Pensees: When Were you Converted?

I have no idea of the “exact time”. I’m one of those people who struggled with this issue from the time I was 7 until the time I was nearly 30. When I finally “nailed it down” I came to the realization that I was likely saved sometime before I turned 8.

How did you nail it down?

I “nailed it down” through a lot of study and prayer. I was intentionally vague in my original post due to the fact that the story is a rather long one. I’ll try to sum up:

Most of my formitive years were spent hearing evangelists and camp speakers who used “scare tactics” to get a response. As a result, I was constantly “getting saved”. The thing is, I never grasped just what “God so loved…” really meant. The home life I grew up in did little to show me what genuine love was, so there was nothing in my life that demonstrated to me, in a tangible way, anything similar to unconditional love. Therefore, I constantly tried to “add” to my salvation - I tried hard to earn it. From the time I was 10 years old forward, I began to grasp the true nature of my depravity and began to desperately understand that I would never earn favor with God. Unfortunately, I still had no concept of just how far His grace went for me. All these things together caused for many tear-filled, sleepless nights. I worked as a camp counsellor for 3 summers during my early adult years (one at Camp Joy and two at TWR). Every week, with every message, I was in turmoil. I prayed constantly, tearfully - yet I just didn’t “grasp” it. At some point after my last summer at camp I gave up.

When I was 25, my wife gave birth to our first child. Believe it or not, when I laid eyes on him for the very first time a light went off in my head. “So _this_ is what unconditional love is all about!” As soon as I saw that little guy, I realized that I loved him more than life. He had yet to do anything to earn that love from me. As a matter of fact, the first time he laid eyes on me he pee’d all over himself and started crying! But I loved him, and I was willing to do anything to protect him and care for him.

With this newfound definition of love, I turned once again to the Gospel story. Within two months, I had a deeper relationship with the Lord than I had ever had, and the constant, nagging doubts were gone.

A drunken father who took off before I was 10 and a bitter mother who viewed me as little more than a babysitter for my siblings, had a rather destructive effect on my ability to understand and accept love. I’m so grateful that the Lord worked through those circumstances though. I hope that answers your question sufficiently.

Now back to the point of the original blog post, I can say without reservation that I am saved - of this I am sure. I cannot tell you when that happened. I don’t remember how old I was, nor do I remember the events.

What a blessing, Ellis. As someone else said, I can’t remember when I was born, but I know I am because I’m alive!

I was converted on Tuesday, February 3, 1987 at the Faith Baptist Church in Canoga Park, CA. Not sure of the exact time, but I know it was on that day!

According to John 1:12-13, true believers are “born not of … the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.” It is obviously good to confront people with a challenge to repent and believe, but we must beware communicating the false idea that you can make yourself become a Christian when and where you like. The Spirit blows where He wishes (3:8).

Which is my point. Few people can say what tlange can say. But more people say it that should say it because of the Finneyesque decisionism that has permeated American evangelicalism these past 100 years. There seems to be too great a discomfort saying as Ellis that one is not exactly sure of the date of his conversion as if that somehow undercuts one’s assurance that one is saved.

Also, too many people are assured based upon the date/event/experience and not based upon the internal evidence that God designed to be assurance. When asked if they are assured of their salvation, they point to a calendar. That’s the wrong direction to look when examining one’s self to see if he is in the faith.

I was converted (that is, I became a Christian) when I was baptized at age 7. That was the moment and means by which Christ gave me the grace of conversion.

John,

I’m interested in hearing your explanation. Are you suggesting that baptism equals conversion or are you speaking of your own experience? If you are speaking of your own experience, I would be very interested to read your explanation of how it occurred that you would convert simultaneously with your baptism.

Bob

Bob,

Sorry about the late response. I did experience baptism, I remember it, but it’s not the experience that I am referring to, but rather the fact of my baptism. If I understand the conversion you speak of, then I am saying that yes, baptism equals conversion, since that is when the grace of conversion is given by Christ, whether we like it or not.

Bob…when this post was new I couldn’t get the comment function to work. I happened to wander back by, and thought I would post my story since I still have it handy.
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I don’t know when I was converted. Like many kids growing up in Christian homes I had a series of salvations and assurances.

When I got to high school and began to struggle over my soul, I was in a hard spot. I wanted to put the question to rest, but I wasn’t sure what I needed. Evangelists said things like “you need to know you’re lost before you can be saved.” I didn’t know, but I was plagued by questions. Had I been sincere enough as a child? Had I really understood what I was doing? Do I know the date?

The breakthrough for me came when I learned that the Bible often speaks of saving faith in the present progressive (?)—a continuing event. Faith isn’t something that happened one night at a camp. True faith is something that started at some point and continues to this day.

I like the way Tozer says it:

In the Book of Acts faith was for each believer a beginning, not an end; it was a journey, not a bed in which to lie while waiting for the day of our Lord’s triumph. Believing was not a once-done act; it was more than an act, it was an attitude of heart and mind which inspired and enabled the believer to take up his cross and follow the Lamb whithersoever He went. (Born After Midnight, p.16)

Today I know that I am saved because I am believing in Christ. I just don’t know when that started.

Not knowing a date has gotten me in trouble sometimes. When I have to put a salvation date on applications, I don’t known what to put. One summer at camp my duplicity was uncovered. On my camp application I filled in one date; on a questionnaire during my week of camp I put a different date. The discrepancy was discovered and I had a little explaining to do. :-) Maybe I should start using a date range!

Michael,

Excellent. I appreciate your testimony. I wish that more people would come to understand faith as you explained it here.

Bob