Unsaved People Want Anything but God's Remedy for Sin to Relieve Them of Their Guilty Conscience
Do you know why lost people get involved in a lot of stuff but read the Bible when they have a guilty conscience? It is because the Bible exposes their sin while they think that the sinful pleasures of the world will forever silence their guilty conscience. It can be observed how wretched, unsaved sinners would do whatever sinful or anything else but God to silence their guilty conscience. John 3:19-20 addresses the sad truth that men love darkness rather than light. It is because they love their sin and they want to continue sinning.
A good example is the atheist and one's atheism. Romans 1:20-25 addresses the sad truth of what the atheist is. The atheist knows that God really exists. When the atheist is asked, "You know God exists, why do you hate Him?", you might expect the answer saying, "It is because God is taking everything away from me. I have to follow His cruel standards. There is nothing wrong with me so He should just leave me alone." Another example is with the pagan and one's paganism. The same may to why people end up worshiping the work of their own hands. Just observe how pagans have a god for almost every need they have which most of them are rooted upon selfish desires. Pagan religion tends to be that you want something then you pray to the gods and goddesses for it. It is really man-centered because it is not God-centered. Ahab knew already that Baal was powerless against Jehovah yet he remained hardened in sin and continued to call Elijah his enemy. It is because the righteousness of God is offensive to the sinful man.
What is ironic is that salvation from sin is never attained nor maintained by works yet the doctrine is unpopular. The Gospel has always been meant to offend one's self-righteousness and one's sinful pride in several levels. Galatians 3:24 calls the Law of God as the schoolmaster that brings us to faith in Christ. Galatians 2:21 says that if righteousness were by one's own efforts then Christ died for nothing. For people, they are basically good even when they are not. This is a huge blow on man's thinking that if they are good enough then they will certainly make it. The Gospel calls for real self-denial that only sees one's self deserving of Hell and that one is a sinner. It is a real call for sinners to deny themselves, confess their iniquity as sinners and receive the free gift of salvation from sin. It is a free gift that gives one new life in Christ Jesus. But many refuse it because of their pride and love for sin because as long as they love sin and/or their self-righteousness, they will continue their rebellion against God.