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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 Bibleignmenistries.org homepage. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s first part of this two-part message will be a blessing to you and your family.

I read something about ten years ago. You know, I’m always like to ask questions. There’s a verse in the Bible that says that be ready to give an answer to everyone that asks. You know that you can give a reason why you have the hope that you do. Why do you believe what you believe? But I also wrote this down now. We must answer the question right, but we must also also ask the right question. So it’s not only a matter of answering the question right, but talking to people you have to know what questions to ask, asking the right questions.

And I find out that sometimes asking the right question is excellent in opening a conversation. You know we usually always ask that one question, do you know where you’re going when you die? Isn’t that a question? Isn’t that a good question? And so asking the right questions can reveal an awful lot about a person and where they’re coming from. But take your Bible and turn to the book of Leviticus, way back there in the Old Testament. Leviticus in chapter four.

Now the Bible even tells us that when we sin, the soul that sineth shall die, We know that’s true, it’s in the Bible. And so here in Leviticus chapter 4, he says in verse 1, and the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, say, And if a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done and shall do against any of them, then goes down down to, and he says, a few things in here that’s important to see.

But look there in verse 13. And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance and the thing be hid from his eyes, and it was, they didn’t know about it. Sometimes is it possible for a person to sin? Ignorantly. Oh, in other words, he sins, but he doesn’t know he did it. Do you really believe that you are as holy as you think you are in your daily walk with the Lord? Well, I’m not as bad as so-and-so.

Well, I didn’t rob any banks lately. You know, the Bible even says to him that, knoweth to do good and doeth that not to him, it is a mistake. It’s still sin, right? if you don’t know you did it. And if you know you’re supposed to do something and you didn’t do what was right even. It’s a sin. Not doing all the things that are right. I guess when you get right down to it, we’re a pretty bad lot.

And we really can’t run and hide. But the Bible does talk about this. And the reason this is so important is because of some things that are mentioned by people who who believe they must persevere in the faith. So just look there quickly there in chapter five, look in chapter five, the question again, if in verse one, chapter five verse one, if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it, if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.

Hmm, that sounds pretty tight. Look down in verse five, and it shall be, When he shall be guilty in one of these things that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing. So that’s 1 John 1 9, which is naming what it is and admitting to the Lord the problem. Look, they’re also in verse 15 of Leviticus chapter 7. If they so commit a trespass and sin through ignorance. He still did it. And so he’s still supposed to bring an offering for even sins that were done, but you didn’t know you even did it.

And so you have all kinds of sins, presumptuous sins, hidden sins, secret sins, and sins that you do deliberately. There’s all kinds of sins. We’re really a bunch of sinners. We probably do a lot more sinning than we think. It’s just that we’re ignorant of them or don’t consider that to be that bad. verse 17. Verse 17 says, and if a soul sin and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord, though he wished not, he didn’t know it, yet he is what?

I guess this is where they say ignorance of the law is what? Now is it was this important? Well whenever somebody says you have to turn from your sins. You think there might be a problem with this. If you just understand what we just said and then you tell a lost man he has to turn from his sin, we got a problem. So look at some of the questions that we have here and I like getting ideas and so forth from different sources but I love to re-edit and add in a lot of questions that I have on my own that I like to put in.

But if you must persevere in the faith, how do you know when or if you are saved? Isn’t that a good question? It was over at the homeschool convention. I kind of walked around a few boats and there happened to be somebody from RC Sprawl. And they had one of their fellows there. And so I asked them that question. if you must persevere in the faith. How do you know when or if you are saved?” And he said, well, I don’t think this is the place to discuss this.

What about the next place to discuss it? If you know the answer, I mean, if this is what you’re basing your salvation on, Shouldn’t you at least have an answer? Doesn’t it bother you at all? If you must, how do you know you have or are or will persevere in the faith? So when do you know you’re really saved? Did that a good question? Exactly. When do you know you’re really saved? At what point? Or do you know you’re really saved?

Or must you look and see whether or not are you persevered in the faith? What if you have a down day? Oh, doesn’t that throw a cog in the wheel? So number one, how do you know when you’ve really believed? Since your idea of genuine faith must be proved by works, how do you know your faith qualifies as the real thing? Since you can’t always do more. Don’t we always believe, well, I could have done better. Well, I could have done better.

