“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 like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land, but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
– Isaiah 1:18–20
God, in His grace, has designed for us to experience life and goodness in Him. We must repent.
Isaiah 1:18–20 Leads Us to Turn from Sin and Trust in Christ
These verses together give a compelling picture of the two options before us. God, in his grace, has designed for us to experience life, goodness in him. He’s made a way for that to be possible, even though we are sinners. He’s made a way for our sins. Though they’re like scarlet to be washed as white as snow, though they’re red like crimson, he will make them become like wool by his grace.
If we will turn from our sin and trust in him, then we can experience his goodness and walk in his abundance. The other option is to refuse to confess our sins, to refuse to repent of sin, to rebel against God, to live in sin. The language Isaiah 1:20 uses is, “You shall be eaten by the sword.” Extremely serious, extremely grave language.
This Verse Compels Us to Expose Sin
I am compelled, based on this text, to look at my own life and to encourage you to look at your life and just to ask what do you need to repent of? What sin am I? What sin are you holding on to? God may not be said of us that we refuse to repent, that we rebelled against you. Oh, let’s pray.
God, help us to be honest with you about our sin. Help us to confess our sin to you, expose our heart. So God, help us to see sin in our lives for what it is. Help us to confess it and to turn from it. We want our sin, though they’re like scarlet, to be washed as white as snow. Take them away. Thank you, oh God, for your grace, for your forgiveness of our sins.
Isaiah 1:18–20 Leads Us to Confess Our Sin
When we confess our sins, in a 1 John 1:9 way, you are faithful just to forgive us of our sins, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Thank you, God. So help us to live in that kind of repentance continually turning from sins, and experiencing your goodness.
God, today we pray. Lord, help us not to hold on to sin. Help us to run from sin. Help us to repent of sin. Whenever we get close to it, help us to flee from it. When we fall, God cleanse us and forgive us and help us to turn from it. Lord, we want to experience the goodness you have designed for us, and we praise you for your grace that makes that kind of abundance, the life in you, possible. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
