“Christ saved Paul on the road to Damascus. That happened before he was baptized!” the arguer will say.
Except no, that’s not true. Christ did not save Paul on the road to Damascus. Christ told him to go into the city and Ananias would tell him what to do (Acts 9:6). “Oh, but he called Jesus as His Lord!” someone will argue. Yes, but he called Him “lord” in the midst of saying “Who are you?” (Acts 9:5) He is using the word the way we use the word “sir.” If someone were powerful enough to shine a blinding light and knock you off your horse, you would probably show some respect too.
When he gets to the city, he prays for three days, still blind, and still having his sins staining his soul. It is not until Ananias visits him that he tells Paul what to do. It is only then that he understands how to have his sins washed away:
And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
(Acts 22:16)
The convicted Saul called on the name of the Lord (literally, he “appealed to the authority” of the Lord) to be saved, just as he would later write about (Romans 10:13). He was saved when his sins were washed away, as Ananias said they would be when he was baptized, and which Paul would later write about (Galatians 3:27).
Do what he did and Christ will save you, just as he was.
Incidentally, the same people who argue Paul was saved on the road to Damascus will also say that Acts 22:16 implies we’re saved by “calling” on the name of the Lord (“calling” as in “sinner’s prayer”).
It can’t be both.
If Paul was saved on the road, he wouldn’t need to say the sinner’s prayer in the presence of Ananias. If he needed to, then he wasn’t saved on the road.
Silly people, the Bible is a lot easier to understand if you stop fighting it and just accept what it says.
~ Matthew