REDEEMED! – part 4
Isaiah 43:1-44:5 (43:22-28)
March 17, 2024
Thomas Watson said
“Great was the work of creation, but greater the work of redemption. It cost more to redeem us than to make us. In the one, there was but the speaking of a word. In the other, there was shedding blood. The creation was but the work of God’s fingers. Redemption is the work of His arm.”
https://gracequotes.org/author-quote/thomas-watson/
And this is the very topic we discuss here in Isaiah 43.
• The glorious redemption of God
• That we, as sinners have been redeemed.
It is a term that means to “buy back”
• It is what God did for Israel as slaves in Egypt.
• It is what God is promising to do again for Israel out of Babylon.
• Ultimately it is what God did for us through Christ on the cross.
We have been redeemed.
We have been bought back by God.
We have been rescued from our slavery to sin and set free.
And as Thomas Watson put it,
This is the great work of the saving arm of God.
This being our 4th visit to this 43rd chapter you are certainly familiar with the points that we have covered regarding this great redemption of God.
#1 A PARTICULAR REDEMPTION
Isaiah 43:1-7
Namely that God has not redeemed all men, but only His people.
• He gave Egypt as a ransom for Israel.
• And the glorious reality of this redemption is that God can say, “You are Mine!”
We have been bought with a price.
#2 A PURPOSED REDEMPTION
Isaiah 43:8-13
Namely that this redemption is for the glory of God.
• He redeems the blind and the deaf so that He alone gets glory as a genuine Redeemer.
• No one else can do what God has done or will do.
#3 A PROMISING REDEMPTION
Isaiah 43:14-21
We saw this one this morning,
That our focus in redemption is not simply backward remembering what God has done.
(Certainly that is a glorious view.)
But we also take note of
• What God is currently doing for us even in this wicked world
• And even more we gaze upon what God has promised to do.
We do not look just at this city, but the city which is to come.
We saw this morning how God called His people to flee Babylon,
Just as we are called not to love this world.
We are to be a people like the saints of old:
Hebrews 11:15-16 “And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”
Hebrews 13:14 “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.”
God has promised us a better city.
And all of this is linked to God’s redemption.
For on the cross the redemption of Jesus was secured.
• Forgiveness of sin and Reconciliation to God.
• Freedom from sin and Sanctification before God.
• Total separation from sin and a glorified inheritance with Christ.
Ephesians 1:7-12 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.”
So as we think about the redemption of God
It is appropriate to think about
• What we have been redeemed from
• What we have been redeemed for.
• And even Who we have been redeemed for.
We have been redeemed that we might go and spend eternity
With our heavenly Father to whom we have been redeemed.
We are purchased sons being brought home to our Father.
This is a promising redemption.
Well tonight, let’s look at a 4th aspect of God’s redemption.
#4 A PERSISTENT REDEMPTION
Isaiah 43:22-28
Thus far, everything we have studied in this chapter
Has been quite UPLIFTING and ENCOURAGING.
Because everything has been about God’s response to sinful man.
• We have God redeeming.
• We have God delivering.
• We have God promising.
But when we get to verse 22 we come to THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM.
And the issue we are now confronted with is
Israel’s total unworthiness and perhaps even unwillingness
To be redeemed by God.
There is something in the prideful heart of man that still likes to believe that deep down we were redeemed because we deserved it.
I see arguments to this end all the time.
Just go on social media and type in the phrase:
• “I believe in total depravity and unconditional election” and you’ll meet those people too.
And it’s not just the unredeemed.
You’ll find yourself in a hotbed of rebuttal from evangelical people who do not believe:
• Man is fallen in Adam
• Spiritually dead
• Chosen of God for salvation
They will argue with you tooth and nail that:
• Man is born innocent and only falls into sin
• Man is not spiritually dead, but has the inner capacity for faith
• Man chooses God and is therefore saved
IN SHORT, WHAT THEY BELIEVE
(though none will admit it like this)
Is that man is redeemed because he desires and deserves redemption.
It is either because
• He is so worthy that God is obligated to save him
Or at the very least because
• He is so virtuous that he made the right decision to let God save him.
There are many in evangelicalism who believe that
God redeems those who cooperate with His work of redemption.
(God helps those who help themselves)
They categorically reject what they call “determinism”,
That God elects and chooses and determines redemption.
And that the only reason men believe and are redeemed
Is because He granted them the faith to believe.
