GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
ISAIAH 4:3
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3 So it will be for one who is left in Zion, who remains in Jerusalem: They will be called holy. They, in Jerusalem, are written down. They will live.
The “survivors of Israel” in verse 2 are now described in new ways. Each of them is singled out as “one who is left in Zion,” and “who remains in Jerusalem.” In that second phrase, “remains” has the idea of being left behind when the tragedy was over, “survives” is another possible translation, although we must remember that such survival was not according to the skills or merits of the survivor, but that they survived because they were rescued by the Branch, the Savior Jesus Christ.
In fact, this verse is a marvelous study in passive verbs. Four of the main verbs are passive: “be left,” “remain,” “be called,” and “be written down.” The act of saving is God’s doing, not man’s.
Martin Luther wrote: “The mercy of God alone does everything, and our will does nothing, but rather is passive. All is ascribed to God” (The Bondage of the Will). And while this passage is not a proof text about free will, or man’s lack of free will, we might say in passing that free will or free choice, seen as a force or power that can turn itself freely in any direction, to sin or not to sin, without being under anybody’s control or influence, does not exist in the fallen world; in this universe, it is impossible. The will of man is only a very tiny spark, completely unable to do anything under its own power. The will of man is a prisoner, enslaved by the three great enemies of man: the devil, the world, and man’s own sinful flesh. Those who brag about having a free will are like those people who claim titles of royalty in other countries who expect many things but who have no money, no real authority or power, and no true abilities or skills. They are empty shells, driven by need and by sinful desires, “blown along by the wind” (Jude 1:12), and until a person realizes that this is all any of us are before God, then that person’s foolish arrogance stands in the way of their own salvation. It’s like a man who puts up a door with hinges on both sides and no handle. It’s no help at all, and it keeps him from getting anywhere.
Those who have been rescued by Christ and through faith in Christ are the true Zion, the genuine Jerusalem. Their sins are covered by Christ, while all other sins of all other people are death-bringing, damning sins, that reign and rule over their lives, so that anything that unbelievers do that they mistakenly call “free choice” or “free will” are nothing but sins that bring judgment, and condemn them for all eternity.
In the final part of the verse, notice that the people who are saved, the true Jerusalem (that is, the Christian church), are “written down.” This has two meanings that are equally true and equally important, but one is more obvious than the other. First, they are recorded by God. Once again, it is God who writes our names in his Book of Life (Psalm 69:28; Philippians 4:3; Revelation 21:27). They– we– are the ones that belong to the Lamb that was slain (Revelation 13:8). We have been justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Romans 3:24).
The second meaning to “being written down” is the importance of what is recorded. If we wish to be recorded, written down in God’s holy Book of Life, they why would we not take the book he has given us, the Holy Bible, and treat it with all seriousness and with earnest devotion? This is where we learn that Jesus said to us, “Rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).
In Christ we are chosen (Ephesians 1:11). He came into the world to redeem us, to rescue us from the devil’s power and even from ourselves. As true man, he placed himself under the law and kept it perfectly. As true God, his sacrificial death paid the price for our disobedience and sin. We are written in his Book of Life. On account of him, we will live. Forever.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Isaiah 4:3 Written in the Book of Life