Article November 21, 1931 Issue

The Day of Salvation

JOSEPH HENRY ADAMS

The prophet Isaiah, speaking to the people of his time, said: "Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee;" and centuries afterwards the Apostle Paul, in his second letter to the church at Corinth, wrote, "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." And again, centuries after that, our divinely inspired Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, quoting this passage (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 39), tells us that its meaning is "not that now men must prepare for a future-world salvation, or safety, but that now is the time in which to experience that salvation in spirit and in life."

A dictionary defines the word "now" in part as, "At the present time; at this moment;" and it is obvious that Paul meant it to be understood as such, meant that the joy of salvation should be experienced at the present moment, and not deferred to a later period. But as in those days, so even to-day, we find many who think that this divine message is too good to be true, that it is not meant for them, or even that it is necessary to pass through the experience called death before that blessed state can be realized; and, like Felix, they put off the of salvation until a more convenient season.

Once a Christian Scientist who was endeavoring to help one suffering from sickness quoted the foregoing passages, pointing out that at that very moment was the day of salvation. This impressed the sufferer; he understood the message, accepted the truth, and was immediately healed. This is as it should be, and the sooner we realize it the better. Jesus said, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you;" and he certainly meant his hearers to do this in the present moment, and not wait for a more convenient season.

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