What the Bible Says About Salvation

North Forest

Overview

The Bible teaches many things about salvation. As a Protestant Fundamentalist I was taught only part of what the Bible teaches. I was taught that my deeds had no relevance to my salvation—all I needed was faith (but the preachers strongly exhorted us weekly to be good). Some Protestant teachers such as John MacArthur have stressed the importance of Christians having good works as a requirement for salvation. But since the time of the first Protestant Reformer, Martin Luther, Protestant theology stresses that works are not a necessary ingredient for salvation.

Links: Sola Fide (Faith Alone) | Luther and Grace

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Saved

We are not saved until after Christ's second coming (1 Pet 1:5). Protestant Evangelicals who insist you are saved during an altar call are not strictly correct (Heb 9:28).

We are saved after this life (Heb 10:36). In order to be saved we must do the will of God. Salvation requires action.

Baptism

We must be baptized to be saved (Mark 16:16). But, of course, adults who are baptized must have faith—for them the ritual of baptism itself does not do anything without being mingled with faith.

Just as Noah and family were "saved by water" (1 Pet 3:20) so also we are saved by baptism (1 Pet 3:21). Many Protestant denominations ignore this passage.

Some Protestants object to the practice of infant baptism but there is biblical support for the practice (Acts 16:33). There were likely young children in his household who were baptized.

The phrase sealed with the Holy Spirit seems to refer to baptism (Eph 1:13). The progression seems to be: (1) hearing the gospel, (2) believing, (3) baptism.