And this is nothing but human pride.
This is nothing but man seeking to squeeze out some piece of credit for his own salvation.
We know that redemption is all for the glory of God.
• It is to prove that He is the Savior,
• Not that we were worth saving
• Or that we helped Him in any way.
This is why He saved the weak and the foolish and the base,
So that no one could boast before Him.
WE’VE SEEN ALL THAT.
And yet, men still argue tooth and nail that
God’s redemption is the synergistic work of God and man
As opposed to the work of God alone.
But that view is severely damaged by the text we study tonight,
For in our text we run into a massive problem.
And the problem is this:
ISRAEL ISN’T COOPERATING WITH GOD’S PLAN OF REDEMPTION
TONIGHT, as we look at this next segment of verses
I want to show you that the only reason people like Israel or people like us
End up being redeemed is not because we are so persistent to obtain it,
But because God is so persistent to accomplish it.
So let’s break this down a little tonight.
1) THE DILEMMA (22-24)
“Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob; But you have become weary of Me, O Israel. “You have not brought to Me the sheep of your burnt offerings, Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, Nor wearied you with incense. “You have bought Me not sweet cane with money, Nor have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices; Rather you have burdened Me with your sins, You have wearied Me with your iniquities.”
Everyone who wants to hold to the view that
Redemption occurs as a result of our believing
Is going to have problems here.
For clearly all of Isaiah 43 has been about God’s redeeming Israel.
Isaiah 43:1 “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!”
But here we find
That these people whom God is redeeming ARE NOT COOPERATING.
“Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob…”
If you think that
• God’s salvation hinges upon the sinner finding faith from somewhere inside himself
• And then exercising the faith he created
• Then we have a problem here.
Now, IT IS TRUE what we read in Romans 10:13
Romans 10:13 “for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
That is totally true and we absolutely believe it.
• WE BELIEVE that if any person anywhere at any time will simply call on
Jesus that they will be saved.
• WE DO NOT BELIEVE in some sort of double pre-destination where God
handpicked people to go to hell whom He would not save even if they
wanted to be.
NOT AT ALL!
God is gracious and good and generous and merciful
There isn’t a sinner on earth, who if they called on Jesus this very moment that He wouldn’t save them completely.
That has always been true.
The problem is not that God won’t save men who call.
The problem is that NO ONE WILL CALL!
And we see that here of Israel.
When Jeremiah spoke of the purpose of the exile he was very clear:
Jeremiah 29:10-13 “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”
That’s pretty straightforward isn’t it.
• God will send you to Babylon for your sin.
• His plan is to bring you back.
• When you call on Him and seeking Him with all your heart.
• He will bring you home.
And so men like to read that and make some conclusions:
1. It must be within their ability to repent and call or else God wouldn’t require it.
2. God knows they just need a little pressure to cause their calling.
3. So God sends them to Babylon to create the needed pressure.
4. They then call and God redeems.
I had a conversation the other day with a man
Who was arguing for this very notion.
HE WAS ARGUING AGAINST ELECTION:
He used the prodigal as his example
• And spoke of how the father didn’t travel to get the son,
• But rather the prodigal returned to the father.
And His point was that it was the prodigal’s decision.
I simply asked:
• “I wonder what made him come to his senses?”
That’s what Luke 15:17 says:
Luke 15:17 “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!”
His response was:
• “Hunger and the smell of pigs will do that to you.”
He is reflecting the point that the choice to be saved
Was in the ability of the prodigal,
He just needed enough outside pressure.
I responded:
• “Wonder why it doesn’t do it for everyone?”
His response was:
• “I don’t think determinism is the answer.”
In other words, he doesn’t know why all sinners don’t respond in bad situations he just knows I’m wrong.
He then passed the story off as a parable and said, “It’s a wonder Calvin didn’t try to have this passage deleted from the Bible.”
But you get the idea.
There’s a common view that all God does is provide the pressure
But it is men who do the changing and calling and returning, etc.
But Isaiah reveals that we have a DILEMMA.
THEY AREN’T CALLING!
If you hold to a man-centered view of redemption
Then we have here a people who cannot be redeemed.
For how can God redeem someone who won’t call on Him?
• How can God redeem a sinner who isn’t interested in leaving his sin?
• How can God save a prodigal who actually likes the smell of pigs?
THAT IS ISRAEL HERE.
And it gets worse.
“Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob; But you have become weary of Me, O Israel.”
