Not to rankle any here, just a question of our southern baptist. Full disclosure- I am a practicing Roman Catholic.
You state that communion is only for those who are saved, according to your pastor. Could you clarify who then, takes communion? I know many backslidden christians, some of them famous. Would you please ask your pastor how one can be assured they will never backslide, and if they do, were they ever really saved? And since you don’t know if you will backslide, how can you take communion if there is the possibility of backsliding or falling away at some point in the future? I await your response, and thank you in advance :)
The pastor does not enforce the rule in a So. Baptist Church. It’s up to everyone in attendence to decide for himself whether he should take communion. The pastor just explains why we do it, what it means, etc., and we are then when we take communion, it is between us and God. If you take it and you are not saved, then you are just lying to yourself. God knows.
I'm not a Baptist (I'm a Free Methodist who's wife converted from Catholicism and who's mother in law is the Christian Education director and RCIA leader at the local Catholic parish - we still get along very well), but I can answer. Your status with God is for you. It is by faith you are saved; it is not by works. Actions are an outward expression of your faith, but are not the reason you are saved.
For many, communion is a time to reflect on their own walk with God, and where they have failed, and to renew their commitment to walk in Grace and Communion with God.
All have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God - including Catholics who backslide. No one but God can forgive, and no one but God can save. And no one but a man, looking deep into his own heart, can understand the truly know his own relationship with the Lord.
For Baptists and Protestants, “backslidden” is not a denial of God or Christ. It is simply that, as a Christian, you have not been living a Godly life. You have essentially pushed God to the background and are living for yourself and do not care about the sins you are committing. I do not believe that one can be a true Christian and turn their back on God and deny Him. I believe “once saved, always saved”. If you can deny God, you were never born again to begin with. It was a false conversion. The purpose of a moment of reflection and prayerfully asking for forgiveness prior to taking communion is to make your heart right with God and thus worthy of taking communion.