At what point in this process does a person go from being a non-Christian to a Christian?
98cwitr,
Surely it is not difficult to determine that. Acts 16:31 (ESV) states: 'And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”' 'Believe' is an aorist tense imperative (command) in the Greek. The aorist means instant point action so 'believe' here means that the moment a person believes in the Lord Jesus salvation is his or hers. To believe means to put one's trust and confidence in Jesus Christ.
R C H Lenski in his commentary on Acts 16:31 states,
'"To believe" always means to put all trust and confidence in the Lord Jesus, in other words, by such trust of the heart to throw the personality entirely into his arms for deliverance from sin, death and hell. Here epi [a preposition] is used; this trust is to rest on Jesus. This the jailor is to "do." He must do the believing, every individual in his household likewise, for no one can do the believing for others. But faith is not our own production. Even in ordinary life confidence is awakened and produced in us by the one in whom we believe. The same holds true with reference to Jesus who is most worthy of our confidence and trust. To come in contact with him is to be moved to trust him and him alone for salvation. For this reason unbelief is such a crime. it is the refusal to trust him who is supremely worthy of trust' (Lenski 2001:680-681).
dd stated: 'I ask you Christ that you please forgive me of all my sins. I thank you Lord for your wonderful grace and forgiveness'. I gather from that kind of statement that he is affirming, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus'.
So to answer your question: 'At what point in this process does a person go from being a non-Christian to a Christian?' On the basis of Acts 16:31 and the Philippian jailor, a person goes from being non-Christian to being Christian the moment that person believes and puts absolute trust and confidence in Jesus Christ for salvation.
But elsewhere there are some conditions placed on this believing. Take John 3:16 (ESV) as an example where 'whosoever believeth' (KJV) or 'whoever believes' (NIV) uses the present tense of the verb believe, meaning 'continues to believe'. So, on the basis of this verse, a person who continues to believe 'may continue to have eternal life'.
So, to answer your question, a person becomes a Christian the instant he or she places faith/trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation but we know that genuine faith by that person continuing to believe. And the inference will be that that person will continue to bear fruit that demonstrates genuine belief. Jesus said, 'You will recognize them by their fruits' (Matt 7:16 ESV).
In Christ,
Oz
Works consulted
Lenski, R C H 2001.
Commentary on the New Testament: The Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles. Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson Publishers (based on the original published in 1934 by Lutheran Book Concern and assigned in 1961 to Augsburg Publishing House).
