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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.

Well, it’s good to see all of y’all here. You know, there was this one preacher, and he was a Calvinist and he would always tell the people, you know, whatever will be will be, whatever will be will be. And he’d always tell the people and says, now, why are we all here? They would always see in unison because of the providence of God. And so Sunday morning, Sunday night, he’d always say, why are we here? Because of the providence of God.

Week after week, that’s what it says. He got a chance to preach at the insane asylum. He says, now, why are we all here? And they says, because we’re not all there. Well, I hope that you’re here because you’re not all there. But I do want to talk to you about the truth. The dangers of adding works to the gospel because you need to understand what it does to people. And there’s such wonderful joy and peace and happiness when you know positively you have eternal life and you know that you’re going to have them when you die.

Now let me ask you to do me a favor. Turn your notes over and look at the very last two verses that are in bold on the bottom of the page. Any preacher who teaches contrary to these two verses do not understand the gospel. Now let’s just look at this. For by grace are you saved through faith that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. So anybody that adds any works to the gospel, you know it’s wrong.

But there’s preachers who do this by adding works to the gospel without knowing that they’re doing it. And they may know that they’re doing, but there’s probably a law that very innocents and seer and they just don’t know the damage that they’re doing by adding works to the gospel. When the Bible makes this statement in the book of 1 John 5, 13, these things have I written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

The only way you can know you have eternal life that know that you’re going to heaven when you die is because it has to be free and last forever. If it’s not free, you can’t know you’re going to heaven. If it doesn’t last forever, you can’t know you’re going to heaven and you can’t know you’re going there until you know that you cannot go there. Now I cannot go to hell. He said, well, who do you think you are?

You’ve ever seen a saint? Not Bernard, but you’ve ever seen a saint so that you can get a chance to see what a saint looks like. Now, why do y’all laugh? I am a saint. He said, who say I so, God? I am a saint. I have been made pure and holy and set apart, I belong to the Lord. I am his child and I’m going to heaven when I die. So whenever we speak, and I’ve told the kids in college the same thing, I’ll say we’re supposed to keep it clear, keep it clear, keep it easy.

He says, feed my sheep, not my giraffes, put the food down on the bottom where people can get ahold of it. But look there in your notes, in your notes, page one, where it has in Habakkah chapter two, and the Lord answered me and said, write the vision and make it plain, that he may run that reads it. In other words, we have a lot of people running. But they haven’t got the message right. Get the message right first before you go running and telling people how to go to heaven.

Because if you tell them wrong, there’s a great price to pay. And we need to be clear on what the gospel is. The next scripture says in 2 Corinthians 3 in verse 12, seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech. because we have such hope, just joyful anticipation. We know we’re going to heaven. So those that know they’re going to heaven are supposed to make it plain, make it clear, make it easy to be understood.

Look at the next scripture. 1 Corinthians 14, seven says, and even things without life giving sound, whether piped your heart, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped our heart? How shall it be known? If they don’t understand what we’re saying, how are they going to know how to respond to it? You see, whenever you say Christ paid for all the sins of the world and all you have to do is believe and repent and change your life and make Him the Lord and Master, well that’s confusing.

You just confused the whole thing. What you said wasn’t clear. Now you may know what you mean by what you said, But you need to define your term so that the person you’re talking to knows what you’re saying. Look at the next statement. In verse 8, for if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? Can you see the horses are all lined up and everybody’s on their horse and everybody’s ready to charge. He says, sound the charge and the guy gets his trumpet.

What? His name’s Jesse. He got his trumpet and he’s playing. Now, something’s not going to be clear. They don’t know whether the dance or the charge. If the trumpet gives an uncertain sound. So there’s people who are ready to commit their life to Christ and promise to serve the Lord with all their heart, but never trust them as their only hope to get to heaven. Because somebody wasn’t clear. Look at the next statement. In verse 9, so likewise, you accept the other by the tongue, words, easy to be what?

Easy to be understood. How shall it be known? What is spoken? Because then you’re just speaking into the air. If people do not, see, the gospel isn’t made clear because I understand what I said. The gospel is clear when the lost man understands what I’ve said. Look at number one, these are some of the things that happened because the message is not made simple and clear. It stops a Christian from a clear witness because if you don’t know what to say and make it clear and simple, you’re going to be confusing and you’re not going to have the results and so So therefore you’re gonna quit, you’re not gonna do it.

But God have chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. God have chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. Doesn’t that give you hope? Doesn’t it give you joy, God can use you? Why? Well I know God can use me. I’m about as foolish as you can get. God has chosen to base things of the world. Who would have ever thought that God could ever use this old dumb Georgia heel belly for anything?

See, God does work miracles. It is a miracle. But now, notice what I just put in here in this little sentence. God has chosen the simplest means to receive eternal life. What all you got to do is what? They leave. You can’t get it any simpler than that. That’s not complicated. It’s not hard to understand. And if I had one word to it, I confused it. Because if I gave you 10 reasons on how to know you’re going to heaven, I just gave you 10 reasons on how to bout your salvation.

