Apostolic Salvation 5

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Apostolics find the basis for faith and salvation in these texts in
Acts.  Apostolics view themselves as a community of salvation created by
God through the Holy Spirit to continue the ministry of Jesus in the
world through the proclamation of His name.  The proclamation of the
name of Jesus in the Apostolic community is accompanied by evidential
signs.  The reign of God is manifested through miracles, spiritual
gifts, the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and professions of faith in Jesus
as Lord.  The reign of God is also manifested in the Apostolic community
through demonstrable social actions.  The early Apostolic movement
justified its interracial membership and its ordination of women to the
ministry on the basis of a common experience of the Holy Spirit.  The
early Apostolic movement also ardently embraced pacifism as an essential
characteristic of the Christian life.  Because the baptism in the Holy
Spirit is an eschatological event, a sign that the liberation and
redemption  promised by Christ has already begun, Apostolics are
challenged to participate in the renewal of creation not only through
the proclamation of the Gospel, but by social action, medical help, and
ecological measures.  Such physical and temporal actions are signs of
the presence of Jesus in the Apostolic community.
	The proclamation of the name of Jesus makes the life of the Apostolic
community focused upon the already nature of the reign of God. 
Authoritative and anointed sermons are preached proclaiming the Gospel
of Jesus Christ with revivalistic fervor.  Hymns are sung glorifying
Jesus as Lord of heaven and earth.  Prayers are offered to God in the
name of Jesus Christ for the needs of the community, for the sick, and
for the world.  Ministers are ordained, workers are commissioned, and
children are dedicated in the name of Jesus Christ.  The intensity of
the Apostolic love for and devotion to Jesus Christ creates a desire for
the "not yet" of the reign of God, the second coming of Jesus in glory
and power to establish eternal fellowship with his people.  This love
provides Apostolics with an inner compulsion for evangelism and
missions.  As in the book of Acts the proclamation of Jesus results in a
dynamic and unpredictable encounter with Jesus Christ through the Holy
Spirit.  People receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the sign of
speaking in tongues and confess faith in Jesus as Lord through water
baptism in his name.  Together, water baptism in the name of Jesus
Christ and the reception of the baptism in the Holy Spirit are the
central events of salvation in the Apostolic community.  Through them
individuals are received as members into the Apostolic community.
	The Apostolic Pentecostal linkage of the baptism in the Holy Spirit and
water baptism with the initial reception of salvation is routinely
criticized by "orthodox" Pentecostals.  However, in the foundational
texts in Acts common to all Pentecostals the baptism in the Holy Spirit
is explicitly associated with a new revelation of God, i.e. the name,
and the coming of the eschatological salvation in Jesus Christ.  The
exclusion of any linkage between conversion and the baptism in the Holy
Spirit in the book of Acts is without a basis.  The content of Acts 2 is
explicitly soteriological.  The coming of the Spirit is a sign of
eschatological salvation.  When this event is repeated in the Gentile
Pentecost Peter does not describe it as an endowment with power but as a
demonstration of the grace of God by which both Jews and Gentiles are
saved (Acts 15:11).  The baptism in the Holy Spirit makes sense only if
it is seen, as Peter indeed sees it, as a visible sign of belonging to
the new Israel to whom the Spirit is given (McDonnell 1991:36).  In
these passages the baptism in the Holy Spirit is not an endowment with
power but a sign of God's salvation.  Those receiving the Spirit
participate in the reality of salvation.  They are transformed by the
Spirit into a new community of salvation.
	The separation of water baptism from Spirit baptism is also without a
biblical basis.  Those who deny the efficacy of baptism in conveying the
Holy Spirit  believe that water baptism "is not a channel of grace, and
neither the gift of the Spirit nor any of the blessings which he brings
may be inferred from or ascribed to it" (Dunn 1970:228).  The uniqueness
of the situation of the first disciples and those gathered with them is
ignored in an effort to separate water baptism and Spirit baptism in
subsequent Christian conversions.  We have already shown that throughout
Acts  water baptism is performed in the name of Jesus Christ and often
correlated with the baptism in the Holy Spirit.  Luke does not share the
anti-sacramental bias of "orthodox" Pentecostals.
	"To be baptized in the name involves the reception of the same baptism
in fulfillment, the Spirit baptism to which John had looked forward. 
Baptism is thus a representation of Christ's own baptism, and it
necessarily carries with it the gift of the spirit for those who repent
and acknowledge him as messiah.  So much is implied in Acts 2:38" (Lampe
1955:197-198).
	After the initial coming of the Holy Spirit there is no need to "wait"
to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit after water baptism (Bruner
1970:168).  "If we can overcome the anxiety to get a clear sequential
picture of the early rites and take Jesus' Jordan experience as a whole,
then surely it serves as a model for Christian initiation, which
involved baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit"  (Acts 2:38),
(McDonnell 1991:24).  Apostolics have overcome this anxiety and
routinely see new converts baptized in Jesus name emerging from the
water and receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the initial sign
of speaking in tongues!
	The Apostolic understanding of the baptism in the Holy spirit eclipses
the traditional understanding of the baptism as an endowment with
power.  For Apostolics the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a dynamic and
unpredictable encounter with the risen Savior Jesus Christ in the midst
of the Apostolic community.  This encounter results in the revelation of
the "name", a confession of faith in Jesus as Lord through water
baptism, and the present experience of salvation.  Through this
encounter Apostolics participate in the reign of God and embark on the
new way of life which characterizes their community, proclaiming the
name of Jesus with evidential signs following.
	
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