"Whether He is a sinner or not, I don’t know; one thing I do know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see" (John 9: 25)
Several believers I’ve recently met wonder about the reality of their salvation. They are in doubt because they cannot, with certainty, point to the day and hour of their conversion.
But does that matter?
It does if one holds to decisional regeneration, (i.e., we get saved by making a decision). In that case, it would seem that indeed, this matters much. It’s because, however, there is a failure to grasp the eternality of the Gospel that people fall victim to such punishing thinking. By the way, I like what John Stott says on the matter. He says, “A decision is involved in the process of becoming a Christian, but it is God's decision before it can be ours. This is not to deny that we 'decided for Christ', and freely, but to affirm that we did so only because he had first 'decided for us."
The gospel we preach is as old as God. God chose a people for Himself and did it because of the good pleasure of His will and purpose (Ephesians 1:11; 3:11).
Salvation is of the Lord! It is His purpose to save His sheep.
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, always comes looking for His sheep. Sometimes when He finds us, we have a dramatic conversion experience. Other times there is a quiet and gradual realisation that the shepherd has died and risen for us. We are not always able to pinpoint the exact moment we passed from death unto life. But we know that it has happened.
Jesus has always taken the best care to find His sheep. He says, "Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.... and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark (Ezekiel 34:11-12).
It’s no wonder then if you cannot point to the day, nor the place, nor the means which the Lord used to bring about your conversion. These are deep mysteries. But, here’s the thing, can you with an honest heart say, "One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, NOW I see?" Has the Spirit of God shown you your utter helplessness and ruin? Do you realise that of yourself you are hopelessly incapable of performing a single act whether of doing or believing-which would recommend you to His favour?
Once you were spiritually blind to Jesus, now you see.
Once you saw no beauty in Jesus; you didn’t see your need of Him.
Once you wondered how people could love an invisible Person.
Once you were blind to the glory of His Person.
Once you were blind to the wonders of His love.
Once you were blind to the infinite value of His precious blood.
Once you were blind to the perfection of that redemption work by which He lived, died and rose again.
As believers, we can say we once were blind, but now we see! Since we are no longer blind to the gospel, we are propelled to thank and bless the God of all grace (Acts 8:39). To open our blind eyes, and give us life required the omnipotent power of the One who once stood by that grave in Bethany and cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth! And Lazarus came out, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes.
I don't believe for a moment that we will be questioned at the gates of the celestial city as to the day and the hour of our conversion. If we are found in Jesus, we will enter heaven with His righteousness upon us. And that perfect righteousness will be a passport which neither earth, nor hell, nor heaven itself can dispute.
And that’s the Gospel Truth!