Because if you don’t perform, you don’t know if you’re going or not. That’s why it’s not of works which we have done. Look at number two, it implies that a person becomes a fool when persuaded to add works to the gospel. You see, we’ve been studying the book of Galatians. When he says, oh, foolish Galatians, why would he call them these Galatians fools? Because they were saved by grace, and somebody told them, you’ve got to keep the law to be saved.

Oh, we didn’t know that. So now they’re under the law. And you’ve got to take and be circumcised, and you’ve got to blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, who confused him? Well, somebody told him something contrary to the truth. He says in chapter one of Galatians in verse six, He says, I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ into another God, another God, which is not another. In other words, there’s not two gospels.

There’s only one gospel, and the truth to gospel is by grace and grace alone. A false gospel is when you add something to it, and the man can’t do anything to grace except add works to it, because grace means it’s free. Now, how are you going to add to it? Anything other than free. You’re going to have to add a work. And works means a human performance. And that is not the gospel. And so God says it makes a person a fool.

All those people who believe you have to do something, they are foolish. You see, that foolish teaching didn’t come from God. It didn’t come from God’s man that was teaching the truth. It has to come from a liar. Satan is a liar and people believe his lie. And so the way to destroy salvation by grace is to add works to it, then grace doesn’t work. Why? Because you can’t have it both ways. Grace means not of works. Works means not of grace.

You can’t be saved both ways. Look at number three. It is a false message promoted by Satan and his angels angels for such are false apostles. This is, Paul’s saying that there are people who are false apostles, deceitful workers transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marble for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of life. Therefore, it is no great thing. Of his ministers, Satan’s ministers, also be transformed into the ministers of righteousness whose end shall be according to their works.

So they’re saying you’ve got do good works and they’re going to be judged by their works. I’m so glad I’m not going to be judged!? For my eternal salvation. You see it’s already been taken care of. When Christ died on the cross, I believe he did it for me. So his payment became my payment. His death became my death. His burial became mine and his resurrection became mine. His ascension became mine. His city in the heaven He’s become mine.

So where am I right now in the eyes of God? I’m in heaven already. You just don’t see me. You still see me here. Can’t you see me here? I am. God sees me there because that’s as good as done. Oh, that’s wonderful. I like that. Number four, it is taught to return believers back into bondage. You that know Christ is your Savior. You know you’re going to heaven because you just trusted Christ as your only hope of going to heaven.

You believe that? And then somebody comes along and says, You know you got to turn from your sins. If you don’t turn from your sin and make Christ the Lord the master of your life, that’s a sign you’re not really saved. So then you doubt your salvation because I still got sin in my life. And Christ is not really the Lord and master of every area of my life. Because if he’s not Lord of all, he’s not Lord at all.

You ever heard that? That’s ridiculous. I’ve had kids, three of them, hard way, one wife. And when my kids, they obeyed some things I said, I said, but not everything that I said. Sometimes I would tell them three things. They always forget too. And so they would obey one thing, but not do everything. So God’s gonna reward us for the things that we do for Him when we get to heaven, but we’re not gonna get rewarded for the things we didn’t do.

So that means we didn’t do everything. Duh. So He says here, and that because a false brethren unaware’s brought in. I used to, when I first just thought, I thought, what are they doing running under worship? And that because of false brethren, unawares, brought in who came in privately to spy out liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus that they might bring us into bondage. This bondage is accomplished by requiring you to perform one work to secure your salvation.

In other words, believing is not enough. But if you do this one day, it’ll be secure. Now you’re, well, I want to, did I do enough? Well, you’ve got to go to church. Oh, okay. Which one? course. Oh, you got to give money. Oh, that’s good. Where? Here. Aren’t you glad that’s not in the Bible? He that believeth on me hath everlasting land. That’s all you requires. Just believe. Look at number five. Number five, it is a religion that has never saved one person.

Just think of this. as long as human beings have been on the planet, not one person has ever earned their way to heaven by their good works, not one. So why would you tell somebody this is what you got to do when nobody’s ever done it? And where do you find it in the Bible where one man was saved because of his works? Find it, you won’t. All have sinned, I found that. There’s none good, well I found that verse.

done righteous. Well, I found that verse, but you won’t find a verse where it says this one man, he made it. It’s not in the Bible. So therefore, we don’t want to teach something that we can’t prove. Prove that somebody ever kept the 10 commandments to go to heaven. Well, you got to keep the law. Well, it says they tried for 1500 years and none of us have ever kept it. And Peter says, why should we put a yoke of iron upon the necks of the disciples which we know our fathers were able to bear?

