Pathway to Victory

Speaker 1

Hey podcast listeners, thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress.

And right now your generous gift will have twice the impact, thanks to the Now Is the Time matching Challenge, active now through December 31st. To give a special year-end gift, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes.

Now here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 2

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

Speaker 3

On today's edition of Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 2

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the great Baptist minister of England, said one time that he was so certain of his salvation that he could grab hold of a corn stalk, swing over the flames of hell, look the devil straight in the eye and sing "Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine."

Now that's the kind of assurance God wants each of us to have. And today we're going to look at the single greatest verse, I think, in the Bible to know whether or not you are true.

Speaker 1

Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. Some people claim it's impossible to know for sure if you're going to heaven when you die, but gratefully, the Bible says differently.

Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress explains how you can be certain regarding the status of your salvation.

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

Speaker 3

Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Well, I'm pleased to share with you that God is blessing the ministry of Pathway to Victory in ways we never imagined. What started out as a fledgling media ministry has become one of the fastest growing Bible teaching ministries in our country. What a blessing from God.

We have the opportunity to accelerate this momentum because of the exciting "Now is the Time" matching challenge that's active for one more day. When you give a generous gift to Pathway to Victory, it'll be matched and therefore doubled. Because of this arrangement, our target is $1.7 million, which will yield an enormous impact for God's kingdom today. Your generous gift of $100 becomes $200. Your generous gift of $500 becomes $1,000. Whatever amount God places on your heart to give will be automatically doubled.

As a symbol of my gratitude for your generous gift, I'd like to send you the brand new leather-bound Pathway to Victory daily devotional for 2026. The daily devotional is one of the favorite traditions at Pathway to Victory. This is an exclusive resource you won't find anywhere other than right here at Pathway to Victory. The leather-bound cover is tan with inlaid gold accents, and I've written over 260 devotionals to guide you through every weekday of the new year. The devotional is available while supplies last, so I encourage you to act now.

I'll say more about the daily devotional and the matching challenge later in the program, but right now let's turn in our Bibles to 1 John, chapter 5. I titled today's message "Eternally Secure."

Speaker 2

A couple of years ago, a lady in her late 70s wrote to us. She was a Pathway to Victory Watcher viewer in another city, and she said, "Dr. Jeffress, when I was nine years old, I trusted Christ as my savior. But now that I'm approaching the end of my life, I find myself waking up in the middle of the night terrified that if I were to die, I would end up in hell. Is it possible for me to know that I'm really saved?" For that lady, the question of eternal security wasn't just theoretical; it was critical.

Maybe you too are one of those people who are asking the question, "Can I know for sure that I'm really saved?" A lot of people say today, "I think I'm saved" or "I hope I'm saved." But nobody can really know for sure they're saved. The Bible doesn't want us to have that kind of doubt. Listen to the words of Hebrews 10:22: "Let us draw near with a sincere heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." Or in 2 Peter 1:10, the apostle says, "Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and His choosing." God wants you to be certain that you are saved.

How can you have that assurance? Well, that's what the book of First John is all about. I want you to turn in your Bible to that little New Testament epistle, almost to the way of Revelation in your New Testament, not quite to the maps, but it's First John. We’re going to look at First John and what the apostle says about how to be eternally secure. Today, we're going to look at the single greatest verse, I think, in the Bible to know whether or not you are truly saved.

Now, let's admit, not everybody who thinks they are saved is truly saved.

Speaker 3

Are they?

Speaker 2

Jesus said, on the judgment day, many will come to me saying, "Lord, Lord, did we not do this and cast out demons? And prophesy in your name?" And I will say to them, "Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, for I never knew you." One thing people wonder about all the time is how it is that people who profess to be Christians end up falling into sin and even abandoning their beliefs. Did they lose their salvation? Some of you have friends, some of you have children and grandchildren who profess Christ at an early age, and now they are living a lifestyle apart from God. Some have renounced their beliefs. Have they lost their salvation?

