““Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”” Isaiah 12:2 ESV
Reflection: what is the difference between “saved” and “salvation”?
Let’s start today with a lesson directly from Jesus. “And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said,
“Then who can be saved?”
But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”” Luke 18:18-27 ESV. It is a powerful story about what we put our faith in, whether it is the things of this world, or in God. Because the things of this world, wealth, fame, status, power, influence, and so on, can become very tempting, especially if we have a lot of it. This rich ruler that came to Jesus, was obviously trying to do both – honor God in his life by following the commandments, and at the same time keep his power and wealth. And, as we see in the end of the story, when he had to choose, we see that his heart was not with God, but with his power and wealth. But Jesus also reminds us here that, while being saved is impossible for man, is possible with God. Even the criminal crucified next to Jesus discovered the mercy of God as he reached out to Him. What comfort for all of us!
The entire chapter 12 of Isaiah is a beautiful song of thanksgiving to God, and we will look specifically at one verse, which is the focus verse today. Let’s read the first three verses “You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” Isaiah 12:1-3 ESV. Did you see any reference here to the verb “saved”?
You might think this is a trick question. But it is not meant to be. We see a reference to the noun “salvation”, which of course is the “what” described by the verb “to save”. To refresh our memory, if we look up the definition of a noun, you will find something like “a noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.” A name; a description. And in chapter 12 we see Isaiah describing God using a noun, as our “salvation”. And therefore the action that God does is described by the verb “to save”. Therefore,
God is our salvation; He alone saves us.
This is why Paul can state “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”” Romans 10:13 ESV. To be “saved” is active, a reliance on God as our salvation all through this life. It is not just words, nor is it good works or following the commandments. Paul writes “But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” Romans 10:6-10 ESV. It is heart and mouth. Salvation is found in God, originating in a heart that has surrendered to and have faith in God alone, our Almighty God and Everlasting Father.
I will trust in God alone, He has become my salvation.