What is the point in the time line of someone's life where their righteousness is credited? Another way of saying this is when does a person get saved? According to the Bible it is when they believed...when they were fully convinced that Jesus was and is their only hope in this life and the next. In Romans 4, Paul takes us back to the story of Abraham and reminds us that faith + works is not a Biblical algorithm. Abraham was declared righteous before circumcision and 500+ years before the law was given at Mt. Sinai. The point in all of this is that whenever a person is credited righteousness in the sight of God, it is before baptism, before church membership, before righteous living, before charitable giving...it is when they believed!