Stubbornness

People are by nature stubborn. Such people have their minds set. They will not yield their ideas even when they are wrong. Stubborn people care little for the truth, and have created their own "reality". They are citizens of a fictitious world, and hate for their myth to be disrupted. They are comfortable living the lie.

Of course, hard-core bible-thumping Christians are stubborn people as well. That is undeniably true. However, to get to that point, real Christians had to overcome the stubbornness of the world. Most of us fought God until God won. Now we are stubborn for Him. However, most stubborn people are not the righteous but the unrighteous.

What makes people stubborn? Asaph, a song-writer under King David wrote this prophetic poem:

Psalm 81:11 But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. 12  So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.

Asaph saw into the future even when Israel was at its glory. In only a few centuries, what was great at the time of the psalm would be utterly destroyed. It happened! The kingdom was split and wiped clean. This time, rather than the whole world, God cleansed the earth of his own stubborn people. He destroyed some and scattered the others.

The Jews still held onto God's ritualistic worship but their hearts were in other gods. In effect, the objects of their affection were themselves. It was under the pretense of false gods but those gods were perverse, offering nothing more than pleasure. The other gods of the Jewish people became themselves as they sought to satisfy their animal passions; rather than listen to God, they counseled themselves. They circumcised their foreskins but their hearts were still of the flesh!

Little has changed since then. In the west, a large proportion of people still go to church. That is a blessing because they still hear the Word. The problem lies not in the hearing of the Word but heeding it - pay careful attention and responding to what they hear. A good percentage of preachers still preach that sin leads to death (Romans 6:23). Nothing has changed over time! God said that to Adam in the Garden in the beginning (Genesis 2:17). For 6000 years God has been trying to get that message across but people refuse to believe it. Sin still leads to death!

Calvinism denies that for a Christian, it does. They can sin freely, they think, because the cost of sin has been paid. They neglect the reason death was defeated was not for sin to live on but that it too would die.

The world teaches no absolutes. Wrong is in the hearts of the people. Their own counsel is absolute. Throughout the ages God's people have done what was right in their own eyes:

Proverbs 21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts.

Of which God says:

Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise. 

Foolish people are stubborn. They care little that they are wrong-doers. They "justify" what they do by minimization and trivialization. Calvinists use bad doctrine. The rest of the hard-hearted use their own false "wisdom" - the misapplication of knowledge!  Most often the form is: this is not too bad; God will overlook it! Why would God command that we obey Him then wink at us when we disobey? Only a fool would buy into a fickle God such as that! When God says things, he means them. Stubborn people hang onto the idea that God tolerates sin. Although, He is patient with his children, He still doesn't buy into the notion that sin is okay.

The penalty for unpardoned sin is death. For us who ae pardoned, we still disappoint God. Righteous people do not want to disappoint the very "person" who offered them the gift of eternal life, yet we continue to disappoint our Father. Why? We stubbornly hang onto sin under the false idea that since Jesus took it on His own shoulders, it's okay to continue in sin.  The Jews believed that because they were God's beloved people, they could have their cake and eat it too; that was to be God's but continue in sin. God gave up on those stubborn double-minded people. The nation died, and their play-act religion went with it! Only when they ceased stubbornness and listened to God did they repent, and were restored.

People who hang onto their false reality in the presence of truth are "stiff-necked". Jeremiah said of those Jews who were facing destruction:

Jeremiah 17:23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.

I have faithfully written commentary on God's Word for over five years hardly missing a day. Not one time has anyone said that they were persuaded beyond what they already believed. In fact, those who proclaim to be real Christians have been angered with me when I write scripture that opposes what they desire to do in their hearts. Many have defended sin unto the end. Some defend sinners as they castigate me - the messenger! Although I didn't write the rules, they get angry at me for teaching what God says.

God said that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).  God then wrote metrics to define sin more finitely. He wrote it on stone to have it endure forever.  This is all God's doing but people still get angry with me! As in the time of Jeremiah, people today are still stubborn, and have hardened their necks so as to harden their hearts:

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

A hardened neck is stubbornness. Stubbornness leads to hearts so hard that they cannot be circumcised. Scripture demands that be done:

Romans 2:29 ...circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit... 

Circumcision of the heart is giving up "the flesh". What is "the flesh"? It goes back to one's own lusts and counsel - doing what is right in one's own eyes! Hanging onto false righteousness is foolishness. It jeopardizes eternal life but stubborn people cling to false ideas.

I hear my preacher teach the word of God week after week. He is often even gentle with the consequences of sin so as not to offend. When that doesn't change set people, the preacher uses tough-love. He preaches on hell and its agony. Stubborn people still refuse to change!

Change is tough but it should be an outcome of the new birth. I wonder if those who stubbornly hang onto a sinful lifestyle have truly been reborn. It's not easy to let go of sin. One cannot do it by himself. Only through the Holy Spirit can a person be released of stubbornness. At one time, this stubborn person clung to the pew in front of me to remain in my stubbornness. As my knuckles cramped my heart hardened further. I refused to respond to God. I liked "my way" and I was hell-bound to keep "my way"!

God's Spirit penetrated my heart. I still sin but work not to. Sometimes I'm weak because I still have some stubbornness in me. As we walk in righteousness it does get easier if we walk with God. Those who are no longer stubborn hold His hand and go along in peace. Christians are to try that! Give the preacher some optimism. Encourage him to preach the truth by responding to it. But mostly, please God by walking His Way without restraint. Stubborn people are chained to Satan. Let truth set you free!

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I was going to quit here but I had thoughts on "the walk" getting easier: Yesterday, it was cold and icy. I didn't want to take my daily walk. For hours I stubbornly sat in my recliner dreading the cold outside. Finally, I overcame my apprehension, dressed warmly, and took my long walk. It was hard at first. Not only was I cold, but each step was treacherous. I wanted to turn back because my legs ached from taking intentional steps. I was afraid that I would slip and fall!

Suddenly I noticed that I had warmed up. I was no longer cold but really hot. I discarded my scarf, and the walk became more comfortable. Unnoticed by me at that time, that my steps became more sure. Then all of a sudden it came to me that I was no longer overly cautious with my steps. They came easy, naturally, and with little effort. The pain resided. What once was hard became natural.

That's the way our walk with Jesus becomes, but even to walk His way we must get out of our spiritual recliner and follow Him! Sure, when we first walk the walk it is difficult, but with walking more, it gets easier until it becomes almost effortless. However, stubborn people must be willing to walk even when it's perceived as too hard to make the journey.