Not only are they not calling on God save them in Babylon,
They are actually sick and tired of having to deal with God there.
That is NOT a people who are interested in salvation.
That is NOT a people who are interested in redemption.
And it continues:
(23) “You have not brought to Me the sheep of your burnt offerings, Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices.”
• That is to say you have totally dropped the ball on sacramental worship.
• You are sick of the burden of worship.
The “burnt offerings” were for the atonement of man’s sin.
• When you sin and you knew it,
• You brought the offering to God as an act of repentance
• And as a plea for propitiation.
The problem here is that these people weren’t bringing it.
WHY?
THEY WEREN’T LOOKING FOR FORGIVENESS FROM GOD
• They weren’t seeking atonement
• They weren’t seeking repentance
• They weren’t seeking redemption
It was too much work.
They’d rather have their goat than God’s favor.
And Isaiah continues:
“I have not burdened you with offerings, Nor wearied you with incense.”
That is to say that God’s requirements were hardly over the top.
It’s NOT like God was asking for more than what was reasonable.
The death of a goat for the remission of your sin
Seems like quite a lenient price.
And yet, the people were sick of bringing it and had stopped.
• It sounds like in Malachi’s day when people were bringing the sick and the crippled and the lame to God.
(24) “You have bought Me not sweet cane with money, Nor have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices;”
There are no love offerings coming from you.
• No good will offerings.
• No thank offerings.
• No blessings or giving at all.
“Rather you have burdened Me with your sins, You have wearied Me with your iniquities.”
• All you bring Me is your sin.
• All you bring Me is your iniquity.
DO YOU SEE THE DILEMMA?
Chapter 43 is all about
God’s promise of redemption to His people Israel who are exiled in a foreign land.
Jeremiah told us that if they would call on God He would redeem them.
But here we have a major problem.
• THEY AREN’T CALLING
• THEY AREN’T INTERESTED
• THEY DON’T WANT SALVATION
• THEY AREN’T LOOKING FOR REDEMPTION
• THEY WANT THEIR SIN
In short, they are unworthy of redemption.
If any part of this redemption is up to them,
Then it’s not going to happen.
J.I. Packer spoke about the difference between the Arminian and the Calvinistic redemption.
For instance when dealing with election:
“God’s act of election was defined by the Arminians as a resolve to receive to sonship and glory a duly qualified class of people – believers in Christ…Where the Arminian says: “I owe my election to my faith,” the Calvinist says: “I owe my faith to my election.”
(Owen, John [The Death of Death In The Death of Christ; The Banner of Truth Trust; Carlisle, PA 2020] pg.7)
Or consider their view of atonement:
“Christ’s work of redemption was defined by the Arminians as the removing of an obstacle (the unsatisfied claims of justice) which stood in the way of God’s offering pardon to sinners, as He desired to do, on condition that they believe. Redemption, according to Arminianism, secured for God a right to make this offer, but did not of itself ensure that anyone would ever accept it; for faith being the work of man’s own, is not a gift that comes to him from Calvary. Christ’s death created an opportunity for the exercise of saving faith, but that is all it did…Whereas the Arminian will only say: “I could not have gained my salvation without Calvary,” the Calvinist will say: “Christ gained my salvation for me at Calvary.”
(ibid)
You see the difference and the problem.
If you’re going to place the possibility of redemption
• On the condition of man seeking it
• Or trusting in it of his own volition
• Then we have a problem.
Now, WE DO NOT DENY that man must believe.
Nor do we deny that man must call.
Nor do we deny that man must repent.
Surely he must do those things if he is to be saved.
But what we also acknowledge is that
Those whom God has chosen to redeem
Will never do that of their own accord.
And you see that here in Isaiah 43:22
It is a massive dilemma.
Here we find that
These people aren’t just blind and deaf, they want to be.
• They don’t seek redemption.
• They don’t deserve redemption.
And that is true for all of humanity.
Romans 3:11 “THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;”
Ephesians 2:1-3 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”
YOU KNOW ALL OF THAT.
But that is the dilemma clearly seen here.
But then we return to the good news.
2) THE DECLARATION (25)
“I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.”
So we find out that Israel isn’t interested in redemption.
• We find out they aren’t calling.
• We find out they aren’t repenting.
• We find out they aren’t seeking.
SO IS IT OVER? NO!!!
WHY?
BECAUSE GOD’S REDEMPTION IS PERSISTENT.