If that's true in your life, and you know someone who has done that, let me remind you, first of all, the final chapter in their life story has not yet been revealed. It's been written, but it hasn't been revealed yet. You don't know how things are going to turn out. But the second truth is, if they die having rejected their faith, it's not that they lost their salvation; it's simply that they never had it to begin with. And that's what John says in 1 John 2:19. He says, "They went out from us, but they were not really of us. For if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But they went out in order that it might be shown that they are not of us."

So how can you know whether you're a genuine believer? Turn over to chapter 5, verse 13. Here is the single greatest verse in the Bible to know whether or not you are truly saved. John said, "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know you have eternal life." My friend Steve Lawson wrote a little book called *Absolutely Sure*. In one of the chapters of that book, he talked about the five words or phrases in this verse that are key to assurance of salvation. I'd like to take those words and expand on their meaning.

This morning, the first critical word in this verse is the word "know." Write it down: K-N-O-W. "These things I have written to you that you may know you have eternal life." You know, in our culture today, anyone who acts like they know something with absolute certainty is written off as being arrogant or prideful. In our culture, it's not popular to say you know anything for sure, especially about your eternal destiny. To say, "I know I'm going to heaven," why, that is considered prideful—to say you know that with absolute certainty. And yet the Bible says God doesn't want us just to hope. John says, "I want you to know that you have eternal life."

Why is it that some people don't know that they have eternal life? Let me mention to you four sources of doubt about salvation—four reasons some of you here listening to *Pathway to Victory* may be doubting your salvation. Four sources of doubt.

Number one, conviction by the Holy Spirit. You know, there are some people who say, "Well, if you're doubting your salvation, that's because of Satan. He's trying to rob you of your assurance." Well, sometimes that's true, as we'll see in a moment. But it's not always the truth. I mean, if you're not a Christian, do you think Satan is going to try to make you doubt whether you're a Christian? Do you think he's going to talk to you about your salvation?

Speaker 1

No.

Speaker 2

He wants you to stay in the dark. He wants you to keep you in his kingdom. It's the Holy Spirit of God who may be speaking to you, telling you that all is not right between you and God. That's the work of the Holy Spirit. In John 16, verse 8, Jesus said about the Spirit, "When he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment."

A second source of doubt about salvation can be a contradiction in your lifestyle. When a professing Christian is living in a way that is inconsistent with the commands of Jesus Christ, it will cause him to doubt his salvation. It will cause a dissonance in his life if he professes to be a follower of Christ and yet is not living that way.

Listen to the words of Galatians 5:19-21: "Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I forewarned you that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."

If you're a Christian today and you are practicing these things, you have a good reason to doubt your salvation. A very good reason to doubt your salvation. I tell people who profess to be Christians and yet continue to live in disobedience that eventually you're either going to give up your sinful behavior or you're going to give up your faith. But you won't hold on to both.

Speaker 3

Of those in the long term.

Speaker 2

It's impossible for somebody over the long period of time to hold onto their faith and hold onto their disobedience at the same time. You'll give up one or the other. A third source of doubt about salvation is something we're going to talk about when we get to Romans chapter nine. And that is confusion about salvation.

You see, many people have a man-centered view of salvation rather than a God-centered view of salvation. Let me explain. If you believe salvation depends upon you, that it's what you've done for God, you'll start to doubt your salvation at some point in time. If you get the idea that your decision to become a Christian is all your decision and God had nothing to do with it, it'll cause you to doubt.

If you think that one day you just awakened and said, you know what? Today I think I'll trust in Christ. Today I think I'll reach up and grab hold of God. What happens if because of doubt or disobedience, you let go of God? You lessen your grip on God? Are you lost forever?

Ladies and gentlemen, salvation is not man-centered. It's God-centered. Salvation is not what we have done for God; it's what God has done for us. Salvation is not a case of our reaching up and grabbing hold of God. It is God who took the initiative and reached down and grabbed hold of us.

And in John 10:28-29, Jesus said, "I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish. No man shall snatch them out of my hand."

Speaker 3

Hands those whom the Father has given me.

Speaker 2

God is the one who has saved you. He is the one who is responsible for keeping you saved. And only when you have that understanding can you have true assurance of your faith. In 1 John 4:10, John says, "Herein is love. Not that we loved God, but that God loved us and gave himself as a propitiation for our sins."

