FROM THE TOP
LELAND ACKER
Come and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18).

LELAND ACKER chreporter@mediactr.com

If I were to come to you and say, "We need to talk." Chances are you would respond, "Okay, about what?"

When God said in Isaiah 1:18 "Let us reason together," He told us in the next line that He wanted to reason with us about our sin.

Before we go any further, we need to define sin. A sin is not something that merely irritates religious people. A sin is a transgression (the breaking of a law) against God. Sin is breaking God's Law. That Law is summarized in the famed Ten Commandments.

Many things have been labeled "sin" that are really not a transgression against God. Such include integration, inter-racial marriage, dancing, trying to better one's self by purchasing nice material possessions, etc.

So God said He wants to reason with us about how our sins (our transgressions against Him) are scarlet and red like crimson.

These colors are blood-red. (Kind of brings new meaning to the Alabama Crimson Tide, doesn't it?)

This refers to the Jewish practice (in the days Isaiah recorded these words) of sacrificing animals for their sin. Such a practice was a preview of how Christ would pay for our sins on the cross.

So God is reasoning with us that our sins cause stains, but they will be white as snow. He didn't say, "You'll make them white as snow." He said, "They shall be white as snow."

Basically, God is saying, "as bad as your sins are, I'm going to take care of them, forgive you of them, and it will be like it never happened." That is a prophecy concerning the ministry of Jesus Christ, which was fulfilled 2,000 years ago.

So, how do we make this promise real to us? You repent (be sorry and turn away) from your sins and trust Jesus Christ as your savior.

"For it is by grace through faith that you are saved," (Ephesians 2:8). Faith means trust. When you repent of your sins, you trust Jesus as your savior.

After you are saved, God asks for you to be baptized and to join a church where you can serve Him. (Acts 2:38, Ephesians 2:10). That is what God, the creator of the earth and everything in it, wants from us.

Next week, we will take the truths of God's Word and apply them to little league baseball.