“For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.” (Isaiah 59:17, NKJV)
This part of Isaiah describes Israel’s failure to follow God and how God promised to redeem them; there was no other to intercede on their behalf. No one could or would not do it, so He did it Himself. He told them that His Spirit was upon them. He had put words in their mouth that would not depart from them, or their children, or their grandchildren (verse 21). In other words, even though they messed up and rebelled against Him, He would take care of them anyway. They were His people.
I shake my head at the grace of God. His people, the children of His kingdom who belong to Him through faith in Jesus Christ, can often appear as a sorry lot. We do mess up. Our lives sometimes go contrary to Him, contrary to the Word we have received. We don’t live like the children of God ought to live. Yet in grace His redemption holds. He promised to “never leave nor forsake” us, and to keep us in His care.
Lately I’ve been wondering why those who wander from the faith do it. Is it rebellion? Or is it because they have not fully understood that even their sin of wandering was laid on Christ? If they truly gave their lives to Him and were given His life in exchange, then they are already forgiven of anything and everything. Nothing can separate them from the love of God. They cannot escape His presence, nor can they be lost from His loving hand.
Why do people pull back from such a salvation? Fear? Ignorance? For me, every day brings temptations to just quit following Him. Lies like, “God doesn’t care” (Satan’s original lie to Eve), or “You cannot possibly please Him” (basing grace on performance), or “This is too hard” (making me responsible to save myself) pop into my head. By grace, I can put on my armor, including that breastplate of righteousness and helmet of salvation given to me by Jesus, and fight back with the truth found in His Word. The weapons of this war are also a great gift.
Ephesians 6 calls the Word of God the “sword of the Spirit.” What about those who never read the Word, never pick up their weapon? They are like a soldier in the middle of a war without a gun. Eventually the sniper, who never shoots at random, is going to bring them down with his lies. They will fall away wounded until the Redeemer comes to revive them.
But He will come. He promised Israel He would save them. He promises those reborn into His kingdom that He will “never leave nor forsake” them. Even though at times it seems the war is lost, it is not over. When I pray for those who stray, I know that God is not finished. He will save His people.
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