<p>6:2- see on Ps. 69:13.</p><p><i>For He said: In a time of acceptance I hearkened to you, and in a day of salvation did I succour you. Behold, now is the time of acceptance; behold, now is the day of salvation</i>- This quotation is in support of the statement that we have received God's grace, <i>charis</i>, gift of the Spirit; but we are not to receive it in vain, but rather make use of it. The 'succouring' in view refers to just that. The same word is used in Heb. 2:18 of how the Lord Jesus gives us such help in time of temptation. Seeing that temptation is internal to the human mind, this help is surely psychological, within the heart- which is exactly what the gift of the Spirit is all about. Forgiveness is indeed in view, but beyond that- strength against falling into sin.</p><p>There's an allusion here to Ps. 32:6. For every sinner, for whom David is our example, <i>now</i> is the time when God may be &quot;found&quot; in the sense of experiencing His forgiveness. God <i>is</i> love towards men, He <i>is</i> forgiveness. To experience this and respond back to it is therefore to find the knowledge of God. This &quot;time when You (i.e. God's forgiveness, which <i>is</i> God) may be found&quot; which David speaks of is that of 2 Cor. 6:2: &quot;Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation&quot;. Paul was speaking of how all sinners, baptized or not, need to realize this; we are all in David's position. Some complain that they did not experience a very great upsurge in finding and knowing God at the point of baptism. This may be due to an insufficient emphasis on the need for repentance and appreciating the seriousness of sin before baptism; and not being willing to make use of the Spirit gift which we are then given. We must not think that we know God because we believe a Statement of Faith and have been baptized. &quot;Now is the accepted time&quot;, Paul wrote to the baptized Corinthians, to truly take on board the marvel of God's forgiveness, to know it and respond to it for ourselves, and thereby to come to a dynamic, two-way relationship with God.</p><p>But the allusion is also to Is. 49:8 &ldquo;In an acceptable time have I heard you&rdquo;. This is one of a number of instances of where Old Testament Messianic Scriptures are applied to Paul in the context of his preaching Christ. Is. 49:8,9: &ldquo;In an acceptable time have I heard you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you&rdquo; is quoted about us in 2 Cor. 6:2 in the context of us being preachers, labouring with God. Isaiah continues: &ldquo;And I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages; saying to them that are bound, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves&rdquo; (RV). This is the language of the Lord&rsquo;s preaching, which freed men from the prison house (Is. 61:1,2). Yet because we are in Him, we too have His ministry; our words too can <i>make men inherit</i> the Kingdom, and free men from their bondage. &ldquo;We are witnesses through being in him&rdquo; (Acts 5:32 RVmg.). As the Lord in Isaiah&rsquo;s servant songs was the suffering, saving, atoning servant, lifted up to give salvation world-wide- so are we. This is why a Messianic passage like Is. 49:8 is quoted by Paul in 2 Cor. 6 about <i>us</i>. The next verse, Is. 49:9, must therefore also be about us: &quot;That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves... they shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water&rdquo; (AV). In the same way as <i>we</i> have experienced the &quot;acceptable time&quot; in this life, so we will be able to encourage others to make use of the &quot;accepted time&quot; of God's grace.</p>