For my salvation comes from the Lord alone. (Jonah 2:9)
Jonah understood where his salvation came from, but he was unwilling to grant that very same mercy to his enemies. We can all relate to that feeling. We love God and our neighbor, but our enemies are almost unlovable. They fight us. They have crazy ideas. They are evil most days and twice on Sunday. They are atheists and devil worshipers. They are communists and socialists. They fought for the North and voted for the despicable (fill in the blank) party. These are not good people like us. Surely God’s grace does not extend to them!
Fortunately for all of us, God’s mercy and grace extends to everyone. In fact, we should be thankful He was willing to save us in the midst of our sins. Isn’t that where everyone starts out in this life, running away from God? Paul tells us all have sinned and fallen short of the glory (read perfection) of God (Romans 3:23). The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) which simply means that our sin equals death in God’s Kingdom. Thankfully, we have Jesus who stands between us and eternal death. So, what about our enemies? Can we love and pray for them as Jesus tells us to do in Matthew 5:43,44, and still not be sure our evil neighbor who never goes to church has a chance to be saved? Well, yes and no.
First, God sent Jesus to save all the world (John 3:16) so our neighbor, as part of the world, is included in God’s grace. So, yes, they can be saved. God’s gift is for everyone in the world. The problem is our neighbor has to hear about God’s gift. It’s hard to receive God’s grace if we don’t even know about it. So, someone has to bring the good news to the lost. That is the essence of the Great Commission. We become like Jonah tasked to go to our enemies and tell them about God. Remember, Jonah ended up in a very large fish because he refused to go to Nineveh initially and then was mad that God showed mercy on his enemies. Don’t be like Jonah.
Our salvation comes from an ever-loving God who seeks to save all of His creation. In fact, Peter tells us that Judgment Day has not yet come because God is unwilling that any of us should not repent and perish (2 Peter 3:9). Let that sink in. God is not going to judge the world until everyone at least has a chance to repent and rejoin His family. So our neighbor who does not know God can certainly be saved, but he needs to know about God and decide to repent and follow Him as God patiently waits for their (and our) response to His call. Once we accept that call, our mission is to take the good news to those who still are lost in the world. We need to focus our efforts on those who have not heard about God’s grace and are lost in their sin. Our challenge is to reach the lost who are looking for salvation, even our enemies.
Scripture: Jonah 2:1-10
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