Why do people reject Jesus Christ?

[Bible Highlighter]

Yes, we have free will to do whatever we like.....it is not my intention to hinder this....Im only trying to understand the thought process. This thread is not about discussing the sin of the people in the bible...it is about discuss the people we see around us....why to people around us reject Jesus.....not the people in the bible.

Those situations did not exist only in the Bible. The Bible speaks about every day life situations that we have to deal with, too. The Bible is not some book of stories that exist for some distant past for us to read. The stories and teachings are there for our learning today in the real world. It helps us to deal with the realities of those things that the Bible talks about.

You are changing the discuss topic again. This is about discuss why people around us sin....not about the discussion of sin. Mention is made of seeing people turn away after knowing this and that. We are talking about people around us, not sin, and not people in the bible.

Same thing. There is nothing new under the sun. For example: If the Bible condemns murder (and it does), then it is logical to assume that we can condemn those who murder around us. But we as believers should try to reach those in love who do murder (letting them know that sin is wrong but that Jesus loves them and wants them to repent of this kind of sin). The same is true for those who turn away from God in the Bible. We see it with Jonah, but God had other plans for Jonah. God did not give up on him. See, God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

I see no fault if you desire to be like Paul. And you are talking about going to one who is sinning and telling them of their sin. Im not questioning this, Im questioning going to your christian friends and discussing the sins of others.

Paul's letter was made available to all believers. Paul did not prevent this letter to be made available only to the Corinthians. This letter was copied and made available to the entire body of Christ for our learning.

I would tell the drunk driver not to drive home and would try to stop him......Im questionings the notion that we should, instead, go to those who dont drink, and discuss why the others are drinking and driving.
-I would warn my children, I am questioning the notion that is it good to, instead, discuss the wrong doing of the children of others.
-I agree with speaking up concerning the fellow believer in bible study, I am questioning the notion that we should wait until he is not there, and then have a discussion about why he is doing what he is doing.

It seems that you are still not understanding my thoughts. So we can forget it, for the time being....maybe someone else can help.

I see nothing wrong with the plan of salvation as you present it....

You are speaking the way you do because chances are you do not believe that a believer can fall away from the faith, right? Or you do not believe it is possible for a person to truly reject the faith, right?

 

[RaymondG]

Those situations did not exist only in the Bible. The Bible speaks about every day life situations that we have to deal with, too. The Bible is not some book of stories that exist for some distant past for us to read. The stories and teachings are there for our learning today in the real world. It helps us to deal with the realities of those things that the Bible talks about.



Same thing. There is nothing new under the sun. For example: If the Bible condemns murder (and it does), then it is logical to assume that we can condemn those who murder around us. But we as believers should try to reach those in love who do murder (letting them know that sin is wrong but that Jesus loves them and wants them to repent of this kind of sin). The same is true for those who turn away from God in the Bible. We see it with Jonah, but God had other plans for Jonah. God did not give up on him. See, God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.



Paul's letter was made available to all believers. Paul did not prevent this letter to be made available only to the Corinthians. This letter was copied and made available to the entire body of Christ for our learning.



You are speaking the way you do because chances are you do not believe that a believer can fall away from the faith, right? Or you do not believe it is possible for a person to truly reject the faith, right?

Thanks for your explanations.

 

[~Zao~]

One of the reasons that many reject Christ is really a cache 22. Paul completely turned me off when I first read 'his gospel' as much as the slaying of nations turned me off to the OT readings. At this point in my journey I know the spiritual application that God was conveying progressively to bring me to an understanding of His plan but that took many years of swimming the swamp of deceitful doctrine, especially of the NT which is specifically about Christ. The OT at least just has the seeing blinders on it. Face it, Moses never even made it into the promised land so it's more complicated than just 'preach the gospel'.

 

[RDKirk]

This appears to be one person's reason for not wanting to go to heaven. He explains why he just doesn't think he'd like it and doesn't think anyone would like it.

Does the Punishment Fit the Crime? And other Tid Bits...

