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.

Speaker 2

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 on today's edition of Pathway to Victory.

And James says, if you are truly saved, there's gonna be evidence of it. There are some tests that you need to apply to your life.

By the way, Paul said the same thing in Corinthians.

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He said, test yourself.

Speaker 2

He's talking about test your behav to see if you are truly in the faith. That's exactly what James says.

Speaker 1

Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. The Apostle Paul wrote that we're saved by grace through faith, not by our works. But the half brother of Jesus, James, insisted that faith without works is dead.

Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress describes the inseparable relationship between what we believe and how we behave.

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

Speaker 3

Thanks, David. Let's begin today's edition of Pathway to Victory with a personal question. If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Oh, that's not just a catchy question. It cuts to the heart of your eternal destiny.

See, many people think they're saved, but Jesus said, you'll know them by their fruits. Well, over the next few weeks, we're diving into James' letter to discover the unmistakable tests that prove whether your faith is genuine or just religious pretense. Your eternity depends on getting this right.

To help you dig deeper into this practical New Testament letter on your own, I've written a brand new book to help you. It's called *How to Know if You're Really Saved: A Study in the Book of James*. By reading my book, you'll discover what it truly means to live for God. We'll walk through several hot topics like overcoming personal trials, learning to control your speech, and learning to resist temptation.

We're pleased to send you a copy of my book, *How to Know if You're Really Saved*, when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. It's available right now, along with other companion Bible study tools. We'll describe those learning opportunities later in the program.

Right now, it's time to engage in our study of James. I titled my first message in the teaching series *How to Know if You're Really Saved*.

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I want to make two observations about the book of James as we begin this study. First of all, James is intensely practical. It's a practical book. But secondly, James appears to be problematic. There are problems, people think, with the Book of James. In fact, Martin Luther was so convinced that James did not belong in the Bible that he called it the epistle of straw. It's not weighty. He doesn't talk about things like the Atonement, the Resurrection. He only mentions Jesus twice. He never talks about the second Coming, never talks about the Holy Spirit. So people assume that James really doesn't belong in the Bible. But that's a misunderstanding of what James is about. James assumes all of these truths, but he's talking about practicing our faith.

Now let's look at James, the letter. It was probably written in AD 44. And notice that it's written to the 12 tribes that are dispersed. It's a reference to Jewish Christians. He wrote to Jewish Christians who had been dispersed from Jerusalem to other parts of the Roman Empire. Why had they been dispersed? Well, it came in waves. It started in Acts 7 when Stephen was the first Christian martyr and he was stoned to death. And Paul, Saul of Tarsus, who became the apostle Paul, played a part in that. Then there were subsequent persecutions that forced the Jewish Christians out of Jerusalem. There was a famine in Judea that made them want to leave as well. But that was all part of God's plan to share the Gospel.

Now what's interesting is these Jews who have been dispersed throughout the Roman Empire, if they were able, they came back to Jerusalem several times a year for important feasts and celebrations. And when James saw these fellow Christians, Jewish Christians, come back, he noticed attitudes and actions in them that did not correspond to their faith. He noticed that some, because of persecution, were considering giving up their faith. And he wrote this epistle to say, look, the mark of a genuine Christian is not just what he professes, but what he possesses. A new kind of life, works, visible works that confirm Christianity. And that's why James wrote this letter to the 12 tribes.

Now, a couple of things I would say about this letter. First of all, it's very application-oriented. This is about faith in action. It's also interesting that James uses more figures of speech, more analogies than Paul does in all of his letters combined. James is a preacher. He's trying to be practical and clear. There are also more allusions to the Sermon on the Mount in the Letter of James than in all of the rest of the Bible. And that's interesting because it came from the lips of James' older brother, Jesus. And it's also important again to remember there's no great doctrine that is explained in James, which led Martin Luther to call it an epistle of straw. But it's not because James said these doctrines are important. Doctrine is very important. But James assumed those truths were believed by his audience.

Now, what is the purpose of James? At the root of James is a desire to produce spiritual maturity in people. You find the word perfect throughout the book of James. He's not talking about flawlessness. He's talking about maturity. The word perfect, the Greek word means to be mature, complete. They were spiritually stunted in their growth. It's the same problem that Paul encountered with the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 3:2, he said, I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not able. James said the same thing. We need to go back to the basics because you are not spiritually mature, as proven by your action. James' goal was maturity. You know, that doesn't mean we're ever going to be flawless. None of us is going to be flawless. Do I hear an amen to that? But God's not so interested in our ultimate destination as he is in the direction in which we're headed. The real test of spiritual maturity is not whether or not you're perfect. You're not going to be perfect. But are you moving closer to Christ every day? Are you moving farther away from Christ? It's the direction James is concerned about. And he talks about spiritual maturity.

