Salvation The Pentecostal Way 1
Steve Starcher (stevstar@prodigy.net)
Thu, 21 May 1998 20:45:10 -0700
In response to my posts "Legitimate Concerns" and "Not Just The "Other"
Pentecostals" Sister's Lynne and Anneliese have made some very important
observations and asked some very important questions. At first I was
tempted to respond to each individually but after considerable thought
recognized that both responses were primarily concerned with the
question of salvation, "Salvation The Pentecostal Way".
Sis. Lynne touched my heart when she said that she was a home missions
wife and preacher. Sis. Anneliese blessed me when she concluded her
post with an exhortation for Apostolics to "reach out" to others and
present the truth of the Apostolic faith in a loving way. This is the
context in which Apostolics should be discussing salvation! Salvation
is not just an abstract theological doctrine, but an experiential
reality within the Apostolic community. To say it another way,
salvation is not just something Apostolics believe, but something
Apostolics experience!
Salvation for Apostolics is something that happens to us. We are
baptized in the Holy Spirit. We Speak in tongues. We are baptized in
water in the name of Jesus Christ. We encounter the presence of the
risen Lord Jesus Christ. And our lives are forever changed by it! The
Apostolic Pentecostal doctrine of salvation should be a description of
the experience of salvation in the Apostolic community informed and
interpreted by Holy Scripture. Since the inception of their movement
Apostolics have struggled to give this dynamic and powerful salvation a
biblical and theological expression.
The questions raised by Sis. Anneliese and Sister Lynne are those which
have always perplexed and separated Apostolics. If we could enter a
time machine and travel back to the formative years of the Apostolic
movement we would hear Apostolics debating whether Acts 2:38 was indeed
the "New Birth", whether an individual was saved without being baptized
in Jesus' name and speaking in tongues, whether other believers in
Christ should be called Christians if they did not follow the Apostolic
gospel. Differences of opinion on these issues created different
Apostolic denominations. Sadly, the reality of these differences in the
understanding of Apostolic salvation has been ignored or minimized in
the Apostolic movement to the point that sincere Apostolic believers do
not know the true history of their movement. When Brother Drost's
responded to my post and reminded me that there have always been
Apostolics who have believed that the baptism in the Holy Spirit was an
event subsequent to salvation, he made me realize how Apostolics have a
tendency to forget Apostolic history and not voice dissenting opinions
to what is perceived to be an Apostolic "consensus" of belief.
Why are there different interpretations of the Apostolic experience of
salvation? I want to answer this question in several different ways.
First, lets look at the genesis of the Apostolic movement. Apostolic
Pentecostalism arose as a result of the Pentecostal experience of Jesus
and the Christ centered faith and worship it created. Apostolic
distinctives, the revelation of the fullness of God in Christ, i.e. the
name, and water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ are biblical and
theological expressions of the Pentecostal experience. They resonate
within the heart of all Pentecostals. Those embracing these new truths
were not only ordinary believers, but the "who's who" of the early
Pentecostal movement. The primary question facing these early
Apostolics was how to incorporate these newly discovered truths into a
doctrine of salvation. Idealistically one would think that they would
just sit down and hammer out their doctrine from the pages of Holy
Scripture. But things were not so easy! Many of these first Apostolics
had been Christians in another way before becoming Pentecostals and
Apostolics. They had a Christian history. They had been "saved" in
another way, been baptized according to Matthew 28:19, and preached
another gospel. They had very strong bonds of love and fellowship to
the denominations they were leaving. Yet they understood themselves to
be Christians in a new and exciting way. They now proclaimed the
Apostolic gospel. And God's word was confirmed! New Christians were
born into the kingdom of God baptized in Jesus name and receiving the
Holy Ghost with the initial evidence of speaking in unknown tongues.
These new converts had no Christian history. The whole of their
Christian existence would be defined in this new Apostolic way. For
them Acts 2:38 was indeed the New Birth. And for many of the
proclaimers of the the newly discovered Apostolic gospel their
conversion was evidence that God had restored to the Church the New
Testament faith.
Examining the history of the early Apostolic movement the possible
sources for different interpretations of Apostolic salvation can be
discerned. Is it not possible that some Apostolics who were believers
in Christ before the Apostolic revelations interpreted these revelations
as events "subsequent" to salvation? After all, they considered
themselves to be devout Christians before they received the baptism in
the Holy Spirit and were baptized in Jesus name. It fact, it can
reasonably be argued that they received the baptism in the Holy Spirit
and Apostolic understanding because they were devout Christians. Not
wishing to dismiss and/or minimize their prior Christian existence,
they taught that their Apostolic faith was subsequent to
salvation.
