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Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s Word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. Here God’s truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll-free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the Bibleline Ministries dot O-R-G homepage.

We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family. I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of 1 Corinthians and chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. You’ll notice what he says there in verse 1. Moreover brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved.

If you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. Now two things in this verse is very scary or was very scary to me a long time ago. One is if you keep in memory and the other one is belief in vain. I thought well you mean if I trust Christ as my Savior today, but I have to keep remembering that I did in order to stay saved. Because if you don’t think you’re saving more than you’re not saved anymore.

you got to remember it. What if I forget? The other part of that verse that scared me was, unless you have believed in vain, I thought, well, how can a man believe in vain? You mean I can trust the Lord in vain? I mean, I believe Lord, but God won’t save me. Why? So I had a problem with those two things. And I think a lot of other people have problems with that. And that’s why they add things on to the gospel.

I’m sure you’re like, I was, I’d heard that Jesus cries and died on the cross that he paid for sin, but I never really understood what does that have to do with me going to heaven. I still thought I have to be good to get there and if I wasn’t good, I wasn’t going to make it. So I never really understood the gospel. But the one of the greatest things that could ever happen into anybody’s life is to trust Christ as their But you see it’s not in vain if you forget.

And it’s not in vain, whenever that verse says, unless you have believed in vain. How do you believe in vain? We see your faith in the Lord is in vain if Jesus Christ did not come back again from the dead. You see that whole chapter, the 15th chapter, 1 Corinthians is talking about the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Him coming back from the dead is our security. That’s what gives us eternal life is the power that He had to come back from the dead.

And that’s why He says your faith is in vain if Christ is still dead and if Christ is dead then our preaching is in vain. You are believing or trusting is in vain. In in other words it’s to no avail. And then He says we are found to be Jehovah’s witnesses. I mean false witnesses if we do not teach and believe that Jesus Christ came back from the dead. So since I do believe that Jesus Christ came back from the dead and He did come back from the dead then my faith in Him is not in vain.

Now I want you to take your Bible and turn over there to the book of Romans and chapter 4. Romans chapter 4. Here in the book of Romans and chapter 4 I want you look there at a good definition of what faith is, since we’re saved by faith. Here in verse 21, he says, and being fully persuaded, faith is taken God at his word, being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was also able to what? To perform.

Being saved is not something that you perform. Being saved is something that he performs. And when he You may say, Stephen, then fully persuaded me that you have to totally trust Jesus Christ as your Savior. It’s not trusting Christ 90% and you’re 10%. You have to totally trust the Lord and be fully persuaded that what He promised to do, He will do. He is the Savior and He saves us. We cannot save ourselves. Now in verse 22… It makes a statement, and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness to impute means to put to your account.

It means that what Christ did on the cross, that payment that he made for the sins of the whole world is put to your account. But when is that payment put to your account? When you believe just because Christ died in paper, all the sins of the world doesn’t mean that everybody in the world is not going to heaven. No, the payment is not going to be in the world. not put to your account until you believe that he did that for you.

See there in verse 23? Now it was not written for his sake alone talking about Abraham here, that it was imputed or put to his account because you see he was saved about 400 and something years before the law was ever given. So Abraham could not have been saved by his works. The law had not even been given. So Abraham was saved by faith. So before the law, people were saved by faith. Under the law, people were saved by faith.

See there in verse six of the same chapter, referring now to under the law, David even made this statement, also described the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputed what? Righteousness without what? Without works. And yet wasn’t he living underneath the dispensation of law when the law had been given? Yes. He was the king of Israel. But David was not saved by the law. He was saved by grace, having God’s righteousness put to his account without works. Now look what he says in verse 5.

Well that was before the law or under the law or after the law, but to him that worketh not, but believe it on him that justifyeth the ungodly, here’s what? His faith is counted for righteousness. In other words, it’s just like when you believe that what Christ did on the cross, that He did that for you, you believing that, puts that payment to your account as though you did it. So all the righteousness, the sinless light that Christ lived, his perfection, his righteousness is put to your account.

He doesn’t impart the sins that you committed to your account. They were put to his account. Christ paid those and gives you his righteousness the moment that you trust him as your Savior. Now look there again in verse 23. Now it was not written for his sake alone that he was imputed to him, but for us also, not just him, but not just David, but everybody. Look what he says now in verse 24. But for us also to whom it shall be imputed.

That means it shall be put to your account, his righteousness put to your account if we do what? If we believe, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, if we believe. Those three little words, you wanna know, that’s all you have to do to be saved. If you’ll believe that what Christ did was for you. You see, a lot of people believe that He died and paid for sins, but are still not saved.

