A Hardened Heart Against God

A hardened heart is one that has become unfeeling, unsympathetic, stubborn and calloused. The Merriam-Webstar’s dictionary’s describes “hardened” as when the surface layer is harder than the interior. The person whose heart has become hardened is careless and insensible. The truth of God’s word can no longer penetrate into the spirit. There are many excuses and reasons why hearts become hardened. Many harden their hearts as a defense from disappointment, rejection, hurt or as a result of anger and bitterness. However, the more hardened you become, the more you stand the chance of being hurt because you don’t have the faith or trust in God to believe in and receive all of God’s fullness into your life. A stubborn and calloused heart doesn’t trust that God can love so much that he gave his only begotten son so that one would have eternal life. An unfeeling heart is a trick of enemy. Think about it, people with hardened hearts eventually become miserable and lonely beyond repair. They usually miss out on the blessings of love and support. Unfortunately they’ve been deceived because of their unbelief and have hardened their hearts towards God blaming others and the fact is that their outcome and empty existence is a result of their unbelief.

This is the opposite of how God has commanded us to walk. Scripture tells us to be of humble spirit, ready to obey God’s instruction and to be eager to love and forgive our fellow man. God gives grace to those that are of a humble spirit but he resists the loafty, stubborn and prideful. As it is written:

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6

Scriptures also tells us in the last days there will be perilous times and people will be lovers of themselves, boastful, abusive, without love, slanderous, lacking self control and preferring to rebel against God rather than to be obedient.

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. 2nd Timothy 3:

We are living in this time today. But what has caused people’s hearts to become impatient, stubborn and calloused? Why have so many turned their ears from hearing the voice of God? The word tells us that those that rebel against God and practice sin have become hardened. Rebellion and sin hardens the hearts of men because they become deceived through the deceitfulness of sin. When you continuously disobey God after being instructed of the laws of righteousness in his word, you are distancing yourself from God to the point where you eventually cannot hear him. There is a consequence in the spirit realm that leads to destruction in this life afterwards eternal separation from God. Although God is long suffering, merciful and gracious to forgive us for our sins, it is written all throughout the bible that we should repent and turn to God and he will forgive us of our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Repenting means you draw closer to God to seek out his truth that it will change your heart and cause you to turn away from your sins. A hardened heart continues to engage in sin and refuses to repent.

In Hebrews we are reminded repeatedly to harden not your heart like in the day of provocation when God was provoked to anger when he delivered the Israelites from Egypt. As a matter of fact “Harden not your heart” is referenced four times in Hebrews chapters three and four which leads me to believe that guarding your heart and not letting it become calloused must be a priority to God.

• Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Hebrews 3: 7-9
• While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. Hebrews:3:13
• Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Hebrews 4: 7-9
• Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Spoken by David in Psalms 95

Why does the bible caution you against hardening your heart? It is written:

See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. Hebrews 3:12-13

A hardened heart no longer rest in believing God nor can it be encouraged by the word of God because of the deceitfulness of sin. A hardened heart becomes stiff necked to the word of God. This is a dangerous place because no matter how many times a person has been told of the word of God or God’s commandments, they resist it. It is written:

He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy. Proverbs 29:1

You cannot get through to a person who has gotten to this point not even God himself. Rebelling and continuing in sin in this manner leads to a reprobate mind which is an unpardonable sin to God. Because of their heart of unbelief they cannot come to God for repentance therefore their sins cannot be pardoned.
People who have become reprobate still profess that they know God, however they deny him with their actions.

“They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. Titus 1:16”

In Romans 1:28-32

Paul describes how one becomes reprobate and what happens to them:
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

In 2 Timothy 3:8, we are warned against resisting the truth:

Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 9But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.

The word of God tells us not to resist the truth, but to resist the devil and his deceitful lies.

It is written: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

A reprobate mind has this backwards – they resist God not the devil. I pray that you yield to God’s word that you be not tempted by the enemy to disregard God’s instruction and that you keep your heart tenderhearted toward God.