23. Is salvation possible without the Spirit?
No. The Spirit leads us through faithful response to the gospel into the fellowship of the church.
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Some Christian traditions are fond of talking about our salvation in terms of the “five solas,” or five slogans foregrounding the word alone (sola, solus): “faith alone,” “grace alone,” “Scripture alone,” “for the glory of God alone,” and “Christ alone.” The application of the word alone to each of these raises some problems if taken literally, but here in particular Jesus himself would object to salvation being attributed to “Christ alone.” In a passage that was particularly important in John Wesley’s own theology, John 3:3–6, Jesus pointed to the necessary role played by the Holy Spirit in each person’s salvation. Simply put, we are only “born again” through the agency of the Holy Spirit!
Wesley drew an insightful analogy between our natural birth and our spiritual rebirth. Before our physical birth, we had no perception of the light that filled the world outside of our mothers’ wombs; we had only the faintest perception of sound; we experienced almost no sensation from the outside world through the wall of flesh that separated us from the world beyond. In just this way, the natural person goes about his or her life not perceiving God’s light, only hearing the voice of God as faint murmurings at best, feeling almost nothing by way of the Spirit’s promptings. But when he or she is “brought to the birth”—delivered in multiple senses of the word—he or she sees for the first time “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6), hears God’s voice with the ears of the spirit, feels the love of Christ, and senses the empowering guidance of the Holy Spirit (see “The New Birth” II.4).
The Spirit continues to be essential for our perseverance in the new life that begins with the new birth, leading us into the holiness of heart and life that is new life: “if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” (Rom. 8:13–14, emphasis added). And it is the Spirit’s presence in our lives that gives us the only reliable assurance that we are in Christ (1 John 4:13) and have been adopted into God’s own family (Rom. 8:15–17; Gal. 4:6–7).
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Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. . . . No one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” (John 3:3, 5–6 NIV)
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4–7)
See also Rom. 8:9–17; Eph. 2:17–22; CoF III
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This is an excerpt from Christian Faith and Doctrine: An Annotated Catechism for the Global Methodist Church. Seedbed is pleased to partner with The Global Methodist Church to offer this companion resource to A Catechism of Christian Faith and Doctrine for the Global Methodist Church.
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