Question 26: How Are We Saved?

Paul declares the revolutionary truth that salvation comes apart from human effort or law-keeping. The righteousness God requires cannot be earned through good deeds, religious activities or moral behavior. Instead, God provides his righteousness as a gift to all who believe in Jesus Christ. This righteousness is given "freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24). Grace means receiving a blessing you don't deserve. Jesus became "the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2), doing what sinful people could never do.