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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 concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family.

So in the book of Romans in chapter 3, I went to look in verse 4. God forbid, yeah, let God be true, and almost everybody a liar, those who have sinned a lot. No? Let every man a liar, as it is written, that thou might as be justified in thy sin and might as overcome when thou art judge. Did you know that people in reality judge God? God must be just when he justifies the unjust. Did you know that you’re always in your mind thinking that, you know, that’s not fair, that’s not right.

I mean, if God loved me, why did you’re judging? It seemed like everything they do, they get away with it. That’s judgment upon something happening or not happening to somebody or somebody being blessed or not being blessed. Upon the things that happen to you, that doesn’t happen to you. You’re making judgment all the time. And if God is in control, God’s behind it. And you don’t always agree with God. So that means you have set yourself up as a judge over God.

So he says here in verse five, but if our unrighteousness come in the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who take advantage? I speak as a man, God forbid, for then how shall God judge the world? God’s God going to judge the world. Well you see all the bad people they go to hell and and those that are not quite as bad they get to go to heaven. No. God says there is none righteous no not one.

There is an anyone who seeks after God they’re all gone astray. So he says down here in verse 10 as it is written there is none righteous no not one. There is none that understand if no not one they’re all gone out of the way. Now if this is true There’s no man that can go up to God, so I deserve to get into heaven. Because I’m not as bad as Hitler. I’ll never kill six million Jews. How many would you have to kill to be a murderer?

Have you ever hated? That’s one. Did you know that bitterness and anger and envy and all those things are sins? That maybe you can hang on the walls of your mind, but nobody else can see them. All sin is a transgression against God. You have to understand God is a good God, a holy God, and he doesn’t tolerate sin. He will not allow one little bit to sin, a white light in the heaven. No liars can go to heaven.

No adulterers can go to heaven. No murders can go to heaven. The only way any of us get there is because God changes us. us. It gives us a new birth and we go because of a new birth that God gives to us. Now, I want you to look there in verse 8, verse 8, and not rather as we be slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say, let us do evil. Because see, if I’m saved and I have eternal life, I’m going to heaven when I die and grace covers by sin.

Well, if I want more grace, do more sin. Paul was accused of preaching, you get a license to sin. You can do anything that you want, it doesn’t matter. Well they accused Paul of the very same thing, but that’s not what Paul preached. Even though the Bible tells us that God’s abundant grace covers all of our sin, grace is greater than our sin. You heard that song before? Now take Goodbye, but look there in the book of Romans in chapter 6 and verse 1.

Chapter 6 and verse 1. You see Romans 3 says, let us do evil. That’s a saying, hey, let’s go sin. Why? See, we’re going to heaven. All of our sins are paid. I can’t go to hell. Bola, here I come. But he says in verse one of chapter six, what shall we say then? Shall we continue and sin? Isn’t that just like God given us a license to sin? Permission to sin. If God gave you a license to sin, then it would mean that sinning would be okay because you had permission.

had the right to do it and it wouldn’t be against the law. So has God done that? No. So no, I do not teach that grace gives people a license to sin. Like I got permission from God to live like the devil. Can I live like the devil? Yes, I can. But are they going to be consequences? Yes, they’re will. It means that I still did wrong and there’s a price to pay. I’m glad the price is not hell, but there’s a price to pay.

So you are making choices, making decisions. Always remember that. I want you to look during the Bible to the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 30, Deuteronomy in chapter 30. And look at verse 15. In the Old Testament, God dealing with His people Israel, He gives them a final warning. And so in verse 15 it makes a statement, see I have set before the choices. I’ve set before choices as you’ll see in a minute. This day, life and good, death and evil.

I’ve set this before you. This is a choice you get to make. You see, I’ve trusted Christ as my Savior. I have eternal life. I’m going to heaven when I die. And yes, everything I’ve ever done, Because how bad it is Christ paid for and God has forgiven me. Let me answer this. Let’s say I’m 71 right now and let’s say I lived a life of sin. I’ve done everything in the book. It’s wicked, wicked, wicked. All the way up to I’m 71 years old and God saves me right now and God can forgive me of everything I’ve ever done.

Most people don’t have a problem with that. What’s their problem is from this day forward. Well now that you’re safe, you can’t do this. Now I could do it this way and God will save me. But I can’t do it this way and God keep me saved. God can save me by grace because I didn’t deserve it. But from here on out, I’ll have to deserve it. Because if I don’t do enough good deeds, he’s gonna take it away from me.

But if I do right, I get to keep it. Now wait a minute. Well, as I say by grace or not, If I’m saved by grace and I can’t do anything wrong afterwards, because I’ll lose it, is it easier for the Lord to save me at 71? Or should I wait until I’m 95 and then I’m gonna die and I’m laying in my casket with one last breath to go? Then I’ll trust the Lord then because I don’t have to worry about losing it.

Now, is it easier for God to save me at 71? Or is it easier if I’m 95? Which is the easiest? Or is it easier for the Lord to save me when I’m a child? And I haven’t done all these bad things. I’m only five years old and God has saved me from a life of sin. I turn from all my wickedness. I don’t drink the bottle anymore. I’m not behind bars anymore. No, wait a minute. Which is the easiest point in my life for God to save me?

You see, when Christ died, Did he die for my sins up to the time I was five? And then the rest of them I got to take care of. Or did he pay for all my sins up to the time I’m 71? Now I got to worry about the rest of them. Or has he paid for all of my sins from the time I’m born to the time that I die? All of them. You see, it’s no harder for God to save me now and then keep me saved than it would be to save me then and save and pay for all of these bad ones.

Some people say, well, you know, I never think like that. Well, I do because I’m a stickler for the gospel of grace. It’s either all by grace or none by grace. And if I am saved, I have eternal life. So has God given to me a license to sin? Now, what I want you to do, because I’m coming back here. I want you to hold your place right here. But I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book First Corinthians, first Corinthians, first Corinthians in chapter 9.

Chapter 8, that’s the first mistake I’ve made today. At least it’s not as bad as Hitler. First Corinthians chapter 8, look there in verse 9. But take heed, lest by any means this license to sin of yours become a stumbling block. They didn’t say that did it. This liberty of yours, the freedom to choose. God has given us permission to choose. But there’s consequences to our choice. You can sin. Yes, you can. But understand, God does not give you a license to sin.

He gives you a permission to make a decision. I’m gonna let you decide. But that doesn’t mean that your decision is right, just because you sin against God. God is still going to beat the tar out of you, and maybe even take you home before your time. And you could lose out on a lot of rewards that you could have got when you get to heaven. But going to heaven is a gift, that is free. You don’t earn it, you don’t work for that.

But after you trust it, Christ is your savior. As a child of God, it is God’s will that we serve Him. And He tells us as His children, in verse nine, take heedless by any means, this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak. So you and I are supposed to care about our testimony. We’re supposed to care about the effect that has upon somebody else that might be looking at us and following us. Now you can make wise decisions and you can make foolish decisions.

This is the reason you study the Word of God so that you can know the mind of God, so that you can make better discerning choices. In other words, if you know the consequences, you know that this is what God wants me to do and this is what God said that if I do this, there’s a price to pay. God hasn’t given me a license to do it as though he’s not going to hold me accountable. You’re going to be held accountable.

Every man shall give a count of himself unto the Lord. And the reason you have to give an account is because God didn’t give you the license to sin without the law, being able to still condemn the sin. Christ came but he did not come to destroy the law but he came to fulfill the law. The law still condemned sin. It’s still wrong to commit murder. It’s still wrong to lie. It’s still wrong to sin. I’m just thankful that I have received a new birth that I got from the Lord.

And it’s amazing that some of the people who tell me that you can’t tell me you can just go ahead and trust Christ, and go ahead and just live like you please. Yes, you can, but you can’t get away with it. The people who tell me that don’t live right. And here I am saying the opposite, and I try to live as holy and Godless, I know how. Something’s wrong. They they don’t get it. But I want you to see this.

When he makes the statement in verse nine, take heed lest by any means this liberty of your become a stumbling block. So it means that your liberty can become a stumbling block and the liberty is based upon the choices that you make. All right, take your Bible and turn there to the book of Peter. I want you to see this in first Peter, very important verse. First Peter chapter two, first Peter chapter two. And look there in verse 15.

Verse 15 says, For so is the will of God, that with well doing, you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. So the will of God is for you to do right. Verse 16, as free not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. In other words, God doesn’t want you to make the wrong choices. He hasn’t given you the freedom just to do whatever you want to do without consequences. You can make the wrong decisions, but there’s a price to pay for those wrong decisions.

Now take your Bible and go all the way back there to the book of Deuteronomy. This power of choice is important. God did not make you marry the woman you married. And I know, I know, I know, he was perfect and she was perfect when you met and married. Then, Lord, you see what you brought to me? You see what you did? And then you blame God because you finally found some air in her and you found out, well, he’s not really that angel.

You know, they say, on eight moments on Angel, you know, up in the air, nothing to wear and harping on something. So, you’re always wondering what happened to this little jewel? Well, God did not make you marry that person. God did not make you take the job you now have. God didn’t make you have all those kids you have. Well, I could get lost right here. But here in the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 30, look in verse 15.

See, I have said before this day, life and good, death and evil, in that I command thee this day to live like you please. No, no, no, notice, notice what his command is. The command is to do right. That’s the will of God. First Peter chapter three. The command is that you love God. Look what he says. In that I command thee this day to love the Lord, thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgment, get to that thou mayest live and multiply.

and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land, whether thy goest to possess it.” Now this is not in heaven, this is on the land, this is in the land of Canaan, up on the earth. So God made promises, hey, I’m going to sit before you, choices. It’s like when you’re kids, you don’t like what they’re putting on, and so you make them take it off. I don’t like that. I don’t like that. Well, the best thing you do is put out there two things and say, now, where is the one you want?

And in which everyone that chooses, you’ve already met them, but they’ve got to choose. And they think, hey, I made my own choice. Yeah, but you only gave them two. Or put three of them out there, and they can choose between the three. God has put out their good, and He put over here on the other side. This is what’s going to happen if you do this. Choose you this day, like he says up here. Life and good, or death and evil.

That’s the result of a choice. And so freedom is that God has set us free. And he wants me to choose to serve him. I don’t have to. He wants me to choose to love him. I don’t have to love God. If you force to love, it won’t work. You can’t force somebody, love somebody. Walk up to this boy. Hey boy, here’s a girl. Girl, I want you to love this girl. And now I want you to love him.

I don’t know him. I don’t care. Love him anyway. Love is not just a physical act. There’s something on the inside. I said, you know, I really don’t care about you. Have you ever seen somebody get married? And that’s why they don’t, well, I don’t love him anymore. I don’t love him anymore. What’s the problem? Well, I love two or three others. Look there again in verse 17. But, you ought to underline this word, but, if thine heart turn away, so that thou will not hear, but shall be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I’m gonna give you a license.

No, you didn’t say that. Give me what you said. I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, that ye shall not prolong your days over the land, which the passes over Jordan to go to possess him, I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore you are to underline these two words. What is God’s will? Choose life that both thou and thy seed may live.

You see, after you trust Christ as your Savior. Majority of people before salvation or after salvation, everybody lives the way they want. You live the way you want to live. Just the facts of life. You’re doing what you want to do. You live the way you really want to live. And you think the way you want to think. You accomplish what you really set out to accomplish. You limit yourself by your own limited thinking. And when it comes to the Lord, I as a child of God have placed before me by God himself the power of choice.

If I choose to obey what God says, God has promised, as He says right here. Lessing life. But if I don’t, I choose to have God’s chasteen hand upon me, maybe even take my life. Because God did not. The only reason God chases his children is because God didn’t give you a license to sin. If he gave you a license to sin, why would he have to chase in you for doing something he gave you the right to do?

He gave you the right to rebel against God. He gave you the freedom of choice, and you made a wrong decision. Every person needs to take responsibility for their life, for the choices that you and I make. Do I want you to trust Christ’s Savior? Yes. But there is a heaven, and there is a hell, and you can choose. What is the will of God? You choose heaven. you as a child of God, God lays before you choice. You want blessing, cursing.

Well what is his will? This is his will. So we often say he has a directive will which means he commands what he wants us. And a permissive will is he permits us to choose our own way but is not with a license that there’s There’s no consequences or that you have the right to sin and rebel against God without anything going wrong. No, your heavenly Father loves you, but He’s given to you the freedom to choose. You can be as holy as you want to be, and you can live as ungodly as you want to be.

