Was Saul saved on the Damascus Road? (Be careful, now!) He was struck blind on that road; he spoke with Jesus; he came to a new understanding. But was he saved on the road? Emphatically, no!
Many sincere religious people routinely speak of Saul being saved on the Damascus Road. With due respect, they are mistaken – tragically so! Saul’s miraculous experience didn’t save him. “Faith alone” didn’t save him. Speaking directly with Jesus didn’t save him. Not even the combination of a religious experience, coming to believe Jesus is the Messiah, and three days of prayer and fasting saved Saul of Tarsus.
If Saul was saved on the Damascus Road, he didn’t know it, for he asked what to do (Acts 9:6). The Jews on Pentecost had also asked what to do (Acts 2:37), and the Philippian jailer would ask the same thing in Acts 16:30. Were these people already saved? Of course not! Neither was Saul.
If Saul was saved on the Damascus Road, Jesus didn’t know it, for he told Saul to go into Damascus where he would be told what he must do (Acts 22:10). Then He sent Ananias to tell Saul how to wash his sins away (Acts 9:10-18 & 22:12-16). Sin causes one to be lost. If Saul was saved on the Damascus Road, his sins must have been washed away right then and there – not three days later in the city as the Bible affirms.
But someone objects. “Ananias called Saul “brother” in Acts 9:17), so he must have already been a Christian, a brother in Christ. However, Peter called the unbelieving Jews on Pentecost “brethren” (Acts 2:29), and Stephen addressed the unbelievers who were about to stone him as “brethren.” Were these people brothers in Christ? No! They were brethren in the sense of being fellow-Jews, not fellow-Christians!
Saul was saved when, having believed in Jesus and repented of his sinful past, he arose and was baptized and washed his sins away, calling on the name of the Lord (Acts 22:16). You can be saved the same way. Why are you waiting?
