You are not addressing the "when" you are addressing the "what".
Faith is "what" saves us but it is not the "when".
Faith is the "what" and the "when." We are saved the very moment that we place our faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. Ephesians 2:8 - For
by grace you have been saved through faith, (not faith and baptism) and that
not of yourselves; it is the
gift of God, 9
not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Romans 5:1 - Therefore, having been
justified by faith, (not faith and baptism) we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have
access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Your three verses are rather general in nature and does not express the specific path that the Bible gives to us for the remission of sins.
Acts 10:43, 13:38-39; 26:18 are all clear that remission of sins happens the moment we believe/placed faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. Those verses only sound general to those who try to "shoehorn" works "into" salvation through faith.
Peter believed and trusted that there would be a coin in the mouth of the fish but the path to getting the coin was a physical action.
Salvation is through faith, not faith + physical actions/works. (Romans 4:4-6)
This is what pushers of Faith Alone Regeneration Theology cannot grasp.
I can grasp and accept that Jesus Christ saves us through faith based on the merits of His finished work of redemption alone and not based on the merits of our works. (Romans 3:24-26; Titus 3:5; 2 Timothy 1:9)
That salvation is by grace through faith and is not by works is not hard to understand. It's just hard for works-salvationists to accept. It is through faith "in Jesus Christ alone" (and not based on the merits of our works) that we are justified on account of Christ (
Romans 4:5-6;
5:1;
5:9); yet the faith that justifies does not remain alone (unfruitful, barren) if it is genuine. (
James 2:14-24) *Perfect Harmony* This is what pushers of baptismal regeneration theology cannot grasp.
Regardless of how sincere the trust of the virgins in the coming of the Bridegroom, it was the physical lack of oil that kept them out of the banquet.
Did they believe? Yes.
Were they waiting for the right Person? Yes.
Were they waiting in the right place? Yes.
The wording of the five foolish virgins is all too familiar to the reader of Matthew’s Gospel:
Matthew 25:11 - "Later, the other virgins came too, saying, ‘Lord, lord! Let us in!’ 12 But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth,
I do not know you!" Matthew 7:21 - "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven" but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven - (See
John 6:40). 22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful works?’ And then I will declare to them,
‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (
Matthew 7:22-23) That is a misplaced trust. Lord, Lord, didn't "WE." Works salvation is no salvation at all.
The difference between the foolish virgins and the wise virgins is that the wise virgins had oil for their lamps, while the foolish virgins did not. The wise virgins had the opportunity to obtain oil and did so. The foolish virgins had plenty of opportunity to get oil but did not. It's possible to be in close contact with Christ, and with Christians, and yet not be saved. I am reminded of a similar passage in the Gospel of Luke:
Luke 13:23 - Someone asked him, "Lord, will only a few be saved?" So, he said to them, 24 "Exert every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, then you will stand outside and start to knock on the door and beg him, ‘Lord, let us in!’ But he will answer you,
‘I don’t know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will reply,
‘I don’t know where you come from! Go away from me, all you evildoers!’ 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves thrown out. 29 Then people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and take their places at the banquet table in the kingdom of God. 30 But indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last."
Jesus may indeed be warning us in this parable that there will be a number of people who look like Christians, who associate with Christians, and who even think they are Christians, who will be shocked to learn that they are not saved at the return of our Lord and Christ never knew them. What a sobering thought!
Why were they denied entry? They were missing the required oil. Their sincere faith could not replace the need for the physical oil.
They did not have sincere faith but superficial faith that lacked substance.
Jesus states:
"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."
This is no symbol!!!
Mark 16:16 - He who believes and is baptized will be saved
(general cases without making a qualification for the unusual case of someone who believes but is not baptized) but he who
does not believe will be condemned. The omission of baptized with "does not believe" shows that Jesus does not make baptism absolutely necessary for salvation. Condemnation rests on unbelief and not on a lack of baptism. *NOWHERE does the Bible say, "baptized or condemned." Baptism is the picture of the new life but not the means of securing it.
If water baptism was absolutely required for salvation, then we would expect Jesus to mention it in the following verses. (3:15,16,18; 5:24; 6:29,40,47; 11:25,26) Yet what is the
ONE requirement that Jesus mentions
NINE different times in each of these complete statements *
BELIEVES. *What happened to baptism *Hermeneutics. If he wo believes shall be saved then he who believes and is baptized shall be saved as well.
John 3:18 - He who
believes in Him is not condemned; but he who (is not water baptized? - NO)
does not believe is condemned already, because he has not (been water baptized? - NO)
because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
A moment of belief, regardless of how sincere is not the occasion of the remission of sins.
Saving belief in Christ continues (Matthew 13:23) and is not some shallow, momentary belief that has no root, produces no fruit and withers away.
CONTINUED..
