A Mark of True Faith

 Toni M. Babcock

“Come now, and let us reason together,’ Says the LORD, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.’” (Isaiah 1:18 NKJV).

We tend to quote Isaiah 1:18 because it holds such incredible promise for sinners in need of forgiveness. 

A closer look at its previous two verses brings a more nuanced approach. 

“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. 

Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.” (Isaiah 1:16-17 NKJV).

 
What do these words imply? 

Surely not that we become our own saviors — there is only One, and it’s not us. 

It implies God desires evidence that backs up the faith we profess, not just a head knowledge that sits on its hands. 

He calls on His people to ‘put away the evil of your doings’ – which is one of the marks of true faith. 

The Old Testament believers could hope and pray for the power to invoke such transformative change, but they didn’t possess the indwelling of the Holy Spirit’s power that we have now in Christ.

 
So, what is the message for believers today? 

Do we ‘wash ourselves’ and ‘make ourselves clean’? 

Yes — in the ‘blood of the Lamb’, meaning the blood of Jesus. 

The Bible describes such who do — (cf. Revelation 7:14 NKJV). 

It’s as true for believers now as it ever will be at the end of the age, and for anyone who draws on Jesus for forgiveness, cleansing, and the power to live right.

 
If God by His power has made you willing to turn from your sin — if you through faith have ‘washed your robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb’, then rest assured ‘though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow, though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.’

Toni is author of Reflections from the Heart in the Light of the Gospel of Jesus. Contact