You may have heard from a televangelist or someone in your circle saying “trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and you will be saved”, I know I have said this too several times in the past. This is the simple Gospel message. But why then doesn’t everyone heed this call? The trust in order to do so from the sinner is missing.

It is much like saying “repent and believe the Gospel” which Jesus Himself commanded. Then why is this simple call rejected with ease by many? Again, the trust in order to repent and believe the Gospel is missing. The sinner doesn’t trust God nor the person who parrots what God has commanded. We do this because we are fallen in nature. This means we are born naturally distrusting the things of God and we naturally have an affinity to sin against Him. It is the path of least resistance which takes over.

Think of it this way, a salesman arrives at your house with an expensive looking vacuum cleaner he asks you to look at. The guy is slick looking drives a fancy sports car, he speaks vainly, and his eyes are shifty. He comes on strong and gives you immediate promises as if you were his best friend. He is giving you a high pressured condescending sales pitch which you naturally cannot believe because the impression you have is he cannot be trusted. So whatever he says, you are seeking to reject even if he were telling the truth. You do not trust this guy even to walk your dog around the block, so while you listened to what he had to say and despite this being the world’s best vacuum at an affordable price, you will never buy it.

The same goes for trusting in God. If trust is not provided from God, you will naturally distrust Him and His promises. When Jesus said in John 3:3 “you must be born again”, He wasn’t mincing words. It is only then the sinner trusts God, because He changed your heart from fallen to receiving in an instant. We are incapable to just trust Him otherwise and many a Gospel sharer will become frustrated if they do not understand this. They will repeat themselves to a blank faced listener, they will cite many verses and provide their own testimony, yet it is all rejected.

We can only call out “Trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and you will be saved”, and the hearts changed by God will trust this message. Those who are still fallen, won’t. Yes, it is that simple. Now some will claim they trust in God, but their deeds, words, and actions will speak otherwise. Some will try to externally trust, may even attend church with you, may even read the Bible, and then one day will show they really never really trusted the message or God.

Mark 9:24 “Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

If you are struggling in this respect and feel God is drawing you in, say a simple prayer “Please God show me how I can trust You?” This is basically the prayer of the father of the child in Mark 9:24 above. And if this prayer is said with a contrite heart, and it is His timing, He will show you! And when that trust does come? Your life will change eternally. I think many in their testimonies miss this point or do not quite understand it. You went from not trusting God to completely trusting Him. And how did that happen? God gave you this trust by grace alone! It wasn’t because you just suddenly self-generated a trust in Him or that your were somehow more intellectual or spiritually sensitive than your neighbor. He blessed you with a new heart so that you can now trust Him completely knowing anything which happens, good, bad, ugly, He has got your back! With this complete trust, you now live in peace with Him.

If your world religion or someone deceived you, you will never completely trust God because God didn’t give you anything yet to trust in Him. You will rather trust in those who deceived you which over time you will grow tired of. When Paul said “work out your salvation with fear and trembling”, this is what he meant. Have you been saved or were you deceived? The answer to this will be the kind of trust you have in your heart for God and His promises.