When was Saul Saved?

We are first introduced to Saul of Tarsus at the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:58). At that time, he was convinced that Jesus Christ was an imposter and the His followers needed to be silenced. Therefore, Saul “was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison” (Acts 8:3).

In Acts 9, Saul received permission from the high priest to enter the synagogues of Damascus in search of those following Jesus. However, on the way a bright light suddenly appeared knocking him to the ground and he heard a majestic voice asking, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul answered, “Who are you, Lord?” The voice then identified Himself as Jesus and told him to enter the city and await further instructions. A few days later, a preacher arrived and ordered Saul to “wash away” his sins. in baptism (Acts 22:16).

Some believe that Saul was confessing faith in Jesus when he addressed the voice as “Lord” in verse 5. However, that could not be the case because he did not even know that it was Jesus yet. Therefore, we must understand “Lord” as simply a courteous title, much like our word “sir” today. It certainly was not a confession of faith! Some also believe that the preacher addressing Saul as “brother” in verse 17 meant they were already brothers in Christ. However, that term was commonly used to denote Jewish kindred (Acts 2:29, 37; 3:17; 7:2; 22:1; Romans 9:3). It did not necessarily mean they were fellow Christians.

If Saul was saved on the Damascus road, the Lord did not know it because He commanded Saul to enter the city where he would be told what to do; Saul did not know it because he was miserable for three days — he would not eat or drink; and the preacher did not know it because he told Saul to be baptized for the purpose of washing away his sins. Please note that again: Saul was still in his sins until baptism. Hence, Saul’s conversion started on the Damascus road but was not completed until he was baptized a few days later.