Well, whenever you have to persevere in the faith, do you have to do your best or pretty good or just good or not so bad? I mean, what is the level? If well, I can always do better than all those things that you have done doesn’t count if you can do better. I mean, at what point can you say now, that proves I’ve got genuine faith. And then if they don’t continue in the faith, They must question and doubt their own salvation.

But look at the next statement. What is it that really saves you anyway? Your faith or Jesus who is the object of your faith? Because some believe that they’re saved as long as they have faith. But when I longer have faith, then I’m no longer saved. Can you believe there’s people that like that? So they’re not really trusting Christ, they’re trusting their faith. And it’s their faith they’re trusting in, instead of the person which is the object of their faith.

Let us see, how can your faith be validated when your feelings and experiences are always fluctuating? Think about it for a moment. Isn’t it true that we fluctuate a lot? We have good days, bad days. We feel good. We feel bad. Well, if you’re basing your salvation upon how you feel… Okay, if you have different moments of how you feel, are you saved lost, saved lost, saved lost, saved lost? Well, which one do you use to determine you are and which ones do you determine?

Well, I’m not, based on how you feel at the moment. Well, I feel like I’m doing pretty good. Well, I’m not doing so good. And then you stop and think, okay, what about all these verses that talks about the sins you commit that you’re ignorant of? If you must turn from your sins and all of your sins, would that include those sins that you don’t know about? But what if you have committed a lot of sin? You didn’t think it was a sin and you didn’t confess that.

Do you see a problem? I think there might be a little problem there. Look at the next statement. next statement. If Christ is the object of your faith, shouldn’t you validate your faith only by whether it rests in Him? Should it be that you know that you’re saved because you’re trusting only in Christ? You believe that He is necessary, but do you believe He is enough? If He is enough, why can’t I know that I’m saved because of what He said?

Why do I have to add something to what I believe like my works that fluctuates, so where’s my security going to come from? Is my security coming from what the Lord did for me or what I do for the Lord? So if it depends upon me, that’s works for salvation. Did you know that some people who cannot see that? They just can’t see it. Number two, how do you know when you you’re thoroughly repented since you have or are not conscious of every sin?

What if some sins are overlooked and not repented of? Are you still saved? If you have to turn from your sins and how many of your sins? How thoroughly do you have to do this completely or just a little bit, you’re trusting in something that’s nothing but sand. It shifts, that moves. It’s no stability. It causes a lot of questions. Look at the next statement. At what point do you think you’ve adequately repented when your attitude changes about your sin, when you resolve to change your conduct, when your conduct actually changes when you make restitution or ask for forgiveness, when you are sure there will be no repetition of the sin, how do you know when you have really turned from your sins, when you decided to or when you actually did it?

So you have to wait until you’ve actually turned from all of your sins in order to be saved because I’ve got a turn from my sins. You see the problem that people have You know, I’ve had people say, well, you know, just believing is too easy. You’ve got to do more than just believe. But I believe that’s all you have to do because that’s all that Jesus said you had to do. I do want you to see this verse.

Look there in the book of Luke chapter 3, the Gospel of Luke in chapter 3. Luke chapter 3, and look in verse 7 first of all, you know that John the Baptist is preaching the baptism of repentance, that if you believed in Jesus then you were baptized in water. Water didn’t save you, didn’t wash away sins, but it just showed you believe what he said about Jesus, that he is the one. And And He is the one that will going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

But He says here in verse 7, then said, He to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of Him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come. Brain forth therefore of fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our Father, for I say unto you that Abraham, or that God is able to with these stones, raise up children unto Abraham. Now, if a person trusts Christ’s Savior and he’s got genuine faith, why does the Scripture have to tell somebody to bring forth fruit, meet for repentance if it’s automatic?

Something that’s automatic ought to be automatic. Shouldn’t have to tell somebody how to live if it’s automatic, if it’s guaranteed. Well, if you’re really saved, you will. Well, good. That means you don’t have to tell anybody how they have to live or what they should bring forth. Shouldn’t that be automatic? But they can’t see this. They cannot see it. Look of how many scriptures it tells a Christian what to do, what not to do, how to think. All these things, how to walk.

Well, if it’s all true, what they’re saying, that is the perseverance of the saints, you will do all of those things. If you’re really saved, you’ll do all of those things because then it’ll all be automatic. If you’re genuine, but evidently it must not be true. It is not true that you have to persevere in the face to be saved or to prove that you’re saved. I do believe that it’s a good thing for children of God to maintain good works, but it’s called as good and profitable unto people, to the ones you reach and to yourself.

