11. Why Do People Reject Jesus?
A tremendous amount of scientific evidence shows that Jesus created the Universe. The Bible also presents many prophecies that Jesus fulfilled, and Jesus choose to die for our sins. With all of this incredible evidence, why do some people refuse to follow Jesus? The Bible clearly explains that many people refuse to completely repent of their sins, deny themselves, follow Jesus, and take up their cross every day.
People Want to Follow “Easy believism”
The concept of “easy believism” is a critical term for the concept that salvation only involves agreeing with the Gospel. Easy believism ignores that salvation also requires repentance, accepting Jesus as their savior, and living a transformed life. Easy believism teaches that simply praying the sinner’s prayer or simply having one moment of belief will guarantee eternal salvation, regardless of the Biblical necessity of a transformed life that is committed to following Jesus.¹
Easy believism was developed by Dr. Lewis Chafer, who was a Presbyterian pastor. Chafer established the Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) in 1924. Chafer and others that were involved with DTS are the main advocates for easy believism. Chafer taught that conversion simply involves faith alone. Chafer rejected that true salvation also involved repentance from sin and surrender to Jesus.²
Many verses in the Bible dismiss the concept of easy believism (Luke 14:33, Luke 14:25-33, Mark 8:34-37, and Luke 9:23). However, many people still follow the easy believism because most people want salvation to be easy and simple. Very few people are willing to repent of their sins, take up their cross daily, and follow Jesus. So, easy believism is a challenge which prevents people from becoming true Christians.³
People Choose Not to Follow Jesus
Easy believism is a serious problem because it causes people to think that salvation is something that is very simply to obtain. However, there are also several reasons which cause people to completely reject the Gospel. These primary reasons are the inclinations to evade revealing their actions, feeling that a Savior is not necessary, or not understanding who Jesus is.⁴
Many people simply do not want to tell people about all of the actions that they have chosen. People prefer immoral behavior rather than the purity that is necessary to follow Christ. They panic when they realize that Christ’s light will realize that their choices were sinful. People also worry that they will be ridiculed and shunned by their peers for follow a Godly lifestyle.⁵
People also believe that they simply do not need a savior. People think that they are self-sufficient and do not need a savior. People are proud and do not want to humble themselves. However, the Bible says that everyone must deny themselves and be humble for salvation. Everyone must realize that salvation cannot be earned through good works, and they must acknowledge their need for God’s grace for salvation (Matthew 18:3-4, Luke 18:14, James 4:6).
Also, many people reject Jesus because He does not satisfy their personal expectations. Many people want a completely different type of Messiah. For example, when Jesus came in the first century, the Jews were ruled by the Romans. So, many Jews wanted a political general that would overthrow the Romans and reestablish the authority of Israel, similar to King David (Psalm 2, Psalm 11, Isaiah 53). The Jews did not anticipate that Jesus would be a suffering servant that would die for their sins.⁶
The Primary Reason Why People Reject Jesus
While there are many reasons why people choose not to follow Jesus, the primary basis for refusing to follow Jesus is that people want to continue having complete authority for their life. People want to have their own rules, and people do not want to relent to Jesus’s lordship. People do not want to repent of their sins and choose to follow God. People want to circumvent having responsibility and judgement for their sinful actions. Simply, people choose wickedness instead of the light that Jesus provides because their choices are sinful.⁷
People will make many excuses for refusing to follow Jesus. For example, people will claim that the message of the Gospel is challenging for various ideological or theoretical reasons, or people might claim that the Bible contains inconsistencies. However, the true reason why people refuse to follow Jesus is that they love sinful behavior and they refuse to follow Jesus. The Bible clearly describes this problem: “Jesus said, ‘And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed’” (John 3:19–20). People realize that becoming a true Christian will require completely changing their lives, but they refuse to abandon their sinful behavior.⁸
Further, Jesus frequently focused on discipleship with the 12 disciples. For example, Jesus said: “Come, follow me” many times (Matthew 4:19, Mark 1:17, Luke 9:23, and John 8:12). When Jesus invited His disciples to “follow me,” the objective was discipleship. Before any person can become a disciple of Jesus, they must completely deny themselves, completely repent of their sins, pick up their cross every day, and trust in Jesus for their salvation. The concept of “completely deny themselves” means that believers must completely renounce their sinful actions and follow Jesus. So, when Jesus called people to “follow me,” Jesus was inviting people to have a completely transformed life, not simply a list of rules, and this call was recounted as instantaneous and transformative decision. So, following Jesus completely changes people, but many people refuse to follow Jesus because they love their sinful behavior.⁹
Following Jesus Costs Everything
Further, Jesus realized that following Him would cost a person everything. The Bible describes the concept of following Jesus as complete commitment in which a person chooses to deny themselves, their belongings, friendships, and even their life. Jesus was calling his disciples to choose Him as their ultimate preference over their personal solace and safety. Many theologians describe following Jesus as costing everything.¹⁰
There are many verses in the Bible which clearly describe the concept of “following Jesus.” Jesus provided the best description here:
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:26-33).
