Jeremiah 13:23 - People Need The Lord

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

Here is set forth the futility of any human endeavor to overcome evil apart
from the power of God. [SDA Commentary]

Sin is the blackness of the soul; it is the discolouring of it; we were
shapen in it, so that we cannot get clear of it by any power of our own. But
Almighty grace is able to change the Ethiopian's skin. Neither natural
depravity, nor strong habits of sin, form an obstacle to the working of God,
the new-creating Spirit. [Matthew Henry Commentary]

When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a new power takes possession of
the new heart. A change is wrought which man can never accomplish for
himself. It is a supernatural work, bringing a supernatural element into
human nature. The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes His own fortress,
which He holds in a revolted world, and He intends that no authority shall
be known in it but His own. A soul thus kept in possession by the heavenly
agencies is impregnable to the assaults of Satan. But unless we do yield
ourselves to the control of Christ, we shall be dominated by the wicked one.
We must inevitably be under the control of the one or the other of the two
great powers that are contending for the supremacy of the world. It is not
necessary for us deliberately to choose the service of the kingdom of
darkness in order to come under its dominion. We have only to neglect to
ally ourselves with the kingdom of light. If we do not co-operate with the
heavenly agencies, Satan will take possession of the heart, and will make it
his abiding place. The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ
in the heart through faith in His righteousness. Unless we become vitally
connected with God, we can never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love,
self-indulgence, and temptation to sin. We may leave off many bad habits,
for the time we may part company with Satan; but without a vital connection
with God, through the surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we
shall be overcome. Without a personal acquaintance with Christ, and a
continual communion, we are at the mercy of the enemy, and shall do his
bidding in the end.  DA324