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

Anyway, good to see you all tonight and I hope that you’re ready to look at a few scriptures and learn a few things. It might help you a little bit. We’re going to get to the book of Romans in just a moment, but we’re going to start in the book of James. In the book of James, the Bible talks there in verse 8. A double-minded man is unstable in most of his ways. All of his ways unstable. Now, Now this unstable man, believe it or not, is not the lost man.

This unstable man is the Christian, the believer. He’s unstable because he’s not grounded in the Word of God. Trials and tribulations is shaking them up. Cause them the question, cause them the doubt. And that’s why he says there in verse 2, my brethren counted all joy when you fall into divers temptations. It’s not just my way, your way you might. No, you will. And when you do, if any man will ask the Lord, and he says, God will not chide you, he won’t mock you, won’t make fun of you, but God will answer and give you wisdom and the things that you need in order to do what God wants you to do.

Remember, after we’re saved, it is the will of God that God’s children serve Him. So the book of James is about serving the Lord after you’ve been saved. So it’s not a book on how to get saved, it’s a book on how to live. So when you go back to the book of Romans, he says, how shall we then live? How shall we then live? And so you can kind of tie some of these things together because it does show you how we’re supposed to live.

And here in James when he talks about in verse 6, let him ask in faith, nothing wavering for he that waver feels like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. And he says in verse seven, let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. So really faith without prayer is dead. Now we always talk about faith without works is dead. Well faith without prayer is dead. And prayer without faith is dead.

Did you know you can pray and not believe? And you can believe not pray. God says you have not because you asked not. So it is the will of God that we pray, believing, trusting. And so I guess you could also say faith without works is also dead. So the book of James is trying to let us see that there’s a price to pay and not growing in the Lord. So he starts off with the first thing in the book about this prayer life.

And then he talks about in verse 16, do not err my beloved brethren because he’s talking to believers about err in the Christian life, not living the way we should live, not believing like we should believe, not praying like we ought to pray. So he says do not err my beloved brother because you’re going to have not just the testing of the world, you’re going to have the lust of the flesh. That’s what he’s talking about for 13, 14 and 15 and so on.

You’re gonna have the pressures from without and the pressures from within. And so you’ve got lots of opportunities to fall flat on your face. And because of pride, thinking that you don’t need the Lord, God will let you fall in the Christian life. God will let you bloody your nose. He’ll let you walk right into some traps. God will let you suffer some consequences. And then you won’t have the peace of mind or the clarity of mind to go to the Lord and correct the problem.

So you’re gonna suffer some consequences for disobedience. So he makes the statement down here in verse 19 when he’s talking to my beloved brethren. Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. This is the Christian life. There’s a lot of things that’s going to happen in the Christian life. They’re going to make you mad and upset, slow to wrath, be long fused. That’s where we get to work long suffering. In other words, it’d take a lot to get you upset and to lose it.

Sometimes you think about on the verge of losing my religion. Well, look what he says here now. In verse 20, for the wrath of man, work if not the righteousness of God. In other words, after you’ve trusted Christ as your Savior, God wants you to produce the fruits of righteousness. Live, write, do, write. So he says in verse 22, be you doers of the word. So we’re talking about children of God doing what God says, do it, doers of the word.

So you can’t do what the word of God says if you don’t know what the word of God says. So you must be here of the word. See what it says, but be doers of the word and not here’s only, not just to hear it, but to do it. So you’re not wise because you know the will of God. You’re wise if you do the will of God. You’re not wise just because you know the Bible. wise, if you live the Bible, it’s not how many times you’ve been through the book.

This has the book been through you. Have you been saturated with the knowledge that’s in this book so they can affect the way you think, influence your mind? So he’s talking here about the believers in the verse 25, but who’s so look at the to the perfect law of liberty? Continue if they’re in. See, this is after your saved, you’re doing something, how you’re living your Christian life. And And remember, he made the statement in the book of Romans, shall we continue in sin?

Evidently the Lord wants us to continue in the Word. You trusted him as your savior. Keep on trusting him. Keep on believing him. Look what you got just because you took him at his word and trusted him as your savior. You got eternal life, a home in heaven. Isn’t that wonderful to know? Just for that little bit of faith, look what you got. But you’re not there yet. You’d be surprised how much more you can have. See, they often say, you know, a little faith will take a soul to heaven.

But great faith will bring heaven to the soul. So you want to have the peace, not only with God, but the peace of God. And that comes because you read the Word, you heard the Word, you believed the Word, and you did what the Word says do. So in verse 25, but who’s so looking into the perfect law of liberty, Continue with therein, he be and not a forgetful here, but a doer of the work. This man shall be saved.

