CONTROVERSY II: What about Salvation?

(This is a new article series that I am "trying out" with my readers. These are intended to be thought-provoking. Please see their Intro Article: Jan. 26, 2008)

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the whole “baptism” and “salvation” doctrines surrounding the Christian faith. Some questions many believers have asked are as follows:

Is salvation a part of the conversion process separate from baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit? Is there a “two-stage initiation”? Or do are you saved when you are baptized? What does the Holy Spirit have to do with it?

In answer to the question "does 'salvation' take more than one step," I say, no. We are saved when we accept Christ as our Savior:

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom. 10:9)

Salvation is a heart decision; we are saved because we believe in the Lord Jesus. Moreover, following this decision, we receive the Spirit’s seed/seal of sonship in Christ:

“Now it is God Who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” (2 Cor. 1:21-22)

“…you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.” (Rom. 8:14-16)

In other words, what I have gleaned from the Scriptures is that we are saved by that one faith decision, which is from our hearts, we receive the Spirit of sonship, and thus, we are saved- salvation is a one-step process:

“There is one faith, one baptism, one Holy Spirit.” (ref. Eph. 4:4-5)

However, I do believe that we have stages of empowerment in our Christian walk, which happens after salvation. For example, if you look at the Apostles, they received the Holy Spirit before Pentecost:

“Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.’ And with that He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (Jn. 20:21-22)

Here, they received the seed of salvation, i.e. the Spirit. They were saved and were going to go to heaven, but their transformation into the fullness of who God had purposed them to be did not occur until the overflowing/empowerment of the Spirit’s power in Acts 2:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses…’” (Acts 1:8)

“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:4)

Here, it appears that “filling with” and “receiving” the Spirit are separate things. “Filling with” is His empowerment, which is different from salvation. This empowering came at the event of Pentecost when the Apostles were completely transformed from those fearful fishermen, etc. into powerful preachers of the Gospel. So, really, Pentecost, “filling of the Spirit” was a stage in the process of spiritual maturity, but not salvation.

In summary, what I have found Scripture to show is that salvation is a one-step process, but walking in the fullness of Christ is a process of the Spirit’s empowerment, being transformed from glory to glory into His likeness (which comes through the Spirit). (ref. 2 Cor. 3:18)