 

[~Zao~]

This appears to be one person's reason for not wanting to go to heaven. He explains why he just doesn't think he'd like it and doesn't think anyone would like it.

Does the Punishment Fit the Crime? And other Tid Bits...

Again, if all love is equal in heaven, God would be placed on the same level as all humans (loved and admired the same). There no longer exists differentiation or hierarchy.

Not recognizing the preeminence of God would be another.

 

[~Zao~]

In lei of Emli's golden use of questioning and in anticipation of the general format of the thread I would have to answer that the same approach is used for both the OT and NT. Looking at the spiritual of the OT it's clear that sin is being dealt with. The pattern must continue so since that is the one pattern the spiritual sin of the NT must be the line of questions and answers or it doesn't hold up. YW

 

[Zoii]

Jesus says,
"He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad." (Matthew 12:30).

Jason - you avoided the question - for the third time. But it's fine. I think we both can acknowledge the answer which gets at the OPs question..... albeit he changed his mind what his question was.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

I never understood this. I'm not sure that I'm posting this in the right forum, because it's not a question about theology, it's more a matter of the heart. I just don't understand why people reject Christ even once they know who He is. That some are chosen, some aren't, isn't the question here. Because someone who we never thought would ever become saved could suddenly be saved, so who is chosen or not, who is a goat or sheep, etc. is not important.

When non-believers reject Christ because they don't know Him yet, because they don't understand Him or because they haven't seen a real Christian showing them the real Jesus, I understand that. No one can come to Jesus unless our Father calls them first, and no one can see Him without their eyes having been opened. When those of other religions who are deceived by Satan is showing anti-christian hatred, I understand that. I have rejected God for both those reasons before I got saved, and many people do, but none of it is really directed at God but at a false image of Him.

But when people see Him, His goodness, His love, mercy and grace, His righteousness and holiness, then why do they reject Him? What happens in the heart?

I have seen Christian who know who Jesus is, but who have rejected Him and His teachings, refusing to follow Him. Why? I see those who claim to know Him, but don't walk in love? Why? They reject His goodness, mercy, love and grace, and stay hateful and selfish. I understand that they reject the Holy Spirit. But why? They even attack and seem to hate those who show the fruit of the Spirit and live for God's Glory, even in the name of Jesus who they claim to worship.

I'm not sure what answer I am looking for. The obvious answer would be pride and jealousy because they aren't changed yet. But it must go deeper. Because anyone who comes to God, He will never drive away. He is faithful and He will change those who seek Him. He will prune the branches who abide in Him. Those who surrender to His will.

I'm not just talking about sinning or even living in sin for a while, or struggling in our walks. I'm talking about rejecting being transformed into the image of Christ, specifically. Dying to self and to sin. Taking up the Cross. Relying on the Holy Spirit completely and not on yourself. Letting go of the world and having the mind renewed by the Word of God.

Is it rebellion and self-will? Is it that simple? They just don't want to bow before God? They don't want to surrender?

Is it false doctrines? If so, then why do people hold to false doctrines?

I understand what the Pharisees were like. They thought that they were serving God, and they were completely blind to the fact that they were serving the devil by their man-made doctrines. And they condemned Jesus as He was revealing God's love and mercy, and His righteousness and Holiness, to them and to the world. They weren't rejecting God per se, but they were rejecting His nature. But why? If we come to Christ, we receive life and freedom in Him. We lose our lives to receive the new life in Him, but that's an awesome exchange. I ask myself "who could reject that?". And I always get reminded of the answer "nearly everyone".

The narrow path is amazing. Yes, we suffer and go through hardship, and we give up everything for God. But we are in Him, we walk in love, we are set free, we have a Lord and Savior who just never stops caring for us and loving us. And we get to live for His Glory, and for eternity. He heals us and delivers us from evil. He produces amazing fruit in us, and transforms us into entirely new creations in His likeness. His yoke is easy, because He carries it for us. He gives us power, love and self-control. It is awesome!