No, this man shall be blessed in his deeds and what you’re doing. So you see, people sometimes they always want to jump over to James chapter two. But James chapter two would not be a problem at all if you started in James chapter one. If you started James chapter one and followed it through, it’s logical. Understand you would have no problem with James chapter two. And so you know therefore in verse one of chapter two that my brethren have not the faith of our Lord.

And then he goes down through here about and have respect to him. All the way down through here is telling you things about you as a believer. What to do, what not to do. And then he says down here in verse 12 as a believer. So speak ye and so do what you say, what you do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. The law of liberty was mentioned right there in verse 25 of chapter 1, talking about the Word of God itself.

You’re going to be judged by this book, and God is the author of this book. So one day will stand before the Lord and God’s going to judge. and because he’s going to judge, don’t think for a moment that it can save you from anything because you had faith in God, but you’re going to be rewarded in heaven and the only way you get those rewards is that you have to be justified by your works. Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.

So you’re going to be judged by your works and God is going to reward you according to your works. Now we know that God can see my faith. That’s why we’re justified by faith before God for salvation. You’re justified before God for rewards by your works. But man also is watching you and I and that’s why he makes the statement there. Look there in verse 17 where he says, Yeah, a man may say. Verse 19, thou beleavest. Verse 20, but wilt thou know of vain man?

In verse 22, see us thou. And down in verse 24 ye see. So we are talking about what people can see. And we don’t want to have our lives to be a stumbling block to those that might be watching or following our example. Because God says you’re going to be judged. But understand this when you’re looking chapter two and verse four. 14. And he says, what does that profit my brethren? So we’re talking about the profit and loss in a Christian’s life.

Every Christian is going to receive rewards according to his profit. And your profit is something that God determines because of the opportunities you have. When you understand that every trial and tribulation you have are nothing more than opportunities for you to demonstrate your faith. And so when you have a problem you can’t handle. You don’t pray that God will remove the problem, you pray that God will give you the strength and the grace you need to handle the problem, to stay faithful, to stay strong.

So he says here in the last part of verse 14, can faith save him? Now most people would say, well, well, yes, well, the answer here is no, because faith cannot save him, because we’re not talking about salvation going to heaven. We’re talking about can it save the man from the judgment that’s going to take place when he is judged by the perfect law of liberty because of what he said, what he did, how he lived his life. And so can faith save him?

No, it cannot change or save a person from the chastening hand of God. Now if you’re talking about salvation, yes, faith will save you. But if you keep it in context, that’s not what he’s talking about, how to go to heaven. They’re already going to heaven. This is talking about God’s judging his children and why we should live by faith. Do what God wants us to do. And so he makes the statement down here to every one of us that no Christ is Savior, we’re supposed to serve the Lord.

And when he says there in verse 21, was not Abraham our Father justified by works. He was justified by works. When he offered Isaac his son upon the altar, justified by works. but he was saved by faith alone years before this. 13, 14, 15 years before this, he was out there in Genesis chapter 15 and God says count the stars. And he was talking to him about the seed. And he’s talking to him about Christ, according to Galatians in chapter three.

So we know that God, didn’t you say count the stars? He just wasn’t talking about how many people he was gonna have from his loin. He was talking about the seed, which was Christ. And Abraham knew that, and Abraham believed that. And Abraham believed God. And it was counted under him for righteousness. So you talk about salvation, it’s just faith alone in what Christ did. When you’re talking about service, he says Abraham was justified by works. But here he’s not talking about when he believed, he’s talking about when he offered up his son Isaac upon the altar.

That was years later, and he’s talking about a deed. So you see, you and I are going to be justified by our works for rewards. And if you are not, God’s going to have to chase you down here, maybe take you home ahead of time, and you don’t want that. And this is why he makes this statement in the last part of verse 23. Abraham believed the Lord, and his righteous was God’s right, it was put to his account, and then he says, and he was called the friend of God.

He wasn’t called the friend of God because he believed on the Lord. He was called the friend of God because he believed the Lord afterwards and he walked with God. Abraham walked with God and he was called the friend of God. Now you look there in chapter four. In chapter four, it also talks about being this friend. See there in verse four? Ye adulterers and adultresses? No, ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God. Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

So God wants us to be his friend, but he’s talking about you loving him and not the world. So you want to be a friend of the Lord, then walk with the Lord. Talk to the Lord. Lift for the Lord. Now, we know that people can see the things that you and I enjoy. They people watch you a love, don’t know what you like and what you don’t like. Some people are pretty observant. They watch and people see the good that you do.

