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Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word on Bibleline, 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 BibleLineMinistries.org 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.

You hear people talk about sometimes, we need to have a relationship with the Lord. And I believe you ought to have a relationship with the Lord. But I believe there’s something that’s even better explained in the scriptures than that. Because having a relationship with God just, it means too many things to, to many different people. And sometimes I believe it’s a cop out for obedience to do what God wants you to do. You just want to sit around and tell about how much you love Jesus.

That’s good. But if you don’t do anything for him, I doubt your love. I question it. But anyway, today I just wanted to share a few things with you because it has to deal with who he is and who I am, what he has and what I have. So take your Bible and turn to the Gospel of John and chapter 1, the Gospel of John and chapter 1. The scriptures tell us very easily who Jesus is. In John chapter 1, if you’ll notice there in verse 1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God. So Jesus Christ is the Word, and Jesus Christ is God, and Jesus Christ was in the beginning with God. I don’t think you can take it back any further than that. He’s always been. Jesus is God. Then you look there in verse 14 where he makes a statement, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. Now who is it that was born of a virgin and dwelt in the flesh and dwelt among us was Jesus.

word, God, took upon flesh and tabernacled among us and says that He is full of truth and glory and honor and everything that God is. But you’ll notice there in verse 3, he says, all things were made by Him without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and that’s eternal life. He is eternal life. Take your Bible and turn all the way over there to the book of 1 John in chapter 5, 1 John and chapter 5 and look there in verse 20.

Verse 20 says, and we know that the Son of God is come and and hath given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true. Even in His Son Jesus Christ, this is the true God and eternal life. It can’t get any clearer than that. Jesus Christ is eternal life, not just has eternal life, is eternal life. And He is the true God. And this is why it’s so important for us to realize that if you reject Jesus Christ, you reject eternal life.

And if you want eternal life, you must accept Jesus Christ. So you look up there in verse 11, and this is the record that God has given of His Son. God has given to us eternal life. And this life is where in his son. So when he gave you eternal life, he gave you himself. You are in him and he says, I’ll never leave you and never forsake you. And if you’ll never leave me and never forsake me, how long will I have eternal life?

Sounds like it’d be a long time, huh? I believe it’s forever. Then he says in verse 12, he that hath the son, hath life. He that hath not the son of God, hath not life. I’ve written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. So when we trust Christ as our Savior, we get something. We get Him. We get the Lord Jesus Christ living inside of us.

We have eternal life. Now take your Bible and look in the book of Romans in chapter 6. Romans chapter 6. It’s a very familiar verse, but understanding that He says that He that believeth on me had everlasting life. So in verse 23 he says, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now whether or not you can separate eternal life from Christ I don’t know. Sometimes it seems like it’s something that’s separate and then it says it’s it’s him.

I don’t care how he does it. I just know that if I want eternal life, I got to go through him to get it. And no man goeth unto the Father except through the Son. Now in chapter 5 and verse 15, it talks about this free gift and the gift by grace. It is the gift and you keep reading it here. and it talks about the gift of righteousness in verse 17 and also there in verse 21 that as sin hath rained unto death even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life.

So eternal life is what Christ is, is what he has, is what he gives and he indwells us so we know we have eternal life for all eternity. Look in 1 John in chapter 2, 1 John and chapter 2. Now in 1 John chapter 2 we know that the book of 1 John is talking about our fellowship between us and the Lord. And our fellowship with the Lord depend upon our walk with the Lord. And if you don’t walk with the Lord you don’t have fellowship with the Lord.

Now I know it’s very easy for people to assume that, you know, our sin breaks our fellowship. Well, how many sins? Well, they don’t know. Can you have fellowship with God when you don’t have a perfect walk? If you have to have a perfect walk to have fellowship with God, who has it? So it’s amazing that God has put it in His word that our walk with him is not always a perfect walk. And sometimes we stumble, sometimes we walk in the flesh.

