For lots of Christians knowing when they were saved is very important, and knowing the date they were baptized or the date they first believed becomes a way to assure themselves of the security of their relationship with God. There are two questions behind this issue: first, am I saved because of a decision I’ve made or a decision God has made.

Chuck and Aaron talk about how our salvation is completely founded on God’s decision to rescue us, and even when our initial realization of the truth of the Gospel resulted in what looked like us deciding to believe in Jesus, it was really God working in our hearts to give us the faith to believe.

And the second question: am I saved in one moment or is it a process? So many people have a different experience–some were baptized when they were infants and have never stopped believing the Gospel, some were baptized, drifted away from faith in Jesus, and then came back to him over time and or in one dramatic moment, and some were never baptized but as adults became converted to Christianity, again either in one moment or as a result of an apparent process. And while all these experiences are difficult, one thing remains the same–those who have been saved by Jesus have spiritual life now.

The best way to tell if you are physically alive is not to look at your birth certificate but to check your pulse, and the best way to know if you are a child of God is whether or not you have faith in his son Jesus.

Hosts: Aaron Mueller and Chuck Rathert

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