True? Maybe we can see some of the good you do. Is it possible they can see some of the bad that you do? Well I never do anything bad. Okay? Do you think some people can see the testings that you have to go through. Do you think people can see the trials that you endure? Do you think it’s possible that if man can see all of these things, God sees them? And God is going to reward you, even for all the things that man can see.

So you and I need to understand how important our lives are. How then shall we live? Now, take your Bible and go back here to the book of Romans. to the book of Romans in chapter 6. So the question comes up over and over again about this word live. And so he says there in verse 1, shall we continue in sin? Of course not. See, God has separated you from that old man, that first birth. So God does not want you living after the first birth.

Now God does not see you in the flesh. God sees you in the spirit. You see when you were lost you were in the flesh. When you were saved you were in the spirit. That’s how God sees you. That’s your position. Your position used to be you were in the flesh lost separated from God. Now God sees you as in Christ. In Christ, in grace in the book of Romans in in chapter five and verse two. In verse two, by faith into this grace we’re in, we stand.

So, see God sees you in Christ. That is your new position. So, it’s impossible for the child of God to walk in the flesh. The child of God may walk after the flesh. Now, when you get to chapter eight, you’ll find those phrases used over and over again about after the flesh, after the flesh, after the flesh, after the flesh. But he says those that are in the flesh, they cannot please God. Now a Christian can please God, but a Christian can walk after the flesh.

That’s why he says, walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. You can still have the lust of the flesh, but you’ll have to fulfill them. Now, no other translation will bring that out as good as the King James does. The King James is a marvel over the book. It teaches itself, I think, in deeper ways, explains things so much better and you don’t need another translation. But anyway, as we move in long right here, we covered the last time about this newness of life, walk in and newness of life.

Well, if you read the book of James, you know that we’re supposed to walk in newness of life. We’re supposed to realize that problems have a purpose, trials. They have a purpose. Everything the sufferings. There’s a purpose. And God is going to reward us when we get to heaven. We endured, not necessarily enjoyed our testings and trials and tribulations, but we endure them for the cause of Christ. Maybe you don’t like everything and we don’t always walk around with a big smiley face on them.

Because sometimes we grieve. Sometimes there’s pain and sorrow. There’s hurt. A lot of grief. We’ve had all these things, but we understand that behind all of this, these are great opportunities for us to demonstrate our confidence in the Lord. It’s just like we don’t have all the answers of everything that’s going to happen to us. As a church, as a college, radio, nothing. We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. It doesn’t matter. Just stay faithful and keep serving God and just keep your trust in the Lord.

Because one of these days, it’s only a matter of time, we’re all going to die. And when you’re dead, God’s going to reward you. He knows everything that happened. So we shouldn’t lose it. And so many Christians are likely to go, you’re up there and down here, up there like that. And they have no peace. Worry about everything. You could only worry about things you’ve never committed to the Lord. Think about it. You could only worry about the things you haven’t committed to the Lord.

So why don’t you just commit everything to Him? and then you don’t have to worry about it. So I just let my wife do all my worrying for me. But now as you go down through this chapter, you’ll see the words death, death, death, death, death. It’s all over the place. The word death, it’s everywhere. And at the same time you see the word death, you see the word life, life, life, life, life, life. See, death, my old nature, my old sinful man, this old wicked fella over here.

This amalek I got over here. Death, death, death. And the works of the flesh die. There is no fruit that lasts forever from the works of the flesh. So the flesh will die and all of its work and everything that it does ends. Premiership, but this book and this chapter is talking about the fruit now. Now that you’re saved, you’ve got a new root, brain for new fruit. And so this is why this is so important. Now look what he says down here in verse 14.

For sin, that’s that old sinful nature that we have. not have dominion over you. Look up here. And we use the illustration, but God says this one is not to have dominion over the flesh, over the spirit. But the spirit is supposed to have dominion over the flesh. Our second birth is supposed to dominate over the flesh birth. And like they said, this Indians was trying to describe the two natures and he says like got white dog black dog inside they fight all the time said well which one wins when I say sick them to in other words it’s a choice that you have to make and if you want to win in the Christian life you can if you don’t want to win you won’t your Christian life will be the way you want it to be.

