βWe then as workers together with [God], beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vainβ¦. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvationβ (II Cor. 6:1,2).
This passage reminds us that it is not enough that βChrist Jesus came into the world to save sinnersβ collectively. We, each one individually, must do something about appropriating this salvation for ourselves.
After the classic passage in II Cor. 5:14-21 where the Apostle tells how Christ βdied for all,β and how God deals with all men in grace since βHe hath made Him to be sin for usβ so that βwe might be made the righteousness of God in Himβ β after this great unfolding of what God, through Christ, has done for us, he urges individual acceptance of this great truth.
As βworkers together with God,β the Apostle and his associates begged men not to βreceiveβ¦ the grace of God in vain,β but to trust Christ, each one as His own personal Savior, to apply His redemptive work to themselves.
And even at that early date in the history of the Church, the Apostle gave men to understand that there was no time to lose; the day of grace was not to last forever, but was to give place to the day of judgment and wrath.
If this was so then, how much more is it so now! God has been very longsuffering with the world. He has continued to deal with mankind in grace for over two thousand years but according to both Old Testament prophecy and Paulβs βmysteryβ He will judge this world for its rejection of Christ.
When will this happen? No one knows. It is the very essence of grace that no one knows when the dispensation of grace will end. It is grace, pure grace, on Godβs part that causes Him to linger day after day in mercy toward a world that rejects Him.
Thus Godβs messengers cannot offer even one more day of grace. We must say as St. Paul did: βBehold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.β βChrist died for our sinsβ (I Cor. 15:3). βBelieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be savedβ (Acts 16:31). source
