What Saves Us?

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians,   

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (2:8-10) 

Paul says that (1) we are saved by the grace of God, (2) salvation is appropriated by our faith, (3) this salvation is not something that we deserve, work for or earn, (4) it is the gift of God, (5) if it were not a gift we might boast about what we have achieved or accomplished, (6) we are God’s workmanship, (7) we are created in Christ Jesus to do good works, and (8) these good works are what God has planned or designed for us to do. 

Paul teaches that we cannot do anything meritorious to earn or deserve salvation.  When we believe in Jesus, we accept or appropriate for ourselves God’s free gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23).  We do not earn, work for or deserve that gift.  Because God is the giver, he gets the credit, the glory and the praise for everything.  All boasting is excluded because we are “justified by faith apart from works of law” (Romans 3:27-28).  God’s grace would be nullified if good deeds could earn or deserve credit with God (11:6).  

Obedient submission to Jesus by believing, repenting and being baptized is salvation by grace through faith.  Obedience to the gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:9) appropriates for us the efficacy of Jesus’ blood shed on the cross for the “remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28).   

In the New Testament, baptism is always preceded by hearing and understanding the word of God, believing it, and repenting of sins (as, for example, in Acts 2:37-41; 8:12; 8:37; 9:1-19; 11:18; 16:13-15; 16:25-34; 18:8; 19:1-7).  Baptism is not magic.  Immersion in water has no spiritual significance for those whose mind, heart and will have not been changed beforehand by the gospel.  The power of baptism for the forgiveness of sins resides within God and the blood of Christ.