© May 9, 2001 By Bernie L. Gillespie All Rights Reserved.

            The teaching of “full Gospel” salvation is greatly responsible for many of the errors in some current views of the plan of salvation (as coming in stages). It also has contributed to the idea of the plan of salvation as something the believer follows or does. The “full gospel” expression is based on two notions: 1) there are more benefits for the believer after conversion for which justification by faith is insufficient; and, 2) this “more,” or these additional benefits, are to be included in the essence of the Gospel.

The fundamental theme of full salvation was that there is more for the believer after conversion. Indeed, the Christian life cannot be lived fruitfully unless the “more” is appropriated.[i]

            I agree with the idea that there are more benefits obtained by Christ, for all believers, which we do not have in the present Christian state. Also, the Christian experience is one of growth, maturity and progress. Thus, the experience of the benefits of salvation which come by faith is in some sense progressive, based upon our growth and maturity. This should be an obvious fact to the studied reader of the New Testament. We are undeniably called to a life of maturity (Ephesians 4:13), obedience (Romans 6:19) and righteousness (1 Peter 2:24). The Christian is called to be, “filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18) It is our call “to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.” It is significant that the Apostle asserts that this comes by the indwelling of Christ:

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19 KJV)

            Yes, we indeed are called to be “filled with God’s fulness.” Notice carefully, however, that this is to bring glory to Christ, and not an increased attention to the Christian’s spirituality or  the Holy Spirit: “Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” This means that our faith is to be directed to Christ in seeking the fulness of God. He is the “Alpha and the Omega,” the “Beginning and the End,” the “First and the Last,” the “Almighty.” 

            Still, can we separate the work of justification from this progress in Christian living? A better question is, “How does justification function in the advance of the Christian life?” I would assert that all of the growth or filling out of the Spirit’s work in the Christian life is the direct result of faith in the one, biblical, simple Gospel - which is in essence, faith in Christ alone. Therefore, since the ongoing work of the Spirit is dependent upon faith in Christ, justification is central to all phases of the Christian life. The growth in our experience of the benefits of salvation is a direct result of our ongoing justification.

            All of the blessings of Christ belong to the justified through faith alone. Problems emerge when justification is viewed as a one-time conversion rather than an ongoing, moment-by-moment, day-by-day, relationship with Christ. This is in fact what I believe occurs in the thinking of the exponents of the “full Gospel.” Under the influence of Revivalism, they relegate justification to merely an initiatory step of the Christian life. Then, because they do not understand the profound function of justification as an on-going work in the Christian’s life, they look beyond it for the means to appropriate what is already rightfully theirs as a justified believer. At the same time, Perfectionism which was prevalent throughout American Christianity, urged Christians to concentrate their faith on post-conversion holiness, experiences and spirituality. In some cases justification disappeared from the vocabulary of various Christian denominations and movements. For most, justification became a muted and disfigured caricature of its biblical self. I will return to these issues later.

The Just Shall Live By Faith

            The famous Reformation insight claimed by Martin Luther comes from the phrase in Romans 1:17: “the just shall live by faith.” This was not only the fundamental assumption of Luther’s reformation teaching, but it is the central motif or theme of Paul in Romans. The truth of this statement over-arches all the instruction and theology found in this book. The believer is not merely justified by faith as an initiation or conversion event, but the believer lives by this justifying faith. Every dimension of the Christian life is effected by justification. Justification is a seamless reality in the believers existence. It is an ongoing relationship with God, from the first moment of saving faith until the return of Christ. The “just” is not merely converted by faith, nor initiated by faith, but the just lives by faith, and that faith is in Christ alone. Every aspect of salvation has been obtain by Christ. Hence, every aspect of our salvation must come by faith in Christ. We must be right with God through Christ - justified - in order to receive any of the benefits of our salvation. It is because of the fact that we are justified - right with God through Christ - that we can obey God’s Word and live the life of faith.

Re-justification?

