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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.

This is the third lesson that I wanted to bring to you to you about the philosophy of discipleship. The song that Peter just sung to God be the glory. That should be the purpose, the goal of the Christian life. That’s really the backbone of why we’re here. So that was the perfect song for what we’re gonna be talking about. I get a chance to deal with a lot of people who email me questions, so many questions about, are you sure about eternal security?

What if I have questions and doubts? And what about having assurance and can you lose confidence and you lose eternal life? And if you can’t solve these doubts in your own mind, you will have a difficult time trying to solve those doubts in someone else’s mind. One of the greatest things we can do is not just when people the Christ, but teaching them that know the Lord how to explain the gospel to other people. And many times you have to explain eternal security because see eternal security is not a separate doctrine from salvation.

It is salvation. A lot of places, and I was just at a meeting not long ago, that they talked about, let’s just get him saved. Then after they’re saved, then you teach him about being eternally secure. I thought to myself, self, that’s backwards. I don’t know if a man is really saved until he believes in eternal security. Because why should I believe that he’s saved and know he’s going to heaven? He doesn’t know He’s going to heaven. So there is a difference and I want to explain that to you, and hopefully it’ll make sense to you.

Now, an individual cannot settle the question of salvation as the Bible declares it until you settle the question of the eternal security of the Christian. So you have to settle this. I’ve had a lot of people tell me, well, I trusted Christ as my Savior and I believe on the Lord and I said, well, do you know for certain that you’re going to go to heaven whenever you die? Well, nobody knows that for sure. But they know they’re saved, but they don’t know where they go and they die.

I know I’m saved, but what do you have to turn a life? Well, I don’t know. I asked a couple one time I says, are you married? He says, yes I am. I says, do you have a wife? He well I don’t know. Now if you’re married you’re supposed to have whoever you’re supposed to be married to. So you can be saved and have eternal life and know that you’re going to heaven when you die. And so this is why this subject is so very important.

Habakkah chapter 2 and verse 2 it says this, and the Lord answered me and said right the vision, make it plain upon tables. He says that he may run that read it there. There’s a lot of people running with the gospel that they think is the gospel. Missionaries, people giving money, supporting all kinds of work and they have no clue whether or not is the gospel the truth. Is that the gospel truth? Do they really explain the truth of the gospel?

How that you can know that you have eternal life and know that you’re going to heaven whenever you die. Now For example, so that you don’t have to worry about it. I know that I have eternal life. I know that I’m going to heaven when I die. God can’t change it. I can’t change it. It cannot be altered. It is set in concrete. It’s a done deal. And you cannot know you’re going to heaven until you know that you cannot go to hell.

Because if there’s a possibility you can go to hell in the future. How do you know you are? You don’t. And this is why it’s so important to know the truth of the gospel. That’s what makes it such good news. Good news. Now that I’m saved, can I ever lose my salvation? And you’ll talk to some people and they’ll say, well, of course, if you are really saved today and know you’re saved, because, well, I trust in Christ, if you can lose your salvation, can you know the exact moment you lost it?

If you could lose your salvation, can you know the exact sin that took it away from you? And the answer is you don’t know, and nobody else does. And if you could lose your salvation, how many sins would you have to commit before you knew you really lost it? See, it’s always up in the air, and that’s not the truth of the gospel. If you truly understand the gospel, you will know. You cannot lose salvation, and that I wanna be able to show to you.

Remember, there is a lot of difference between having eternal security and not having assurance, having eternal security. You see, if I trust Christ as my Savior today and He saves me and gives me everlasting life, this is a difficult question. How long does eternal life last? Lo and behold, some people cannot figure this out. It’s like who is buried in grand stone. When was the war of 1812? Well, that’s a hard one. But can you know you have eternal life?

Now Warren just got that. But you can know that you have eternal life and you can have assurance of it. But there is a difference between eternal security and assurance, and I’ll show you what I’m talking about. You may lose assurance, but never eternal security. Because see, assurance can depend upon you, But eternal security depends on God. But you must first have assurance before you can lose it. How can you lose assurance if you never had it? So that day you trusted Christ as your savior, what did you do?

You trusted Him, believed that what He did on the cross, He paid for your sins and you believed that. And He saved you and gave you eternal life. And you knew I’m saved. Well, if you really understand that you had eternal life and it lasts forever. And what Christ did was for you, it can never be changed. So if you were saved, then you had the assurance that that moment I’m saved, I’m going to have, I’m saved means I can’t go to hell.

