Repentance and Hard Heart

Confession means to admit that God is right and that you are wrong. Confession leads to repentance.

Repentance means a change of heart. It means to yield to God's Spirit, to stop insisting on your own way, to surrender.

It is man's nature to justify himself. Thus, repentance is rare and is an exception. It is an extraordinary thing to truly repent. True repentance is a renouncing of self; it is giving up one's own perspective as being the center of the universe and the most important person. It is giving up something that you once considered to be a right or perhaps something you thought you could never live without or at least were unwilling to give up. It is a breaking. It is a fundamental shift, a total change not only in direction but in who is in charge of determining the direction of one's life.

There are warnings in scripture that connect habitual sin with hardening of the heart and with the danger of becoming permanently unrepentant--a state in which you are unable to turn to God at all. The heart that has learned how to survive outside of the precious life-giving presence of God after having previously experienced it will naturally re-write its own history to justify itself and to blame God. This is why it has become impossible to repent; you are asking God to change instead of admitting that it is you who needs to change. But God was never wrong in the first place. He is righteous and true. If you fell short and missed the mark, He is always gracious to receive us back again. It's when you don't get back up that this becomes a problem.

1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Hebrews 10:26-27
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

Why? Because God has written you off? Because you've gone too far? Because there is a point at which He will no longer forgive you? No; it's not like that at all. It's because your own mind begins to re-write the concepts of sin and righteousness. Rather than come to God and confess your sins, because perhaps you have begun to condemn your self and have begun to think that perhaps God condemns you too, that He could never forgive you. So you stop coming for forgiveness. You stop confessing your sins. You stop repenting. You create a narrative that describes your sin as normal and acceptable. You begin to treat not walking in the presence of God as normal and acceptable. You begin substituting other things in your life for that life-giving fellowship with the Father. Maybe religion or theology. Maybe drugs or alcohol or sex. Maybe judging other people. Maybe working on your image and reputation. Maybe becoming more legalistic, or maybe going the other way and seeking after false gods and false religions that won't make you feel condemned.

Hebrews 12:7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; 16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

Here we have the cure to being discouraged by God's chastening and yet another warning against hardening our heart. The cure is to RESPOND to God's chastening and recognize it as evidence of His love and not to allow your heart to believe for one second that God does not love you or that He has rejected you. It is to renew and redouble your efforts to seek holiness and to strengthen your walk. It is only once you re-write your view of God as being a harsh judge that you no longer come to Him as a little child expecting good things from Him, that you decide that seeking His face is unprofitable.

Hebrews 10:35
Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.

Walking with Christ means to enter into His death. This is what repentance truly means.

Luke 9:23-25
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?

1 Corinthians 15:31
I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

But what does it mean to die to self? It means to deny your OWN will and to do HIS will.

What it doesn't mean: trying to do good, trying to reform, trying to be good, trying to keep the law...

Romans 3:20
Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Keeping the law is simply a work of the flesh. It is not dying to one's self, since self can outwardly keep the law. It is not walking in the spirit, since flesh can walk according to the law (theoretically, although it will fail in actual practice). It is not repentance, since the mind can justify itself with the works of the law and not feel that it needs anything of God for righteousness, on the one hand; but on the other hand, the law exposes our sinfulness, bringing only condemnation and never justification. The law becomes our judge instead of the Spirit, and the law brings death.

Romans 7:5
For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.

Galatians 5:16
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Here we have the key. You do not do the things that you wish. If walking in the flesh, we become frustrated, because we find ourselves doing the things we do not want to do...

Romans 7:15
For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.

Galatians 5:17
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

But when we are walking in the Spirit, we are also not doing what we want to do: we are denying our own will and choosing to do the will of God instead. So either way, we are not doing what we want to do.

Notice that Jesus had a will of His own but that He denied it.

Luke 22:42
saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”

If there was ever any person in the entire history of human existence Who could trust His own will to perform righteousness, it would have been Jesus. And yet He denied His own will and surrendered it to the Father.

