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Excuses For Not Following Jesus
Has someone ever shared with you the Good News
that Jesus died for your sins and asked you if you would like to turn and
follow Him? Did you have some excuse for not repenting and following Jesus as
your Savior? Is one or more of your reasons listed below?
1. I am a good person.
Compared to who? If you are comparing yourself
to other people you will always find someone that has done worse things than
you. But compared to God’s standard we ALL fall short. God’s standard is to be
perfect. “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is
perfect.” Matthew 5:48. Even ONE sin will keep you from Heaven. But the
Good News is Jesus paid the penalty for our sins for us on the cross. When we
repent and trust in Him He gives us eternal life.
2. I am too bad a person to go to Heaven.
You are right. You are too bad and so is
everyone else. The way to Heaven isn’t based on how good or bad we are. The
only way to Heaven is by repenting (turning from your sin) and trusting that
Jesus paid for your sins on the cross. God loves us unconditionally. No matter
what you have done He will forgive you if you come to Him.
3. There are too many hypocrites in the church.
So this is what you will tell God when you face
Him on Judgement Day? God’s question to you will be “What did you do with
my Son, Jesus?”. Whether or not you have an opinion about church goers
will have nothing to do with your eternal destination. There are hypocrates in
church. There are also hypocrites at work. There are even hypocrates in your
own family. Does this mean your will disown your family and never go to work?
This is a very weak excuse and won’t hold water when you face the Lord.
4. Church is boring.
A Christian loves going to church because they
love hearing about their Lord who saved them from their sins. They want to
learn all about Him and are very thankful for what He did for them. They have
the Holy Spirit in them who helps them understand the things of God. But
sometimes, when those who aren’t Christians go to church they don’t always
understand what is being taught because they don’t have the heart of Christ. So
a lot of times the reason you think church is boring is because of the
condition of your heart. Other times your feeling of boredom could be because
you aren’t in a church that’s the right fit for you. There are a lot of Bible
believing churches out there. Find one where you fit in and are fed the Word.
Some people say church is boring but in reality they have never even been to a
church or maybe haven’t been to one in years. You need to give church another
chance. Don’t make a decision about church unless you have experienced it
recently first hand.
5. I already go to church and that makes me a Christian.
So in other words, when you go to MacDonalds
that makes you a hamburger? The Bible says in Titus 3:5 “Not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by
the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost”. In other
words, no amount of good works, including going to church, will get us to
Heaven. Only by the “washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy
Spirit” are we able to go to Heaven. That is being Born Again, John 3:3.
Just as we have been born physically, we must be born spiritually. And that can
only be done by repenting and trusting in Jesus. He makes us clean inside and
ready for Heaven. We must trust in Jesus, not trust in our church membership.
6. I need to straighten my life out first.
Has there ever been a time when your life was
totally straightened out? A time when you’ve been completely problem free?
You’ve been a totally good person? There will never be a time when you feel you
have “arrived” and are clean and ready to meet Jesus. That is because
the Bible says “all have sinned” Romans 3:23. “There is none
righteous” no, not one” Romans 3:10. Jesus loves us and wants us to
come to Him just as we are. When we do, He is the one who cleans us from the
inside out and makes us ready for Heaven. We can never do that on our own.
7. I’ll wait until I get old.
We all want to live a long life. But are you
sure you will live until you are old? And exactly how old is old? Each year as
we grow older the concept of old age gets higher and higher. In other words,
you will probably put off turning to Jesus until it’s too late. The Bible says
“now is the the day of salvation” 2 Corinthians 6:2. You don’t know
if you will even be alive tomorrow. Heart attacks, car accidents, murders, etc.
abound. You could be the very next victim. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Repent
and follow Jesus now.
8. I don’t believe in God.
Just because you don’t believe in Him doesn’t
mean God doesn’t exist. Look around you. Where did the earth come from? It had
to have had a beginning. If you are thinking, well there was this big bang.
Okay, so if there was, then what banged together and where did THAT come from?
God shows himself in his creation. He also shows Himself in the changed lives
of his believers. That is like the law of cause and effect. We believe in the
existence of the wind, air, love, etc. We can’t see them but we know they exist
because of the effect they have in our lives. Think about this – when you do
something wrong you know it right? What tells you that? Your conscience. We all
know we shouldn’t steal, murder, lie, etc. Everyone on the whole earth has a
conscience. Our conscience comes from God. It’s universal. No matter where you
live you know right from wrong whether you follow your conscience or not. God
put it there. There is a God who created you and loves you.
9. I was born a Christian.
The United States is considered a Christian
nation. Therefore, there are some who erroniously think because they were born
in the U.S.A. they are automatically Christians. There are also those that
consider themselves Christians from birth because they were born into a family
of a certain denomination or religion. But the Bible says we must make a
consciencious decision to turn and follow Jesus. We need to be old enough to
see our sin for what it is and realize we need a saviour. We are born
physically the first time but to get to Heaven we must be born again
spiritually. Jesus gives us the right to choose. He wants us to choose to
follow Him out of love. Each of us has to repent and follow Jesus. It has
nothing to do with being born physically into this world.
10. If I follow Jesus He will make me go to some poor foreign country to
serve Him.
Jesus doesn’t make any of us serve Him. We serve
Him out of love and gratitude for what He did for us on the cross. He gives
each of His followers a gift to use in the church to help build and edify. If
He gives you a gift that you would use in missions and He calls you to be a
missionary it is still up to you to answer yes or no. God won’t force anyone to
serve Him. But there are all kinds of gifts of the Spirit and missions might
not even be what you would be gifted to do. It could be giving, or teaching, or
helping those in need, or even singing or administration. Worrying about being
sent to a foreign mission field is a poor excuse for not trusting Jesus as your
saviour. Take a good look at your heart.
11. All religions lead to Heaven anyway, I’ll get there my own way.
If all religions get you to Heaven and they are
all worshiping the same God then why do some religions teach just the opposite
of others? For example, there are some that promote hate and murder and force
you to follow them or loose your life. The Bible teaches God is love and you
should not murder but instead love your neighbor. The God of the Bible gives
you a choice to follow Him. How can both these religions lead to the same God?
Jesus said, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no man comes to the
Father but by me.’ John 14:6. If all roads lead to Heaven then Jesus wouldn’t
have had to die on the cross for our sins. The Bible says Jesus is the only way
to Heaven.
12. I could never change.
When we repent and turn to follow Jesus HE does
the changing in us. He will renew our spirits and then we find we want to do
things we didn’t before such as go to church or pray, etc. Or we will not want
to do things we used to do. It’s a change for the good and it’s not something
we could ever accomplish on our own. He loves you even in your sin and wants to
be your saviour. When you repent and turn to Him he will do the rest.
13. The Bible is boring.
First of all, have you ever read it? There are a
lot of people who say they don’t believe the Bible but in reality they have
never even read it. The Bible is full of stories about love, murder, wars,
celebrations, etc. It’s also full of wisdom and advice that is practicle for
everyday living. If you are having a hard time understanding some of what you
read then find a version that you can understand. The Living Bible or the
Contemporary English versions are written in easy to understand language, the
same as we speak today. Get a readable version and give the Bible another try.
You may find you will be surprised at what’s inside.
14. There are too many contradictions in the Bible.
There are? Where? Usually when someone uses this
excuse they can’t even show you one contradiction. They’ve heard other people
say this and use it as an excuse for themselves. There are those who want so
much to refute the Bible so they have an excuse to not follow God that they
will find anything that even remotely looks like a contradiction and run with
it. In reality, there are no Bible contradictions. Some verses might seem to
contradict others if taken out of context or the language may be difficult to
understand. But consideration must be taken as to where and when and to whom
something was said and why it was said. The Bible must always be taken as a
whole and verses must be compared to the main message of the Bible. If the
Bible was written by mere men and there are real contradictions in it don’t you
think that sometime in the last several thousand years someone would have
corrected those supposed contradictions? The Bible was inspired by God Himself
and nothing has been changed because there isn’t any contradictions to change.
Read the Bible yourself, not with the heart of refuting God but with a heart
searching for God, and see for yourself what the real message of the Bible is.
15. I like to sin and don’t want to give up the fun.
This excuse is two fold. First, knowing that
what you are doing is a sin shows that you don’t understand who God is or His
power. He created the universe and everything that is in it including you. We
are all going to have to stand before God someday and you will have to face
your mighty and powerful Creator. The Bible says “The wages of sin is
death” Romans 6:23. This means eternal separation from God in hell. That
is not something to play around with. The more you sin in the face of God the
harder your heart gets. Second, thinking you will have to give up any fun shows
you don’t realize how awesome your life will be once you become a Christian.
