“Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer.”1
Texas Baptists believe the only path to eternal relationship with God is through His Son, Jesus Christ. This one path to right relationship with God begins with the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ refers to the literal shedding of the blood of Jesus as He died on a Roman cross some 2,000 years ago. That event happened. People witnessed it, talked about it, and wrote about it.
In Jesus, God offered His only Son as the one blood sacrifice for all of humankind’s sins through the ages. This sacrifice means that the price has been paid for our sins, that God will forgive us of our many failings and welcome us into a close and personal relationship with Him. Jesus conquered death and provided the way of forgiveness for sin through the power of His sacrifice and His resurrection from the dead.
Jesus offers this salvation to all who will choose to follow Him regardless of the severity of past sin in his or her life. To choose the way of salvation, a person must accept that Jesus Christ was and is the unique Son of God and must choose through faith to entrust his or her life to God. It is the way that leads from death to life, from helplessness to hopefulness, from joylessness to joy. A new life is created. “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) This is not referring to a new physical life but to a new spiritual one.
The Baptist understanding of salvation did not arise out of the thoughts and reflections of learned or educated people. This understanding of salvation leaps forth from the pages of Scripture. All of our understanding of salvation is based on the divinely inspired Word of God.
[F]or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
– Romans 3:23 (NIV)
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
– John 3:16-17 (NIV)
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.– Romans 6:23 (NIV)
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.
– 1 Peter 3:18 (NIV)Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
– John 1:12-13 (NIV)That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. … “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – Romans 10:9-10, 13(NIV)
Also: Isaiah 59:2; Acts 3:19; 1 John 5:11-12; John 3:3; John 10:10; Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 10:9-10; Romans 10:13; 1 John 4:10