning of the lesson. The answers are provided below:
What is unbelief according to the Scriptures?
Answer. “Unbelief” in the Scriptures is either not knowing the word of God or not acting on the word of God.
How do we move from unbelief to belief?
Answer. If we are ignorant of God’s word on a particular matter, it is up to the individual to study God’s word in order to gain Scriptural knowledge. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15) (NKJV).
If we read and hear God’s word on any particular matter, we need to be obedient and do what the Lord’s word requires of us. By not doing what the Lord’s word requires of us, we are disobedient by refusing to be persuaded by God’s word or promises. The remedy is simple, obedience to His word.
If you have any questions or comments on this lesson regarding “Unbelief”, you can email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . |
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