In Romans 3:24 we read the great words of Paul as he spoke to those Christians at
Rome, “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
How great it is to declare the awesome goodness of God and be thankful for the grace that
he has bountifully bestowed, but may we never be so bold as to reinterpret the grace of God
beyond what He intended.
    Justification is indeed a gift. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and
that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” (Eph. 2:8)  In Romans Paul was discussing the
fact that we can not reach heaven without God’s grace because we have all sinned (Rom.
3:23), but this did not end the discussion.  Justification does not come by grace alone,  the
agency whereby we access this grace must also be included.  If one were to claim that only
God’s grace is necessary for salvation, then he would in effect negate the necessity of the
death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and thereby deny the power of His blood  (Eph.
1:7).  Grace is necessary, but so is the blood of Christ through which we can have
redemption and forgiveness of sins.
     In Romans 3:24 Paul says that we are justified freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus, redemption, and therefore the way to access God’s
grace, is in Christ Jesus.  If one is truly concerned about his soul, then surely it is
important to know how to be in Christ Jesus.  Paul’s own words, found in the book of
Galatians, give us the necessary information.  “For you are all sons of God through faith in
Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Gal
3:26-27).  Notice that Paul mentioned first the agency, faith, and then the means, baptism.
Faith leads us to baptism, and baptism is the product of faith.  Jesus said, “"He who believes
and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark
16:16).  In Ephesians 1:7, we have redemption equated with having forgiveness of sins.
Peter agrees that we are forgiven, and therefore are redeemed, when we are baptized for
that purpose (Acts 2:38).  Therefore, since one Spirit inspired the New Testament (1 Cor.
12:10) and since God is not the author of confusion (1 Cor. 14:33), Paul’s references to
redemption in Romans must of necessity include baptism for the remission of sins.  The
Bible teaches that we come into contact with the blood of Christ, we come into Christ, and
have our sins forgiven and access to the grace of God, all when we are baptized into Christ.
 The grace of God is the greatest gift ever given.  God sent His Son, Jesus Christ,
so that we might have eternal life (Jn. 3:16) and is therefore the manifestation of that
grace.  These truths should motivate us to obey His commands (Jn. 14:15) so that we
might be pleasing to Him, that we might access the grace He freely offers and that we
might be saved eternally.  Obedience does not negate grace; it simply recognizes it and
appreciates it (Heb. 5:8-9).