That way is an expression of God’s grace.
By his life and by his death on the cross, Jesus offers a way from eternal death to eternal life. God’s gift of salvation is available through faith in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God, out of love for humankind, has provided salvation (John 3:16). Persons are not capable of saving themselves from this plight. While not denying the value of good works, throughout our history Baptists have proclaimed the truth that salvation is only by grace through faith.īaptists believe that the Bible teaches that all human beings have chosen to sin, that is, to disobey God. Salvation, according to the Bible, is solely by grace and faith, not by human effort or works (Ephesians 2:8-9). That way is faith in his Son, Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23). However, God by his grace has provided a way for sin to be forgiven, hell avoided and heaven gained. The Bible clearly teaches that all have sinned (Romans 3:23) and that the penalty for sin is eternal death. The Bible’s portrayal of salvation is entirely different. (Sometimes hell is not even in the picture.) In other words, human effort and work pave the road to either heaven or hell. If the bad outweighs the good, the person goes to hell. If the good outweighs the bad, the person gets into heaven.
It is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”Ĭasual conversations, movies, television shows, comic cartoons all indicate that the popular concept of salvation seems to be this: When a person dies, God weighs the good deeds and the bad. “For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves: