Bibleline Radio Show – 2017-04-04 – Asking The Right Questions Pt.2
Transcription:
This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.
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. and 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 concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family.
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, I 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.
guys like R.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 say? 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, 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 ask the man this. I just 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. he could not say that God loved everybody. But you know youBaltimore can take a 5 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?
you, but you got the Elogians. They are so deep and they can go down so long, 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. Sproul 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 faith to believe you.
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. We can depend on people. We can depend on things. A lost man can come in here and sit down and act few 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 not their people that believe in Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius, Confucius. 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. Next question down to the bottom of the page.
Isn’t knowing and obeying God’s will the essence of the Christian life after one is 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 consequences to your decisions.
So we used the scriptures as the scriptures meant for them to be used to help a person to see why they should serve God and to chase in the hand of God as 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. That was a gift. 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.
Number five, have you remained completely committed to Christ’s lordship? Since you have been saved, has he been the Lord and the Master of your life from day one? It would be great if it’s the truth. And if he has, did you know you can still fall tomorrow? And I believe it’s good to have Christ as the Lord and the Master of my life. Now I don’t make him the Lord. I don’t make him the Master. He already is that.
I don’t make him a Savior. He is the Savior. Now, He may not be my Savior unless I trust Him. And He cannot be the Lord and the Master of my life unless I decide to serve Him and obey Him. Then He’s my Lord and Master. But you see, He is who He is. That’s His title. That’s who He is. Behold, He’s born unto you this day in the city of David, a Savior. That’s who He was. The Savior of the world, John chapter 4.
That’s who He was. But everybody wasn’t saved. He’s the Savior of the world, but not everybody in the world saved. He is the Lord, and one day everybody is going to recognize that and never needs going to bow and confess. He is the Lord to the glory of God the Father, but it won’t save them just because they recognize it. On the top of the page, if you haven’t, isn’t that an indication that you were never only committed? Wouldn’t that mean that you were never really saved?
Is it an admission to the reality and the power of sin, a reality that would make it impossible for anyone to make the full commitment, demanding that by your views of salvation? The old sinful nature you have lies to you, deceives you, and you’re probably not as dedicated to the Lord as we’d like to believe. There’s probably errors in our life we still struggle with. So what about those that are lost in trying to save themselves by their commitment to Christ?
Should a child of God commit his life to serve in the Lord? Yeah, I don’t have no problem with that. Every year at camp we try to get all those kids after they trust the Christ of Savior to dedicate their lives to the Lord. But nobody dedicates their lives to serve the Lord in order to be saved. That’s works for salvation. That is not what we do. Number six, which sin disqualifies a person as a true believer? In other words, if I say I am committed, I am having him the Lord of my life and I turn from my sins, what sin is it a particular sin that can cause me to have the evidence that I’m not really saying?
What sin is that where I will know that if I do that sin, I’m not genuine. Would they all agree to it been the same sin? And if it’s not just one sin, is it two sins? Is it a repetitious of the same sins? Or can I commit a lot of sins as long as it’s the different ones? But I could get totally confused in all of this. And they are confused. Number two there, what about King David’s sin of murder and adultery?
Was David saved or lost? Did David commit adultery? Did he commit murder? Yes, he did. Now, was he saved or lost? Oh, he was saved before he did it, but after he did it, he lost his salvation and got saved again. You cannot find in the Bible one story where a man was saved and got lost. Over a man was saved, got lost and got saved again. It’s not there. Surely if a man could lose his salvation, There ought to be a version of the Bible that says so.
But all these people are doing is teaching confusion. Do you know what they’re teaching is a lie? It is a lie because it slaps the Lord Jesus’ Christ in the face. It annulls what he said and annulls what he did and putting their confidence in their works for salvation. Look at the next statement. Number six, let her see. How much sin is a Christian capable of committing? Because if you’re gonna quit it all, how much am I capable of committing?
Well, I cut down a little bit. Well, I mean, I really improved. Well, at what point would I say, okay, I quit enough. And I finally made it. Look at the next statement. Since you do agree that a Christian does steal sin, how much is too much? Before you deny he or she is truly a Christian. How does the Bible instruct church discipline for Christians who sin or why? Does the Bible have anything to say about church discipline about how to deal with Christians who do wrong?
Wasn’t there a believer in chapter 5 of 1 Corinthians who as far as we know was sleeping with his mother, or maybe he was a stepmother? And the Bible says that pray for one that his spirits could still be saved, but God may take his flesh. Now why would we do that to our lost man? the Bible says that they were puffed up because of it instead of being ashamed of what was going on.
