Why Many Will Not Obey
by Dave Brown
It appears that Paul was asking this question concerning his countrymen as we consider Romans 9 and 10, and I am sure that many Christians are as frustrated as Paul when they just cannot understand why anyone would even think of not yielding themselves to the will of Jesus in order to obtain the free gift of eternal life. Note our title has to do with the "will" and not the ability. Generally, God has given us all the ability to obey, and He does not expect us to do things that He has not equipped us to do. It is not a matter of mental abilities or any other aptitude; it is a matter of will. Those who do not have the ability to obey will surely not be held responsible for by a loving and just God for things that it is impossible for them to do.
Most importantly from the outset, the reason that some will not obey is NOT because they are prevented from doing so by God, who is controlling their will. See our comments on Limited Atonement.
To see at least a few of the major reason for the unwillingness to obey, we can explore the New Testament looking for those who made the decision to reject Christ and see just why they did that. We find a number of reasons, but most of them boil down to: (1) Jealousy, (2) Peer Pressure, and (3) Worldliness. Let us consider these one at a time.
Jealousy. We see this cause for the rejection of the truth stated several times in the book of Acts (Acts 5:17, 13:45 and 17:5). Acts 13:45 states: "But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy , and contradicted the things which were spoken by Paul, and blasphemed." Throughout the book of Acts, Luke often uses the word "Jews" (by metonymy) to refer to the religious leaders of the Jews, since it is clear that many Jews were converted to Christ by his preaching of the gospel to them. It is important that we recognize the precise meaning of the word "jealousy" and not confuse it with "envy." Jealousy is the fear of losing something that a person already has, as opposed to envy, which is the sinful desire for something that is possessed by another person. So, for example, a married man could be jealous of his wife behaving improperly with other men for fear of losing her. This is important when applied to the Jewish leaders in that their position and status with the people at this time was one of power and they dreaded losing this power.
Listen to the Jewish leaders after they had definitive evidence produce to them about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead given in John 11:47-48: "The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, What do we? for this man does many signs. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." Why did they reject Jesus despite believing that he had performed miracles of God? The reason for their doing things against their own self interest is that jealousy compels people to do things that are so irrational at times that it borders on insanity in otherwise normal people. The author is not a psychiatrist and does not claim the expertise to explain this phenomenon, but do I really have to? Have you not seen people do the most irrational and self-destructive things due to jealousy, often not based upon any true perception of reality, but upon a false perception that they dream up in their minds? Since this is such a widespread thing we expect all of our readers have experienced it first hand in others. But let us not marginalize the effect that it can have on ourselves.
Jealousy as a motivation has to be restricted to those who currently possess religious power or at least have the perception of a loss of something. Mainly this would apply to religious leaders who are jealous over their congregations or followers. Our God is a jealous God as He provides for His flock (Ex. 20:5; Jn. 10:1-27). It is not wrong for those who are teaching the truth to be jealous in this regard. But obviously, for those who have no regard for the truth of the gospel (Rom. 1:16), this attitude can be extremely destructive both to themselves and others. There is no greater harm that one man can do to another than to give him the assurance that he is saved, when in fact, he is not. And yet some have no conscience about doing this both to themselves and to others out a fear of the loss of their positions.
Peer Pressure. As example is to be found in John 12: 42-43: "John 12:42-43 "Nevertheless of the rulers many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess (it), lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the glory (that is) of men more than the glory (that is) of God." It is good that these rulers were not jealous and that they believed in Jesus. Those who teach "faith only" would have you believe that they must have been saved by this faith, despite Jesus' warnings in Matthew 10:32-33: "Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven." Also Romans 10: 9-10: "... because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus (as) Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
The reason that they refused to obey is given by John: "for they loved the glory (that is) of men more than the glory (that is) of God." Is this not what peer pressure is all about? Consider: 1 Cor 15:33: "Be not deceived: Evil companionships corrupt good morals." This is an unconditional statement. Hang around with evil people and you will become evil -- or if that is already your nature, you will have no hope of coming out of it and serving God if you stay in that environment. Like the animals, humans are totally enslaved to our environment. But unlike the animals, we can choose to change our environments. Each of us makes this choice every day. What choice have you made in regard to the friends that you associate with? Look at the people who you admire and allow to influence you. That is you in just a few months or years. This applies to everyone, whether they are leaders or not, religious or not.
Worldliness. Paul tells us of Demas, a brother in Christ and his beloved companion in 2 Tim 4:10 ",,, for Demas forsook me, having loved this present world." How sad. But we can see how love for the world can get in the way of our love for God. Speaking to Christians, James stated in James 4:4: "Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God." It should go without saying that enemies of God, including Demas, cannot be saved. John goes on to define this problem in more depth in 1 John 2:15-17: "Love not the world , neither the things that are in the world . If any man love the world , the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world , the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vain glory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that does the will of God abides for ever."
The last sentence of this passage says it all. We will either love God or we will love the world; there is no middle ground. If you love God, you will do his will. 1 John 5:3-5: "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is begotten of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that hath overcome the world, (even) our faith. And who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" Can we have the living faith that saves and not overcome the world in our lives? The answer is clear -- God will give us the strength that we need.
Let us conclude by stating that, based on Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 2, it is literally impossible for some people to understand what the will of God is. 1 Cor 2:14-15: "Now the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged. But he that is spiritual judges all things, and he himself is judged of no man." Some bible scholars cannot tell you what the simple plan of salvation is that Jesus gave us. How could they miss the simplest elements of the milk of Gods word? One of the above causes is likely to be preventing them from seeing God's word as anything other than foolishness. Indeed, is this not the common and most often proclaimed view of the bible today by those who surely would know better if they cared to view it through the spiritual glasses provided by our Lord.
