Is it true the "Highway of Holiness" is opened now and that the way of salvation is so plain that a "wayfaring man though a fool shall not err therein" (Isaiah 35:8-10)?

August 01st 2014 | 37986 views 

The Bible teaches that God, through His mercy and grace, provides mankind with not one, but two paths to salvation; one present and one future. Both paths are made possible by the sacrifice Jesus made on behalf of mankind. These two types of salvation are pictured in God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 22:17 as “stars in the heavens” and “sand on the seashore.” This wording was purposeful, as one path to salvation leads to a heavenly reward, and the other leads to an earthly reward. 

Since Jesus’ death, those who choose to dedicate, or consecrate, their present lives to serving God like Jesus did are seeking to be members of the “stars in heaven” part of God’s promise. The Apostle Paul refers to this class of people as responding to a “high calling” (Philippians 3:14). Although those who serve Him now can undoubtedly feel His influence and guidance in their lives, physical evidence of God and His workings is not generally discerned by the present world. The Apostle Paul thus refers to this class as “walking by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Jesus knew a comparatively few of mankind would either recognize or respond to this “high calling,” and compared the response to the calling as “entering at a strait gate” and the way of life as “walking a narrow way” (Matthew 7:14). Although it is difficult to maintain a life committed to God in the present time when so much of the world promotes selfish ways of life not pleasing to God, the reward for maintaining a present life consecrated to God is the “higher” reward of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). This is the same spiritual state of existence as the glorified Jesus (1 John 3:2).

The second path to salvation will not open until the future, after all of the previously mentioned people who have consecrated their lives to God have been given ample opportunity to prove their faithfulness. After that full number has been judged and gathered, the rest of mankind will begin to be raised from death and restored to perfect human life. This time is the “restitution of all things” the Apostle Paul refers to in Acts 3:21. “Restitution” means restoring something to a previous, usually superior, state. Mankind will be restored to the perfect human state that Adam and Eve experienced prior to their disobedience. However, even though people will be restored to life, they will start out with much the same minds and hearts that they had when they died. 

Just as in Adam and Eve’s time, God cannot and will not tolerate sin. Mankind, then, will need to be “re-educated” after their being raised from the dead. However, this future work will include all mankind. There will be many aids to make the process easier; the chief of which will be Satan’s binding (Revelation 20:2). Satan’s influence caused Adam and Eve’s original disobedience (Genesis 3:4) and has been deceiving mankind to varying degrees ever since. Returning to God and following His ways will thus be much more straightforward during this future time than it is for those who strive “to walk by faith” in the present time. 

This future period of all people returning to God during the blessed period of Satan’s binding, is compared to a “highway of holiness” in Isaiah 35:8. It will be like a “highway” because, in contrast to “the narrow way” of “walking by faith and not by sight,” it will be traveled by every person who ever lived, and not just a select few who hear and respond to God’s calling today. Isaiah verse 35:9 refers to the positive conditions of that future time. With Satan bound, his influences will not be able to deceive and consume (“devour like a lion”) people like they do today. The whole of mankind, redeemed from mankind’s death penalty by Jesus, will have every advantage to return to God (“the redeemed shall walk there”).

Isaiah 35:10 describes the unimaginably joyous time when mankind will have completed their return to God. Jesus provided his perfect human life as a “ransom” price for mankind (fallen due to Adam’s disobedience – 1 Corinthians 15:22), and when they have fully had the opportunity to return to God in that future time, all people will “obtain joy and gladness” and see “sorrow and sighing … flee away.” Thus, the wonderful second, earthly part of God’s promise will be fulfilled, as perfect humankind fills the earth as “the sands on the seashore.”

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