Here, Jesus described the concept of “follow me” as complete commitment to Jesus. Jesus also required people to count the cost when they choose to follow Him.¹¹
The Bible clearly describes everything that is required when a person chooses to follow Jesus. Many simply want to have eternal life. However, they ignore that Jesus also required believers to: “deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Truly following Jesus might entail losing friendships, personal goals, or a person’s life. So, many people choose not to truly follow Jesus.¹²
What Other Religions Teach
Many people also do not want to follow Jesus because Christianity is the only religion which requires complete commitment. Christianity requires people to repent of their sins, deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow Jesus every day (Luke 9:23). Following Jesus is frequently described as making a believer a “living sacrifice,” which requires a Christian to make Jesus the focus of their life in all situations. On the contrary, other worldly religions do not require complete commitment. So, many people choose not to pursue a personal relationship with Jesus.¹³
Many people choose to reject Jesus and follow religious universalism or pluralism. Modern examples of religious universalism include the Unitarian Universalism Church which does not believe that following Jesus is necessary for salvation. Additionally, the Unitarian Universalism Church invites agnostics, atheists, and people from various religions to join them. Many people choose to follow the Unitarian Universalism Church because they do not want to deny themselves and follow Jesus every day.¹⁴
Many religions also teach that a person’s good deeds must outweigh their sinful deeds to enter Heaven. For example, Islam teaches that a person’s deeds will be weighed on a balance to determine whether the person will enter Heaven.¹⁵ Similarly, Hinduism teaches that karma is a fundamental law of source and effect which creates equilibrium. These religions do not teach that a person must follow a godly lifestyle every day. So, a person could choose to be a murder and also go to church, because they believe that salvation merely requires that their good deeds must outweigh their sinful deeds. So, many people choose to follow these religions because they do not want to completely deny their sinful behaviors and follow Jesus.¹⁶
Works Mean Nothing to God
Further, Christianity teaches that people cannot obtain salvation through their good works. True faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. After a person has confessed their sins and chosen to follow Jesus every day, then God expects that their faith will produces good works (James 2:14-26). So, good works are crucial confirmation that a person is saved, but good works cannot provide salvation.¹⁷
Christianity’s view on salvation and good works completely disagrees with many religions. For example, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam teach that salvation is obtained by good works and virtuous living. People choose to follow other religion because they want to control their own destiny, and they refuse to deny themselves and follow Jesus. However, the Bible teaches that people are only saved by faith in Jesus, and not by their good works (Romans 3:20, Ephesians 2:8-9).¹⁸
The Bible teaches that people do not want to abandon their lifestyles. People simply enjoy sinful behavior, and they do not want to abandon their behaviors. The Bible also teaches that people do not want to abandon their lifestyle because they have a “fallen nature” that is susceptible to sin. So, people will pursue religions which teach that self-denial and following Jesus are not necessary for salvation. People want to follow religions which teach that salvation can be obtained by balancing good works and sinful behavior.¹⁹
Conclusions
Fundamentally, Christianity is a very unique religion. In other religions, salvation is through works. So, a person could follow a sinful lifestyle and try to get to Heaven through works. However, Christianity requires that a person confess their sins, repent of their sins, deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Jesus every day to be saved. Many people simply refuse to do these things.
References
1. Wax, T. (2025, April 22). The Ever-Present Search for an Easy Christian Faith. The Gospel Coalition. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/search-easy-christian-faith/
2. Cauthorne, C. (2006, April 27). As iron sharpens iron, one person sharpens another. Sharper Iron. https://sharperiron.org/article/roots-of-easy-believism
3. Houghton, M. (2008, April 18). A Critique of “Easy Believism.” Faith Baptist Theological Seminary. https://faith.edu/faith-pulpit/posts/a-critique-of-easy-believism/
4. Piper, J. (2022, August 17). Why Do So Many Reject Jesus? Desiring God. https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/why-do-so-many-reject-jesus
5. Bouma, J. (2018, March 30). 10 Reasons Why People Reject the Gospel. Zondervan Academic. https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/reasons-why-people-reject-gospel
6. Gabriel, D. (2025, May 11). Why Do People Reject Jesus? Grace Today.
https://www.gracetoday.net/podcast/2025/5/13/why-do-people-reject-jesus-john-71-52-darien-gabriel
7. Allen, T. (2020, April 5). Why They Reject Christ. Grace Church. https://www.gracegreeley.org/teaching/why-they-reject-christ/
8. Laurie, G. (2024, April 17). When People Love Darkness. Harvest. https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/when-people-love-darkness
9. Stetler, D. (2024, March 20). 21 Times Jesus Said “Follow Me.” New Start Discipleship. https://www.newstartdiscipleship.com/post/21-times-jesus-said-follow-me
10. Davis, A. (2002, July 7). Counting the Cost of Following Christ. Two Journeys. https://twojourneys.org/sermons/series/matthew/counting-the-cost-of-following-christ-matthew-sermon-26-of-151/
11. Piper, J. (2018, January 29). Following Christ Is Costly – But How Do You Count the Cost? Desiring God. https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/following-christ-is-costly-but-how-do-you-count-the-cost
12. Anyabwile, T. (2009, December 2). The Costs of Following Jesus. The Gospel Coalition. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/thabiti-anyabwile/costs-of-following-jesus/
13. Etheredge, C. (2022, May 17). Jesus Calls You to Increasing Levels of Commitment. Discipleship First. https://disciplefirst.com/jesus-calls-you-to-increasing-levels-of-commitment/
14. Pufong, M. (2023, July 30). Unitarianism. Free Speech Center. https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/unitarianism/
15. Shlemon, A. (2020, July 16). Jesus Tips the Balance of the Islamic Scale. Stand to Reason. https://www.str.org/w/jesus-tips-the-balance-of-the-islamic-scale
16. Jenkins, J. (2022, August 29). Grace: The Anti-Karma. Calvary Chapel. https://calvarychapel.com/posts/grace-the-anti-karma/
17. Witmer, S. (2016, November 17). How Grace Levels Laziness and Pride. Desiring God.
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/unless-god-works-we-work-in-vain
18. Shlemon, A. (2017, November 6). Why Do Other Religions Emphasize Works for Salvation? Stand to Reason. https://www.str.org/w/why-do-other-religions-emphasize-works-for-salvation-
19. Cameron, K. (2024, April 15). Why Do I Keep Sinning? Boundless. https://www.boundless.org/faith/why-do-i-keep-sinning/