Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Corinthians 6:2

(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now [is] the accepted time; behold, now [is] the day of salvation.)

2. For he saith ] In Isa 49:8. The passage follows the LXX. translation.

I have heard thee in a time accepted ] The words in the original refer to Christ. Here, however, they are applied to His Covenant people, united to Him by faith and the communication of His Nature, and therefore naturally entitled to expect the fulfilment of the promises made to Him. “We know,” says Calvin, “what is the relation between the Head and the members.”

behold, now is the accepted time ] The word in the Greek is stronger than before; ‘the time of favourable acceptance.’ Our translation is due to Cranmer. Tyndale marks the distinction by translating accepted above, and well accepted in this place. The Vulgate renders by accepto and acceptabile. The life of the Christian is a continual acknowledgment in life and conduct of the ‘word of reconciliation’ he has received. The ‘time of favourable acceptance,’ therefore, the ‘day of salvation,’ is ever, not in the past, but in the present.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

For he saith – see Isa 49:8. In that passage the declaration refers to the Messiah, and the design is there to show that God would be favorable to him; that he would hear him when he prayed, and would make him the medium of establishing a covenant with his own people, and of spreading the true religion around the earth; see my note on that place. Paul quotes the passage here not as affirming that he used it in exactly the sense, or with reference to the same design for which it was originally spoken, but as expressing the idea which he wished to convey, or in accordance with the general principle implied in its use in Isaiah. The general idea there, or the principle involved, was, that under the Messiah God would be willing to hear; that is, that he would be disposed to show mercy to the Jew and to the Gentile. This is the main idea of the passage as used by Paul. Under the Messiah, it is said by Isaiah, God would be willing to show mercy. That would be an acceptable time. That time says Paul, has arrived. The Messiah has come, and now God is willing to pardon and save. And the doctrine in this verse is, that under the Messiah, or in the time of Christ, God is willing to show mercy to people. In him alone is the throne of grace accessible, and now that he has come, God is willing to pardon, and people should avail themselves of the offers of mercy.

I have heard thee – The Messiah. I have listened to thy prayer for the salvation of the pagan world. The promise to the Messiah was, that the pagan world should be given to him; but it was a promise that it should be in answer to his prayers and intercessions. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the pagan for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession; Psa 2:8. The salvation of the pagan world, and of all who are saved, is to be in answer to the prevalent intercession of the Lord Jesus.

In a time accepted – In Isaiah, in an acceptable time. The idea is, that he had prayed in a time when God was disposed to show mercy; the time when in his wise arrangements he had designed that his salvation should be extended to the world. It is a time which he had fixed as the appropriate period for extending the knowledge of his truth and his salvation; and it proves that there was to be a period which was the favorable period of salvation, that is, which God esteemed to be the proper period for making his salvation known to people. At such a period the Messiah would pray, and the prayer would be answered.

In the day of salvation – In the time when I am disposed to show salvation.

Have I succored thee – The Messiah. I have sustained thee, that is, in the effort to make salvation known. God here speaks of there being an accepted time, a limited period, in which petitions in favor of the world would be acceptable to him. That time Paul says had come; and the idea which he urges is, that people should avail themselves of that, and embrace now the offers of mercy.

Behold, now is the accepted time … – The meaning of this passage is, the Messiah is come. The time referred to by Isaiah has arrived. It is now a time when God is ready to show compassion, to hear prayer, and to have mercy on mankind. Only through the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, does he show mercy, and people should therefore now embrace the offers of pardon. The doctrine taught here, therefore. is, that through the Lord Jesus, and where he is preached, God is willing to pardon and save people; and this is true wherever he is preached, and as long as people live under the sound of the gospel. The world is under a dispensation of mercy, and God is willing to show compassion, and while this exists, that is, while people live, the offers of salvation are to he freely made to them. The time will come when it will not be an acceptable time with God. The day of mercy will be closed; the period of trial will be ended; and people will be removed to a world where no mercy is shown, and where compassion is unknown. This verse, which should be read as a parenthesis, is designed to be connected with the argument which the apostle is urging, and which he presented in the previous chapter. The general doctrine is, that people should seek reconciliation with God. To enforce that, he here says, that it was now the acceptable time, the time when God was willing to be reconciled to human beings. The general sentiment of this passage may be thus expressed:

(1) Under the gospel it is an acceptable time, a day of mercy, a time when God is willing to show mercy to people.

(2) There may be special seasons which may be especially called the acceptable, or accepted time:

1. When the gospel is pressed on the attention by the faithful preaching of his servants, or by the urgent entreaties of friends;
1. When it is brought to our attention by any striking dispensation of Providence;
2. When the Spirit of God strives with us, and brings us to deep reflection, or to conviction for sin;
3. In a revival of religion, when many are pressing into the kingdom – it is at all such seasons an accepted time, a day of salvation. a day which we should improve. It is now such a season, because:
4. The time of mercy will pass by, and God will not be willing to pardon the sinner who goes unprepared to eternity.
5. Because we cannot calculate on the future. We have no assurance, no evidence that we shall live another day, or hour.
6. It is taught here, that the time will come when it will not be an accepted time. Now is the accepted time; at some future period it will not be.

If people grieve away the Holy Spirit; if they continue to reject the gospel; if they go unprepared to eternity, no mercy can be found. God does not design to pardon beyond the grave. He has made no provision for forgiveness there; and they who are not pardoned in this life, must be unpardoned forever.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

2Co 6:2

For He saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted behold now is the accepted time the day of salvation.

Now

God never says Behold, without tolling something worth listening to.

I. Salvation the thing to be sought.

1. Greatly needed.

2. Graciously provided.

3. Gratuitously proffered.

II. Now is the time to seek it. Double Now.

1. Commanded by revelation.

2. Commended by reason. Conscience, reason, gratitude, self-interest, say Now. Why delay?

(1) Unnecessary. All now ready.

(2) Unreasonable and wicked. Rebellion.

3. Unnatural.

(1) Dangerous. Maybe last offer.

(2) Destructive. Ruinous to conscience, character. (Hom. Monthly.)

The imperative Now

I. You can gain nothing by delay.

1. As to Gods terms.

2. As to your own circumstances. Your difficulties may change but will never cease.

3. As to pleasures of sin.

II. You will lose much by delay.

1. Fervour and freshness of feeling.

2. Opportunity for usefulness. Delay daily narrows in this possibility.

3. Fulness of reward in heaven.

III. You may forfeit your salvation by delay. (Hom. Monthly.)

The day of salvation

I. There is a salvation so important that it gives its name to a whole period called a day, but signifying all the era through which that salvation is made accessible to us. It is called, by way of eminence and distinction, the day of salvation.

1. The salvation which marks this day is the salvation of the soul. Not the salvation of a captive, a criminal under a human law–not of a hopeless patient from a bodily disease–not of an empire–but the salvation of the immortal soul. Men do not believe that their souls are in this danger; they make a mock of sin.

2. Consider that this salvation is effected expressly and exclusively by the power and grace of God. To Him belongs the entire glory of it, and it is His grace that makes any period of our lives a day of salvation. He is therefore the author of eternal salvation. All the resources necessary for carrying it into effect were of God, and not of us.

3. But we ought more particularly to notice Him on whom devolved the work of salvation–who is described by the name of our Saviour, and to whom the honour of it will be for ever rendered.

4. It is necessary to observe that all the effects of this salvation are eternal, all the blessings it confers are for ever, the felicity to which it brings us is immortal. The effects of it will not only extend to, and penetrate through eternity, but they will give a character to that eternity.

II. That this Divine blessing has given a character and a name to a period of our time, here called the day of salvation.

1. It signifies the day or time when salvation is attainable by us–when it is revealed and published, or urgently set before us. In this sense it seems to be used by the prophet Isaiah (Isa 49:8; lit. 7; 62:1), as quoted by the apostle Paul.

2. The gospel age may indeed be more emphatically designated the day of salvation, since the doctrine of salvation by a crucified surety and Saviour has been more fully illustrated and proclaimed, and since there has been no lack of those means which might encourage and help us all towards the attainment of the happy consummation. It is light that makes the day as distinguished from the night. The night of Judaism is past, it has been succeeded by a clear shining of the light of life, which makes ours indeed a day of salvation.

