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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 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 first part of this two-part message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Many, many years I have taught the book of Galatians. I love the book. It’s a little of a rough cut. But the Apostle Paul had to defend a few things. And whenever you break the book down, you’ve got the first two verses or chapters or really about him personally. And then the next two is about doctrine on. In the last two chapters, is practical. Many times you may not view the book of Galatians as a book on the spiritual life, but it’s more than just a great breakdown between law and grace which it is, but it also talks an awful lot about the Holy Spirit.

Of course it doesn’t talk too much about it until you get about to the third chapter, but it is there in the next few chapters gives you a great insight into the Spirit of Grace in the book of Galatians. So I want to make sure that you understand in your Christian life you need to know where to find certain things that will help you. We know the gospel of John is kind of like God’s little heaven track. When you want to witness to somebody it’s a great book to use.

But when it comes through the defense of the gospel and what it is and what it is not, the book of Galatians, just a wonderful, wonderful book. So take your Bible and look there in the book of Galatians in chapter 1, and notice in verse 6. In verse 6 he makes the statement, I marvel, I marvel, like in total surprised. I’m surprised at you. Marvel that you are so soon, so quickly. I’ll remove from him that called you into the grace of Christ, into the gospel, that you would now allow somebody else to come along and pervert your mind, pervert the message, and then you would even listen to it and bear with them.

I guess it broke his heart and then to find that there were some people that are those that you look up to sometimes. You know, even like the great apostle Peter, I mean he would never do anything like that, but he was compromising the simulation, becoming hypocritical. Believing that the gospel is by grace and grace alone and not of works but then giving recognition to the fact that others believed that you also had to keep the law and kind of given them credibility by compromising your own stand in the eyes of others.

So I guess you could say, Peter split a church. He split Paul’s church and Paul didn’t take that too lightly. And so he had to deal with it. But he says, do I seek to please men or do I seek to please God. Does God say in His Word that salvation is by grace without works? Then those who teach that you have to be saved by grace and works, which annoys each other, then there is no salvation at all.

And so He says, this message that I got, I did not get it from man, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ Himself. He gave me the clarity of the golf. He gave me this message. I didn’t learn it from anybody. And so we… Tells us that when you add anything to the gospel, it’s no longer the gospel. Just look at verse 6 where he says, I marvel at your social and remove from him that called you into the grace of Christ and to another gospel.

That word there is heteros means of a different kind. Now I got a lot of shoes in my closet that they’re just pears. But he says, there’s not one of a different kind and allos, there’s not another one of the same kind in the seventh verse, which is not another. So there’s not a same kind numerically, and there’s not one of a different kind. There is no other gospel. So the test of the gospel is that it must be by grace, which means that it must be free and it must last forever.

Anyone of those is missing, it’s not the gospel of Jesus Christ. It has to be free. No works whatsoever and it must last forever. So how long does eternal life last forever? So when someone says you can lose it, they don’t get it. They don’t understand it. But he says there’s some people that want to trouble you, pervert the gospel. And the only way you can pervert the gospel of grace is by adding works to the gospel of grace.

So he says it’s an accursed message it can’t save and that’s why it’s so devastating. So Paul in the book of Philippians says that he is set for the defense of the gospel. In the words he defended the gospel and what it is and what it is not. When you read Ephesians 2 8 9 there is a defense of what it is and what it is not for by grace are you saved through faith. and that not of yourselves.

It is the gift of God, not of works. That is a tremendous verse. Then you’re two of my favorite verses in the Bible. But then I’ve got a lot of favorite verses. I get older. A lot of them mean a lot more to me. Now take your Bible in turn to the Gospel of John in chapter 7. The Gospel of John and chapter 7. Now Jesus had made this statement. He makes the statement in in chapter 7 in verse 37, he says, in the last day, like great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, he says, if any man thirst, let him come into me and drink.

And he says, he that believeth on me as the scripture have said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. In this space he of the spirit, which day that believe on him should receive. But But Christ had not yet been glorified. No one has yet received the Holy Spirit, but He’s talking about the promise of the Holy Spirit that would come to those, if you look there in verse 39, that this spake He of the Spirit which they that believe on Him should receive.

