(Ver 1.1)  There are a countless number of enemies to salvation.  I want to address the Bible reasons for why people do not get saved.  Maybe you did not realize it, but salvation is not automatic.  Just because God wants you to be saved, does not mean you are saved.  If you read the Bible and study it very carefully you will discover that whatever God has freely given to man, man is required to do something to enjoy it.  So salvation is a partnership agreement between you and God.  God initiated salvation by His grace and you receive it by your faith.  I hope that you understand that concept because it is a spiritual law and is a pattern for how things work in the Bible from cover to cover.

Act 28:28  Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.

This verse in Acts speaks about a process of how salvation works.  There are steps required to be taken to get saved.  No one is automatically saved.  In fact by default you are not saved.  You are born into a world of evil and sin.  As a very young child you have not reached the age of accountability and are unable to understand sin, even though the sinful nature resides in your flesh.  I believe that young children that are killed or die prematurely go to heaven.  But I guess I’m getting off of the main subject of why people don’t get saved.  In this verse in Acts it speaks to us about an implied process.  We have to have someone who is sent to preach the gospel to the people, the people have to listen, hear, and understand what is being said, then the people have to believe what is said.  Then they have to accept and confess Jesus as their Lord.  I know I gave you a lot of information that is not in that verse, but let’s look in the Bible for what I just said:

Rom 10:13  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Rom 10:14  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

Rom 10:15  And how shall they saved, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

You see the process of salvation being described in reverse order in these verses.  To be saved a man or a woman must be sent by God to preach and proclaim the good news that God has forgiven them of their sins and has reconciled them back into a favorable relationship to Him.  So Salvation is dependent upon someone “preaching”.  The first enemy to people not getting saved is for nobody to “preach” and proclaim the good news.  All it takes for no one else to be saved is for everyone to keep their mouths closed.  So you are the potential first enemy to the salvation of the world.  What people do sometimes is think that they have to do something to make others get saved.  So they get into a works mentality of protesting against sins like abortion, or homosexuality or whatever.  All this does is turn people off of God’s process.  God does not work within your guidelines, you must work within His guidelines.  You are responsible to do your part and nothing else.  Preaching against sin and sinners is not in the Bible.  The Bible tells us that God has given to us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18). That means to go and tell people that God is not mad at them and that He has forgiven their sins and doesn’t hold them against them anymore.  We are required to go and preach the Gospel meaning the Good News of God and that is all.

The next step in salvation is to say things in a way that people will clearly understand them.  You see people do not get saved just because they hear you speak.  Hearing is involved, but that is not the complete picture of salvation.  People need to hear enough information to clearly understand the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  So the next enemy to salvation is not communicating effectively and clearly.  I hope you see that you have a responsibility and a major role to play.  You are God’s light in the world for others to see.  People who do not know God cannot see God, they can only see and hear you.  You are responsible for communicating in a way that speaks the truth in love.  You are responsible for more than you realize.

So the next step in the Salvation process is for the hearer to believe what you say.  Did you know you are not responsible for making them believe anything.  If they can’t look at you and see that you are different and what you are saying is true, then you are not God and your job is done.  Jesus said in Mark, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel, those that believe will be saved and those that believe not will be damned”.   We again see God’s process of Salvation in this verse.  A preacher goes and tells someone and someone hears and believes it or chooses not to accept it.  You are not responsible for their decision.  As sad or as joyous as it might be you are not responsible any further.

So what are the primary two enemies to the world getting saved?  First no one goes and tells anyone the good news.  Next, you tell someone the wrong information or in the wrong way so that they do not understand it clearly.  These are the first two enemies for people getting saved.  So let’s go through why people reject the Gospel even if it is presented in the right way:

1Co 1:18  For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

This verse tells us that people think the message is foolishness.  It could be that they do not understand how much of a sinner they are and how much they need salvation.  Many people think they have never done anything bad enough to not be saved.  In many religions it boils down to a works mentality.  People doing good things to earn a place in paradise.  Some even teach that life is like a balance scale and if your good side of your scale outweighs the bad side, you are automatically saved.  It is amazing how much works comes into play.  I have even seen men beating themselves with chains to punish themselves and they think this act earns them favor before God.  The level of deception in the world is tremendous and many have bought into this works idea;

2Ti 1:9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

You see in the Bible it clearly tells us that our works are not factors in us getting saved.  There are many verses in the Bible that speak to us in these terms.  No matter how good you think you are you cannot earn a ticket into heaven.  So I would say that the third enemy to people getting saved are those that think they can work and do good to make it into heaven.  If you run into people like this you might be able to help them see the error of their ways by showing them Bible verses.  Like the Bible says “if you are guilty of violating one law you are guilty of the whole law” (James 2:10).   The Bible actually says any offense is guilt.  One sin is not of greater sin consequence than another.  They are all equally the same result to everyone.  The Bible says the wages of sin is death so we know any sin results in death.

So let’s look at Jesus’ words concerning the Salvation process.  Jesus gives us a parable that uses natural things to demonstrate some powerful spiritual truths.  Jesus made the statement that this parable was the most important for us to know and understand.  If we don’t understand this parable, Jesus said how can you know any parable?