3. Times of special privilege when salvation is brought near to us.

4. We may especially denominate the Sabbath the day of salvation. It rises up most resplendent with this heavenly light.

III. Consider, if God has given us this day of salvation, and we now enjoy it, there is something for us all to do. We must execute the work of salvation in the day of salvation.

1. The day of salvation requires faith in the blessings then brought nigh. This is the work of God, that ye believe in Him whom He hath sent.

2. The day of salvation requires of you diligence, haste, serious application without delay to this work which you have to do.

IV. Observe, the day of salvation we all enjoy now must have an end. (The Evangelist.)

The day of salvation

The Lord has had His days of vengeance. How terrible was the hour when He opened the sluices of the firmament that the rain might descend in torrents, and bade the fountains of the great deep rise to meet the descending floods.

I. The grand reason for this day–Now is the day of salvation. Read the context in order to understand why there is a present day of salvation. This is the day of salvation because He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. There could have been no day of salvation if a Saviour had not appeared.

1. Notice that according to the context this is the day of salvation, because we may now be reconciled to God. We pray you in Christs stead, be ye reconciled to God.

2. The plain statement of the twenty-first verse explains it all: He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin. Here is the grand doctrine of substitution.

3. To help us to understand mercys great expedient still better, the Holy Spirit tells us that the Divine design in Christ Jesus is to make us the righteousness of God in Christ.

II. The glorious day itself–for the day of salvation is rich with blessing.

1. I would commend that day because of its fourfold excellence. Read again the verse in which our text stands. Although the words must be regarded as spoken, in the first place, to our Lord, the best expositors say that they are also addressed to His Church in Him.

(1) So then, in this day of salvation our prayer will be heard, I have heard thee in a time accepted.

(2) We are further told that this day help will be given. What does it say? In the day of salvation have I succoured thee.

(3) And then it is added, Behold, now is the accepted time, so that the third blessing is that coming sinners will be accepted. If you will come to God He will not reject you, whoever you may be.

(4) And then the fourth excellence is that it is a time of salvation, You need saving; be glad then that it is salvations own day.

2. Now, let me notice that this ought to be peculiarly pleasant news to those who are heavily laden with guilt.

3. The truth of our text should also be very encouraging to those who are fighting against inward sin.

4. While this is very encouraging to penitents and to those who are fighting with sin it should be equally cheering to tried believers.

5. And do you not think this truth should encourage all who are at work to win souls for Jesus?

III. Something about a dark cloud which may darken the close of this day of salvation. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The accepted time

1. It is the wish of most men to obtain salvation; and therefore it is their resolution at some time or other to repent. Now they are engaged in some important business; they have met with some worldly disaster; they are in pursuit of some pleasure; they feel an indolence of temper which indisposes them for exertion; but they are determined not to let life pass away without securing salvation. Some favourable opportunity will occur.

2. Thus lulled into security many go on to disregard the secret remonstrances of conscience, and to despise the warnings and invitations of the Word of God, till at last they die as they had lived.

3. Now to be convinced of the folly, guilt, and danger of this conduct, consider–

I. The nature of repentance and the commandment of God concerning it.

1. Repentance is turning from sin to holiness. With what propriety, then, can we put it off? Can it be reasonable to delay?

2. Consider the commandment of God concerning repentance. If we admit Gods authority to be supreme, and that He has enjoined the duty of repentance, we cannot discharge it too soon.

II. The longer repentance is delayed, the more painful and difficult will it become.

1. Remember the power of habit. Thoughts and practices which we have long indulged acquire such a seat in the heart and character as to become a part of our system. And hence habit is spoken of as a second nature. Now if habit, simply considered, is powerful, its power must be increased in proportion to the length of time during which it prevails. The person, therefore, who resolves to repent hereafter, is not only careless of the obstacles which habit lays in the way of his repentance, but waits till these obstacles are augmented. What folly! thus to allow habit to acquire additional force.

2. But the extreme folly of delay appears farther, when we consider the nature of the habits. These are not those to which they are naturally averse. On the contrary, they are highly agreeable to them; cherished by the natural corruption of the heart, operate with a reciprocal influence, and give to that corruption a greater efficacy. The roots of natural depravity and those of evil habit are thus interwoven, and therefore to eradicate evil habits is like tearing the heart in pieces.

3. It is true that Divine grace can, and alone can, subdue all opposition;but it is also true that Divine grace has not promised to work miracles in your behalf–that God will not deal with you as mere passive machines in whom there is no will, no affections, no habits to be conquered by ordinary means.

III. Circumstances may occur to render repentance impracticable, and consequently to secure your ruin.

1. Every sin renders you guilty; but when warned of your guilt, and danger, you go on to aggravate the one and to despise the other, you provoke God to give you over to a reprobate mind, and to harden your heart. And will you risk this for all that the universe can give?

2. But supposing that God does not shut up His mercy, may you not be placed where there shall be nothing to secure your return to Him?

3. Again, the power of disease may lay you low on the bed of languishing and pain. That, indeed, you may flatter yourselves, will be a fit occasion for attending to your spiritual interests. Alas! you know little of the nature of repentance if you think that the time of bodily distress is the time for repentance. Sufficient unto that day is the evil thereof.

4. And is there not soundness of mind, which is still more necessary than health of body for attending to the concerns of the soul; but of which you may be deprived when you are least expecting it?

5. But though none of these things should take place, we know that we must die, and we know not when. We may be cut off in the midst of health, and youth, and gaiety. (A. Thomson, D. D.)

The tremendous importance of now

This language implies a need and an opportunity of being saved on the part of those addressed. And, if we understand the Scriptures, to be saved is the supreme good for men.

1. One feature is suggested by the text–namely, a limited period of grace. But why should there be any limit to the period of probation? Why should the door of recovery from sin ever be closed? Plainly, because it would be useless to keep it open for ever; because choice has a tendency to become irrevocable, and character to become permanent. Gods methods are never arbitrary. The amazing longevity of the antediluvians appears to have resulted in equally amazing wickedness.

2. Another feature in the economy of grace is seen in Gods withholding from the sinner a knowledge of the duration of his earthly life. As a rule no man knows the hour of his own death.

3. Another feature in the economy of grace is the influence of an animal body upon a sinful soul. An animal body is weak, perishable, exacting, and in certain respects heterogeneous to the soul. It renders a little service and requires much. With a large part of mankind the business of life is to provide for the body. How, then, can he give much attention to the wants of his spirit? But this is less than half the truth. The influence of a frail and exacting body may be favourable to the recovery of man from the terrible fascination of selfishness. For a body whose preservation must be purchased by so much toil and care reminds them by its frailty of the one coming event which can be postponed, but not averted. Again, it must be considered that care for physical life or health is a duty, though not the highest; it is right in itself, though not religious. We may exercise it, therefore, with a clear conscience. Moreover, it is safe to assume that the moral natures of men who are engaged in doing what is felt to be right will not deteriorate so rapidly as they would have done if the same men had been either idle or doing what was seen to be in itself wrong. Susceptibility to high influences will not be so quickly destroyed. And, therefore, the day of grace can be made longer than would otherwise have been safe or useful. But look once more, you may perhaps reply, to the other side of the picture. Does not the body drag the soul downwards? Is it not a source of strong temptations rather than a spur to honest toil? They are not, however, so numerous as the calls to useful service which are presented by the body, nor are they so powerful as to silence these calls. But is not the mind clogged in its search after the highest truth by the body which it inhabits? And is not the possibility of its return to God dependent oil its clear apprehension of that highest truth? Must not this weak and exacting body, then, be a serious impediment at the very outset to religious life? I freely admit that our present bodies are not perfect organs of the spirit. But let it not be forgotten that the search for truth which is rendered toilsome by a body whose senses are dull and whose energies are limited, leaves only a modicum of power to be worse than wasted in self-indulgence. Nor let it be forgotten that a little truth may have infinite value to the soul which receives it as a friend, or that effort to obtain truth because it is loved is a part of the blessed life itself. The great difficulty experienced by men in obtaining knowledge, because their bodies are now adapted to animal life more exactly than to spiritual life, is therefore a circumstance favourable to their prospect of recovery from sin and death.

