They Have Refused To Repent
This phrase is found in the last line of Jeremiah 5:3. Some people do not know
that they have sinned against God, and as a result do not see the need to repent
or turn their life around. Jeremiah addresses a people who knew what they were
doing was wrong, and chose to continue in the wrong. The verse reads: "O
LORD, do not Thine eyes look for truth? Thou hast smitten them, but they did
not weaken; Thou has consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They
have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent". Later
in the chapter in verse 23 God says "But this people has a stubborn and
rebellious heart; they have turned aside and departed". When people refuse
to repent, they are departed from God. And always, it is their choice to do
so.
While some may refuse to repent because they do not see themselves in the wrong,
God still holds them accountable to His commandments, and those who do not keep
His commands will be lost. They may be sincere, but will still be lost. Others
will have departed from the truth of God's word and will refuse to repent or
turn back to the truth. God will judge these harshly, as their false doctrines
will cause souls to be lost in hell. Still others will refuse to repent because
sin has such a hold on them, and they refuse to put sin away out of their life.
These people do not care that they are lost and have convinced themselves that
there is no God. Thus no such thing as a burning hell to them.
God calls all humans to repent, lest they be found wanting and cast away from
the presence of God in the hereafter (Acts 17:30).
Pride is a sin whereby one cannot see that they have sinned. They have done
nothing wrong in their mind and they have no need of repentance. The book of
Proverbs addresses these people. Proverbs 16:2 reads: "All the ways of
a man are clean in his own sight, but the LORD weights the motives". Also
in Proverbs 16:25, we read: "There is a way which seems right to a man,
but its end is the way of death." Yes eternal death awaits those who refuse
to see their own error.
We can see how those who blatantly refuse to repent will be dealt with when
eternity comes. That is easy to comprehend. What may be harder to comprehend
is seeing that supposedly faithful people also refuse to repent. These are the
avid church-goers, and those who can check a list that they do not do anything
that God forbids. The most sobering passage in all the Bible (in my opinion)
is James 4:17: "Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do, and
does not do it, to him it is sin." Yes it is easy to say I don't drink,
cavort, or do anything God forbids; but what about those things God has commanded
us to do. Things like study His word, pray for others, admonish one another,
be kind to all, love for all, and helping others get to heaven. Our Christian
duty involves all of these things, yet we may fail to do them ourselves. As
long as we have the preacher and the elders to do these things, and we contribute
in the plate, aren't we doing enough? So some may reason, but in the end we
still have to give an account of what WE did in this life. What are you doing,
or not doing for which you need to repent. Do it now, and don't wait. Your soul
depends upon your actions.
By Carey Scott
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