Is God hard? Is He austere? Is He unmerciful? Does God owe us salvation? Does He owe us eternal life? Is it something that He is bound to give us regardless of our conduct, regardless of the direction of our lives?
You see, there is an individual responsibility. God never condones sin nor grants license for us or anyone to disobey His commands. Please understand that we are not talking here about our transgressions that are done out of weakness or out of ignorance. We are talking about transgressions that are done as a way of life with knowledge that we are doing wrong. God never condones that kind of sin, and he never grants license for anyone to disobey His commands. God always allows the sinner to repent. He will always chase after the sinner with His Word and give them the opportunity to repent. We saw that with Joash and Amaziah and Uzziah. God tried to get them to repent. There is always an open door for a sinner who will repent. But unless we do, the mind eventually becomes set, becomes seared, and repentance becomes impossible.
