Yes, we believe in grace, and we believe it's the only reason a single person is saved. Nobody hands God a good record and collects heaven for it (Ephesians 2:8-9). The objection behind the question is fair though, so let's take it head on instead of tiptoeing around it.
The Objection, Stated Fairly
It usually sounds like this: churches of Christ talk about baptism and faithful living so much that grace gets squeezed out. If salvation depends on anything you do, then it isn't a gift anymore, it's a wage.
We understand why it lands that way. Here's what Paul actually wrote: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Read the end of it. Boasting is off the table, for everybody. Christ died for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8), so none of us got here by being impressive.
Where does baptism fit, then? We teach that a believer is baptized to receive forgiveness, because that's how Peter answered people who asked what to do about their sins (Acts 2:38; 1 Peter 3:21). Reaching out for a gift isn't buying it. Baptism is where a person stops trusting himself and asks God to wash him clean (Acts 22:16, Mark 16:15-16).
Grace Came as a Person, Not a Policy
Grace isn't a legal category God keeps on file. It arrived: "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age" (Titus 2:11-12).
Sit with the word "training." Grace forgives, and then grace teaches. If your life has felt stuck in a loop you can't break, that second half is good news, not fine print. Grace isn't only interested in your past. It has designs on the person you're becoming.
Obedience Is the Answer to a Gift, Not the Price of One
This is where the objection quietly falls apart. Paul had already heard the free pass version of grace, and he wanted nothing to do with it: "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" (Romans 6:1-2).
So when we teach that a Christian's Monday matters, we aren't slipping a bill under the gift. Grace speaks first. Love answers. In churches of Christ, Christians understand the New Testament to say those two were never rivals.
A Living Faith, and a Real Warning
James put it about as plainly as it can be put: "So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead" (James 2:17). He isn't measuring anyone's performance. He's naming the gap between believing a fact about Jesus and actually trusting Him with your life.
The same New Testament warns that a Christian can drift and fall from grace (Galatians 5:4; Hebrews 3:12-13). We don't dress those passages down. A warning isn't the opposite of assurance, and taking it seriously isn't living scared.
Worth adding a limit to all this. There's no headquarters over congregations that wear this name and no council setting their course, so no single church can speak for all of them. What you're reading is what non-institutional churches of Christ generally teach, and it's what we can tell you about ourselves.
Grace Is Where You Go When You're Struggling
Most people asking about grace aren't running a doctrinal audit. They're tired, and they want to know whether God is done with them. The epistle to the Hebrews answers that: "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). That's the offer God extends to each of us. Will you accept His offer?
Keep Studying, With Us If You Like
You were made for more than a cycle of trying harder and coming up short, and grace is how God intends to get you there. We're a group of imperfect people at 8001 Temple Terrace Highway, out in the Temple Terrace suburb of Tampa, still learning this ourselves, and we'd be glad to have you with us for a Sunday. Plan your visit and come exactly as you are.
If you want to read what the Bible says about becoming a Christian, start here.
When we meet:
- Sunday: Worship 9am, Bible Class 5pm
- Wednesday: Bible Class 7pm