But you don’t have to. That’s the thing. Must I? There’s certain things in the Bible that says, You must be born again, but it doesn’t say you must live a good Christian life. Now in Titus chapter two, it says, the grace that bring of salvation that have to appeared unto all men, teaching us that we should live godly and so forth. Now we should, but you don’t have to. You might not, but how we should live doesn’t mean I must live.

I must persevere and say, no, I don’t. It would be great if we all did. I don’t have to turn from sin, but it is the will of God that God’s children depart from iniquity. But that’s not to be saved. That’s not even to stay saved. And it doesn’t even have to prove that you’re saved, but it is something that we should do as God’s children. But that’s because I love Him for what He’s done for me. Now, look at the next statement.

Number three, how do you know when you completely committed to the Lordship of Christ? You must make Christ the Lord and the Master of your life. All right, question. How much commitment is enough to secure your salvation? I mean, a little commitment? How dedicated do I have to be? I mean, totally dedicated. Well, you’ve got to go to church. You’ve got to read your Bible. And you have to pray and you have to give money and you have to, well, wait a minute now, what if you go to the wrong church?

What if you didn’t give enough money? What if you didn’t pray enough? So is it possible that you could do all of those things but you did it wrong? Is it possible to pray and consume it upon your own lust? We just talked about that recently. So that won’t count, you just fell that one. And you got to give, okay, well, how much you got to give? Well, a quarter. You know, well, whatever. Well, what if you don’t give the exact, or right amount that God wants you to?

Whatever that might be. Well, you could fail that. So where’s your security coming from? Well, if you really saved, you will. Yeah, but what if, oh, I just missed three Sundays in a row. Now you got to start all over again. Well, I didn’t pray last night. So then I lose my salvation last night. I gotta get saved again. Or that means I never was really saved. Would you like to live your whole Christian life under that kind of confusion?

Or would you like to just say, Lord, I believe that when you died, you died and paid for all of my sins and I accept what you did completely. I trust you and you alone as my only hope of going to heaven and I accept that free gift of eternal life. Now I’m going to heaven. Wasn’t that easy? No more problem. I never have to worry about it again. Can’t go to hell don’t have to prove anything to anybody All I had to do is believe it Now when you really understand that that’s the greatest news in the world But what about all the people that go to churches and I’m talking about there’s a multitude of churches That don’t get this right Look at the next statement is the willingness to commit enough or Or must you actually commit everything?

Well, I’m willing. Okay, so I’ve heard some people just say, well, are you willing to be made willing? I’m not willing, but I’m willing to be made willing. That sounds a little bit more spiritual. Delayed obedience is what? Disobedience. So that means that if you want to be saved today, you have to start off today as a mature Christian. You have to go from zero to a hundred in a split second. No time in between because between now and the time you get up there you have eliminated the growth process in a Christian’s life because he must do all these things.

He got to stop this, start this immediately. It can’t be progressive. Not if you stay true to what you’re teaching. It’s impossible. There’s is totally impossible for any man to do. The next statement, how would you know what everything involved, especially as an unbeliever? Okay, here’s an unbeliever. He wants to get saved. All you gotta do is be willing to obey the Bible. Okay, should he learn the Bible first so that he’ll know that he’s doing everything the Bible demands.

Otherwise, how do you know what you’re doing? You don’t know what God wants. You don’t know what God doesn’t want. How many years have you been saved? Do you know enough at this point in your life you can say, I know everything God requires me to do, and everything He requires me not to do? I’ve been saved 55 years, and I still don’t. I’d have to know totally the whole Word of God to be sure that I’m doing everything I’m supposed to be doing and all the things I’m not supposed to be doing.

I am still in the learning process. You may have already arrived, but I’m still progressing and learning. But what if I had to start off my Christian life knowing it all so I can do it all? So you know they’re requiring a person to do something they haven’t done themselves. And guys like our C Sproul and MacArthur, they don’t live according to what they teach. And they cannot know for sure if they are really the elect. How would you know you are truly an elect?

And you really have genuine faith. How do you know? They don’t. Next question. at what point do you know your saved? You know I can go back to the very day, very hour, and I know when I was saved. Now some people may not remember if they were too young and stuff like it there, but you know there had to be a time when you believed it. You may not know exactly when, but you know there was a time.

