John MacArthur passed away last night. He was 86. I hope he was saved. If he was, it's sad that he went astray on the gospel. (MacArthur advocated the false teaching known as "Lordship Salvation".) I heard a YouTuber talking about MacArthur's passing, and he said that "there hasn't been anyone in the last 30 or 40 years that has been more influential on the Christian church [than John MacArthur]." Okay, but that doesn't mean he was right on the gospel. There's no doubt that MacArthur was influential. But I contend that he was a bad influence on the church as far as the gospel is concerned. Without question he was a skilled communicator, but unfortunately he was wrong on the gospel.
If the apostle Paul were to preach at John MacArthur's funeral, I doubt he'd give him a nice eulogy, in light of the fact that MacArthur was a false teacher as far as the gospel is concerned. Instead of tickling people's ears (cf. 2 Tim. 4:3), I can hear Paul saying something like this to the congregation:
"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." (Galatians 1:6-10, ESV)
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Does Isaiah 55:7 suggest that one must forsake sin to be saved? It sure reads that way.
Commenting on Isaiah 55:7, the 19th-century Scottish evangelist Robert Murray M'Cheyne was correct to say: "This is one of the sweetest portions of the Word of God, and yet it strikes me that it is seldom understood. I observe that it is very frequently one of the devil's plans to prevent a proper understanding of these passages of the Word of God that are the sweetest and plainest, and thus to turn the honey into gall." (M'Cheyne, Sermon IX, "The Salvation of God".)
Let's take a closer look at Isaiah 55:7 and see what it says and what it doesn't say. The prophet Isaiah doesn't say "let the wicked forsake his sin," but rather "let the wicked forsake his way" (Isa. 55:7, KJV). This raises the question: "his way" of what? The context has to do with "his thoughts" (v. 7, also v. 8) about how to "come" to God (v. 1, also v. 3), i.e. the way of salvation ("pardon" v. 7b). Thus, my understanding of Isaiah 55:7 is that Isaiah is referring to a man forsaking "his way" of salvation (cf. Prov. 14:12, 16:25) and instead coming to God His way, which is through the work of Christ alone! Not the way of self-effort and self-righteousness attempting to clean up your life in order to earn heaven (remember, John Piper says that heaven is a "reward"), that is not God's way of salvation!
"Let the wicked man forsake his own way [of salvation] and the unrighteous man his own thoughts, let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon" (Isa. 55:7).
This understanding of Isaiah 55:7 keeps salvation by grace completely free (Isa. 55:1; cf. Rom. 6:23) and is harmony with the immediate context (Isa. 55:7-8), which focuses on having a change of thinking about how to be saved.
Related to the topic of this blog post, which is John MacArthur and his "different gospel" (Gal. 1:6, ESV), J. Irvin Overholtzer, founder of Child Evangelism Fellowship, shares the following thoughts in his book Salvation By Grace. Under the heading "The Galatian Error," he writes:
"This terrible corrupting of the Gospel of grace has been ever with us since that time. It has taken many forms. We have added many things to simple faith as the condition of salvation. We have demanded that all sin be forsaken as a condition of salvation. This is not the Gospel of grace at all. Sin is to be forsaken after Christ receives us and gives us His power with which to forsake the sin. We have demanded that a promise to obey Christ as Lord must be made--that we give our hearts to Him. This is not grace. Grace presents salvation to helpless sinners as a free gift (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8, 9). If promises are to be exacted, the salvation obtained would be anything but a gift (Romans 4:4, 5). But the tragedy is, no salvation at all would be had. We have demanded that a certain creed [of conduct, cf. Gal. 2:21] be subscribed to. All of these are but forms of the Galatian error. They are under the condemnation of God."
Source: J. Irvin Overholtzer, Salvation By Grace (Grand Rapids: Child Evangelism Fellowship Press, 1958), pp. 6-7, brackets added.
Very interesting. This is a response I received from another teacher. What do you think of it?
"Isaiah 55:7 reads, “Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isa 55:7). Isaiah 55 is part of a broader section (Isa 40–66) in which God calls Israel to return to Him in covenant faithfulness. The invitation in verses 6–7 is addressed to the nation, not individuals seeking justification in the Pauline sense. The call to “forsake” wicked ways and “return” to the Lord reflects the prophetic appeal for national repentance and restoration. The Hebrew word for “return” (shuv) is often used in the context of covenant relationship, suggesting that this is a call for wayward Israelites to come back to their God—not an evangelistic message to unbelievers requiring moral reformation in exchange for salvation.
Biblically, eternal salvation is always by grace through faith alone in the promised Messiah, not by forsaking sin or performing works (Gen 15:6; Rom 4:5; Eph 2:8-9). While a person may indeed turn from sinful patterns when coming to faith, that turning is not the condition of salvation but rather an outcome of spiritual awakening or conviction. In this case, Isaiah is appealing to a nation steeped in idolatry and rebellion to abandon its self-destructive course and seek the Lord, who stands ready to forgive. The abundant pardon offered by God flows from His mercy and grace, not from the sinner’s merit or moral effort."
It sounds like the author you quoted is writing from a Free Grace perspective, something akin to the position of the Grace Evangelical Society (the GES). They separate Isaiah 55 from individual salvation and try to make Isaiah's statement exclusively about national repentance/restoration. From my research, the traditional Free Grace understanding of Isaiah 55 aligns closer to accepting both positions, namely that Isaiah is calling the nation to return to the Lord, but the invitation extends to the Gentiles as well: in fact, to everyone! So I think it's both actually: "to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile" (Rom. 1:16). Dr. Constable in his Notes on Isaiah sums it up well when he says:
"This chapter [Isaiah 55] is part two of Isaiah's celebration of the Servant's work of redemption, the previous chapter being part one. In view of what God would do for humankind, and especially for the Israelites (ch. 54), people would need to appropriate the salvation that He provided (ch. 55).
As in the preceding sections (52:13—54:17), the people of God in view are primarily Israel but not exclusively Israel. As the Lord's salvation extends to all people, so do the benefits of that salvation—for as many as take advantage of it. This chapter contains one of the warmest gospel invitations in the whole Bible. It forms a fitting climax to this section of Isaiah that deals with God's provision of salvation (chs. 49—55)." (Constable Notes, Isaiah 55.)
Remember that Isaiah chapter 53 pertains to the Suffering Servant, the Messiah, and the Savior of the world: not just the nation of Israel. So it is not out of context to interpret Isaiah chapter 55 as having a broader context and application than simply national deliverance. Indeed, the author you quoted affirms that "Isaiah 55 is part of a broader section (Isa 40–66)". So Isaiah 53 pretty much disproves his narrow view of Isaiah 55.
Also see J. Vernon McGee's booklet titled Initiation Into Isaiah, pages 125-129. (The book is available in pdf format in The Free Grace Library page on my blog.) This is where McGee discusses Isaiah chapter 55, and his commentary on it is excellent. Dr. McGee's comments on Isaiah 55 are similar to those of Dr. Constable. Both men teach that Isaiah 55 has application to everyone and can be understood as referring to eternal salvation, not just to the national restoration of Israel.
So my understanding of Isaiah 55 is that the application need not be exclusively or only to the nation of Israel, but (I believe) can and does apply to individuals--in fact, everyone!
[Continued below...]
Related to this, I read a commentary recently and it said that Isaiah 55 is never quoted in the New Testament (which is false, by the way), as if that lends support to a very narrow application of it, such as the one proposed in the statement you quoted. But that is not really the whole story or the complete picture, because the imagery of Isaiah 55 (thirsting for the water of life, eating the bread of life, etc.) is repeated numerous times in the New Testament, and by Jesus Himself! See John 4:13-14, 6:35, 7:37-39; Rev. 22:17. But actually, the truth is that Isaiah 55:3 is quoted by the apostle Peter in Acts 13:32-34 when he talks about the glad tidings and "the sure mercies of David" (Isa. 55:3; Acts 13:34): they are for us today as well! This was Peter's point in Acts 13. The Scofield Reference Bible marginal note on Acts 13:34 contains this cross-reference to Isaiah 55:3 (see Acts 13:34 in the old Scofield Reference Bible, with the marginal note to Isaiah 55:3), and Dr. J. Vernon McGee makes this same connection between Isaiah 55:3 and Acts 13:34, and it's application to us today. (See McGee, Initiation Into Isaiah, p. 127.) On this point, Dr. McGee states: "These mercies have been made sure to us because our sins have been put away on the cross of Christ. God's holiness is vindicated and now we have 'forgiveness of sins.' [Acts 13:38.]" Amen!
Note that in his statement above, McGee is clearly referring to the "forgiveness of sins" in the sense of justification. That is clearly what Peter means by it (see Acts 13:38-39). In other words, Peter is clearly talking about eternal salvation for both Jew and Gentile (i.e. justification), not merely the national deliverance of Israel in a physical sense.
In closing I would also recommend that you take a look at the commentary on Isaiah 55 in The Wycliffe Bible Commentary. It also affirms the interpretation of Isaiah 55 that I have set forth above. In fact, most Bible commentaries that I've consulted take this view. If you have any further questions, just let me know. God bless!
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