The Bible says:
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”
— Isaiah 1: 18-20
Can God be reasoned with? According to our text He can.
The real question is can man be reasoned with? And the answer is that the majority of men cannot be reasoned with and will not be persuaded to change.
Man has the power or capability to reason. He has the power of discernment. He can be rational and logical when he wants to be.
It’s the reasonable thing to do; or it just makes sense to follow and obey God and enjoy His blessings. It’s not reasonable; or it just doesn’t make sense to not follow and obey God and experience all the pain our disobedience brings now and later.
The whole purpose of reasoning, of logic, is to arrive at the truth of things. To reason is the ability to think, form judgments, comprehend, understand, and draw conclusions.
But an obstinate person will not listen to reason or common sense. Paul reasoned with many out of the Scriptures and persuaded many to come to Christ, (Acts 17: 2; 18: 4, 19; 24: 25; 2 Corinthians 5: 11) but many rejected his reasoning and actually opposed him.
Our text is one of God’s last attempt to reason with His people and get them to do the reasonable thing and turn from their sin and return to Him. Israel was God’s chosen and covenant people. The covenant blessings were based on Israel’s obedience to God.
The covenant cursing’s were based on Israel’s disobedience to God. Israel was disobeying God and was experiencing the cursings God promised would come.
God was reasoning with Israel to bring her back to a place of obedience and blessing. But Israel was obstinate and could not be reasoned with and as a result Jerusalem was destroyed and the people went into captivity.
Every time a sound Bible preacher preaches the Word of God he is reasoning with everyone that hears him to leave their sin and a life of disobedience and close with God. Whether it be a lost sinner in need of salvation or a Christian out of fellowship with God.
If you’re still a reasonable person, there’s hope you can be persuaded to return to God. But if you’re so hard-hearted, stubborn, and obstinate you can’t be reasoned with and persuaded to turn from your sin to the Savior you’ll finally go to Hell where no one will ever reason with you again, and you’ll know throughout eternity the reason you’re there.
James H. Cagle is a Ray City resident who pastored several churches for a total of 11 years. Email him at pastorjameshcagle@