The fourth source of doubt about salvation is the condemnation of Satan. If you are truly saved, Satan would like to rob you of that assurance. No doubt about it. Why does he want to rob you of your assurance of salvation? Because doubt about your salvation will break your intimacy with God. If you're always wondering whether you're saved or not, that doesn't cause you to follow God more closely. It causes a separation from God.

Let me explain that to you. Let's say you're married to somebody, perhaps for 50 years, but they're always threatening to leave you. Always threatening to leave you. One wrong word, one outburst of anger, one sock left on the floor, unpicked up, and he or she's out the door. They threaten. Now, how intimate and honest could you be with a mate like that? You'd be walking on eggshells all the time. You wouldn't know what the status of your marriage was. That doesn't produce closeness; intimacy creates a distance.

People who are always doubting their salvation, in a similar way, do not become close to God. It causes a fear, an uneasiness about God. And that's why Satan will love to bombard you with doubts about your salvation. Remember in Ephesians chapter 6, when Paul lists the spiritual armor that we're to put on to withstand the fiery darts of the evil one? One of those pieces of equipment is the helmet of salvation. God wants us to be sure of our salvation so that when those fiery darts of doubt come our way, we can know for sure that we really belong to Him.

Over and over again, 1 John talks about the importance of our knowing we are saved. These things I have written to you that you may know. Just jot down some of these verses: 1 John 2:5, "But whoever keeps his word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in him." Or 1 John 2:20-21, "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth." Or 1 John 4:13, "By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us his spirit."

God doesn't want your eternal destination to be a question mark. He wants you to know for sure. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the great Baptist minister of England, said one time that he was so certain of his salvation that he could grab hold of a corn stalk, swing over the flames of hell, look the devil straight in the eye, and sing, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine." Now that's the kind of assurance God wants each of us to have. These things have I written that you...

Speaker 3

May know you have eternal life?

Speaker 2

The second key word in this passage is the word "written," as in "these things I have written to you." You know, our faith doesn't rest on changing feelings. It doesn't rest on whether or not we have those warm fuzzy feelings inside. Our faith rests on the written word of God that never changes. And that's why he says here in 1 John, "these things I have written to you." Our faith does not depend upon subjective feelings, but on the objective truth of the Word of God.

Let me show you that in Scripture. I just really saw this again for the first time this week. Turn over to 2 Peter, chapter 1, verses 16 to 20. Now, Peter, remember, was Jesus' apostle. He was his chief apostle. And 2 Peter was written toward the end of Peter's life as he reflected back on his Christian experience. Now look at what he says in verse 16: "For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." He is saying, "Look, you knew. Christians understand this. Peter, James, and John, and all of us, we didn't get in a room together and just concoct some great myth or fantasy about Jesus Christ. We didn't follow cleverly devised tales, but instead we were eyewitnesses of his majesty."

For when he, Jesus, received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Jesus by the majestic glory: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. Do you know what Peter's talking about? He's talking about that experience on the Mount of Transfiguration when Jesus brought Peter, James, and John—the inner circle—and they caught a glimpse of Jesus transfigured, changed for an instant into his glorified state. Peter says, "We saw that." And not only did we see that happen, we heard the voice of God the Father from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son."

Can you imagine an experience like that? Don't you ever wish sometimes, "Boy, if I could just hear the audible voice of God, if I could just see a miracle, then I would truly, truly believe"? Man, what a faith-affirming experience hearing the word of God. But look at what he says in verse 19. As great as that is, verse 19 states, "We have the prophetic word made more sure." That is, as faith-affirming as hearing the word of God is, equally, if not more faith-affirming, is reading the written word of God.

How do I know that's what he's talking about? Look at verse 19: "We have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises

Speaker 3

You keep talking about, how do you.

Speaker 2

Know Jesus is really the son of God? How do you know these things? And I said, well, Alan, it's the Bible my faith was built upon. And then he asked a very great question, said, well, how do you know the Bible is true? Good question. How do you know the Bible's true? I said, Allen, you don't have to check in your brains at the door. You don't have to commit intellectual suicide to believe the Bible. There are literary, scientific, historical, and archaeological reasons to believe that this book is truly what it claims to be, the written, inerrant word of God. And that's what our faith rests on—not on changing experiences, but the unchanging written word of God.

