Pathway to Victory

Speaker 1

Hey podcast listeners. Thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory and Dr. Robert Jeffress.

We're dedicated to bringing you bold biblical teaching that transforms your life and strengthens your walk with God.

And you can study God's word alongside Dr. Jeffress in person on the 2026 Pathway to Victory Cruise to Alaska.

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Have you ever witnessed the breathtaking majesty of massive glaciers rising from crystal blue waters or stood in awe as bald eagles soar over snow-capped mountains?

I want you to experience these unforgettable moments with me on the Pathway to Victory Cruise to Alaska, June 13th through 20th, 2026.

Speaker 1

Join Dr. Jeffress and the Pathway to Victory family for a spectacular seven-day adventure aboard Holland America's luxurious Koningsdam.

Indulge in elegant staterooms, world-class dining, and expansive decks perfect for breathtaking views.

Visit historic ports like Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan, where wilderness and frontier history await.

Speaker 2

There's something powerful about connecting with God and fellow believers in the majesty of his untamed wilderness. I truly believe this journey will refresh you spiritually, physically and emotionally.

Speaker 1

Cabins are filling quickly, so reserve yours today. To book your spot on the 2026 Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska, call 888-280-6747 or go to ptv.org now. Here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 2

Hi, this is Robert Jeffress and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program.

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On today's edition of Pathway to Victory.

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God reached down and he took that which was spiritually dead and made it spiritually alive with Christ. For by grace you have been saved.

And he raised us up with him and he seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

That's what regeneration is. God taking a heart that is spiritually dead and making it spiritually alive.

Speaker 1

Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. And while that transformation may take place internally, the Bible instructs us to demonstrate that transformation externally as well.

Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress explains the model, the mode, and the meaning of baptism.

But first, let's take a minute to hear some important ministry updates.

Speaker 3

Thanks David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Those who truly love Jesus are serious about living like it. Obedience marks our lives. We follow God's law not out of duty or obligation, but because we love Him. So how do we get to that place of affection where our love for God is like a river that flows from our heart? The secret is found in becoming a true disciple of Jesus. And it requires that we strip away all the competing distractions so that we can focus entirely on what's most important.

Pathway to Victory has published a brand new book on this subject. It's called *Encouragement for the Heart of a Disciple*. This is devotional in nature and intended to help you pause for a few minutes each day for a cool sip of living water from God's word. Each chapter provides a poignant reminder that God desires a relationship with you. It would also make a thoughtful gift for a loved one. When you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, we'll make sure that a copy is sent to you right away.

And then we invite you to join us for the vacation of a lifetime: the Pathway to Victory Cruise to Alaska. Our cruise liner departs Vancouver, British Columbia, one year from now. The dates are June 13th through 20th, 2026. Look, cruise ships leave the harbor every day of the summer bound for Alaska. But this one is truly unique. In addition to the world-class service, we're bringing our own Christian entertainment, and I'll be teaching from the Bible as well. So check it out and sign up today by going to ptv.

Okay, let's get started with today's study in Matthew, chapter 28. On today's program, we're talking again about the transformational impact of discipleship. This message is titled *Developing a Regenerate Heart*.

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I said at the beginning of this series, the essence of discipleship is a changed life that comes from a transformed heart. You know, the Bible says in Proverbs 4:23, "Watch over your heart with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life." Everything about us, every choice we make in life, comes from our heart. In the Bible, the heart is not just the emotion; it's the mind, the will, the emotion. Every decision we make comes out of the heart. And therefore, if we want to live like Jesus would have us to live, we have to change our heart. We have to have a transformed heart. And that's why I say the essence of discipleship is a changed life that comes from a transformed heart.

How do we transform our heart? Listen to me. Salvation is something God does for us; we can't do for ourselves. That is completely an act of God. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." Salvation is God's work alone. But the transformation of our heart is a joint work between God and us after we're saved. Without God, we cannot transform our hearts. Without us, God will not transform our hearts. Somebody said it this way: when it comes to transforming our heart, God supplies the grace; we have to supply the grit. It takes effort on our part, and it's a partnership.

Over these last weeks, we've been talking about what a transformed or renovated heart looks like. Imagine different chambers of your heart. What does it mean to have a transformed heart that will produce a changed life? We talked about working to produce a praying heart. We've got to train our heart, our lives, to pray regularly. Trusting heart, a content heart, a serving heart, a forgiving heart, an obeying heart—these are different areas of our life that have to change if we're going to have that changed life.