You have to believe that what He did was to pay for Your sins. Oh, I believe He paid for the sins of the whole world. I know, but you got to believe He paid for yours and accept that as your payment. That means that you stop trying to earn your salvation. You’re not trying to work for something because you realize it’s been bought and paid for. And all you had to do is accept it as a gift. Faith is the ability to trust, being fully persuaded that what He has promised, He will perform.

The reason you trust Christ is because you’re believing that He is able to perform that work of salvation, saving you from hell, giving you eternal life, making you his child and take you to heaven whenever you die. That’s what you’re trusting him to do. Now notice the next verse. In verse 25, it says, who was delivered for our offenses. In other words, you and I have offended God. We have offended him. In other words, God made these laws. God is righteous and perfect and holy.

So God gave the law. But the law was not given to save us. The law was given to show us that we are sinful and we have broken God’s standard of righteousness and that we have offended a holy God. So the law is like a mirror that we look at to see what we have done against God. Therefore the law condemns us because the wages of sin is death and because we’ve all sinned or broken God’s law, we’re all under the sentence, the condemnation.

To an eternity separate from God in hell. So we have all offended a righteous God. And now because we have offended God, we’re enemies of God. Look what he says down in verse 10 of chapter 5. For if while we were in Your underlyingness, we were enemies. We’re enemies because our sins separated us from God. So that’s why he says we have offended God. And God is going to take judgment or wrath upon those who have offended Him. So what He did is sent His Son into the world to take all of our offenses.

And our offenses is what nailed Him to the cross. In other words, all that list of things that we have done, God says that that was nailed to the cross. And Christ was there paying for our offenses. So instead of us taking the punishment and the judgment, his son died in our place under the wrath of God the Father. Now when he makes the statement here, he was delivered as a lamb for our fences, then he says and was raised again for our justification because he just Christ died on the cross didn’t save anybody.

It makes it possible for people to be saved. The good news is that a man can be justified by his faith. That’s good news, that’s gospel. That a man who is a wicked man can be justified just as if he’d never sinned by his faith alone. Raised again for our justification. That means that if you trusted in Jesus Christ who has not risen from the dead, your faith in him is in vain and he can’t save you or justify you from all those offenses that you have made against him.

Therefore your faith is in vain. You are not saved and you’re still yet in your sins and we’re of all men most miserable and we’re without hope. But because Christ came back again from the dead he’s a living Savior. How can he be a Savior if he’s dead? But he’s not dead. He is not here. Here He is what? Risen. He is alive. And so now Christ who is alive from the dead can save us. So we accept Him as our Savior and we’re justified.

Now remember this simple illustration. This is the Lord and He’s perfect, righteous and just. The Bible says that you and I have sinned. That means that we have come short of God’s perfection. Because we’ve all come short of God’s perfection. We are short of His glory. The glory refers to the perfection of God. So therefore you and I are in a heap of trouble. And God says, buy your good deed, your good works. You’ll never be justified. You’ll never be perfect by your good works.

The brain-forth perfect works, you’d have to be what? Perfect. A good man can only bring forth good works. A bad man can only bring forth bad works. God says we’re all bad. So how can you even be good? You can’t. There is none good. No, not what? One. So now by our works, we’ll never be justified. That’s why we needed a Savior. So Christ dies paper our sins. When we accept that payment that He made for us, His righteousness is put to our account.

And if God gave us His righteousness, that would make us as righteous as who? That’s God. Therefore we are equal. That’s why when Christ was here, it says it was not Robert for him to be equal with the Father. Because you see, he was equal. He was God. There was no fault, no flaws in the Son of God. So when Jesus Christ took upon him the sins of the world, he died in our place so that we could be raised up to be equal or justified with God.

That means when you trust that Christ is your Savior, God no longer sees any sin in you. You have been given a new birth, a new birth, new creation, born of God, no sinful nature. And if it cannot sin, then it cannot die. And that’s why once you trust Christ as your Savior, you are his child forever. Now look down here in verse six of chapter five, verse six of chapter five. In verse six, it says, for when we were yet without strength, that means you did not have the strength, the ability to live up to the standard that God has demanded.

So the law becomes a mirror that lets us see that we have sinned and come short of God’s perfection. So the law was given to point us to Christ. So then instead of trying to save ourselves by our works, we trust Christ as our Savior. So the law leads us to Christ. Then he says this in the last part of it, In due time, and you are on the line these little words, Christ died for who? The ungodly. Well, who’s the ungodly?

That’s everybody in the world. There’s only one that’s perfect, and that’s the Lord. So Christ died from all the sins of all the world. Now, verse seven is very interesting. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die if such was a righteous man, or by his so-called deeds he has achieved, and we looked upon as a righteous man. Yet for adventure for a good man, somewhat even dare to die. But God committed his love toward us in that while we were yet what?

