Question:
Dear Greg,
Does
the Bible speak of anything of a specific point in time, a split second moment
when one is saved? I heard a
preacher ask someone, “When did you get saved?”
It took me a while to believe…being convinced of the Truth by his Word
OVER TIME. Believing is more than
accepting—it’s more like trusting. It
took a while for me to trust Jesus as my righteousness, not a split second that
I can recall. I know I’m saved
because of Jesus and not because of anything I can accomplish on my own.
What do you think? Doesn’t
pinpointing a time and place (relying on an “experience”) take the focus off
of Christ for salvation?
Jennifer
Answer: Dear Jennifer,
Those
who insist that everyone experience the exact kind of conversion experience they
did, or that everyone fit neatly into their well-ordered religious world of
do’s, don’ts and dogmas are actually proclaiming their brand of religion.
That is something that would be better understood as another religious,
“we’re better than they are” because of the things we do and don’t
do—denominationalism rather than the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Of
course conversion takes place over a period of time, and it often does not
include some emotionally explosive, memorable moment in time.
It can include a “Road to Damascus” experience, but not necessarily.
A “Road to Damascus” experience is not normative or required for
Christians. Conversion is both an
act and a process, and the process is, according to the Bible, one of the works
of the Holy Spirit.
One
of the best responses to this idea that we all must “witness and share your
testimony about when you got saved” that can quickly become legalistic
self-righteous behavior is an anecdote about a biblical scholar who was once
asked when he was saved. He replied,
“Why, I should think that was almost 2000 years ago at the cross of Christ.”
In
Christ,