We at the South Side Church of Christ believe that the Bible is our only source of authority. We do not hold to any man-made creed or doctrine. We desire to do all things in Bible ways and to call things with Bible names. This includes what we teach about salvation. Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). The South Side Church of Christ is committed to the same purpose. In a culture that offers many different “paths” to salvation, at South Side we believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). We offer the invitation to be saved based on the pattern taught by Jesus and His Apostles who went into the whole known world teaching what had been taught to them by Christ (Matthew 28:19-20).
Here is the GOOD NEWS Christians are commissioned to share:
Jesus came to earth to take care of our sin problem (Romans 3:23). He died on the cross to redeem us – to pay the price for those sins (Romans 6:23). But when He came out of the tomb alive after three days (I Corinthians 15:3-4) and ascended to the right hand of God, Jesus took care of another problem we have – a death problem. Because He came out of the tomb alive, never to die again, we have a blessed assurance of our resurrection, if we are found in Him when He returns!
The key is being found in Him! To be found in Christ, we must believe the good news about Jesus Christ; and repent of those sins that offended our God; and be willing to confess our faith that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God; and then being immersed into Christ – where we put on Christ – where we are adopted into the family of God to live for Him the rest of our lives (Romans 6:4)! God takes care of our sin problem and our death problem!
The Bible teaches that Jesus will return one day, and the dead in Christ will rise first, and those of us who remain will be caught up to meet them in the air! If Jesus’ second coming was TODAY, would you be ready to meet Him?
To be found in Jesus, according to Scriptures, a person must:
- Hear God’s Word
- Matthew 7:24; I Corinthians 15:1-4
- Believe God’s Word (have faith in it)
- Romans 10:17; Hebrews 11:1
- Repent (turning away from personal sin unto God)
- Luke 13:3; Acts 17:30
- Confess Jesus Christ as the Christ, the Son of the living God
- Matthew 10:32, 16:16; Romans 10:8-13
- Be immersed into Christ for the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit
- Acts 2:38, 22:16; Romans 6:3-6; Galatians 3:27; I Peter 3:21
- Live the Christian life showing love and gratitude to God for His salvation, looking forward to His Son’s return
- James 1:22-24, 2:20
Here are some studies on what the Bible says about salvation:
- Study on Baptism from Acts 8 by Kevin L. Ziegler, Evangelist (opens in new window)
- Restorers, Not Conformers: The Plan of Salvation (Audio) by Kevin L. Ziegler, Evangelist (opens in new window)
- This link is part of the Restorers, Not Conformers Sermon Series preached in January 2006. Both PowerPoint outline and audio are available above.
- Do I Gotta Follow God’s Plan of Salvation? (Audio) by Kevin L. Ziegler, Evangelist (opens in new window)
- This link is part of the Do I Gotta Sermon Series preached during the Summer/Fall 2006. Both PowerPoint outline and audio are available above.
- Conversions in Acts by Kevin L. Ziegler, Evangelist (opens in new window)
- Terms of Pardon by the late Clarence Greenleaf, Evangelist (opens in new window)
- The book of Acts gives an account of people being saved as they heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Use the following chart to study those conversions accounts.
- What Must I Do To Be Saved? published in the South Side “Side Lites” by Paul Bennett, Evangelist, April 10, 1964 (opens in new window)
- What the Bible Says They Did to be Saved published in the September 1973 Restoration Herald (opens in new window)
- Forty-one Reasons you should be baptized by Dr. James E. Smith, Evangelist and Professor (opens in new window)
- Common Objections Raised Against the Biblical Doctrine of Baptism by J. Scott Sheridan, Evangelist (opens in new window)
- Chart is scanned as a JPEG.