But we must not ignore the other group of Apostolics. Seeing the
success of the proclamation of Acts 2:38 and believing that God was in
the process of restoring his Church, they considered Acts 2:38 to be the
New Birth. Their previous Christian existence was compared to their
present Apostolic existence and found wanting. They considered
themselves to have recovered the true Apostolic faith and were
determined to proclaim it as truth and insist that all obey Acts 2:38 to
be saved. Their message was eagerly embraced by new converts and those
disillusioned by prior Christian experiences.
It is hard for some to accept, but these two models of salvation were
present in the United Pentecostal Church at the time of its creation.
The statement of faith which united UPC Apostolics allowed for salvation
to be expressed utilizing either of these two models.
Apostolics allowed for a diversity of their understanding of salvation
because it expressed the what was happening in their Apostolic
community. Christians who had been serving the Lord for many years were
embracing the Apostolic message, subsequence! New converts were being
made who had never know the Lord in any other way, New Birth! This
dynamic is still happening in Apostolic churches today! Our diversity
of understanding Apostolic salvation reflects our Apostolic experience.
It is consistent with the original Apostolic faith!
Before journeying on to discuss why these two models of salvation have
separated Apostolics I want to pause and answer a question which is
probably in the minds of quite a few readers. How can Apostolics
effectively present their faith if they believe others are Christians,
if they embrace subsequence? Many Apostolics fear an avalanche of
liberalism in the Apostolic movement and a loss of Apostolic identity if
Acts 2:38 is not presented as the New Birth. It seems they do not
realize that the "passion" they possess for the Acts 2:38 message is
shared by moderates who receive others as Christians. Just because
moderate Apostolics acknowledge the Christian faith of others does not
mean they feel that these Christians should not be baptized in Jesus
name, should not receive the baptism in the Holy Ghost, and should not
understand the fullness of God in Christ. In contrast to liberal
Apostolics, moderate Apostolics desire other Christians to understand,
experience, and embrace, the Apostolic gospel. Moderates merely believe
that these Christians can affirm most of their previous Christian
history in the process of becoming Apostolics. The Apostolic gospel is
a fulfillment of and not a total contradiction of the prior existence of
Christians who become Apostolics. Moderate Apostolics place an emphasis
on the positive proclamation of the Apostolic Gospel, not on a negative
apologetic against the faith of other Christians.
The passion Apostolics possess for their faith is understandable. The
intensity of love and devotion to Jesus Christ created in the Apostolic
community is overwhelming. From this perspective it is difficult to
understand how others would not want to know Jesus in an Apostolic way,
be baptized in His name and receive the Holy Spirit with the evidence of
tongues. But this is an understanding within faith. An understanding
born of the experience of Jesus in the life of the Apostolic community.
An understanding which can take time for others to develop. And true
understanding requires a similar Apostolic experience. We must be
patient! We must not assume that the faith we love and cherish is self
evident to all. It is not! In our rush to win souls for the Lord we
must allow time for God to give the increase.
Why have Apostolic separated over the two different models of salvation
present in their community? I really don't want to beat the same drum
but I have no choice. I have made a sustained argument against the
bondage of the Apostolic faith to Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism in
my posts. Here is another example of how the Apostolic faith is
controlled by foreign theologies alien to its essential being. The
founders of Fundamentalism were dramatically influenced by Protestant
Scholasticism. In a recent post I defined the Scholastics as scholars
who
attempted to give a precise doctrinal expression to the spiritual
dynamic of the Reformation faith. They turned a heartfelt, experiential
religion, into a dead and dry "orthodoxy". True to their program of
providing a complete systematic presentation of the Christian faith,
the Scholastics conceived of salvation as following a divine plan with a
very logical and chronological order. The mystery of salvation was now
mastered and controlled by man. The Holy Spirit was imprisoned by human
logic. God was no longer free. God had to follow the pattern of
salvation which made "sense" to a fallible human creature! The
technical name for the Scholastic doctrine is "ordo salutis", which
means order of salvation.
Apostolics and Trinitarians Pentecostals interpreted their new found
faith with the understanding that it would conform to some sort of
logical and chronological order. But Pentecostals could not agree on a
single "logical
and chronological" order. The baptism in the Holy Spirit was placed
before
salvation and after salvation. Individuals were baptized in Jesus name
before they received the Holy Spirit and after they received the Holy
Spirit. Repentance and faith usually preceded water baptism and Spirit
baptism, but sometimes they were created by water baptism and Spirit
baptism. Do such schemes reflect the reality of the Pentecostal
experience of salvation? Do Pentecostals really want to acknowledge
that their experience of salvation is always logical and chronological
and preclude the possibility of the sovereign
intervention of God to accomplish His will? Does the Book of Acts
really present such a logical and chronological order for salvation?