4. Another feature of human probation on earth is the influence of domestic life upon sinful beings. This influence is very pervading and beneficent. The domestic affections, whether conjugal, parental, filial, or fraternal, must be contemplated with a reverence second only to that which we owe to Christian love. They are not indeed identical with love to God, nor do they imply or produce that love. They do not regenerate man, but they keep alive his power to enjoy fellowship, and to believe in the possibility of love. For of all natural avenues to unrenewed souls these affections are probably, next to conscience, the surest and the best. While they continue open, the way of salvation is rarely closed. They tend to prevent a final and utter hardening of the spirit against sweetness and light. Thus all the features of human life, in so far as they are ordered by our Heavenly Father, reveal His wisdom and goodness. In every instance they appear to have been chosen with a view to human salvation. (A. Hovey, D. D.)

The day of salvation

Here you find–

1. A note of attention–Behold!

2. An object to which the attention is called.

3. The period in which to act-now, not yesterday, that is past; not to-morrow, that is to come.

I. The gospel period is here called a day. The gospel period is called a day, because–

1. It discovers that which would have been otherwise concealed in darkness. In this day we discover the perfections of the Deity, the nature of sin, the worth of a Saviour, the only way by which sinners can be delivered from hell, and brought to heaven. The world has had many sorts of days, but never one like this before.

2. It is affected by some bright luminary. What makes a day–the stars, the moon? No; the sun. And what makes the spiritual day–ministers, the church? No; the Sun of righteousness. The man that is without Christ is in a state of darkness and death, and, if he dies, must perish.

3. It is time for people to work. Go, my son, work in my vineyard.

4. It is a limited time. Oh, Jerusalem, if thou hadst known, at least in this thy day, etc., etc. There is an end to days.

II. The property of this day. God has had many sorts of days; He had a day to create, a day to preserve, a day to afflict, a day to redeem, a day to judge; but the day in my text is a day of salvation. It would not have been a surprising thing if it had been a day of destruction, of affliction; but it is a day of salvation. And this implies the existence of sin; there would have been no need for such a day if sin had not caused it. This day includes the gracious provision of the Fathers love–the Sons merit, and the Spirits grace. Make much of this day.

1. It is a necessary salvation. It is not necessary for a man to be rich, to have health, to be surrounded with friends, but it is necessary to have this salvation, or he is lost for ever.

2. It is a spiritual salvation. Not such as the Jews had in the Red Sea-not such an one as Daniel in the lions den. This saves the soul from sin, and raises man to the enjoyment of God.

3. This salvation is a suitable one. It is just what we stand in need of. It required infinite wisdom to contrive it, infinite merit to procure it, and infinite grace applies it to the soul.

4. This salvation is a free one. Christ is free, and the grace of the Spirit is free.

5. This salvation is a great one, It is as great as the requirements of Divine justice; as great as the misery of man. It is adequate to all its objects. It was the great God contrived it, it had a great Saviour to accomplish it, a great Spirit applies it, and a great multitude will be saved by it.

6. It is a glorious salvation. God saves without a spot on His throne; without a speck on His character; here is God glorified in justifying the man.

7. This salvation is a perfect one; there is no deficiency in it. It does not save from some sin, but from all sin. There is nothing wanting for God, for man, for life, for death, and an eternal world.

8. This salvation is an everlasting salvation, grace, and glory.

Conclusion: From our subject we see–

1. The goodness of God in providing such a salvation.

2. The misery of man, that required or rendered it necessary.

3. The awful state of the man that despises or neglects this salvation. (Theo. Jones.)

The accepted time

Behold is as a larum bell of attention, now is as a finger of indication or application to a season.

1. To awake our faith (Isa 7:14).

2. To awake our hope (Rev 22:12).

3. To awake our love (1Jn 3:1).

4. To awake our fear (Rev 1:7).

5. To wake our joy (Luk 2:10-11).

6. To awake our thankfulness (Psa 134:1).

7. To awake our compassion (Lam 1:12).

8. To awake our diligence.

The accepted time. The season is that in time which light is in the air, lustre in metals, the flower in plants, cream in milk, quintessence in herbs, the prime and best of it. Now there being a threefold season–

1. Natural, which husbandmen observe in sowing, gardeners in planting and grassing, mariners in putting to sea.

2. Civil, which all humble suppliants observe in preferring petitions to princes and great personages.

3. Spiritual, which all that have a care of their salvation must observe in seeking the Lord while he may be found. (D. Featly, D. D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 2. For he saith] That is, God hath said it, by the prophet Isaiah, Isa 49:8; which place the apostle quotes verbatim et literatim from the Septuagint. And from this we may at once see what is the accepted time, and what the day of salvation. The advent of the Messiah was the eth ratson, the time of God’s pleasure or benevolence, of which all the faithful were in expectation; and the day of salvation, yom yeshuah, was the time in which this salvation should be manifested and applied. The apostle therefore informs them that this is the time predicted by the prophet; and the ministry of reconciliation being exercised in full force is a proof that the prophecy is fulfilled; and therefore the apostle confidently asserts, Behold, NOW is this accepted time, NOW the Messiah reigns, NOW is the Gospel dispensation, and therefore NOW is the day of salvation; that is, the very time in which the power of God is present to heal, and in which every sinner believing on the Lord Jesus may be saved.

I rather think that this second verse should be read immediately after the last verse of the preceding chapter; as where it now stands it greatly disturbs the connection between the first and the third verses. I will set down the whole in the order in which I think they should stand. 2Co 5:20: Now then we are ambassadors for Christ; as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ’s stead, to be reconciled to God. For he hath made him a sin-offering for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him: for he saith, “I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. Immediately after this, the sixth chapter will very properly commence, and we shall see that the connection will be then undisturbed:-

We then, as fellow workers, beseech you also, that ye receive not this grace of God in vain, giving no offence in any thing, that this ministry be not blamed. This change of the place of the second verse, which every one allows must, if it stand here, be read in a parenthesis, preserves the whole connection of the apostle’s discourse, and certainly sets his argument before us in a stronger light. Let us review the whole:

1. God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, 2Co 5:18.

2. He appointed the apostles to proclaim to mankind the doctrine of reconciliation, 2Co 5:19.

3. The apostles, in consequence, proclaim this doctrine; and show that Christ was a sacrifice for sin, and that through him we may be perfectly saved, 2Co 5:20; 2Co 5:21.

4. They show also that all this was agreeable to the declaration of God by the prophet Isaiah, Isa 49:8, where he predicts the days of the Messiah, and the grace then to be communicated, 2Co 6:2.

5. The apostle then, speaking in the person of all his fellow labourers, who had this ministry of reconciliation intrusted to them, exhorts them not to receive such a benefit of God in vain, 2Co 6:1.

6. He exhorts those who had embraced the Gospel not to put a stumbling block in the way of others, by acting irreligiously, lest this ministry of reconciliation should be reproached on their account, 2Co 6:3.

7. He shows what conscientious and scrupulous care he and his fellow apostles took to preach and walk so that this ministry might have its full effect, 2Co 6:4, &c.

This view of the subject, if I mistake not, shows a beautiful consistency throughout the whole.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: the words here quoted, are taken out of the prophet Isaiah, Isa 49:8, according to the Septuagints translation. Though some think, that the apostle here doth but accommodate to the spiritual salvation brought in by Christ, a temporal salvation mentioned, and primarily intended; yet the most and best interpreters rather judge that whole chapter in Isaiah to refer to Christ, and that the salvation there mentioned, is to be understood of the spiritual salvation of the gospel; of which also the apostle speaketh here, and maketh these words (as in the prophet) the words of God the Father to Christ his Son; testifying both his assistance of him in the accomplishment of the work of mans redemption, and his acceptance of him; according to which sense, the accepted time is the same with what the apostle calls, the fulness of time, Gal 4:4; (though it may also be so called in the same sense that the apostle calleth the gospel a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation, 1Ti 1:15) in which sense the gospel time was prophesied of as an acceptable time, Gen 49:10; Hag 1:8.