Ever since I got saved, all I have wanted was to become like Jesus. Not to look good to others (though I did fell into that trap for a little while) but to please Him. Because that is His will. There is no salvation without us becoming new creations in Him, by grace and by the work of the Holy Spirit. So why is this where people seem to stumble the most? We are His creations originally, created in His likeness, so why should we want to rebel and stay lost instead of being saved and transformed into the likeness of His image which is in Jesus Christ? Our salvation is so awesome beyond understanding! Why stay in darkness when we can walk in the Light?

I may be missing something. I feel like I understand it Biblically and I know all the verses, and spiritually, because I know how blindness, darkness, sin, hardness, flesh, false comfort, worldliness and deception etc. works, but I still can't understand it. Because Jesus sets us free from all of it once we believe in Him and in His teachings, and start living according to God's perfect will. It's a free gift. Why reject it? There seems to be this fear of letting go. Faithlessness and unbelief? Lack of understanding? But if that's the case, we can just read the Bible and pray and God will freely give us both faith and wisdom.

This has been on my mind for a long time now. Because in my mind, if you love yourself, you'll choose Jesus. That would be the selfish choice to me. It's not a self-centered choice, because it gives no glory to self, but it's the choice that yields the best outcome for a person in any situation, since God rewards our sacrifices that we make for Him, either spiritually or sometimes materially in this life or with treasures in Heaven.

Why??? I guess what I am asking is what happens in reality that makes people not accept Jesus in reality?

Anything? Maybe someone can at least define what I'm asking here.

Basically, people reject Jesus as Lord and Savior because there's a lot that goes into actually attaining a frame of mind that enables a person to decide to reach out toward Him. More importantly, we have to realize that in our reaching out to Him, God is not going to do the hard work for us, a part of which involves our recognition that there really is a Devil in the details messing things up for us and for which we have to learn to compensate for in our lives and to resist.

In sum, it's NOT all our fault. There are a number of things involved in the act of faith, of having faith, and in maintaining our faith, that are only partially under our control. Additionally, each person has his/her own psychological structures and emotions--and sometimes, disorders----to deal with which can also greatly challenge the extent to which a person feels able or willing to have and maintain faith in Christ.

So, it's a complex situation, one in which we are all caught and bound in this expansive existence we share together before the face of God. So, the next time we encounter an apparent "Judas," we might keep these things in mind.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

Jason - you avoided the question - for the third time. But it's fine. I think we both can acknowledge the answer which gets at the OPs question..... albeit he changed his mind what his question was.

While I may not agree with your words,
may the Lord's love shine upon you today, Zoili.

 

[Wordkeeper]

Basically, people reject Jesus as Lord and Savior because there's a lot that goes into actually attaining a frame of mind that enables a person to decide to reach out toward Him. More importantly, we have to realize that in our reaching out to Him, God is not going to do the hard work for us, a part of which involves our recognition that there really is a Devil in the details messing things up for us and for which we have to learn to compensate for in our lives and to resist.

In sum, it's NOT all our fault. There are a number of things involved in the act of faith, of having faith, and in maintaining our faith, that are only partially under our control. Additionally, each person has his/her own psychological structures and emotions--and sometimes, disorders----to deal with which can also greatly challenge the extent to which a person feels able or willing to have and maintain faith in Christ.

So, it's a complex situation, one in which we are all caught and bound in this expansive existence we share together before the face of God. So, the next time we encounter an apparent "Judas," we might keep these things in mind.

Can all the things blamed on the devil be blamed on the desires of the self? I mean, if the devil had been absent in the Garden, could his role have been substituted by selfish desire in Adam?

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Can all the things blamed on the devil be blamed on the desires of the self? I mean, if the devil had been absent in the Garden, could his role have been substituted by selfish desire in Adam?

That's an excellent question! It would seem like an easy escape route for all of us to simply pawn-off our sins onto the Devil, doesn't it? And indeed, to some extent, it is a very easy thing to do.

