Believing the truth about Jesus as announced in the gospel and living under his authority is not optional. At the heart of the Christian message is the declaration that God raised Jesus from the dead and exalted him as his king over all creation. Therefore “he commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30-31).
Perhaps you have heard the gospel before. But you have not yet decided to trust in and follow Christ. What can you do?
First, I recommend that you hear the gospel again and make sure you understand what it says about who Jesus is, what he has accomplished to save sinners, and what you must do in order to respond appropriately and be saved. You will accomplish this best by speaking to a true follower of Jesus who can explain these things in clear terms.*
After that, if you are still not following Christ, a valuable question to ask yourself is, “Why not?” Most unbelievers never even think about this. For those who are seriously considering becoming a disciple of Jesus, it is a crucial step in identifying and removing hindrances to your faith.
Below, I have listed out 11 common excuses people have for not repenting and coming to Jesus in faith. Read through them to see if any, or a combination, of them represent your thinking. Meaningfully consider the answers provided as well. They may be what the Spirit of God uses to move you from unbelief to faith in Jesus Christ.
1. “I am waiting for further proof from God to know that the Bible is true.”
Jesus told a story where a rich man died and went to hell. He was in such terrible agony that he begged for someone to go back and warn his family so they would not end up in the same place. He was told, “No. They have Moses and the Prophets. Let them hear them. . . . If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead” (Luke 16:19-31).
Similarly, you have the testimony of the apostles in the Scriptures. If you are unwilling to listen to and believe them, then additional proof will likely not help you. Many people knew Jesus’ grave was empty and figured out how to explain it away and excuse their unbelief. Their root issue was not a lack of evidence but rather an unwillingness to believe the facts in front of them.
2. “I’m not sure if God is willing to save me.”
Scripture says that God desires all men to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4). The Lord said he takes no delight in your destruction (Ezekiel 33:11). Jesus said he will not reject anyone who sincerely comes to him on his terms, but will receive and save him (John 6:37). God gave his Son on the cross to save sinners like you. God has promised that he will save everyone who comes to Jesus. You can be sure that he is willing to forgive all your sins, whatever kind or degree.
3. “I’m not sure if Jesus is able to save me.”
A man named Paul once said that he was the chief of sinners, yet Christ saved him. If he has already saved the chief of sinners, he can save you too. Scripture says he is able to completely save all those who draw near to God through him (Hebrews 7:25). He is an almighty Savior, whose grace can superabound over your sin like a tsunami tidal wave covering a tall mountain (Romans 5:20-21). His blood can cleanse you from all your sins (1 John 1:9). Yes, Jesus is able to save you.
4. “I’ll do it later. Just not now.”
There are many people in hell now who said they would believe in Jesus later. When you say that you will come to Jesus later in life, you are admitting that you are unwilling to come to Jesus right now. What makes you think you will be willing to come to him later in life? Some people have planned to turn to Jesus in the future, only to find that the passage of time further hardened their hearts away from the Lord rather than softening them toward him.
You might experience the same, and your delay might eventually lead you beyond remedy to a point where the opportunity to repent and believe has passed you by (Isaiah 55:6-7). So do not harden your heart and refuse to answer God’s call. Your refusal is not an innocent delay; it is an evil rejection of the glorious gospel feast God is offering you in his Son that will bring his wrath (Luke 14:16-24).
5. “I am not sure I am one of the elect.”
It is not biblically logical to reason, “If only the elect will be saved, then I need to figure out whether I’m elect or not before I come to Jesus, because there is no sense trying to come to Jesus if I am not elect to begin with.” That is devilish, carnal logic that your sinful nature is utilizing in order to set you on a fool’s errand and to keep you from coming to Jesus.
The gospel call to you is not “If you are elect, repent and believe.” The gospel call to you is simply, “Repent and believe.” Election is God’s business. Your business is to come to Jesus.
6. “I am waiting for some special experience or feeling, like stronger conviction over my sin or greater feelings of my need for Jesus, to show me God is working to save me.”
You are looking for some additional personal revelation from God in order to give you grounds to come to Jesus. But you don’t need any more grounds. God has sent his Son to die on the cross and he raised him from the dead. He commands you to repent and believe in Jesus. And he promises that if you do, he will wipe away your sins and give you eternal life.
7. “I don’t want to be a hypocrite. I’m waiting until I’m ready to be a sincere Christian.”
You speak as though it is a more noble thing for you to continue to be a consistent sinner who refuses to believe in Jesus. You betray yourself with your words, for you admit that you are not presently willing to follow Jesus sincerely.
Also, you have made two errors in your thinking. First, you assume that you can change your own heart before believing in Jesus, which is to say, apart from Jesus. But that is impossible, as only Jesus can give you a new heart. Second, you misunderstand the nature of salvation. When Jesus rescues a sinner, he not only frees him from the guilt of sin, but he also frees him from the power of sin and keeps him from being a hypocrite.
8. “I am trying to come to Jesus, but God isn’t saving me. I’ve asked him to give me the gifts of repentance and faith, but he hasn’t yet.”
Don’t ask God to do for you what he commands you to do. And don’t wait on him to do for you what he commands you to do. Instead, do what he commands you to do.
God does not command you to ask him for the gift of repentance. He commands you to repent. He doesn’t command you to ask him for the gift of faith. He commands you to believe in Jesus. And he promises to save you if you do. So repent and believe.
9. “Repenting and believing are too difficult. God is asking me to do a hard thing.”
God is not asking you to climb to heaven to bring Christ down to earth. And he isn’t asking you to bring Christ up from the dead. Those would be impossible tasks for you to complete. Jesus has already descended from heaven to earth and died on the cross for sinners. And he already rose from the dead back to life. All God is asking you to do is trust in him to save you.
If a doctor diagnosed you with a terminal illness, informed you that you would die within two days without intervention, and then instructed you to receive the only treatment that can and would save your life, would you say it was “too difficult” to receive it? Perhaps the reason you find it difficult is because you are unwilling to accept God’s spiritual diagnosis of you and his offered treatment in Christ. Maybe you think you are better than God says you are or that there is some other way to be saved.
10. “Repenting and believing are too confusing. I don’t understand how it works.”
The gospel is not confusing. It’s very simple. Even a young child or an uneducated person can understand it enough to believe it and be saved. Jesus told many self-righteous religious people who didn’t understand his words that their problem wasn’t ignorance. It was an unwillingness to admit they were sinful and couldn’t qualify for eternal life on their own merits (John 3:11-12; 5:43).
Maybe similarly, your issue is that you are unwilling to believe that you are a helpless sinner who cannot contribute anything to your salvation and must entirely rely on God to save you through Christ. Perhaps you desire to play some part in earning it. So the idea of totally free grace and forgiveness through faith alone is not too hard for you to understand. Have you considered the possibility that it is too difficult for you to accept because of your pride?
11. “My heart is so hard and I am so enslaved to my sin that I cannot come.”
The testimony of Scripture concerning many who heard Jesus is that they could not believe because they would not believe (John 12:36-39). You have said the reason you will not come to Jesus is because you cannot come. But in reality, the exact opposite is the case. The reason you cannot come is because you will not come. You are like a child who is physically incapable of obeying his father’s instructions because he morally refuses to do so.
Some of Jesus’ hearers would not believe because of their proud desire to have the praise of others (John 5:40-44). Others would not believe because they loved their sins and appearing righteous before others, so they didn’t want to be exposed (John 3:18-20). Is it so with you? Let go of your pride and your sins and embrace Jesus that you may live.
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*Alternatively, for a helpful explanation of the gospel you can read or listen to Pursuing God here.