Do Oneness Pentecostals Teach Salvation by Works? by David K. Bernard Podcast recording (no venue stated in the delivered transcript) Kind: teaching Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9, Acts 2:38, Titus 2:11, Romans 1, Romans 2, Romans 1:16-17, Romans 1:5, Romans 6:17, 2 Thessalonians 1:8, Luke 13:3, Mark 1:15, Acts 22:16, Mark 16:16, John 7, Acts 11, Acts 11:15-17 Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/david-k-bernard--do-oneness-pentecostals-teach-salvation-by-works Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page. Free to copy and share with attribution. ------------------------------------------------------------ we absolutely deny the accusation of work salvation we believe that we're saved by grace through faith but we believe that you actually receive something it's the new birth experience it's the acts 2 38 message of repentance water baptism in the name of jesus christ the baptism of the holy spirit with the initial sign of speaking in tongues but that is not our works that is god's work in us that we receive by grace through faith so let me give you a little explanation from ephesians grace is mean it simply means salvation is a gift grace is god's gift to us i would also add that grace is god's work in us it's not passive it's active titus 2 11 says the grace of god that brings salvation has appeared to all men and teaches us that denying ungodly bless we should live soberly righteously and holy in this present world so grace is our teacher grace works in us the way we receive this gift is through faith no we cannot earn our salvation we could not pay for it we do not deserve it because of our lineage our family our race there are no qualifications by which we could earn or deserve salvation so we firmly establish were saved by grace through faith but faith is our positive response to god faith is how we accept god's grace even though jesus died for the whole world the whole world is not automatically saved because people must make a choice to receive god's grace now i would hasten to add god always initiates the process we never just decide we're going to be saved we're always responding to god's grace god's grace draws us god's grace enables us to believe him and repent without god's grace we couldn't even do that but as i said the grace of god that brings salvation has appeared to everyone so because of christ's sacrifice god reaches out to every human being and i do believe at some point or another in everyone's life there's a witness that if they will respond to that witness then god would lead them into further truth so that they could be saved cornelius is a good example he did not have the fullness of truth but it responded to what he knew he prayed and god made a way for him to be saved so god speaks to everyone through through creation romans 1 through conscience romans 2 that's grace but we must respond now here's the important point gr faith always includes obedience there are two sides of the same coin you can't say i believe but i'm not gonna obey what i believe that doesn't even make sense and in fact the bible teaches that faith includes obedience romans chapter 1 the same apostle paul the the same inspired word of god romans 1 16-17 says the gospel brings salvation by faith and the just shall live by faith so that's another statement much like ephesians 2. but in that same chapter romans 1 5 it's paul says that he was called as an apostle to bring people to the obedience of faith and then in romans 6 17 same book same writer same inspiration the spirit romans 6 17 says that you were past tense servants of sin so we were sinners but we've been delivered so that would be another uh explanation of salvation we're being delivered by the doctrine because we're delivered because we obeyed from the heart the doctrine that was delivered to us so romans 1 says the gospel of jesus christ brings salvation to everyone who believes that's faith romans 6 says we have salvation because we've obeyed from the heart that's obedience the obedience of faith likewise in second thessalonians 1 8 paul states that when jesus christ comes back he's going to judge all those who know not god and obey not the gospel of jesus christ so to believe is to obey in our maybe western culture we might say well you can think something and agreed to that and that's believing even though you don't act on it but in the bible there's no such distinction if you really believe something you will act if you don't act that means you didn't really believe dietrich bonhoeffer a german theologian who was executed by the nazis he made this profound statement in his book the cost of discipleship only he who believes is obedient so only if you really believe will you proceed to obey but then the second part is it is even more profound only he who believes is obedient but only he who is obedient believes so the test of your faith is not what you say the test of the faith is how you respond if we're talking right here and you say well brother bernard i believe you but i don't believe your words well that's obviously contradictory if you if you believe me that means you believe my words well if my words call for action so if i say the building is on fire run right now flee if you really believe me you won't just sit there and smile and say that's nice thanks for the info you will actually run and if you didn't run i can safely conclude you didn't really believe me sure because in that context believing doesn't mean verbal agreement or verbal profession agreement means action so when the bible says repent or you'll all perish that's what jesus said in luke 13 3. the proper response say well i believe on jesus but i'm not going to do what he said that's not faith here's another example let's say i tell you i will give you a hundred thousand dollars if you show up tomorrow morning at commerce bank um here in saint louis wherever it is and if you do that i'll give you a hundred thousand dollars well in that illustration that's grace