I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Isaiah 64-66.

    Isaiah starts today’s passage by calling out for God to intervene in the world once more as He did in years long ago. The prophet acknowledges that each and every one of us has sinned and that our acts of righteousness are like filthy rags. The first step in accepting God’s salvation is acknowledging that we are NOT good people. Despite the inadequacy of our righteousness, despite the fact that our sins mean that we deserve God’s judgment, we do not beg God for mercy. I want to note that despite Isaiah saying that no one calls on God, he does exactly that in the very next phrase.

    Isaiah notes God’s response to calls. God is ready to welcome people with open arms, but no one seeks His aid. And God is not just passively waiting for us to turn to Him, He is actively calling out to us that He is right here for us. Rather than turn to God for His help to become righteous, people go from one sin to an even worse sin. Meanwhile one person tells another to keep their distance because the second is too sinful and would pollute the “righteousness” of the first. We have deliberately and openly sinned, right in front of God.

    All of us have sinned and none of is are righteous, none of us has even truly called on God. Yet God says that some of us are worth saving. He will save a remnant. What qualities determine eligibility for that remnant? God will save those with a humble and contrite heart who tremble at His words. In light of what this passage says we can see part of what God means. Those whom God has saved know that they are no better than anyone else. We will not be saved because we are good people. God saves us because we recognize that we need saving. God does not save us because we are more deserving of salvation than others. In order to receive God’s salvation we must acknowledge that we do not deserve to receive it. When we tell others of God’s salvation, part of our message must be that if we, as bad as we are, qualified to receive God’s salvation, then surely they qualify. Our message must NOT be, “If only you were to make yourself as good as I, you too could receive God’s salvation.” No, our message is, “If I, as bad as I am, received God’s salvation, then surely you can receive it as well.”