Very Nice Rebels

     Some of the nicest people that I know are rebels. If you spent time with them you would say, "Really nice people. Kind, considerate, loving, courteous and yet they are not surrendered to Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives. Now they may say that Jesus is their Lord. They may go to church on a regular basis, hear a good Biblically based sermon, give to charity, pray, and even read the Bible. I did this for many years but i was not surrendered to Jesus Christ. I was still the Lord of my life. I made the decisions, formed my values and convictions, to be sure with a Scriptural veneer or finish that looked glossy on the outside. And we are continually warned against this.
"Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things that we have heard, lest we drift away." ( Hebrews 2:1)
"Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is yet called 'Today' lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end." ( Hebrews 3:12-14 NKJV)
  "For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." (Romans 8:13 NKJV)
"Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached unto you- unless you believed in vain." ( 1 Corinthians 15:1-2 NKJV)
"Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?- unless indeed you are disqualified." ( 2 Corinthians 13:5 NKJV)
     The verses written above, and many others, are written to believers, not to unbelievers.
Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven." ( Matthew 7:21) The key is obedience. Have we submitted to the Lordship of Christ by our practical, daily obedience to His commands or have we been very nice rebels?