The Days of Salvation
Hand in Glove with the Predestination Teaching is the Belief that THIS is the ONLY Day of Salvation. Anyone Not ‘Saved’ TODAY Should Anticipate Spending Eternity in an Ever Burning HELL!? Is That Perception TRUE?
© Rich Traver,
81520-1411, 6-2-07 [ 73 ]
www.goldensheaves.org
Compassionate Christians of all ages have to some degree been self-traumatized by the thought that their loved ones, family, friends, work associates or neighbors, face a dire future, due to their disinterest in becoming ‘saved’ ( at least as the concerned believer conceives of it ) at this present time. Yet, so many haven’t given the matter even a passing thought. In fact, if we think about it, the over-whelming majority don’t know, and couldn’t care less. What ups the anxiety level is the widespread conviction in modern religious society, that a person’s only opportunity for salvation is this present day, sometime before they die at least.
Now, that poses a serious question, once we realize that no one CAN come to the Son, unless drawn by the Father. [1] Further, that there are so many in society not called, not due to any perceivable fault of their own. Many in this present era are kept under a veil, lest they come to a correct understanding.[2] At least, that seems to be what we read in places such as 2nd Corinthians 3:13-16. We have Christ speaking to the general public in parables, [3] wording it in such a way, that though hearing, they wouldn’t really comprehend in any real depth and come to an effective understanding.
It would seem to us, that IF God was intent on saving as many as possible in this present age, He surely is employing poor technique!
Chance, What Chance?
Then, there are all those in remote parts of the world, both now and back when the transportation or communication methods we have today didn’t yet exist, who never had a chance to even hear of there being a God (other than a concept of one their own societies may have invented) and any plan of Salvation. Also, there are vast millions who lived before the time of Christ, who had no means of salvation, as there is no salvation in any other.[4] Need we mention children who’ve died young? Where do these all stand?
Clearly, uncountable millions lived and died prior to the time of Christ without awareness of any need to, or obligation to, personally respond to any call to repentance or to become converted. In fact, scriptures plainly reveal that only a few are called of God, even in these, the best of days. For proof of that, just look around. It was Jesus’ emphatic assertion that no man CAN come to the God of Salvation unless specifically drawn of the Father. “And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.” (John 6:65) This reinforcing the prior statement, that “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him:” (John 6:44)
Harden Not Your Hearts
This admonition in Hebrews 4, verses 1 and 6 explains: “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it… Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:” This illustrates that even those to whom the words of salvation were first proclaimed did not have the means to respond in an adequate manner. The prime ingredient, the gift of Gods’ Spirit, necessary for building effective Faith, was not yet available to these whom we would regard as prime candidates for salvation at the time! Romans 11:32 speaks of Israel’s spiritual condition: “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.” If God placed even the informed into a state of ‘unbelief’, then what of the rest of humanity? Verses 7 and 8 of the same chapter in Romans 11 state: “What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.” Even those who sought for salvation, and who had in their possession the oracles of God, did not ultimately attain to what they pursued.
Only a very few, these referred to as ‘the election’ (a word which poses an interesting consideration), attained salvation, even in the Christian era, but the overwhelming majority, even those who were ‘evangelized’, are held in a state of unbelief for a particular reason!
Understanding Withheld!
So, we’re faced with an uncomfortable fact, one that theologians have struggled with through much of the Christian era: That the majority haven’t been converted in their lifetimes. And, IF we read the scriptures correctly, the best informed nation, those with the greatest chance of understanding, were blanked from understanding by God. A condition which persisted into the late first century (when the above words were written) and which apparently remains the case to the present day!
But it’s the line in Romans 11:32 that reveals something profound. It says God concluded them in unbelief, “that he might have mercy upon all.” How can we interpret this situation as being ‘merciful’? In what way is it merciful that great numbers went to their graves, ‘all concluded in unbelief’ and patently unconverted, still in their sins? (No matter how religious they were.) Another relevant passage offers more insight into this situation. Verses 25 to 27 of the same chapter explain, “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 fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”
This reveals something we should all understand, not being smug about our own election. That the condition of blindness is temporary, that all Israel shall be saved, and that God will take away their sins! What we need to consider is that most of these peoples are presently dead in their graves!