If I can still go to hell, then I’m not saved. Save means I’m saved from it. And I have eternal life. Now, who concerning the truth have heirs? So there’s people who can know the truth and then air from the truth. saying that the resurrection is passed already, and as the scripture says, overthrow the faith of some. So that means you have to have faith before it can be overthrown. You had to believe before you can have the questions and doubts whether or not you’re saved or not.

Now get this, the very next verse in 2nd Timothy in chapter two, in verse 19, it says this, nevertheless, the foundation of God stand assured, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are His. When I trusted Christ as my Savior and He saved me, do you think He remembers He saved me? He remembers. You may have questions and doubts later but He never has any questions and doubts. He knows all of His children. He knows everyone that’s ever been born into His family.

You see when you were born into the world you were not the child of God. He was your God and your Creator, but He’s not your Father, till you’re born into His family. So the day you trusted Christ as Savior, you’re born into God’s family, you have eternal life, and He’ll never cast you out in evolution. These are important things to remember. Now let’s just take a look at some of these verses. Take your Bible and look in John 3.36.

John chapter 3 and verse 36. And just look at what the verse says. In verse 36, John chapter 3, it says, He that believeth on the Son hath temporary life. Everlasting life. If you have everlasting life, how long would you have it? Well, some people think you have it until you sin again. If you You had eternal life until you sinned again. How long would you be able to keep it? You’re out of luck. Then why save you? If you can lose it with a very next sin, get this.

And he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abided upon him. So there’s those who believe that have everlasting life, and there’s those who will not believe, the wrath of God abided upon them, and they shall not see life. They will not have this eternal life, but those who believe do. So there’s believers and there’s unbelievers. God will not make you believe anything. Now look there in John chapter 5 and verse 24.

John chapter 5 and verse 24. Notice the importance of this verse. In verse 24 it says, verily, means truthfully, truthfully, God cannot lie. I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believe it on him that sent me hath, present tense, hath, right now, hath everlasting life and then get the last part. Shall not, that means in the future, shall not come into condemnation, means you can never be condemned again. And the only reason you can’t be condemned again is because, Well, that’d have to be a sin that he never paid for.

But if he paid for all of your sins, the reason you can’t be condemned again is because that sin has been paid. And that’s already been forgiven. And so this is why it’s so important to understand, I can never come into condemnation. God has already considered that you have died and passed into life. In other words, when did you die? The day you trusted Christ as your Savior, His death was put to your account. far as God is concerned, you’re dead.

You died and now you’re in heaven. But you haven’t got there yet. But this is good as done. Now that’s been able to take God in this word. That’s living by faith. So now we know the word of God says that you have eternal life and it is forever. Now look in Romans in chapter 4. Romans in chapter 4. Romans chapter 4 and they’ll put there in verse 5 and verse 5. Verse 5 says, but to him that worketh not but believe it.

There’s your contrast. One is it’s not by your works, not by what you do, but to him that worketh not but believeeth on him that justifyeth the ungodly. His faith is counted for righteousness. To him that worketh not. Now what part of that would you not understand. To him that work if not but believe it, it means all you’re doing is trusting and believing something. If you’ll believe the right thing, you can know you have eternal life if you’ll believe the right thing.

But if you believe a lie, you can’t have it and you’ll never have assurance because you see assurance should be based upon truth. And the truth is that day I trusted Christ as my Savior, He gave me eternal life and He had never cast me out and never lose me.” That’s some pretty good news. And look at the last verse I got on here. I want you to take your Bible looking first John chapter 5 and verse 13. First John chapter 5 verse 13.

Right hand page, right hand column, up toward the top. And you’ll notice in 1 John 5, 13, it makes this statement, these things have I written unto you.” I can say all kind of things in here, but you just look at what the book says. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God. You say, I believe on Him. I believe that He died and paid for my sin. Okay, you’ve got to believe the right thing.

And He says, these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may hope. Guess, think, maybe perhaps know that you have eartally so it’s written so you can know you have eternal life. Can you know you’re going to heaven? Well if you can’t know it then what’s this whole thing about? What do I need a Savior for? I was hoping before I ever met him. I was guessing before I ever met him.

What did the value of trusting him if I’m still hoping in guessing? He paid for my sins? What difference does it make if it doesn’t make a difference? But it does make a difference. Now, I want you to look at some of the, the reasoning and we’ll just look at this verse up on the screen. This is in John chapter 6 verse 37. I get what he says because you’re not going to be a good testimony for the Lord, a good witness for the Lord if you don’t know what to tell people.

You’ve got to be solid on these issues we’re talking about right now for you to be a and witness in wherever you go. And if you can’t answer these doubts and so forth that comes into your mind, how are you gonna help somebody else to have confidence and assurance? God can use you if you’re usable. In other words, be fit for the master’s use. These are important things to remember. These are things that I teach the kids in college.

