From the Old Testament to the New Testament, salvation was always for those who humbled themselves before God, repented, and trusted God (Faith), relying on Him to care for them, realizing our human effort can only take us so far in life. In agricultural societies it was much easier to see the results of that trust as God would bring the rains to water the crops, and crops and livestock would be productive beyond human effort alone. But the arrogance and intellect of man betrays him to think himself more capable than he is. Along that line are religious systems of human works, as man thinks himself capable of being good enough to earn his own salvation. And God has words for such people as recorded by Isaiah.
Isaiah 65:5
[5] who say, “Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.” These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day. (ESV)
These self-righteous people with their rituals and works are an irritating smoke in the nostrils of God, and not far after God gives His verdict.
Isaiah 65:6
[6] Behold, it is written before me: “I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their lap (ESV)
So what is God looking for from human beings?
Isaiah 66:1–2
The Humble and Contrite in Spirit
[1] Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? [2] All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. (ESV)
Trusting in your own human works is not being humble and contrite in spirit, but a deception that you can earn your own salvation. God is Holy and Just, His standard is perfection, but no human was capable of accomplishing this except one, God Himself as the man Jesus Christ. And to satisfy God’s justice, God offered Himself to take the punishment due sinful mankind for all who will humble themselves and recognize they can’t satisfy God’s justice and save themselves, trusting only in the atoning sacrifice of Christ. So God satisfied His own justice for the sake of mankind so we can be adopted as children of God and join Him in eternity, and even before Christ, this salvation was credited to those who humbled themselves and trusted God, recognizing their need for God.
And Jesus had this warning that He would reject those who trusted in their own works and religious practices, as He doesn’t deny their claims, but does acknowledge God’s Spirit never came to dwell with them through saving faith.
Matthew 7:21–23
I Never Knew You
[21] “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. [22] On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ [23] And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (ESV)
Consequently, I have a unique interpretation from the last two chapters of Revelation, that if taken logically gives an interesting glimpse into the New Earth and the New Jerusalem, where the unsaved might be outside the New Jerusalem where God dwells, and for eternity never allowed to enter, forever separated from God tormented by their error as they can look upon the New Jerusalem. And this would be after spending some time in Lake of Fire until the New Earth and Heavens are created. Consequently, it all comes down to what Christ meant by outside the gates, and as all those recorded in the Book of Life become priests of God, are the unsaved in eternity who we believers minister to? Whatever the case, we’ll find out. Maranatha!
Isaiah 65
Judgment and Salvation
[1] I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me;
I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am, here I am,”
to a nation that was not called by my name.
[2] I spread out my hands all the day
to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own devices;
[3] a people who provoke me
to my face continually,
sacrificing in gardens
and making offerings on bricks;
[4] who sit in tombs,
and spend the night in secret places;
who eat pig’s flesh,
and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;
[5] who say, “Keep to yourself,
do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”
These are a smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all the day.
[6] Behold, it is written before me:
“I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will indeed repay into their lap
[7] both your iniquities and your fathers’ iniquities together,
says the LORD;
because they made offerings on the mountains
and insulted me on the hills,
I will measure into their lap
payment for their former deeds.”
[8] Thus says the LORD:
“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
and they say, ‘Do not destroy it,
for there is a blessing in it,’
so I will do for my servants’ sake,
and not destroy them all.
[9] I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
and from Judah possessors of my mountains;
my chosen shall possess it,
and my servants shall dwell there.
[10] Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks,
and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
for my people who have sought me.
[11] But you who forsake the LORD,
who forget my holy mountain,
who set a table for Fortune
and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,
[12] I will destine you to the sword,
and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,
because, when I called, you did not answer;
when I spoke, you did not listen,
but you did what was evil in my eyes
and chose what I did not delight in.”
[13] Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
“Behold, my servants shall eat,
but you shall be hungry;
behold, my servants shall drink,
but you shall be thirsty;
behold, my servants shall rejoice,
but you shall be put to shame;
[14] behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart,
but you shall cry out for pain of heart
and shall wail for breaking of spirit.
[15] You shall leave your name to my chosen for a curse,
and the Lord GOD will put you to death,
but his servants he will call by another name,
[16] so that he who blesses himself in the land
shall bless himself by the God of truth,
and he who takes an oath in the land
shall swear by the God of truth;
because the former troubles are forgotten
and are hidden from my eyes.
New Heavens and a New Earth
[17] “For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
[18] But be glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness.
[19] I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people;
no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
[20] No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the young man shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
[21] They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
[22] They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
[23] They shall not labor in vain
or bear children for calamity,
for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the LORD,
and their descendants with them.
[24] Before they call I will answer;
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
[25] The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and dust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,”
says the LORD. (ESV)Isaiah 66
The Humble and Contrite in Spirit
[1] Thus says the LORD:
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is the place of my rest?
[2] All these things my hand has made,
and so all these things came to be,
declares the LORD.
But this is the one to whom I will look:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word.
[3] “He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man;
he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers pig’s blood;
he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol.
These have chosen their own ways,
and their soul delights in their abominations;
[4] I also will choose harsh treatment for them
and bring their fears upon them,
because when I called, no one answered,
when I spoke, they did not listen;
but they did what was evil in my eyes
and chose that in which I did not delight.”
[5] Hear the word of the LORD,
you who tremble at his word:
“Your brothers who hate you
and cast you out for my name’s sake
have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified,
that we may see your joy’;
but it is they who shall be put to shame.
[6] “The sound of an uproar from the city!
A sound from the temple!
The sound of the LORD,
rendering recompense to his enemies!
Rejoice with Jerusalem
[7] “Before she was in labor
she gave birth;
before her pain came upon her
she delivered a son.
[8] Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day?
Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?
For as soon as Zion was in labor
she brought forth her children.
[9] Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?”
says the LORD;
“shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?”
says your God.
[10] “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
all you who mourn over her;
[11] that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
from her glorious abundance.”
[12] For thus says the LORD:
“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip,
and bounced upon her knees.
[13] As one whom his mother comforts,
so I will comfort you;
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
[14] You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
your bones shall flourish like the grass;
and the hand of the LORD shall be known to his servants,
and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.
Final Judgment and Glory of the LORD
[15] “For behold, the LORD will come in fire,
and his chariots like the whirlwind,
to render his anger in fury,
and his rebuke with flames of fire.
[16] For by fire will the LORD enter into judgment,
and by his sword, with all flesh;
and those slain by the LORD shall be many.
[17] “Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, eating pig’s flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the LORD.[18] “For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, [19] and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. [20] And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD. [21] And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the LORD.
[22] “For as the new heavens and the new earth
that I make
shall remain before me, says the LORD,
so shall your offspring and your name remain.
[23] From new moon to new moon,
and from Sabbath to Sabbath,
all flesh shall come to worship before me,
declares the LORD.
[24] “And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” (ESV)