What the Bible Says About Salvation

Bible

North Forest

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: Luther's Teaching | Sola Fide (Faith Alone) | Luther and Grace | Changes since Luther

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.