6 thoughts from 6 verses about salvation
Sep 02, 2010
Is. 12:1 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.
Is. 12:2 “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.”
Is. 12:3 With joy you* will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day:
“Give thanks to the LORD,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.
Is. 12:5 “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known* in all the earth.
6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great in your* midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
Salvation according to Isaiah
Here we see Isaiah telling of the songs of salvation that will be sung in “that day” to the delight of his children and the dismay of his enemies. It’s a beautiful little chapter that captures some of the greatest truths of the gospel we can ever know.
To understand it properly, I’d like to make you aware of three “you's”, in verses 1, 3 and the “your” in verse 6.
The “you” in verse 1 is masculine singular.
The “you” in verse 3 is plural.
The “your” in verse 6 is feminine singular.
Why is this important? Well, it helps us to see that verses 1 and 2 are speaking about individual salvation, verses 3-5 are referring to the community of God, and verse 6 is speaking of the unified bride for Christ.
So, verse 1 is speaking about the salvation of the individual soul, yours or mine.
Verse 2 is about the ongoing nature of salvation in all the facets of life.
Verse 3 shows us how we are saved, not just individually, but into the community of God.
Verse 4 mirrors verse 2, by showing how there is a continuous salvation, in community, that reveals the integrity of God from their proclaimed testimony.
Verse 5 shows God’s concern for all the world and all the nations, which provides the church with a great sense of missional concern.
Verse 6 reminds us how salvation is not the end, but the means to the end of God abiding with his own people.
Or, at the risk of oversimplifying it all, we can see many sides to salvation like this.
Verse 1: The gospel of salvation by simple faith in glorious grace.
Verse 2: The gospel of persistent faith in the same glorious grace.
Verse 3: The gospel saves us into community.
Verse 4: The gospel is proclaimed as a church/community lives from and for His name.
Verse 5: The gospel is for all nations.
Verse 6: The gospel of the Kingdom.
How great is your view of salvation? How much do you exercise your first hand experience in all six of these mentioned sides to our glorious gospel?
Over the next six entries, I will do a short meditation on each of these 6 verses, and I hope that it will leave you greatly encouraged, to live out a greater salvation.
Lots of love
Heinz
