Southern Seminary’s Russell D. Moore addresses the importance – or unimportance – of a Christian knowing the date, time and place of his or her conversion in Baptist Press’ First-Person column, March 20, 2012.
In the article, Moore, dean of the School of Theology and senior vice president for academic administration, discusses the misnomer that some preachers and evangelists espouse, seemingly intimating that every person’s conversion is sudden, abrupt and dramatic, a moment on which one can attach a date and time. However, Moore points out that some people come to faith in Christ through a slower realization of the gospel.
“Sometimes our churches reinforce this misunderstanding,” he writes. “Preachers talk about assurance of salvation as though it were about remembering a past experience, and doing a mental autopsy on the sincerity of that. The people we allow to give testimonies in our churches and in our publications all seem to have a dramatic tale to tell.
“That’s not what the Gospel is about.”
Rather than a message about placing one’s trust in a dramatic or emotional experience, Moore contends that the gospel is about trusting in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“The point of the Gospel isn’t celebrating an experience; it’s believing a Man who is your crucified, resurrected, reigning Life,” he writes.
The entire article – “Do you know when you were saved?” – is available at the Baptist Press Web site.