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation; now is that accepted or acceptable time, now is that day of salvation, spoken of by the prophet; therefore you are concerned to receive this grace of the gospel, and to live up to the rule of it.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

2. ForGod’s own promise isthe ground of our exhortation.

he saithGod theFather saith to God the Son, and so to all believers who areregarded as one with Him.

heard theeIn theeternal purposes of my love I have hearkened to thy prayer for thesalvation of thy people (compare Joh 17:9;Joh 17:15; Joh 17:20;Joh 17:24).

accepted . . . acceptedTheGreek of the latter is more emphatic, “well-accepted.”What was “an accepted time” in the prophecy (Isa49:8, Hebrew, “in the season of grace”) becomes”the well-accepted time” in the fulfilment (comparePs 69:13). As it is God’stime of receiving sinners, receive ye His grace: accept(2Co 6:1) the word ofreconciliation in His accepted time.

in the day of salvation“ina day of salvation” (Luk 4:18;Luk 4:19; Luk 4:21;Luk 19:42; Heb 3:7).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted,…. These words are a citation from Isa 49:8 and are spoken by the Father to Christ, declaring he had heard him, as he always did. He heard him when he put up that prayer to him, recorded Joh 17:1 for the glorification of himself, by strengthening him as man in his work, by raising him from the dead, setting him at his own right hand, and giving him the glory he had with him before the world was; for the good of his people, the preservation of those that were called, the conversion of them that are called, and the glorification of all the Father had given him: he heard him in the garden, and answered him; the will of God was done according to his desire, and his will was conformed to the will of his Father, and he was delivered from the fear of death; his ends in his prayer there were answered, which were to show the greatness of his sufferings, the impossibility of man’s salvation in any other way, and that there could be no alteration made in the methods of obtaining it. He heard him on the cross with respect to the deliverance of him from man, with regard to his being forsaken by God, and for the forgiveness of his enemies. Now this period of time in which he was heard on account of these several things, is called a time accepted; or, as in the Hebrew text, , “a time of good will, or acceptance”; a season in which God expressed good will to the sons of men, by sending his own Son to work out salvation for them; this was good will to men, and not to angels, to such as were ungodly, enemies, sinners, and the worst of sinners: it was a time very grateful to him; it was “the accepted year of the Lord”; the sufferings, sacrifice, satisfaction, and righteousness of his Son were well pleasing to him; because his purposes, promises, and covenant transactions had their accomplishment, his perfections were glorified, and his people saved. And it was a time of acceptance, or an acceptable time to men, since it was the day of their salvation, and therefore must be exceedingly agreeable to all such who see their need of it, know the worth of it, and are sensible that there is no other way of salvation than by him.

And in the day of salvation have I succoured thee. These words are still spoken to Christ, who whilst he was in human nature, working out the salvation of his people, by his obedience, sufferings, and death, was succoured, or helped by his Father. This help was promised to him as man, and he expected it, and exercised faith on God for it, and which was actually and punctually given him; and which is no instance of weakness in Christ, who is the mighty God, and was mighty to save; but an indication of the Father’s regard to the human nature of Christ, and of his concern for the salvation of men; and also shows what power and strength were necessary to accomplish it.

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. These are the words of the apostle, applying the former to the present Gospel dispensation; which he introduces with prefixing a “behold” to each sentence, in order to raise both attention to, and admiration at what is delivered:

now is the accepted time; not that the Gospel dispensation is a milder dispensation of things, in which God will accept of an imperfect sincere obedience to his law, in the room of a perfect one; or in which Christ is now offered to sinners, and it is left to them whether they will accept of him or not: but it is so called, because God and Christ now testify their good will to the sons of men, and are ready to accept of, and embrace poor sensible sinners coming to them; and because the Gospel publishes salvation by Christ, which, as it is worthy of their acceptation, cannot but be acceptable to them: now is the day of salvation: now is salvation preached, as being done, already obtained by Christ for sinners, the chief of sinners; it is now brought home to their souls by the ministration of the Gospel under the influence of the Spirit of God; now sinners are convinced of their need of it, and that it cannot be had elsewhere; now they are made to submit to Christ, to be saved by him, and him alone, are encouraged to believe in him, and are by him actually possessed of it. “Now” is, and not yesterday was, the day of salvation; and “now”, and that for ever, that is, as long as the Gospel dispensation continues; for it will be always now till all the elect of God are gathered in. This day of grace and salvation will never be over till that time comes; it is still “now is the day of salvation”: though men may have long withstood the ministration of the Gospel, and notwithstanding their manifold sins and transgressions. There is no withstanding the “now” of grace when it comes with the power of the Holy Ghost.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Behold, now is the acceptable time ( ). Here is another “Pauline parenthesis” (Plummer) as in 5:7 by the quotation from Isa 49:8. The LXX has () verbal of , but Paul employs the double compound (, , ), well-received. It occurs in Aristophanes, Plutarch, inscription, etc.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

He saith, etc. From Isa 49:8, after Septuagint. The Hebrew is : “In the time of favor I answer thee, and in the day of salvation I succor thee.” The words are addressed to the servant of Jehovah, promising to invest him with spiritual power, that he may be a light to Israel and to others. Paul, taking the words in their messianic sense, urges that now is the time when God thus dispenses His favor to Christ, and through Him to men. The application turns on the words acceptable time; a time in which God receives. As He receives, receive ye Him.

The accepted time [ ] . Rev., acceptable. Paul uses for the simple adjective of the Septuagint a compound “well – received,” which is stronger, and which occurs mostly in his own writings. See Rom 14:16, 31; 1Pe 2:5; and compare acceptable year, Luk 4:19.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted,” (legei gar kairo dekto epekousa soul “For he says, “I heard thee in a time accepted,” Isa 49:8. As He heard Israel in Egypt; David in the horrible pit, and the prodigal in the hog-pen, He still heeds the cry of the needy.

2) “And in the day of salvation have I succored thee,” (kai en hemera soterias eboethesa soil “and in a day of salvation (deliverance) I helped thee;” as He saves the penitent who cry to Him for salvation, so He helps His needy children, His fallen children who call to Him in penitence and faith, Psa 40:1-3; Rom 10:13; Luk 18:13-14; Jas 5:16; 1Jn 1:8-9.

3) “Behold, now is the accepted time,” (idou nun kairos euprosdektos) “Behold now (is) an acceptable time,” now and hereafter continually, in this life, day by day, one day at a time, Pro 1:22-28; Heb 3:7-8; Heb 4:7; Rev 22:17.

4) “Behold, now is the day of salvation,” (idou nun hemerea soterias) “Behold now is the day of salvation,” or deliverance, Isa 1:18; Mat 11:28; Joh 6:37; Heb 4:7; Rom 1:16; Rom 10:9-13.

IMPORTANCE OF TODAY

There is a story told in ancient history of a certain king who lighted a lamp, and had it hung in his palace; he then sent heralds forth to bring every criminal and rebel to his presence, that they might obtain pardon. Those who came while the lamp was burning were set free; but those who delayed till the lamp had gone out, or who altogether neglected the invitation, met with a terrible death.

-Anon.

THE QUEEN AND THE ARTIST

An artist solicited permission to paint a portrait of the queen: the favor was granted; and the favor was great, for it would make the fortune of the man. A place was fixed and time; at the fixed place and time the queen appeared, but the artist was not there; he was not ready yet. When he did arrive, a message was communicated to him that her Majesty had departed and would not return. Such is the tale. The King Eternal consented to meet man. He fixed in His covenant and promised in His Word the object, place, and time of the meeting; it is for salvation; it is in Christ, it is now. He has been true to His own appointment; but how often is it otherwise with man.

-Arnot

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

2. For he saith, In an acceptable time. He quotes a prediction of Isaiah, exceedingly appropriate to the exhortation of which he speaks. It is without doubt of the kingdom of Christ that he there speaks, (576) as is manifest from the context. The Father, then, appointing his Son a leader, for the purpose of gathering together a Church, addresses him in these words:

“

I have heard thee in an acceptable time.” (Isa 49:8.)

We know, however, what a degree of correspondence (577) there is between the Head and the members. For Christ was heard in our name, as the salvation of all of us is entrusted into his hand, and nothing else has he taken under his charge. Hence we are all admonished in the person of Christ — not to slight the opportunity that is afforded for obtaining salvation. While the rendering of the Greek interpreter is, εὐπρόσδεκτον, ( acceptable,) (578) the word made use of by the Prophet is, רצון, ( ratson,) that is, benevolence, or free favour. (579)

The quotation must be applied to the subject in hand in this way: “As God specifies a particular time for the exhibition of his grace, it follows that all times are not suitable for that. As a particular day of salvation is named, it follows that a free offer of salvation is not made every day.” Now this altogether depends on the providence of God, for the acceptable time is no other than what is called in Gal 4:4, the fullness of the time (580) The order of arrangement also must be observed. First, he makes mention of a time of benevolence, and then afterwards of a day of salvation By this it is intimated, that salvation flows to us from the mercy of God exclusively, as from a fountainhead. Hence we must not seek the cause in ourselves, as if we by means of our own works moved God to assign to us his favor, for whence comes the day of salvation? It is because it is the acceptable time, that is, the time which God has in his free favor appointed. In the mean time, we must keep in view what Paul designs to teach — that there is need of prompt expedition, that we may not allow the opportunity to pass unimproved, inasmuch as it displeases God, that the grace that he offers to us should be received by us with coolness and indifference.

