https://youtu.be/m757wqCPZis
In our verse-by-verse study of Romans we finished Rom 2:5. Our expanded translation is "Because of your hardness and unrepentant heart, you store up and accumulate for yourself wrath against the day of wrath, even disclosure of just judgment from the God."
The words translated heart, hardness, unrepentant, and judgment in this verse brought up some doctrines to look at and we are presently looking at the doctrine of hardness of heart.
The word stubbornness in the NASB that is translated hardness in the KJV the Greek word is "sklerotes" that is used to describe scar tissue that develops into a hard callous in the heart that causes the heart to become spiritually "hard" and resistant to God's Word of truth.
Last time we noted that the actual mechanics for the removal of scar tissue is the transfer of "epignosis" doctrine from the human spirit out of the left and right banks of the soul, in the application of doctrine to experience.
As the doctrine is transferred a spiritual ''building,'' is simultaneously being constructed that is called and edification complex.
The erection of the edification complex in the soul becomes protection against the development of additional scar tissue because the edification complex provides momentum for the recall and application of doctrine.
The edification complex and scar tissue cannot coexist. One of the signs of spiritual maturity in a believer is that he has no scar tissue on either bank of the soul because of they have a large spiritual "edification complex."
At any given time believers are either building scar tissue in the soul through negative volition or building an edification complex in the soul through positive volition.
This is the difference between progressing and retrogressing or being a believer that is growing in grace or a reversionistic believer (2Cor. 10:8; Eph. 4:14).
The objective of the communication of doctrine is for the construction of the spiritual edification complex. (Eph. 4:12). The edification complex that has been constructed in each individual's soul is the only basis for unity in the church (Eph. 4:13,14).
Doctrine is also how believers resist the devil. 1Pet 5:8-9; The nation is failing because believers aren't holding the line with doctrine.
Division in the church and the nation is the result of the lack of Bible doctrine. Lack of doctrine is also why the so-called conservatives are so divided. On the other hand all of the leftist democrat commies are united around demon doctrines. We see that with the passage of the perversion of marriage bill earlier this week.
What happens when scar tissue completely covers and completely blocks the ports of the soul? Both believers and unbelievers can get maximum scar tissue of the soul; and when they do, they enter into a disaster situation.
Pharaoh of the Exodus Exod 7:3; is and example of an unbeliever with maximum scar tissue where the ports of his soul were completely plugged up.
Saul, the first king of Israel, is an example of a believer in this situation 1 Chron 10:13, tells us that he was destroyed for rejecting doctrine.
The antithesis of scar tissue in the soul is the edification complex in the soul (James. 1:17). Once you believe in Jesus Christ, your soul is saved and you are going to heaven but the soul still has a deficiency of doctrinal information that must be filled up with doctrinal truth.
Only the construction of the spiritual edification complex of the soul with Bible doctrine can remedy the information deficiency. Eph 3:19;
Paul uses unbelievers as an example of what believers should not be doing to describe the consequences of having scar tissue in the heart of the soul in Eph 4:18-19; NIV They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.
19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.
"They" refers to the unbeliever with scar tissue in the heart of their soul. This scar tissue is there because of their failure to believe in Jesus Christ.
Believers can get to this same point by rejecting doctrine It can be a believer who thinks he has found some kind of one-shot spiritual gimmick that makes them spiritual, or one who has become involved in a church program or some experience for spirituality, or even a believer who has discovered rebound and assumes that is all that is needed.
No matter what the source of the believer's negative volition toward doctrine, the believer who has scar tissue in the heart is described in the NIV as being "insensitive." The Greek word means, "to become callous."
It is connected with a preposition of ultimate source that is the cause of the problem. The cause is negative volition to doctrine because scar tissue is developed from negative volition to doctrine.
The perfect tense means that the scar tissue is constantly being developed, with the result that it accumulates and remains. Every person develops his own scar tissue, and every believer-priest must take responsibility for his own scar tissue.
Believers who have scar tissue in the heart of the soul is first of all going to be tripped up by mental attitude sins, because as soon as you divorce yourself from the daily study of God's Word the vacuum sets up in the heart that sucks darkness from demon doctrine into the soul.
The darkness is characterized by mental attitude sins. This makes the believer with scar tissue in the heart very susceptible to fear, jealousy bitterness, anger and vindictiveness.
It is also possible to be very self-righteous, religious, ritualistic or emotional and be proud of what you assume that you have a great Christian testimony and actually have negative volition toward doctrine.
More often than not the neglect of Bible doctrine accompanies this type of activity because of an incorrect criterion for what Christianity actually is.