“…speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron…”

1 Timothy 4:2.

Now, it becomes even easier to understand the reason why the preaching and advice given does not reach those who have abandoned the faith: their conscience was already seared by iniquity.

Iniquity is the hot iron that cauterises and removes a person’s ability to even hear the word of God or any spiritual advice.

There is still hope when a person falls in sin, but not due to iniquity (as in King David’s case). When a person falls due to iniquity, as in King Saul’s case, there is nothing left to do.