"How then Can We be Saved?"Isaiah 1-2
Jim Davis
The easiest way to debilitate a person is to rob the person of inner peace, confidence, hope and acceptance; and then alienate the person from others. These tactics will eventually leave a person hopeless. The devil is a master at rendering our lives impotent. He always leaves us powerless to help ourselves.
No emotional response has more power to debilitate a person than guilt. Guilt robs us of peace and inner strength. Guilt allows us to have 20/20 hindsight as we look at the mistakes of the past. Guilt will not relieve the burdens of the past and robs us of the strength we need to live today.
The mission of Christ is to restore to each of us what the devil has robbed from our lives. There is absolutely no way we can free ourselves to live powerful lives without Christ.
Sin Drives Us Away from God
The book of Isaiah gives us a graphic portrayal of Israel's sins. Her sins had left her loaded with guilt and she was looking to everyone but God for the peace she desired. It was a time of national unrest caused by their unwillingness to listen to God.
Isaiah 1:4-7
Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness-- only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil. Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers. (NIV)The Israelites were suffering the judgment of God. They are not abandoned by God for Isaiah says, "Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion?" They have abandoned God's ways. They were suffering from the guilt of their personal sins. Isaiah portrays their spiritual condition as one who had been beaten and unattended. God is pleading with them in the midst of their rebellion. Isaiah says, "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." (Isaiah 1:18 NIV)
Israel was turning to any and everything but God to find peace.
Isaiah 2:6-8
They are full of superstitions from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines and clasp hands with pagans. Their land is full of silver and gold; there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots. Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made. (NIV)It is amazing how the deception of Satan blinds us to God's power and willingness to provide for our peace of mind in spite of our guilt and shame. We end up turning to everything but God to solve our problems. We make ungodly alliances, we bow down to the work of our own hands and we trust in our ability to protect ourselves in a personal crisis. We devise our own religions.
Isaiah admonished them to "Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?" (Isaiah 2:23)
Building Our Hopes on God's Promises
Solomon said, "The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion (Proverbs 28:1 NIV) Our guilt leaves us running away from God with God in pursuit of saving our souls. It is extremely difficult to build our hopes on the faithfulness of God when Satan uses our guilt to make us only feel condemned by God. Sometimes our preaching gets one sided as we seek to warn of the condemnation of sin. However, it can go to far in teaching about grace, when our concept of grace diminishes our need to flee from sin. The very nature of sin drives us further and further away from God through self-condemnation or even self-justification.
A proper guilt should draw us into the arms of a loving God. There is a positive aspect of guilt, which signals the conscience when we do something wrong. A healthy guilt can help us correct our way the next time. However the guilt that will not let go of the past is a self-destructive guilt. This is the guilt Christ came to release us from by justifying us through faith in him.
Israel was seeking security through her own ingenuity without the help of God. We must keep foremost in our minds the condition of Israel at the time this prophecy was given. They had forsaken God. They were trusting in foreign gods and nations to save them from the threat of war. Israel's land was full of horses and chariots, the preparation for war is indicative of their reliance upon their own resources in a time of crisis.
Isaiah 1:2-4
Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: "I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand." Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. (NIV)The prophet of Isaiah says, "Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. (Isaiah 64:4-5 NIV)
They chose to sin in spite of God's faithfulness. The prophet saw the seriousness of spurning God's faithfulness and naturally ask:
Isaiah 64:5-7, 11-12
How then can we be saved? All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins. . .Our holy and glorious temple, where our fathers praised you, has been burned with fire, and all that we treasured lies in ruins. After all this, O LORD, will you hold yourself back? Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure? (NIV)It is easy to recognize the sins of a nation, but often it is difficult to see how we are a part of the national sin crisis. Although Isaiah was bringing charges against Israel on a national level, he understood his part in the sins of his nation. Isaiah accepts his responsibility as he says, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD . . ." (Isaiah 2:3, 5) Israel had forsaken God, but of course, the prophecy applied to individuals too.
When we come to the New Testament Paul brings the charge of sinful rebellion against each of us on a more personal level.
Romans 3:10-18
As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." "Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit." "The poison of vipers is on their lips." "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." (NIV)"How then can we be saved?" continues to be a relevant question for those of us in the twentieth century. The righteous deeds of the best of men are polluted because they issue from corrupt hearts and are mixed with evil acts. We are responsible and we cannot blame God.
