The Church of God (Cleveland) affirms salvation by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation is understood in the Wesleyan-Arminian tradition: justification (forgiveness and acceptance with God) comes through faith, followed by entire sanctification as a second definite work of grace, distinct from conversion, in which the believer is filled with the Holy Spirit and cleansed from the carnal nature.

The Church emphasizes that salvation is freely offered to all, that God's grace is prevenient (enabling free response), and that believers can fall away through willful sin. Salvation is a present reality of justification and sanctification, with eschatological completion at the resurrection. The Holy Spirit is the agent of both justification and sanctification, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues is a crucial mark of the sanctified life.