You know that now you are. You know I am saved. I know that I’m going to heaven when I die. But see, they can’t say that. I asked the man this. I said, tell me the truth. If I was to have you speak in my pulpit, I told him who I was. If I was to have you come and speak in my pulpit, could you tell all the people there that God loves each and every one of you the same?

He says, I could teach him that God loves the whole world. And I says, do you mean by that every individual? He says the elect. And he could not say that God loved everybody. But you know you can take a five year old kid and have them read John 3 16 and they would come to the conclusion that that verse says that God so loved the world and they would not question whether or not God loved them or not.

True? But you got theologians. They are so deep and they can go down so long and come up so dry and can’t understand John 3 16. They’ve got to change almost every valuable word in the whole verse. But a little five, six year old kid can read that verse and believe it. Now that tells you something or it should. Look at number four at the bottom of the page. How can you expect an unbeliever to reflect spiritual maturity and an understanding of God’s will in order to make such an important decision if someone is going to have to totally change their life in order to be saved?

Shouldn’t they know what they’re getting into first? I mean shouldn’t they know this is what you got to do. You got to turn from all of your sins and tell them which ones they are. And you got to make Christ the Lord and the Master of your life. What do you mean by that? Tell me exactly what I mean. Because if I’m going to do this, I want to know everything that’s required of me. Do they really do that for them?

Or just leave it hanging? Because see, they don’t even understand it. They can’t even answer the question. I’ll bet you R.C. and John MacArthur who both teach the same thing to get in the same room and not agree on what they mean by what they’re saying. You think it upsets me just a tad? Oh, just a tad. Question. If an unbeliever is dead in sin, how can he know and desire what God wants him to do? So what they believe is God gives them the faithARGET to believe.

I believe everybody already has faith in one way or the other. It’s simply the ability to trust. We already have the ability to trust. depend on people, we can depend on things. A lost man can come in here and sit down in that view and depend upon that pew to hold him up. That’s faith. When we talk about putting your faith in Christ, it’s because you already have faith, you just don’t have faith in Him. So if we explain the gospel to people and they heard what Christ did, all they got to do is put their faith in that and trust what was said.

What Christ did. So you see, are They’re not their people that believe in Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius, Confusion. Isn’t there people who believe in all this? Well listen, where did they get God give them the faith to then? See, everybody has faith. They can put their faith in wherever they want. But faith is not the gift. Salvation is the gift of God. It’s not of works lest any man should boast. And they cannot even understand Ephesians 2, 8, and 9.

question down to the bottom of the page, isn’t knowing and obeying God’s will the essence of the Christian life after when it’s saved? When you say that after a man is saved and now he is a Christian, isn’t this why we work with people and try to help people to see? Now that you are saved and you are going to heaven, that’s not an issue anymore. Now we talk to people because you’re a child of God, you need to make some wise decisions for your life.

And so you can make good decisions, bad decisions, but there’s content to your decisions. So we use the scriptures as the scriptures for them to be used. To help a person to see why they should serve God and to chase in hand of God if they don’t. And so what God’s going to bestow upon us if we honor Him and if we dishonor Him. But salvation, getting to heaven, was free. As a child of God, God wants me to serve Him and love Him with all my heart.

So we do it because of a motive, because we’re thankful for what He has done. You see, they got to do it to try to get God to save them, because if they don’t do it, God won’t save them. God cannot save them unless they turn from their sand, and God cannot save them, unless they commit their life to serving them. So God can’t save them if they don’t perform, and that works any way you cut it. Can’t do it no other way.

Are you a new listener to Bibleline? Do you enjoy the teachings of Dr. Arnold? Well, if you’ve never contacted us before, we want to give you Dr. Arnold’s book, The Gospel Driven Man. Every day we receive many emails from folks who have questions about repentance and salvation, about faith in works, and about how to share the gospel with friends and loved ones. This book, The Gospel Driven Man, covers all those topics, and we want all new listeners of Bibleline to receive a free copy.

There’s no obligation, no donation necessary, simply call us at 1-800-576-3771 or write to us and request your free copy of the Gospel Driven Mail. The mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Again, don’t forget to include your mailing address. And God bless you and thank you for listening to Bibleline. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline. If you are in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4081 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634.

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, just keep looking up.