Today is the Day of Salvation ?

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 of salvation.        (II Corinthians 6:2)

For years we have been taught this scripture means one must accept or reject Jesus Christ before one dies to either be saved and go to Heaven or unsaved and spend eternity in the agony of hellfire. Does that sound fair to you?

Let's consider some of these lost souls which are consigned to the alleged eternal punishment in hellfire. There are the billions who never even heard the name Jesus. What about everyone who lived before Jesus was even born? They could not be saved under the Old Testament for all had sinned, and Jesus had not as yet died for their sins! What about those mentally incompetent? What about children who died before they understood about Jesus? Based on today's Christian theology all of these except for the children are presently burning in hell. Children who die in their innocent years get the only free pass!

But absolutely none of these people were ever given a choice to accept or reject Jesus as their Savior before their death! The good news of the gospel was never correctly explained to them. Ask yourself once again, "Is this a fair and just system?" In fact, God is fair and just, and none of those listed above will be unjustly cast into hell:

...Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just
 and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. (Revelation 15:3)

So God is indeed just and true. But the only path to salvation is through Jesus Christ:

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.         (Acts 4:12)

But multitudes have died never having even heard the name of Jesus! Must these unjustly suffer? Heaven, we have a problem! Of course, the problem did not originate in heaven. The problem is man's inability to understand the scriptures which are sealed up from his understanding. Consider the following verse:

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:       (Deuteronomy 30:19)

Only after the true gospel message has been placed before each person can that person truly make a choice between eternal life and the second death as described above. But untold numbers of people have lived and died without ever hearing the true good news of the gospel. Therefore, they could not make an intelligent choice. Let's now consider the phrase "now is the day of salvation" in greater detail.

What day do we really live in? In a broader sense, what age do we live in? We are living in the age of man. Man was created and given dominion over the earth in the Genesis creation. We are under the sway of Satan and God intervenes as required to keep His master plan on track. With those exceptions, man rules today's earth! Man's will is being done on earth, not God's. In fact, the first request we are instructed to pray for in the Lord's Prayer is for God's will to be done on earth:

...Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.       (Matthew 6:9-10)

So today we are in the age of man or the day of man. This entire day or age of man is the accepted time in which men may seek salvation. But isn't this making the same claim that humans must accept Jesus before dying? After all, isn't that the only time they will be alive to make the choice? No, that is not the case! The majority of humans will have two periods of life with physical bodies on the earth. Every human who ever lived will be resurrected. However, only those with their names written in the book of life will be resurrected as immortal spiritual bodies:

And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life ...     (Daniel 12:2)

Two body types are defined in the Bible, physical and spiritual. The many that sleep in the dust of the earth are all humans who have died and been buried. The some that awake to everlasting life are Christians who are born again as spirits and thus awake to everlasting life. Those not awakened to everlasting life as spiritual bodies must be awakened as the only remaining body type which are physical human bodies. They are resurrected as the same human body type in which they lived and died their first physical death on the earth. If men are still alive after the resurrections, then that time is still within the day of man, and salvation can be attained then! As long as any one human is still alive and conscious that human can accept Jesus Christ and be saved. The New Testament requirement for salvation, John 3:16, does not mention any time limitations. While it is true that men must accept or reject Jesus before they die, men truly die at their second death, not their first! Their first death is spoken of as sleep or rest in the Bible. Therefore, men can accept Jesus and be born again as immortal spiritual beings into the Kingdom of God up to their second death! No one ever lives again after suffering the second death.

When did this age or day of man begin? It began when man was created and given dominance over the earth as described in Genesis:

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.       (Genesis 1:26)

When will the age of man end? It will end when there are no more men. This occurs after Revelation 20:15 which is after the millennium and the final great white throne judgment. After completion of this judgment every human being will have either been born again as a spiritual body or cast into the lake of fire and suffered the second death. There will be no more physical human bodies and there never will be again. Therefore, the age of man is over:

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.      (Revelation 20:15)

This marks the end of our age. Man can no longer be saved because there are no more men. The age of Jesus Christ's rule on earth now begins. This new age will last for eternity.

At the second resurrection, humans who did not believe in Jesus when they were buried will be raised from their graves as mortal human bodies. The vast multitude of people who had never even heard of Jesus, those who had never heard the true gospel message, those who were infants or otherwise incompetent to make decisions, along with those who lived before Jesus died on the cross for their sins, will now have their first true choice regarding their salvation. This will be after their initial death as humans.

The scriptures state that humans will learn the truth of the gospel from children:

And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Jesus Christ.         (II Timothy 3:15)

Those resurrected as mortals at the second resurrection will have their first true choice between accepting or rejecting Jesus as their personal Savior at that time. Who will teach them the scriptures so that they can make an informed decision? Children! Who are these children? They are those Christians who were born again as spiritual children of God at the first mass resurrection:

Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.       (Luke 20:36)

These children of the resurrection are now one thousand years of age, having lived through the millennium period of rest and training. In fact, they are only one day old children! They are now immortal spiritual beings and to them one thousand years are as one of mortal man's days:

But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.       (II Peter 3:8)

So these born again Christians from the first resurrection are still children, being one day old. The pastors and priests which we are familiar with today did not accomplish the job. These born again Christians who are now children of the resurrection have become the immortal spiritual priests of God and Christ:

Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.     (Revelation 20:6)

These child priests will teach the true gospel message of the scriptures to untold numbers of nonbelievers who were resurrected again as physical beings at the second resurrection. Therefore, the bulk of humanity will not hear the gospel message from piously robed "men of God" with honorary prefixes attached to their names and multi million dollar book deals. They will hear it from children, these one day old spiritual children of God!

As these mortals accept Jesus as their Savior they will be born again (converted) as spiritual children of God:

...Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.       (Matthew 18:3)

Those who still reject Jesus will suffer the second death when cast into the fires of hell. What will happen to them? Since they are mortal beings, they will quickly perish in the fire:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.       (John 3:16)

There are always reasons for God's actions. The reasons are never hatred or revenge, because God is love. He is not raising the nonbelievers from the dead to simply watch them suffer the second death. It is their chance to choose, their day of salvation. It is the first opportunity for most of them!

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