Now, today I saved the first mark of a disciple for the last message. Because the first mark of a disciple is something, again, only God can do for us. All of these other six chambers are renovated in a joint project between God and us. But the first thing God has to do for our heart is something He alone can do, and that is to give us a regenerate heart. A regenerate or regenerated heart, a heart that is spiritually alive. And did you know that's what God does for you when you trust in Christ as your Savior? He gives you a regenerate heart.

I've used this illustration before. You know, you've seen this played out on television a dozen times where there's a patient in the hospital who is clinically dead. The heart stops beating, the buzzer goes off on the mechanisms; you know they are dead. And what does the doctor do? He yells, "Get me the paddles!" They bring in these electric paddles, rip open the patient's shirt, and put those electric paddles on the patient's chest. Somebody yells out, "Stat! Stat!" And that's the signal to send the juice through those paddles. That jolt comes, and that patient's heart begins to beat again. They were dead, clinically dead, and they have been brought back to life with that electrical surge.

Well, did you know that is what God does for us when He gives us a regenerated heart? We are born into this world spiritually dead. We are dead men walking. We don't have a life that wants to please God; we have no interest in God. The Bible says in Romans 3, when we are born into this world, there is not one person righteous among us, no, not even one. There's not even one who seeks for God. You say, "I don't believe that; there are a lot of non-Christians who are looking for God." Well, they're looking for the God of their imagination. They're looking for the God they want to be God. They're not looking for the real God. The Bible says nobody seeks God on his own. We have to have a regenerated heart. We have to have a heart that comes to life to even want to know God.

Look at Ephesians chapter 2, what the apostle Paul says about how we are transformed from death unto life. Paul writes, "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them, we too formerly lived in the lust of the flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind. And we were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest." Have you ever heard people say, "Oh, we're all children of God. All of us are children of God. Everybody on this planet is a child of God"? No, we're not. We're born into this world not as children of God, but as children of wrath, children of the devil. We are born not friends of God, but enemies of God. We were born children of wrath, even as the rest.

Verse 4: "But God." But God. But God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, He got the electric paddles out and made us alive together. That's what He's talking about. God reached down and took that which was spiritually dead and made it spiritually alive with Christ. "For by grace you have been saved." And He raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That's what regeneration is: God taking a heart that is spiritually dead and making it spiritually alive. And that's why I say the very first mark of a disciple is a regenerated heart, a heart that is alive for God. That is something that God does for us.

Now, the Bible says to show, to demonstrate to others that we've had that experience, that we are new creations in Christ, that we have received the Holy Spirit of God into our lives, who not only jolts us to spiritual life but is a continuing presence in our life who leads us into a whole new way of living. To symbolize that, we go through a ritual, an ordinance called baptism. Baptism is a physical sign of a spiritual truth that we have been immersed, covered with the Holy Spirit of God; we have become spiritually alive, and we have been raised to a whole new way of living.

And that's why in Matthew 28:19, the Great Commission, Jesus said, "Go therefore into all the world and make disciples." And how do you do that? By baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Baptism is a physical symbol of a spiritual reality that the Holy Spirit indwells my life. I have a regenerate heart, and I'm living a whole new way of life.

Now, since being baptized as a sign of our regeneration is the first mark of a disciple, I want you to put aside everything you've ever heard or believed about baptism. Everything you've heard, whatever denomination you've been a part of, including the Baptist church. Forget what Pastor so-and-so said. Forget what Father so-and-so said. Forget what the catechism taught you. What I want us to do this morning is see what the Bible says about baptism. What does the Bible say I'm supposed to do if I've had this regenerate heart?

And we're going to do three things in the few minutes we have today. We're going to talk about the model of baptism. Secondly, we're going to talk about the mode of baptism. And finally, we're going to look at the meaning of baptism.

First of all, the model of baptism. There is a pattern that is never contradicted in the Scripture, and it is simply this: people always believe before their baptism. Belief always precedes baptism. There is never a case in the Bible where you have somebody who is baptized or sprinkled first and then they later came to a personal faith in Christ. Never happened once in the Bible. It's always the pattern: believe and then you're baptized. Believe and then you're baptized. You see that, for example, in Acts 8, the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.

