4.14.4.3 - How were People Saved before Pentecost?

We pause here to reiterate the point made earlier: people have always been saved by spiritual regeneration, being “born of the Spirit” (John 3:5-6). Yet John made it clear that the Holy Spirit “had not yet been given” prior to the Day of Pentecost (John 7:39). The new ministry of the Spirit which began on the Day of Pentecost was not that of regeneration, but of baptism into the Body of Christ (1Cor. 12:13). Prior to the Day of Pentecost, believers were never baptized into the Body of Christ. Therefore, the Body of Christ is a new and unique organism ministering in Christ’s absence during the present age.