Can the Ethiopian change his skin?

(Joseph Philpot, "Daily Words for Zion's Wayfarers")

"Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the
 leopard its spots? Neither can you do good
 who are accustomed to doing evil."
    Jeremiah 13:23

Before the soul can know anything about salvation,
it must learn deeply and experimentally the nature of
sin, and of itself, as stained and polluted by sin.

The soul is proud, and needs to be humbled.

The soul is careless, and needs to be awakened.

The soul is alive, and needs to be killed.

The soul is full, and requires to be emptied.

The soul is whole, and needs to be wounded.

The soul is clothed, and requires to be stripped.

The soul is, by nature . . .
  self righteous and self seeking,
  buried deep in worldliness and carnality,
  utterly blind and ignorant,
  filled with . . .
      presumption,
      arrogance,
      conceit,
      and enmity.

It hates all that is heavenly and spiritual.

Sin, in all its various forms, is its natural element.

To make man the direct opposite of what he originally is . . .
  to make him love God, instead of hating Him;
  to make him fear God, instead of mocking Him;
  to make him obey God, instead of rebelling against Him;
  to make him to tremble at His dreadful majesty,
    instead of defiantly charging against Him;
to do this mighty work, and to effect this wonderful
change, requires the implantation of a new nature by
the immediate hand of God Himself!

"Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the
 leopard its spots? Neither can you do good
 who are accustomed to doing evil."
    Jeremiah 13:23