Look at Acts 8, beginning with verse 26. "But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, 'Arise and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.' And Philip arose and went. And behold, there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all of her treasure. And he had come to Jerusalem to worship." Here is somebody who doesn't know much about the Scripture, but he wants to know God. So he comes to Jerusalem to worship. "And he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit, meanwhile, said to Philip, 'Go up and join this chariot.' And when Philip had run up, he heard the eunuch reading Isaiah, the prophet. And he said to him, 'Do you understand what you are reading?' And the eunuch said, 'I don't have a clue.' Well, that's basically what he said. He said, 'How could I understand this unless somebody guides me?' And so he invited Philip to come up and sit with him."

Now, the passage that the eunuch was reading was this: it's a quotation from Isaiah, the prophet, talking about the Messiah. "And he was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before a shearer is silent, so he does not open his mouth. In humiliation, his judgment was taken away. Who shall relate his generation? For his life is removed from the earth." And the eunuch answered Philip and said, "Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Is he speaking of himself or someone else?" And Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, he preached Jesus to him.

Isn't that interesting? Here is a man, a eunuch, who wants to know God. He's sincere in wanting to know God. He comes to Jerusalem to worship God. But that's not enough. You know, in most people's, even evangelical thinking today, that would be enough for somebody to go to heaven. They love God; they want to worship God. Even if they haven't heard of Jesus, they can get to heaven, right? Wrong. No man comes to the Father except through the Son. No man comes to God without knowing God's Son. You can't be right with God and wrong about Jesus. You have to have a personal relationship with Christ.

Now, notice what happened. God looks down, sees somebody who wants to know Him, and He supernaturally arranges for Philip to be there to preach to him Jesus. I see that all the time today. We get letters every day of the week from all over the world. People are saying, "I heard your broadcast on this station or on this Internet or on this television station." All over the world, they hear the name of Jesus coming from this church. God is going to make sure if somebody wants to know about Jesus, that person hears about Jesus. We are the means that God uses to spread that word about Jesus. That's why I'm so grateful for a church like this that has a worldwide vision for being that instrument God uses to point people not just to one way to heaven, but the only way to heaven.

That's what happened to the eunuch here. He wanted to know Jesus, so Philip preached Jesus to him. Look at verse 36. "And as they went along the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, 'Look, water! What prevents me from being baptized?'" Isn't that interesting that the first thing he wanted to do after he knew Jesus was to be baptized? And Philip said, "If you believe with all of your heart, you may." And he said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." And as we'll see in just a moment, he then went down into the water and came up out of the water. What I want you to see, though, here is the pattern: he believed first, and then he was baptized. Believe and be baptized.

Same thing you see in Acts chapter 2. Remember Peter's sermon on the southern steps in the temple in Jerusalem? The sermon we call the Sermon at Pentecost? Remember how he preached that message to Jews who had come from all over Israel to worship? And when they heard the message, the Bible says they were cut to the core. And they cried out to Peter, "What shall we do, Peter? What are we supposed to do in response to this message?" Acts 2:38. "And Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'" And those who received the Word were baptized, verse 41. "So then those who had received his Word were baptized, and there were added that day about 3,000 souls."

You know, people get hung up on that verse and say, "Oh, then that must be teaching you have to be baptized in order to be saved. Water baptism plays some part in your salvation." Not at all. That's not what Peter is saying. If water baptism can wash away your sins or plays any role in your salvation, then the apostle Paul made a colossal mistake. Because in Acts 16:30 and 31, when the Philippian jailer said to Paul, "What must I do to be saved?" you know what Paul said? "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." He didn't say, "Believe and be baptized and keep the Ten Commandments and join the church." He said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."

And we'll see later that the Philippian jailer was saved as a sign, not a prerequisite for baptism. Why did Peter say, "Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins"? Because he was answering the question. People wanted to know, "Peter, what does God want us to do?" And Peter answered correctly. He wants you to repent, to believe, and to be baptized. That's God's plan for every follower of Christ: to be baptized. If he had just answered the question, "All God wants of you is to believe," then he would have been wrong. Because God wants every follower to believe and be baptized.

