Does it matter if I don’t know the exact period I was saved?

To what extent does it matter if I don’t know the exact moment of my salvation?

Most believers in Christ recall every detail of their conversion, down to the time of day, the place, the people, and the events leading up to their choice to follow Jesus as Lord. Some people have a more cloudy recollection; they know who was there when they prayed and where they were, but they can’t put a specific date on it. Others don’t remember even that much; they know they’re Christians, but they don’t recall when they made that decision or how old they were.

Those who don’t know the exact date they accepted Christ typically grew raised in a Christian home. To the best of their recollection, they had never known a time when they weren’t devoted to Jesus and trusted in Him. The time, location, and circumstances surrounding one’s conversion to Christianity are typically vividly remembered by people whose lives were marked by resistance before they were saved.

In Acts 16, the Philippian jailer undergoes a dramatic, and one could perhaps say painful, conversion experience. After an earthquake liberated all of the inmates from his jail, the warden was on the edge of suicide until Paul and Silas intervened. To his surprise, the inmates had not escaped, and two of them even stayed behind to preach to him. The jailer undoubtedly never forgot the specifics of his rescue, including the date, location, and method used. The apostle Paul experienced a horrific conversion experience that included a vision of Christ, three days of blindness, and a complete reorientation of his life’s goals (Acts 9). When exactly that occurred was something he easily recalled.

However, not everyone is converted in such a dramatic fashion, and not everyone can pinpoint the exact moment they accepted Christ as their Savior. It’s a reality that it makes no difference either way. Only the Lord can save you (Jonah 2:9). God is the one who accomplishes the salvation, and He knows every detail about every soul. Grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8), and not recollection, is what saves us. Can you pinpoint the moment you accepted Christ as your Savior? in the hereafter, we won’t have to answer that question.

Once a person is saved, they may lose track of the exact moment they were rescued. If he or she was rescued as a young child, this is especially true. What’s crucial is not recalling the precise moment of deliverance, but rather knowing that it occurred. Once upon a time, when the Holy Spirit was given to us, when the Lord rescued us from the pit of despair and into the splendor of His light, when we were declared righteous and justified, we may look back on those days with great joy. No one is born a redeemed person. As human beings, we all have a sinful nature and are in need of redemption. We had to be exposed to the gospel at some point and act on it in faith.

Knowledge of one’s salvation is more crucial than knowledge of the precise moment of one’s salvation. Never presume you are saved because your parents told you so or because you’ve been a churchgoer your whole life or because singing praise songs makes you feel good. Instead, we should use our common sense and check our sincerity of faith as the Bible instructs us to do. Prove it to yourself” (2 Corinthians 13:5, NLT).

The letter of 1 John provides us with several criteria by which to evaluate the genuineness of our faith. Even though we don’t know the exact moment of our salvation, if we have been genuinely born again, our lives will tend toward the following:

1. Having a thirst for God’s people to fellowship with (1 John 1:3)
2. Moving forward based on illumination rather than shadow (1 John 1:6–7)
3. Recognizing guilt and apologizing (1 John 1:8)
4. Submission to the Holy Scriptures (1 John 2:3–5)
5. Having a love for God that is greater than any love for the earth (1 John 2:15)
6. Consistently acting morally (1 John 2:29)
7. Keeping a clean slate (1 John 3:3)
8. Minimizing Sin (1 John 3:5–6)
9. Regarding one’s fellow Christians with affection (1 John 3:14)
10. True love that isn’t fake (1 John 3:18–19)
11. Maintaining an upright moral compass (1 John 3:21)
12. achieving success in our Christian lives (1 John 5:4)