The Unpersuaded

Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You almost persuade me to become a Christian"(Ac. 26:28).

Granted, the unpersuaded Agrippa only heard the gospel preached that one time. He did not hear it on a weekly basis throughout his life. But… how many times did those persuaded (Ac. 2) hear the gospel at Pentecost? How many times did the persuaded Ethiopian (Ac. 8) hear the gospel from Philip? How many times did the persuaded Philippian jailor (Ac. 17) hear the gospel from Paul? ONCE!

The power of truth is independent from the amount of times it’s heard. So, of those who have heard the truth, at least once, why do many remain unpersuaded? What keeps someone from submitting to Christ?

I recently met someone who has been sitting on the third pew at church for a few decades. Faithfully attending with his wife, this man remains unpersuaded to become a Christian. After countless invitations to submit to the gospel of Christ in faith, repentance, and baptism, he has passed up every opportunity… but not because the message lacked in truth or power.

What trumps the power of the truth? What is more enticing, more persuasive?

Satan enticed Eve to sin by persuading her that a lie was in fact the truth. Anyone who is unpersuaded by truth is under the influence of a lie disguised as truth. Many times it boils down to a simple desire that an individual rationalizes it’s alright to give in to.

Regardless of if you are following the truth or following a lie, it is your actions that prove what you really believe.

If you do not submit to baptism into Christ, then you show that you believe you are not dead in your sins or in need of His cleansing blood. If you do not talk to the world about Christ or equip yourself to do so through study, then you neither believe that they are lost nor that your mission in life is to present to them the gospel. If you follow in the footsteps of your family rather than the footsteps of Christ, you must believe that your family is wiser than Christ. If you convince yourself to disobey God, you must believe that you are smarter than He is.

Remaining unpersuaded by the gospel means ultimately that you don’t believe God exists and that you won’t have to give an account of your actions at the end of this life. The best you would have to hope for is that, when you die, you don’t have a spirit that will continue on into eternity and that you, in essence, are annihilated from existence. But… that would just be another lie.

This is why “belief” comes before repentance, confession, and baptism, in the logical progression of a conversion. The constant battle in this world is the battle of persuasion – between truth and asserted “truths.” Often, the hardest part of being a Christian is remaining unpersuaded by the lies of the world. Are you unpersuaded?

-Cary Gillis D. Min.

March 31, 2021