Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 43:14-28.

“¹⁴ Thus says the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,

¹⁶ Thus says the Lord,

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 43:8-13.  Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+43&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“¹⁰ “You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“And My servant whom I have chosen,
So that you may know and believe Me
And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed,
And there will be none after Me.
¹¹ “I, even I, am the Lord,
And there is no savior besides Me.
¹² “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed,
And there was no strange god among you;
So you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“And I am God.
¹³ “Even from eternity I am He,
And there is none who can deliver out of My hand;
I act and who can reverse it?”  Isaiah 43:10-13.

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“You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“And My servant whom I have chosen,
So that you may know and believe Me
And understand that I am He.  …”  Verse 10.

We know and believe the LORD and are His witnesses, because He chose us.  

We know and believe that the LORD is a sovereign LORD and are His witnesses, because He chose us.

“Even from eternity I am He,
And there is none who can deliver out of My hand;
I act and who can reverse it?”  Verse 13.

We know and believe that the LORD is our Savior and are His witnesses, because He chose us.

“¹¹ “I, even I, am the Lord,
And there is no savior besides Me.
¹² “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed,
And there was no strange god among you;
So you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“And I am God.”  Verses 11-12.

“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”  John 15:16.

“God raised Him (Christ) up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.”  Acts 1:40.

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”  1 Peter 2:9.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 43:1-7.

“But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel,
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name;  you are Mine!
² “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you.
³ “For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I have given Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your place.
⁴ “Since you are precious in My sight,
Since you are honored and I love you,
I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.
⁵ “Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
And gather you from the west.
⁶ “I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring My sons from afar
And My daughters from the ends of the earth,
⁷ Everyone who is called by My name,
And whom I have created for My glory,
Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”  Isaiah 43:1-7.

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Other doctrine attributes the cause of salvation to what we have done.

But, Reformed Doctrine attributes the cause of salvation to who we are.

Other doctrine attributes the cause of salvation to what we have done whether it be our works or even “as little” as our alleged free-will choice of Christ.

But, Reformed Doctrine attributes the cause of salvation to who we are, namely God’s elect a/k/a God’s people a/k/a God’s children, His sons and His daughters.

This is how the Heidelberg Catechism states it.

“Q. 1.  What is thy only comfort in life and death?

 A.  That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ;  who, with His precious blood, hath fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil;  and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head;  yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto Him.

In other words, this great Reformed creed teaches us that our only comfort in life and death is not in what we have done but in who we are.  Our only comfort is that we belong to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ. 

In the LORD’s own words of today’s Scripture:  “you are Mine!”.  Verse 1.

Because we are the LORD’s sons and daughters, He commands:

“⁶ “I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring My sons from afar
And My daughters from the ends of the earth,
⁷ Everyone who is called by My name,
And whom I have created for My glory,
Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”  Verses 6-7.

Other doctrine falsely maintains that God loves everybody and Christ died for everyone (redeemed everyone).

But, Reformed Doctrine truly maintains that God only loves His elect and Christ died only for those elect (thus, redeeming only His elect).

Notice the sharp contrast between God’s people and “other peoples”.  Not all are redeemed a/k/a ransomed.  

“³ “For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I have given Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your place.
⁴ “Since you are precious in My sight,
Since you are honored and I love you,
I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.”  Verses 3-4.

“But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel,
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name;  you are Mine!”  Verse 1.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 42:14-25.

“14 “I have kept silent for a long time,
I have kept still and restrained Myself.
Now like a woman in labor I will groan,
I will both gasp and pant.
15 “I will lay waste the mountains and hills
And wither all their vegetation;
I will make the rivers into coastlands
And dry up the ponds.
16 “I will lead the blind by a way they do not know,
In paths they do not know I will guide them.
I will make darkness into light before them
And rugged places into plains.
These are the things I will do,
And I will not leave them undone.”
17 They will be turned back and be utterly put to shame,
Who trust in idols,
Who say to molten images,
“You are our gods.”

