SALVATION IS OF THE LORD 

“... Salvation is of the LORD.”   (Jonah 2:9) 

The Hebrew Prophet Jonah, speaking by the Spirit of the Lord, said, “Salvation is of the LORD.”  And if salvation is of the LORD, then it is not of man. 

God the Father chose specific individuals (before the foundation of the world) to be conformed to the image of His Son.  God the Son died for the elect people that the Father had given Him.   

God the Holy Spirit applies this redemption to the elect in the new birth (regeneration).  It is the same people each time -- elected by the Father, redeemed by the Son, regenerated by the Spirit.  The Father chose us, the Son died for us, the Spirit makes us spiritually alive.  As Thomas and Steele rightly point out in their book, Five Points of Calvinism : 

“Salvation is accomplished by the almighty power of the Triune God.  The Father chose a people, the Son died for them, the Holy Spirit makes Christ's death effective by bringing the elect to faith and repentance, thereby causing them to willingly obey the gospel.  

The entire process (election, redemption, regeneration) is by grace alone.  Thus GOD, not man, determines who will be the recipients of the gift of salvation.”  These facts follow logically from the Bible teaching that men are fallen, sinful, unwilling and unable to seek God. 

Those fallen men whom God elects, redeems and regenerates are preserved by the power of God.  They persevere to the end and are saved.  These truths are sometimes summarized as the Five Points of Calvinism They can be remembered by the word T-U-L-I-P. 

T -- Total Inability 

U -- Unconditional Election 

L -- Limited Atonement 

I -- Irresistible Grace 

P -- Perseverance of the Saints 

They stand or fall together.  Remove any one and you subvert the whole Gospel plan of salvation through Christ.  Prove any one of the Five Points true from Scripture and all the others will follow as logical and necessary parts of the system. 

THE GOLDEN CHAIN 

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 

Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”   (Romans 8:28-30) 

There is an unbroken chain, stretching from eternity past to eternity future.  It is the golden chain of salvation.   

From the purpose (plan) of God in eternity past to the glorification of saints in the future -- it is the same people each time -- chosen, called, justified, glorified. 

“Glorified” is a future event in which the saints will be raised to a glorious life with Christ in the Resurrection of the Just.  Yet the text puts “glorified” in the past tense.  Why?  It is certain and fixed.  Almighty God predetermined it.   

Here is real assurance and comfort for the true believer in Christ.  Salvation is of the LORD.  It does not depend on our weak, changeable will. 

It does not depend on our feeble attempts to please God and do good.  Salvation flows from the PREDESTINATION of God.  It's CERTAIN. 

WHOM HE DID FOREKNOW 

Romans 8:29 does NOT say, “WHAT he did foreknow”.  It says, “WHOM he did foreknow”.   

It does not say that God knew something about them (whether or not they would choose Christ, do good works, etc.).  It states that God KNEW the individuals themselves.   

“Foreknow” here means “fore-loved”.  The word “know” is sometimes used in a sense other than that of having merely an intellectual perception of the thing mentioned.  It sometimes means that the persons “known” are the special objects of God's favor: 

“You only have I KNOWN of all the families of the earth....”   (Amos 3:2)   (Emphasis mine) 

“For the LORD KNOWETH the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”   (Psalm 1:6)   (Emphasis mine) 

“But if any man love God, the same is KNOWN of him.”   (1 Corinthians 8:3)  (Emphasis mine) 

Our Lord will say to the wicked on the Day of Judgment, “I never KNEW you” (Matthew 7:23). 

In all of these passages more than a mental recognition is involved, for God has that of the wicked as well as of the righteous.  Thus KNOW sometimes means love, favor, and approval. 

It is only due to the Sovereign LOVE of Almighty God that any are saved.  And it is best that way.  If salvation depended on our love and power, none of us would ever be saved.  As Jonah rightly declared, “Salvation is of the LORD.” 

(From MY TESTIMONY Copyright © 2002 by George R. Theiss)

Author's Web Site: www.tulipgems.com

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