Living in the Waiting
5/25/26 Bible Thought (Isaiah 56-57)
Main Idea: Those who come to God ought to live uprightly while they await His salvation.
A Look at the Text:
With the future still in view, the scene shifts ever so slightly in Isaiah 56. It is no longer the future day of blessedness that is primarily in focus, but rather living in anticipation of that day.
In light of that coming salvation, the Lord admonishes His people through Isaiah, “Keep justice, and do righteousness” (Isa. 56:1). Even more, they were to honor the Sabbath, rather than profaning it, while keeping their hands from evil (Isa. 56:2).
The door of salvation was open to all. The House of the Lord was to be a house of prayer for all nations (Isa. 56:7). God would receive both the eunuch and the foreigner who put their faith in Him (Isa. 56:3-8). Yet, at the same time, there were still ethical implications for His people.
As one scholar has noted, “obedience to the law and ethical righteousness is the mark of receiving God’s saving grace.”[1]
God was searching for the humble and contrite to dwell amongst them (Isa. 57:15). All of those who would turn from their wicked ways and find their refuge in Him could certainly have a hope for the future.
Bringing it Home:
God has always been a God of mind-boggling grace.
In both the Old and New Testaments, salvation precedes works, although it differs slightly in its application. Yet, whether one was saved from Egyptian slavery under the leadership of Moses or saved from sin through the lordship of Jesus Christ, there is still a clear truth that God’s saving acts precede His expectations of His people.
That said, the Scripture is abundantly clear that grace was never meant to be a license for sinful behavior. The same grace that saves is a grace that shapes. With the blessed hope of a future for Zion through the ministry of the Suffering Servant, there was still a desire on God’s part for His people to do righteousness.
In similar fashion, the apostle Peter once tied eschatology to ethics as well:
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! (2 Pet. 3:11-12).
Let us then magnify God’s grace, not only through our words but through our works. Remember, we might not be saved by good works, yet we are saved for good works (see Eph. 2:8-10).
If one is genuinely brought into the family of God, there ought to be some family resemblance (see 1 John 3:9-10).
Challenge:
How has my life been changed and shaped by Christ? Or, in other words, what fruit has the Spirit been growing in me?
[1] David Jackman, Teaching Isaiah: Unlocking Isaiah for the Bible Teacher, ed. Robin Sydserff, Teach the Bible (Ross-shire, Scotland; London, England: PT Media; Christian Focus, 2010), 254.