But understand the consequences. Your heavenly Father wants to bless you, wants to shower you, wants to reward you when you get to heaven, wants to say to you, well done, thou good and faithful servant. But if you choose to rebel, then God is going to have to curse your life. You don’t get the blessings, you get the cursing of God, chasing upon your life, your choice. So does the preacher teach that Hitler went to heaven? If he trusts the Christ’s Savior, he does.

If he didn’t, he doesn’t. And understand this. If the new elected pope doesn’t trust Christ as his only hope of going to heaven, he don’t go either. I don’t care who he is. It doesn’t matter. He is a man. And if he hasn’t trusted Jesus Christ in him alone as his only hope of going to heaven, he doesn’t go to heaven. He doesn’t deserve to go to heaven and Hitler deserves to go to hell. If the man doesn’t trust the Lord, he hasn’t done anything to deserve going to heaven.

You don’t deserve going to heaven even when you’re saved by grace. I deserve it only because of what Christ did. Christ made me worthy. I didn’t make me worthy. Look up here. When do I make so many people upset? Is it wrong for me to tell people, look, in spite of everything we’ve done, this is our sin. We have all done things wrong. We’ve all sinned against God. Is it wrong for me to tell him God says that you committed the sin?

God says that it’s death in hell. God says it’s forever. God said he made a perfect heaven and we can’t go because of sin. Am I wrong telling people what God said? That’s what God said. It doesn’t matter how many sins you committed, you’re all guilty. Nobody has deserved because I committed less sins than somebody else. No, your dear old aunt Susie, the one that gave you the shirt off of her back, never did anything wrong, loves you to death, left you in her will.

If she didn’t trust the Lord, yes, she don’t go to heaven either. You say, you’ve got no right to say that. I’m not the judge. I’m just telling you what the judge said. This end represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord God in the flesh. came into the world because He loves us, hates our sin, because our sin separates us from the Lord. So Jesus Christ, who had no sin, didn’t have to die. And when He came into the world, He took all the sins of those who didn’t sin too much.

He took all the sin of all the world of everybody, regardless of who you were and how bad you were. He said, how bad you was and how many sin you, it’s not the issue. And He paid for it. And he says, go into all the world. And preach the gospel, the good news of how regardless of who you are, regardless of how bad you’ve been. The Lord can save you and give you eternal life. And if you’ll trust Him as your Savior, believe in He died for you and paid for your sin, He’ll put that payment to your account.

You go to heaven on what He did, not what you did. And God said, I’ll give you as a free gift ever lasting life. And if it’s everlasting life, last forever. That last forever, know my sins are paid? Where will I go when I die? the heaven. So can I know that I’m going to heaven before I die? Yes. I’ve known that for 52 years. I have eternal life. And I also know this, that if I decide to serve the Lord, my heavenly Father or must bless me, must bless me, must reward me.

He must, why, it gave His word. And I’ve lived long enough to see that God keeps His word. God has blessed me and I’m thankful to the Lord for it. But I’ve also, I know that if I rebel against the Lord, my heavenly Father is free. You see, I’m free to choose whatever sin I want to commit, but God is free to choose whatever punishment I’m going to have to enjoy. Let’s pray, show him. Every head bowed and every eye closed, no one looking around.

If you hear this morning and you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, I pray that you will. You see, God can save anybody. And if you’re here and you say, well, I’ve never done anything really, really bad. God says there is none righteous, no not one. No one deserves to go to heaven because of how good they’ve been. You have not lived good enough to earn it. It’s impossible. That’s why Christ died to pay for your sins. So if you will trust Christ as your savior and you’ve never done it before, I like to know and I like to have prayer for you.

So in the quietness of this moment with the heads bowed nice clothes and no one looking around, I’m gonna ask you in just a moment If you will trust Christ as your Savior, if you’ll let me know by just simply raising your hand and putting your right back down. And if you will, I’m not gonna have you forward. I’m not gonna embarrass you. I was gonna trick you. But as anyone at all say, yes, that made sense to me.

And I will trust Christ as my Savior and preach out life here to pray for me in closing. Would you just slip it up very quickly and put it right back down? Anyone at all? Anyone at all? If you have trusted Christ as your Savior, that means your God’s child. It also means that you’re making choices every day of your life. That’s why you studied the Word of God so you can discern the wisdom in your choices, because choices have consequences.

Seek the Lord’s will. Father, we thank you so much for this time together. Bless those that are watching by internet, those that are here in the auditorium. Help us to do right. In Christ’s name we 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.