Salvation

The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 teaches that salvation involves the redemption of the whole person and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification are all aspects of the one salvation accomplished by God's grace. Salvation cannot be earned by human works but is received through repentance and personal faith in Christ.

SBC theology is broadly evangelical and Arminian-leaning in popular practice, though individual churches and theologians hold varying positions on the extent of divine election and human free will. The BFM2000 affirms that election is based on God's foreknowledge and that genuine faith results in a transformed life. The issue of 'once saved, always saved' (eternal security or 'perseverance of the saints') is affirmed by the SBC.

Baptism is not considered salvific; it is an ordinance that publicly declares a prior inward conversion. The SBC has historically resisted sacramental theology and insists that only repentance and faith — not ritual acts — constitute the means of salvation.

Catholic soteriology teaches that salvation is entirely God's gift of grace, yet requires genuine human cooperation through faith, repentance, and works of charity. The Council of Trent (1547) defined justification against the Protestant doctrine of sola fide, teaching that faith, hope, and charity are all necessary for justification—grace transforms the believer, it does not merely impute righteousness forensically. The sacraments are the ordinary means by which God communicates saving grace: baptism removes original sin and regenerates the soul; the Eucharist nourishes it; penance restores grace after mortal sin.

Catholic teaching affirms that people of other religions and even non-believers who follow their conscience may receive salvation through what the Church calls 'implicit desire' for baptism (Baptism of Desire), though the fullness of salvation is found in the Church. Vatican II's Lumen Gentium (§16) and the Catechism (§847) affirm: 'Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel... and who, following the promptings of grace, try to do God's will as they know it through the dictates of conscience—these too may achieve eternal salvation.' The Church insists that Christ is the unique savior of all humanity.