Isaiah 1:18-20

Isaiah 1:18-31 Text
"Come now, and let us reason together", says the Lord, "though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool. If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." Truly, the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

Isaiah 1:18-20 Devotion

The invitation of God to reason together is legal language, the verdict of the highest court in the land. The verdict for all of us is "guilty . . . but . . ." The color red (scarlet) relates to blood-guilt and of course on any article of clothing is a nightmare to get purely clean. To be able to go from scarlet red to pure white is the greatest news given to mankind. It is the same as going from being a prostitute-whore to becoming a virgin again. Such is impossible except with God. This is exactly what happened with Israel and thus makes the study of their whore-dom and forgiveness very compelling to any and all of us who have given ourselves away to other gods-- whether to gods of sex, drugs, materialism, slander, gossip, or whatever it may be.

The invitation is twofold, however. First, we can be completely and actually totally clean by God's grace. However, combined with this is the necessity to repent and obey. The value of the one is nullifeid without this second response on my part. It is Lordship over your life that He demands which the gospels and New Testament also make perfectly clear. Without repentance and following Jesus as Master there can be no forgiveness. To refuse obedience is to reject the offer of forgiveness and a voluntary forfeiting of his blessings in your life. The road to blessings in whatever form always goes through obedience. Obedience will not save us or make us clean. Ironically, only the red blood of Christ can take out the dark red stain of sin . . . and that is procured by faith. However, faith without works of obedience is dead and thus we see that any person who will not follow Jesus as master will neither know God nor forgiveness.