Behold now is the time The Prophet had spoken of the time, when Christ was to be manifested in the flesh for the redemption of men. Paul transfers the prophecy to the time when Christ is revealed by the continued preaching of the gospel, and it is with good reason that he does so, for as salvation was once sent to the whole world, when Christ appeared, so now it is sent to us every day, when we are made partakers of the gospel. Here we have a beautiful passage, and affording no ordinary consolation, because, while the gospel is preached to us, we know assuredly that the way is opened up for us into the kingdom of God, and that there is a signal of divine benevolence raised aloft, to invite us to receive salvation, for the opportunity of obtaining it must be judged of by the call. Unless, however, we embrace the opportunity, we must fear the threatening that Paul brings forward — that, in a short time, the door will be shut against all that have not entered in, while opportunity was afforded. For this retribution always follows contempt of the word.

(576) “ Il ne faut point douter, que le Prophete ne parle du regne de Christ;” — “There is no room to doubt, that the Prophet speaks of the kingdom of Christ.”

(577) “ Quelle similitude et proportion ou conuenance;” — “What a resemblance, and proportion, or correspondence.”

(578) The precise word in the Septuagint version (with which the Apostle’s quotation exactly corresponds) is δεκτῳ, (acceptable.) Calvin had probably been led to make use of the word εὐπρόσδεκτον from the circumstance, that that adjective is employed by the Apostle in the latter part of the verse, when commenting upon the passage quoted. — Ed.

(579) The Hebrew term referred to is employed in this sense in the following (among other) instances: Psa 5:12; Pro 16:15. — Ed.

(580) Calvin makes a similar observation when commenting on the expression here referred to, in Gal 4:4. “ Pergit in similitudine adducta, et suo instituto definitum a Patre tempus accommodat: simul tamen ostendit, tempus illud, quod Dei providentia ordinatum erat, maturum fuisse et opportunum. Ea igitur demum iusta est opportunitas ac recta agendi dispensatio, qu’ providentia Dei regitur;” — “He proceeds with the comparison which he had brought forward, and applies to his purpose the expression which had been made use of — the time appointed by the father, but still showing that that time, which had been ordained by the providence of God, was proper and suitable. That alone is the fit season, and that the right system of acting, which is directed by the providence of God.” — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

WHY NOT ACCEPT CHRIST?

2Co 6:2

THE rain without has so reduced our audience that I am tempted to-night to turn aside from the subject announced to present another, and but for a single circumstance, I should yield to that temptation. The circumstance to which I refer is my own experience in confessing Christ, for it was about fifty years ago, at a meeting similar, in attendance, to this, that I confessed the Lord Jesus. I am glad the preacher was not discouraged that day, by the small audience, to the point of putting aside his sermon; and whilst the most of you are Christians, there may be someI doubt not there are a few herewho have not as yet found Jesus and experienced His salvation, and may God use His Word while we talk to-night.

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

Men are wont to cry their wares in the most startling words. Many a vender of small articles arrests the attention of street travellers by screeching after them, Behold! Behold! as if what he had were an absolute essential to happiness, when the facts often are that the things are not worth turning ones head for.

But when God pushes aside the curtains of the heavens and calls to mortal men Behold! there is occasion that we stop, consider what He has to present, and come into some appreciation of its importance. And when he repeats that word, saying, Behold a second time, we need not be surprised to find that the thing to which He calls our attention is no less important than the salvation of the soul, for the calls of God are always with good occasion.

BEHOLD, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Let us learn then,

THE PRESENT IS THE TIME DIVINELY APPOINTED FOR SALVATION.

The provision of salvation is perfected. No sooner did Adam sin than God offered the Son of Man as the one who should bruise the serpents head (Gen 3:6-15). Adams sin was the freshest act of his life when God the Father offered him His Son as Saviour, and in His own time that Son came and lived a holy life, died a death that demonstrated His Divinity, came from the grave on the third day, and, leading captivity captive, called to man, It is finished; and I tell you, tonight, that delay touching this matter of salvation is not only dangerous, but is absolutely inexcusable, seeing that the whole plan of salvation is perfected.

And God has proffered the experience of salvation. That is what the Bible means when it says, God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

That is what the church means when it opens its doors and invites the people to attend its services; that is what the singer means when he gives voice and expression to the sacred hymn, or the inspiring anthem; that is what the people mean when they pray to God; that is what the preacher means when he presents the Gospel as the power of God unto the salvation of every one that believeth; that is what all church organizations and all missionary enterprises mean. They are the Brides offer of salvation to a wicked world, and that Bride the Churchvoices the great God in saying, Whosoever will, let him take the Water of Life freely.

Oh, I wish that unconverted men could properly appreciate that God is here and is offering you the one thing needful for time and for eternity, namely, the salvation of the soul.

A story is told that an infidel was one day troubled in his mind, because his little daughter Nellie had gone off to Sunday School in which he did not believe. He had often said, There is no God, and yet he was not living in the assurance of agnosticism, and so the question would keep pushing itself back into his mind, Are you not mistaken? To impress his infidelity the more perfectly on his mind, he caused to be printed on some cards, God is nowhere, and he hung them up in his study. When the child came home and began to talk about God and show her Sunday School cards, he pointed to this inscription and said, Nellie, cannot you read that? She walked around in front of it and began to spell it out G-o-d, God; i-s, is; n-o-w, now; h-e-r-e, here. God is now here. Isnt that right, papa? I know it is right. God is now here.

The hard heart was touched and that father afterward gave up his infidelity and accepted Nellies faith instead.

I wish you had Nellies ability to interpret the Word of God, for He is now here and is saying to you, Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

THE PROMISE OF SALVATION IS FOR THE PRESENT.

Behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW is the day of salvation.

Now is the pivotal point of time. The great difference between men is the difference in their appreciation of this fact. Some seize upon the present moment; others indolently wait for a more convenient season. The first succeed; the second fail. It cannot be otherwise; and yet men are so foolish that they dont seem to understand why they fail.

And this temporary failure which comes to the indolent is a faint suggestion of the eternal failure that must come to those who are always putting off the souls salvation, who live in a state of procrastination.

Oh, my friends, that I could bring you to-night to see how infinitely important is the proper occupation of the present.

It is told of Napoleon III that he was always dilatory; that his good mother was always telling him that his unnecessary delays would yet be his death. But he would not listen, and when one day he was in camp with some of his soldiers, a messenger brought him a notice to the effect that the Zulus were near, and that an attack might come at any time. He half indifferently said, Well, we can spend ten minutes more over our cups and yet be safe. Ere the ten minutes had passed, the enemy was upon them, Napoleon was stricken down. When his mother heard it, she said, Oh, my poor boy. He was always pleading for ten minutes to throw away.

But more depends upon the proper use of ten minutes than the life of the body. Many a man has had such a period of time on which eternity depended and yet has wasted it, and his life went out in darkness.

When Canon Wilberforce was in this country preaching from this text, one day he told how a miner, having heard the Gospel, determined that if it promised his immediate salvation he would not leave the presence of the preacher until he was in possession of that salvation. After the meeting was over he addressed the minister in his rude speech, Didnt ye say I could have the blessing neow? Yes, my friend. Then pray with me neow; for Im not goin awa we-out it.

And they did pray, both the minister and the man, waiting before God until the miner heard the silent words from the still small voice of the Spirit and knew that he was saved. Then he started up saying, I have got it neow, and his face was all aglow as he repeated, I have got it neow.

The next day a terrible accident occurred in the mine and when this minister reached the scene, the dead and the dying were on every side. Searching among them he came upon this big, brawny fellow whom he had seen the night before, and lo he was dying also. But when he recognized the minister, his eyes flashed with their new light and he said, Oh, I dont moind to die; for I have got it. I have got it. It is mine.

