When Is Now?
For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:2 ESV
Now – “When is the day of your salvation?” That isn’t the same as the question, “When was the day of your salvation?” Most of us were taught that salvation occurred on a specific day, a day in our past, when we turned our lives over to the Lord and found forgiveness. We would answer the question, “When was the day of your salvation?” with a date. Because of this perspective, we think Paul’s exhortation is also about a specific day. We think Paul is being intensely evangelical, prodding his audience to make a decision, to say the prayer and be saved.
But that interpretation seems a bit odd to me. After all, Paul is not writing to pagans. He is writing to members of the assembly in Corinth. Yes, they have plenty of problems, but not accepting Yeshua as the Messiah was not one of those problems. So it doesn’t seem likely that Paul (in context) is preaching a salvation-decision message. Furthermore, Paul’s rather liberal use of Isaiah 49 belies the pagan conversion interpretation. Isaiah 49 is about Israel’s renewal and God’s faithfulness. It is about the choice of role of the Servant and the impact of Israel’s return on the nations. It is not about coming to faith, making a decision, raising a hand.
Paul may have noticed some parallels. The Corinthian assembly was like Isaiah’s Israel. Both were behaving in ways that God did not approve. But both were loved by the Lord and both found His faithfulness to be their deliverance. Both needed to hear a message about today! Today, this day, the day that you have right now, is the day of God’s deliverance! God’s deliverance isn’t some day in the past that you can no longer do anything about. It isn’t some day in the future that has yet to materialize. Today is the day that God’s deliverance will show itself. You and I, and Corinth and Israel, are delivered this day. There is no other.
What message do you and I really need to hear? That God saved us years ago? That God will some day in the future bring justice to the earth? Frankly, while those things are important, what I really need to hear is that God can deliver me today, that today is the day of my salvation. Today I struggle. Today I am discouraged. Today I have to deal with emotional distress, upset expectations, rough-edged relationships. Today I have to be faithful to Torah, resist temptation, act righteously. Frankly, salvation is not very valuable if it is a trophy sitting on a shelf or a gate pass gathering dust in my vault. If God isn’t good today, what does deliverance really mean? I doubt Paul meant this citation to become an evangelical conversion call. I believe he meant it to remind readers that God today is what we need—and that is all that we need.
Topical Index: today, now, salvation, 2 Corinthians 6:2, Isaiah 49:8
Shabbat Shalom,
As I meet with G-d this morning the question came to me… If Yeshua returns next Thursday would I change the way I live today? Today is the day, life is a process not a destination.
Sing a glad song, and/but have anquish for those who do not know G-d. Walk with Hashem.
TODAY.
I immediately thought of the “Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen, the emphasis on the word “Now”, I realize this may all be caught up in my head from teaching I heard in the church, but, it was always a word that jumped off the page about this present moment before me today. So, today is the day of my salvation, to choose to walk in and receive His provision of hope and a life worth living in Yaweh!
Agreed. He’s all we need. All day. Everyday.
“This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Ps 118: 24
Sanctification, to me, is the ultimate action of the Now. It can occur nowhere else. And it can only occur when I decide to show up in the Now to do my part of it, which is repent. Of what? Of whatever particular evil that is “sufficient” for me in that moment; whatever is in front of my face; whatever is impeding relationship in any of the 3 dimensions of G-d, self and others right then; whatever scars in my soul from the evil of my past or my generations is tripping me up and weighing me down RIGHT THEN. Salvation from what? Sin. How? Repentance. When? Once when I got born again? Once at the Cross? Once at the end of time or the foundation of the world? No. Now. .Repentance is the permanent position of an imperfect being, because it is the vehicle of change. And it is repentance that leads to salvation. 2Cor. 7:10.
A very good point. I do what I can do now.
ALWAYS
~ God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present ‘ez·rāh, ~ (Psalm 46.1)
And be sure of this: I AM with you always, – (only on Saturday?)
And be sure of this: I AM with you always, – (only on Sunday?)
And be sure of this: I AM with you always, (only in certain places and at certain times?)
~ And be sure of this: I AM with you always, (in all places, at all times) even to the end of the age. ~
~ and tHis Name shall be called? ‘Immanu El’ – JEHOVAH SHAMMA- The LORD is *now here.*
from http://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-does-coram-deo-mean/ : (by R.C. Sproul)
I remember Mama standing in front of me, her hands poised on her hips, her eyes glaring with hot coals of fire and saying in stentorian tones, “Just what is the big idea, young man?”
Instinctively I knew my mother was not asking me an abstract question about theory. Her question was not a question at all—it was a thinly veiled accusation. Her words were easily translated to mean, “Why are you doing what you are doing?” She was challenging me to justify my behavior with a valid idea. I had none.
