When you turn your heart against God, it tends to become set and stubborn. Mrs C.H. Morris wrote a song expressing the change of attitude when one is converted to Christ. The song says in part...

My stubborn will at last hath yielded;
I would be Thine and Thine alone;
And this the prayer my lips are bringing,
Lord let in me Thy will be done...
Sweet will of God still fold me closer,
Till I am wholly lost in Thee...
All discords hushed, my peace a river,
My soul a prisoned bird set free.
  (C.H.Morris)

The Set and Stubborn Heart

Don't allow your "stubborn will" to become so unyielding that you cannot turn to your Heavenly Father through his Son Jesus, and receive his Holy Spirit and the forgiveness of your sins (Lke 11:13 Acts 2:38).

Having made that plea to you, I would now like to tell you, simply and briefly, how you can yield your heart to God.

Some preachers will say, "Just invite Jesus into your heart right now" as if there is no more to it than a little prayer. By all means pray. But make your prayer this: "Lord let in me Thy will be done". Then go ahead and do his will. Do what he says is necessary for the salvation of your soul.

Believing in Jesus

It is evident, of course, that one cannot merely ask for salvation, for that very act implies a prior belief in Jesus which is essential to salvation (Jhn 3:16). Belief, however, must evoke more than just an idle prayer for salvation. It must evoke commitment and compliance in doing what God wills.

James says, "A person is justified by works, not by faith alone" (Jas 2:24). We cannot be saved by works without faith, for those works would be "dead". Just as truly, we cannot be saved by faith without works, for that faith would be "dead" (Jas 2:17,26).

Repenting of Sin

Peter preached the gospel, on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. Many who heard him were "cut to the heart". But they saw that they needed to do more. This conviction, this faith, was good, but not good enough. They asked Peter and his companions, "What must we do?" Peter's first word in reply was, "Repent" (Acts 2:37-39).

Repentance means a change of heart concerning the sin in one's life. It isn't enough to believe. You must also repent. James pointed this out when he said that demons believe (Jas 2:19). The Legion of demons called Jesus "The Son of the Most High God" (Mrk 5:7-9). But demons don't obey Christ. They don't repent of sin.

Confessing Christ

So far we have spoken of things done in the heart: believing and repenting. One would expect that these deeds of the heart would be expressed by appropriate deeds in the body. Thus, the faith in your heart is confessed with your mouth.

According to Paul, this confession is "unto salvation". He says, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved" (Rom 10:9-10).

Paul does not teach here that confession with the mouth is just a formality you can dispense with, does he? The good confession is not merely an optional outward expression of of an inward condition. Just the same is true of the next requirement:

Baptism for the Forgiveness of Sins

Just as faith in the heart has its equivalent expression in the body, so does repentance in the heart have its counterpart in the body.

Peter, after saying, "Repent..." then said, "and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). You will notice that Peter links baptism with repentance just as strongly as Paul linked confession with faith.

Repentance is a change of heart, the decision to become a new person in Christ. Baptism is the act in which this renewal takes place. One is "baptised into [Christ's] death". Only by coming "into his death" (and into his resurrection from death) can one have the forgiveness of sins and be born again into newness of life (Rom 6:3-6).

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