Doesn’t the Bible even say in Corinthians in chapter 8 something about, no, you’re not that your body is the temple of God, which you have of God and you’re not your own. You’ve been bought with a price therefore glorified God in your body in your spirit, which are God, and talking about the believer joining himself to a harlot. Well, if you’re really saved you’re not going to do that. Duh. Why do we have all these warnings about walking in the flesh if you can’t walk in the flesh?
Have you ever read the list of the flesh? And it’s got it all in there. Every sin you can think of, a Christian is capable of doing it. Well, wait a minute. He says, walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Okay, what if I don’t walk in the spirit, then you’re going to fulfill the lust of the flesh? Well, it’s supposed to be perseverance. I’m supposed to be able to persevere. It’s automatic.
But evidently, it’s not automatic. and a Christian does not always persevere in the faith. We fail and fail miserably sometimes. And that’s why he says in chapter 6 of the book of Galatians, ye which are spiritual, walking in the Spirit, help those who are fallen, walking in the flesh, trying to restore them. Well, they ought to be automatic. Evidentity is not automatic. Why would God tell us in 1 Corinthians 11 in summer 6, summer weeks, some are dead because they did not discipline themselves and judge themselves and they became chastened if it’s not in the Bible?
You remember those two people that Anna and I are from Safari? They pretended like they sold something for a certain price and lo and behold, they kept back part of the money. What happened to them? Well, wait a minute. If they’re really saved, they’ll always get right before they die. Well, they may have. But dead was dead. Look at the next statement. Number seven, if salvation depends on your perseverance in faithfulness and good works, how can you know for sure you are saved?
If you cannot accurately predict the future isn’t there a chance you could sin and die before you repent. Now think about it in the future is it possible that you could sin and die and not get right. So that meant you weren’t really saved after all. So you tried this and you did this for 50 years and you blew it last minute and you died. What did you play a stupid game. Like I’ve said before, it’s like some people climbing a ladder for twenty years and finding out was leaning on the wrong wall.
People who are believing something and working for something for so long and then find out not all of it was false. It’s all false. Isn’t it better to know that you have eternal life, know that you’re going to heaven and that you’re in his hands and he said, I’ll never catch you out. I’ll never lose you knowing that you’re going to heaven. That’s the best thing in all that we’re on. So look at the next statement. Let her be, as long as that is possible, how can you say with certainty that you’re definitely going to heaven?
If there is something that you can do in the future that should prove because of some sin or a lack of commitment and you fall away for whatever reason, that’s supposed to be a sign that you never really were saved. That means you really don’t know where you’re going when you die. I told this kid at the homeschool convention, I said, you really don’t know where you’re going when you die. And he just stared at me. I said, because you don’t know if you’re going to persevere in the faith.
He said, this is just not the place to talk about this. Oh, he was squirming. I’d like to see him squirm. If I’m going to believe this, I ought to be able to answer Little bitty questions. These kids in a wall can answer these questions. Look at next statement. How could you honestly give assurance of salvation to anyone who says they believe the gospel? They believe the gospel. How can you give them assurance that they’re really saved now and they’re really going to go to heaven?
What would you point to? Who they trusted? Are you going to tell them that? Watch your life. This is how you’ll know it. It’s all genuine. No. Number eight, where is there room to grow? If you’re saving faith includes obedience, forsaken all sins, a committed life and a guarantee of faithfulness, what’s left to do? You don’t have to do anything else. You just did it and it’s all automatic. You just to commit yourself and lo and behold, now that I’m saved, it’s everything’s automatic, but if I really don’t persevere and I’m not really faithful, then in my genuine faith was not really genuine.
How would you like to live your whole life wondering, I wonder if it’s real genuine faith that I have? You see, it’s not the size of your faith. It’s the object of your faith. A little faith in the Lord can get you to heaven. Now, great faith in the Lord can bring heaven to the soul. Look at the next statement. Are not the demands upon a Christian to live godly unnecessary if a godly life is inevitable? I mean, if it is, why would you have to encourage people to do something that is automatic?
You will persevere in the faith. Then why do we have to try to get people to persevere in the faith? To be faithful, to serve God. You know, if that’s the case, there’s not many people saved. It’s all automatic. Look at the next statement. If you must start your Christian life as a mature saint, how can you grow from childhood to maturity? You have to be saved to grow into maturity. But when they’re teaching, you can’t be saved until you’re mature.
