Yes — when someone believes the gospel, God instantly forgives, justifies, and makes that person His child, and Christian growth then follows as a lifelong process.
Les Feldick teaches that salvation is a one-time, instantaneous event — God's all-inclusive work on the believer's behalf. At that moment the believer is forgiven, justified, made a child of God, and placed into the body of Christ, arising from deadness in sin to new life. Sanctification and maturity, by contrast, are a process that continues through the Christian experience.
Romans 1:16 — Les points to this verse to show the gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes — the basis of everything that changes at salvation.
Romans 6:4 — Paul's seed-in-the-ground analogy shows believers die and are buried with Christ and rise to walk in newness of life.
Romans 8:1 — There is no condemnation for the genuine believer — the standing of every child of God.
The Bible presents the gospel as 'the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth' (Romans 1:16). In Romans 6, Paul pictures the believer as buried with Christ by baptism into death and raised like Christ from the dead — 'even so we also should walk in newness of life' (Romans 6:4). The believer's standing before God is changed, because Romans 8:1 declares, 'There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.' Together these verses show that the change at salvation is a change from death to newness of life and from condemnation to the safety of being in Christ Jesus.
Les Feldick insists that salvation is far more than a better way to heaven — it is the all-inclusive work of God on the sinner's behalf (Clip 0). At the moment a person genuinely believes that Christ died, shed His blood, was buried, and rose again, God moves in, forgives, justifies, and makes that person a child of God, placing him or her into the body of Christ (Clips 0 and 4). Since Christ died, was buried, and arose, the believer has likewise died with Him and has arisen out of deadness in old Adamic sins to a new life (Clip 0). Salvation itself is an instantaneous, one-time event — a translation from darkness to light, with sin forgiven and the believer justified the moment faith takes place (Clip 6). But the Christian experience that follows — sanctification, Bible understanding, and maturity — is a process. Les emphasizes that believers do not suddenly become mature; they begin as babes in Christ and grow over time (Clips 1 and 6). These changes are not always felt or seen. Les says people may ask, 'Do you feel this? Can you see this?' — and the answer is no, but we know it is true because the book says so (Clip 3). A genuine believer has no condemnation and is a child of God forever (Clip 2). Moreover, faith changes the way a person lives: new converts become consumed with the lost condition of family and neighbors, and believers will be busy, be a testimony, and have concern for lost people (Clip 5). Faith guides the believer not only into salvation but through the whole of the Christian experience (Clip 7).
Les Feldick is emphatic: 'Salvation is an event. Salvation is an instantaneous event.' Everything salvation includes — forgiveness, justification, being translated from darkness to light — happens in that one moment. Christian growth, on the other hand, is a process; sanctification and Bible understanding take time, and believers begin as new babes in Christ.
According to Les, the moment a person truly believes the gospel, God forgives, justifies, makes the person His child, and places him into the body of Christ. The believer is raised out of deadness in old Adamic sins to new life, just as Paul pictures in Romans 6. Scripture confirms that there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).
Les acknowledges that people often ask, 'Do you feel this? Can you see this?' and the answer is no. A believer may not feel glorified or notice visible changes in the world around him. But the change is real, and the assurance that we are His and He is ours comes from believing what the book says, not from feelings.
While the inner change may not be felt, visible results do follow. Les says a new convert is often suddenly overwhelmed with the lost condition of family, loved ones, and neighbors — and that is exactly as God intended. Everything Christ was and is has been placed on the believer by faith, so the believer gets busy, becomes a testimony, and carries a concern for lost people.
Les is clear that believers do not suddenly become mature. Just as physical life begins with an infant, the Christian life begins with a babe in Christ. Sanctification — the growth aspect of the Christian experience — is a process that covers time, longer for some than for others.
Les calls the first step in salvation 'to believe that I am what the book says I am' — that is, short of the glory of God. Faith is what guides a person not only into salvation but through the whole Christian experience, and everything rests on what the book says rather than on what other people say.
Salvation as God's All-Inclusive Work
Les teaches that salvation is God's all-inclusive work of forgiveness and justification, and that the believer dies with Christ and arises out of deadness in old Adamic sins to new life.
Salvation Is an Event, Growth Is a Process
Les teaches that salvation is a definite event while sanctification and Christian growth are a process; believers start as babes in Christ and are not instantly mature.
No Condemnation for the Genuine Believer
Les teaches that a person who has genuinely believed the gospel with all his heart is a child of God forever and has no condemnation.
Assurance by Faith, Not by Feeling
Les teaches that a believer may not feel or see the change, but the day-by-day assurance of being His comes from what the book says, not from personal feelings.
God Makes the Believer His Child
Les teaches that when a person truly believes Christ died, shed His blood, was buried, and rose again, God moves in and makes that person a child of God and places him into the body of Christ.
New Desires That Follow Faith
Les teaches that everything Christ is has been placed on the believer by faith, producing a testimony, busyness, and an overwhelming concern for lost people.
Translated From Darkness to Light
Les teaches that salvation is a one-time instantaneous event in which the believer is translated from darkness to light, sins are forgiven, and the believer is justified.
Faith Guides the Christian Life
Les teaches that faith begins with believing what the book says about oneself and then guides the believer through the entire Christian experience.
Romans 1:16: For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
This is the verse Les points to when he says the gospel is the power of God unto salvation — not works, denomination, or anything we do.
Romans 6:4: Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Paul's seed-in-the-ground analogy that Les references: believers die with Christ and are raised to walk in newness of life.
Romans 8:1: There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The basis for Les's statement that a genuine believer has no condemnation and is a child of God forever.
Not necessarily. Les asks whether you can feel or see the change, and answers that you cannot. The believer's confidence that he is God's child and that God is his comes from what the book says, not from personal feelings.
The changes that belong to salvation — forgiveness, justification, becoming a child of God, being placed into the body of Christ — happen instantly at the moment of belief. Growth, sanctification, and Bible understanding are gradual processes that continue through the Christian life.
Les teaches that God forgives, justifies, makes the person a child of God, and places him into the body of Christ. The believer is also raised out of deadness in old Adamic sins to new life — translated from darkness to light.
No. Les says believers do not suddenly become mature; they begin as new babes in Christ. Sanctification and growth take time, longer for some than for others.
Watch the Teaching: What Does "Saved by Faith" Really Mean? Romans 1:16-17