Isaiah 45:22-25 - The Unrevoked Gospel

Chad Werkhoven
Sep 22, 2025
4 min read

God's Word brings deliverance and strength.

Moody lake scene with silhouetted trees and mountains. Text reads: "I will never go back on my word" from Isaiah 45:23. — au.pinterest.com/sangthomas/

Isaiah 45:22–25 (NIV)

CONTEXT: These words of the LORD were prophetically written by Isaiah before Israel's exile to Babylon, but they were meant to comfort those who would be in exile, assuring them of the salvation that would come from their faithful covenant God.

²²“Turn to me and be saved,

all you ends of the earth;

for I am God, and there is no other.

²³By myself I have sworn,

my mouth has uttered in all integrity

a word that will not be revoked:

Before me every knee will bow;

by me every tongue will swear.

²⁴They will say of me, ‘In the LORD alone

are deliverance and strength.’ ”

All who have raged against him

will come to him and be put to shame.

²⁵But all the descendants of Israel

will find deliverance in the LORD

and will make their boast in him.

Canons of Dordt

Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election

Point 2 - Limited Atonement

Point 3 - Total Depravity

Point 4 - Irresistible Grace

Article 17: God’s Use of Means in Regeneration

Just as the almighty work by which God brings forth and sustains our natural life
1. does not rule out
2. but requires the use
  1. of means,
  2. by which God, according to his infinite wisdom and goodness, has wished to exercise that divine power,
3. so also the aforementioned supernatural work by which God regenerates us
  1. in no way rules out or cancels the use of the gospel,
  2. which God in great wisdom has appointed to be
    1. the seed of regeneration
    2. and the food of the soul.
For this reason, the apostles and the teachers who followed them taught the people in a godly manner about this grace of God,
1. to give God the glory and to humble all pride,
2. and yet did not neglect meanwhile to keep the people,
  1. by means of the holy admonitions of the gospel,
  2. under the administration of the Word, the sacraments, and discipline.
3. So even today it is out of the question that the teachers or those taught in the church
  1. should presume to test God by separating what God in his good pleasure has wished to be closely joined together.
  2. For grace is bestowed through admonitions,
    1. and the more readily we perform our duty,
    2. the more lustrous the benefit of God working in us usually is,
    3. and the better that work advances.
To God alone,
1. both for the means and for their saving fruit and effectiveness,
2. all glory is owed forever. Amen.

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Summary

God's invitation to salvation here near the end of Isaiah is remarkable for who it's extended to: not just His covenant people, Israel, but to all the ends of the earth! God now calls out to the same pagans who'd seduced the Israelites with idolatry. Yet notice that God doesn't just simply bestow salvation upon all, but He conditions it upon their repentance. He calls them to turn to Him and be saved.

The effects of the LORD's gospel call will be universal. Before me, the LORD says, every knee will bow, by me every tongue will swear. Most of you will instantly recognize those words from Paul's famous ode to Christ in Philippians 2; now you know that Paul simply borrowed this language from Isaiah's prophecy. But the meaning in both passages is exactly the same: ALL people will humble themselves before the LORD.

But the experience of this divine victory over sin and death will NOT be the same for all people. The descendants of Israel - that is, those who have put their faith and hope in God's covenant in both the Old and New Testaments - will find deliverance in the LORD and will make their boast in Him.

But all those who have raged against Him will still bow their knees and confess with their tongues before the LORD for sure, but they will come to Him and be put to shame since they never repented of their sin.

Dig Deeper

This would have been an appropriate passage to corroborate nearly any aspect of the Doctrines of Grace that we've been working through this year, but we come to it today because it illustrates well the means by which the LORD alone is deliverance and strength.

There are many ways that God could have worked out the salvation and judgment that ultimately will culminate in bent knees and confessing tongues. He could have offered each person a red pill or blue pill, with one leading to salvation and the other not. He could have zapped the elect with spiritual lightning bolts and instantly conformed them into the image of Christ. But today's passage reminds us that this isn't the way God saves people.

Rather, the LORD has uttered a word that will not be revoked... which will bring deliverance for His people. Salvation comes verbally - written down and preserved through the ages. It was first proclaimed by prophets like Isaiah and apostles like Paul. It's been preached throughout the centuries by faithful men in nearly every tongue. And it continues to go out even now in our day and age, and will continue to do so until every knee bows.

These last few weeks we've concentrated on the supernatural spiritual power God works upon those He's called to believe so that we willingly turn to Him and are saved. But the Canons remind us here that this miraculous work in no way rules out or cancels the use of the gospel [the preached Word], which God in great wisdom has appointed to be the seed of regeneration and the food of the soul.

AAA Prayer (About)

ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who alone is deliverance and strength;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for proclaiming His saving Word to you, and pray that your knees will bow and your tongue will proclaim and spread this word of salvation that God has uttered;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: