Eternal Life: You Can Be Sure – Dr. Charles Stanley

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male announcer: “In Touch,” the
teaching ministry of Dr. Charles

Stanley, reaching the world with
the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Next on “In Touch,” “Eternal
Life: You Can Be Sure.”

Dr. Charles Stanley:
If you were to die today,

are you sure you
have eternal life?

Does that question
disturb you a little bit?

Does it make you
feel sort of restless,

maybe a little
insecure, uncertain,

maybe a little doubtful,
maybe a little fearful,

maybe even a little
defensive, or just plain angry?

Why would that
question bother you?

Because, you see, if you’re
really clear in your mind that

you have the gift
of eternal life,

that if you were to die
today that you’d go to heaven,

then that question
should not bother you at all.

But it just may be the fact
that it bothers you is

because you are not sure.

You are uncertain, you
are a little restless

about the whole idea.

Well, if you are, it just may
be that you need to make sure.

And if you’re interested in
making sure about where you’re

gonna spend eternity, then
I’ve got good news for you,

and that’s what I want to talk
about in this message because I

want to talk about eternal life,
and the very fact that you can

be sure that you have
the gift of eternal life.

And I want you to
turn, if you will,

to First John chapter five.

In this fifth
chapter of First John,

he has been talking about
the very idea of assurance,

and John has been
saying this very clearly,

that if you have the
Son of God, who is Jesus,

then you have eternal life.

And if you don’t have Him,
you don’t have the life.

And he makes it very clear.

And then he ends by
saying in verse thirteen,

“These things I have written to
you who believe in the name of

the Son of God, in order
that you may know

that you have eternal life.”

Not that you may
hope so, not maybe,

not possibly, but that you can
absolutely know that you possess

the gift of eternal life, which
simply means that you and God

have had a transaction, that you
have had a personal experience

with Him whereby He has
given to you this life.

Now, what is this eternal life?

Listen, it is an
endless duration.

Listen, it is a life of endless
duration in the presence of and

with fellowship with God, which
begins in a moment of time in

this life and lasts forever.

And once we leave this life, it
means that you’re going to spend

eternity, that is
forever and ever and ever,

with God the
Father, God the Son,

God the Holy Spirit,
with all the holy angels,

and with every single person
who has ever lived and will ever

live who’ve trusted
Jesus as their Savior,

or in the Old Testament, who
placed their faith in God in the

promise of a Messiah.

And so, when you think about the
very idea of having the promise

and having assurance that no
matter what happens to you,

whether it happens to
you without warning,

or happens to you at the end
of a long period of illness,

you can know without
a shadow of a doubt,

you can be
fearless, you can be bold,

you can be confident, yes I
have the gift of eternal life.

Well, I want us to think
for just a moment because,

you see, it is
just what we said.

It is the gift of eternal life.

“The wages of sin is death but
the gift of God is eternal life

through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

And you cannot have the gift of
eternal life apart from Christ.

It is irreversibly
linked to a personal

relationship with Jesus.

So, the question is this: Does
God really and truly want us to

be absolutely sure
about eternal life?

Yes, He does!

And you see, there are some
people who would believe,

“Well now, we probably shouldn’t
be all that sure because,

you see, not being
sure–listen, I’ve heard this.

Not being absolutely sure, and
God has left it so we wouldn’t

be absolutely sure because
if I’m not absolutely sure,

it means I’ll try harder.

And if I’m not
absolutely sure, I’ll pray more.

And if I’m not absolutely
sure, I’ll be more dependent.

If I’m not absolutely
sure, I’ll be more humble.

If I’m not absolutely
sure, it’ll

take care of my pride problem.

If I’m not absolutely sure, I’ll
just–I’ll go to church more

often, I’ll pray more,
read the Bible more often.

I’ll just really be more
diligent about this whole idea.

I won’t go out and sin, I won’t
backslide if I’m not certain.

None of that is the truth.

Not any of that is the truth.

Because you see, our salvation
is not based upon our works,

but upon the finished work
of Jesus Christ at Calvary.

And when I place my trust
in Him and what He has done,

I become
eternally secure because,

listen, the focus of eternal
security is on the work of God.

My assurance of what He has
done is something inside of me.

It is a confident
conviction that I have.

It is a confident realization
that what God has promised is

now real in my life.

So, we’re talking about, listen,
we’re talking about fact,

truth, versus feeling.

We’re talking about truth
versus what I believe

about my relationship.

My relationship is
absolutely intact.

My relationship is
absolutely sealed.