Now let's look at the topics in the book of James. Our friend Chuck Swindoll says that all scripture can be divided into one of two categories. Scripture is either talking about the way to God, how to be right with God, becoming a Christian, the way to God, or secondly, our walk with God. James fits under the latter category. It's not about the way to God. You'll never find out how to be saved by reading the letter of James. But it's talking about our walk with God after we're saved. And James says, if you are truly saved, there's going to be evidence of it. There are some tests that you need to apply to your life. By the way, Paul said the same thing in Corinthians. He said, test yourself to see if you are really in the faith. When he said test yourself, he wasn't saying, give yourself a theological exam to see if you can give five reasons for the virgin birth or three reasons to be premillennial in your view of eschatology. He's talking about test your behavior to see if you are truly in the faith. That's exactly what James says.

And let me go through some of these trials. This is the preview of coming retraction. Some of these tests James gives to us, first of all, our response to trials. Do trials in life, which are inevitable, do they drive you closer to God or further away from God? James says, consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of our faith produces endurance. Secondly, a test is your response to temptation. God tests us to strengthen our faith. Satan tempts us to destroy our faith. Let no one say, James 1:13-14, let nobody say, when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself does not tempt anyone. Thirdly, another test is our obedience to the word. James 1:22. Prove yourselves to be doers of the Word and not mere hearers who delude themselves. Some people have deluded themselves into thinking if they possess a certain amount of knowledge about the Bible, or if they keep hearing good sermons over and over again, somehow that makes them spiritually mature. No, it's not hearing the Word, it's hearing and doing the Word. Isn't that what Jesus said? Everybody who hears my Word and acts upon it is like the person who built his house on the foundation on the rock. Our obedience to the Word.

Fourthly, our attitude toward the wealthy. My brethren, don't hold your faith in the glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. James is going to talk about how we treat the wealthy and how we treat the poor. It reflects our salvation, our attitude toward people who are different than we are. Next, our response to God's command. You know the most theologically basic principle of Judaism was the oneness of God. Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one God. James says in James 2:19-20, you believe that God is one. You do? Well, the demons believe that and shudder. It's not our orthodoxy that impresses God. It is our orthopraxy, our practice of our faith. Did you know demons, if they had the ability to, could go on our website, firstdallas.org, pull up our articles of faith, what we believe, and the demons would agree with just about every one of our articles of faith. They believe it. They believe they are very orthodox, but that doesn't make them believers. It's not what we believe, it's what we believe and apply that matters.

Next, he says our speech is a good test of whether we're saved or not. When you go to the doctor, what does he do in an exam? The first thing he does is stick out your tongue and say, ah. Why is he interested in your tongue? Because that little strip of mucous membrane is an indicator of the physical health, the health of the rest of your body. James says the same thing is true about our speech. Our tongue, our speech is an indicator of whether we're saved or not. James 3:5-6. The tongue is a small part of the body, yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire? It only takes a spark to get a fire going. The same way it only takes a careless word about another person to destroy a person's reputation, to destroy a family, to destroy an entire congregation. That's why James speaks so much about our speech.

Seventh, our desire for true wisdom is a measure of our faith. James 3:13-18. There are two kinds of wisdom in the world. There's a wisdom that comes from below, and there's a wisdom that comes from above. Which wisdom are you using to shape your life? And then our humility. James 4:1-17. God is opposed to the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Another reflection of our faith, a test of our faith, is our attitude toward money. Chapter five, verses 1-6. Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. You for your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted, and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. James isn't saying it's wrong to possess money or possess the things money buys. But if you're truly a Christian, you realize how temporal those things are. You know, when you think about it, there are only two things that can happen to your money or your possessions you buy with money. You can either lose them through a fire, through moths, through rust. You're either going to lose them or secondly, you're going to leave them all behind. One day you're going to lose everything or you're going to leave everything behind. That's why you don't put your trust in riches.

Next, he says, a test of our faith is our response to physical illness. James 5:14-15. Is any among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. What is that about? We are going to talk about that. We are going to talk about the power of faith kneeling and the role healing plays in the church. And finally, our desire to restore sinners is a test of whether we're saved or not. When you see a fellow Christian fall into sin, what's your attitude? Do you secretly rejoice thinking it makes you look better somehow? Boy, I would never do such a thing like that. Do you rejoice, or do you have a desire to restore a fallen brother or sister in Christ? That's a survey of what we're going to be looking at from James.

Now, I want to leave you with two applications today. One, and I want you to write it down, courtesy of Martin Luther. Faith alone saves. I don't want anybody to leave today confused about the role of faith and works. We are saved by faith in God's grace, not by our works. Works. A man died and found himself at the entrance to the Pearly gates, and an angel was checking people into heaven. And the angel said to the man, now you have to understand, to get into this place, you have to score at least 1,000 points in your previous life. So let's find out a little about you. Can you tell me about yourself? The man said, well, I attended church a lot of times. I hardly missed a Sunday. The angel said, well, that's good. You get three points for that. Anything else? Well, let's see. I taught a seventh-grade Sunday school class, never said a curse word. I don't smoke or drink or chew or go with girls who do. The angel said, well, that's impressive. You get 10 points for that. The man was kind of exasperated. He said, 3 points. 10 points. At this rate, I'll never get into heaven except by the grace of God. The angel said, bingo. You get a thousand points for that answer. The angel's right. None of us gets into heaven except for the grace of God. And by the way, James believed that as well. You say, how do you know James believed that? Well, not from the Epistle of James, but from James' own words in Acts 15, beginning with verse 6. I told you about the big hubbub. They had the Council of Jerusalem determining whether Gentiles could believe in Christ without becoming Jews. Could you become a Christian without being circumcised and keeping the Jewish law? And some said, no, they've got to come through Judaism. Others said, like Peter, no, they ought to be able to come to Christ directly. And so they had this meeting. And at the end of the meeting and the disagreements, Peter said this in Acts 15:11, but we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way as they Gentiles also are. And then James stood up, he made a speech, and he came to this conclusion. In verse 19, James said, Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God from among the Gentiles. In other words, it's not the works, it is the grace of Jesus that saves them. James believed that faith alone saves.

