When Was I Saved? by Pastor Walter Snyder Q: Some people claim they know the day and hour they were saved. I don't know these things for myself; I just know that I am saved. Is it really important to know when? What do I say to people who question my salvation because of my not knowing this? A: Salvation is God's gracious action benefitting sinners. The questions of other people might be bothersome, but those questions we ask ourselves or which Satan asks of us in moments of weakness and doubt are our true concern. A short answer to questions and doubts: "I know because Scripture says so." You're not alone in not remembering a time when you were outside the Church and separated from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Many of us are in the same position. Baptized as an infant, I heard the Word regularly before I could understand the words. My parents started me memorizing Scripture almost as soon as I could talk. They told me time after time that I was a redeemed child of God and precious in his sight. Some do not have this understanding of Scripture, Christianity, and Baptism. For one reason or another, many people believe (and many church bodies teach) that one does not truly join the Church or become a believer until a personal, rational decision is made. They point to the choice they made, such as deciding to be baptized, deciding to believe, deciding to follow Jesus. They might look suspiciously on those who say, "I didn't decide for Jesus, Jesus decided for me." Much of the difference is that some confuse their response to God's love with their own initiative. Others define faith as rational consent to a proposition instead of viewing it as a trusting and confident relationship. "When was I saved?" Let's turn to the Bible, so you can say, "Scripture says so." We were saved from all eternity: "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will. (Ephesians 1:4-5)" God knew you and me before we were born, conceived, thought of. He knew us even before Creation began. We were saved almost two thousand years ago: "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself. (2 Corinthians 5:18)" Colossians 1:19-20, 22 says of Jesus: "In Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.... He has now reconciled [you] in His body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him." We were saved when God worked faith in us: "Baptism ... now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 3:21)" As Titus 3:5 states, "He saved us ... according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit." Some are brought to faith as adults, when the Word overcomes their unbelief: "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. (Acts 16:31)" Whenever faith comes, it comes as a gift of God, not as something we choose to take upon ourselves. Salvation is certain not because of what we think or do but because of Him in whom we believe--- Jesus our Lord and Savior. We know we are saved because the Word says so---"if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven.... (Colossians 1:23)" The good we do is a sign of this faith and a loving response to God's grace. Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of the book "What Do Lutherans Believe." Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from ~The Holy Bible, English Standard Version~, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Ask the Pastor, © 2004 by Walter P. Snyder. It may be reproduced in totality, including this disclaimer, by anyone, provided that no profit is generated by said republication and redistribution. Translations into other languages should similarly note the United States and any appropriate international copyrights, as well as God's Scriptural injunctions concerning the property of others.