Isaiah 59:1-4
Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things. No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil. (NIV)Knowing no one deserves to be saved makes us all cry out "Who then can be saved?" But the only sensible course of action is to call upon the Lord. The Psalmist cries:
Psalms 79:8-9
Do not hold against us the sins of the fathers; may your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need. Help us, O God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name's sake. (NIV)The pophet makes a passioned plea (Isaiah 63:7-64:12) he concludes that God will have to save Israel because he is her Father and Israel was the work of his hand. He questions whether God can punish Israel without measure because of compassion for her. God's mercy will not allow it.
"Let Us Walk in the Light of the LORD."
In the Old Testament God often pointed his people to the future for a source of comfort for the present. Through knowing what God had in store for their future gave them confidence that God was working in their lives at the present to bring about his glorious promises.
Israel could find hope for the present as she anticipated what God would do through Israel in the latter times. If they would come to God, he would use them in his plans to build a house in the top of the mountains into which all nations would flow. In light of these promises Israel is encouraged to walk in the light of the Lord. (Isaiah 2:5)
Isaiah 2:1-5
This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD. (NIV)This promise is to all. Isaiah writes, " . . . all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem."
God wants his people to make their way eagerly to His house so that he may teach his ways that we might translate his teaching into a way of life. God was asking the Israelites to focus their lives on His long-range plan for all nations. God wishes to rid our lives of sin. He desires for his teaching to dissolve disputes, misunderstandings, arguments and all our differences in light of truth. Wars will be out of the question for nations and individuals who have submitted to His will as they walk in his paths.
Today we have a superior focal point as we look to enthroned resurrected Christ. His teaching has the potential to abolish the barriers that breed hostility and enmity. His plans enable those who submit to them to be at peace with themselves and with members of his body. Our potential lies, in obedience the gospel of Christ.
We are justified by faith in Christ. It is there we find a refuge from our guilt. The gospel reveals Christ as the Lord of our past, present and future. Initially, Christ liberates us from the guilt of the past. In the present, Christ gives us standing with God and eternal hope for the future.
Roman 5:1-5
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.The power of the gospel has made several things possible:
Freedom from guilt -- peace
Access to God’s grace -- confidence
Right standing before God -- this equals joy of salvation.
Perseverance, character, hope --These are the benefits of the hope of our salvation
Holy Spirit -- shed God’s love abroad in our hearts
Justification -- reconciliation in Christ has made us acceptable in the belovedThe result of living in God's ways is that we will find our peace and security in God. "He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD."
Romans 5:6-11
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! (NIV)Finding hope in God’s promises is conditional upon our seeking the Lord. Isaiah encouraged himself and his people by saying, "let us walk in the light of the Lord." Many dream of a day when the nations of the world will beat its swords into plows and their spears into pruning hooks and we'll never hear of war again. But it will only happen when all men come to the house of God for the purpose of walking in his paths.
We dream of a glorious time when God will rule the world and bring peace, but whether that ever happens on an international scale or not, has little to do with me surrendering to God's will to allow God to make it happen in my life. As Isaiah preaches there is little hope of Israel repenting on a national level, but God assures the remnant, which chooses to be faithful blessings and protection.
Isaiah 3:8-10
Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling; their words and deeds are against the LORD, defying his glorious presence. The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves. Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds. (NIV)Isaiah 40:30-31
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (NIV)The message of Isaiah was to the king and the peasants alike. God was calling the rulers to turn Israel around. But the righteous peasants who chose to be faithful in spite of the unrighteous rulers were promised blessings.
God held out a bright future for Israel, but it was conditional upon them seeking Him. If Israel had listened to God they would have influenced all nations to listen. The message of God is potentially effective to accomplish this in every age. Paul speaks of the gospel of Christ as God’s power to save the believing. (Romans 1:16-17) Paul sees the gospel effectively working to this end as people give themselves to it. The message of God is not given for preservation in a book; it is a message, which becomes powerful as we allow God to teach us his ways for the purpose of living it.
In spite of Israel’s unfaithfulness the Messianic Promise is a reality for us today. The book of Romans is about discovering the power of God to salvage our lives through Jesus Christ. (1:16-17). Paul says, " . . .when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 5:6) In Romans we begin to understand how we must rely on the life-changing power of Jesus Christ to heal our wounded hearts.
Conclusion:
"Why should you be beaten anymore?" The Messianic Promise of the Old Testament is offered to each of us personally in our age.
Isaiah 1:4-7
Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness-- only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil. Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers. (NIV)Christ came to cleanse and bandage our hearts, heads, our wounds and open sores. Jesus said that it is not the healthy who needs a doctor but the sick.
Will we trust in God or man? Isaiah admonished them to "Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?" (Isaiah 2:23)
Israel as a nation passed up a glorious future, but what are we doing about our future.