St. Centers, not saints, sinners Christ died for us. A little illustration that I used about a week ago, two weeks ago. Simple illustration, but let’s just say for example, we take John Reynolds back here. John Reynolds is hanging over a cliff and John Reynolds is only hanging on by a little branch and it’s about ready to go. He knows he’s fixing the plunge to his death. You know, it’s about a thousand foot drop. Sure death. He has no hope.

I come by and I see John in his situation and I say John you’re you’re gonna die, aren’t you? He said it looks like way bud. I says you know if that thing breaks loose with you you know you’re mashed potatoes. He says yep. I said would you like to be saved? He said I sure would. I said I’ll make a deal. I got a lot of work that I I need to have done. See, I want to move this mountain over here, and I’m not going to live long enough to get all done by myself, but I’ll make you deal.

If I save you, would you promise to give me your life so that I can have you help move this dirt pile? And he says, you mean you want me to work the rest of my life helping you move a dirt pile? Yeah. I mean, as a token of your appreciation, I want you to promise that you’ll help me to do that. And John looks at me and he says, just let me fall, bud, just let me fall. I have no desire to be your little slave for the rest of my life.

I’d rather just die. All right. Now, what if I went by and I talked to Mr. Bray, Mr. Bray’s in the same position. And I say to Mr. Bray, I says, Mr. Bray, I says, you know, you’re gonna die. You need to be saved. He says, yes, I know that. And I says, I’ll make you deal. Would you serve me for the rest of your life and help me move his dirt pile? I mean, I just want you to do it from one until night for the rest of your life faithfully and do nothing else.

Only what I want you to do, be my little slave.” And he says, I sure will, I promise, I’ll do anything you want me to do. And I says, okay, and I save him. Now he gave his word and he promised and then he didn’t do one lick of work. He wouldn’t do it. And I say to him, you never really meant business. You lied to me, you didn’t keep your word. Now I could do that and he could do that, couldn’t he?

He could deceive me. Now another one is I come by and I see Milton Hayell. I say, look, you’re dying and you’re going to fall a bit at Cliff and you’re going to be mashed potatoes. If I save you, will you promise that you’ll help me move that dirt pile? And he says, yes, I will. And then you’ll work faithfully from the time that I get you up for the rest of your life. You owe me. Will you promise to do that?

Milton says, yes, I will. So I pull Milton up, save his life. and he goes to work and he works faithfully. More than until night, I mean, he is like clockwork and he does everything that he is supposed to do. And boy, I tell you, but inwardly he despises me for what I did to him, because he knew that I took advantage of him and he hates me for it, but he does the work, but he hates me and despises me.

He’s there and it’s just a drudgery, it’s just a job and he hates every minute of it, but he’s faithful because he gave his word. And then lo and behold, I come by and there’s Tim King. And I say to Tim King, I says, Tim, you’re going to die. I says, you got no hope. And I says, look, if I save you, will you promise to help me move that dirt pile? For the rest of your life, you’ll work helping move that dirt pile.

I says, after all, you’re going to die anyway, so your life is nothing. So if I save you, at least you’ve got to, you know, you’ve got a good reason to live. He says, all right, I’ll do it. And I bring him up and lo and behold, he does the work and enjoys it all the days of his life, just always singing with a smile on his face. He’s all happy and he works faithfully all the days of his life for me.

That would be very rare, wouldn’t it? Virtually impossible, wouldn’t it? Now you see there’s people who are saying this is what Christ does and thinking they’re making deals with the people on salvation. None of those is the gospel, not a one. All four of those is misleading. They’re wrong. It’s not that, you know, where you promise God that you’re going to live for the Lord if I save you. No. It’ll produce the same results that we’ve just mentioned. And that’s why you have some people say, no, just let me fall, or I’m not ready yet.

I’m not ready. Not ready to what? I’m not ready to promise that I’m going to live for Him yet. And so they’ll rather just reject. the Lord because of what they’ve been told. That’s false. That’s not to be taught. That’s not the gospel. That’s not good news. On none of these was good news. None of these was totally free. True? None of it was free because they had to promise what they would do if I delivered them. If they had to promise to me and make a commitment in any way about how they’re going to live their life once I I saved them, then they were not saved as a total free gift.

When it comes to salvation, by come by and I see John rental hanging over the edge, I still have that mount in the dirt to move. And I reached down here and I saved him, and he has made no promise of no commitment of anything and I set him free. If he appreciates what I’ve done and he wants to do anything for me, that’s his choice. I can beseech Him. I can even plead with Him. I may even beg Him, but it cannot be a stipulation on me saving Him.

Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. And then He says for us to stand fast in the freedom that He has given to you and I. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, it’s not less make a deal. He gives us salvation and then we have the freedom or the choice, after we’re saved, to either serve Him or not to serve Him. But all of our service to the Lord should not be in bitterness. It should not be because we are vindictive toward Him because now that I’m a Christian, a child of God, and I don’t have a choice if I don’t, he’s going to beat the tar on me anyway, and I resent every minute of it.

No, you’re not to live that away. The Bible says in the book of 1 Corinthians and chapter 5, because we thus judge that if he died for all, then we’re all dead, and that they which live should not hence forth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them and rose again. So I should serve the Lord because of what he’s done for me, but it cannot be a condition for my salvation. My salvation is free. It is a total gift.

He was raised from the dead so that he qualifies as a Savior. He can save me, give me eternal life, and I’m going to have a now look in verse 1 of chapter 5. Therefore, being what justified, justified, made righteous with God, made being made equal with the father so that the father finds no fault in his sons, not just his son Christ, but even in us. It’s like you never sinned. But that was given to you freely. It was his righteousness put to your account.

And then he says, therefore, being justified by what? By faith. That means you taking your confidence, your trust, and putting it in the payment that he made on the cross for you. And he saves you and gives you as a free gift eternal life. Look there in verse 15. But not as the offense. So also is the what free? What is it free gift? For it through the offense of one, many be dead much more the grace of God and the what’s the next word gift by what grace look there in verse 16 of chapter 4.

Therefore it is of faith that it might be by what? Grace. Grace is unmerited. The reason that God saves a man by grace is so that it can be offered freely to everybody. If he charged us, none of us could have it. Because then it takes it out of the realm of grace and it becomes works. And God says salvation is by grace through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the what gift of God not of works.

So you cannot be saved putting faith in Christ and in your good works. You have to totally trust Jesus Christ and Him alone as your only hope of salvation or you do not get salvation. That payment cannot be put to your account unless you’re fully persuaded and trusting Him that He will perform the act of salvation and saving you and given you eternal life. Now, looking for 16 of chapter 5, for not as it was by one that sent it so is the gift, and over and over again, the gift, the gift, the free gift, the free gift of grace, and a saved by faith, and it is not by works.

And we’ll close with this one verse, look again there in verse 5 of chapter 4. But to him that does what? Worketh not. but does what? Believe it. That’s how we know that believing on Christ is not a work. Why? Because the Bible says it’s not. Believing on Christ means trusting Him to save us. So He says, but to Him that work if not but believe it, on Him that justify it, the who, ungodly, His faith is counted for righteousness.

Let me show you a simple illustration. I know most of you’ve never seen this before, but Letting this hand represent you and me. The wallet represents sin. We all have sin upon us. Now God says he loves us. He hates our sin because you see our sin separates us from the Lord. And the wages of sin is death. And since everybody’s sinned, everybody’s condemned. Now to go to heaven, we have to be perfect as righteous as God. What none of us are perfect.

So we have to be justified, made to the place where we’ve never sinned. But we have to pay for these. And God says, you cannot earn your salvation and all your good works will never take away your sin. It won’t justify it. Now this is Jesus Christ, this hand represented the Lord. He came into the world because he loves us, hates our sin because it separates us from him. So Christ took the sin, paid for on the cross, came back from the dead.

Now how many of our sins did Christ pay for when he died? All of them. If he paid for all of our sins, how many sins do we have yet to be paid? None. So when you accept this payment that Christ’s made for you, you have a payment for how many of your sins? All of them. So that means from the time that you’re born till the time that you die, you have a payment for all of your sins, past, present and future.

Christ has already paid for the sins you have not yet committed. Because when he died on the cross 2000 years ago, how many of our sins were in the future? All of them. So that means that Christ has paid for all of your sins. So when you accept the payment he made, You have a payment for all of your sins. So whenever you believe that he did this for you, that he paid for your sins, he gives you as a free gift eternal life.

Now if it’s eternal life, how long would it last? Forever. If it lasts forever and all you send are paid, where will you go when you die? You go to heaven. So you go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did for you. He not only paid for your sins and was buried, that wouldn’t save you. because there’s no Savior unless He could come back from the dead for you to trust, for Him to give you eternal life. So He was raised for our justification to make us as righteous as God.

And so we go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did for us. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you are blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing tool free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. To listen to today’s message again or to obtain a free download of any of our Bibleline programs, just go to our homepage at BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the Radio broadcast link.

If you are in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 10-30 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcasts of our services may be seen by clicking on the Calvary Community Church link at BibleLineMinistries.org. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound, and we will be changed.

Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day. Believe in that the Lord is coming soon, and just keep looking up.