An Honest Answer

How Can I
Be Saved?

If you are reading this, the God who made you may be drawing you to Himself. Read on.

This page is for anyone asking the most important question a human being can ask. It is not a sales pitch. It is the oldest and best news in the world — that sinful people can be reconciled to a holy God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We will tell you plainly what salvation is, what it is not, and how a person comes to receive it.

From Hillside Baptist Church · Dickinson, ND

Read the Gospel Reach Out to a Pastor
The Gospel In Four Movements

What is Salvation?

Salvation is being rescued by God from God’s own righteous judgment, by the work of God’s own Son, for the everlasting joy of God’s own people.

One

The God Who Made You

Before anything was, God was. He spoke, and the universe came into being. He made the stars, the seas, the soil, and every human being — including you. He did not create you because He needed you. He created you for His glory, and to know Him.

This God is holy. That word means He is set apart from every kind of evil — perfectly good, perfectly just, perfectly true. He is also full of mercy and patience. But because He is good, He cannot wink at sin. A judge who lets the guilty go free is not a good judge. The God of the Bible is a perfectly good Judge.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 · LSB
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is Yahweh of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.” Isaiah 6:3 · LSB
Two

The Problem We All Share

The Bible says every human being is a sinner. That is not just a religious word. It means we have all rebelled against the God who made us — in our actions, in our words, in our thoughts, in the very inclination of our hearts. We have lived for ourselves instead of for Him. We have broken His law without ceasing.

You may not feel like a particularly bad person compared to others. That is not the standard. The standard is the perfect holiness of God Himself. By that standard, none of us measure up — not the religious, not the irreligious, not the moral, not the immoral. All of us stand under the same verdict.

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23 · LSB
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 · LSB

The wages of sin is death — physical death, yes, but more importantly an eternal separation from God under His just wrath. This is not a small problem. It is the problem behind every other problem you have ever felt.

Three

What God Has Done in Christ

Here is the news. God did not leave us to perish in our sin. Out of love that we did not earn and could not earn, He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, into the world. Jesus is fully God and fully man. He lived the perfect life we have never lived. He kept God’s law without flaw. He never sinned, not once, in thought or word or deed.

And then He did the unthinkable. He went to a Roman cross and was killed in the place of sinners. On that cross, He took the just punishment for sin that we deserved. He absorbed the wrath of God in our place, so that the punishment might be paid in full. Three days later He rose bodily from the grave, defeating sin and death forever. He is alive today, seated at the right hand of the Father, reigning as King.

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 · LSB
“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 · LSB
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16 · LSB
The cross is not a tragic accident. The cross is the place where God’s perfect justice and God’s perfect love met — and you were on God’s mind when it happened.
Four

What You Must Do

The good news of what Christ has accomplished demands a response. The Bible does not teach that everyone is automatically saved. It teaches that salvation comes to those who turn from their sin and trust in Jesus Christ. Two words capture this: repent and believe.

Repent means to change your mind about sin and about God. It means to stop running from Him and to turn around and run to Him. It means agreeing with God that your sin is sin, and being willing to forsake it. Repentance is not earning forgiveness; it is the posture of a heart that wants forgiveness.

Believe means to trust Jesus — not just to know facts about Him, but to rest the entire weight of your soul on Him. Saving faith is not a feeling. It is not a magic prayer. It is the act of casting yourself on Christ as your only hope, your only Savior, your only Lord.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:15 · LSB
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…” Acts 16:31 · LSB
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’” John 14:6 · LSB
If you will turn from your sin and trust Christ alone, the Bible promises that you will be forgiven, justified, adopted, and given eternal life. Not because of anything in you. Because of everything in Him.
Five Pillars of the Gospel

The Five Solas

Five Latin phrases recovered in the Reformation, each one a fence built around the gospel to keep it pure. Together they answer the question: by what authority, in whose name, on what basis, through what means, and for whose glory are sinners saved?

Honest Questions

Common Questions

❦   ❦   ❦

If the Lord Is Stirring Your Heart

A person is not saved by repeating a prayer after a stranger on a webpage. A person is saved by Jesus Christ — received through repentance and faith, and confirmed over time in the company of His people.

If the Lord is drawing you, the most faithful next step is not a private moment with a script — it is honest conversation with a real pastor who can listen, answer your questions, open the Scriptures with you, and walk with you over the long haul.

Tell us a little about where you are. Pastor Rob will personally read your message and reply.

“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” John 6:37 · LSB
A Word Before You Reach Out

God means for you to be discipled in a faithful local church near where you live — sitting under the preaching of the Word, sharing the Lord’s Supper, and being known by name. If you do not live near Dickinson, the most faithful next step is not to email a stranger in another state. It is to find a Christ-preaching, gospel-loving pastor in your own town who can sit with you face to face, week after week.

To help you find a sound church near you, we commend the G3 Church Network church-finder map. Search your area, visit several, listen to their preaching, talk to their pastors, and ask the Lord to root you in a faithful body.

If you do live in Dickinson, ND or the surrounding area, please use the form below — we would love to meet you.

Or simply email robgrunden@icloud.com directly.
Visit Hillside Baptist Read: First Steps
If You Have Come to Christ

Your First Steps

The Christian life is not a moment; it is a lifetime. These are the first paths every new believer is called to walk.

Step One

Read the Word of God

Begin with the Gospel of John. Read it slowly, prayerfully, perhaps a chapter a day. Then read the rest of the New Testament. The God who saved you wants to speak to you in His own words.

Step Two

Speak to God in Prayer

Prayer is simply talking with the Father who has now adopted you. Confess your sins. Thank Him. Tell Him what is on your heart. Ask Him to teach you, to keep you, to make you more like Christ.

Step Three

Find a Faithful Church

You were not saved to walk alone. Christ has a body, and you belong to it. Find a church that preaches the whole counsel of Scripture, treasures the gospel, and loves God’s people. We would love to walk with you at Hillside.

Step Four

Be Baptized

The Lord Jesus commanded every disciple to be baptized as a public confession of faith. Baptism does not save you, but it is the first act of obedience for one who has been saved. Talk to a pastor about taking this step.

Step Five

Tell Someone

Tell a believer who can rejoice with you. Tell an unbeliever who needs the same news. The first instinct of a saved soul is to make the Savior known. You have just received the most precious news in the world — do not keep it quiet.

Step Six

Press On

The Christian life will not always be easy. There will be temptations, doubts, hardships. But the One who began the work in you will complete it. Keep your eyes on Christ. Keep returning to His Word. Keep coming back to His grace.

A Word of Promise
“He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 1:6 · LSB
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