Salvation’s Source

My salvation comes from the LORD alone. Jonah 2:9

THE BOOK OF JONAH ends without telling us what happened to the prophet as he sat outside Nineveh, filled with resentment that God had saved the wicked city. But the fact that we have this book detailing Jonah’s frank confession of his running, his resurrection, and his resentment is evidence that God was not done working in his life. In fact, because he wanted it to take center stage in his story, we find the settled conclusion of Jonah in the very center of the book: “My salvation comes from the LORD alone.” This truth, which reverberated throughout Jonah’s life and experiences, makes all the difference to us and to our children when it is at the center of our lives too.

Salvation begins and ends with the Lord. It is his work from start to finish. He is the one who initiates and accomplishes it. He has saved us by putting our sin upon Christ and crediting Christ’s righteousness to us. He is saving us by sanctifying us by his Word and Spirit. And he will save us by glorifying us at the Resurrection.

Our salvation and that of our children is not in our own hands or in theirs. It is not determined by our own ability to find, understand, or trust in the Lord; nor does it depend on our own ability to change. Our salvation comes through the sacrifice of another, the obedience of another. Praise God that salvation comes from the Lord alone!

Lord, we have no greater need, no more desperate a prayer, than that you would save us and our children. We have no ability to save ourselves or our children. Only you can deliver us! And we refuse to presume upon you for this salvation. Instead, we call upon you and ask you to save us. As we read the story of Jonah, it fills us with hope because in it you repeatedly rescue those who have done nothing to earn your salvation but cry out to you for it anyway.