The Reasonableness of God.

“Come now, 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." (Isa. 1: 18).
The invitations of God are the verbal expressions of the love that He bears toward men, and the grace that He longs to bestow upon them. There are no words in the Scriptures more beautiful or more wonderful than those with which Almighty God lays bare His heart to plead with a sin-sick world to draw nigh to Him, by receiving His provision for the redemption of their souls. From away back to the days of Noah, to whom God said, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark’’; on to the time when the Lord Jesus lived upon the earth and invited men to “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” God has ever opened His heart to sinful men and women. And since that time, and then onward again, into the future, when for the last time the invitation shall be heard, when “the Spirit and the bride say, Come,” and the Word of God pleads with him that is athirst to come, “And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely"; all through the ages, a loving and gracious God has been reaching out to sinners, that He might bestow freely upon them that which they can never hope to obtain of themselves: forgiveness for their sins, the right to be called the children of God, and life everlasting. It is an invitation such as these upon which our meditation is based: “Come now, 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.”        
I. “Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord."
In these few words, spoken by the Lord, we have a remarkable demonstration of His love and grace, which is extended to men. If we read this verse in its proper setting, we shall see that God, through the prophet Isaiah, was confronting Judah about their sins against Him. It would have been perfectly logical to suppose that He would have come upon them in fearful judgment, for they were a “sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers,’’ who had rebelled against God. But instead of speaking in wrath and judgment, He said, “Come now, let us reason together.” This has always been His way with sinful and rebellious men. When Adam and Eve had disobeyed Him, it was God who sought them out. They did not come unto Him, but rather when “they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day," they “hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden” (Gen. 3: 8). He stooped down to search out these sinners, not to judge them, but to reason with them about their sin, and to provide a way of forgiveness for them. And our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever; and He changes not. Today, too, He seeks out rebellious sinners, and although He is a God of judgment, He is first a God of grace, who offers us a way of forgiveness for our sins, and salvation for our souls, through the Lord Jesus Christ. “Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord.” If you will, you will find Him reasonable with you about the need of your heart.
ll. “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”
The thing about which God wants to reason with you is your sins. Something must be done about them, for their wages is death. A holy and just God must punish sin. No matter how great His love, in righteousness, it would be impossible for a holy God to forgive sin without some atonement having been made to satisfy His justice, but God, with whom nothing is impossible, established a way; He gave His only begotten sinless Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who took upon Himself the form of a servant upon this earth, and at the Cross of Calvary, by pouring out His blood upon the tree, by His death satisfied the just demand of God’s righteousness, having been made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. The punishment for your sins, which is your rightful due, has been laid upon the Son of God, charged to His account, and as a result, salvation has been provided. Your need is to believe, and God longs to have you hear His Word and appropriate His sacrifice. So He says, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”
Scarlet—the thought expressed in the Hebrew word translated “scarlet” is “double-dyed.” Our sins are not only crimson or red, but they are double dyed. We are sinners by nature, for we were born in sin; but we are doubly sinners, for we are sinners by choice also. “The heart of man is enmity against God," and though Light has come into the world, men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. Yes, our sins are scarlet, double-dyed; we are sinners by nature and sinners by choice. But though they be like scarlet, they can be as white as snow, through the blood of the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world.
This last Christmas we had a tree which we trimmed on Christmas eve. The whole lighting effect was to be accomplished with red bulbs, and when our work was finally done, we turned out all the other lights in the room, so that the bulbs on the tree should give out the only illumination. We saw a startling thing! Near the base of the tree was a poinsettia plant having some red flowers and some white ones. When the other lights were turned out, and the red lights turned on, it was absolutely impossible to determine which of the poinsettia flowers had red petals, and which had white—they were all white in the red light. What a perfect illustration that was of that which happens to our sins when they are washed in the blood of Christ! They may be as scarlet, but when the red of the Christ’s shed blood is applied, they become as white as snow. White as snow!—and what happens to the snow? Under the light of the sun it melts away and vanishes, never to be seen again. So of our sins and iniquities, brought into the light of the glory of the Sun of Righteousness, our Redeemer, God will remember them no more (Heb. 10: 17).
III. "Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."
Quite often in the Scriptures, the double metaphor or simile is used, to add emphasis to some great truth. But it would seem that more than emphasis is implied here. This statement has to do with the believer’s sins. We have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ, the Lamb of God. God has made provision for us, through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, so that we need not sin.
The moment one becomes a child of God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he receives a new nature, which is Christ Himself, who dwells within the heart of the believer through the Holy Spirit. In proportion to the extent to which we abandon ourselves to Him, to that extent do we have victory over the flesh and the attacks of Satan. When we say that the Christian need not sin, we mean that God has provided the power which enables him to keep from sinning, by laying hold of the Lord Jesus Christ and laying claim to the victory already won for us at Calvary. “Our old man has been crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin . . . Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6: 6, 7, 11). The provision for power has been made through the Holy Spirit. Yet we do fail, again and again, because the old nature is still with us, and in wonderful grace, although He has provided against sin, God has also provided a way of cleansing should we sin. It is written in First John 2: 1, 2: “My little children, these things write I unto you that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins." So, though the believers’ sins be red like crimson, washed in the blood, they become as wool, symbolic of the garment of salvation which the Lamb of God has provided for us. For “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1: 9).
If you have never put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ—hear the invitation of God who pleads with you: “Come now, let us reason together . . . though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” All you need to do is to believe God, and receive Christ, His Son, as your Saviour, and you shall be saved. Nor is the Christian forgotten here, for though you may have been disobedient to God, and sinning against His holiness, yet He is holding out His arms to you also, saying, “Come now, let us reason together, though your sins be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Your need is to search out your heart, confess your sins, and appropriate once again the cleansing value of the blood of Christ. And then “if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” E. Schuyler English. —Our Hope. 
"The Sword of the Lord" Dec. 1939