Those that believe receive the Holy Spirit. And when do you receive the Holy Spirit? The very moment you believe. you and I, when we trusted Christ as our Savior, we were indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Now look in John chapter 14, John and chapter 14. And look in verse 16, this is the scripture that talks about the promise of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not like smoke in your eyes, he’s not just influenced, the Holy Spirit is a person and a scripture and I’ll show you a minute is the spirit of Jesus Christ.

So he says in verse 16 and I will pray the Father and he will give you another comforter that he may abide with you temporarily forever. So you receive the Holy Spirit those who believe on Christ. So I have believed on Jesus Christ in 1960, just a couple years back. So that means that I have been saved at that point, when I believed, and dwelt by the Holy Spirit, and He never leaves me and will never forsake me. I have the Holy Spirit.

I have been born by the Spirit of God. And you really don’t feel the Spirit. We talk about that, but it’s the, what the Holy Spirit teaches us that brings great joy and great peace of mind and we can experience that. Now look there in Galatians in chapter 3. Galatians and chapter 3. He has talked to the Galatian Christians because of the legalistic Judaizers who have come down from Jerusalem with their false message and were perverting the minds of of God’s children here in Galatia.

And because of that, He says in verse 1, Oh, foolish Galatians. Who hath bewitched you? Who hath bewitched you? Foolish Galatians. Why? He says, how are you saved? How were you saved? Were you saved by the law? Or were you saved by grace? He’s already rehashing it and going over it again. The make sure they understand. And so you look there in Galatians in chapter 2 and verse 16 where he makes a statement knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ.

even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law, but by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. You were not saved by the law. You know that. So that means you were saved by grace. Are you now going to be made perfect by the law when you’ve been saved by grace? Isn’t it true that when you trusted Christ as your Savior in Christ you were made perfect in Christ.

Why are you still seeking to be saved? You already have been saved. When you trust the Lord and you knew it was free and you trusted Him, you believed it the joy that you had. He says you thought that I was like an angel from God. And you know that you would have plucked at your own eyes and have given them to me. He says, am I now become your enemy because I tell you the truth? Am I your enemy?

Do you hate me because I’m telling you the truth? Those people who come down here and told you stuff, adding on to the gospel, they don’t care about you. You see, you’ll find out that there’s a lot of people. They never win anybody to the Lord. They just, they’re, rob fish from somebody else’s goldfish bowl. They’re not soul winners. They can’t produce the soul winners. Many Calvinists don’t because they can’t win them. They just steal them and they add other things to it like, yes, but now you need deeper truths.

And they come across as though they’re more highly intelligent than the people who run you to Christ. And they’ll put the finish and touches upon you. And they’ll teach you some things that they don’t know about. Did you know you have to know an awful lot of Scripture to stay simple, to stay clear? Simplicity isn’t easy. Anybody can be confusing and use great big words that people don’t understand. Now you’ll be more impressed with the other, but I want you to understand truth.

And that’s why he says, feed my sheep, not my giraffes. He put it down here on the bottom shelf where everybody can get some and you can eat it and feed upon it. So, hearing Galatians in chapter 3, he said, who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth, He’s crucified among you. When He makes that statement and you should not obey the truth. Look there, hold your place right there, but look in chapter 5 and you’ll notice what He says in verse 7, He said, you did run well.

You did. You were filled with such joy, just blessedness. Now where is this blessedness gone? Where’s this joy? Now, because when you put yourself under that yoke of iron of what you’ve got to do by the law, he says, it strips you of your peace, of your joy. He says, and you’re not happy anymore. It wears you out, but the joy of the Lord is strength. So he says there in verse 7, you did run well, who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth?

To keep you from believing the truth of the gospel. And you’d be surprised, people can look at Calvary Community Church the same way. This is a good place to come and get saved, but If you really want to grow deep in the Lord, go someplace else. And there’s people that believe that, but it’s not the truth. Because see, they don’t preach the gospel clear enough for people to understand it. So you can go to some other church and I’ve never heard that before.

Boy, I never, boy, he is really good. He’s deep. And then next thing, know your eyes are off the Lord, off the clarity of the gospel. They’re off for souls. And then you just sit so can sour for the rest of your life. I want people to always stay busy, always thinking souls, be gospel driven, something that challenges and motivates you. It is so very, very important. So he makes a statement here in verse 2 of chapter 3, this only what I learned, you receive you the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith.

