Salvation
We believe that the salvation of sinners is through the Son of God, who is the Savior by virtue of his substitutionary death for sinners (Eph. 5:23 [show]Ephesians 5:23
[23]For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. (ESV)
; II Pet 1:11 [show]2 Peter 1:11
[11]For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (ESV)); salvation is completely dependent upon the grace of God (Eph. 2:8 [show]Ephesians 2:8
[8]For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, (ESV)); can be obtained only through the gift of God (Eph. 2:9 [show]Ephesians 2:9
[9]not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (ESV); Rom. 6:23 [show]Romans 6:23
[23]For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (ESV)); that man can in no way merit salvation (Tit. 3:5 [show]Titus 3:5
[5]he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, (ESV)); the basis of salvation is the shed blood of Christ (Rom. 3:25 [show]Romans 3:25
[25]whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. (ESV); Eph. 1:7 [show]Ephesians 1:7
[7]In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, (ESV); Heb. 9:22 [show]Hebrews 9:22
[22]Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. (ESV)); the conditions of salvation are with repentance and faith in the resurrected Son of God (Eph. 2:8-9 [show]Ephesians 2:8-9
[8]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. (ESV); Acts 16:31 [show]Acts 16:31
[31]And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." (ESV)); the instruments of salvation are the Word of God (Rom. 10:17 [show]Romans 10:17
[17]So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (ESV); I Pet. 1:23 [show]1 Peter 1:23
[23]since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; (ESV)), and the Holy Spirit who applies the Word to the heart of man to bring conviction of sin (John 15:26 [show]John 15:26
[26]"But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. (ESV); 16:7-11); that in salvation the believer is elected, called, regenerated, converted, justified, adopted, sanctified, and glorified (Rom. 8:30 [show]Romans 8:30
[30]And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (ESV)), forgiven all sins (Col. 1:14 [show]Colossians 1:14
[14]in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (ESV)), and endowed with all spiritual blessings in Christ (Eph. 1:3 [show]Ephesians 1:3
[3]Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, (ESV)); that the true believer is secure in Christ, nothing being able to separate him from God, and that this security is dependent upon God’s ability to keep the believer and not the believer’s ability to keep himself (Rom. 8:35-39 [show]Romans 8:35-39
[35]Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? [36]As it is written,
"For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."
[37]No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. [38]For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, [39]nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (ESV); John 10:27-29 [show]John 10:27-29
[27]My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. [28]I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. [29]My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. (ESV); Phil. 1:6 [show]Philippians 1:6
[6]And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (ESV); II Tim. 1:12 [show]2 Timothy 1:12
[12]which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. (ESV)).