Although the heated debate among the Evangelicals and the Pentecostals on the issue of the essential nature of the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts has been going on for last four decades or so, it seems that fundamental disagreement still lies on the cardina...
Although the heated debate among the Evangelicals and the Pentecostals on the issue of the essential nature of the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts has been going on for last four decades or so, it seems that fundamental disagreement still lies on the cardinal issue,-i.e., the precise relationship between the Holy Spirit and salvation. This paper thus attempts to explore the relationship of the Holy Spirit to soteriology in Luke-Acts.
As James Dunn argues, for Luke, the Holy Spirit is not directly associated with the concept of conversion-initiation. Our investigation of the passages-e.g., Jesus’ empowerment with the Holy Spirit at Jordan, and five major pericopes dealing with reception of the Holy Spirit in Acts—has demonstrated that the gift of the Holy Spirit is given to those who have already saved.
It is also observed that, pace Max Turner’s claim, for Luke, salvation is not achieved by a process, but is instantly accomplished and closely related to “repentance,” and “the name of Jesus.” Besides, for Luke, the Holy Spirit comes upon a person not potentially, but objectively and observably. Our study has highlighted that reception of the Hoy Spirit is an objective and observable phenomenon through the analysis of five major section about receiving of the Holy Spirit in Acts.
All these observations suggest that one cannot accept Turner’s “new pneumatological paradigm” which he set up on the basis of a potential pneumatology for Luke-Acts. In short, our study leads us to conclude that the position of the Pentecostal scholars is valid: i.e., the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts is “empowering for witness” excludes the soteriological dimension.