If you go through life and you’re miserable, great. You ought to be. You deserve to be miserable. And if you go through life and you have the peace of God and the joy of the Lord and so forth, great. You ought to have it because it was your choice. You simply reap what you sow. You will have it the way you want it. You can be as close to God as you want to be, you can walk as godly as you choose to be.

And as a Christian, you can be as ungodly as you want to be. So choice is yours. And nobody can take that away from you. You see, you can’t go through like blaming somebody for your lack of spirituality. You’re a child of God, you got the word of God, get as close to your heavenly Father as you want to get. TextColor with all that you have. You’d be surprised how much greater it can be. But sometimes we just get caught up in this old world and we get so entangled with the affairs of this life that we can’t please Him who called us to be a soldier.

But notice what he says in verse 14, for sin shall not have dominion over you, for you’re not under the law but under grace. Look up here. This birth, the flesh birth is not under grace. This one is under the law, born under the law, condemned. That’s why the only way you could ever get free is that he had to die. So when Christ died and you accepted his death and God’s eyes, he’s dead. He can never be condemned again.

The law can never condemn him. Why? Because he’s dead. The law can’t touch a dead man. Whenever you literally die, the government is not going to come after you for anything. Why? Because you’re dead. Now if you’ve got some money left in the bank, they might want to get everything that you left, but you’re dead. They can’t collect anything from you. You’re dead. You’re gone. So in God’s eyes, this old man died. He was crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but I live by the faith of the Son of God who led me and gave himself for me.

So God sees you in the spirit. So in the spirit, doesn’t mean you’re spiritual. It means that’s your position in Christ, the spirit birth. And so now as a child of God, God wants you to walk in newness of life, live like a child of God, act like a child of God, talk like a child of God, and trust your heavenly Father. But now notice, this old flesh over here, Paul found this out later in this Christian life. He says, whenever I wanted to do what was right, evil was present with me.

When I wanted to do good, I wanted to do bad. And every time I tried to do all of this, I ended up doing this. And so he says, this old man, he deceived me. He deceived me. You notice what he says here? Just look at this so you can sit down in verse 9. for I was alive without the law. But when the commandment came, the old man revived. See, this is what you and I do voluntarily. We choose to keep resurrecting this old man, and then we want to satisfy his desires.

And he’s a sinful man, he’s a wicked man, he’s ungodly man. And remember, it says in the book of Jeremiah 17, the heart, a reference to the old sinful nature is deceitful and desperately wicked, and who can know it? God does. And God says, don’t trust that old wicked man. But now notice what he says here. He says, in verse seven, what shall we, this is of chapter seven. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? No, God forbid.

There’s nothing wrong with the law. The law is good, it is righteous, it’s just, it’s spiritual. There’s nothing wrong with it. But what Paul says is something you need to understand from the book of 1 Corinthians in chapter three when he says, you’re yet carnal. But look what he says here. In verse 11 of Romans chapter 7, he says, 4 sin, this whole sinful nature taken occasion by the commandment deceived me. Deceived me. How did it deceive me? Down in verse 14, I am carnal.

Now, what does it mean to be carnal? Lost? What does it mean to be carnal? Fleshely minded. Is it possible that there could could have been a time when the apostle Paul could have been carnal? I don’t know. That’s what he says. I was carnal means he was saved, but he struggled with the old man. He struggled with the old sinful nature just like we do. And that’s why he says up here in verse 11, deceive me and by it, it slew me because he still had the lust of the flesh and this old nature, which many people think that, well, when you get saved, it won’t bother you anymore because now you’re just going to have a holy desire to serve God and they’ll never bother you again.

And lo and behold, you have the lust of the flesh and the law, the commandments, says, thou shalt not covet and thou didst. So there’s nothing wrong with the law. It just simply revealed to you, hey, you just messed up bud, your carnal and your thinking. And it’s going to slay you. Remember I preached a sermon one time on Amalek. You may be nice to Amalek, but Amalek will never be nice to you. Amalek is a rattlesnake and he’s designed to destroy you.

You cannot trust the old man. why God wants you to walk in the new man. And the new man can only grow and be strong by the studying of what God’s word says. So that’s why I now look there in verse 15. But that which I do, I allow not. And what I do, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. Yet then I do that which I would not. I can send into the law that it is good.

Now then it is no more either. Do it but sin that dwelleth in me, that sinful nature still dwells in me. Now, look in verse 18. He says, for I know that in me that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. How can I live this Christian life? And in the flesh, you can’t live the Christian life. It’s simply Christ living his life through you.

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 Main. 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. Believing that the Lord is coming soon, Just keep looking up.