I want to look at the perspectives of salvation from the Gospel of John, the Acts of the Apostles, and Paul’s writings.
John’s gospel was written that we might believe that Jesus was the Messiah, and by believing on Him we might attain eternal life (John 20:31). John’s gospel repeatedly teaches that one must believe in Jesus in order to escape eternal death (Schenck, p. 268). Jesus says that in order for someone to see the Kingdom of God they must be “born again” (John 3:3). Being born again wasn’t about a natural birth, but a spiritual birth. Being born again involved being born of water and Spirit (John 3:4-7). In Jesus’ words a person was saved when they had been born again of water and Spirit. Kenneth Schenck says, “What Jesus means is that one must receive the Holy Spirit in order to be a part of God’s Kingdom.” He then adds, “Jesus also alludes to the importance of Christian baptism in this chapter: one must be born of water as well as of the Spirit” (Schenck, p. 285). This message was not exclusive to the Jews, but for the whole world (John 3:16).
The Acts of the Apostles is the beginning of the Christian church. The mission of the church was to evangelize the world by beginning in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). The Apostles established the church on the message that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, which had been crucified on a cross and resurrected from the dead (Acts 2:14-36). The response to Peter’s first Christian sermon was, “They were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the Apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’” Peter commanded them to repent of their sins, be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:37-38). Luke presents salvation in the Acts of the Apostles in like manner of John’s Gospel; that everyone is to have faith in Jesus and that in order to be considered a Christian everyone must repent and be born again. Luke connects being born of water and Spirit with Christian baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38, 8:12, 4-16, 10:43-48, 19:1-7). The appropriate human response to the message of Jesus Christ is repentance and baptism, after which one receives the Holy Spirit (Schenck, p. 352).
Next, in Paul’s writings we see that unless you put your faith or trust in what Christ’s death had accomplished, God would destroy you on Judgment Day (Schenck, p. 422). Looking at Paul’s writings it seems that one would only have to believe in order to be saved (Rom. 1:17, Gal. 2:16, 3:11, Eph. 1:8). But, looking closely at all of his epistles, even in his ministry in Acts, Paul viewed Christian baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit as essential to being saved. Paul says that we are buried with Christ by baptism and that baptism links us to Christ’s death and resurrection, which allows us to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-4). Next, Paul writes that if any man does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not Christ’s (Rom. 8:9). The Apostle Paul’s theology of salvation did not differ from that of John’s Gospel, nor that of Luke’s account in the Acts. Finally, Paul wrote that salvation was not only for Israel, but God’s plan of redeeming mankind included the Gentiles, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16).
Synthesis
Looking at the perspectives of salvation in John’s Gospel, the Acts and Paul’s writings we see a common theme. The theme is that God sent forth His only begotten Son, made of a woman, to redeem sinners, through His atoning death on a Roman cross, and His resurrection from the dead. Through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we can eternal life (1 Cor. 15:3-4). The response to this message was being born again by faith (John 3:3-4). I believe we can see the connection in all three perspectives. John’s perspective of salvation by believing that Jesus is the Son of God doesn’t contradict the message that the apostles preached; in fact they did preach that you had to believe to be saved (Acts 16:31). But the Acts also records where Peter commanded his listeners to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38, 8:12, 4-16, 10:43-48). Paul didn’t contradict his own message of justification by faith by baptizing his listeners and praying that would receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-6). All the elements of believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, repenting of your sins, being baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ and receiving the Holy Spirit mesh perfectly. “Acts presents this as the process by which one could escape God’s coming judgment” (Schenck, p. 353).
The message of salvation was the same whether you were a Jew (Acts 2:38), an unbelieving Samaritan (8:12-16), a heathen Gentile (Acts 10:44-46) or a disciple of John the Baptist (Acts 19:1-6). The Gospel is for every individual and for every generation.
Application
We were asked to apply our synthesis to a contemporary situation. My contemporary situation is my concern of the many modern day salvation methods. How often do we hear this same message presented in John’s Gospel, the Acts and Paul’s writings? How many different methods of salvation are currently being taught in our evangelical churches? From repeating a prayer, to lifting up a hand, to signing your name on a card, to sprinkling infants, to taking confirmation classes, and finally just shaking a preacher’s hand these methods are currently accepted as the proper process of becoming a Christian. But these are not Biblical methods.
How far have we drifted from Biblical Christianity? I believe we have drifted very far from the original means of salvation found in the Scriptures. Man-made traditions have replaced the true means of salvation. I don’t believe improper interpretation is the only issue, I believe it is a complete disregard of Scripture. We would rather please men than please God. We feel our modern day methods are more acceptable than what the first church did. I believe the application of this synthesis is simply obeying the Scripture by believing on Jesus Christ, repenting of our sins, being water baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and being filled with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. James wrote that we are not to be just hearers of the Word, but to be doers of the Word (James 1:22). The proper perspective of salvation is the entire Bible. We do not glean only the parts that we like, but we are to properly divide the Word of God and obey it.
(This essay was written as a final paper for a New Testament Survey course for Indiana Wesleyan University)
References
Life Application Study Bible. Zondervan Publishing Company. Grand Rapids, Michigan. And The Tyndale House Publisher, Carol Stream, Illinois.
Schenck, Kenneth (2010). Jesus is Lord! An Introduction to the New Testament. Marion, IN: Triangle Publishing.