When are you saved?

It all depends on how you mean, let me explain.

Salvation is a multi faceted experience, first we are saved from sin, its judgement, and hell. This is justification, and this is completely and utterly by faith through grace.

Next, we are being saved from sin and its power in our lives, this is sanctification(on a side note, sanctification is also a one time event in which the child of God is cut out or set apart from the mass of unsaved humanity).

Lastly we are saved from the prescence of sin itself, this is glorification.

All three though are based entirely upon the merit of Christ, and his atoning sacrifice.

The moment a person is regenrated or born again, they are given faith to believe in Christ as their Saviour and Lord, this will produce repentance, and fruit of salvation. Sometimes slowly, other times more rapidly, but it will produce fruit nonetheless.

The idea of having to have an "experience" and "spiritual birthday" to point back to is really not found in Scripture(not saying it does not matter, or does not happen), but some have unfortunately made an experience their proof and standard of how a person must come to faith in order to be saved. Yet the Spirit blows where He will, and God works as He will, sometimes in very serene ways, and other times more extreme I suppose.

dear saints

greetings in Jesus' Name by Whose Blood we are Saved. AMEN.

Rev 13:8 says:

[b]8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.[/b]

the point of our Salvation, the "when" pertaining to our Salvation has its origin in God, before creation because it was then that Christ was slain for the Redemption of that which was a thought in the Mind of God but had not yet burst forth into creation as we know it. Christ's coming to the cross was the expression and fulfilment of that which God had in mind before creation...our Salvation is sure and secure because of this. We were Called unto Salvation at this point. this is why Paul (and i also) is convinced that nothing can separate us from the Love of God in Christ. if God decided it already, who can twist His arm to change His mind?

Paul makes mention of this calling to Salvation by God. i began to see this more plainly after being led through Romans 9. after that i read it everywhere in the Pauline epistles how God called us, chose us and so on before we knew Him.

so our confession of the Name of Christ is the point where by His Grace we [i][b]realize[/b][/i]and step into that Salvation.

ain't God good?

Grace and Peace be ours in Jesus' Name. AMEN.

I highly reccomend this sermon by Paris Reidhead called "So Great Salvation". "Was saved, being saved, will be saved" - the three tenses of salvation.

I thought of this! I think there were four though, I recommend you listen to the sermon, but for reference, Reidhead's four tenses were:

I have been saved from the pleasure of sin - repentance

I was saved from the penalty of sin - Justification

I am being saved from the power of sin - Sanctification

I will be saved from the presence of sin - Glorification.

Amen.

It is an interesting one though, The NT believers never seemed to use "I got saved then" or "so and so just got saved" the way we tend to use the word today. I think they had a lot more reverence for it, hence why you find salvation in all sorts of tenses in the Bible - and also why people can have very different views of what 'salvation' actually is.

Doesn't Paris Reidhead believe that you are saved daily from sin.

I don't actually know what he believes, I think his point in that sermon was more that salvation is so much more than 'going to Heaven'. According to that list I gave you, the 'going to heaven' part, in terms of security, would be 'I WAS saved from the penalty of sin - justification'. I guess his point is that salvation is so much more than going to Heaven, it's about Heaven coming to you and changing your life, your heart, your mind and your interests.

One day you can be saved then one day you can be lost.

I've often toyed with this one. It all comes down to what do you mean by saved - it seems to me you're talking about the 'security' aspect of it. I mean the Bible mentions abiding in the Vine, forgiveness, and other things. I think there's a fine line between committing sin but still being saved, and practicing sin, which the Bible clearly shows means you aren't saved.

Reidhead actually also questions the motive of salvation quite a lot, in 'Ten Shekels and a Shirt' he says something about the only people he believes that God testifies are born again are those who say in their heart at some point to God "I'm going to love you and serve you with all my heart, even if I go to Hell at the end of the day because you are worthy" - I'd challenge you to fall in love with Jesus to this point (you may be already) and from then it doesn't matter so much as 'when', because it becomes about 'who'. It then becomes an active 'day to day' thing. I have been saved from the pleasure of sin, I don't enjoy it anymore. But I also know that God continually saves me and that when His Wrath and Judgement come, He will save me.

What happens if the day you are lost that is the day Christ takes you home or comes back.

I find this a dangerous question. I've heard people say "So what, if you're a Christian and go to church for your whole life and follow Him and then you don't forgive someone one day or you sin and you no longer go to Heaven?" - A lifetime of holiness doesn't justify a second in Heaven - so if you die on a day in which you are living in rebellion against God and in disobedience to the Gospel - I believe you have already chosen your own destiny by your actions.

confess with your mouth that Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

I hear this one quite a bit - I'm not sure it's quite right. I liked your comments afterwards. I think the context of confessing with your mouth Jesus as Lord in Rome was a big one. Remember this was a time when all of Rome was declaring that "Caesar is Lord" and that to say anyone else (especially Jesus) was Lord resulted in death. In many ways I think Paul's saying here "anyone who is willing to be crucified for Jesus Christ and trust in Him in his heart will be saved" - I'm no sure, but it's an idea. Note again the "will be" saved though - the NT refers to salvation a lot more in the future tense than we do as Chistians today.

Well anyway, there's some thoughts - I don't believe Christ can be your Saviour without being your Lord, because if Christ isn't your Lord, Sin is. But that's another post for another day :)

I noticed that most of the responses so far expressed the things WE do, but really, salvation is the work of God - and we can't always know where the Spirit is blowing.

Let's admit, countless have "confessed their sins" and "asked Jesus into their hearts, promising to follow him" - but alas.... good intentions are not God's criteria. Nor, the way he works. He works at a deeper level in our hearts.

So much of God's work in a heart happens "undergound" - like the seed in the soil. In fact, trying to use evidence can be tricky. I've been fooled many times, even about myself. We might see "shoots" growing out of the ground soon after the seeds got planted - and then the sun scorches it - because there are no roots.

Since God didn't endow us with accurate undergound-detecting devises I suggest we excercise caution when trying to define or diagnose precise "moments" of salvation. We are all too often wrong.
Besides, as someone said, it's not how we start, but how we finish that counts in the end.

Rev. 2:7 to him who overcomes...
2:11 He who overcomes...
2:17 To him wo overcomes
2:26To him who overcomes and does my will
etc..

21:7 He who overcomes will inherit..

Diane

Well I believe that you are not saved just by saying a prayer. It has to be a turning from sin, and wanting to serve God. When a person is first saved, and if they truly realize they are sinners and want to follow Christ then He will show them what they need to change. He may use other people to bring it to thier attention, or He may convict them of it. Then it is up to them to repent of it.

Wow Wow Wow!

Praise God! What you just wrote there is almost the [i]EXACT[/i] thing that I went through a couple of months ago! Suddenly hungering for more than what I was being told, and asking the Lord for HIM to teach me what Scripture truly said, and where my short-comings were in light of the Word.

Brother, we definitely need to talk further!

Adam

It's so tempting to find a formula for our salvation. The truth is that it's different for different people. I believe that it's about our surrender to Christ as Lord in our lives. I believe that you can be saved without having assurance of salvation (different from security). You can have assurance of salvation in your heart and yet be completely selfish and carnal in which case you do not really believe in Christ.

I don't believe that everyone has a specific date that they were saved. I personally do not know the point at which I was saved, where I passed from death to life, but I believe that my life is in surrender to God.