Editorial November 14, 1901 Issue

The Day of Salvation

Editor

WHAT is salvation? Is it something which man may enjoy to-day, or is it that for which preparation must be made in the present, but whose realization can come only with future years, perhaps beyond the grave? The answer to this question may prove to be the turning-point in a man's career. It determines just how much or how little God will be recognized in the performance of daily duties. If salvation is believed to belong to the future it will be seen that God has very little to do with the things that pertain to the present life, and man is made to feel that in his own strength he must fight the battle of life. If, on the other hand, it is believed that salvation can and should be a present experience, the thought of God will be closely connected with the affairs of life, and the more of salvation that is gained the more will man realize his dependence upon God, until his experience voices itself in Scriptural language: "I can of mine own self do nothing."

As regards the time when salvation may be experienced, the Apostle makes this emphatic declaration: "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." Notwithstanding this, the world is in doubt as to just how much man many reasonably expect to be saved from to-day. Possibly the great majority are of the opinion that salvation in its true sense, belongs to the future, and will not even then be experienced unless certain doctrines of faith are subscribed to in the present.

The belief that salvation can be experienced only in the future opens the door for an almost endless amount of speculation as to what must or must not be believed in order to gain the desired end. Theories, which it is admitted cannot be proven true by positive demonstration, can be evolved without number. These theories may appear to be logically consistent, and since they promise nothing in the present but everything in the future, they multiply at a rapid rate and each has its adherents, who find the teaching peculiarly adapted to their thought and desire concerning the future.

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