“Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man” (John 2:23-25).
When I pray for someone to be saved, I know Jesus must change their hearts and lives. No one can do that themselves. In fact, no one will even seek God unless He draws them. Yet there is a part of me that cannot understand that. Why would someone not want to know Jesus? Not want eternal life? I’ve read the Bible for years, read theologians like Stephan Charnock who clearly explain the atheistic heart of human beings, even seen the resistance in my own heart at times to the will of God, yet this still makes no sense.
People will “believe” if Jesus does something amazing. But this is not saving faith. People will “believe” if they are desperate and have no other resources. But this is not saving faith either. Saving faith never includes wanting something from Him in return. Saving faith realizes that we are nothing and have nothing that God needs.
Therein lies the explanation, the reason I and everyone else resists the will of God. Who needs Him when I can do it by myself? For some of us it takes a lifetime to learn that I cannot.
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