Is there scripture stating we will realize an unmistakable event or experience immediately upon salvation during God's Ephesians 3:2 "age of grace"?
Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you. - Ephesians 3:2
Unless one denies that St. Paul’s conversion was realized through an such an unmistakable event and experience which opened the doors of grace and salvation! This in itself is a great example.
On January 25 each year the Catholic Church celebrates the Conversion of St. Paul, as one of the greatest events of the Early Church. St. Paul a student of the great Pharisee rabbi Gamaliel, had persecuted Christians, but was suddenly converted on the road to Damascus when Our Lord appeared to him in his resurrected glory (Acts 9:1-9). The this time forward he would be called the Apostle of the Gentiles.
Now if Our Lord can challenge the doubting Thomas and make him believe, this could happen in our age of grace.
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” - John 20:24-29
St. Paul often writes about conversions and converts; but does not elaborate into the circumstances of individual conversions whether or not the were due to specific events or simply through much reflection and prayer!
And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas. Who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.” Here the word “convert” refers to people who had converted to the Jewish religion. - Acts 13:43
Romans 16:5: Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia.” Paul refers to Epaenetus as the first ‘convert’ in Asia, that is, he was the first Christian believer. - Romans 16:5
Now I urge you, brothers – you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia. And that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints…” As in Romans 16:5, the word ‘converts’ here also refers to the first believers in the Achaia. - 1 Corithians 16:15
He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.” In this verse, Paul is describing the qualities that a church elder must have; the qualification is that he must not be a recent ‘convert’, that is, a recent believer. - 1 Timothy 3:6
12 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. 5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. - 2 Corinthians 12:1-7
This last quote by St. Paul is according to a traditional viewpoint a very real spiritual event that could fit the bill in this question.
St. Paul the Apostle speaks of a third heaven and again Catholic interpretations will vary. Nevertheless I will give the one which traditional Catholics believe to be the most valid.
One thing is certain here. The Apostle Paul is speaking of himself.
In 2 Corinthians Paul the Apostle writes, "I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows—was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat."6 According to E. W. Bullinger, the Greek says "caught away", not "caught up" possibly reflecting Jewish beliefs that Paradise was somewhere other than the uppermost heaven. However Catholicism thinks otherwise.
There is a Catholic author who compared St Paul's vision of the third heaven to the third or final stage or way of perfection. This is the Catholic traditional view of St. Paul’s vision.
This concept is not easy for many to understand. Many authors have written about the Ways of Perfection, But I am looking for the one who used St Paul's vision of 2 Corinthians 12:1-7 as a comparison to the unitive state of prayer.
This link I hope, can get the idea of where I am coming from: On the Purgative, Illuminative and Unitive Stages of Spiritual Life, as seen in a Cartoon.
Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., in his Three Ages of the Interior Life (part III, ch. XIII, B. "The Union of Humility and Christian Dignity") states the following:
In his commentary on this chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, St. Thomas speaks admirably of the union of humility and magnanimity in St. Paul. He writes as follows: “As charity is the root of the virtues, pride is the beginning of every sin. It is the inordinate desire of our own excellence: we desire it then without subordinating it to God. Thus we turn away from Him, which is the beginning of every sin; for this reason God resists the proud. As there is in good people the good of which they may become proud, God sometimes permits some infirmity in His elect, some defect, and occasionally a mortal sin, which prevents them from becoming proud, which truly humiliates them, and makes them recognize that they cannot hold out or persevere by their own strength. The apostle St. Paul in particular might have grown proud of many things: he was a vessel of election to carry the faith to the Gentiles; (27) he had been ravished to the third heaven and heard secret words, which it is not granted to man to utter; (28 [Cf. II Cor. 12:4.]) he had suffered greatly for Christ, several times he had been cast into prison, and scourged; he was a virgin (having obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful); (29) he had labored more than all, as he says; (30) and in particular he had a lofty knowledge of divine things which may be the source of pride. For this reason the Lord gave him a remedy for pride. That the excellence of the revelations made to him might not make him proud, he received a sting in the flesh, a humiliating infirmity which crucified his body in order to heal his soul… . As he says, an angel of Satan came and buffeted him. How the sinner should tremble if the great Apostle, the instrument of election, is not sure of himself! Three times he ardently begged the Lord to deliver him from this sting; three times, that is, often and urgently. He then heard these words: ‘My grace is sufficient for thee,’ it will preserve thee from sin. Divine power is shown in weakness, which is an occasion for the exercise of the virtues of humility, patience, and abnegation. The man who knows his weakness is more attentive to resisting it and, because he struggles, he grows in strength. ‘Gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities,’ says St. Paul, since I am thus more humble, and I must fight that the power of Christ may dwell in me and bear all its fruits of grace.”
Which Catholic writer(s) has compared St Paul's “third heaven” to the third stage of interior prayer?
All said and done, it may all come down how one interprets Sacred Scriptures. For traditional Catholics 2 Corinthians 12:1-7, shows that St. Paul experienced a real spiritual event that helped confirm his salvation. Not all believers experience such graces, but the Apostle St. Paul did.
