At the beginning of His message to Judah through the prophet Isaiah, God called, as it were, His people to the courtroom. They had wronged the God of heaven, and now there was an eternity-sized case against them. God calls them to examine the evidence, to investigate the charges against them, to accept the Lord’s righteous judgments and to properly respond to Him. He does this in Isaiah 1:18 by saying, “Come now, and let us reason together.”
There are many things that can be understood and implied from those words. But consider just one of those thoughts—human beings, created in the image of God, have the God-given ability to reason. By definition, they have the ability “to think coherently, logically and systematically, and then to draw inferences or conclusions from facts and make sound judgments.” Let’s put this to the test in our courtroom.
Exhibit #1: The universe exists with all of its exquisite details. The human body exists with all of its minute details. God tells us to “reason.” What is the only reasoned conclusion to draw from the evidence? If a “house is built by someone,” then a universe and a human body must be “built by someone.” That’s evident! To argue against that is to dismiss all reason. Truly, “He who built all things is God” (Heb. 3:4).
Exhibit #2: Jesus requires one to “be baptized” to be “saved” (Mark 16:16). The Bible commands to “be baptized” to obtain “remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). God tells us to “reason.” What is the only reasoned conclusion to draw from the evidence? If “salvation” is “in Christ” (2 Tim. 2:10) and one must be “baptized” to get “into Christ” (Gal. 3:27), then baptism is essential to be “in Christ” and to be “saved.” That’s evident! To argue against that is to dismiss all reason.
Exhibit #3: A child of God can “wander from the truth” and become a “sinner” whose “soul” needs to be “saved from death” (Jas. 5:19-20). The Bible says that a Christian can (and did) “become estranged from Christ” and “have fallen from grace” (Gal. 5:4). God tells us to “reason.” What is the only reasoned conclusion to draw from the evidence? A child of God can become “again entangled” and “overcome” by “the pollutions of the world” (2 Pet. 2:20-22) and be “lost” (Luke 15:1-32). That’s evident! To argue against that is to dismiss all reason.
The exhibits could continue to be lined up for logical, coherent, systematic consideration. With each one, God demands that we open Scripture (Acts 17:11), gather all the relevant evidence (Psa. 119:160), and draw only such conclusions as are demanded by the evidence (2 Tim. 2:15; 3:16-17). Even today, God is calling, “Come now, and let us reason together.”