This is a statement that the apostle Paul made in his letter to the church in Rome. He then quoted the prophet Isaiah who said: “Lord, who hath believed our report?” (Rom. 10:16). Paul was quoting Isaiah 53:1 where Isaiah was speaking about the coming of the Christ. In both instances the question was asked to show that many who hear the word will not obey it. It has always been that way and it is something that we will just have to live with. We all want everyone to be saved, and so does God:

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9).

God is waiting as long as possible for men to come to repentance before he comes in judgment upon us. However, Jesus said:

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity”
(Mt. 7:21-23).

This is a fact that we will just have to accept. Sometimes we wonder why all, who hear the gospel, don’t obey it. We want to look at a few reasons in this article.

1. One reason that all don’t obey is because not all are spiritually minded. Paul wrote about this type of person when he said that “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). Most people are materialistically minded. They only believe in things that they can see, hear, touch, smell and/or taste. They believe in money because they can experience it through their empirical senses even though the Bible says that “they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition” (1 Tim. 6:9). Jesus also instructed his followers to not lay up for themselves “treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal” (Mt. 6:19). Money is one of the most fickle things on this earth. We have it today and tomorrow it is gone. However, this is what most people believe in and it is where they put their faith.

2. Another reason that most do not obey is because of how they have been raised. When people are raised to believe a certain way they probably won’t change those beliefs. It is always good to respect one’s upbringing. It is always good for one to respect what his/her parents have taught them. However, parents aren’t always right. Most of the time they are simply going by what they have been taught and simply passing it down to their children. This is why God told Moses to write:

“Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” (Exodus 20:5).

God knew that if idolatry ever got into the children of Israel that it would take at least three to four generations to get that sin out of their lives. In most instances, the sin is never eradicated. In most instances it goes on throughout the life span of that line.

3. A final reason that most do not obey is because of all the religious confusion. People simply don’t know what to believe in. This is why we are taught to “study to shew thyself approved unto God” (2 Tim. 2:15). When we stand before God in the final judgment of man we are going to give an account for how we lived our lives and how we have followed God’s word. It will do no good to feign ignorance on the grounds that our parents taught us the wrong thing. If our parents are wrong, then they are wrong. What we have to do is to find out what God’s word says, not what our parents have told us that it says.

These are just three of the many reasons that most people do not obey the gospel. We need to work around these reasons and try and convert people to the gospel.