Romans 2:5
But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
We live in days when people are shameless and hardened about wickedness. Sodomites boldly push their abominable lifestyle worldwide without any shame or guilt about this foolish and abominable lifestyle. Sadly, there is no disgust as to the terribleness of this sin. Likewise, people live adulterous lives without shame and justify it because the government recognizes common law marriages. Hollywood promotes adultery, and many believe it is okay to commit adultery because it is acceptable in society. My friend, it matters not what sin is accepted in society; sin is still sin despite society’s reprobate and abominable minds.
God points out that a heart can be hard and impenitent. What is a hard and impenitent heart? A hard heart is a heart that resists the call of the Holy Spirit to do right. A hard heart is a heart that pushes away the conviction of the Holy Spirit. It is the lost person continually rejecting the Holy Spirit’s prodding to be saved.
The continual pushing away leads the heart to become impenitent, or a heart that is no longer affected by the pricking of the Holy Spirit. An impenitent heart is one that has no shame for doing wrong. Society has lost its shame of abominable sin because they hardened their heart in the past, leading to society’s impenitent heart. Society boldly lives their abominable lifestyles with disgust of those who oppose them as normal because of their impenitent heart.
As bad as society is, many believers have become just as hardened and impenitent to God’s Word. Many believers are on their way to an impenitent heart because they harden their heart to the Holy Spirit’s prodding. Every Sunday morning, many believers sit in church and are never moved or convicted about their sin because their heart has become impenitent. Believers disobey the command to be faithful to church because they have an impenitent heart. Believers continue in sin with no shame because they have an impenitent heart. Sadly, some wives will not meet their husband’s needs because they have an impenitent heart. Many husbands have stopped loving their wives and do not treat them as they should because they have an impenitent heart. We could go on with many sins that believers commit without any shame.
How do Christians get to the point that there is no shame for their sin? It starts with a believer not being able to be told that they are wrong. It is the first time a believer does not respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit that leads to a hardened and impenitent heart. Instead of coming to an altar and getting things right, they push back and decide to continue doing what they want despite the Holy Spirit convicting them. The impenitent heart starts when the believer stops listening to the Holy Spirit and justifies their rebellion by spiritualizing their sin as good.
Are you on your way to an impenitent heart? Have you started hardening your heart in one area by not responding to the Holy Spirit? A hardened heart is created by the first rejection of the Holy Spirit’s conviction. If you always respond to the Holy Spirit’s prodding to change, you will never have a hardened heart, which will keep you from having an impenitent heart.