Those of you who read this blog (and I know there are at least two of you!) might remember that I’ve been reading through Scripture in my ESV, since it’s so easy in that translation to just read large chunks of Scripture. There is a benefit to reading through the Bible quickly. You get a good overview of the entire Scriptures.
However, there is also something rewarding about going slowly through Scripture too. And today, as I continued to read through Isaiah, I was struck by a particular verse. It’s one that I’ve read before, true, but today it really caused me to slow up a bit and think.
The verse is Isaiah 43:25. The basic context to the passage is this: Israel has been following after idols. God has been comparing Himself to these idols and demonstrating that He is supreme and these idols are all empty vessels. God speaks about punishment coming for Israel because of their idolatry. Then, he says the words in Isaiah 43:25.
I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
We could easily focus on the fact that God is merciful to sinners, and that is indeed a good place to go in this verse. However, I was struck more by the phrase “for my own sake.”
If we think about this humanistically, it makes no sense. We are the ones who are sinners. Would it not be for our sake that God forgives us? Indeed, in our culture we tend to think, “God loves me because I am valuable.” We focus our worth on ourselves, when the reverse is true: “I am valuable because God loves me.”
The bottom line is that God always acts for His own sake, and not ours. God loves us for His sake, He saves us for His sake, and He keeps us for His sake. Salvation, when seen from God’s eyes, is about Him and not about us. God only saves us because He wants to do so, not because we are worth saving. It is always for His sake and not ours.
