19 "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 "Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.' 25 But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.'
27 "Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' 29 Abraham said to him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' 30 And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 31 But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.'"—Luke 16:19-31 (emphasis mine)
Prior to salvation when I would hear this Scripture read in the Catholic Church where I grew up, I agreed with the rich man. If God could just send someone back to us from the dead that would go a long way in saving many. Interestingly, even at my young age I noted that the rich man still treated Lazarus as if he were below him in status. Hell did not cleanse him from his wrong thinking.
The rich man thought that people could be persuaded to repent and believe if God sent someone back to them from the dead. I love Abraham’s response.
31 But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.'"
Belief is a spiritual process not an intellectual one. I can believe something in my mind but not necessarily believe it with my heart. As a kid I believed much of what I read in Scripture with my intellect but I did not believe it enough to live my life in accordance with its precepts or stake my eternal destiny on what it said. Believing did not change how I behaved day in and day out. Many, many years later, when I was finally ready to believe what the Bible said with my heart…with everything that I am…my actions followed what my heart believed. The internal change was evidenced in my outward behavior.
Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Beloved…the gospel itself is the power of God to salvation.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.—Romans 1:16
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.—Hebrews 4:12
having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,—1 Peter 1:23
Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.—James 1:18
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.— John 1:12-13
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."—John 6:63-65
Walvoord aptly points out that just a short time later Jesus did raise a man from the dead, another man named Lazarus (John 11:38-44). The result was that the religious leaders began to plot more earnestly to kill both Jesus and Lazarus (John 11:45-53; 12:10-11).