And, beloved, today is the day of salvation. To day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.

There is no promise for eternity. You are familiar with the theory of our second probationists that if a soul fails to be saved in time, he will enjoy a second chance in eternity. We do well to call it Andover theology, for it is certainly not Biblical theology.

There are two texts upon which these good people insist, namely, 1Pe 3:19 and 1Pe 4:6. They read like this, By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison. For, for this cause was the Gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

But one needs only to give himself to the context to see that neither of these texts necessarily refer to the inhabitants of hell, and one needs only to be fair in his study of the Bible to understand that if they so seemed to teach, it would be necessary to reconcile them to the multitude of Scriptures that array themselves against such an opinion.

Take any standard Concordance and look up the final state of the wicked and see what the Scriptures are on this subject and be not deceived. Christ could hardly be guilty of employing a parable that, by the fairest interpretation, must teach grievous error; and in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. He has not Gospel for the doomed man who cries for help, and even teaches that they who reject Moses and the Prophets are incorrigible.

What hope then of touching the heart of him who has added Christ and the Apostles to Moses and the Prophets, and, rejecting them all has chosen his bed in hell.

No! The present is the time of your probation, and now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

If you have youth on your side, do not dissipate it, for it is the very season in which to seek God.

Solomon the wisest of all men, moved by the Holy Spirit, said, Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. And Isaiah wrote, Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near.

Oh, beloved, be wise. Accept the counsel of the Everlasting God.

THE PRESENT IS THE TIME TO POSSESS SALVATION.

You need it now.

It is a poor view of Christianity that supposes it to be only a passport to Heaven. Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is. Who can appreciate its full profit?

Go with me tomorrow, and I will take you into a house not far distant from this sanctuary. The father is a drunkard and every appointment of the place is in evidence of that fact. The furniture is scant and old; wife pale and evidently sick at heart; children poorly clad and cringing in fear. No matter how brightly the sun shines without, there is always a gloom in that house, and over those hearts. He had made good resolutions only to break them, and many a time he has pledged his wife never to be guilty again, but found no power with which to keep the pledge. Oft he has looked upon his little ones and in love of them said, I will be a man, but ere twenty-four hours he had turned down his own throat, in drink, what would have been the bread and meat of life for them, and in his intoxication, had come back to add physical injury to all the insults he had heaped upon bride and babes. What does he need? Such a man told me one night that he was going, the next day, to take the Keeley cure, and I said, That is good, but there is something better, and he was eager to know what it was, and I presented Christ and His salvation, and he accepted it, and so far as I know, he has never tasted liquor since.

Go with me, tomorrow, and I will show you people with ungovernable tempers; I will show you people with the habits of profanity; I will show you people given to gambling; I will show you people under the dominance of lust; I will show you people demoniacally possessed, and what every one of them needs for his infirmity, his failing, his sin, is not a separate and specific treatment, but this same salvation, to bring sweet spirit, instead of evil temper, godly gain in the room of gambling, genuine love into the place of lust, and the Holy Ghost into the heart inhabited by evil spirits.

As I study domestic, social, political, and churchly circles of this world, I say that the sweetest and happiest lives to be found in any and in all of them are those into which Gods Son has come with His present salvation.

Again, the present is the time to possess His salvation. The present is in your power. You cannot recall the past. You cannot come into possession of the future. The utmost that you can do is to employ the immediate hour, and I wonder whether you are employing it in seeking for this highest good. I wonder if you esteem salvation as worthy your thought, your effort, your sleepless endeavor.

It is told that Pythagoras, the philosopher, in his love of learning, was unwilling to lose time, and when at night he grew weary with his work and the flesh weakened, and would sleep, he tied a cord to the beam over his head and fastened the other end to a lock of his hair, so that every time he slept and nodded, the pain would bring him broad awake that he might go on with his books again.

I doubt if human learning, valuable as it is, is worth any such suffering endeavor. But, oh, beloved, I have no question that he does well who decides that he will never sleep until salvation is found.

Again, if you will possess salvation at this present time, you will exercise a sacred influence for all remaining days.

Ones interest in salvation should not stop with his own soul, but only begin there.

So soon as Andrew and James discovered the Son of God, they went after their brethren and brought them to Jesus. And when we recall the fact that the present is the harvest-time for souls, shall we be satisfied with anything short of being both redeemed ourselves and reapers for our God?

I often think of a little poem I read somewhere, entitled The Curse of Empty Hands, and it runs like this:

At dawn the call was heard,And busy reapers stirredAlong the highway leading to the wheat.Wilt reap with us? they said.I smiled and shook my head.Disturb me not, said I, my dreams are sweet.

I sat with folded handsAnd saw across the landsThe waiting harvest shining on the hills;I heard the reapers sing Their song of harvesting,And thought to go, but dreamed and waited still.

The day at last was done,And homeward, one by one,The reapers went, well laden as they passed.Theirs was no misspent day,Not long hours dreamed away.In sloth that turns to sting the soul at last.

A reaper lingered near What, cried he, idle here! Where are the sheaves your hands have bound to-day? Alas, I made reply,I let the day pass by Until too late to work. I dreamed the hours away.

O foolish one! he said,And sadly shook his head,The dreaming soul is in the way of death.The harvest soon is oer,Rouse up and dream no more!Act, for the summer fadeth like a breath.

What if the Master cameTo-night and called your name,Asking how many sheaves your hands had made?If at the Lords commandYou showed your empty hands,Condemned, your dreaming soul would stand dismayed.

Filled with strange terror then,Lest chance come not again,I sought the wheat-fields while the others slept.Perhaps ere break of day The Lord will come this way,A voice kept saying, till with fear I wept.

Through all the long, still night,Among the wheat-fields white,I reaped and bound the sheaves of yellow grain.I dared not pause to rest,Such fear possessed my breast;So for my dreams I paid the price in pain.

But when the morning broke And rested reapers woke My heart leaped up as sunrise kissed the lands;For came he soon or late,The Lord of the estate Would find me bearing not the curse of empty hands.

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

(2) I have heard thee in a time accepted . . .Better, perhaps, acceptable. The meaning of the pronoun He, as referring to God, is determined by the preceding verse. The tense of the Greek is better expressed by, I heard thee . . . I succoured thee. As with other citations, it is a natural inference that St. Paul had the context, as well as the words actually cited, in his mind, and it is interesting, accordingly, to remember that context. The words (Isa. 49:8) are among those addressed at first to the servant of Jehovah, as the light of the Gentiles; then, apparently, in His name, as the Holy One, and in that of Jehovah, to Israel as a nation. In Gods dealings with His people through Christ the Apostle saw the true fulfilment of Isaiahs words. Never, in spite of all outward calamities, had there been a time so acceptable, a day so full of deliverance.

Behold, now is the accepted time . . .The word for accepted is much stronger than in the previous clause. Entirely acceptable is, perhaps, its best equivalent. The solemnity of the words was, it may be, intensified in St. Pauls thoughts by what seemed to him the nearness of the impending judgment. Opportunities, as we should say, were offered which might never again recur. But the prolonged experience of the longsuffering of God has given to the words a yet more profound significance. There is, so to speak, a now running through the ages. For each church and nation, for each individual soul, there is a golden present which may never again recur, and in which lie boundless possibilities for the future. The words of the Apostle are, as it were, the transfigured expression of the generalisation of a wide experience which tells us that

There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune:
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.

Shakespeare, Julius Csar, iv. 3.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

2. He God, in the previous verse, who offers the grace.

Saith In Isa 49:8; nearly according to the Septuagint. It is in Isaiah a clearly Messianic passage; but the thee addressed by Jehovah is the Messiah himself. God promises him (by a Hebraism in the past tense) an accepted day for the work of redemption. Paul quotes it to his readers as proof that the day, the now, is the time for them to avail themselves of that redemption.

Heard thee See Joh 11:41-42, with notes.

Day of salvation The period when, redemption’s work being wrought, it is offered to men.

Behold The apostle’s earnest comment repeated, calling attention to the fact that the offer is but for a period, and that period now. Not, as Meyer, that the period is brief by the supposed immediate advent to judgment; but that during this our Messianic age each man’s share of the acceptable period is short but a day.

