Many people today get confused about salvation these days due to all the differing teachings about salvation by churches. Maybe you have questions which need clarifying. How can a person be saved? What must I do to be saved? Who ends up getting saved? Why does God only save some?

One way to gain some clarity from the Bible about these issues is to focus on a physical act of God's deliverance from the OT and transfer that meaning into the spiritual realm of salvation. This concrete example of salvation is from a well-known historical account of the Bible. It comes from the book of Jonah and chapter 2. And it is the account of God's rescue of Jonah from drowning in the sea by a giant fish (not necessarily a whale) which God commanded to save Jonah. Jonah 1:17 - 2:1 reads, "And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the stomach of the fish, ..." One of the things he prayed while in that fish is recorded in 2:9 "Salvation is from the LORD." For Jonah that was more than an affirmation of faith, but a description of his personal experience.

We Christians commonly affirm this truth - that salvation is from God not us! But do we really know what it means that Salvation is from the Lord? Perhaps no one statement in all of Scripture hits the bulls eye about the doctrine of salvation more than that one! In the very picture of Jonah being preserved by the fish we see that central teaching of the Bible: Salvation is from the Lord.

Take a couple of minutes to think about its meaning with me. "Salvation is from the Lord" from that context means at least three things.

First "Salvation is from the Lord" means that salvation is not from any other source. The other gods the sailors cried out to in chapter 1 could offer no help against the terror and violence of the storm they encountered on the sea. No other name called upon rescued either the sailors or Jonah. Jonah acknowledges this in v. 8 where he prays, "Those who regard vain idols forsake their faithfulness." It is not loyal to go after the gods, and it is not smart either. These other gods --- these idols people turn to in their time of need -- they are vain, empty, and useless. No other name in all the world will save a person from the wrath of God. No one can be a sincere follower of other religions and other gods and get the Lord's salvation. Salvation is from the Lord. The name Lord in Jonah 2 is Yahweh. This is the covenant name of the God of Israel. Most of the English versions put that name in all capitals - LORD - to show it is the Hebrew name Yahweh, the God of Israel in covenant with Israel. So if a person does not turn to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Jewish Messiah, the God of Israel, there is no salvation elsewhere. If you want forgiveness of sins and you want to avoid Hell, you have to get salvation. And salvation is from the God of the Bible - the Lord. Jesus taught in John 8:23-24 that those who reject Him "will die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." When the wrath of God come, no human education, no army, no resources will save that person -- Only the name of Jesus Christ saves. Acts 4:12 "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." John 3:36 "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

Second it also means salvation is a matter of God’s pure mercy. The Lord's unmerited grace, not human good works, saves a person. The fact that salvation is undeserved is reflected in Jonah’s statement in v. 9, "I will sacrifice with the voice of thanksgiving." As the fish so clearly illustrates, salvation is all what God does. Jonah did not aid in his rescue in any way. He did not swim out of the ocean. He did not speak to the fish and ask it to save him. He did not overcome the waves. He was sinking and on the verge of drowning according to the description given in chapter 2. God commanded the fish, and the fish saved Jonah from certain drowning. So salvation is totally and completely God’s work! Not even 1% was left for Jonah to do. He could do nothing to help himself. Not even his cry for mercy did anything to save him. For God could have ignored it and given him what he deserved - death for disobeying the divine command to go to Nineveh. So remember, you cannot aid in saving yourself from God’s judgment - not even a little. You are helpless before the judgment of God. It is false religion which tells you, in one way or the other, that there is something good or religious you can do to rescue yourself from hell. To think that somehow your good deeds or baptism or family pedigree will help in your salvation is to misunderstand completely how desperate your situation is before God. Like Jonah locked in near the bottom of the ocean, you have an ocean of sin weighing down on your life. And that sin locks you out of God’s holy kingdom. You cannot save yourself. Instead, you must admit total helplessness. And you must be responsible for your disobedience. You must admit you deserve judgment and that Salvation is from the Lord - not you. Only God's pure mercy saves sinners.

Third "Salvation is from the Lord" means it is ultimately God’s sovereign choice who gets rescued and who does not. God could have withheld mercy from Jonah. God was under no obligation to extend salvation to that disobedient prophet. Romans 9:15 records God's words, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION." Salvation is the Lord’s to offer. God alone makes the decisions of who to rescue and who to let have the just penalty for their own sin. And God does not rescue everyone. God does not save everyone. He does not even have to save most. Mercy is God’s to give if He desires to give it. You might think God ought to save a certain person or a group of people. But there is no “ought to” in mercy. Mercy is not deserved or forced or compelled. So mercy cannot be expected. Mercy is a sovereign act by a sovereign God making a sovereign decision about His own mercy. When mercy is expected or demanded thanksgiving would not follow. But in Jonah's case there was much thanksgiving. When you realize salvation has nothing to do with you, you can only be eternally grateful. The good news for everyone reading this is that God has wonderfully and graciously chosen to save anyone who will cry out to Him for salvation. He will turn none away who desire salvation. Romans 10:9-13 "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED." Call upon the risen Lord Jesus today to save you, and thank Him forever for His great mercy!?