The book of Isaiah is a long one with 66 chapters. Our bible study group at church is wading through it right now.
As we were studying this book, something appeared in my mind, and I think it is worth sharing with you because it sums up the entire bible!
It is that in spite of Israel and us Gentiles being unfaithful to God by continuing to break his commandments (sinning), HE is still faithful to us.
Now, does that faithfulness mean that God turns a blind eye to our trespasses?
No, in fact He tells us that we’ll reap what we sow.
A good example of this is King David the man that God said was after His own heart. David sinned greatly when he had Bathsheba’s husband Uriah killed to cover up the fact that David had relations with her and she was now pregnant. It did not go unnoticed by God and he sent the prophet Nathan to confront him about it. God still loved and forgave David’s sin but he paid an awful penalty. The child they had would not live and the sword would not leave David’s household and we see that this indeed happened. His own elder son rose up against him and sought to overthrow his kingdom. The son ended up dying and David mourned greatly over him all the more so because David knew his own sin against God led to this.
What about our sinning after we come to believe and trust in the faith of God’s Son Jesus?
In Romans 8, Paul states this: “We don’t owe a thing to our old nature that
would require us to live according to our old nature. For if you live according to your old nature, you will certainly die; but if, by the Spirit, you keep putting to death the practices of the body, you will live.”
Sow and Reap.
God has been faithful to us by giving us of His Holy Spirit to lead us throughout our redeemed life but there are consequences for us if we despise His leadership in our lives and cling to our fleshly evil inclinations.
He is patient with us and continues to be faithful to us when we sin and He doesn’t want us to make it a practice of it so that it rules over our lives. He expects us to work toward slaying the very evil inclinations that come into our minds due to our old nature causing us to then react to what happens in the fallen world around us.
Job was not immune to evil inclinations that could come up into his mind either and once said “I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?“
Job was talking about the lust of the flesh driven by his eyes looking upon another woman.
We can do the same as we have made a covenant with our salvation to put away these things but it takes deliberate intention to do away with our evil inclinations.
There is so much in our world that works to bring out our evil inclinations. The world is saturated with open displays of evil that comes out of those inclinations in those that are perishing.
Our newspapers report on things that bring up a desire in us for retribution and vengeance or in movies, all kinds of situations where people play out their evil inclinations as though it’s a natural reaction for us to give into as well.
Let’s surround ourselves with other Believers and encourage each other through God’s Word to live a new life for God and set ourselves apart from those that only live through their flesh and give into every inclination that comes into their minds.