The Day of Salvation

“Behold, now is the favourable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

This is an urgent call to receive the free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Commenting on the urgency of the Gospel’s call for our response, R. P. C. Hanson writes, “Now men and women are being saved (it is now the day of salvation); now men and women are being ruined. Now the destiny of each person is being decided according to their response to that final and irrevocable standard of judgment, Jesus Christ. It is true that the Arrival has not yet taken place, but the Arrival is the end of judgment and not the beginning of it; the Arrival is the disappearance of the last chance, but now, this moment may be the Last Chance … the accepted time, tense with urgency, burning with hope, terrible with the possibilities of glory or ruin” . Recognizing that this view is “(v)astly different … from the complacent unconcern … (of) many Christians” Hanson insists that “it is consistent with the message of our Lord himself” (“The Second Epistle to the Corinthians”, Torch Bible Paperbacks, SCM Press Ltd, London, 1967, pp.52-53).

Hanson’s final comment directs our attention to the teaching of Jesus

In John 3:16, Jesus speaks of God’s love for all -“God so loved the world.”

All are loved by the God who sent His Son for the world’s salvation – “God sent His Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved” (John 3:17).

Neither of these facts – God loves the world and God sent His Son that the world that the world might be saved – leads us to the conclusion that all will be saved.

John 3:18 tells us that “he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

It is because Jesus spoke these words, “he who does not believe is condemned already”, that we must take very seriously the words of Paul -”Behold, now is the favourable time; behold, now is the day of salvation”.

From Paul and Jesus, these are words for today!