The catch is, we have two lines of thought running in the Bible, one is in the Old Testament and one is in the New Testament. The one in the Old Testament says, in essence, "We are made in the Image of God," and this image in which we're made is no trivial act of God, but reflects that He originally made us "Good." The thing is, we also find that the progression of the theological story is set in the Garden of Eden only transpires with the poisoning presence of a crafty Serpent, and by his presence, we ultimately see a man and a woman Fall due when the Serpent plies his slick linguistics to the act of questioning God's Will.

The second line of thought we find in the New Testament, and we find Jesus making a rather bold judgment about what transpires through the agency of the Serpent and, by proxy, to the act of Cain: we see Jesus say, "The Devil was a murdering from the beginning........" What we don't see Jesus saying is, "Remember Adam and Eve, well, they killed themselves!"

It is with these, and other passages written by Paul, John and James, that we know we do need to be careful of the Devil since it is his interest to cause us to sin if He can so arrange for us to do so.

 

[Wordkeeper]

That's an excellent question. It would seem like an easy escape route for all of us to simply pawn-off our sins onto the Devil, doesn't it? And indeed, to some extent, it is a very easy thing to do.

The catch is, we have two lines of thought running in the Bible, one is in the Old Testament and one is in the New Testament. The one in the Old Testament says, in essence, "We are made in the Image of God," and this image in which we're made is no trivial act of God, but reflects that He originally made us "Good." The thing is, we also find that the progression of the theological story is set in the Garden of Eden only transpires with the poisoning presence of a crafty Serpent, and by his presence, we ultimately see a man and a woman Fall due when the Serpent plies his slick linguistics to the act of questioning God's Will.

The second line of thought we find in the New Testament, and we find Jesus making a rather bold judgment about what transpires through the agency of the Serpent and, by proxy, to the act of Cain: we see Jesus say, "The Devil was a murdering from the beginning........"

So, it is with this, and other passages, some of which can be found from the pens of Paul, John and James, that we know we do need to be careful of the Devil since it is his purpose to cause us to sin if He can so arrange it.

Judaism denies the existence of Satan. Ha Shatan means "adversary". Jews say it is the drive that make survival possible. Yetzer hara. If eating was not pleasant, where's the motivation to find food. But gluttony is the wrong use of hunger, just as sex within marriage is good, but out of control it becomes adultery. The controlled appetite is yetzer hatov.

Satan is a personification of the uncontrolled drives, a hebraism. Else wisdom would literally be a lady with many children.

I tend to believe the Jewish view, because most of the great evils of the world (and my own life!) have arisen without the help of Satan.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Judaism denies the existence of Satan. Ha Shatan means "adversary". Jews say it is the drive that make survival possible. Yetzer hara. If eating was not pleasant, where's the motivation to find food. But gluttony is the wrong use of hunger, just as sex within marriage is good, but out of control it becomes adultery. The controlled appetite is yetzer hatov.

Satan is a personification of the uncontrolled drives, a hebraism. Else wisdom would literally be a lady with many children.

I tend to believe the Jewish view, because most of the great evils of the world (and my own life!) have arisen without the help of Satan.

Well, I think it's good of you to take into consideration what you think is the "Jewish" view, but you might keep in mind that at present, and really for a long time, there isn't just 'one' Jewish view.

Moreover, if we have indications from Jesus and His Apostles that there is more for us to learn and to realize about the essence, power, and presence of evil, particularly in unembodied, demonic entities, then we might not want to ignore what Jesus is reported to have said by the Gospel writers. Just because non-Christian Jews (or even a few Christian ones) say, "We don't believe in a 'real' Satan" doesn't therefore mean they've got the correct or full picture of what we're all dealing with in this world.

Furthermore, my experience with sin has been the opposite of yours, apparently.

 

[Wordkeeper]

Well, I think it's good of you to take into consideration what you think is the "Jewish" view, but you might keep in mind that at present, and really for a long time, there isn't just 'one' Jewish view.