And I do believe the people in the church I’ll also know these very same things. Now, all that the Father gives me shall come to me, and him that come to me, I will in no wise cast out. Well, as long as you don’t do anything wrong, then you add into it, see, I will in no wise cast out, he’ll not cast me out. He will not cast me out. Now, look in the next verse, John six and verse 39, all that the Father gives me shall come to me, and him that come out, no wise cast out.

And I think I read the wrong verse. The other one is simply that he will never cast you out, he’ll never lose you. He will never lose you. John 6, 37 and 39, those two verses, very powerful go together. Now here in John chapter 10 and verse 28, and I give unto them what kind of life? Eternal life. And then get the next part of the verse. They shall never perish. Now what part of that would you not understand?

Why can’t a person believe that he said what he meant? And they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. That is so very important. The very next verse says, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. And I have in here, cause I didn’t want to forget it. Demonstrate with the man in the hand. And I know that you want to know what that is. Now look up here. Most people think that, no, here you are, and here’s God.

And so if I wanna go to heaven, I gotta come to the Lord and get a good grip on God. And so if I hang on, and so for the next part of my life, as long as I live, I gotta hang on to God and do what God wants me to do. But if I, oh no, I’m starting to slip away. Oh, I’m slipping away. And next thing you know, all know I’ve lost my salvation. I’m going to hell.

So I gotta get right, so I gotta get right. Now where you going? Well, I’m going to heaven. Oh no, I’m slipping away. I’m losing my salvation. I’m backsliding. Now I’ve lost my salvation. You see, that is not the Bible. That is not the gospel. So the only people who believe you can be saved and lose your salvation because it depends on you, whether you perform or not, what you do. And that’s not the Bible. The Bible says that if I trust Him, He will save me.

Any difference? See, my salvation has nothing to do with me keeping anything. You see, I’m trusting Him. He said, He will save me. So am I going to heaven depends upon Him, keeping His word? I don’t have a word to keep. You see, I didn’t make God any promises or pledges to stop something, join anything. All I did is I am a sinner, and I’m gonna believe you died and paid for my sins and I’m gonna trust you to take me to heaven.

So my going to heaven depends upon him keeping his word. So he saves me. So in John 637, he says, I’ll never cast you out. John 639 says, I’ll never lose you. And in John 1028 says, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. So nobody can pluck you out of his hand. How secure am I? I am secure. So that’s how I know that I’m going to heaven because you can’t stop me.

God can’t stop me. And if God can’t stop me and you can’t stop me, I can’t stop me. And there’s nothing else in this world that can stop me. So see, it’s a done deal. He said, he that believe it on me had everlasting life. It’s good as done. And I’m going to heaven because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross for me. That’s why he gets all the honor and all the credit, all the glory. Why? Because he did all the work.

What did I do? Nothing, I just trust him. I will say it by grace. No man can cause you to lose your salvation. Because see, nobody is in charge of anybody else’s salvation. Nobody can determine whether or not I’m saved or I’m not. It’s not based upon your opinion. If we were to take a vote this morning, how many of y’all think the preacher ought to go to hell? Somebody would raise their hand. Some of you, I’d be scared to ask for real.

I mean, he ought to go to heaven. I’m glad my decision about me going to heaven does it rest in your hands. Wouldn’t that be scary? Would you like to ask your wife and let your destination depend upon her? That’s scary, wouldn’t it? It’s like astronaut. If you had to do it all again, would you still marry me again? Don’t ask. Just believe that yes, she will. But don’t ask. If he hesitates, you’ve had it.

My father, which gave them me, is greater than all. And no man is able to pluck them out of my father’s hand. So once you’ve trusted Christ as your savior, can anybody pluck you out of his hand? No. Now get this. If God won’t cast me out, no man can take my salvation. But what about myself? Can I do something to lose my salvation? I mean, what about me? I mean, you may not be able to have anything to do with it, but what if I decide, well, I don’t wanna go anymore, I’ve changed my mind.

Guess what? I’m gonna go to heaven whether I like it or not. It has nothing to do with me, changing my mind afterwards. I can’t say, I changed my mind, I don’t wanna go. Won’t work. Cause see, God cannot go against his word. He promised something and He has to deliver and He will deliver. Now, what part of this verse do you not understand? So many people have such a hard time understanding these two verses. These are two of my favorite verses in the whole Bible.