And then when you’re mature, you still don’t know. Number nine, when you read the Gospel of John, did the Apostle John preach a false gospel? Remember the purpose of the book of John, these things are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and by, believe it in Him you shall have life, eternal life. That’s the purpose of the book that you can know you have eternal life. But notice since the gospel of John does not mention repentance or submission or commitment to Jesus Christ as as Lord as a condition for salvation, but does mention belief as the condition for salvation 98 times, do you believe that John told the truth or a lie?
If you have to do all of that in order to be saved, did John preach the gospel? He didn’t say any of those things. he mentioned was believe 98 times. Now did he leave something out? Tell me the truth. Did he leave something out? He didn’t leave anything out. Because the only thing a man has to do, John is God’s little heaven track. Look at the next statement. Was John ignorant or irresponsible for not mentioning these things, especially when the purpose of the book was read to tell people how to be saved.
If grace is a free gift to you paid for by Jesus Christ, how can it cost you anything? Isn’t that a good question? If grace is free, paid for by Jesus Christ, how can it cost you anything. There’s nothing for you to pay for. This little statement here is actually in the old P.E. book and I put it into my book when I wrote it. I’m so thankful when I talked to Dr. Stenor. He says, Janki, you are free to use anything I have.
You can copy anything that I’ve ever said or done, put it down. I don’t care. So I took him in his word. Eternal security is not a separate doctrine in salvation. It is the gospel. To doubt eternal security is to doubt the truth of the gospel. What makes it good news is there’s nothing that can take it away. The good news is that I cannot lose it. See, they believe you can get it, but you can’t keep it. And it depends upon their obedience to keep it.
No. For by grace are you saved through faith that not of yourself, it is the gift of God, not a works list any man should boast. Look up here for all you sinners in here and all of you out there. Christ did not die for the righteous. He died for sinners. Now did He die for you? Then you’re admitting you’re a sinner. Is that true? Is that true? And you probably have done things that you don’t remember, right? Is it poverty did some things you never even knew you did?
And that’s all possible and probably likely. But aren’t you glad that when Jesus died, He paid for every sin? I would rather Him pay for every sin than me try to remember every sin so that I can be sorry for every sin and quit every sin. I’d rather just know hey he paid it. Paid my debt. This hand represent you and me. The wallet represents sin. We all have sin on us. God loves us, and I hate our sin, but for us, the paper sin is death in hell.
But God loves us and wants us to go to heaven. And to go to heaven we have to be perfect and righteous is gone and none of us are perfect, none of us are righteous. We have all sin. We’ve all come short of God’s perfection. So God says we need a Savior. We cannot save ourselves. It’s not by works of a present Makeup. righteousness which we have done or ever will do. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord God into flesh.
Came into the world because He loves us. Hates our sin because it separates us from Him. So Jesus Christ who had no sin didn’t have to die. So He took all of the sin of all the world, hatred on the cross and came back from the dead. And the Bible says if we would believe that Jesus Christ did this for us. He would put this death payment to our account, all my sins are paid. It’s not turning from my sins.
I needed a payment for my sins and he did that for me. And he says if I believe it he would give me as a free gift everlasting life. I get to go to heaven on what he did. Has nothing to do with what I have done or will do. It’s all because of Christ, grace is free. It’s free. There’s nothing for me to pay. Let’s bright show him. With every head bowed and every eye closed, no one looking around.
I prayed that you totally, really, genuinely understand everything that I’ve said tonight. I believe it’s so important. There’s so many people that’s never heard the truth. We cannot take it for granted that everybody who comes here to Calvary sees it all the same. I pray that they do. But if you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, I pray that you would trust the Lord tonight. And if you will trust Him, He will save you and give eternal life, never cast you out, never lose you.
Or if you’re watching by internet tonight, bottom of the screen is a little statement and it says, yes, I will trust Christ as my Savior. If you’ve never done so, would you trust Him right now? We’re not asking anyone to turn from sin. We’re not asking you to commit your life to Christ. We’re just saying, would you receive what He did for you? It’s a gift. Would you believe it? If you will believe it, by faith, believe in it, when He died, He died in your place to pay for your sins.
He loved you that much. Would you believe it? And if you will believe that, He will give you eternal life as a free gift. Our Father, we thank You so much for all that You have done for us. We cannot steal any honor, any glory at all. You did it all. We owe so much to You. We thank You, Lord, for what You have done. We pray that Your will to be done in the lives of each person, whether they’re here in the auditorium or watching my internet.
We pray, Lord, Your will to be done. Thank You for this time together. each one in Christ’s name you pray. Amen. 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 Man. 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 4811 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. Believe in that the Lord is coming soon, just keep looking up.
