Stubbornness is as Iniquity and Idolatry
I used to do that, but since a few years ago, I have stopped spending time trying to convince people into believing what the Bible says. It's better to let the Bible speak rather than I speak for the Bible. An “honest and good heart” (Luke 8:15) will fear the LORD and his words. But if the hearer cannot be convinced by the words of the LORD, it is because there is iniquity and an idol in his heart:
Jesus said in:
Matthew 7:6 "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."
Both dogs and swine are beasts, but what does the Bible say about them?
Matthew 15:27 "And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table."
The context of this verse is about a woman of Canaan (not belong to the house of Israel) who came to beg Jesus to heal her daughter, to whom Jesus replied in Matthew 15:26 "It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs."
When the woman responded to Jesus with wisdom in verse 27, watch this:
Matthew 15:28 "Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour."
In this, Jesus has ascribed "dogs" to the unbelieving, people in whom is no faith.
Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Faith is a "substance" according to Hebrews 11:1, that is to say, without faith is the absence of this precious substance in the heart.
Deuteronomy 32:20 "And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith."
According to Deuteronomy 32:20, any references to the word "froward" in the Bible, the same can be said about dogs and swine. It is either a person have faith or he doesn’t have faith. There is no such thing as a half-hearted faith.
Proverbs 26:11 "As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly."
This verse is the Bible equating "dog" to a "fool." In Psalms 14:1 "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good." This is a yet another verse telling us that "dogs" are "children in whom is no faith."
2 Peter 2:22 "But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire."
2 Peter 2:22 is a double witness to Proverbs 26:11. Notice how this verse puts "dog" and "sow" (swine) in the same group, just like how Jesus did it in Matthew 7:6? Therefore, both dogs and swine are a reference to the froward, the unbelieving, children in whom is no faith, and very stubborn according to 1 Samuel 15:23. These are the children of disobedience, as in:
Ephesians 2:2 "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:"
The term “children of disobedience” means that these people were disobedient to the law of God, but obedient to the idols in their hearts. The absence of faith is the presence of something else. There is something about them in their hearts.
1 Peter 1:14 "As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:"
There is no true obedience in a child of disobedience. "Obedient children" are the opposite of the "children of disobedience." According to 1 Peter 1:14, a born again person was once upon a time fashioned according to the "former lusts" in his ignorance. But after he was born again, he was no longer a child of disobedience, as in, “old things are passed away” (2 Corinthians 5:17). He is no longer ignorant because his eyes have been opened (Luke 24:31), and he is no longer under the power of his idols (former lusts). Afterall, John warned us in 1 John 5:21 "Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen."
1 Samuel 15:23 "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king."
Though outwardly similar, stubbornness is NOT faith, but it is "as iniquity and idolatry." The way to God the Father is by faith in every word of God. By contrast, the way to the "god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4) is by stubbornness in false religious systems, false bibles, philosophies, cultures, and the vain traditions of this world. Stubbornness is the antithesis of faith. It is the unyielding rejection of the things of the Spirit of God for the things of this world:
Colossians 2:8 "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."
A natural man is always characterized by stubbornness because he "receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God" (2 Corinthians 2:14).
How about "iniquity"? Consider this verse:
1 Corinthians 13:6 "Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;"
Notice that "iniquity" is the opposite of "the truth".
Jesus Christ is "the truth" (John 14:6).
The word of God is "truth" (John 17:17).
Since "iniquity" is the opposite of "the truth," therefore iniquity is a reference to the "man of sin" (2 Thessalonians 2:3), who in turn is a reference to “the beast” or the "little horn" of Daniel 7:7-8. BTW, both dogs and swine are beasts and they are a reference to the froward, the unbelieving, children in whom is no faith. That is also to say that the spirit of the man of sin is working in these children of disobedience, and that includes those who call themselves "Christians." Unlike the centuries past, it is easy to be called a "Christian" these days. There are many people who call themselves Christians, but inwardly, they worship another god and not the God of the Holy Bible because they have not the “love of the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:10) in them, for if they have the love of the truth in them, they would have faithfully adhered to every word of God in their reasoning.
These are usually the Christians who prized their theories and doctrines above the words of the LORD and cannot be convinced that they are wrong about something, even by the words that proceed verbatim from the Holy Bible which they claim to believe. There is a term in the science of psychology known as "cognitive dissonance." When people with cognitive dissonance are challenged with new evidences that contradict their core beliefs, it creates an immense psychological stress in them. And because it is so important to protect that core belief, they will ignore, rationalize or even willfully deny the facts, and they will find ways to justify themselves in what they believe, just like king Saul:
1 Samuel 15:20-21 "And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal."
Like king Saul, they will also resort to lying and manipulation because it is so important for them to protect their idols.
These are the Christians who loved their theories and philosophies more than the pure words of the LORD and they cannot be convinced that they are wrong about something, even by the words that proceed verbatim from the Holy Bible which they claim to believe. In the case of this lady, she cannot be convinced, even by the words of the LORD in Matthew 24:29 and Mark 13:24 which clearly puts the rapture after the tribulation.
They will find means and ways to justify themselves, because there is a golden calf in their hearts which they secretly worship, a "beast" which they secretly love above the pure words of the LORD.
Romans 14:5 "... Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind."
As fellow believers, we ought to just give them Scriptures and pray for them, and not try to convince them with our own words. Luke 16:31 "... If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." If they hear not the words of the Lord, neither will they hear you.