And in one moment you can be thinking about the Lord in the very next moment, you could be thinking something you’re not supposed to be thinking about. And so you have two natures in, as you study the book of 1 John, you can see that. It teaches it very clearly. But here in book of John, 1 John in chapter 2, look at verse 1. So he’s talking to his little children. My little children, these things right eye unto you that you sin not or that you walk in the flesh, that you don’t walk after the sinful nature.

But we do. But when we do, we fail. And there’s a verse that’s in the book of 1 John that throws quite a few people a curve because it makes statement there in verse 15 of chapter 3. In verse 15 it says, whosoever hated his brother is a murder. And you know that no murder hath eternal life abiding in him. And so as we walk our Christian walk, is it possible for us as believers to hate? And sometime we do hateful things.

We say hateful things. And we just literally hate some people because of what they do. But it says a murder have no eternal life abiding in him. And hatred is a form of murder. And you know that a murder have no eternal life. Oh, what does this mean? We see there’s the first birth, the flesh, has a sinful nature. The new birth doesn’t have a sinful nature. So as you live your life, sometimes you walk in the spirit, Sometimes you walk after the flesh.

And so eternal life doesn’t abide in the first birth, it abides in the second birth. And so when you’re walking in the flesh and you hate, that’s to let you know you’re not walking in the spirit. Because that’s hatred, that’s the sign of the flesh, and so you’re walking after the flesh. So therefore you can discern which one you’re walking so that you’re not deceived. because your fellowship with the Lord depends upon your discernment about where are you? Where are you in your Christian life?

And so the flesh doesn’t have eternal life abiding it. The spiritual birth has eternal life. Christ lives in the new birth not in the old sinful birth. So it’ll help you sometimes to understand it. But look what else he says there in verse 1 of chapter 2. If any man sin and you do, We have an advocate, you know, a lawyer like a parameche, never lost a case. With the Father, and underline this in your Bible, Jesus Christ, the righteous.

Jesus Christ, the righteous. Because Jesus is not only God, he’s righteous. He was righteous when he was born, he was righteous when he lived, he’s righteous. Now, and it means he does not make mistakes. He can’t do any wrong. He can’t do you wrong. And he lives within us so he can never lead you or guide you. And now we know the Holy Spirit indwells us. Contrary to the will of God, contrary to the word of God. So the Holy Spirit is righteous.

That’s why it’s called the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is righteous. Means he has no sinful nature. He does not walk in sin. He does not live in sin. He cannot misguide you. He is the Lord. Take your Bible looking 2nd Corinthians in chapter 5. 2nd Corinthians and chapter 5. First time I really heard this verse explain was with Dr. A. Ray Stanford. He would have a few key verses that he really honed in on and it would be Philippians 3 9 and 2nd Corinthians 5 21.

His favorite verses was Ephesians 2, 8, and 9. So I kind of like those same verses. They are awesome verses. 2 Corinthians 5 and look there in verse 21, for he hath made him to be sinned for us. Now think about it. God made him sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God. Now we did not attain unto righteousness by any works that we have done, but we have obtained righteousness. We have been declared righteous, not by any good deeds, but because of what Christ did on the cross for us.

He became sin for us that we could become righteous. Look there in 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians, and chapter 1, and notice this verse. So this is what you and I have in Christ. After we trusted Christ as our Savior, yes, we know we’re supposed to walk with the Lord and serve the Lord. And God has given us an understanding about how He chooses. He says He has not chosen the most brilliant, most talented. God can use anybody, but God does not want flesh to get glory.

doesn’t want people to take credit for what he does. But look what he says. He says in verse 29 that no flesh should glory in his presence. Now I love this because he Ephesians 2 8 9 talks about salvation for by grace are you saved through faith that not of yourself it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast. It means that God doesn’t want any man to get credit or glory or be able to boast about saving himself because he didn’t do it.

When it comes to being used by God, God wants us to give him the glory so that no flesh glories in his present. So God can use his children and God can use your talent and abilities, but make sure that whatever you do, or you think that you’ve accomplished, you just give the credit to the Lord because if it wasn’t for the Lord, you wouldn’t be giving anything, doing anything. We know it all to the Lord, and we should be living that away.