God here declares that
In spite of her rebellion and resistance and total lack of concern for salvation
That they will be redeemed.
• God is still going to “wipe out your transgressions”
• God is still declares that He “will not remember your sins”
WHY?
“for My own sake”
What does that mean?
• That God was lonely and needed us?
• That God just couldn’t stand for us to be judged?
NO – NO – 1,000 TIMES NO!
What did we say is the purpose of redemption?
GOD’S GLORY!
I will redeem you for My glory.
In one sense we might say that God announces here that
ISRAEL IS COMING WHETHER THEY WANT TO OR NOT.
We call this God’s Effectual Call or perhaps you have heard it as, “Irresistible Grace”
Jesus said:
John 6:37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”
Well how does that work?
TURN TO: EZEKIEL 36:16-32
Do you see what God reveals there through Ezekiel?
• God said that in order to be redeemed they would have to seek Him and call on Him.
• But we saw that they don’t want to do that.
So what will God do?
HE WILL GIVE THEM A NEW HEART AND CAUSE THEM TO CALL.
• He will transform them.
• He will regenerate them.
• He will make men who don’t want to seek start seeking.
• He will make men who don’t want forgiveness want forgiveness.
• He will take men who have no faith and give them faith.
He will make prodigals “come to their senses”
Redemption is not the result of sinners persistently seeking salvation it is the result of God persistently seeking sinners.
It was Jesus who went seeking for that 1 lost sheep.
Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Romans 10:20 “And Isaiah is very bold and says, “I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME, I BECAME MANIFEST TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME.”
Even earlier in Ezekiel 34:
Ezekiel 34:11-16 “For thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. “As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. “I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. “I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. “I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest,” declares the Lord GOD. “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment.”
Or just take the words of Jesus:
John 15:16 “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 15:19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”
John 6:68-70 “Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?”
And you see all of that here.
God is approaching a people who don’t even want redemption
And He is boldly declaring that I am redeeming you.
I am going to “wipe out your transgressions”.
“I will not remember your sins.”
BECAUSE YOU ARE MINE!
• He purchased them.
• He bought them.
• And He is persistent about redeeming them.
Do you want to know why you are saved?
Do you want to know why you are redeemed?
• It is not because you so persistently sought God.
• It is not because you had more natural faith than the rest.
• It is not because you hate the smell of pigs more than the rest.
It is because God chose to redeem you and His redemption is persistent.
HE SOUGHT AND AWAKENED YOU TO CALL ON HIM.
So that neither you nor I can sit here tonight
And take even a shred of credit for our redemption.
GOD DID IT.
He declared that He would save them in spite of them.
There is one more point here:
3) THE DEPOSITION (26-28)
“Put Me in remembrance, let us argue our case together; State your cause, that you may be proved right. “Your first forefather sinned, And your spokesmen have transgressed against Me. “So I will pollute the princes of the sanctuary, And I will consign Jacob to the ban and Israel to revilement.”
Here God sits down with Israel for a formal deposition.
Let’s have a cross-examination.
God says, “Let us argue our case together; state your cause, that you may be proved right.”
God is here going to prove that Israel’s redemption is
TOTALLY UNDESERVED.
Let’s look at the PATRIARCHS:
“Your first forefather sinned”
Who was that?
Abraham
• Abraham was a God-seeker right?
• Abraham had faith right?
• Abraham was a man of impeccable character right?
Have you read Genesis?
• God approached Abraham.
• God called Abraham.
• God chose Abraham.
• God protected Abraham.
Abraham was a sinner.
But God was persistent about redeeming him.
• Even when he fled the promised land during famine.
• Even when he passed off his wife as his sister (twice)
• Even when he had an affair with Hagar.
• Even when he wanted Ishmael to be the heir.
God was persistent, and we could go on and on
With Isaac and Jacob and Jacob’s sons.
None of the patriarchs deserved to be redeemed by God.
Then God talks about the PRIESTS and the PROPHETS.
“And your spokesmen have transgressed against Me.”
Surely those men of God deserved to be saved.
• Have you read about those men?
• Show me one without sin.
Elijah questioned God’s plan, Elisha had a temper, Isaiah had unclean lips,
Jeremiah was a pouter, Ezekiel was oblivious at times.
God said this about them as a whole:
TURN TO: EZEKIEL 22:23-31
DO YOU SEE IT?
• There has never been anyone who deserved God’s redemption.
