By: Robert Serreyn
Question? Isaiah 59:2 has always confused me, how can a person respond to the gospel if God will not listen?
(Isaiah 59:2) But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
Answer:
Isaiah 59:2 is sometimes USED by those that believe that God MUST choose you for salvation or what is KNOWN as Predestination.
Their claim is that God WILL NOT heed to the voice or petitions of the UNCHOSEN ones’
To DISPROVE this all one has to do is look at Verse One, which states:
(Isaiah 59:1) Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear.
Verse One states just the opposite of Verse Two.
Then is there a contradiction?……NO
Yes it is TRUE what Verse Two says, Our sins HAVE seperated us from God, That is why we NEED a saviour – Romans 5:8
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Yes it is TRUE what Verse Two says, God has hid his face from us in the sense of being WITHOUT sin in his eyes.
(Isaiah 64:6) But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
(Matthew 27:46) And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me.
Yes it is TRUE what Verse Two says, God WILL NOT hear us if our plea IS NOT Lord I Believe.
(Acts 16:31) And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
(John 3:16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Verse One states:
the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save.
In other words, God’s salvation is for ANY and ALL and there is none that he cannot reach for salvation.
(2 Peter 3:9) The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Verse One states:
neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear
In other word God WILL SAVE any and all that WILL believe the Gospel that how Christ Died, was Buried, and Arose from the grave three days later as the complete payment for their sins.
(Romans 10:17) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
In Conclusion:
It is ERROR to think that God WILL NOT hear or listen to the plea for salvation.
God RESPONDS to those who come to him in simple faith, saying: “Lord I Believe” you Died for me, you was Buried for me, you were Resurrected as proof of the complete payment of my sins for me.
The theif on the Cross said:
(Luke 23:42) And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
Jesus said to the BELIEVING thief:
(Luke 23:43) And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing to know IS Jesus Christ as savior, just simply believe that Jesus Christ went to the cross and DIED and shed his blood, was BURIED and three days later RESURRECTED from the dead to pay for your sins.
-Christ DIED for you – Romans 5:8
-Christ PAID your sins in full – 2 Corinthians 5:21,1 Peter 2:24
-BELIEVE (Trust In Completely) in Christ ALONE as the complete payment of sin for salvation – John 3:16, Acts 16:31, Ephesians 2:8,9
“For the wages(payment) of sin is death (eternal torment in hell); but the GIFT(salvation) of God is eternal life THROUGH Jesus Christ our Lord”. Romans 6:23
IT IS THAT SIMPLE – THE GOSPEL TRUTH