            A gross misconception of justification is too often seen among “full Gospel” advocates. It is the mistaken idea that, after a Christian has a serious lapse of faith or behavior, that one would need to be re-justified in the form of a second conversion. At the heart of this whole issue is the question of the status of the lapsed Christian. It appeared to those of the Roman Catholic tradition that the answer is to view justification as synonymous with sanctification. This means the believer cooperates with Christ’s grace by obedience to cause justification. Justification would not occur until one is completely transformed into the image of Christ. Of course, this would only occur (except for some saints) at the Consummation. Thus, no one (again, except for a few rare saints) is truly justified in this life. In their view, the lapsed Christian would need the sacraments of Confession, Penance, and the Mass in order to be restored, if they had not committed the unpardonable sin. Justification is viewed as the process of transformation, the “renewing of the Holy Ghost,” by which a person is actually made righteous.

            This teaching of “transformational justification” is the opposite of what the Reformers saw. They saw justification as the state of the believer by which he is right with God because of the merits of Christ. Rather that being made perfectly righteous, the believer is counted righteous on Christ’s behalf. This enables the sinner to enter into favor and right standing with God, so that the work of the Spirit can proceed within the justified. This made it possible for the Holy Spirit to transform the believer. This transformation would advance, never perfect in this life, to a perfection received at the Coming of Christ. It is justification that makes sanctifying transformation possible and not the other way around.

Fault of Revivalism & Perfectionism

            One of the faults of Revivalism[ii] was to equate justification with a conversion experience. This mistaken notion has been handed down to many of children of Revivalism. The logic followed, that if one were brought into the Church by a dramatic, experiential conversion, then a lapsed Christian would need to come back the same way. Added to Revivalism was a from of Perfectionism popularized by Charles Finney[iii] and his ilk. It popularized the idea that a person is fully capable, in his own strength, to choose to be converted. It denied the depravity of the sinner. With this, it dismissed the truth that sinners are dead in sin and need God’s merciful “quickening” to come to Christ (Ephesians 2:5). And since one is self-sufficient to come to Christ in conversion, one is equally capable to do what is necessary to stay “right” with God. This led many perfectionist, revivalist traditions to teach that the Christian remains “justified” by doing righteous things. Of course, this was exactly the position that Rome took against the Reformers and Protestantism.

            The writers of Scripture did not teach that the lapsed Christian would need to be re-justified, i.e. re-converted, as in many revivalist circles. Neither did they teach that the Christian maintained his justification by doing right things. Instead, they taught that a lapsed Christian should be pointed to Christ alone, who is his Advocate:

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense-- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:1,2 NIV)

Subsequent Experience of the Spirit                                               

            The “full Gospel” understanding that one needs “more” of the Spirit to get all of the Gospel is one of the distinguishing marks of Pentecostalism. It treats justification as a conversion event or experience, while concentrating the post-conversion faith on an increased work of the Spirit in the Christian life. Essential to being Pentecostal is the belief that it is necessary to have an experience subsequent to justification in order to receive “all” or the “rest of” the Spirit. This is a result of the profound impact which Perfectionism had on Pentecostalism. A chief Pentecostal tenet is the conviction that there exists a difference between receiving the Spirit at conversion and FULLY receiving the Spirit after conversion: “The baptism in the Holy Spirit, then, is simply the full reception of the Holy Spirit.”[iv]

            Gordon Fee, a respected New Testament scholar raised in Pentecostalism, lists the two chief Pentecostal distinctives:

(1) the doctrine of subsequence, i. e., that there is for Christians a baptism in the Spirit distinct from and subsequent to the experience of salvation .... and (2) the doctrine of tongues as the initial physical evidence of baptism in the Spirit.[v]

            The reception of the Spirit as an event that is “distinct from and subsequent to” the New Birth, is fundamental to Pentecostal faith.[vi] This identifies Pentecostalism as a “full gospel” movement. It assumes that one who is justified is not yet baptized in the Spirit:

Pentecostals believe that the Spirit has baptized every believer into Christ (conversion), but that Christ has not yet baptized every believer into the Spirit (Pentecost).[vii]

            This addition to the Gospel of an experience subsequent to conversion opened the door for the potential of other things being included. Over time, even more was added to the full Gospel. As Donald Dayton explains in his study of Pentecostalism, there were four components which became generally received by Pentecostals as part of the full Gospel:

