When is a person saved?

When does a person get saved? Is there an exact second of conversion?

At a wedding, the official pronouncement comes when the minister says, “I now pronounce you husband and wife.” But that event cannot occur without a courtship, a decision to get married, application for a marriage license, arranging for a time and place to get married, and arranging for someone who is recognized by the state as qualified to perform weddings. All of these must occur prior to the pronouncement of husband and wife. But even then, it is not all that easy. The marriage may meet basic legal requirements, but there are some who would argue that the marriage is not really complete until it has been consummated physically. In fact, if it can be proven that a marriage has not been physically consummated, it is fairly easy to have a marriage annulled, or treated as if it had never happened. So, if it is that difficult to determine the exact moment of marriage, which happens in public between two people, how can we determine when a person is saved? Salvation happens internally between one person and an invisible God.

Does someone get saved by raising a hand during an altar call? Over the years I have seen many hands raised by people I never saw again. Maybe the person feels the tug of conviction and realizes that something needs to change. Maybe they purpose in their heart to make things right. But does there need to be something else after that decision?

Does someone convert by repeating a sinner’s prayer? There is no doubt that someone who is unchurched has no clue how to talk to an invisible God who he has never met or had interest in before, so it is probably helpful to give them a template for prayer. But if the words are someone else’s words, can they really come from the heart? Can a life be transformed by saying a few phrases a few words at a time, led by someone else? I have heard people say that the important thing is saying the words, but that sounds like magic to me. If there is no internal transformation, the words don’t matter.

So, can we accurately identify an exact moment of eternal change when sins are forgiven and we become a new creation, with old things passing away and all things becoming new? I would say “yes”, but that salvation is a beginning point; not a destination. We have a direct example of the instantaneous nature of salvation in the story of the thief who was crucified with Jesus. He said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And as a result of that brief prayer, Jesus promised him that later that day he would be in paradise with Christ. There was a short journey of discovery for the thief as he realized the sinlessness of Jesus’ life and realized that Jesus had authority to forgive sins. He realized the hopelessness of his own situation and that it was a situation of his own making and took his one chance to reach out for the salvation that was available to him. So, I would say that salvation occurs in an instant.

But even in that instant, there were a lot of things happening prior to salvation. Someone brought the good news; maybe many people brought it many times over many years. The Holy Spirit softened the heart and made the person realize his need of a saviour. The opportunity was given. So even that instant took some time.

Having said that, however, I would say that if the thief had lived beyond the cross, he would have needed to go beyond that simple declaration of faith and begin to live a transformed life. His life would need to begin to show evidence of significant change. I’m not saying that just after his salvation experience he should have been looking, walking and talking like a long-time Christian, but that he should have been growing in relationship with God and displaying a life of increasing relationship.

Here is where I feel that we as the Church of Jesus Christ sometimes fall short. Someone raises their hand for salvation. Maybe we go to them and pray with them. Maybe they cry. Maybe they say they feel better. We say, “Praise God!” and tell them to start reading their Bible and start attending a church. Then we move on. Next week we look for new hands to be raised. At the end of the year we count all of those conversions but see that our weekly attendance hasn’t increased.

My point is this: We can’t get focused solely on counting salvations. That is like saying to a new baby, “Okay, you have been successfully born. Try to eat regularly and stay clean.” Just as birth is a beginning event, so is salvation. The newlywed is married, but the marriage builds in strength over time. After time spent in the realities of life, the marriage transforms from a legal transaction to a lifetime covenant. So it is with salvation. It is a first step. It is wrong to leave the new convert to their own devices. They won’t make it. The new convert is just as saved as we are. But it is a fragile relationship at first. He will make messes and mistakes. We must be there to help clean up and to reassure that their relationship with God is still intact even when they make mistakes. We need to instruct them in sound doctrine and move them toward baptism. We need to show them how to grow in Christ so their lives will not always be dependent on the counsel of others, but that the goal is that they become disciplers of others. Their lives will bear fruit when we nurture their tender new roots until they mature.

Yes, salvation happens in an instant, but conversion happens over a lifetime.