Genuine repentance…

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left.” So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again. They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and plead with the Lord your God only to remove this death from me.” So he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with the Lord. And the Lord turned the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go. (Exodus 10:12–20)

Evangelicals often say if we confess our sin and ask for forgiveness, that means we are saved and our lives changed. This did not work for the Pharaoh. Odd, and many are offended that the Bible says God hardened his heart:

And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. (Exodus 4:21)

It is a bit shocking, but the Bible says that God knows the human heart and those who try to manipulate God with confessing sin so He will do what they want Him to do are only fooling themselves. Note, this man wanted forgiveness “just this once” indicating a lack of true repentance.

Some say that having a hard heart is the natural result of sin. In other words, if a sinner does “not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gives them up to a debased mind” (Romans  1:28) and if they resist the Spirit, He “takes his holy Spirit from them” (Psalm 51:11). That is, if anyone sins against the light He gives, He withdraws that light. If anyone stifles their natural affections of kindness or compassion, it is a spiritual law that those affections wither and decay. This could be what happened to Pharaoh. It was not so much God's abnormal interference with his attitude, but the natural effect upon his soul when he faked repentance to get his own way. He was not after forgiveness, only wanted the locusts taken away. 

True repentance is about yielding all to God, about accepting His way of doing things. I cannot say, “I will serve You if You remove my problems” as if salvation involves a bargaining chip. My example is Jesus:

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:8)
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you. (1 Peter 5:6)

Jesus, saying yes to You means yes to all things, trusting You to either use them or lose them, depending on Your perfect will, not mine. I can fight and resist the enemy’s lies, but I cannot fight or resist Your will or what You do in my life that makes me upset or uncomfortable. It is yielding to You in faith that brings peace.