Early in my Christian life, I was convinced by others that if a person did not know when he first believed, that one was not a believer at all. Once and again, well-meaning teachers stated plainly that if someone did not have the date, and perhaps hour, engraved in memory, that person's salvation was viewed as suspect. With that knowledge came great pride in knowing the time of decision. The "gold standard" was knowing the very minute. My attitude was like those described by C.F.W. Walther:†
The Pietists held that anyone unable to state the exact day and hour when he was converted and entered into grace was certainly not a true Christian. The Pietists claimed that neither should such people consider themselves to be Christians nor should they be viewed as such. (210)Years later, I have come to understand that this was nonsense: first, because I met godly men and women who could not articulate when they believed; and second, because the Bible teaches no such thing. What you may or may not remember of something done years ago is not as important as what you believe today. Do I believe the gospel? Do I confess Christ as Lord? Do I believe the condemnation of sin the Law describes in me and trust the eternal promises of God that I am saved by faith as a free gift? These questions point to the reality of my spiritual condition—within the kingdom of God or without. Walther continues that
conversion is nothing other than an awakening from spiritual death into spiritual life. Put differently, conversion is leaving the broad way leading downward and turning onto the narrow way leading upward. It is the transfer from the realm of the devil to the kingdom of Jesus Christ, the son of God.Regardless of what may or may not have occurred in the past, are you today trusting in Christ's atonement because of and for your sin?
Just as there is no "middle way" between death and life, just as there is no "middle way" between the narrow way leading upward and the wide way leading downward nor an intermediate realm between the realm of Satan and the kingdom of Christ, we are all spiritually dead or spiritually alive. We are traveling either on the narrow or on the wide way. We are either in the kingdom of Jesus Christ or in the realm of the devil. In other words, a person is either converted or not. There is nothing in between. (210-211)
† C.F.W. Walther, Law and Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible, (trans. Christian C. Tiews; St Louis: Concordia, 2010), 210-211.
3 comments:
I never thought about remembering the date. it wasn't until a few years later when someone asked me that all I could remember was the month, and he looked at me as if I was an alien! He couldn't conceive of the idea of someone not knowing the exact date.
I've often been ashamed that I could not recount the day/time of my conversion. Thank you for this post! I needed to read it today.
Yvonne, I'm glad this could be a help to you. I don't remember feeling shame but did wonder if I was missing out on something. We Christians certainly have a long history of adding to the gospel.
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