The local church is to be comprised only of saved individuals. In order to be a member of Pinnacle Baptist Church, one must first be saved. If you are not already saved – or not sure if you are saved – the brief presentation below is God’s plan of salvation taken from the Word of God. By reading, understanding, and believing what is written on this page, you can be saved if you then ask Christ to save you, trusting in nothing but His finished work on the cross as the payment for your sin.
It is God’s desire that every man, woman, and child be saved, that is “born again.” II Peter 3:9 tells us, “God is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
Not only is it His desire that you be saved; but it is also His desire that you know for sure that you are saved. I John 5:13 says, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the Son of God; that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
What then does the Bible say is the way of salvation?
- You must admit that you’re a sinner. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
- You must realize that hell is the penalty for sin. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” And Revelation 20:14 and 15 says, “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
- You must believe that God loved you and came to earth in the form of a man, Jesus Christ the Son of God, to take your place and take the penalty for your sin. Romans 5:8 says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
- You must believe in His sacrificial atonement for your sin and trust that and nothing else, calling upon Him and literally asking Him to save you. Romans 10:9,10,13 says: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Many believe in God but are not saved. Many believe that He died on the cross but are not saved. It is only by being willing to trust in His payment for your sin as your sole means of salvation and then actually asking Him to save you that you can be saved. Are you certain that you have done this before? If not, why not now?
If you wish to pray to receive Christ, there are no magic words to say; but something like this is essential: “Dear Jesus, I know that I’m a sinner; but I believe that you died on the cross for my sin and that you rose again on the third day. Right now, I trust completely in you to save me and nothing or no one else. Please save me.”
If you truly put your faith in Him alone to save, you are immediately adopted into His family, sealed by the Holy Spirit as the earnest of your salvation, and can never be “unborn again.”
“The Spirit beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.” (Romans 8:16,17)
“…in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13,14)
“And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:28)
In order to be truly saved, you must trust Christ alone and nothing or anyone else, including your own works. Anyone who “gets saved” believing that they can later lose their salvation is not truly trusting completely in Him to do the saving in the first place; they are trusting in Him plus their own good works to keep themselves saved. Faith plus anything is not faith and will not save.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8,9)
God is not a liar. He is a covenant-keeping God. Because of this, you can know with certainty that you are eternally saved if you have done what His Word says and have placed your faith in Him alone for your salvation.
For more information about God’s plan of salvation, here are a couple of optional messages by Pastor entitled “The Role of Repentance in Salvation” and “Giving and Receiving: My Role in Salvation”