The Pentecostal, Apostolic and Trinitarian, interpretation of Acts has
consistently found a logical and chronological order for salvation
present. Perhaps it is time to reread these crucial Pentecostal texts
and determine if Pentecostal interpretation has indeed been influenced
by the Protestant Scholastic concept of an "ordo salutis".
Salvation is a very important subject for Luke. Salvation terminology
and conversion experiences are found throughout the narrative of
Luke-Acts. Because the gospel of Luke and Acts were originally a single
work their depiction of salvation must be studied together.
Furthermore, it must be remembered that Luke-Acts is the witness of the
post Pentecostal faith of Luke to Jesus Christ. Luke's writings in the
gospel are made with the full knowledge of the day of Pentecost, the
baptism in the Holy Spirit, water baptism in Jesus name, the spread of
the gospel, i.e. Christian salvation. When Luke speaks of salvation in
his gospel he is speaking of the salvation he has experienced!
Because Luke provides a vast amount of data from which a theology of
salvation must be constructed I will simplify my presentation by
examining four salivation terms: Sozo, to save; Soter, Savior; soteria,
salvation; and soterion, salvation. I will examine the usage of these
terms throughout Luke-Acts and answer the following questions: 1) who
is to be saved; 2) what does salvation mean; 3) who or what brings
it; and 4) who or what brings it. (Powell, 5-7).
Salvation in the Gospel of Luke
Verse Who is to be saved? What does salvation mean? Who, what brings
it? How received?
1:47 Mary blessedness (1:42,48) God faith (1:45)
1:69,71 Israel rescue from enemies God .....
1:77 the Lord's people forgiveness John(1:76) .....
2:11 shepherds peace (2:14) Christ the Lord .....
2:30 all people revelation, glory Jesus (1:27) .....
3:6 all flesh forgiveness (3:3) John baptism
6:9 man with infirmity healing word of Jesus .....
7:50 sinner (7:37) forgiveness (7:48) word of Jesus faith
8:12 ones along the path ..... word of God faith
8:36 demoniac exorcism command of Jesus .....
8:48 woman with infirmity healing power of Jesus faith
8:50 Jarius' daughter resurrection word of Jesus faith
9:24 whoever ..... ..... self denial
13:23 a few feasting in God's reign God .....
17:19 leper being made clean Jesus faith
18:26 who? entering God's reign God .....
18:42 blind man reception of sight word of Jesus faith
19:9,10 Zaccheus being a child of Abraham Jesus renunciation
Salvation in Acts
Verse Who is to be saved? What does salvation mean? Who, what brings
it? How received?
2:21 everyone escape from apocalypse, the Lord's Name calling, Holy
Spirit
tongues, dreams,
signs and wonders
2:40 Jews from many nations forgiveness exalted Jesus
(2:33)repentance, baptism,
(2:36) Holy Spirit
2:47 numbers ..... the Lord ......
4:12 people ..... name of Jesus ......
5:31 Israel forgiveness exalted Jesus ......
7:25 Israel rescue from enemies Moses ......
11:14 gentiles ..... God (11:17) faith, Holy Spirit
(11:15)
repentance (11:18)
13:23, Israel, godfearers forgiveness, freedom risen Jesus faith
26 (13:17,26) (13:38,39) (13:32-39)
13:47 gentiles eternal life (13:46) ..... .....
14:9 lame man being made to walk word of Paul faith
15:1,11 Jews, Gentiles ..... the Lord Jesus grace
16:30, jailer, family safety the Lord Jesus faith
31
27:20, sailors, Paul survival God (27:23) obedience
31,34,
43
28:28 gentiles (spiritual)healing God listening
Examining the first columns of these charts one is led to the
conclusion that salvation for Luke is universal in scope transcending
ethnic, sexual, and economic boundaries (Lk 2:31; Acts 2:21). Those who
receive or who are offered salvation include jews and Gentiles, men and
women, and rich and poor.
The meaning of salvation found in the second column of the charts is
equally diverse. Salvation is associated with the totality of human
existence, physical, spiritual, and social, present and future. For
Luke salvation is both a present reality and a future hope (Lk
11:20;17:21; Acts 22:18,29-30) Salvation as a future reality offers the
hope of eternal life (Luke 10:25;18:18,30; Acts 13:41). however Luke
places greater emphasis on the present reality of salvation. Throughout
his narrative Luke utilizes the word "today" at significant points to
emphasize the present reality of salvation (Lk 2:11; 3:22; 4:21; 5:26;
19:5,9; 23:43). The experience of the present reality of salvation
results in healings, exorcisms, and divine protection as well as
blessedness, forgiveness, and repentance (Lk 1:69, 71, 77; 6:9; 8:36,48;
18:42; Acts 2:40; 4:9; 5:31; 27:23,34,44). The present reality of
salvation also results in receiving the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:40; 11:14).