Recently a friend asked me in all earnestness the same question. He asked, “What’s the big idea of the Christian life?” He was interested in the overarching, ultimate goal of the Christian life.
To answer his question, I fell back on the theologian’s prerogative and gave him a Latin term. I said, “The big idea of the Christian life is coram Deo. Coram Deo captures the essence of the Christian life.”
This phrase literally refers to something that takes place in the presence of, or before the face of, God. To live coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God.
TO LIVE CORAM DEO IS TO LIVE ONE’S ENTIRE LIFE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD, UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF GOD, TO THE GLORY OF GOD.
To live in the presence of God is to understand that whatever we are doing and wherever we are doing it, we are acting under the gaze of God. God is omnipresent. There is no place so remote that we can escape His penetrating gaze.
To be aware of the presence of God is also to be acutely aware of His sovereignty. The uniform experience of the saints is to recognize that if God is God, then He is indeed sovereign. When Saul was confronted by the refulgent glory of the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, his immediate question was, “Who is it, Lord?” He wasn’t sure who was speaking to him, but he knew that whomever it was, was certainly sovereign over him.
Living under divine sovereignty involves more than a reluctant submission to sheer sovereignty that is motivated out of a fear of punishment. It involves recognizing that there is no higher goal than offering honor to God. Our lives are to be living sacrifices, oblations offered in a spirit of adoration and gratitude.
To live all of life coram Deo is to live a life of integrity. It is a life of wholeness that finds its unity and coherency in the majesty of God. A fragmented life is a life of disintegration. It is marked by inconsistency, disharmony, confusion, conflict, contradiction, and chaos.
The Christian who compartmentalizes his or her life into two sections of the religious and the nonreligious has failed to grasp the big idea. The big idea is that all of life is religious or none of life is religious. To divide life between the religious and the nonreligious is itself a sacrilege.
This means that if a person fulfills his or her vocation as a steelmaker, attorney, or homemaker coram Deo, then that person is acting every bit as religiously as a soul-winning evangelist who fulfills his vocation. It means that David was as religious when he obeyed God’s call to be a shepherd as he was when he was anointed with the special grace of kingship. It means that Jesus was every bit as religious when He worked in His father’s carpenter shop as He was in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Integrity is found where men and women live their lives in a pattern of consistency. It is a pattern that functions the same basic way in church and out of church. It is a life that is open before God. It is a life in which all that is done is done as to the Lord. It is a life lived by principle, not expediency; by humility before God, not defiance. It is a life lived under the tutelage of conscience that is held captive by the Word of God.
Coram Deo … before the face of God. That’s the big idea. Next to this idea our other goals and ambitions become mere trifles.
Practicing the Presence of God. Ever-present. Ever-near. Ever-listening. Ever-able. Amen.
Thanks for your kinds words and for your lengthy replay. Lots of effort here.
BUT (isn’t there always one of these)
The argument you propose regarding Israel is the typical and historically embraced argument of replacement theology. God is done with Israel for the time being. God introduces a new religion (whatever you wish to call it). Torah no longer applies. Torah is simply rules anyway. What we need are “principles.” If all of this were not true, that God would not have allowed the Temple to be destroyed or the veil torn.
Unfortunately I don’t have the time to write an equally lengthy reply. I am leaving for Africa in a few moments. But I would highly recommend two books which I believe will forever set aside your proposal. They are
R. Kendall Soulen The God of Israel and Christian Theology
Todd Bennett Law and Grace
and perhaps Pamela Eisenbaum Paul Was Not A Christian
If you read these and STILL think God replaced Israel, then I guess you are more comfortable with Augustine than Moses.
By the way, while I would say that Chambers does not meet the requirements of Torah observance, I also note that God is merciful and that those who do not know what He expects are not judged by the same standard until they know. This is essentially Paul’s argument concerning the nations.
More later if time permits when I get to London.
Today was the day…that I received a new grandson-my second thus far.
Myles Crase. 7 lbs, 5 oz., 20 inches. Has all his parts, is healthy, and
finally here.
Mom is great. Dad is still kind of shell shocked. 🙂
I’m grateful.
Praise Yah! What a blessing, Michael!
Yes, indeed.
Thank you.
Congratulations Michael! Grandchildren are indeed one of the mighty blessings of God. Be blessed!
Thx.
So far he has been great. Looking around. Not fussy at all. Just a tiny bundle of blessing. Immediately took to breast feeding very well. Sleeps well. Cries very little. Everything seems to work well.
Good blessings thus far.