You see, whenever Paul came and he preached to them, faith cometh by… Hearing and hearing by the Word of God. So he came and he preached the gospel. They hurt and they believe. And so they received the Holy Spirit because they believed. It was never by the law. Nobody ever received the Holy Spirit by the law. You received the Holy Spirit because you believed the message that was preached unto you. Are you now going to be made perfect by the law that could not save you?

That only condemned you? So that’s why he makes a statement in book of Galatians in chapter three and verse three. 10. Look there in chapter 3 and verse 10, where he makes the statement for, as many as are of the works of the law or under the blessing or cursing. Curse. He says, curses is everyone that continue, if not in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them. If you’re going to keep the law, you have to continue in all that the law says, and the Bible says, the just shall live by faith.

So no one has ever been saved by keeping the law. It’s never happened and never will. So it ruins the person of their happiness. And you’re noticing verse 14 of Galatians 3, where it says, that the blessing of Abraham, the blessing of Abraham is salvation by faith. It’s the justification by faith. And Abraham believed God and it was kind of to him for righteousness by faith and faith alone. Then you look there in chapter four where he makes a statement because some people have gotten to the place where they longer believe the truth.

And notice what he says here in verse 16 of Galatians chapter four verse 16. Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth and he has to say things about those people that were adding works to the gospel. It’s not because they cared about you. And so he says in verse 17, they zealously affect you, but not well. They exclude you that you might affect them. They want to use you to show how big and mighty they are, and it’s not about them, it’s about themselves, because they got to get followers after themselves and then look at me.

I must be a great leader because look how many people follow me. And it’s And it’s not about because they care about the people, because the gospel is your saved by faith and faith alone. I want you to trust Christ and believe in that this is what He’s talking about. And so many people have forgotten how blessed they used to be. He says that is no longer the case. But anyway, look there again in chapter three where He makes the statement in verse five, He therefore that minters to you the spirit and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith.

When I came to you and he was an apostle, that’s all about abilities. He could perform miracles. He could do those things. He says it wasn’t by the law. He says those people that come in, they don’t have the credentials. Paul had also defend his apostleship of who he is. I’m the one, he says, that came and preached the gospel to you. It wasn’t them. There’s always people who want to do great things with people that they had no influence in their lives.

That cares about them personally. Paul cares about these people. He loves these people. And you want them as a child of God to grow strong in the Lord. And so the next thing I want you to look there is in Galatians chapter four and verse six. You’re following along in your notes a little bit. God bless you. Galatians in chapter four, looking verse six. And because ye are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your heart, crying, Abba Father.

Did you realize that the day you trusted Christ as your Savior, you were born of God, born by the spirit of God. When Jesus says to naked name us, he must be born again. That which is born of the flesh flesh. That’s your first birth. your second birth, that which is born of the spirit, spirit. So your second birth is a spiritual birth, born of God. That’s why I can’t see your spiritual birth, but I can see your first birth, I can see your flesh birth.

Now this spirit birth, I can’t see it. That doesn’t mean it’s not there, just because I can’t see it, because I can’t see spirit. But he says, you became a child of God. I am his child and he is my father. That took place the day you trusted Christ as your Savior. And once you’re His child, you are always a child of God. And so the law didn’t give you this birth. The law cannot keep you as a child of God.

The law has nothing to do with it. You are not born by the law. But by the Spirit of God, you became a child of God. And how you live or don’t live does not affect that new birth. It was born because of God’s great love and mercy towards you. Not because you deserved it. You never did deserve it and never will deserve it. And that’s why by allowing somebody to come in and suddenly try to change all these things that destroys that peace of mind.

I know I have eternal life. I know I’m going to heaven. I am a child of God. God is my father. And nobody can ever change that. And don’t you let anybody with any teaching try to change your mind and pervert this wonderful message that God has given to us because it won’t give you the peace and the joy and the happiness that you think you’re going to have because now it all depends on you. you. And you’re not going to be able to trust you.