Accepted The above word accepted, repeated with a strengthening prefix, well-accepted.

Accepted That is, by God himself as the time of mercy-giving.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘For he says, At an acceptable time I listened to you, And in a day of salvation did I succour you. Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.’

In order to support this urgency he cites Scripture. ‘At an acceptable time I heard you,’ (that is ‘heard and responded’), says God. ‘In the day of My deliverance I succoured you.’ When God’s time came, and come it now had, He would hear and succour those who professed to be His people in order to seek to bring them to Himself and save them fully. And that time, says Paul, is now. God has now begun His final saving work. The time is His accepted time, it is His day of salvation. Let them not be sure that they do not miss out on it.

The words are taken from Isa 49:8. They were spoken to the Servant of the Lord as He too was seen as beginning His saving work, the work which Paul and his fellow-workers were now carrying on. The past tenses signify the certainty of that future work, ‘I listened and responded, I succoured’. The application is then made by Paul declaring that they too must ensure that they participate in and be a part of the Servant’s work by submitting to Him, lest they be left out and find that it is too late, that God’s day of salvation, His acceptable time, has passed..

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

2Co 6:2. For he saith See on Isa 49:8. The Apostle’s reasoning is, God, addressing himself in the passage produced from Isaiah to the Messiah, speaks of a limited time, in which the Messiah’s petition, speaking more humano, after the manner of men, was welcome to him, and in which he was ready to grant salvation; and behold, now is the accepted time,now is the precious season, when, by the wonderful favour and goodness of God, complete forgiveness and eternal felicity are freely offered. This verse should be read in a parenthesis. See the introduction to the chapter.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

does not assign the reason why Paul is concerned about his official action , because, namely, now is the time in which God would have the world helped (Hofmann), but gives, as the context requires by the exhortation brought in at 2Co 6:1 , a parenthetic urgent inducement for complying with this exhortation without delay

2Co 6:2 does not assign the reason why Paul is concerned about his official action , because, namely, now is the time in which God would have the world helped (Hofmann), but gives, as the context requires by the exhortation brought in at 2Co 6:1 , a parenthetic urgent inducement for complying with this exhortation without delay .

] sc. , from what precedes. The passage is Isa 49:8 , exactly according to the LXX. The person addressed is the , whose idea is realized in Christ. He is regarded as the head of the true people of God; He is listened to, and He is helped, when the grace of God conveyed through Him is not received without result. Such is the Messianic fulfilment of that, which in Isaiah is promised to the servant of God regarding the deliverance and salvation of the unfortunate peopl.

] Thus the LXX. translate , at a time of favour. Paul was able to retain the expression of the LXX. all the more, that in the fulfilment of the prophetic word the acceptableness ( ) of the for the people of God consists in this, that it is the point of time for the display of divine favour and grace. Chrysostom well says: , , , , , , , . In substance the same thing is indicated by , on the day of deliverance. If is taken as the time pleasing to God (Hofmann), [247] it is less in keeping with the parallel “ day of salvation .” The aorists are neither of a future (Menochius) nor of a present character (Flatt), but the Deity speaking sees the future as having already happened. See on Luk 1:51 .

In the commentary which Paul adds: , . . ., he discloses the element of that utterance of God, which moves to the use of this welcome salvation-bringing time. Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of deliverance , which the prophet has foretold; now or never may you be successful in obtaining salvation through a fruitful acceptance and apprehension of the divine grace! If the is past, and you have frustrated in your case the grace received, then the hearing and help promised by the prophet are no longer possible! The duration of this was in Paul’s view the brief interval before the near-approaching Parousia. The stronger (2Co 8:12 ; Rom 15:16 ; Rom 15:31 ; Plut. Mor. p. 801 C), which he has used instead of the simple form, has proceeded involuntarily from his deep and earnest feeling on the subject.

[247] Comp. Calvin, who understands by it the “tempus plenitudinis” of Gal 4:4 .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

Ver. 2. Now is the accepted time ] He purposely beats upon the , because opportunity is headlong, and, if once past, irrecoverable. Some are semper victuri, always alive, as Seneca saith, they stand trifling out their time, and so fool away their salvation. God will not always serve men for a sinning stock. Patientia laesa fit furor. Do we therefore as millers and mariners, who take the gale when it cometh, and make use of it, because they have not the wind in a bottle.

Now is the day of salvation ] And God will not suffer men twice to neglect it. If once past, it will never dawn again. Catch therefore at opportunities, as the echo catcheth the voice, Psa 27:1 , take the nick of time. God is more peremptory now than ever, Heb 2:2-3 .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

2. ] Ground of the exhortation : viz. the importance of the present time as the day of acceptance, shewn by a Scripture citation. For he (God, with whom we and whose grace we recommend) saith, ‘In an accepted time (Heb. , ‘ in a season of grace ’) I heard thee, and in the day of salvation I helped thee:’ behold (inserted for solemnity to mark the importance of what follows), NOW is the favourably accepted time ( , a far stronger term than , q. d. the very time of most favourable acceptance, said from the fulness of his feeling of the greatness of God’s grace), behold , NOW is the day of salvation . , , , . Chrys. p. 522. The prophecy is one directly of the Lord Jesus, as the restorer and gatherer of his people; and the time of acceptance is the interval of the offer of the covenant to men, conceded to Him by the Father.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

2Co 6:2 . , . . .: for He, sc. , God, saith ( cf. Rom 9:15 , Gal 3:16 ), “ At an acceptable time I hearkene to thee, and in a day of salvation did I succour thee ” (Isa 49:8 ). The whole verse is parenthetical, and is introduced to remind the Corinthians that the present dispensation is that dispensation of grace of which the prophet speaks; tanley pointed out that of ver. may well have suggested , which in its turn suggested the quotation. The words in their original context are addressed by Jehovah to His Servant, while St. Paul takes them as addressed by God to His people; but, inasmuch as the Servant in the latter portion of Isaiah is the Representative of Israel, the application made by the Apostle is easily explicable. . . .: behold now is the “Acceptable Time,” behold now is the “Day of Salvation” . This is St. Paul’s comment. Observe that he does not say ( cf. Heb 3:7 ff.), but not “to-day,” but “the present dispensation”. His point here is not (as it is often represented) that the only day of grace which we can reckon on is the present (gravely true though this is), but that the Christian dispensation is the one spoken of by the O.T. prophet in familiar words. It will be remembered that Christ applied to Himself and His ministry in like manner the words of Isa 61:2 , (Luk 4:19 ). We are not to draw any distinction here between and ; the latter is the usual word in secular authors, and (see reff.) is always used by St. Paul, except (Phi 4:18 ) in a quotation from the LXX.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

have. Omit.

heard = heard with

favour. Greek. epakouo. Only here.

accepted. Greek. dektos. Same Gk, verb, as “receive” in 2Co 6:1.

in. Greek. en, App-104.

have I succoured = I helped. Quoted from Isa 49:3.

behold. Greek. idou. App-133.

accepted. Greek. euprosdektos, A stronger word than above. See Rom 15:16.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

2.] Ground of the exhortation: viz. the importance of the present time as the day of acceptance,-shewn by a Scripture citation. For he (God, with whom we and whose grace we recommend) saith, In an accepted time (Heb. , in a season of grace) I heard thee, and in the day of salvation I helped thee: behold (inserted for solemnity-to mark the importance of what follows), NOW is the favourably accepted time (, a far stronger term than , q. d. the very time of most favourable acceptance, said from the fulness of his feeling of the greatness of Gods grace),-behold, NOW is the day of salvation. , , , . Chrys. p. 522. The prophecy is one directly of the Lord Jesus, as the restorer and gatherer of his people; and the time of acceptance is the interval of the offer of the covenant to men, conceded to Him by the Father.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

2Co 6:2. , He saith) The Father to Messiah, Isa 49:8, embracing in Him all believers.-, for) He is describing grace.-, accepted) the acceptable time of the good pleasure of God. Hence Paul presently after infers its correlative, , well-accepted, that it may be also agreeable to us.[33]- ) I have heard thee, viz. praying.- , in a day) Luk 19:42; Heb 3:7.- , behold now) The summing up of the exhortation, 2Co 6:1; set before us in the way of a supposed dialogue.[34]

[33] The present time is to God: let it be also to us.-ED.