It is not sealed by my conduct,
not sealed by my behavior.

It is not sealed by my feelings.

It is sealed by the precious
work of Jesus Christ at Calvary.

When I trusted Him as my Savior,
the Spirit of God sealed me.

The Spirit of God sealed you.

We do not seal ourselves.

We are sealed unto
the day of redemption,

whether I feel it or not,
whether I feel secure in it or

not, whether I have any
assurance at all or not.

When God seals
you, you are sealed.

The tragedy is you will go
through life tormented with

doubts and fears and anxieties.

Now, so with that in mind, let’s
talk about why people doubt the

idea that they really and
truly have eternal life when,

if you ask them, “Now, what did
you do to receive Jesus Christ

as your personal Savior?”

Here’s what they’ll tell you.

Oftentimes they will give
you the very exact truth

that you and I know.

They have asked, they have
acknowledged that Jesus Christ

is the Son of God.

They’ve acknowledged their
sinfulness and that their sin

has separated them from God.

They’ve acknowledged that
if they confess their sins,

that Jesus will forgive them.

They acknowledge that
His death at the cross

paid their sin-debt in full.

They acknowledge the fact that
if they ask Jesus Christ to

save them, He will do it.

Go through all of that.

Are you sure of your salvation?

Well, I’m–you know what,
I’m–I just–you know,” they

hesitate and hem-haw around.

“Well, I’m just not
absolutely sure.”

So there are some
very specific reasons.

Now, listen carefully.

More than likely, if you
doubt that you have the gift of

eternal life, you doubt
that you’ve been saved,

you doubt that you’re
eternally secured by God,

more than likely you’re gonna
find the reason in one of these

that I’m going to mention.

So, let’s begin with the
first one, and that’s this.

One of the reasons that
people doubt their assurance,

they have no assurance, they
doubt their eternal security,

they doubt their eternal life
is because they don’t have it.

That’s the reason they doubt it.

Because they’ve
never been saved.

They had some good feelings,
they made some decisions,

they decided to change the
way they were gonna live.

They walked down a
church aisle and said,

“I want to be baptized and
I want to join this church,

I want to be better,
I want to do good,

I wanna this, and I wanna
that and I wanna the other.”

And you know what?

Never trusted Jesus Christ
as their Personal Savior.

Never looked to the cross for
the forgiveness of their sins.

And so they go out there and
their name’s on the roll and

probably give some money
and try to be a good person.

But they’ve never been genuinely
saved by the grace of God,

never received
Christ into their life,

never trusted Him for the
forgiveness of their sins,

never delivered from
the domain of darkness

into the domain of light.

Never, listen, never rescued by
Jesus Christ from eternal death

and endowed with eternal life.

And so, they’re always
having these ups and downs.

Well you know, I made a
decision back yonder somehow

but I’m just not real certain.

The reason they’re not
certain is, listen,

because the Spirit of
God will not give assurance to a

person that they have
the gift of eternal life

when they don’t have it.

He would be a contraction
to all that He’s there for.

So, He’s not gonna
give that assurance.

Now, on the other hand, there
are some people who will tell

you, “Oh yes, when I
die I’m going to heaven.”

They’ll tell you,
“Don’t get too personal.”

And you know what they’ve done?
They’ve deceived themselves.

And so here’s what they’ve done.

When they say, “Well yes, I
know that I’m going to heaven.

I do have the gift of eternal
life,” and when they don’t,

the Spirit of God convicts
them, they just shove it down.

And the Spirit of
God convicts them,

and they cram it down.

Spirit of God convicts them,
and they squeeze it again.

The Spirit of God convicts them
and they repress it and they

depress it and they
repress it until finally

here’s what’s happening.

They don’t feel like that’s a
problem anymore because they’ve

sort of reasoned
themselves out of that.

Has nothing to do
with that, you know,

there’s something else,
here’s what happens.

They will be unsure about life.

There’ll be other areas of
uncertainty in their life,

and what they won’t realize
and what they won’t face up

to is they’ve never been saved.

They say, “Well, you
know, everybody’s got doubts,

everybody’s got fears.”

One of the primary reasons
people have no assurance of

salvation is because they’ve
never trusted Jesus Christ

personally,
deliberately, willfully,

at a moment in
time with their soul,

with their spirit, with
their whole eternal destiny.

That’s the primary reason.

But there’s a second reason.

A second reason people
do not have assurance is

because of sin in their life.

Because here’s what sin does.

Sin is a violation
of the law of God.

Sin short-circuits
our assurance.

