@ToBeLoved
I've been trying to figure the very same out, too.
I'm not sure where they're coming from, but the way I understood it is this:
The steps of a Christian's life goes something like this:
*He/She is born a sinner.
*He/She hears the gospel at some point in their lives, perhaps multiple times before the next step occurs.
*He/She makes a conscious decision/realization that they are living in sin and that they face death and damnation if they do nothing about it.
*He/She makes a conscious decision that they need Salvation from this grim eternal fate.
*He/She believes that Christ is the Son of God, who died on the cross, and was resurrected three days later, and in doing so, won victory over sin and death.
*He/She confesses Christ as Lord
*He/She repents for their sin (so many people don't know what the word 'repent' means.
As per
www.dictionary.com:
1. to feel sorry, self-reproachful, or contrite for past conduct; regret or be conscience-stricken about a past action, attitude, etc. (often followed by of):
He repented after his thoughtless act.
2.to feel such sorrow for sin or fault as to be disposed to change one's life for the better; be penitent.
*He/She receives the Holy Spirit and becomes Justified.
*He/She is slowly sanctified over time to be more like Him.
*He/She will have a dislike, or hatred for sin and sinful actions and will avoid them anywhere possible.
Now, where most professing "Christians" tend to fail, is at the Repent and Dislike/Hatred for Sin parts (this is likely because they don't truly believe that they are sinners and require salvation). You will see "Christians" professing Christ as Lord, but yet they keep living in sin without much of any effort to break away from said sin. I can't judge these people, for that is only for Him to do, but the Bible tells us about these people that taste of the cup and then fall away. A lot of these will become apostates, especially if they are preachers/ministers/etc who do this.
The Scriptures tell us that you will know a Christian by his fruits; you'll know a Christian as being one whose life has been changed by some degree (though some people might have such slight changes you might not notice right away, other people will turn their lives around 180' overnight), whose attitudes and actions show Jesus at work in their lives, as they show some of the same qualities Christ was known for.
Now obviously, nobody is going to be a perfect Christian while on this Earth (the Bible outright states this), it is simply impossible while we remain in our fleshly bodies. This isn't a license to make excuses as to why we sin (if we're Saved, then we're constantly lamenting the fact we still sin daily, but we recognize that some of this is unavoidable and we praise God daily for helping us avoid sin whenever possible, and being willing to forgive and forget the sins we
do commit), but merely a consolation for when we inevitably fail (every Christian will fall short and fail at some points in their lives).
I apologize for lack of Scripture in this post, I wrote it a little hastily before going to work, but I'm sure those who have the Bible a bit better memorized than I do know which Scriptures I'm referring to here.
EDIT: As to the OP's question, as to why some people reject Grace, I think Rev. David Wilkerson said it best, and I'm going to paraphrase from best of my memory of what he said, in essence:
Pride. Some people who believe in God and Christ are going to die, and end up at the Judgment Seat and they're going to say "What do you mean, all I had to do was repent and believe!? That was too easy! I had to do SOMETHING to earn this!"
And I tend to agree with Rev. Wilkerson; some people just can't wrap their minds around a free gift in a world full of capitalism and greed. That is, of course, Satan's doing.
