Verse of the Day 1/30

Verse of the Day 1/30

Isaiah 57:18-19  New King James Version

18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him;

I will also lead him,
And restore comforts to him
And to his mourners.

19 "I create the fruit of the lips:
Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near,"
Says the Lord,
"And I will heal him."

My wife and I had dinner with some Christian friends last night and part of our conversation had to do with eternal security and backsliding.  Most likely, we all have friends and aquaintances in our lives who had expressed and perhaps shown evidences of faith in Christ but who have fallen away and no longer seem to have Christ as a part of their lives.  We believe in eternal security for those who are truly saved but what about those just described above?  It is a challenging prospect.

Just as we believe that Jesus calls us into faith, today's verses are an indication that Christ is the One who calls His followers to repentance.  We have no idea when this may occur in their lives, but we trust that it will happen.

It goes along with Isaiah 55:15 which come a few verses before today's verse:

Isaiah 57:15 New King James Version

15 For thus says the High and Lofty One

Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
"I dwell in the high and holy place,
With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,
To revive the spirit of the humble,
And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Fresh off of that conversation last night today's verses were the focus of John Piper's "Solid Joys" devotional for today where he writes:

o, in the face of recalcitrant, grace-resisting backsliding, God says, "I will heal him." He will "restore." The word for "restore" is to "make whole or complete." It is related to the word shalom, "peace." That wholeness and peace is mentioned in the next verse which explains how God turns around a grace-resisting backslider.

He does it by "'creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace (shalom, shalom), to the far and to the near,' says the Lord, 'and I will heal him'" (Isaiah 57:19). God creates what is not there — peace, wholeness. This is how we are saved. And this is how we are brought back from backsliding — again and again.

The grace of God triumphs over our resistance by creating praise where it did not exist. He brings shalom, shalom to the near and the far. Wholeness, wholeness to the near and the far. He does it by "restoring," that is, replacing the disease of resistance with the soundness of submission.

The point of irresistible grace is not that we can't resist. We can, and we do. The point is that when God chooses, he overcomes our resistance and restores a submissive spirit. He creates. He says, "Let there be light!" He heals. He leads. He restores. He comforts.

Therefore, we never boast that we have returned from backsliding. We fall on our faces before the Lord and with trembling joy thank him for his irresistible grace that conquered all our resistance.

Perhaps you know someone today that needs that restoration, pray to God for them that Christ's grace will triumph over their resistance and do a work in their heart,  "replacing the disease of resistance with the soundness of submission."

Blessings,

Mike

Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV

Isaiah 57:14-21

New King James Version

Healing for the Backslider

14 And one shall say,

"Heap it up! Heap it up!
Prepare the way,
Take the stumbling block out of the way of My people."

15 For thus says the High and Lofty One
Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
"I dwell in the high and holy place,
With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,
To revive the spirit of the humble,
And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
16 For I will not contend forever,
Nor will I always be angry;
For the spirit would fail before Me,
And the souls which I have made.
17 For the iniquity of his covetousness
I was angry and struck him;
I hid and was angry,
And he went on [a]backsliding in the way of his heart.
18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him;
I will also lead him,
And restore comforts to him
And to his mourners.

19 "I create the fruit of the lips:
Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near,"
Says the Lord,
"And I will heal him."
20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea,
When it cannot rest,
Whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

21 "There is no peace,"
Says my God, "for the wicked."