And here’s how it happens.

When a person
chooses to sin

against God, what happens?

They feel some
sense of estrangement.

They don’t feel as close to God.

They may even feel rejected.

They don’t sense
God’s love for them.

They–there’s a great sense of
guilt on–they don’t feel worthy

of God loving them.

And so, what happens is, as a
result of sin in a person’s

life, that short-circuits
their assurance.

And so, people
who once were sure,

and they begin to disobey
God and rebel against Him,

get into sin, and you ask them,
“Are you sure you’re saved?”

“Well, I used to be.”

And how many times
have I heard people say,

“I used to be saved.”

Well, what happened?

“Well, I just–disobeying
God and got out of church and

stopped reading the Bible
and stopped praying

and I just lost it all.”

Well, you lost your assurance.

You lost your assurance.

You did not lose your
eternal security because,

listen, God the Father has so
arranged the whole–His whole

redemption plan that once you’ve
trusted Jesus Christ as your

personal Savior,
forever a child of God,

and Jesus is the living eternal
advocate sitting at the Father’s

right hand, proof to us,
assurance to us we are

still the sons of God.

There is a third reason,
and that is false doctrine.

When a person is taught that
you can be saved and be lost,

and they’re taught
that from childhood,

like I and many
other people have been,

it takes a long
time to get over that.

And you know what?

A person can hear the
gospel, hear the gospel,

hear the truth and hear the
truth and hear the truth.

It is oftentimes so
ingrained in them,

they want to believe
what you’re saying,

they desire to
believe what you’re saying,

but somehow, they just can’t
believe what you’re saying.

Now, if you ask them if
they believe the Bible,

“Oh yes indeed, I
believe every word of it.

I believe it all,
including the maps.

I believe it all.”

But you know what?

You can read them a
passage of scripture and say,

“Okay, now what about
this verse right here?

What about this
verse right here?”

“Well, what about that verse?

Uh, well, you know, um,
here’s the way I was taught.

My granddaddy believed that.

My grandmother believed that.
My parents believed that.

You’re telling me I’m
gonna believe something else,

that if it was good enough
for them’s good enough for me.”

You mean to tell me
have to go through life

doubting your salvation?

It was good enough for
them, it’s good enough for you.

No, it’s not good
enough for you.

Listen, now watch this.

Listen carefully, because your
parents believe something or

your grandparents
believed something that you have

discovered was not correct,
just because you change your

doctrinal stand doesn’t
mean that you don’t

love them as much.

Has nothing to do with
affection for your

grandparents or your parents.

Has nothing to do–you’re
not belittling them.

Well, what in the
world would they say?

Well, they’d say, you know, if
they finally realized that you

were right, they’d say, “Praise
God, I’m glad you found out,

and I–took me so many
years to find out.”

They’d be grateful.

Well, listen carefully.

Here’s what you have to decide.

Do I want to know
the truth or do I not?

Am I gonna hold on to
things that are sentimental?

Am I gonna hold on to what
somebody else believes because

I don’t want to
hurt their feelings?

Or do I want to know the truth
of the living God so I can live

by this truth and live
successfully and victoriously

and triumphantly by
it, and besides that,

I want to live joyfully and
confidently and assuredly that

no matter what
happens, I’m heaven bound.

That’s the way I want to live.

And so, that leads me to another
reason that people oftentimes

doubt their eternal security.

They doubt their salvation,
doubt that they have the gift of

eternal life, which is what
God gives us when we are saved.

They doubt it because of an
overemphasis on emotionalism.

Now, whenever the emphasis is
more on emotion than truth,

here’s what’s gonna happen.

You’re going to be
governed by your emotions.

You’re going to, listen, your
emotions are gonna dictate to

you, your emotions are going
to overpower and overwhelm the

truth that you know.

Now, especially is this
dangerous when you’ve not

studied the Word of
God, when you’ve not

been in the scriptures.

And so, you go to some meeting
and everybody’s a shouting or

praising God and hallelujah,
and all these things are

going on and you just love that.

I mean, you know, we can all
get into–we can all create,

listen, you can create
that kind of atmosphere.

The right kind of music and the
right kind of praising the Lord

and the right kind of buzz
words, and next thing you know,

I mean everybody’s
praising God and hallelujah,

praise the Lord, and you
just, anything will happen.

The Spirit of God’s gonna come
upon us and Spirit of God this

and Spirit of God
that and Spirit,

Spirit, Spirit, and this,
that, and the other.

And you know what I
want to ask is this.