Mar 4:3  Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:

Jesus tells us that a man went out to sow seeds in a field.  The symbolic field represents the hearts of men and women in the world.  The symbolic seed is the “Word of God”.  The symbolic “sower” represents the preachers who go and tell the world the good news.  Jesus gives us only one verse on the preacher’s responsibility and then he starts to talk about the hearer:

Mar 4:4  And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.

What we discover in this parable is the heart of men and women in the world come in different kinds of soil.  The preacher or “sower” does not know what kind of soil they are sowing into.  It almost sounds like a random pattern of sowing seed everywhere you can.  This first kind of soil called “way side” was a soil that was particularly compressed and hard packed and the seeds were easy for the birds of the air to come and eat.  The symbolic birds or the air are representative of Satan and his demon spirits.  These are called the “prince of the power of the air” and “prince” means the ruler of the atmosphere.  You can understand all of these by reading Jesus’ explanation of the parable later in the chapter.  It is implied in these people that they really do not hear what you are saying.  In this example of the first type of soil we can clearly see that Satan is another key enemy to salvation.

Mar 4:5  And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:

Jesus then describes the second condition of the hearts of men and women.  This soil is said to be “stony ground”.  Again a hardness of the heart is implied.  The inability of the seed to get any depth and it remains on the hard surface.  So as the seed grows Jesus says it is unable to take root.  In the explanation, Jesus tells us that these people receive the word gladly, but they soon are offended and fall away.  Jesus informs us that other people in the world are not on our side or God’s side in helping you to get saved.  Jesus tells us because of “affliction” or “persecution” because of the Word that you have heard, people are soon offended and fall away.  Please note that your old unsaved friends are one of your worst enemies to your salvation.

Mar 4:7  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.

In the next example of the heart of man, the realization of “weeds” are described.  If you have ever owned a home and had a front yard with grass you understand that you have to do nothing to get weeds.  Weeds are a part of the fallen world system.  They come with the territory.  In this example of soil the weeds dominate the seed and take control over the soil.  It is clear that these people in this soil hear the word of God, but yet they do not produce any spiritual fruit for God.  Why is this?  Jesus tells usthree very important enemies to salvation in his explanation:

Mar 4:19  And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

Jesus says the “Cares of this World” choke out the Word of God.  The cares of the world include many things.  It could be your job.  It could be your husband.  It could be your children.  It could be your car.  It could be your boat.  It could be your love for movies.  I could go on and on.  Placing inordinate priority on anything in this world will cause you to make that your God and you will not produce fruit for God.  Jesus told us that where your treasure is there your heart will be also (Mat 6:21).  What He was asking us to look at is what we think is important.  If something else in the world is more important to you than the Bible, you are in trouble.  Next, Jesus describes a kind of people who think they don’t need God because they trust in their abilities, possessions and their resources.   Jesus tells us that it is very hard for a rich man on earth to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven (Mat 19:23).  They build their big barns and fill them with their possessions and think they are in control of their destiny.   Having a false sense of security, because of all of the nice things they surround themselves with, they fall into deception easily.  Finally, Jesus gives us the third problem this type of soil is faced with.  The “Lusts” of other things.  Did you know that “Lust” is not always a negative thing?  It just depends upon what you are “lusting” for.  A “lust” is a very strong desire.  It can become a habitual desire and that is when it starts to control you.  It never starts that way, it just can easily develop into something larger.  Nobody starts out as an alcoholic.  Many times it takes years of repetitious behavior.   Eating and food can become more important to you than God.  There are really so many examples of this that I cannot go into them all.  I’m sure you understand what I am talking about.  You have seen how drugs can hook someone into a lifelong dependency.  People become so hooked on the drug that it controls their life and they spend all of their money on it and eventually it kills them.

 The Enemies To Salvation:

1.  A Preacher is Sent But Does Not Go!
2. A Preacher Doesn’t Say Anything!
3. A Preacher Says the Wrong Thing!
4. Satan Steals the Word From your Mind and You do not Hear
5. You do not understand what is being said!
6. Your Old Unsaved Friends Come Around and Laugh at You and You are Offended!
7. You Give Up because of the Pressure of Your Peers!
8. Other Things in the World Take Priority Over God!
9. Having a False Sense of Security In Your Wealth!  Trusting in Your Money!
10. Lusts and Desires for Natural Things!  Food, drugs, alcohol, sex, TV, movies, books!

If you have never been saved!  You are a candidate today to receive the free gift of God’s salvation.   If you have read this blog you have heard a lot more than many other people have.  You can see that there are enemies to your salvation and you are now faced with a choice.  This is not a hard or difficult process to get saved, it is actually outlined in this verse of scripture:

Rom 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

I can tell you that Jesus was raised from the dead and that He now lives in me and I know him personally.  If you want the same, all you have to do is believe that God has raised Jesus from the dead and then say “Jesus I make you my Lord and Savior”.  If you meant it and did those two things, Jesus now lives in you also.  Congratulations you are saved!