the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Grace for Today
Jonah 2:9
‘Salvation is of the Lord!’
Read Genesis 3:1-21
To say that salvation is of the Lord is to say that salvation is in no way dependent upon or determined by man’s works and man’s will.
Salvation is not the work of man, nor is it a co-operative effort between God and God doing his part and man doing his part. Salvation is the work of God alone. It is altogether the work of his grace. Human works and human merit do not even enter into the picture. It is all of grace not grace plus baptism, not grace plus church membership, not grace plus works. Grace alone accomplishes salvation. Grace plus anything ceases to be grace. ‘If by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work’ (Romans 11:6). Man’s works can never merit salvation.
And it is not man’s will that determines who will be saved. Your salvation is not dependent upon your sinful will; it is dependent upon God’s sovereign will. God alone determines whom he will save. He does not even consult, or ask the opinion of man. You are subject to God’s will. God is not subject to your will. He says, ‘I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy’ (Romans 9:15-16). If God has determined to save you by his matchless grace in Christ, you will be saved. He will give you a new heart, a new nature and a new will. You will delightfully come to Christ in true faith in the day of his gracious, saving power. If God has not determined to save you, if he does not send his Spirit to quicken you, give you truth and bring you to Christ, you will never come to Christ, because you will never desire him. My friend, ‘salvation is of the Lord.’ He can be gracious to you, or he can pass you by. He can save you, or he can damn you. It is entirely up to him. You have no claim upon God and you have no control over him.