What is the truth?
What is the truth?

You see, here’s what happens.

The reason people get
off-base spiritually and their

emotionalism takes over and
then they lose their sense of

assurance is because they’re
going–they are so into this

emotional thing rather
than getting into the

truth of the Word of God.

What does the Bible teach?

What does it say?

Does it say we’re to praise Him?
Yes!

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!

But if you want your
praise and your emotionalism,

which we all enjoy, if you
want it to be right and really

glorifying to God and just not
something you just want to make

yourself feel good so you
can feel better and better and

better because you don’t
want to come down off of that.

Listen, if praise is really
genuine, you should be

able to come down and hit
the solid rock of the living,

eternal, unchangeable,
immutable Word of God

and be absolutely confident.

That’s the way you
ought to come down.

Now, if you’re not sound in
your doctrine, what’s gonna

happen is the emotion’s
gonna get the best of you.

And so, here’s
what’s gonna happen.

So the revival’s over,
church service is over,

it’s Friday now.

Had a hard–it’s
been a hard week.

And you’ve been
feeling down all week long.

I mean, you got blessed out by
your boss or whatever it might

happen or your
husband or your wife.

It’s just been a bad week.

You know, where in
the world’s God?

God, if You love me, why
am I feeling this way?

And so, what happens?

You start doubting.

Well, why do I
feel these things?

Or you get tempted, for example.

You get real tempted about
something and you think,

“Well, you know what, if
I were really saved,

I wouldn’t be feeling
this temptation.

I mean, I wouldn’t
be feeling these.

I wouldn’t even be
thinking about these things.”

Not necessarily.

Did Jesus lose anything?

And I mean, He was tempted.

No, He didn’t lose anything.

You see, emotionalism
is fine as long as,

listen, as long as that
emotionalism is saturated with

the truth of the living God.

Say all right, I’ve heard all
that, but now what’s the real

basis of my–what’s the real
basis now of my assurance?

Trusted Jesus Christ,
in other words,

what’s the real basis of–

There are four basis for our
absolute, unwavering assurance

that we are eternally
secure in Him, that we have

the gift of eternal life once
we trust Christ as our Savior.

And the first, listen, the
first basis of it is this.

The powerful unchanging promises
of the–of Almighty God.

I want you to turn, if you will,
let’s start with John 3:16.

I’m gonna take you
through a few verses here.

The powerful, awesome,
unchangeable promises of God,

and here’s one of them.

Number one, John 3:16, “For God
so loved the world that He gave

His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believes in Him should

not perish but have
everlasting life.”

Promise number one.

Chapter number five,
and listen to this verse.

Verse twenty-four, “Truly,
truly, I say to you, he who

hears My word,” this is the
Son of God, “he who hears

My word and believes Him,”
God, “who sent Me, has,”

presently, “eternal life,
does not come into,”

condemnation or “judgment,
but has,” already, “passed

out of,” eternal,
“death into,” eternal, “life.”

Now listen to that.

He says if we believe, if we
hear it and we believe it,

we have already passed out of
eternal death into eternal life.

Look, if you will, in
verse–chapter ten.

And this is the last one.
Chapter ten.

Look, if you will, in
verse twenty-eight.

“I give unto them eternal life.

They shall never perish.

No one shall snatch
them out of My hand.”

Who can take you
out of God’s hand?

Nobody.

Somebody says, “Well, I
can just get out on my own.”

No, you can’t.
No, you can’t.

You say, “Well, he said somebody
else will snatch you out.”

Well, listen, nobody can
take you out of God’s hand.

He says no one is able to snatch
them out of the Father’s hand,

and I and the Father are one.

You know what He says?
You can’t lose it.

So, rest in it.

So, basis number
one, the awesome,

irrevocable, unchangeable
promises of God,

that is the first basis of it.

The second basis is this:
the unconditional

love of God for us.

Turn back, if you will,
to Romans chapter

five for a moment.

Romans chapter five,
listen to what Paul says.

He says in verse six, “For
while we were still helpless,

at the right time Christ
died for the ungodly.”

Verse eight, “God demonstrates
His own love toward us,

in that while we
were yet sinners,

Christ died for us.”

Look, if you will, in the eighth
chapter of Romans and listen to

this awesome
passage that we know.

He says in verse thirty-three,
“Who shall bring a charge

against God’s elect?

God is the one who justifies.”

He says, for example, who
can charge any one of us with

anything that would
cause God to cast us out?

No one.

Then he says, “Who is
the one who condemns?