No, what Israel deserved was exile and banishment
And that is what she received.
(28) “So I will pollute the princes of the sanctuary, And I will consign Jacob to the ban and Israel to revilement.”
• God is referencing what Israel deserved.
• God is revealing that exile was exactly what they should have received.
And He challenges them here to prove otherwise.
DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU DESERVED REDEMPTION?
(26) “Put Me in remembrance, let us argue our case together…”
AND THE WHOLE POINT HERE IS SIMPLE.
• You are not being redeemed because you deserved redemption.
• You are not being redeemed because you asked for redemption.
• You are not being redeemed because you wanted redemption.
You are being redeemed because I persistently chose to redeem you.
Isaiah 43:1 “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!”
God redeems undeserving sinners.
And He is persistent about it.
AREN’T WE GRATEFUL FOR THAT!
• His redemption is stronger than human will.
• His redemption can overcome human unbelief.
• His redemption can overcome human obstinacy.
• He can change the leper’s spots.
• He can melt the heart of stone.
And He does that for all those He redeems.
Don’t you dare
• Seek to take credit for your redemption.
• Try to stand on the podium next to God and talk about your great faith or your great worth.
We are redeemed because God chose to redeem us
And no manner of our stubborn will could stop Him.
AND PRAISE GOD FOR THAT!
If you are redeemed know that
God has redeemed you with a persistent redemption.
BUT WHAT IF YOU AREN’T REDEEMED?
Any time we talk about this certainly it is possible that someone here could say,
• “But does this mean I am not chosen?”
• “Does this mean God didn’t want me?”
WHAT HAVE WE SAID?
• That if you call, He will save you.
• If you call, He will redeem you.
Could it be that your very concern is evidence
That God has this very moment now caused you to want salvation
When before tonight you never wanted it before?
Could it be that this very hour He has done a work in your heart
To cause you desire forgiveness and freedom from sin
When you never desired it before?
I would tell you that it’s as simple as this:
• Do you want to be redeemed?
• Do you want to be one of the elect?
• Then cry out to Jesus!
Answering this very issue J.I. Packer wrote:
“look to Christ, speak to Christ, cry to Christ, just as you are; confess your sin, your impenitence, your unbelief, and cast yourself upon His mercy; ask Him to give you a new heart, working in you true repentance and firm faith; ask Him to take away your evil heart of unbelief and to write His law within you, that you may never henceforth stray from Him. Turn to Him and trust Him as best you can, and pray for grace to turn and trust more thoroughly; use the means of grace expectantly, looking to Christ to draw near to you as you seek to draw near to Him; watch, pray, read and hear God’s Word, worship and commune with God’s people, and so continue till you know in yourself beyond doubt that you are indeed a changed being, a penitent believer, and the new heart which you desired has been put within you…Do not postpone action till you think you are better, but honestly confess your badness and give yourself up here and now to the Christ who alone can make you better; and wait on Him till His light rises in your soul, as Scripture promises that it shall do.”
(Owen, John [The Death of Death In The Death of Christ; The Banner of Truth Trust; Carlisle, PA 2020] pg.21-22)
John Owen, who was one of the staunchest proponents of particular redemption in the history of the church wrote:
“This is somewhat of the word which he now speaks unto you; Why will ye die? Why will ye perish? Why will ye not have compassion on your own souls? Can your hearts endure, or can your hands be strong, in the day of wrath that is approaching?…Look unto me, and be saved; come unto me, and I will ease you of all sins, sorrows, fears, burdens, and give rest unto your souls. Come, I entreat you; lay aside all procrastinations, all delays; put me off no more; eternity lies at the door…do not so hate me as that you will rather perish than accept deliverance by me. “These and the like things doth the Lord Christ continually declare, proclaim, plead and urge upon the souls of sinners…He does it in the preaching of the word, as if he were present with you, stood amongst you, and spake personally to every one of you…He hath appointed the ministers of the gospel to appear before you, and to deal with you in his stead, avowing as his own the invitations which are give you in his name, 2 Cor. v. 19,20…the message to be delivered is simply this – that Christ Jesus, the sovereign Lord, who died for sinners, now invites sinners freely to Himself.”
(ibid. pg. 18-19)
TONIGHT CHURCH
RUN TO JESUS WHO REDEEMED US
• Even when we were undeserving and disinterested.
• And praise Him for being more persistent about redemption than you were about sin.
• Where sin increased grace abounded all the more.
