From Roy Davison... Now is the Day of Salvation

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Now is the Day of Salvation

"We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says: 'In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.' Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:1, 2).

We live our lives one day at a time. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow never comes. Today is the only day we have, to be saved by the grace of God.

Once when Jesus was walking along the road, He saw a man in a tree. Would you climb a tree to see Jesus?
"And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, 'Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.' So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, 'He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.' Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, 'Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.' And Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost'" (Luke 19:5-10).
Salvation can come to your house today if you will receive the Lord joyfully. Do not be overwhelmed by the sins of the past. Jesus can set you free. Do not put it off until tomorrow. Now is the acceptable time. Now is the day of salvation.
No one dies yesterday and no one dies tomorrow. When we die, we die today. Jesus died for the sins of both men who were crucified with Him, just as He died for our sins. To one of those men Jesus could say: "Today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43).
We need to die with Christ, and live for Christ each day, so we too can hear these words on our last today.
If we believe in Christ as the Son of God, who died for our sins, was buried, and rose from the dead the third day, and if we turn away from our sins, we can die with Christ by being buried with Him in baptism. "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin" (Romans 6:3-6).
Now is the acceptable time. Now is the day of salvation. Today you can be baptized into Christ. You can be born again of water and the Spirit (John 3:3-6). Today you can begin serving God each day.
Maybe you became a Christian in the past, but are not serving God as you should today. For you too, today is the day of salvation. Now is the acceptable time to repent and rededicate your life to God.
Hebrews was written to lukewarm Christians. They were in danger of drifting away (Hebrews 2:1). They had not grown as they should (Hebrews 5:12). Some were neglecting the assembly (Hebrews 10:24, 25).
As a warning, they were reminded of Israel's unfaithfulness: "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: 'Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, "They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways." So I swore in My wrath, "They shall not enter My rest."' Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called 'Today,' lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: 'Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion'" (Hebrews 3:7-15).
Jesus served God each day: "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work" (John 9:4).
Day after day we must persevere. Paul wrote: "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:12-14).
We must make full use of our time each day. We are told to redeem the time. "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15, 16). "Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one" (Colossians 4:5, 6).
The time, refers to the time at our disposal, our time, in other words. The concept behind this idiom, redeeming the time, is that we are to "buy up all the time we can." We are to make full use of our time, to use our time to full advantage. This involves being wise, and not being foolish. We must make good use of our time in preparing ourselves to explain our faith in a seasoned manner.
Our minutes, hours, days and years are gifts from God. On the day of judgement we will give account for how we used this valuable treasure: whether we used our time for good or ill; whether we used our time for selfish, self-centered purposes or to honor God and serve our fellow man; whether we used our time to build up or to tear down; whether we accomplished something or wasted our time on earth.
You can wait to spend your money, but you cannot wait to spend your time. Time is passing by. Its proper use requires constant attention.
"This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24 RSV).
"Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2).
Roy Davison

The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982,
Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers unless indicated otherwise.
Permission for reference use has been granted.

Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)