Now listen to this and never forget it: you can be saved without being baptized. You cannot be a disciple without being baptized. You can be saved without being baptized, but you can never be a disciple without being baptized. That is God's plan: believe and be baptized. Acts 9:18. After Paul was saved, notice what happened. "And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales. He regained his sight; he arose, and he was baptized." Or Acts chapter 10. Cornelius, the Roman centurion, after he believed. Look at verse 47 of Acts 10. "Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?" And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 16:15. We don't have time to look at it, but Lydia, the businesswoman in Philippi, when she was saved, she was baptized. And then in Acts 16, I talked about the Philippian jailer. "What shall I do to be saved, Paul?" "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved." Look at verse 33. "And he took them that very hour of the night, that is, the jailer, and washed their wounds. And immediately the jailer was baptized, he and his household." Notice that word, "immediately." As soon as the jailer believed, he was baptized. He didn't enroll in a six-month course to learn what baptism meant. The Bible says the moment you are saved is when you ought to be baptized. Believe and be baptized. That is God's command. Matthew 28:19. The Bible says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and Son."

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And the Holy Spirit.

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What is the model of baptism? Belief followed by baptism.

Now you know, when I am talking to people about baptism, especially if I am talking to a child, I often use the illustration of a wedding ring. This is 40 years stuck on this ring here. Let's see if I can get it off. Anybody have any butter? You know what came off? Is this ring getting smaller or is my finger getting fatter? Here we go.

You know, when I'm talking to children, I always talk about this ring. And I'll say, what does this ring mean? Do you know what this ring means? And they say, oh, it means you're married. I said, that's right. This ring is a sign that I belong to somebody else. When people look and they see this ring on my finger, they say, well, Dr. Jeffress belongs to somebody. He's married.

And I say, now, could I be married without this ring?

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Of course I could.

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It's not the ring that makes me married. It's the commitment that I've made in my heart to my wife. This ring is a symbol. I could be married without it. In fact, I'm grateful I could because I've lost this ring three times. This is number four. I think of my wedding rings and so forth. The ring is a symbol. It's a sign of a commitment I've made in my life.

And then I'll take the ring and I'll ask the child to put their finger out, and I'll put this ring on them. And I'll say, now, does this ring on your finger mean you're married? And they'll giggle and they'll say, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. I say, right, this ring doesn't mean anything if you haven't made a commitment in your heart to another person.

Now, it's the same way with baptism. Baptism is like this ring. When people see you baptized, they know you belong to Jesus Christ. But if you haven't made that commitment in your own heart, then baptism is meaningless. It is absolutely nothing more than getting wet. And that's why the Bible has says the pattern is always believe and then be baptized.

Speaker 3

Baptism is an outward symbol of an inward transformation. And we'll provide more teaching on this topic when we gather again Friday. Look, changing lives is what Pathway to Victory is all about. And I hope you're encouraged to hear the occasional stories of those who have seen dramatic life change.

For instance, we heard from Johnny, who said, "Pastor Jeffress, I listened to Pathway to Victory in Maryland, and your teaching has touched me in a way I didn't expect. I've been living in a pretty bad way, and I just knew I needed to change. Listening to your sermon today caused me to rededicate my life to Christ."

When you link arms with Pathway to Victory and become one of our financial partners, you're the one who God is using to touch people like Joni. As someone who gives generously, you're the one who delivers the program through your gifts. So on behalf of Joni and everyone like him, thanks so much.

Bear in mind that when you respond with a generous gift to Pathway to Victory, we're going to send you the brand new devotional book called *Encouragement for the Heart of a Disciple*. Each chapter is paired with a gorgeous photo of God's creation, a scripture verse, and a brief prayer that you can follow. All these features have one goal in mind, and that is to uplift your heart as you walk with God.

Here's David with all the details.

Speaker 1

You're invited to request your copy of the brand new devotional book by Dr. Robert Jeffress, *Encouragement for the Heart of a Disciple*. When you contact Pathway to Victory with a generous gift, call us toll-free at 866-999-2965 or give online at ptv.org. When your ministry gift is $100 or more, we'll send you the Encouragement Resource Set, which contains the new devotional, six Clutter Free Prayer Cards, the *Clutter Free Christianity* book and Life Application guide, and the *7 Marks of a Disciple* message series on DVD, video, and MP3 format audio disc set.

But time is indeed running out to take advantage of this offer, so get in touch right away to request the complete set. Call 866-999-2965 or go online to ptv.org. If you'd prefer to write, here's that mailing address: P.O. Box 223, 609, Dallas, TX 75222. Again, that's P.O. Box 223, 609, Dallas, TX 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins. Join us again next time when Dr. Jeffress concludes his message on developing a regenerate heart. That's Friday here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas.

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To become a Pathway Partner, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.