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. And that leads to the third word, the word believe. These things I have written to you who believe. The way to know whether you're really saved or not is whether you have believed. Now, what does it mean to believe? Over and over again, you hear the word believe in the Bible. Acts 16:31. Remember the Philippian jailer asked, what must I do to be saved? Paul said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. In John 11:25, Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall have eternal life and live even if he dies. John 3:16 states, for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him shall have everlasting life. Belief is the way we channel God's faith and grace into our life.

But what does it mean to believe? Listen, belief is not intellectual assent to a certain set of facts about Jesus. It's not agreeing that Jesus is the Son of God, that he died for the sins of the world, that he was raised again on the third day. We get this idea that if you believe intellectually all the right things about Jesus, you can be saved. Let me remind you of something. Did you know some of the greatest professions of faith in history have been made by demons? Did you know that? It's demons who have made some of the greatest professions of faith about who Jesus is. In Matthew 8:29, the demons at Gadarene said, what do we have to do with you? Jesus, the Son of God. Or in Mark 1:24, while Jesus was in Capernaum, a demon said to him, what do we have to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? We know who you are—the Holy One of God. The demons knew the truth.

Remember in James 2:19, James said, hey you Jews, you believe that God is one. Congratulations. That was the basic profession of faith of the Jewish people. God is one, not many. James said, you believe that God is one. Congratulations. So do the demons. And they shudder. They shudder. Literally, the hair on their neck stands up. That's what the word shudder in Greek means. They shudder at that truth. Demons know the right truth about who Jesus is. But does anybody here today believe demons are going to be in heaven? No. It's not believing the right things about Jesus. The word believes means to trust in, to cling to, to put your whole faith and trust in Jesus for your salvation.

Speaker 3

It's one thing to teach our families the stories in the Bible and help them understand the importance of following good moral laws. But it's entirely different to teach our children and grandchildren what it means to put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. You know, in my lifetime, I don't know that I've witnessed a year quite like 2025. The world has always been a dark and dangerous place, but in the last 12 months, we've seen the telltale signs of evil.

Well, when Jesus was born, God's radiant hope entered our world. The baby Jesus, by his mere presence, exposed the shadowy forces of evil and dispelled the darkness with his light. Later, Jesus would give his followers an assignment. Remember what he said: Jesus said, "You are the light of the world, so let your light shine before men." Our job is to shine his light brightly.

For this very purpose, a group of light bearers established the Now's the Time matching challenge for Pathway to Victory. Because of their $1.7 million matching challenge, you have the opportunity to multiply your generous year-end contribution by 2. Twice the amount, twice the impact. But the deadline is tomorrow night at midnight, and we're urging you to join us in meeting and even surpassing this enormous goal. If you haven't responded, now's the time.

And if you've already given this month, let me express my profound gratitude. You have no idea how much it means to me that I'm not on this journey alone. Here's David to tell you more.

Speaker 1

Today, when you give a generous year-end gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, we'll say thanks by sending you the brand new 2026 Pathway to Victory daily devotional. Call 866-999-2965 or visit ptv.org. When your gift is $100 or more, we'll also send you "Celebrate the Savior," a DVD, video, and MP3 format audio disc set that features the best Christmas teaching messages by Dr. Robert Jeffress.

Remember, your donation to Pathway to Victory today will have twice the impact. That's because of our Now Is the Time Matching Challenge. But the clock is ticking, and the Matching Challenge is only active until tomorrow at midnight. So contact us right away with your special year-end gift. You can give by calling 866-999-2965 or go online to ptv.org. If you'd like to send your donation by mail, write to P.O. Box 223, 609, Dallas, Texas 75222. That's P.O. Box 223, 608, Dallas, Texas 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins inviting you back next time when Dr. Jeffress concludes his message called "Eternally Secure." That's Wednesday right here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas.

You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. Right now, your special year-end gift will be matched and therefore doubled in impact, thanks to the Now Is the Time Matching Challenge. Take advantage of this opportunity to double your impact before the deadline on December 31st.

To give toward the matching challenge, 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.