[34] Or introduction of an imaginary speaker. See Append. on Sermocinatio.-ED.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

2Co 6:2

2Co 6:2

(for he saith, At an acceptable time I hearkened unto thee, and in a day of salvation did I succor thee:-This is quoted from Isa 49:8, in which he shows Gods willingness to succor and save those who hearken unto his call and obey him. He does not quote this as a prophecy now fulfilled, but as the statement of Gods willingness at all times to save.

behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation):-God is ever ready and willing to save all who will submit to him and be saved in Gods way. [There is a now running through the ages. For each church and individual, there is a golden present which may never again recur, and in which lie boundless possibilities for the future.]

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

salvation

(See Scofield “Rom 1:16”).

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

a time: Isa 49:8, Isa 61:2, Eze 16:8, Luk 4:19, Luk 19:42-44, Heb 3:7, Heb 3:13, Heb 4:7

Reciprocal: Gen 19:15 – hastened Exo 16:21 – General Lev 8:32 – General Jos 4:10 – hasted Psa 32:6 – pray Psa 69:13 – in an Pro 27:1 – Boast Ecc 9:12 – man Son 2:13 – Arise Isa 55:6 – Seek Hos 13:13 – for he Mat 5:25 – whiles Luk 11:9 – knock Luk 12:58 – give Luk 13:25 – once Luk 18:37 – they Joh 4:40 – he abode Act 17:32 – We will Act 24:25 – when

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

THE ACCEPTABLE TIME

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

2Co 6:2

This repeated word now reminds us that the time it embraces is a short time. Whether we interpret it to mean to-day, or yesterday, to-day, and to-morrow, or even extend it to the threescore years and ten, the normally allotted years of man, it is still very short.

I. To every individual there is a golden present which can never return, and in which may lie boundless opportunities for the future. Indeed, there is a now running all through the ages, and applies equally to nations and churches as to individuals. Because at the crucial moment of their existence those responsible for their well-being have failed to grasp their opportunities and have been content with a dead past, and instead of rising to the occasion have failed to see the danger. Blinded by the pleasures of the moment, like Rehoboam they have blundered into a revolution. History has seen ancient and powerful civilisations pass into nothingness, because they have trusted to the successes of the past and missed the opportunities of the present.

II. The same may be said of Churches.Where are the churches of which we read so much in the New Testament? Most of them have lost their influence as centres of Christianity, because of their lethargy and unfaithfulness. Many of them have fallen into the hands of the enemies of Christianity; and the standard of the Cross has had to be borne by those which once formed the outposts of the Church. Constantinople, the city of Constantinethe new Romebuilt as a distinctly Christian city, by the first Christian Emperor, is now the chief centre of Mohammedanism. Antioch, Carthage, Alexandria, have lost their old prestige, because those responsible for them have failed to recognise the importance of this Scripture, Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

III. Let us beware, lest we, as a Church, and as individuals, make a singular mistake.If we do not seek to go foward, we shall go backward. There is no such thing as standing still in the Christian life. It is a race to be runa race that can only be won by training and exercise. We must not rest on our oars; we must never weary of toiling in rowing if we wish to reach the other side. Since sin entered into the world the religious life is a constant struggle with opposing forces. We must breast the stream with the tide against us. We are so apt to forget this, and to rest content with what we do, or with what we have done, rather than in thinking what we might do, and so trying to do more. The best way to begin is to try and better our own spiritual life, by living nearer to God.

Rev. C. Rhodes Hall.

Illustration

We must never rest content with the past. No doubt, once, we did run well. We can recall our first love and enthusiasm for Christ. Then we thought we were capable of doing great things for Him. With our larger experience now, we are able to see that feeling and emotion had a large share in our enthusiasm. We may have learnt to rest our faith upon a more solid foundation than the shifting sands of feeling, yet, in the routine of our religion, there is a danger of performing our spiritual duties in a mechanical and perfunctory manner, which is not only displeasing to God, but robs us of that pleasure and satisfaction which our religion is intended to impart. To worship and serve God as a matter of duty is better than not attempting to do it at all, but duties, unless they are sweetened by love, are apt to become irksome. Lent, then, is a season when we may attempt to realise once more that in the presence of God there is fullness of joy, and at His right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

2Co 6:2. The present verse is enclosed in parentheses; however, it is directly related to verse 1. In that place the apostle exhorts the Corinthians not to let the offer of salvation to them be in vain. The present one is a quotation from Isa 49:8, and the connection of that passage shows the prophet was predicting the offer of salvation to the Gentiles. The Corinthians were Gentiles and hence were among the ones to whom the prediction applied. That prediction was in effect at the time Paul was writing, hence he informs them now is the accepted time. That is why he insists that they make good use of the oppor-tunity.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

2Co 6:2. (for he saith (Isa 49:8), At an acceptable[1] time I hearkened unto thee, and in the day of salvation I succoured thee. The whole strain of prophecy from which these words are quoted is brightly Messianic, and the words quoted were addressed by Jehovah to His Servant the Messiah, assuring Him that He is fully alive to His rightful claims, that He hearkens to Him at the choice time (the tense is the prophetic perfect[2]); for Jehovah had said, Ask of me, and I will give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession (Psa 2:8), and when the day of salvation arrives He will not fail to make His promise good. Well, says our apostle here,behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation):Do ye, Gentile converts, therefore, make this good in your own case, shewing, by what the Gospel has made you to be, that this is no name but a glorious reality.

[1] The verbal association of ideas here in (2Co 6:1) and (2Co 6:2) should be noticed by the student of the original.

[2] Cheynes Isaiah, ii. p. 1

Ver. 2. giving, etc. The connexion is with the opening words of the chapter, As working together with God, and . . . giving no occasion of stumbling in any thing, that our ministration be not blamed. How far the opposite of this was the uniform procedure of the apostle, he protests in the remarkable and glowing verses that follow.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

These words are taken from the prophet Isaiah, Isa 49:8. They are a promise which God the Father made to Christ as Mediator, That in the great work of saving his church, the Father would accept and succour him as the Head of the church: I have heard thee in an accepted time, in the day of salvation.

Here note, There is a two-fold day of salvation: the one was Christ’s day for the purchase of salvation; the other is our duty, for the application.

1. Christ had a season assigned him for the impetration or purchase of salvation; and he set in, and complies with that season, and it became an acceptable time with respect to him.

2. We have also our season alloted us by God, for the application of Christ and his benefits to our souls.

Behold, now is our accepted time, now is our day of salvation: let us prize it highly, and improve it faithfully. ‘Tis a day, and that is but a short space of time; ’tis a day, and therefore continually spending: ’tis a day, therefore when once gone is irrecoverably gone. Our working day is a wasting day; ’tis a day, and that will be followed with a night, in which none can work, but only lament their folly in not working: Behold then, now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Verse 2 Isa 49:8 is now quoted by the apostle to prove God’s continual interest in man’s salvation. God is always ready to receive sinful man, but man is limited to the present since it will never happen again and the future is not assured.

Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books

(for he saith, At an acceptable time I hearkened unto thee, And in a day of salvation did I succor thee: behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation) [The apostle here begins to give a warning which is fully set forth later (2Co 6:14-18). Before giving the warning he pauses to establish his character, influence and authority among them, that his warning may have weight. This establishment of his authority, etc., fills up the intervening space (2Co 6:3-13). These two verses of introduction will be considered together with the warning itself]:

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

Verse 2

He saith; Isaiah 49:8.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

6:2 {2} (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time {a} accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now [is] the accepted time; behold, now [is] the day of salvation.)

(2) In that grace is offered, it is by the grace of God, who has appointed times and seasons to all things, that we may take occasion when it is offered.

(a) Which I of my free mercy and love towards you liked and appointed. And at this time God poured out his marvellous love upon us.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

As he begged unbelievers to receive God’s reconciling grace (2Co 5:20), Paul now urged his readers to respond quickly and positively to God’s grace to them. Paul quoted Isa 49:8 to stress the importance of responding immediately. The "acceptable time" will not last forever. In the context of the Isaiah quotation, God addressed His Servant, whom the nations had despised, promising eventual vindication and urging Him to restore His people. The parallel with Paul and the Corinthians’ ministry is obvious. Rather than squabbling among themselves over Paul, the readers needed to get on with the ambassadorial work that God had given them to do.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)