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"Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I
heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee;
and I will preserve thee."—Isa. 49: 8.
Here is a special day of salvation spoken of, an
acceptable time. The most propitious season of God's grace
to man. Now where shall we locate this glorious time of
deliverance and preservation ? Though spoken of in the
present tense, it is very evident that it is not to be
located in the time of the prophet, which was under the
law. Because the entire Old Testament pointed forward to a
more gracious dispensation of divine love and mercy in the
last days. "Knowing that a man is not justified by
the works of the law. "— Gal. 2 :16. The law day
was not the day of salvation.
Shall we then look for it in a future time ? By some it is
referred to an age to come. But the scriptures leave no
room for such vague suppositions. Let us look for a
positive location of the above prophecy. Read the apostle
Paul in 2 Cor. 6 :1, 2. He beseeches the brethren,
"That ye receive not the grace of God in vain, For he
saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in a day
of salvation have I succored thee." Here the apostle
quotes the very thing announced in Isa. 49: 8. And now
hear his application of the same. He proceeds,
"Behold, now is the accepted time; BEHOLD, NOW IS THE
DAY OF SALVATION.', How absolutely clear and conclusive!
The great day of salvation is now. Now in the dispensation
of the Holy Spirit. This one declaration of divine truth
perfectly refutes every theory of a more propitious age to
come. If, as age to come advocates say, a more glorious
day of salvation is yet pending, then it is not true that
now is pre-eminently the day of salvation. But, on the
other hand, if the apostle testified to the truth, then
all teachers of a more perfect salvation in a millennial
age to come are false prophets, deceived of the devil, and
deceiving all who believe their vain imaginations. But the
apostle spake by inspiration of God. See 1 Cor. 14: 37.
Therefore, it is settled by the voice of Jehovah.
"Behold, now is the day of salvation, " now the
special time singled out in the plan of the Almighty to
save all who hear and obey the gospel.
"Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will
hear his voice' harden not your hearts."—Heb. 3: 7,
8. Here again the special time of salvation is defined as
today, and when ye hear the voice of God. That is, all
through this gospel era, whenever a soul hears the
"Spirit and the bride say, Come," that is the
propitious time to escape from sin. And to reject the
great boon is to harden the heart.
The above words in Heb. 3: 7, 8, are quoted from Psa. 95:
7-9. But mark what the apostle puts in, "Wherefore,
as the Holy Ghost saith, Today," etc. So the Holy
Spirit through him applies the today salvation of the
psalmist to the present time. He repeats the quotation in
Heb. 3: 15, 4: 7. Now, today, TODAY, is held out by the
divine hand of love and mercy the only hope of this lost
world, the last offer of salvation.
When Jesus expired upon the cross, he said. "It is
finished.'' The price of our redemption was fully paid. He
went down into the grave and conquered death, " and
was raised again for our justification. "— Rom. 4:
25. He ascended to heaven in triumph, sent the Holy Spirit
to awaken, quicken, and sanctify; and thus execute the
perfect salvation he had purchased upon the cross. He
commissioned a perpetual living ministry to publish his
salvation to " every creature, " in all nations
to the end of the world. " To declare, I say, at this
time, his righteousness: that he might be just, and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."—Rom. 3:
26.
Nor did he leave a hint in their commission, or anywhere
else in his [Word, that lays a foundation for any other
day of salvation but the present. But through his ministry
he gives all men this promise and fair warning: " He
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be damned. "—Mark 16: 16. Thus
no opportunity of salvation was ever to be extended to
Adam's race beyond the present gospel of Christ.
Accordingly it is a fact clearly recorded that men
received salvation now and here. "For the grace of
God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,
we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this
present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the
glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus
Christ."—Tit 2: 11-13. This is very plain. The
grace of God brings salvation now and here, resulting in a
holy life in this present world. While we are only to look
for the coming of the great God and our Savior Jesus
Christ in the future, which will be the hour of the
resurrection. "For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall
rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be
caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the
Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the
Lord."—1 Thess. 4: 16, 17. 'The same also will be
the day of judgment. See Jude 14, 15.
" Not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.
"—Tit. 3: 5.
"Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our own works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began."—2 Tim. 1: 9.
"By grace ye are saved. "—Eph. 2: 5.
"But now being made free from sin, and become
servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the
end everlasting life."—Rom. 6: 22.
In all these texts we see that salvation had been already
attained. So it is a fact that God saves us now. Hence now
is the day of salvation in deed and in truth.
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