Why It's Hard to Believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
First, we have the problem of self-righteousness.
Man in his inherent way of thinking believes he is naturally good. For him, sin is just relative and what's good or bad is relative. Man seeks to be altruistic in his ways. He wants to be self-justified. Man has his pride to deal with. People when they accomplish something big get a sense of satisfaction. For example, who would not rejoice in one's own hands making a lot of money? I certainly would rejoice.
However salvation itself is a free gift. Man in his pride wants to earn salvation. Think of why Cain was downcast when God rejected the fruit of his labor. Abel gave that unblemished lamb as required, an act of faith that without bloodshed, there is no forgiveness. Cain was proud of his offering. Man's righteousness produces no real good works, just fake works, counterfeits and filthy rags. In the end, Cain's hatred was a result because he wanted to justify himself.
Why is works salvation so popular? It's simple... it appeals to the pride of life, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes. Man seeks to do what is morally good but the motive of his works are selfish. It seeks to impress God, to bribe God. What works salvation ignores is the awesome holiness of God. God's justice and mercy are based on His holiness.
Self-righteousness makes it difficult to believe the simplicity in Christ. The Gospel affirms Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the Lord who died for the sins of man and no man comes unto the Father but by Him and no other way. Since the Pharisees were works salvationists, they spent their time heckling the Savior when He came to dine with tax collectors and harlots, all outcasts of society who came to Him repenting of their sins. The self-righteousness of the Pharisees made it easy for them to reject Christ and hard for them to believe in Christ for salvation.
Whenever a man is told that salvation is without works and only through the Lord Jesus Christ, the response has always been, "That's a lie. I'm so good. I'm sure I'll make it into Heaven because I do all the good I can. God would be unjust to reject me just because I have a few sins. Sure I lied to my son about Santa Claus but that was a white lie."
The problem is also when we teach that only people as wicked as Hitler go to Hell. But God's standard is magnificently much higher. Jesus said that unless your righteousness exceeds the Pharisees, you cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:20). Let's think... it's a real shocker for many when they discover they are in Hell in spite of many wonderful works they did. Their "wonderful" works were nothing but filthy rags. What a shock it must have been when one tries to live the best they can, only to discover that they didn't make it. The problem is, they were told they can't make it on their own but they still insist on their own way which leads to destruction (Proverbs 14:12).
Second, we have the problem of loving anything else but God.
Another problem is whenever the cost is considered. People have their attachments to the world. This brings back tot he story of the rich young ruler and Jesus. Now the rich young ruler was also self-righteous. He thought he ever broke the law. He said, "All these I have kept since childhood." which he referred to the Law of God. But the big time of testing came which proves a huge problem for the rich.
Being rich in itself is not a sin. It's how you got rich that becomes a sin or what you do with your riches that becomes a sin. In the case of the rich young ruler, we have the problem of that he was attached to riches. When Jesus told him to sell everything he had, give it all to the poor and follow, he turned away sad. Why did he turn away exceedingly sad? I would agree he was not willing to abandon his pleasures. The whole order proved what he loved... he loved money for than God. Also, it proved that he was definitely not justified by his own works and that we all fall down.
What was the issue? Jesus said that it was difficult for those who trust in riches to enter Heaven. It's also easier for the eye of the needle to have a camel fit through it... than for a rich man to enter Heaven. Being rich is not a guarantee to Hell, you can be poor and still go to Hell. The problem today is that many rich people refuse to get saved because of a love for money. They think their donations will buy them Heaven when it cannot. They want to continue in their false religion because it's supposedly good for business... never mind the value of morality and the soul. Sad to say but a lot of famous billionaires are now in Hell... and not a single cent can save them from Judgment Day! No masses for them will ever save them.
Another issue is when relatives are put above God. Some people refuse to get saved because of fear of being disinherited. It may be connected to wealth and family. Some people when told of the Gospel can say, "Wait I can't believe in Jesus. My family would disown me. I don't want to join a bandwagon of outcasts." It's no wonder why Jesus warned in Matthew 10:37 that whoever loves parents or relatives more than they love Him is not worthy of Him. While it's indeed obligatory for children to honor their parents, but Jesus comes first.
We have the problem of loving the world. John 15:18-19 already warned ahead that the Christians are not part of the world. If they were of the world, the world would accept them but they are not of the world. James 4:4 calls the unsaved who have friendship with the world as enemies of God. Either you are a friend of God or an enemy of God. Either you are a saint or an ain't and your live shows it.
Loving the world means to be materialistic. People care more about popularity than morality. When you think about it, the world hypocritically condemns a Christian who backslides but hypocritically continues to praise the wickedness of popular figures. A popular person would probably say, "Me become a Christian? That's nonsense! I could lose my popularity!" Fortunately Manny Pacquiao a famous Filipino boxer had chosen to convert to Christianity.
