<p>1:77 <i>To give knowledge of salvation to His people in the remission of their sins</i>- See on Mt. 3:11. The experience of forgiveness is a foretaste of salvation; as John's gospel puts it, we have eternal life now. Not in that we shall not die, but in so far as we live in the experience of sin forgiven, without fear of condemnation should the Lord return right now... for this is &quot;salvation&quot;, the present experience of the great salvation to be brought to us at the Lord's second coming. And we can share this knowledge of salvation with others; Paul alludes to these words, showing that he was to bring others to the light just as John had (Lk. 1:77,79 =&nbsp;Acts 13:47; 26:18,23). Luke is the only evangelist to continue the quotation of Is. 40 to include the words &ldquo;all mankind will see God&rsquo;s salvation&rdquo;. And he focuses especially upon the wonder of forgiveness (Lk. 1:77; 7:48; Acts 13:38). Only he records the parable of the prodigal (Lk. 15:11-32), and only he describes the great preaching commission as relating to &ldquo;repentance and remission of sins&rdquo; (Lk. 24:47).</p><p>The principles God will use in the final judgment are manifested now, and have been reflected in His previous judgments of men. In our very personal lives, there are foretastes of that future judgment. When we receive forgiveness we experience the essence of the future salvation (Lk. 1:77). Indeed, whenever man meets with God, whenever His ways have contact with those of men (which so often happens in the life of the believer) there is a judgment experience; His holiness, His demands, the imperatives which lay within His very being, reveal quite naturally our failures. The Hebrew word used to describe God&rsquo;s &lsquo;meeting&rsquo; with men is also used in the senses of &lsquo;summoning&rsquo; or gathering to a trial (Ex. 30:6). And positively, the <i>degree to which </i>we have responded to Him will be revealed by our meeting with Him.</p>