How then does Luke define the meaning of salvation. For Luke "being
saved" and "entering the Kingdom of God" are synonymous (Lk 18:24-26).
The biblical phrase "kingdom of God" is better translated "reign of
God". In Holy Scripture the Hebrew malkuth and Greek basilea do not
designate a geographical territory governed by a king, the connotation
of "kingdom". These terms are used to express the sovereignty,
authority, and power of God as king in the establishment of his rule
upon the earth. The term reign better expresses the spiritual realm or
sphere of the rule of God which is implied. For Luke salvation means
participation in the reign of God. As the second column of the charts
indicate, this participation is varied according to the needs of the
participant. Participation may involve peace, blessing, and eternal
life, or it may involve forgiveness, healing and deliverance. In all
cases participation means "living life, even now, as God intends it to
be lived" (Powell, 6).
The basis of salvation is found in the third column of the charts.
Throughout Luke-Acts salvation is the result of God's action. Salvation
is "of God" (Lk 3:6; Acts 28:28). This action occurs in the person of
Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Savior (Luke 2:11; Acts 5:31; 13:23). The
ministry of Jesus upon the earth is to "seek and save the lost" (Lk
19:10). The life of Jesus brings to realization the reign of power in
which individuals are freed from sin, disease, and Satan that they might
participate in the reign of God (Lk 6:9; 8:36).
The ministry of Jesus is continued by the Holy Spirit after His death,
resurrection and ascension. Jesus is "exalted to the right hand of
God", identified as the heavenly "Lord", and is once again personally
present upon the earth (Lk 24:51, Acts 7:56; 10:3-7, 26:13-18). Jesus
appears to Saul on the road to Damascus and is present in the lives of
Christians through the Holy Spirit which is identified as the Spirit of
Jesus (Acts 10:3-7; 16:7; 22:6-10; 26:13-18). Jesus is present in the
proclamation of the Gospel and in the invocation of his name for
baptisms, healings, exorcisms, and forgiveness (Acts 2:21; 2:38; 3:6;
4:12; 10:43; 11:14; 13:26).
For Luke, Christian salvation finds its basis in the life,
resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. With the exception of Acts 20:28,
Luke does not associate the death of Jesus with salvation. Luke omits
the references found in Matthew and Mark to Jesus giving "his life as a
ransom" and shedding his blood "for the forgiveness of sins" (Mt 20:28;
26:28; Mk 10:45). "But inasmuch as he has been glorified and empowered
to send the Spirit, Jesus does have an active role in the salvation of
those who believe in Him" (Zehlne,62).
The fourth and final column of the charts records Luke's portrayal of
the reception of salvation. The omissions on the chart are
significant. Luke is frequently content to omit any description of the
way salvation is appropriated leaving the impression that it is
secondary importance to the initiative of God. Where the reception of
salvation is presented it is related to the divine initiative in Jesus
or the Holy Spirit and to the human response of faith and/or faith
related activities such as baptism, repentance, obedience, and self
denial. Faith results from the proclamation of the gospel and from
demonstrations of the power of Jesus (Lk 7:50; 8:48; 17:19; Acts 11:17;
14:9). Luke also makes it explicit that salvation can be accepted or
rejected. The rich fail to receive salvation because they refuse to be
saved from their riches Lk 16:13; 18:24,25). Those who are saved choose
to participate in the reign of God (Lk 19:9). Luke does not attempt to
resolve the tension inherent in portraying salvation as both God's
initiative and man's response. Luke urges people to "save yourself"
while maintaining that people are saved "by the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ" (Acts 15:11).
From the examination of Lukan salvation terminology in its context
several conclusions can be made. Salvation is a major theme in Luke.
Salvation is available to all although not received by all. Salvation
for Luke is holistic. Salvation is not limited to the spiritual realm
but extended to include the physical and social dimensions of human
existence. In his writings Luke uses salvation to encompass the same
meaning as the Hebrew term shalom, peace. "God not only rescues people
out of a predicament (e.g. sin or illness), but He brings them into a
new state of wholeness or peace (e.g. forgiveness or health)" (Liefield,
292). Luke conceives of salvation as participation in the reign of God,
living life as God has intended. Luke finds the basis for salvation in
the life, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus rather than in the
crucifixion. Finally, this salvation is the result of the initiative of
God, in Jesus or the Holy Spirit, and the human response of faith and/or
faith acts. This reception is unpredictable in Luke-Acts and follows no
precise pattern. There is no "ordo salutis" in Luke-Acts!
The presentation of salvation in Luke-Acts using key salvation terms is
faced with a significant limitation. Luke frequently describes the
salvation experience without using the salvation terminology we have
examined. As this post has extended far beyond my intentions I will
examine the foundational accounts for Salvation the Pentecostal Way
in another post.