What does First B Jackson teach about assurance of salvation?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At First B Jackson, the teaching on assurance of salvation starts from a place of genuine pastoral warmth rather than anxious uncertainty. When Ray preached through 1 John, he made the purpose of the letter plain: John wrote it not to condemn believers but to encourage them toward settled confidence in their standing before God. The phrase John catches himself writing in chapter three, 'and such we are,' became a touchstone, the aged apostle still overwhelmed that ordinary people get to be called children of God. Pastor Carl, working through the same letter in the Monday night series, returned again and again to 1 John 5:13, where John says he wrote so that those who believe may know they have eternal life. The word 'know' is not accidental. John is not leaving room for chronic anxiety. He wants believers to be settled.
The teaching is equally clear that assurance rests on what God has done, not on what the believer can sustain. Brad Yates, preaching from Ephesians 2:8-10, pressed hard on grace as something entirely outside of us. He used the picture of a swimmer caught in a riptide who has exhausted every resource and can only stop fighting and receive help. That surrender, Brad said, is the shape of saving faith, not a contribution but a reception. Because faith itself is a gift, there is no credit due to the one who opens it, only to the one who gave it. Pastor Ryan, preaching from Philippians 1, drove this home with a vivid illustration: he carried heavy kettlebells onto the stage to make the point that our endurance in the faith does not depend on our own grip strength. The good shepherd promises that nothing will snatch us out of his hands.
The teaching here also takes seriously that real believers can wrestle with doubt, and it does not rush past that. Pastor Carl said plainly that wrestling with salvation is healthy, but there is a point where the wrestling becomes crippling and forward movement stops. The mechanism John gives for when believers stumble is 1 John 1:9, which Ray described in the Greek as a continuous action: if you are confessing, he is cleansing. Assurance is not a claim that Christians never fall. It is the confidence that they have somewhere to go when they do, and that the one holding them is not letting go.
Taught from 1 John 5:13 · Ephesians 2:8-10 · 1 John 1:9 · Philippians 1:3-6 · 1 John 3:1
The passage taught · 1 Corinthians 13
1 If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing.
3 If I give away all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud,
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- July 5, 2026 Partners in the Gospel Paul writes from prison with joy, not complaint. This sermon from Philippians 1 explores thankful partnership, confident faith, and love grounded in knowledge.
- June 1, 2025 Grace Through Faith: It Is a Gift Brad Yates opens Ephesians 2:8-10 to show that salvation comes by grace through faith alone, and that good works flow from that gift, never the other way around.
- June 1, 2025 By Grace, Through Faith A Wyoming pastor walks through Ephesians 2:8-10, showing why salvation comes by grace through faith alone and how genuine good works flow from that gift.
- September 7, 2022 Women's Bible Study - September 7th, 2022 Deborah teaches from Exodus and 1 John on what it truly means to thrive: trusting God's narrative over the world's lies, and living as a child of God.
- September 7, 2015 Monday Nights @ First B (10) Pastor Carl closes out 1 John with a look at what it means to trust God, pray for one another, obey His commands, and keep Jesus at the center of your heart.
- February 22, 2015 Heresy Thrives on Felt Need When people die suddenly, grief creates a hunger for more than Scripture says. Pastor Ray examines how that hunger fuels heresy, and why the resurrection is enough.
- August 7, 2011 And Such We Are Ray walks through 1 John to show why the letter is meant to assure believers of their salvation in Christ, not condemn them.
Mentioned along the way
- June 1, 2025 Grace, Faith, Works Brad Yates walks through Ephesians 2:8-10, showing why grace comes first, faith follows, and good works flow from both rather than earning what God freely gives.
- January 3, 2016 One Last Loving Defense Paul closes 2 Corinthians with a parental warning, a call to self-examination, and a benediction grounding Christians in God's faithfulness and restorative love.
- January 3, 2016 One Last Loving Defense Paul closes 2 Corinthians with a loving but firm warning, calling the church to self-examination, repentance, and trust in God's power to restore.