John 5:19
Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

So Jesus, the perfect and holy Son of God indeed practiced repentance Himself, even though He had never broken any law nor was there any sin found in Him. Jesus died to Himself and denied Himself the privileges of doing what He wanted; He humbled Himself and even learned discipline as a Man. This tells us that obeying the Law and being without sin is not the essence of being one with God. Being one with God means to deny the self and to do God's will instead of your own will. Obeying the law and doing God's will, then, are revealed through scripture as being two completely different things. Doing God's will only coincidentally and incidentally brings one into conformance with the law, but conforming to the law through the one's own effort can not and will not bring one into communion with God.

Romans 7:14
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.

Romans 8:6
For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Romans 8:7
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

Philippians 2:5-8 (NCV)
In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus.
Christ himself was like God in everything.
But he did not think that being equal with God was something to be used for his own benefit.
But he gave up his place with God and made himself nothing.
He was born as a man
and became like a servant.
And when he was living as a man,
he humbled himself and was fully obedient to God,
even when that caused his death—death on a cross.

Hebrews 5:8
though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

The deep, abiding communion with God you are seeking lies just on the other side of the surrender of your own will.

James 4:7
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Romans 6:11
Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Galatians 5:24
And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

"Desires." Paul is not teaching here that you can make yourself perfect in any way. He is saying that surrendering your *will* to God is the only thing that can bring the power of Christ's crucifixion to bear on your mind and bring you into God's presence.

Romans 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Colossians 3:3
For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

"For you died." Jesus accomplished this for you; it is a finished work; it is a past-tense reality. It is not something you can do for yourself; it is a gift. Jesus's death, burial, and resurrection are what accomplished your salvation. But in order to receive this gift, you have to drop everything else in your hands. Only an empty hand can receive the fullness of God's gift of salvation. Salvation is a great exchange: everything I have in exchange for everything that Jesus has. My filthy rags for His righteousness; my poverty for His riches.

Matthew 13:44-46
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Illustrations in the gospels:

Luke 21:1-4
And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”

A poor widow gave all the livelihood that she had, and Jesus praised her. He was not talking about putting money into the offering; He was using this illustration to paint us a picture about eternal life.

Mark 10:46 Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.
Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.”
50 And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.

A blind beggar threw aside his garment to come to Jesus. That garment was probably his only worldly possession.

Matthew 19
16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”
17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
18 He said to Him, “Which ones?”
Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ 19 ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
23 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
25 When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”
26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
27 Then Peter answered and said to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?”
28 So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

We see in this story the rich young ruler felt that he had always kept God's law from his youth, and yet he instinctively knew that he lacked something. He knew that he was not experiencing the presence of God; he knew that he was not in possession of eternal life. Jesus began the encounter by informing him that nobody is good but God alone. There is the key: anybody who thinks they just need to keep the law or obey the commandments of God in order to be good is under a great delusion. You can never be "good" no matter what you do; only God is good. The Jesus teased him with the line "but if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." Doesn't that contradict what I just said? No; because what Jesus was really pointing out to this young man was that he was not keeping the commandments at all because it was impossible for him to do so in his own strength, through his flesh, or by means of his own will. As soon as Jesus offered this man the gift of actual eternal life, by offering to exchange everything the man possessed in exchange for everything Jesus possessed, the man "walked away sorrowful." This refusal of Jesus's offer exposed the man's heart--that he was not keeping the commandments, the most important of which is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength." The man was captured by the idol of Mammon whom he had been worshipping the whole time rather than God. The worship of Mammon isn't only the love of money, but it is also the fear of lack. It is lack of faith in God's provision and His love and ability. You can be rich and worship Mammon, but you can also be poor and caught in the very same trap. The love of money and the fear of poverty are two sides of the same coin.

One's attitude toward money reveals one's faith toward God.

Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

If you are feeling condemned, it means you are in the flesh. You cannot serve God in the flesh; you cannot keep the righteous requirements of the law in the flesh; you cannot cease from sin in the flesh. You need to come into the Spirit. How? Through repentance and by yielding and surrendering your will to God.

Romans 8
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.