What are the conditions of salvation given by Jesus?
Most importantly from the outset, the reason that some will not obey is NOT because they are prevented from doing so by God, who is controlling their will. See our comments on Limited Atonement.
To see at least a few of the major reason for the unwillingness to obey, we can explore the New Testament looking for those who made the decision to reject Christ and see just why they did that. We find a number of reasons, but most of them boil down to: (1) Jealousy, (2) Peer Pressure, and (3) Worldliness. Let us consider these one at a time.
Jealousy. We see this cause for the rejection of the truth stated several times in the book of Acts (Acts 5:17, 13:45 and 17:5). Acts 13:45 states: "But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy , and contradicted the things which were spoken by Paul, and blasphemed." Throughout the book of Acts, Luke often uses the word "Jews" (by metonymy) to refer to the religious leaders of the Jews, since it is clear that many Jews were converted to Christ by his preaching of the gospel to them. It is important that we recognize the precise meaning of the word "jealousy" and not confuse it with "envy." Jealousy is the fear of losing something that a person already has, as opposed to envy, which is the sinful desire for something that is possessed by another person. So, for example, a married man could be jealous of his wife behaving improperly with other men for fear of losing her. This is important when applied to the Jewish leaders in that their position and status with the people at this time was one of power and they dreaded losing this power.
Listen to the Jewish leaders after they had definitive evidence produce to them about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead given in John 11:47-48: "The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, What do we? for this man does many signs. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." Why did they reject Jesus despite believing that he had performed miracles of God? The reason for their doing things against their own self interest is that jealousy compels people to do things that are so irrational at times that it borders on insanity in otherwise normal people. The author is not a psychiatrist and does not claim the expertise to explain this phenomenon, but do I really have to? Have you not seen people do the most irrational and self-destructive things due to jealousy, often not based upon any true perception of reality, but upon a false perception that they dream up in their minds? Since this is such a widespread thing we expect all of our readers have experienced it first hand in others. But let us not marginalize the effect that it can have on ourselves.
Jealousy as a motivation has to be restricted to those who currently possess religious power or at least have the perception of a loss of something. Mainly this would apply to religious leaders who are jealous over their congregations or followers. Our God is a jealous God as He provides for His flock (Ex. 20:5; Jn. 10:1-27). It is not wrong for those who are teaching the truth to be jealous in this regard. But obviously, for those who have no regard for the truth of the gospel (Rom. 1:16), this attitude can be extremely destructive both to themselves and others. There is no greater harm that one man can do to another than to give him the assurance that he is saved, when in fact, he is not. And yet some have no conscience about doing this both to themselves and to others out a fear of the loss of their positions.
Peer Pressure. As example is to be found in John 12: 42-43: "John 12:42-43 "Nevertheless of the rulers many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess (it), lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the glory (that is) of men more than the glory (that is) of God." It is good that these rulers were not jealous and that they believed in Jesus. Those who teach "faith only" would have you believe that they must have been saved by this faith, despite Jesus' warnings in Matthew 10:32-33: "Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven." Also Romans 10: 9-10: "... because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus (as) Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
The reason that they refused to obey is given by John: "for they loved the glory (that is) of men more than the glory (that is) of God." Is this not what peer pressure is all about? Consider: 1 Cor 15:33: "Be not deceived: Evil companionships corrupt good morals." This is an unconditional statement. Hang around with evil people and you will become evil -- or if that is already your nature, you will have no hope of coming out of it and serving God if you stay in that environment. Like the animals, humans are totally enslaved to our environment. But unlike the animals, we can choose to change our environments. Each of us makes this choice every day. What choice have you made in regard to the friends that you associate with? Look at the people who you admire and allow to influence you. That is you in just a few months or years. This applies to everyone, whether they are leaders or not, religious or not.
Worldliness. Paul tells us of Demas, a brother in Christ and his beloved companion in 2 Tim 4:10 ",,, for Demas forsook me, having loved this present world." How sad. But we can see how love for the world can get in the way of our love for God. Speaking to Christians, James stated in James 4:4: "Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God." It should go without saying that enemies of God, including Demas, cannot be saved. John goes on to define this problem in more depth in 1 John 2:15-17: "Love not the world , neither the things that are in the world . If any man love the world , the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world , the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vain glory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that does the will of God abides for ever."
The last sentence of this passage says it all. We will either love God or we will love the world; there is no middle ground. If you love God, you will do his will. 1 John 5:3-5: "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is begotten of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that hath overcome the world, (even) our faith. And who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" Can we have the living faith that saves and not overcome the world in our lives? The answer is clear -- God will give us the strength that we need.
Let us conclude by stating that, based on Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 2, it is literally impossible for some people to understand what the will of God is. 1 Cor 2:14-15: "Now the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged. But he that is spiritual judges all things, and he himself is judged of no man." Some bible scholars cannot tell you what the simple plan of salvation is that Jesus gave us. How could they miss the simplest elements of the milk of Gods word? One of the above causes is likely to be preventing them from seeing God's word as anything other than foolishness. Indeed, is this not the common and most often proclaimed view of the bible today by those who surely would know better if they cared to view it through the spiritual glasses provided by our Lord.
What are the conditions of salvation given by Jesus?