So Ephesians 2, 8, and 9 is for our salvation that man cannot glory. And here in verse 29 of chapter 1 of 1 Corinthians, it’s about our Christian life. Did you know that God still wants you in your Christian life not to take the credit for something God did? Now God uses us and He wants us to make the white house. wants us to make the wise decision. So we do get rewarded for what we have done, but make sure that you always stay humble in the sense of your dependency upon Christ.

Because there isn’t anything that we should do for the Lord without dependent upon the Lord to get it done. Look what he says in verse 30, of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, of Him, who of God is made unto us wisdom. In other words, He is my wisdom and He is my righteousness. He is my sanctification and redemption. So He’s all of those things so that I have to give Him credit for all of these things that I have.

He says in the book of James in chapter 3 that pure wisdom coming from above and is not sensual, it’s not of the earth, it’s not of the world. So there’s the wisdom of God and there’s the wisdom of man, there’s a lot of smart people in this world, bunch of wise guys, smart Alex. I’m glad there’s nobody like that here. But then there’s people who have the wisdom of God, they know what God says and wisdom is acting upon what you know.

Just to accumulate knowledge does not make you wise. Just because you read the Bible doesn’t make you wise. Just because you go to church doesn’t make you wise. It’s what are you doing with the knowledge that you’ve heard? How do you guard your tongue, your attitude, your temper? How do you guard the things you do and where you go and all the… Then the application reveals your wisdom. And if you don’t have the application, you apply it in your life, people have every right to question your wisdom.

So he says in verse 31, that according as it is written, he that glorious or brags or boast let him glory in the Lord. Now there’s several places throughout the book of Corinthians where Paul says, let me boast a little bit. not because I want to, but because I have to do this in order to explain some things to you so that you can see and discern what I’m talking about. So he talks about a little bit of glory and boasting, not because that’s what he wants.

And he says, God is my witness. But there were people who didn’t think that Paul was truly an apostle. They questioned it. And so he told them a few things to kind of wise them up a little bit. But not everybody always gets the right picture. So anyway, John chapter 10, go on your Bible to John chapter 10, the Gospel of John and chapter 10. John chapter 10, and look in verse 36, verse 36. You see, they didn’t believe that Jesus was who he claimed to be.

They didn’t believe that he was really the Son of God. And being the Son of God, he came and was born as a man so that he could be the Christ, the one that suffered, the one that dies to pay for sin. So he says in verse 36, say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world thou blasphemeeth? Because I said I am the Son of God. You think I’m blaspheming because I said I’m the Son of God?

He was. he’s not blasphemed to claim something that he is. He says, before Abraham was, I am. And they say, you’re not even 50 years old yet. What are you trying to say? You’re trying to pull on us. But that’s who he was. And he says that God has sanctified him, set him apart. This is the Lamb of God. This is the one that was to come. So in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse Well, look at that verse. First Corinthians in chapter one, it’s always good to go back and forth in the Bible.

Helps you memory a lot. We know that we’re called saints of the Lord, but look at it in chapter one and look in verse two. Onto the church of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus. You’d be surprised how that, now that you know the Lord, so much of who you are and what you are is like Christ is. Because you see… We are now made in his image. The new birth is in the image of Christ.

But he says here to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called saints. Well, all that in every place called upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours. So that’s who you are. God sanctified his son. You have been sanctified in Christ. So therefore you have been made pure. and holy, set apart. You belong now to the Lord. Now, we know that the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is called the Son of God. But doesn’t the Bible also declare that we are now the sons of God?

As many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, the children of God. By faith in Christ and what Christ did on the cross for you, and you would believe that he did it for you God saves you and declares that you’re my child. Look there in 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. This is a very beautiful verse. Here in 1 John chapter 3 and look in verse 1, he says, Behold what manner of love, what manner of love, the Father hath bestowed upon us.

