Many of our professing converts of today are like those mentioned in John 2:23, “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing”. Notice that these are people that “believed in Jesus,” much as we see today in churches across the globe. But what does Jesus say of these people? As stated in John 2:24-25, “But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men...” How many people have made a commitment to Christ as their Lord and Savior in the same way as stated in John 2:23? Yet, the Lord says “He was not entrusting Himself to them.” This kind of “believe” that is common in the church today is evil and if left unchecked, it will and has resulted in multitudes perishing in hell.
Let me add a quote by Arthur Pink from 1930, who was an American theologian at that time, to help crystallize one of the most abused and corrupted verses in the new testament. “Let one of the false prophets of the day tell him that all he has to do is believe John 3:16 and salvation is his, and how eagerly will he--though unchanged in heart—drink in such 'smooth things.' Assured that nothing more is required than to firmly believe that God loves him and that Christ died for him, and his burden is gone; peace now fills him. Yes, and nineteen times out of twenty, that 'peace' is nothing but Satan's opiate, drugging his conscience and chloroforming him into hell.” Listen readers, Pink made this statement almost 100 years ago; I reckon things have become far worse as so called “willing converts” deceive themselves into thinking they are something when they are nothing more than children of the devil.
The Lord commands all people to seek precisely because it is impossible to believe in our fallen condition without the gift of faith. There is nothing meritorious in seeking and God may or may not save the seeker, but it is necessary to prepare one for salvation. The gift of faith is such a great treasure ( Mat. 13:44-46) that from God's point of view there is a certain sense of qualification in granting salvation through diligent and earnest seeking. God has so ordered that things of great value are not to be obtained so easily without a genuine demonstration of diligent seeking (Prov. 8:17). Noah spent 120 years preparing the ark as God commanded it to be built. It was with great cost both financially and to Noah's reputation, that Noah endured 120 years before the flood actually arrived and the doors shut. In the end only Noah's family was spared and the remainder of mankind perished in hell. As stated in Mat. 11:12, “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.” There is a certain propriety in pressing into the kingdom that prepares one in order for God to grant salvation. Again, there is no merit in diligently seeking, but it does prepare one to receive the gift of faith. Once again, Mat.7:14, “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
The church in America is so eager to make converts that they neglect the instructions and means the Lord has stated in His word. The church pushes the false assumption that the prospective convert has the ability to obtain salvation anytime and anywhere it suits him. There is no real conviction of sin or awakening of their true condition before a holy God who is “angry with sinners every day.” Does not God himself have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? “Who are you, O man, who answers back to God?” (Romans 9:20-21). The church pushes the narrative to just have “faith in your faith” and when that falls apart later on in the professing Christian's life, they are quick to say that the professing christian was never a christian to begin with. Even though the church assured them that salvation was theirs on that particular day they “committed their lives to Christ.” After a spurious profession of faith the church is also quick to say that you are now a child of God, go in peace, “promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption....” 2 Peter 2:19. The Bible speaks of heaven as a treasure to be sought after. Logically speaking, in accordance with God's Word, ought not you earnestly seek an interest in heaven before God may, or may not, grant you salvation? Who is sovereign with regard to salvation, you or God? Romans 9:16, “So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”
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