Is Salvation an Event or a Process?

I am not in the habit of questioning Scripture in any form of shape. However, the first time I read Acts 2:47 as a believer, I felt something was missing in the sentence structure! This is what that verse says, “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” My thought was, were these people not saved immediately they were added to the church? The reason I had this mind-set was because of where I was spiritually. I had just been born again, and had been told by preachers that people get saved once they “give their lives to Christ” after saying the Sinner’s Prayer.”

 As I grew in my relationship with God, I realised that no Scripture in the Bible promises instant salvation. In fact, the Parable of the Sower clearly shows that not everyone who receives the word of God goes on to maturity. For instance, verses 20 and 21 of Mathew 13 declare, “The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.” Similarly, verses 22 says, “The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.”

 Another parable that shoots down the idea of instant salvation is recorded in verses 47 to 50 of the same chapter. The Scripture explains that when a man cast a net into the sea, it gathered every kind of fish, some good and some bad. The Lord concluded this parable by saying, “So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

The Parable of the Wheat and Tares presents a similar theme: “The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said to him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest…”

           It is interesting to note that proponents of “Once Saved Always Saved Theology” draw their strength from the notion of instant salvation. They readily point to Romans 10:9 which says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” as their authority. Notice that just like Acts 2:7, this Scripture did not promise instant salvation. It says, “thou shalt be saved”. Now, let us put this in perspective using the word of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He told Nicodemus in John 3:3 “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Then in verse 5, He declared, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Was the Lord merely repeating Himself in both sentences? Certainly not. In the first instance, the one who received the word, just as in the Parable of Sower, was excited about it and could actually see how the kingdom of God looks like. In the second case, the person has yielded himself to the operations of the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies all saints for life in God’s kingdom.

It is also important for us to remember that Paul the apostle by the Spirit declared in Romans 8:14 that only those who are led by the Holy Spirit truly belong to Christ. On his part, Peter explains that having faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross is not enough. He implores believers to add to their faith, virtue (moral excellence), to add to their virtue, knowledge, to add to knowledge, temperance (self-control), to add to temperance, patience, to add to patience, godliness, to add to godliness, brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness, love. Similarly, James in his epistle observed that believing in God or the sacrifice of His Son does not make us special. He noted that demons also believe in these things and tremble: knowing what they signpost their eventual destruction in the lake of fire. He challenges believers to live a life of obedience to God, adding, “Faith without works is dead.”

          Clearly, salvation is the beginning of a lifelong process of being continually shaped into the people that God intends us to be. This means becoming more and more like Christ – something we do in grateful thanksgiving for our salvation (https://www.faithword.org). According to desiringgod.com, salvation is conditional upon perseverance. We must believe to the end, otherwise, apostasy will not be mentioned in the Bible as an issue. When Paul talked about the great falling away in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, he was not referring to unbelievers! Let us take heed to what Peter said in 2 Peter 1:10, “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election….” The writer of Hebrews gave a similar exhortation in Hebrews 10:35-36, “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” Verse 39 states, “But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.”