Christ Jesus is
He who died, yes,

rather who was raised, and who
is at the right hand of God,

to make intercession for us.”

Then he asks this question,
“Who shall separate us

from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution,

or famine, or nakedness,
or peril, or sword?”

You may go through
all these things,

have all kinds of doubts
and tribulations and trials.

Will that separate you from God?

“Just as it is written, ‘FOR
THY,'” he says for thy,

“‘SAKE WE ARE,'” all,
“‘BEING PUT TO DEATH

ALL DAY LONG; WE
WERE CONSIDERED AS

SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.’

But in all these things,” all
this turmoil, tribulation,

heartache, “we overwhelmingly
conquer through

Christ who loved us.

For I am convinced,”
persuaded, “that neither death,

nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities,

nor things
present, things to come,

nor powers, nor
heights, nor depths,

nor any other created thing,
shall be able to separate us

from the love of God, which
is in Christ Jesus the Lord.”

You know what,
he said,

who–he said what
can separate us?

Who can separate us?

Who can charge
anything up to God’s elect?

Nobody.

What can separate us
from the love of God?

Nothing can separate us
from the love of God.

Then listen, if nothing can
separate you from the love of

God, nobody can
charge you, listen,

charge you
legitimately in the eyes of God,

then tell me, what in the world
could cause you to be unsure of

a salvation purchased by God,
through His Son Jesus Christ,

given to you as a gift,
and absolutely promise

that it lasts forever.

Give me a legitimate
biblical reason for

doubting your security.

Right, there is no
legitimate reason.

Basis number three
is the finished work

of Jesus on the cross.

Read you just a
couple of verses.

Look, if you will, in Hebrews.

Finished work of
Jesus on the cross.

This is the
ultimate basis of it.

Look at this.
Here’s what he says.

In the–let’s
look, first of all,

in the eleventh verse.

Jesus is called the high priest,
the one who goes in before the

Father to make an
atonement for us.

“But when Christ appeared as a
high priest of the good things

to come, He entered through
the greater and more perfect

tabernacle, not made
with hands, that is to say,

not of this creation; not
through the blood of goats and

calves,” and all of that, “but
He entered the holy place once

for all, having
obtained eternal redemption.”

Now, not only has He

obtained it, but
listen to what he says.

Verse twenty-five
of chapter seven,

“Hence also He is able
to save,” for how long?

What’s that next word?

He’s able to save for how long?

“Forever those who draw
near to God through Him,

since He always lives to
make intercession for us.”

The finished work of
Jesus on the cross?

That’s what gives me
absolute assurance.

And then, one last
thing, one last basis,

turn to Romans
chapter eight again.

And that is the witness of
the Holy Spirit to our heart.

Listen to what he says in
verse sixteen chapter eight,

“The Spirit Himself bears
witness with our spirit

that we are children of God.”

Now listen, how many times have
you asked somebody when they

got saved, say, “Well,
how do you feel?”

I feel fantastic.

Or somebody will say, “Well, I
don’t have a lot of feelings,

but I just know I am.”

How do they know they are?

Witness of the Holy Spirit.

You see, you’re
sitting here listening,

and I will say something
and something you just

feel something in your heart.

That’s the Spirit of God
witnessing to your spirit

you’re hearing the truth.

So, I have four awesome basis
for believing that my salvation

is secure forever, that I
have the gift of eternal life.

Number one, the
awesome, irrevocable,

faithful promises of God;
the unconditional love of God;

the finished work of God through
His Son Jesus Christ on the

cross; and then the witness
of the Holy Spirit within me

that I’m a child
of the living God.

Now, here’s the big question.

All right, how do I make sure?

I believe all this.
How do I make sure?

You acknowledge that you do
believe that Jesus Christ is the

eternal Son of God, as the Bible
says He is, and that He went to

the cross for your sins.

You acknowledge that you have
sinned against Him and that your

sins have
separated you from God.

You confess your
sinfulness to Him,

asking Him to
forgive you of your sin.

You accept His forgiveness on
the basis that He promised to

forgive you, and
that’s all you need.

And then you simply
say to Him, “Lord Jesus,

I do receive You as my Personal
Savior and the Lord of my life.”

And you know what?

Somewhere in the moments of that
brief–of those brief moments of

prayer, in a split second
somewhere, you’re saved.

That’s how awesome salvation is.

That’s how awesome
the love of God is.

And yet that’s how simple
and profound and brief

a brief moment can
change your life.

And it is my prayer to
Almighty God that’s exactly

what happened to you.

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