42: At What Point Are We Saved?

Welcome to the Ready for Eternity podcast, a podcast and blog dedicated to inquisitive

Bible students exploring biblical truths that might not be fully explored in typical sermons or Bible studies.

My name is Eddie Lawrence. At what point is a person who is turning to Jesus saved?

Is it when they believe? Is it when they repent? Is it when they're baptized?

Let's see what the Bible says. The Bible teaches that we transition from lost to saved when the

Holy Spirit comes to live inside us. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the

Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God.

It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please

God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh, but are in the realm of the

Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the

Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. Romans 8, 6 through 9.

This passage in Romans is quite clear on the matter. If the

Holy Spirit does not govern or influence you, he doesn't dwell in you.

If you do not have the Spirit, you do not belong to Christ.

Either the Spirit lives in you and influences you, or you are lost.

There are no saved people who do not have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit saves us at the exact moment he comes to live within us.

The Scriptures teach that his indwelling is simultaneous with our sins being taken away.

This conclusion isn't controversial with most Bible students. The controversy comes into play when we attempt to pin down when the

Holy Spirit takes up residence within us. The Bible does give us clues as to when this happens.

So, when do we receive the Holy Spirit? There are several passages indicating that it is during immersion when the

Holy Spirit indwells us. These same passages suggest this is also when our sins are taken away.

It should be clear to everyone that the water itself is not responsible for bringing about a change.

The agent that is active in our cleansing is not the water, but the

Holy Spirit. What I understand the passages to teach is that it is during immersion that the

Holy Spirit does his work. The question isn't about who or what does the cleansing, but about the timing of the cleansing.

What's more, this isn't a question that anyone would have even asked in the earliest days of the church, but we'll talk more about that in a future episode.

Under the Old Covenant, the Spirit was only given to prophets, kings, judges, etc.

and even then, not permanently. Acts chapter 2 records the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, namely the outpouring of the

Holy Spirit to all of God's people. Peter said that what those present on the day of Pentecost witnessed was

Joel's prophecy being fulfilled. In his response to his listeners' questions as he preached the first sermon under the

New Covenant, he tells them how to be free of their sin and receive the promise of the

Holy Spirit for themselves. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the

Apostles, Brothers, what shall we do? And Peter said to them,

Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the

Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the

Lord our God calls to himself. Acts 2 37 through 39.

It's evident that Peter is connecting the gift of the Holy Spirit and the forgiveness of sins with baptism.

Many have observed that grammatically we can't tell if the gift is the

Holy Spirit himself or something that the Spirit gives. It seems to me that both of these things are true.

The gift that the Spirit gives is the remission of our sins, but it's also true that we receive the indwelling of the

Spirit, and we receive the Spirit during immersion. In the context of chapters 1 & 2 of Acts, the promise is the outpouring of the

Spirit. In other words, the Spirit is the gift. Luke, who is the author of Acts, uses a number of phrases all describing the same event which

Peter equates to the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. In Acts chapter 1 verse 5,

Luke says that we are baptized with the Spirit. In verse 8, he says when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

In Acts chapter 2 verse 4, Luke uses the phrase filled with the

Holy Spirit. In verse 17, pour out my spirit. And again in verse 18.

In verse 33, he says the promise of the Holy Spirit he has poured out.

Acts 2 38, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And verse 39, the promise once again.

Many people try to make a distinction between the indwelling of the Spirit, the baptism of the Spirit, being filled with the

Spirit, etc. However, Luke uses all of these phrases throughout the book of Acts to describe the very same thing.

Peter says that all Christians are recipients of the promise. The promise is the outpouring of the

Spirit. The Spirit gives gifts as he decides, and some of those are miraculous.

And these gifts are for the common good of the church according to 1st Corinthians 12. So in other words,

Peter is telling his audience that if they will repent and be immersed in water, they can also receive what they saw being poured out.

The promise in verse 39 refers to the outpouring of the Spirit, which according to Romans 8 verse 9 is synonymous with salvation.

Jesus gives us the indwelling of the Holy Spirit during the immersion of baptism.

What indicates that the taking away of our sins occurs during baptism? Peter says that the immersion results in the remission of sins.

Be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.

Many argue that the word for in verse 38 means because of, but this is not true.

The word for in this verse translates the Greek word eis, transliterated as E -I -S.

This word means unto or towards. The Bauer Danker -Arndt -Gingrich

Dictionary of Biblical Greek defines eis as indicating motion into a thing or into its immediate vicinity or relation to something.

In other words, eis refers to a goal that has not yet been achieved. We can demonstrate that.

There is a different Greek word that means because of. It's the

Greek word gar, G -A -R. Let's look at a single verse that uses both of these

Greek words in the same sentence. One of the Greek words is gar, meaning because.

The other is eis, meaning unto or moving toward, and in English they're both translated as the word for.

And he took a cup and when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying drink of it all of you for Greek gar meaning because.

This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for Greek eis meaning unto moving toward the forgiveness of sins

Matthew 26 27 through 28. As you can see from the passage from Matthew, Jesus's blood wasn't to be poured out because sins had been forgiven, but in order that they might be forgiven.

Likewise, we aren't immersed because our sins have been forgiven, but in order that they will be forgiven.

Belief, repentance, and baptism are all part of the same package.

Acts chapter 2 verses 38 and 39 bind together belief, repentance, immersion, forgiveness of sins, and the receipt of the

Holy Spirit. In the next episode, we'll take a look at Saul's conversion in Acts as a case study.

Thanks for listening to the podcast. We hope this episode has deepened your understanding of Scripture.

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