You can’t trust you. You couldn’t trust you to get salvation and you can’t trust you to keep salvation. The Bible says, curse it is the man that put confidence in man. And I think that just liable to include yourself. Now look at the next statement. The spirit child will be persecuted by the flesh child. This just kind of walks you through the Christian life. You’re not saved by the law, you’re saved by grace, and you and I are to understand the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of grace in the book of Galatians to help us understand the spiritual life.

Now that you have been born by the Spirit of God, you are a child of God by the Spirit of God, and now you’re to understand that there’s going to be some persecution to the child of God and as he says here. In your notes Galatians chapter 4 verse 29, but as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit even so it is now. Look up here I’ve done this many times but just a tad of it just to refresh your mind, your memory.

First birth, second birth. I have been born twice. Once into this world in 1942, don’t try to figure that out, just figure it. It was a couple of years ago. And then I trusted Christ as my Savior, 1960, born of God, flesh, spirit, two births, sinful nature, no sinful nature. I am a child of God and this one doesn’t sin because it has no sinful nature. My first birth sin because it has a sinful nature. One day this one is going to die.

This one will never die. This one is going to be buried in the body is going to be placed in a grave and destined back to dust. And you’ll never have to worry about that old sinful nature anymore because it’s in my members. But my new I got my new birth, but I didn’t get my new body yet. So that’s, I’m still waiting on, but I’m gonna get it. And it’s gonna be better than this one. So don’t worry about how this one looks.

The older we get, the ugly gets. They say uglyness goes clean to the bone. Beauty’s only skin deep. And even though there’s some people that are ugly maybe, but listen, some people abuse it. Now, here in Galatians, he makes a statement in verse 29, the flesh persecutes the spirit. See there? But he then, he that was born after the flesh, persecuted him that was born after the spirit, even so it is now. Look up here. The flesh persecutes the child of God.

So in your Christian life so that you understand, your flesh does not like this new child. It’s kind of like having two kids in the family and the older one doesn’t like the younger one because he gets all the attention now and all the love. And so there’s jealousy sometimes and sometimes not. But when they get old enough, they try to find a way they fight. And most kids they fight. says this one doesn’t start the fight, but it definitely should end the fight.

Because you see there’s a flesh against the Spirit, Spirit against the flesh. Now this is laid out, it’s walking you through the Christian life so that you understand you were born by the Spirit, became a child of God by the Spirit of God, and now you’re going to be persecuted because the flesh is going to war against this birth. He’s telling us to the Christians. And you don’t solve this problem by putting yourself under the law. This one was under the law.

You don’t put this child under the law. Or try to be spiritually minded by walking in the flesh. Not going to happen. And so when they’re putting God’s children back under the law, then you’re talking about walking in the flesh. where you made perfect by the flesh or by the spirit. So God wants his children to walk in the spirit, not in the flesh. This old man, you can’t trust him. He’ll lie to you, cheat you, deceive you, and do everything he can to destroy you.

So this is why he brings us out here in the book of Galatians. Now look in chapter five, chapter five and verse five. for we through the Spirit, not through the law, through the Spirit, wait for the joyful anticipation of righteousness by faith. So when we believe what God says, we perform and we do it because of the Lord. And as a child of God, and you don’t get it by the law, but by your faith and what Christ says and what He wants you to do, it’s so much better when a child of God served the Lord because He loves the Lord.

But you have to believe that God loves you. And a lot of times your love for Him is a direct ratio to the caliber of your thoughts of His love for you. If you don’t think He loves you, you have a difficult time serving Him. But if you really believe He loves me and know He’ll never cast about He loves me. me, and I want to please Him. That want to will give you more power in your Christian life than all the rules and regulations in the whole world.

They’ll never do it for you. Now look what he says. Chapter 5, look in verse 16. Chapter 5 verse 16. This I say then. Now he’s going to say this because of everything else he’s already said, but this I say then because this is true. He says, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. That’s how you handle, you don’t put God’s children under the law. But teach them to walk in the Spirit means walking in obedience to the Lord.

Do you understand you are His child? I’m not doing something to become a child, I already am a child of God. He already is my father. I already have eternal life. Now I don’t serve the Lord to get something, but because of what I’ve already received. I’ve already got that. I’m already, if it inherits the eternal life, I’m already going to heaven. And so I serve the Lord because I walk too. Are you a new listener to Bibleline? Do you enjoy the teachings of Dr.

Arnold? Well, So 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.

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