Christians don’t check their brains, emotions or their ability to have fun at
the door. Most Christians say they never really lived until they met Christ.
Now their lives are much fuller and happier because they are filled with God’s
love.
16. I’m too educated or smart to believe the Bible.
An educated person gets all the facts before he
makes a judgement or decision about something. Before you can reject the Bible
you must first read it and understand it’s main message. What does the Bible
have to say about how a person gets to Heaven? How does a person know for sure
he’s going there? If you don’t know the answer to these questions then you
probably haven’t really read the Bible. The Bible is the most published and
read book in history. Don’t let your intellectual pride keep you from searching
all the facts and cause you to make the wrong decision about your eternal
destiny.
17. I don’t believe in hell.
When some people refuse to acknowledge the
existence of hell it’s because they are really afraid they might go there. If
you’ve done something you know is wrong remember that Jesus came to take your
punishment for you on the cross. Ask for His forgiveness and receive Him as
your Saviour. There are those that say hell is right here on earth. In a small
sense they are right. The Bible says for Christians we have an
“earnest” of our inheritance right here which is a taste of Heaven.
The good thing for those who follow the Lord is that this earth is the closest
thing to hell Christians will ever know. The sad thing is for those who reject
Christ this earth is the closest thing to Heaven they will know. There are
about 162 places in the New Testament alone that speak of hell and it’s
torment. Before you reject hell as being real you owe it to yourself to read
the Bible and see what it has to say about it.
18. I believe in science not science fiction.
Actually, the Bible lines up with modern science
even though it was written several thousand years ago or more. The prophet
Isaiah tells us the earth is round. Science didn’t discover this until 2400 years
later. Solomon described the cycle of air currents 2000 years before scientists
discovered them. Science has found that the stars emit radio waves but Job
mentioned this thousands of years ago. The Bible is full of not only science
but prophetic information that man continually find to be true. Do a study on
science and the Bible and you will be amazed at what you find.
19. I will not follow a God who sends people to hell.
First, hell was never meant for man but was
“prepared for the devil and his angels” Matthew 25:41. But even
though “God is love” 1 John 4:8, He must punish sin. That’s because
He’s just and fair. Just as a judge in a court of law has standards he must
uphold, even more so does God. If He went back on His Word that would make Him
a liar and the Bible says God cannot lie. So He can’t just wink at sin. But He
loves us so much He came to earth himself to take the punishment that we
deserve for our sins upon Himself. And when we choose to trust His payment on
the cross for our sins and repent and turn and follow Him we are exercising our
right of choice and our reward is Heaven. By the same token, when we choose to
reject God’s loving sacrifice for us we are also exercising our right of choice
but our eternal destination will be hell. In other words, God doesn’t send man
to hell. Man sends himself to hell when he rejects or refuses to repent and
follow Jesus.
20. I follow the Ten Commandments.
So in other words you consider yourself to be a
pretty good person? Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever stolen anything,
even if it was just a paperclip? Have you ever said God’s Name as a curse word?
If you have then you are a liar, a thief and a blasphemer. And those are only
three of the Ten Commandments. The Bible says in order to get to Heaven by the
Law (Ten Commandments) you must be perfect. “Be perfect even as your
Father in Heaven is perfect” Matthew 5:48. Even ONE sin ONE time in your
whole life means you have broken God’s Law. The Bible says if you offend in
even one point you’ve offended in all. “For whoever keeps the whole law
but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it” James 2:10.
Trying to follow the Ten Commandments is commendable but it is impossible to
keep them all all of the time. The Law was given to show us our sin, not as a
way to get to Heaven. Jesus came to earth to fullfill the Law. He was perfect
and kept the Law in our place because we couldn’t do it. And even though He was
perfect He chose to take the punishment we deserve for breaking the Law. It is only
through repentance and trusting in what Jesus did for us on the cross that we
are able to have our sins forgiven and enter into Heaven completely clean
because of what Jesus did for us. Transfer your trust from trusting in your own
good works and repent and trust Jesus instead. Your eternal destination depends
on it
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