Expert: Pastor Don Carpenter - 7/25/2009

Question
Do any of the Baptist denominations believe works are needed to retain a person's salvation?

Answer
Hello Iwanna,

Thanks for this great question.  I do not know of any Baptists that believe that works are needed for salvation.

Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

Hebrews 6:1

Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,  
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

Galatians 3:1-3

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

What is most important is not what Baptists think, it is what the Word of God teaches.  Clearly works can do nothing to save us or keep us saved... if they could, then Jesus died for nothing.

Galatians 2:21
21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

I hope that this helps you.

In Christ
Pastor Don