When I was in high school, I was an active member of our FFA chapter. In addition to being in the Future Farmers of America, I had classes in high school that taught skills that could be used on the farm and many other facets of vocational work. One such skill was welding.

In our classes we learned to use an oxyacetylene cutting torch, we learned to do brazing, we learned to use an arc welder, and a MIG welder. We also learned how to operate this equipment safely in our shop environment. One hard and fast rule learned very quickly was that one could never touch a piece of metal that had just recently been welded.

After four years of training with a welder, I learned to avoid touching hot, newly welded pieces of metal. That having been said, a young man who was a part of vocational agriculture, brought in a lawn mower that need to have the deck welded so the handles on the lawnmower could be reattached to the bracket that held the handle. He asked me to help him with this endeavor.

I knew better than holding the handle close to the area that he was welding, so I placed my hands near the top of the handle assembly to help support the brackets while he welded them back into place. As he finished the job, I reached over and touched the throttle line that ran from the bottom of the deck to the top of the handle and burned my finger badly. The metal that wrapped the cable that controlled the speed of the mower engine must have been an extremely good conductor of heat. I literally burned my finger to a crisp in the location where it contacted the metal that encircled the throttle cable.

After the initial excruciating pain of a sever burn, my finger had all the nerves burned beyond feeling. It was a peculiar sensation of not being able to feel items for some weeks after the initial searing of my finger. Some time later, the feeling came back into my finger as the nerves repaired themselves.

This event reminded me of a passage that talks about people who reach a point where they, too, are beyond feeling. 1 Timothy 4:1-2 says, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.” Sadly, there are people who are unable to respond to any godly message because they are unable to answer in any meaningful way to the message of repentance.

Like Pharaoh of the Exodus, they have hardened their hearts to the extent that they cannot be moved in a positive manner regarding repentance. God demonstrated His power over the alleged gods of the Egyptians with miracles that even the magicians of Pharaoh could not replicate. Exodus 8:19 says, “Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘This is the finger of God.’ But Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the LORD had said.” Still, he would not be swayed. Exodus 11:10 says, “So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.”

This same concept was under consideration when Paul spoke of certain unrepentant Gentiles. Sadly, the message of Christ and His atoning sacrifice could not sway some to be converted. Ephesians 4:17-19 says, “This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.”

Many people have left the Lord’s church never to return because they have burned away their conscience. While a trained conscience can be molded by scripture, a conscience that knows the truth but rejects it outright is deeply imperiled. This is most likely the message of the Hebrew writer. He says, in Hebrews 6:4-6, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”

While we should be reaching out to apostate members of the church, they can be some of the most difficult people to be persuaded to repent of sin. When you speak with them about their transgressions, they already know what you are going to say and have rationalized their responses to your concerns.

These teachings fly in the face of those who teach the false Calvinistic doctrine of “Once saved always saved.” A person who was once a disciple of Jesus can behave in such a way as to once again be lost. Galatians 5:4 says, “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” Still, we are called upon by God’s word to restore the erring child of God. Galatians 6:1 says, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”

If you fall into the category of one who is backslidden in service to God, you need to change (repent) before you conscience is beyond being touched by the message of repentance. Sadly, some have waited so long that they can no longer be swayed by the truth. John 8:32 says, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."