Third, we have the problem of loving sin.
You cannot deny it but a love for sin is a huge problem. John 3:20 warns that people hate the light because in the light, their sins are reproved. Ever since man fell, sinful nature came in. What we must understand is that Jesus did not come to save people in their sins, he came to save people from their sins. Sin is a problem that has plagued mankind. You cannot expect sin not to be a serious thing. It was sin that separated man from God.
In dealing with evangelism, it's no surprise how the Law is used. The Great Reformer, Martin Luther had described that God's Law is like a hammer that shatters our self-righteousness and a mirror that shows us the ugliness of sin. Romans 3:10-19 declares that all man is guilty before God because of sin. Man in himself has the terrible problem of sin. What is even more disturbing is when the lost sinner thinks that nothing is wrong with them even when the evidence proves they are so saturated in sin.
It's not surprising how one preacher may witness to a lost sinner. In Pastor Ray Comfort's video "Hell's Best Kept Secret", he has shown much of the wrong evangelism methods. When we don't focus on sin, we really don't get a real conversion. Sin forms the thorns that chokes the plants before they can grow, hence a false conversion. The Law itself enumerates what sins are and that sin is, it shows man the severity of sin and his imperfection before a perfect, holy, righteous and just God. Pastor Ray shows also in "True and False Conversion" how a love for sin is also a strong evidence of false conversion.
Also, it has become a problem today in America is trying to make the Gospel "palatable" so they water it down. I cannot help but agree with Pastor Paul David Washer's anger against wishy washy washed-up evangelism. It's really time to wash away wishy washy evangelism. I can't blame him for feeling washed up against modern evangelism. They lead the person to be in a sinner's prayer, poof they supposedly got "saved" but there is no evidence of being saved. The person was a false convert. What's worse is when even Evangelical and Baptist churches embrace these false converts as true ones.
For the love for sin, it's not surprising to find such people hate the Gospel. They witness how evangelism eliminates crime. You see the man addicted to pornographic materials burn his sinful addiction away. He may struggle or backslide but he gets rid of it in his battle. You see the drunks when they are converted they will inevitably get rid of alcoholism by God's grace. Although there's no instant maturity but you cannot expect a changeless salvation. Salvation always brings change to the new man. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 shows the difference between the saved and the unsaved. Before such people were saved, they were sinful. Homosexuals, adulterers, thieves, drunkards and you name it. Romans 3:10 says none is righteous. The unrighteous are not fit to enter the Kingdom of God. When God saves, it becomes, "And such were some of you."
Fourth, we have the problem that only a few people want the narrow road to life.
It's not politically correct to preach that Jesus is the only Way to the Father. For the world's popular doctrine, it's ecumenism. It's not surprising to find religions of the world teach Jesus as an important person but never the Son of God. You can have Him presented to most religions as an important figure but never the Son of God. While the apostles and the people of Jesus' day saw His face, He left no portrait behind. Exodus 20:4-5 warns about worshiping with the use of graven images.
The world today has gone as far as to equate teaching Jesus Christ as the only Way to the Father as bigotry and terrorism. It's not a surprise to call a man of God as a bigot and a lunatic. I'm not surprised how often I am accused of being an Osama bin Ladin or extremist. They already assume so wildly that anybody who rejects the idea of all religions serve the same God, that Allah is the God of the Bible, etc. is a threat to the peace of mankind. If they ever read their Bible, they will discover that Jesus did not come to bring peace (Matthew 10:34). Christianity has divided the convert from the rest of the world.
Pastor John F. MacArthur also wrote in "The Jesus You Can't Ignore" wrote these words, "Nevertheless the postmodern mind sometimes seems unable to make any meaningful distinction between armed physical combat with weapons intended to kill people and spiritual combat with truth intended to save them from spiritual death" It's not surprising really with how the world is... they consider every form of disagreement with "liberals". Isaiah 32:5 says that no longer shall the vile be called liberals. Vile people are cloaked as liberals but in reality, they are vile. They force people accept their doctrine or perish while accusing Christians of doing the same.
It's not all that surprising. Jesus already warned in Matthew 7:13-14 about the narrow way and the wide gate. Many people think they are right because of numbers. What they ignore is that truth maintains itself as truth even if a lot of people choose to reject it. When majority of Israel went against God, God didn't care about the numbers but His will be done. Likewise, the sad truth is many people are going to Hell and only a few enter Heaven. As said the broad gate will always lead to destruction while the narrow road that is Jesus Christ is the only Way to the Father.
See also:
See also: