Justice and Forgiveness

We love to quote Isaiah 1 where it says though our sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow. We even sing about it. We love the image of our blood red dirty sins being forgiven and washed away, leaving us pure and holy.

Christmas Eve we drew verses to meditate on in the New Year, and I got this section of Scripture, except the whole part I got was:
Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. Isaiah 1:17-18

We have singled out the part we like about how God will forgive us. But the passage is really about justice, and that the people God is talking to have hands stained scarlet from injustice, which they need to fix.

So yes, claim this verse to receive cleansing. But if you really want it to work, be ready to work for justice first. Be ready to release the wrongdoing you are guilty of. And since it also includes God asking us to come to him and settle the matter, be ready to learn there is more required than you are first aware.