But get what He says here. For by grace are you saved. Now grace is not a girl. You might name your daughter Grace. But grace is unmerited. You don’t deserve it. For by grace are you saying, I can be saved, but I don’t deserve it. Means you did not earn it. You’re not worthy of it. But think for a moment, isn’t it true that most people think you have to be good to go to heaven and bad people go to hell?

Okay, if you had to be good to go to heaven, how good would you have to be? How long? Who determines how good you have? So that means you have to wait till you die. That’s why most people, they don’t know where they’re going when they die because they don’t know if they’re good enough. And some people think, well, if I’m gonna go to hell, I might as well have me a ball before I get there. That makes sense.

Don’t that make sense? If I’m going to hell, this is the only good time I’m gonna have. Whoo-hoo! Well, who lied to them? Well, you can’t know you’re going to heaven. Nobody knows that. Yes, they do. I know I have eternal life. How many of you in this room know beyond a shepherd? If you died right now, you go to heaven. Let me see you hand. Okay, put it down. Raise your arm, you lose your charm. Now, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.

If it’s the gift of God, it cannot be by works. Otherwise it could not be free. It couldn’t be a gift. When he makes the statement through faith, it means just by believing. It means I’m trusting something else other than me. to trust me is to trust my works. But if I trust somebody else, it’s got to be by faith. What part of that can a person understand? And look at the next verse. Ephesians 2, 9 says, not of works.

Well, when the Greek it really means not of works. I mean, because well, it all depends on how you interpret it. How would you interpret not of works? I would interpret it not of works. Well, it doesn’t really mean that. And then they try to explain what God really meant. Now, God said what he meant. It’s not a works. Why? Less any man should boast. See, the reason I’m going to heaven? Well, it’s because I’m such a good preacher.

It’s because, well, I love my wife and I go to church. You see, I’ve been a pretty good guy all my life. So I deserve to go. If I said that, would I be bragging? Would I be bragging? He says in the Bible it says not works. Less, any man should boast. So that can’t be the reason I’m going to heaven. But if I say I’m going to heaven and come to what he did for me… Then he gets the credit, he gets the honor, he gets the glory.

And that’s what Peter was singing about while ago. To whom gets all this glory? Now get this. James chapter 2. Because you know, if you could lose your salvation, that means it would have to depend on you. If your salvation depends on you, you can lose it. If your salvation depended on you, Yes, you can lose salvation, but you never got it. If it depends on you, because if your salvation depends on you, can you lose it? Well, you would, but look at the Bible.

Whosoever shall keep the whole law and offend in one point, he’s guilty of how much? One point. So if you wanna save yourself by your good works, have fun, but if you do one thing wrong, you blew it. So since you’ve been alive, have you ever done one thing wrong? You’re done. You’re cooked. I should have said that. You’re going to be cooked. It’s going to be hot. He must keep the law perfectly. Can you do that? So if somebody wants to earn their way to heaven by, okay, go ahead be good.

And you can lose because you see, you can’t save yourself. The next thing I wanted to show you is this, for as many as are of the works of the law or under the blessing. See if you had to earn your way to heaven by your works, why does God say you’re under a curse? You see if you’re by faith it’s a blessing. Isn’t it a blessing to be saved byADRA. But if He told you you had to save yourself by your good deeds, you’re under a curse.

Why? Because curse it is everyone that continues, if not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. You have to continue in everything perfectly and you can’t mess up one time. How are you doing? Got a problem? Aren’t you glad that salvation is by grace and grace alone? That’s what the Bible says. Galatians 3.11 makes it statement, but that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God. It is ever just shall live by faith.

So if a man cannot be justified by his works to get saved, how can he do good works to stay Well, you’re saved by grace. Why? Because you can’t save yourself. But after you’re saved, you’ve got to do good works to stay saved. What’s the difference? What’s the difference? There’s no difference in it. So you can’t do good works to get saved and your good works can’t keep you saved. Because you’d have to continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

And it says, no man is justified by the law in the sight of God. No man, no man. I don’t know what that means. Justified. I don’t know what that means. You’re not saved or made righteous by your works. Men, reserve the last Saturday of the month for the Iron Sharpen’s Iron Men’s Bible Study and Breakfast at Calvary Community Church. Join us at 730 for a home cooked breakfast. Then at 8 a.m. the featured speaker of the month will present a In a one-hour classroom style, men’s Bible study, in a relaxed atmosphere, where questions in dialogue are welcomed.

The scripture tells us that iron sharpens iron, and this men’s Bible study is open to those of all levels, whether new believers or mature Christians. The iron sharpens iron men’s Bible study and breakfast. Don’t miss this monthly opportunity for fellowship and the study of God’s Word. 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.