Jesus died for everyone so why are there not more people saved?
I can think of five reasons:
1/ People can be superficial.
They don’t think deeply or thoroughly enough about the importance of salvation and its looming aspects, such as remission of sins, eternity, heaven and hell, and the many implications of each. They often do not consider what’s at the end of their journey, as Jesus suggested to do (Matthew 7:13-14, 21-23), and so are not motivated to be certain about their current course. The ease of shallow religion has a satisfaction all its own.
2/ People can be gullible.
They don’t realize the profound trickery of the devil in deceiving souls. They are not sufficiently on their guard against his wiles. Perhaps they don’t realize the devil’s personal vendetta and evil design against them (1Peter 5:8). They are often, likewise, oblivious to those who, knowingly or not, are peddlers of false doctrine (Matthew 7:15-23).
3/ Many people are fooled by what’s popular.
They have a false security based on the prevalence of false doctrine in society. They’ve never been to a funeral where the departed one wasn’t pronounced saved. There are no spiritual police to enforce correct adherence to the Bible so falsehood proliferates and, with expansion, finds acceptance.
4/ People tend to trust their own hearts.
Romans 10:1-3
1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Like the Jews Paul referred to in this Romans passage, people trust their own religious experience instead of examining themselves to see if they are in the faith (2Corinthians 13:5; John 5:39). And, rarely, are they open to a voice of cross-examination.
5/ In the spiritual realm, people are easily satisfied with what they have.
They refuse to consider a way differently from what they have previously accepted and prefer, especially if it somehow requires more them. Change is unwanted. Something known, even if it is meager, is usually preferred over something unknown.
The person who thinks and reasons, “I must be saved”, will find these five pitfalls easy to overcome. Such a person is one who does not fall into the category of point #1.