Unbelief
"Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them,
If I tell you, ye will not believe."
Luke 22:67
The Most Horrible of all Sins
If I understand the Word of
God, the greatest, most abominable evil in this world is the horrible sin of
unbelief. I would rather stand before God guilty of any crime known to man than
stand before him guilty of having heard and refused to believe the gospel of
his dear Son. Why? Because unbelief is man's willful declaration that God
himself is a liar (1 John 5:10). Unbelief is the most daring and the most
obnoxious evil in the world. Yet, unbelief is as natural to man as spots on a
leopard. Unbelief is the bent of the human will.
A Deliberate Act of the Will
Yes, unbelief is an act of the will. Our Lord said,
"Ye will not believe." Both
faith and unbelief involve the will. I know that faith is the gift of God,
effectually wrought in his elect by the Holy Spirit. And I know that no man
can, by nature, believe God. But I also know that believing is an act of the
will. No one believes without willing to believe. Faith is God's gift wrought
in us, not upon us. He works in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
God gives us the will to believe. Yet, faith is a voluntary thing. If I believe
God, I do so willingly. And unbelief is a voluntary thing. If you refuse to
believe God, you do so voluntarily, you choose to do so. Your unbelief is your
own fault. It is a crime for which you must bear all blame and guilt.
A Refusal to Acknowledge Sin
Why do men and women refuse
to believe God? The fact is, unregenerate men and women prefer to embrace and
trust any form of darkness to believing the revelation of God. How readily man
receives the changing speculations of science, myths of mysticism, and opinions
of "learned" men. Man prefers feelings to faith. Therefore, emotional
religion is appealing. Men prefer faith in themselves to faith in Christ.
Therefore, free-will, works religion is attractive. Men prefer visions, signs,
miracles, and experiences to divine revelation. Therefore charismatic religion
is accepted. And men prefer the pretense of intellectualism to the simplicity
of faith. Therefore intellectual religion, whether liberal or conservative,
Arminian or Calvinistic, is applauded.
Why do men and women refuse
to believe God and the gospel of his free grace in Christ? The answer is
simple. -- Faith in Christ begins with an acknowledgment of personal sin,
depravity, guilt, and inability. No unregenerate man will make such an
acknowledgment. His pride, self-righteousness, and love of self keep him from
believing God.