Moreover, if we have indications from Jesus and His Apostles that there is more for us to learn and to realize about the essence, power, and presence of evil, particularly in unembodied, demonic entities, then we might not want to ignore what Jesus is reported to have said by the Gospel writers. Just because non-Christian Jews (or even a few Christian ones) say, "We don't believe in a 'real' Satan" doesn't therefore mean they've got the correct or full picture of what we're all dealing with in this world.

I don't want people to despair that they have a demonic force to contend with.

Most of the words attributed to Satan are the small voices tempting us to give in and us, or Adam or Eve articulating those persuasive reasoning aloud.

You can even substitute the evil impulse for Satan in Jesus's words without taking away from the meaning of the teaching:

John 8:44You are of your father your evil impulse, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

I don't want people to despair that they have a demonic force to contend with.

Most of the words attributed to Satan are the small voices tempting us to give in and Adam or Eve articulating those persuasive reasoning .

You can even substitute the evil desire for Satan in Jesus's words without taking away groom the meaning of the teaching:

Well, forgive me, but I think you're speculating and actually moving more into an area involving your own eisegesis and personal opinion rather than expounding and providing substantive exegesis of the Bible in its entirety, particularly where the nature of spiritual warfare is concerned.

You probably do need to realize that a portion of your sin likely wouldn't have arisen if the world didn't harbor it cultural and economic machinations of sin, such as it does, especially these days. Part of your sin is your fault; but part of your sin also came along because the world entices you and offers you opportunities that sound "liberating." You might think about that a little more deeply.

 

[Wordkeeper]

Well, forgive me, but I think you're speculating and actually moving more into an area involving your own eisegesis and personal opinion rather than expounding and providing substantive exegesis of the Bible in its entirety, particularly where the nature of spiritual warfare is concerned.

You probably do need to realize that a portion of your sin likely wouldn't have arisen if the world didn't harbor it cultural and economic machinations of sin, such as it does, especially these days. Part of your sin is your fault; but part of your sin also came along because the world entices you and offers you opportunities that sound "liberating." You might think about that a little more deeply.

It's a human failing, so the evil impulse in us collaborates with the evil impulse in others. You can take Israel out of Egypt , but taking Egypt out of Israel is another matter.

 

[In not of]

This is a great question. The way I see it. Life happens. Alot of people start out as great God fearing Christian's. In the same way you said. People you never thought would be saved people you never thought would fall away fall away .

So I think it could be life or just the fact not everyone has a rich. deep relationship with God.

 

[Erik Nelson]

it occurs to me that maybe possibly one reason why people reject Christ is because they don't want to acknowledge any Church authority

maybe Jesus was good in principle, but his church in practice is just totally unacceptable somehow

such that debates are kind of arguing apples and oranges

verbally you think you are discussing the plausibility and even evidence for God, say, but in reality the real issue is another separate one altogether

such that it basically doesn't matter if you make a good case for Christ being the long prophesied Messiah...

the real issue is how they perceive Church authority impacting their lives

?

 

[Roidecoeur78]

"who could reject that?"

I am a new member and don't have private message rights as yet. But i have had what I believe is a falling away experience, none of which I would have chosen if i had not had, as you put it, a false image of Him. I can't know if it was a complete falling away yet, but that is my deepest concern. I have asked a couple other people on here that had feared similar conditions in the past, to see if they came out of them and if so how, but none have replied as yet. If you PM me I will describe having experienced what I later came to understand as the "second birth".

 

[Johnny4ChristJesus]

it occurs to me that maybe possibly one reason why people reject Christ is because they don't want to acknowledge any Church authority

maybe Jesus was good in principle, but his church in practice is just totally unacceptable somehow

such that debates are kind of arguing apples and oranges

verbally you think you are discussing the plausibility and even evidence for God, say, but in reality the real issue is another separate one altogether

such that it basically doesn't matter if you make a good case for Christ being the long prophesied Messiah...

the real issue is how they perceive Church authority impacting their lives

?

But, that wouldn't account for someone who loves Jesus, but rejects the current visible church authorities.