Did you know that Christ coming into the world God sending his son to do this for us? Him dying on the cross paying for our sins to give us eternal life is what’s meant by the manner of love. Look how he loved us. Look how much he loved us. Look at the way in which he loved us. Look how he manifested or showed his love for us. That’s awesome when you think about it. So he says that the Father hath bestowed upon us.

So not going to, but already has. The day you trusted Christ is your Savior. That was God bestowing his love upon you. When it says you are a Beloved it means you have allowed God to love you you have accepted his love God has showered you with his love forgiven you of all sin put in that payment Christ made to your account and Giving you his righteousness Not because of anything we’ve done But only because he loved us and he loves us that much what manner of love that he hath bestowed upon us and then said that we should be called.

Now, look at it says, the children of God, the sons of God. Therefore the world know of us not because it knew him not. Because see, it’s a spiritual birth and the world doesn’t have a spiritual birth. They can’t see and discern. So they’re not going to see and understand why you and I do what we do. But look at it says in verse 2, be levered, now are we the sons of God. And it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

Now the book of 1 John tells us an awful lot about this old sinful nature that we have. And that our sinful nature is the manifestation of the devil. The new birth is the manifestation of the Spirit of God. One day we And we won’t have that old sinful nature, and all we’ll do is manifest the image of God in perfection. Can’t wait till then. But that day is coming, and we shall see Him as He is. Look here in Romans in chapter 6.

Romans chapter 6, Romans chapter 6 and verse 10 makes an interesting statement because we know that Christ came and he took our sins he died and came back again from the dead. But I want you to see this here because I think it’s so important. Just look there in verse 5 first of all, for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing that that old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth from now on we should not serve sin.

So this is where you and I are now. For the rest of our natural life in this world, in this oh sinful body, God gave to us a new nature, a a new birth so that we wouldn’t have to serve sin. So that we could walk in newness of life. Aren’t you glad that you don’t have to wait until you get there, heaven, to start serving God? To start walking with God, to start studying about God? You can do it now.

And then nobody can stop how close you want to be to God. However close you want to get to God, nobody can stop you. Isn’t that good to know? But then he says it. Now, if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieeth no more. He rose from the dead, he will never die again. It means that he’ll never have to pay for one more sin.

This is why Christ had to die for all the sin of all the world at one time. If I could lose my salvation today because of some unpaid sin, in other words, he paid for them up to the time I believe in now. I got to live right. He can’t forgive me of future sins if he hadn’t already paid for them. So when I accept as my payment for my sin, it’s a payment for all of them. I’m not trusting him and accepting him as a payment for my sins that I’ve already committed up to the time I believe.

I’m accepting a payment that he made for all of my sins once and for all from the beginning of my life to the end of my life All of them Because he’s never going to come back and make another payment He’s not going to die again And so there’s four he says death half no more dominion Over him What it means is he is never going to be condemned again because he’s never going to bear sins upon him again.

Do you know there’s a verse in the Bible that actually says that there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ? John chapter 5 verse 24 he that here if my word believe it on him that sent me half everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but his past and death and the life. And in Romans chapter 8 verse 1 it talks about and there’s no condemnation to those that are in Christ, there’s no condemnation, can’t be condemned.

Because if I could be condemned, there could be no more Savior because Christ isn’t going to die again to pay for any more sins. He did it once, for all, that He may sanctify those that believe. And He has perfected everyone who has believed on Him. You’ve been made pure and holy. Now He has been blessed by his Father Jesus has and you and I when we trust Christ as our Savior the Bible says we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings and the heavenlies so he’s been blessed and so have I been blessed and he has access to the Father that’s what it says John 14 6 no man comes to the Father set through me so That means he has access to the Father.

Well, I also have access unto the Father, and that’s what God has done for me. See, if he’s chapter two verse 18 talks about, I have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, and that we have this access to the Father. We can go straight to our heavenly Father and talk to him about anything that we want to talk to him about. See, these are some things that we have because we are in Christ. 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 by the line and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll 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. broadcast 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.

Believing that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up.