Q&A: 'Eyes to see and ears to hear' — does spiritual reception apply to reading Scripture?

Mike proposes a spectrum model rather than a binary elect/non-elect division. At one end: those with wide-open eyes and ears (fully receptive). At the other: those with eyes and ears utterly closed (total rejection). People can move along this spectrum. 'Hearing' in the biblical sense is not merely cognitive comprehension but willingness to receive and apply truth. A person may read and cognitively understand a passage ('I see it says I must believe in Jesus') without 'hearing' it in the sense of accepting and submitting to it. The issue is not intellectual capacity but moral willingness to tolerate the truth of God.