it's a gift and if you show up and receive it that's faith you believed me you didn't earn it you didn't do 100 000 worth of work even if it took you 30 minutes to get there that wasn't 100 000 worth of work but if so if you show up i can safely say you believe me and so you receive it you receive it by grace through faith but notice that faith caused you to obey to meet the condition of the promise now if you show up and i say i change my mind um i'm not going to give it i lied to you you can't sue me because it wasn't a right you didn't earn it you don't deserve it by law it's not you're not entitled to it it's purely grace if you don't show up and i'm waiting there half an hour then i can safely assume you didn't really believe me because i'm assuming am i correct that that you would absolutely want a hundred thousand dollars so we're not we're not considering that you might not even desire it no you would be there right if you really believed it and you would go early you wouldn't wake the last minute you wouldn't just look on your map and say well it takes me 15 minutes no you would you would probably go 45 minutes or i'd probably sleep overnight you'd probably see it right so but notice in that analogy that was not works that was simply you showing up to receive the promise you're simply meeting the condition so the bible says by grace are we saved through faith so we must trust god well what do we trust god and also in my analogy you actually get a 100 000 check you know something actually happens uh you have money in your bank so when the the bible commands it's not an option repent in fact mark 1 16 jesus began preaching repent and believe the gospel so if you're going to believe the gospel the first thing you do is repent when you repent you're confessing your sins to god you're surrendering your life to god but it's god who actually forgives you and god who changes your heart so who's doing the work god you're just showing up you're just praying the prayer of faith when you're baptized in the name of jesus christ the water doesn't wash away your sins the preacher doesn't wash away your sins your good works don't wash away your sins i mean if that were the case you could just take a bath or go jump in the lake and swim and say i did it but no when you're baptized you're simply saying the bible says repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the remission of sins acts 2 38 uh ananias topal arise and be baptized washing away your sins and wash away your sins calling on the name of the lord and that's acts 22 16. so basically we when we read that we hear that preached we believe it so what do we do we really believe it so we show up we say preach or baptize me we're not doing the works we're meeting the conditions we're responding in faith we're doing what the word says who actually does the work jesus he washes away sins by his blood that's why we always call the name of jesus when baptized because it's not us it's not the preacher it's jesus if jesus really isn't the savior well we're going to be lost you know if buddha is the savior we're sunk because we're calling on jesus now i'm being facetious there but my point is it's god who's doing the work and likewise when we receive the holy spirit we're not doing any good works speaking in tongues is god working in us it's not our doing it's god's doing in fact acts 2 30 again says ye shall receive the gift of the holy ghost so the gift it's grace and by the way i can tie all this back peter on the day of pentecost preached with the support of the 12 apostles acts 2 38 but they were only teaching what jesus had already said so i i quoted mark 1 15 repent and believe the gospel so jesus associated if you believe the gospel first thing you'll do is repent mark 16 16 again the words of jesus he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved so jesus said if you believe the next logical step in expressing your faith is you'll be baptized and then john 7 jesus cried out he that believeth on me as the scripture has said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water and then john adds but this spake he of the spirit uh with that which they that believed on him should receive because the holy ghost is not yet given because jesus is not yet glorified so john explains when you truly believe you'll receive the holy spirit so jesus himself linked belief with repentance water baptism receiving the holy spirit another example is in acts chapter 11 when the apostle peter was reporting back to the elders of the apostles in jerusalem why did you go preach for the gentile household of cornelius and why did you have fellowship he said well god sent me he recounts the story in acts 11 and then he it recounts how god poured out the holy spirit upon them and then he said i baptize them how could i forbid water when god is the one who who filled him with the spirit and so but in acts chapter 11 verse 15 through 17 the apostle peter explains when i saw them receive the holy spirit i remembered how jesus promised this and i remembered how we received the holy spirit on the day of pentecost he said god gave them the same gift as he did to us who believed on the lord jesus christ so the apostle peter linked believing on the lord jesus christ directly with the pentecostal experience of receiving the holy spirit so my summary is we believe that we're saved by grace through faith but the acts 2 30 experience what we call the new birth or christian initiation is another way to say it christian conversion repentance water baptism in jesus name we're seeing the holy ghost that's the actual event that happens to you so it is the application of god's grace it's the expression of our faith we respond to the word in obedience god does the work he's the one who saves us and you'll see all throughout scripture faith involves obedience to the word if you want a detailed description my book the new birth covers this in great detail grace faith obedience repentance water baptism and the holy spirit