18 Hear, you deaf!
And look, you blind, that you may see.
19 Who is blind but My servant,
Or so deaf as My messenger whom I send?
Who is so blind as he that is at peace with Me,
Or so blind as the servant of the Lord?
20 You have seen many things, but you do not observe them;
Your ears are open, but none hears.
21 The Lord was pleased for His righteousness’ sake
To make the law great and glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and despoiled;
All of them are trapped in caves,
Or are hidden away in prisons;
They have become a prey with none to deliver them,
And a spoil, with none to say, “Give them back!”

23 Who among you will give ear to this?
Who will give heed and listen hereafter?
24 Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to plunderers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,
And in whose ways they were not willing to walk,
And whose law they did not obey?
25 So He poured out on him the heat of His anger
And the fierceness of battle;
And it set him aflame all around,
Yet he did not recognize it;
And it burned him, but he paid no attention.”  Isaiah 42:14-25.

———————–

Despite all that God had done for Israel in giving them the law and miracles, they were still not willing to obey the law and they did not walk in God’s ways.

“You have seen many things, but you do not observe them;
Your ears are open, but none hears.”  Verse 20.

“… And in whose ways they were not willing to walk,
And whose law they did not obey?”  Verse 24.

And, despite being punished, they “paid no attention”.  Verse 25.

“But this is a people plundered and despoiled;
All of them are trapped in caves,
Or are hidden away in prisons;
They have become a prey with none to deliver them,
And a spoil, with none to say, “Give them back!”  Verse 23.

And, God states:
“14 “I have kept silent for a long time,
I have kept still and restrained Myself.
Now like a woman in labor I will groan,
I will both gasp and pant.
15 “I will lay waste the mountains and hills
And wither all their vegetation;
I will make the rivers into coastlands
And dry up the ponds.”  Verses 14-15.

This Scripture reminds me of Isaiah 6:18-13.

“8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”  Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”  9 He said, “Go, and tell this people:

‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive;
Keep on looking, but do not understand.’
10 “Render the hearts of this people insensitive,
Their ears dull,
And their eyes dim,
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts,
And return and be healed.”

11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?”  And He answered,

“Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant,
Houses are without people
And the land is utterly desolate,
12 “The Lord has removed men far away,
And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it,
And it will again be subject to burning,
Like a terebinth or an oak
Whose stump remains when it is felled.
The holy seed is its stump.”  Isaiah 6:8-13.

But, even in all of the apparent hopelessness of all of this Scripture, there is the hope in Isaiah 6:13.  God provided and preserved a remnant, that hope in One of that remnant, a “holy seed” Who is Jesus Christ, the Redeemer and the Servant and the Savior and the Son of God.

Nevertheless, other doctrine teaches that there is still hope in man to obey the law and to follow in God’s ways and to repent.

But, Reformed Doctrine recognizes and teaches “Total Depravity” of man and further recognizes and teaches that the only hope is in God doing everything necessary for salvation from “Unconditional Election” (which is similar to providing that remnant) through “Limited Atonement” (which is the work of Jesus Christ), through “Irresistible Grace”, and “Preservation of the Saints”, the “T”, “U”, “L”, “I”, and “P” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.

“And He saw that there was no man,
And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;
Then His own arm brought salvation to Him,
And His righteousness upheld Him.”  Isaiah 59:16.

“26 Help me, O Lord my God;
Save me according to Your lovingkindness.
27 And let them know that this is Your hand;
You, Lord, have done it.”  Psalm 109:26-27.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 42:1-13.

“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;
My chosen one in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the nations.
² “He will not cry out or raise His voice,
Nor make His voice heard in the street.
³ “A bruised reed He will not break
And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish;
He will faithfully bring forth justice.
⁴ “He will not be disheartened or crushed
Until He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”

⁵ Thus says God the Lord,

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 40:12-31.  Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+40&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“²² It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
²³ He it is who reduces rulers to nothing,
Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
²⁴ Scarcely have they been planted,
Scarcely have they been sown,
Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,
But He merely blows on them, and they wither,
And the storm carries them away like stubble.
²⁵ “To whom then will you liken Me
That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.
²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high
And see who has created these stars,
The One who leads forth their host by number,
He calls them all by name;
Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power,
Not one of them is missing.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 40:1-17.  Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+40&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“⁶ A voice says, “Call out.”
Then he answered, “What shall I call out?”
All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades,
When the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.