During the Reformation God used Martin Luther and others to restore to the world the doctrine of justification by faith. Rom. 5:1. Later on the Lord used the Wesleys and others in the great holiness movement to restore the gospel of sanctification by faith. Acts 26:18. Later still he used various ones to restore the gospel of Divine healing by faith (Jas. 5:15, 15), and the gospel of Jesus’s second coming. Acts 1:11. Now the Lord is using many witnesses in the great Pentecostal movement to restore the gospel of the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire (Luke 3:16; Acts 1:5) with signs following. Mark 16:17, 18; Acts 2:4; 10:44 – 46; 19:6; 1:1 - 28:31. Thank God, we now have preachers of the whole gospel.[viii]

            Thus, the foursquare elements of the Gospel are justification, sanctification, physical healing, and the coming of Christ. The addition of these elements of the Christian faith to justification proper, led many to create a more complex gospel.

More Righteousness / Holy Spirit

            There is a very significant connection between the failure to understand justification by faith and the constant search for more of the Spirit. This connection is rarely understood among “second work” and Pentecostal people. Because justification is thought of as being made righteous (as in Catholicism), rather than being counted righteous on the basis of the imputed righteousness of Christ, there is a constant anxiety or insistence to “do more” in order to “be right.” This lack of understanding about the true nature of justification leads to an unsatisfied quest for more personal righteousness. This phenomenon turns the hearts of Christian, who are taught this faulty view, to constantly search for saving holiness (which they never seem to find). The focus of their lives can become an inordinate obsession to be more and more “holy.” (Usually they are more “holy” by following their movements “house rules” rather that following the requirements of the Law or the New Testament.) This obsession is the result of an ignorance about the righteousness of Christ that is imputed to us by faith.

            But here is the connection for Pentecostals. Their misunderstanding of justification leads them to seek more of the Spirit, like the Holiness and “second work” proponents sought for more holiness/righteousness. Among Pentecostals there is often a lack of assurance as to whether they have enough of the Spirit. I believe this directly results in many of the bizarre and extreme excesses that have come through the years (soaking in the Spirit, filling of teeth, barking, unfulfilled prophecies, social purity, et. al.) They are driven to more and more of the Spirit because, just like the Holiness person tries to get more righteousness to please God, the Pentecostal seeks more of the Spirit to be sure they are spiritual enough to be accepted by God. I believe much of the impulse behind Pentecostalism is created by an inadequate teaching of the reality and dynamics of justification by faith, and its accompanying indwelling of the Spirit. This does not mean they are not sincere, dedicated, and honest people. That is not what is under question. One could not find more intensely religious and committed people than in Pentecostal or Holiness circles. The question is, how much greater would be their faith if they fully appreciated the meaning of Christ’s righteousness for them.

UPCI Plan of Salvation & “Full Gospel” Theology

            The plan of salvation as understood by the United Pentecostal Church follows closely the theology of the “full Gospel.” A unique feature of the UPCI understanding is that they combine the problems of the Holiness tradition with those of the Pentecostal. Their misunderstanding of justification by faith creates a lack assurance concerning righteousness. Rather than trust in the righteousness of Christ imputed by faith, they seek and demand rigorous practices of behavioral  holiness which they believe directly determines their salvation. At the same time, this lack of assurance for righteousness profoundly impacts their view of the Holy Spirit. Like other Pentecostals, they are driven to more and more experiences, fillings, manifestations, baptism, etc. of the Spirit, because they do not understand the indwelling Spirit of Christ that comes through justification. In fact, their position is more extreme, because they differ from most other Pentecostals by relating their reception and subsequent fillings of the Spirit directly to their salvation status. Rather than trust in Christ to supply the Spirit (John 7:38, 39; Philippians 1:19) and to be their righteousness, they have a compulsion for forms of personal righteousness and experiences of the Spirit, which are often not found in Scripture. I cannot help but recall the words of Paul in Romans 10:

Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (vv 1-4 KJV)           

            The UPCI believes the plan of salvation contains the steps a sinner needs to take to be saved. They also believe the plan of salvation includes the stages a believer goes through in his Christian life. This subject is taken up at great length in my paper “Can the Gospel Be Fractured?”[ix]