It’s here that we are forced to factor into our thinking, the resurrection from the dead. And we can identify the time for that from places such as Revelation 20:5-12. There is a resurrection occurring after the 1000 years. This one for ‘the rest of the dead’, whose names weren’t in the Book of Life at the time of Christ’s return. What we also need to consider is what becomes of those who are converted during the Millennium. With a thousand years of open availability of Gods’ Spirit, with Satan under restraint, how many will become converted?
Whether we regard the present Day of Salvation as being continuous on into the post-Advent era, or whether we regard the Millennial Age and the second resurrection period following it being another distinct and separate Day of Salvation, we are left with the same conclusion. That these vast numbers, most of whom are presently deceased, will see a day in which salvation will be opened to them. Traditional religianity poses no provision for this!
Where present day theology made its mistake was with the common presumption that the opportunity period ENDS with Christ’s return, where, if we read with understanding, and with awareness, of the outline of God’s Master Plan, as presented in the ‘shadow of things to come’ (outline of future events) mentioned in Colossians 2:17, (referring to Gods’ seven annual Holydays), we would realize that Christ’s return doesn’t end the opportunity for salvation, but rather opens it in a way humanity has never before seen. That age, even extending into the post-Millennial era, described in explicit detail in Ezekiel 37, will provide access to Gods’ Spirit without its present limit. As to Israel, restored to life and reunited nationally, He will put His Spirit within them unilaterally. (Ezek. 37:13-14) This following the age in which ‘whosoever will’ may come. (Rev. 22:17 and compare John 37:7-8)
We know that in the present situation, only a few are called, they being specifically drawn of the Father. (John 6:44)
After the Second Coming, the entirety of mankind will be called upon to ‘worship the Creator’ (Rev. 14:6-7) From this, we may anticipate that the vast majority, of those who survive on over into the Millennial Age, and their descendents, will respond positively. With all doubt removed, with Satan restrained from influence, with all Truth established without question and with Gods’ Spirit freely available to any who ask, it will be a very different societal climate than we know today.
But we can also know that the vast numbers who went to their graves unconverted, due to inopportunity or to God-induced blindness, will, for the first time, have their opportunity to have their sins forgiven, not unlike those in the Millennial Age. One notable condition regarding Israel that we may draw from Ezekiel 37:13-14 is that God will place His Spirit within the nation unilaterally, apparently without their having specifically requested it! All Israel, from there, will have to grow in grace and knowledge or face the second death.
In each of these distinct eras, we see Gods’ Spirit offered with increasing availability.
One Day or Two?
So whether we consider there to be just one Day of Salvation, extending from the Day of Pentecost, fifty days after Christ’s ‘Wave Sheaf” presentation, to the end, at the Great White Throne judgment, or whether we regard there being two, with this present day ending and the next beginning at Christ’s return, it effectively matters little. What is essential is the realization that the availability of Gods’ Spirit extends through the Millennial Age and through the Last Great Day. After all, it was in reference to the Last Great Day that Christ’s declaration of open availability of His Spirit was made. (John 7:37) (See my article titled “Whosoever Will May Come”)
The opportunity for salvation is NOT limited to this present pre-Advent era. There’s where religianity has made its big mistake on this important issue. And that mistake is largely the result of having rejected Biblical Holydays, which lay out the entire Plan of God, one consistent with His Will. His Will being that ‘not any should perish’, other than those who willfully choose to do so, by either refusing to receive Gods’ Spirit or by quenching it totally once they have it! For them, there is no further period allowing opportunity!
Those not converted in this present age are not necessarily doomed to gehenna fire. Making such pronouncements exposes a general ignorance of the Millennial Age: the thousand years of Christ ruling with His Spirit-Born Saints on the Earth and the purpose for the resurrections from the dead, which Hebrews 6 lists as one of the six basic Doctrines of the Church.
Any who have received Gods’ Spirit and who let it die out may anticipate that fate, but not those who simply aren’t being called of God in this age. Ω
