One of the leading pastors of our day has said that what God speaks to us in Jonah 2:9 could well be one of the most important verses in the Bible,” . . salvation belongs to the Lord.” It is God who saves sinners. It is God alone who saves sinners. Sinners do not save themselves and sinners are not in charge of coming to salvation. Salvation does belong to the Lord.
I was reading the other day in Acts 16. Paul had his plans for where he wanted to go with the Gospel. God interrupted his plans and called him to go to what is modern day Europe. So, according to Acts 16 Paul and his missionary team “set sail from Troas and made a direct voyage to Samothrace and the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi . . . ” (Acts 16:11-12). They arrived in this leading city of the region on the day before the Sabbath. They knew that there were no believers in the city so they sought on the Sabbath a synagogue or a group of God-fearers. They found the latter gathered for worship outside the city gates. It seems they were all women. One of them who was a leading business person in the town was sincerely seeking to know God more fully. So, when Paul and his team began to speak to them, “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul,” (16:14). The word translated by the words “pay attention” points to someone who is doing more than listening. It points to intense listening. It paints a picture of someone who is hearing and heeding what is said. We would say in good biblical language that God is at work here to call her to repentance and faith. God is work in her life because God opened her heart. She responds in faith with her whole household. She is baptized.
According to this text, it is only after she repents and is baptized that she speaks. She desires that Paul and his team come to her home if in fact they have found her to be faithful. She opens herself to the examination of the validity of her response and is immediately desiring to learn more. This willingness to be tested and this desire to learn more are the simple evidences in her life that God has saved her. These elements in her life to not save her. They simply bear witness to her being saved. Salvation belongs to the Lord.