But the second principle I want you to write down is saving faith is never alone. That's what James was saying in verse 26 of chapter 2. For just as the body without the Spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead. And by the way, the Apostle Paul agreed with that statement as well. Remember, in Galatians 5:19-23, he said, now the deeds of the flesh, the deeds of unbelievers, are evident. They are sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, idolatry, witchcraft, hostility, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions and factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God, but the fruit of the Spirit. The evidence of a Christian is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things, there is no law. The fruit of the Spirit. Where there is genuine faith, there is going to be genuine, visible fruit. Where there is no fruit, there is no faith. That's the message of James.

Now for these final two minutes, can I close my Bible and just speak to you as your pastor? I love being the pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas. There is not a church in the world that is more biblically sound than the First Baptist Church of Dallas. There's not a church where the laity have a greater knowledge of scripture than our church. But here's my concern. We've confused knowledge of the Word with obedience to the Word. Now, it's true you can't obey what you don't know, but you can know a lot of things you don't obey. Just in the last couple of weeks, we've taken down a stone engraving that was on our old sanctuary above the north entrance. It was a beautiful depiction of a Bible, an open Bible and an anchor. What a great symbol for our church. We're going to put that back when we rebuild the historic sanctuary because our church is anchored not on culture, not on opinions, not on anything other than the word of God. But it's not just a knowledge of God's word.

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It is the obedience to God's Word.

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That is our anchor. Let me put it simply. You may be able to outline the book of Zechariah. Congratulations. God is not impressed. It's not our outline of the Book of Zechariah. It is our obedience to the Book of Zechariah and every other book of the Bible that impresses God.

You know, back in the days of the Jesus revolution, back in the 1970s, there was a famous question that went around. It went like this: If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Remember that. If you were arrested, would there be enough evidence to convict you? No. That's a pretty good question.

If somebody were to closely examine your life, they were to look at your bank account and how you spent your money. They listened to your speech, how you treated people, including your family members. If they were able to search your Internet searches and see what websites you go to and visit, what would they determine about your life? Is there enough evidence, fruit, to prove that you truly are a follower of Jesus Christ? That's what James is all about. Faith alone saves, but saving faith is never alone.

Speaker 3

Faith alone saves, but saving faith is never alone. And we're just getting started in the study of this life-changing New Testament letter, so please make it a point to join us every day for Pathway to Victory. You know, I've been preaching for decades, but James never fails to challenge me personally. This letter is spiritual dynamite. It explodes comfortable Christianity and demands honest self-examination. In fact, every time I study James, God convicts me about areas where I'm just hearing His word instead of doing it.

So don't just listen to these sermons about James. Grab your Bible and work through this letter yourself. Let the piercing questions that James poses penetrate your heart. Your spiritual maturity depends on it, and frankly, so does your assurance of salvation.

Earlier, you heard me mention a brand new book I've written on this topic. It's called *How to Know If You're Really Saved: A Study in the Book of James*. By reading my book on James, you'll develop a mature understanding of how salvation by grace relates to Christian living. This study will help you avoid both legalism (i.e., trying to earn salvation through works) and the opposite (i.e., thinking behavior doesn't really matter if you just have faith).

And today, when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, you're invited to request a copy of my book, *How to Know If You're Really Saved*. Here's David with all the details.

Speaker 1

When you support the ministry of Pathway to Victory by giving a generous gift, we'll say thanks by sending you the brand new book by Dr. Robert Jeffress, *How to Know If You're Really Saved*.

To request your copy, call 866-999-2965 or go online at ptv.org. Now, when you give $75 or more, we'll also send you all 12 messages from the brand new *How to Know If You're Really Saved* teaching series. These messages come on both DVD video and MP3 format audio discs.

Again, the phone number is 866-999-2965 or you can go online.

Speaker 2

That's at P.

Speaker 1

If you'd prefer to send your donation by mail, write to P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. That's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, TX 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins. When life throws you a curveball, how do you respond? Do you shake your fist at God? Or do you draw closer to Him? Hear a message called "Triumph over Troubles." That's Wednesday on Pathway to Victory.

Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. Experience the breathtaking majesty of America's last frontier on the 2026 Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 2

Cruise to Alaska Port Holland America's luxurious Koningsdam ship with aim for a journey that will refresh your soul and renew your spirit.

Speaker 1

Experience the unforgettable adventure. June 13, 2020 26.

To book your cabin, call 888-280-6747 or go to ptv.org.

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