Behold Now — Dispensationally Considered

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation

—2 Corinthians 6:2

There is an urgency when we proclaim the gospel of Christ to people. There is never a better time than now to believe God, to obey His Word by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.

This Gospel is simple. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, was buried, and rose again the third day, according to the scriptures. That is found in your Bible in Paul the Apostle’s first epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 15 verses 3 and 4, and is the gospel by which we are saved. It is also the foundational statement on which Paul’s teaching of the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of the saints rests.

The truth of the urgency in our individual lives that “now is the day of salvation” cannot be overstated. We don’t know if we have tomorrow, nor do we have yesterday anymore. But we have now, and now is the day to come to God on His terms, casting away any perceived righteousness on your part, and to put all of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In a previous article, I wrote on the importance of this day of salvation, and briefly touched on what we could call the “dispensational” aspect of it.

The dispensational aspect of it is just as important, for it speaks to the whole world’s urgency of time.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonian church to encourage them while they went through the current tribulation that they were experiencing. This was the Christ-rejecting world which hated those that were not of it, and which put the people of God through tribulation. The apostle then teaches about the tribulation that the Christ-rejecters will experience:

2 Thessalonians 1:3–10 — “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power; When He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.”

That day is coming to the whole world. See Acts 17:31. Today we see all around us the enmity against God and His Christ.

Some might be willing to give lip service to a “Jesus” that “gets us”, but are they willing to first believe in His death for their sins and His resurrection as their only hope? Are they willing to acknowledge Him and submit to Him as Lord¹, or are they attempting to put Jesus Christ in submission to themselves?

Yes, The Lord said, and stills says for those laboring and heavy laden to come to Him for rest (Matthew 11:28), but we today come to Him by way of the cross and His finished work when He put away our sins by the sacrifice of Himself. He is merciful to sinners who will come to Him, but He will not indulge their sin, their unbelief, and their rebellion.

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15), and He desires all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).

But now, even as when He walked on earth among the sinners, He did not follow them. He went to sinners, and those that believed followed Him.

He is now not on this earth walking among sinners and inviting them to follow Him as He walks. He is now seated at the right hand of God His Father in the heavenly places “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come” (Ephesians 1:21).

And this same Jesus, with His Name above every name, sits at the right hand of the Majesty on High “From henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool” (Hebrews 10:13).

So we have learned where Christ is now, and that there will be a change of dominion. When that will be is not revealed to us, but only that it will happen and that which is known as “the Day of the LORD” will come. But while He is waiting, ever so patiently, He has granted the whole world this “day of salvation”. He has given the whole world this time when He, the one offended, has offered Himself as the propitiation for sin.

That word propitiation is an interesting one. It is a gift of sorts, given to an offended party to appease the offense done. God has given Christ as the propitiation for the sins that offended Him. This is not the normal way of doing things. Usually the offending party is the one that offers the gifts to the offended party to “make amends”, or to “atone” for the offense he gave. But in this case it was God, the offended party, who offered Himself in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ as we read in 2 Corinthians 5:19:

“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”

So now, in a dispensational sense, this time is known as “the day of salvation”. There is a day of judgment and wrath coming that will try the whole earth (Revelation 3:10). It is known as “the day of the LORD”, and the “great day of His wrath” (Revelation 6:17). Yes, during that time we are told that “whosoever shall call on the Name of the LORD shall be delivered” (Joel 2:32, cf. Acts 2:21²), but it is clear from the entirety of Scripture that the day of His wrath is exceedingly fierce, and it is said that at that time it will not be a day that you want to experience.

Malachi 3:2 — “But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap…”

“Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitors of the earth…” (Revelation 8:13, 12:12).

In this present age it is the day of His salvation. God is longsuffering toward this world, and this is shown by the fact that this present dispensation has lasted for nearly 2000 years while the judgment of the great tribulation has been delayed. As to our own personal lives, we do not know how long we have to live, so it behooves us now to remember that “behold now is the accepted time”, and that for the whole world, “now is the accepted time”, this is the day of salvation.

There have been many arguments among Christians about the time in which we are living. Some have taught the present to be “the great tribulation”. Some say that it is the 1000 years that we read about in Revelation 20. If it were either of these, there would be no doubt about it. We would know. but “now” it is neither of these. Now is the day of salvation.

The world, and even some believers, have taken for granted the present time of God’s grace, but be not so foolish to think that it will last forever.

2 Peter 3:1–9 — “This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

In these days in which we live, we should remember that this ungodly world does not have very long to continue on its present course. We do not know, and we are not told how long this present day of grace will last. In the same epistle of Peter referenced above, we do learn this:

2 Peter 3:15 — “And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you…”

The day of salvation is now but the day of God’s wrath will soon be coming. Today, while it is called today, humble yourself before God and accept His freely offered gift of salvation through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. He is living today and is seated at the right hand of God the Father and waiting, till His enemies are made His footstool. He is waiting because He is longsuffering and came into the world to save sinners. At some time, sooner that we know or expect, sinners will be judged, but while there is today, believe on Him who justifies the ungodly by faith in Him (Romans 4:5). While we don’t know the day or hour of His return in judgment, we know that it is coming, but we know that NOW IS THE ACCEPTED TIME, BEHOLD NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION!

End notes:

1. This is no way speaking of the “lordship salvation” that has been taught by many. We are saved by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work for us on the cross before we did anything to deserve it. We don’t make it stick by eventually showing ourselves as being worthy to have received it. We were saved as sinners.
   Now, as saved, we are to walk worthy as the elect of God (Colossians 3:12), but this by no means adds to our salvation or seals the deal. The proof of our salvation is Who it is our faith is in, not the strength of our faith or in the degree of our submission.
   I only say this because the world looks at and loves a submissive “Jesus” that submits to it, but it must be always remembered that it is at His name that every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that He is Lord, Philippians 2:9–11. He is Lord of all, and we must acknowledge Him as such. No one who has been saved has not so acknowledged Him as Lord, for the gospel call says “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved”, Acts 16:31. ↩︎
2. Paul also quotes this, but in a different context, in Romans 10:13. Here, the emphasis is not on the method of salvation. That is clear in chapter 3:19–27. The emphasis in Romans 10 is on the scope. See here in context:
   Romans 10:12–13 — “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
   The context of the entire chapter is how that even though Israel as a nation is set aside for a time in unbelief and hardened, and that now Gentiles are receiving the blessing of God in spite of Israel’s unbelief, the individual Jew, or Israelite, is in no way shut off from the same blessing as the individual Gentile that believes.
   Prophetically, the Gentiles will come to the light of Israel’s rising in Christ’s millennial kingdom (Isaiah 60:3). Today, all are concluded in unbelief, that God might have mercy upon all (Romans 11:32).
   Romans 11:25 — “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” ↩︎