Back to the basics
Bro Whitney Belbin

Isaiah 1:18
"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

What I am going to go over may be old hat to some. Others may have heard and never believed and still others may have never heard.

This message is for all.

If you are one in the old hat category, please use it as a refresher.
There is nothing new in the Word of God. It had never changed and never will.

If you have heard and never believed, It still doesn’t change. The truth is always the truth and trying to reason it away within your own mind will not make it any less so.

If you had never heard I would stop and ask you to consider what it being presented with an open heart. These are not my words my friend but the very words of God. These are the words of Life eternal.

Isaiah 1:18
"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

What a wonderful invitation given from our Lord! That we, as unworthy as we are, can reason with Him.

The very creator of all.
He is not saying we must reason with him or we have to reason with him but he is extending an invitation.

And Look at the very thing He is offering as a result of our reasoning with Him. He is going to turn our sins from blood red to White as wool.

He is going to make us acceptable in His site. Nothing we have to do but believe his word. All you have to do is reason with Him.

You may ask, Well how do I do that? How do I reason with God?

I am glad you brought that up. Because that my friend is what I am going to go over tonight. Would you like to be acceptable to God? Would you like to have your sins washed white? As I stated above there is not ONE thing you yourself have to do.

It has already been done.

Again these are not my words.
I didn’t write them, I am just presenting them here to you tonight.
I am not the one you have to reason with.
I am not the one who can take away the sin stains.
He has extended the invitation.

God can not look upon sin and be pleased. Look over at the book of Psalms. Chapter 7 verse 11 tells us God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

There are only two types of people in this world.
The righteous or the wicked, which group do you fall in?

Genesis 2:16-17
"And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

Man became wicked in the site of God way back in Genesis chapter 3 verse 6 look what that verse says

"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."

That my friend, was the beginning of sin.
Disobedience to Gods command.
Look what caused this sin, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Can you say that you have never sinned?
Have never gave into either three of these temptations?

Because of this one man sin entered into the world. And because of sin came death.

Romans 5:12 says
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Have you ever sinned? Have you ever told a lie?

1 John 1:8 says
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."

You can not tell me honestly that you haven’t. If you say that you haven’t the Bible says you are deceiving yourself and telling God that He is a liar.

Because of our sin we all deserve death. Not just physical, but spiritual. Eternal separation from God.

In the book of Romans chapter 3 verse 12 we are told, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;..."

There is nothing we can do in ourselves to ever change that. In the book of Ephesians chapter two verse eight and nine we are told "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."

No amount of good works will save you. Not by joining a church, not by being baptized, not by partaking in the Lords supper, not by tithing, not by witnessing, not by helping the poor or the needy. None of these things will save you.

We DO NOT meet Gods qualifications for heaven.

You may say, Well then if I am going to die anyway I may as well live life to the fullest. Get all I can and just enjoy myself.

Death is not the end, Death is the beginning. What are eighty or ninety years on earth compared to eternity?

We are told in Hebrews Chapter nine verse twenty-seven that after death there is judgment.

Sound helpless then doesn’t it? My friend it would be if we had to do it on our own. It would be if we didn’t have such a loving God.

God loves us, loves you, so much that He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die for us.

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."

Romans 5:8
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Notice the words, while we were yet sinners. God loves us so much that he made a way for us to be with him in heaven while we were yet sinners.
That is love.

Through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary our sins were washed away. Through the sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God our sins had been removed.

Ephesians 1: 7
"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;"

that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

This friend is where the reasoning may come into play. God had just given you a way to be accepted in His sight. Presented you with the only way possible to obtain eternal life.

Do you believe? You can reason within your own head or you can accept Jesus Christ into your heart. Do you think you can out reason God?

God had just given you His reasons for your not being accepted in His sight. With that reasoning he had given you a gift. A free gift at no cost to you but of great cost to Him.

He gave his son for a ransom for your life.

2 Corinthians 5:21
"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

Jesus Christ died upon a cross and shed His blood so that you may be saved.

Hebrews 10:12
"But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;"

Jesus did not stay dead. He is now alive in heaven making continual intercession for those who have trusted in Him.

The gift of eternal life is of no value to you unless you receive it for yourself.

In the book of John chapter one verse twelve we are told
"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:"

We can receive the gift of eternal life by inviting Jesus into our lives and trusting in Him as our only hope for salvation.

Romans 10:9 states That
"if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

Romans 10:13 states
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

You must receive in order to obtain.

You can ignore all that you read here today
As I said in the opening, God is not saying you have to or you must reason with Him but be forewarned:

John 3:18
"He that believeth on him {Jesus} is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

This condemnation, this death as I said earlier is not just physical but spiritual. It is eternal separation from God in the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:8
"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."

And All Liars

Revelation 14:11
"And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night,.."

Isaiah 1:18
"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

God had just given you His reasons for your not being accepted in His sight. With that reasoning he had given you a gift. A free gift at no cost to you but of great cost to Him.
He gave his son for a ransom for your life.

1 Corinthians 15:3 -4
"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"

Romans 10:9
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

If you are not sure of your salvation, or have never heard of or accepted the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ and would like to know for sure that your sins can be forgiven please read "Gods Simple Plan Of Salvation" through the link on the home page or e-mail me. I would be glad to help.