Why don't people believe what God has said?
The refusal is rooted in unwillingness: many simply do not want to accept what God has said, whether from fear or some unexplained reason. Believing requires no work or energy—only accepting His Word without question—yet many resist that simple acceptance.
Les explains that God's purpose in giving Scripture is to bring people to salvation, and God has done everything possible to keep them from condemnation. He has given His Word and provided men willing to preach and teach it. Believing, then, is not a work; it is the only thing a person can do without working. It is simply accepting what God has said, no questions asked, with no energy involved. Yet Les observes that people—the "old people" he mentions—do not want to do that, whether they are afraid or he does not know why, but they refuse to believe what God has said. When a person does believe, as Isaiah illustrates, immediately God clothes them with garments of salvation and covers them with the robe of righteousness, the full opposite of what was seen in Romans 3.
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Why do people refuse to believe what God says?
People do not want to believe what God has said.