But we believe that through grace and grace alone, we shall be saved Jews, even as they, Gentiles are saved. We’re saved the same way by faith and faith alone, not by any works of any good deed. You are not securing your salvation by coming to church and giving money. Though I appreciate it. You can give more if you want. You can come more often if you want. But you don’t secure yourself. Your salvation is secure because you trusted Christ as your Savior and He saved you.

Now you can take Him at His word or you can listen to whatever somebody else wants to say. You cannot be secured anymore. That day I trusted the Lord 58 and a half years ago. I was just as saved that moment as I am today and nothing since then can even change it. I can’t change it. God can’t change it. He can’t alter it. He can’t cast me out. He can’t lose me. He can’t unsave me. It’s impossible. Best news I’ve ever heard in my life.

Look at the next scripture. Where it has number six, it is a curse on all who preach it. Men are angels. But though we are an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be a curse. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you, well, how do you know what another gospel is. If you preach any other gospel, give me a definition.

What is another gospel? Well, when your ad works to it, then it’s false. Think of how many religions are in the world, all the religions in the world. How do you know which one’s right? Anyone that requires you to do more than just trust Christ as you’re saying they’re all wrong. So how He’s wrong. Whole bunch. Think of how big they are. Well, they must be right. Look how many people believe it. Okay. Is how many people believe something is what makes it right?

Is the majority always right? Well, of course. Now, before you follow the crowd, you better make sure what direction they’re headed. When you studied the book of Matthew chapter 7, it says, broad is the way that leads to what? to destruction and many that go in their head. And narrow is the way few there be that find it. So the majority is all wrong. And it’s only by Christ and Him alone that gets the credit for anybody going to heaven.

It’s because of what Christ did on the cross for us. You look down at the number seven. It not only causes the loss to be blinded, but it keeps them blinded. Without the truth of the gospel, they will forever be lost, and without the truth of the gospel, they will forever be blinded. So there’s people in this world that are blind. You say, where are you going today? Well, I don’t know, you’re blind. Well, you don’t know who you are.

You don’t know where you’re going. You don’t know how to get there. You’re blind. You don’t see. If somebody asked me, where you going when you die? I’m going to heaven. I asked the man this yesterday the other day. And this is not a joke. Now I told him about a guy that I had talked to. I said, where are you going to go when you die? He says Tennessee.

Okay. I said, why Tennessee? He says, that’s where my parents are going to bear me. I said, and that’s all I believe is going to happen to me. I’m just going to die and that’s it. That’s it. I said, have you ever died before? He said, no. I said, then you don’t know that’s true, do you? you haven’t done it before. I said, but I know somebody who did die and come back from the dead and he tells me a whole bunch of stuff.

Because I talked to him about the Lord. And this guy, which was this week, I asked him, I said, where are you going to die? He says, when I die, that’s it. I said, that’s all. He said, yeah, I told him the same thing I told the other. So I told him, I said, would you do me a favor? He said, sure. And I said, I say, I can’t control that. I said, I know. I says, you need to understand, regardless of what you say or think, the Bible is still true and God is God.

And he says there’s a heaven and he says there’s a hell. And he says, the only way to get to heaven is by trusting Christ is say that there is no other option. There’s no plan B or C or D. Anyway, he would not believe it. I said, do you understand what I’m saying? He said, I understand what you’re saying. I said, will you believe it? No. Can’t win them all. So down at the bottom, without this truth, men are blinded.

In whom the God of this world, which is a devil, hath blinded the mind of them which believed not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. That’s why the most powerful thing in all the world that helps a blind man see is the light of the gospel. of the gospel is the truth, the truth. And the truth of the gospel is God loves you. That’s the truth. And you and I have sinned and that’s the truth.

And the wages of sin is death and that’s the truth. And we’re going to spend an eternity in hell and that’s the truth. And we cannot earn our way to heaven and that’s the truth. But God loves us so much He sent His Son and that’s the truth and He died on the cross and that’s the truth. And He died and paid for all of our sins and that’s the truth came back from the dead. And that’s the truth.

And He says the only thing He wanted us to do is believe the truth. And when you believe the truth, He puts that payment to your account. I have a payment for all of my sins. Why should Christ down the cross and pay for all my sins? Well, because He did it because He loved me. And He paid for my because he didn’t want me to do it. He really loves me, but he loves you too. I don’t want you to think that.

He doesn’t. Look at the top of the page, it causes the loss to think that God’s or man’s good works is part of Christianity. People will judge Christianity by the message that we preach. And so some people say, we know I’m not ready yet. What do you mean that you’re not ready? I’m not ready to change my life. I’m not ready to go to church. I’m not ready to stop my sins. I’m not, whoever told them they had to.

That’s not in the Bible. It is in the Bible that after you have trusted Christ as your Savior, that it is the will of God for his children to depart from iniquity. But God never tells the lost man to turn from sin. That’s what it comes from repentance. No, it doesn’t. Repent means to change your mind. Think differently. Don’t think you can save yourself by your good works. Put your trust in Jesus Christ. Even God repented, but it didn’t turn from sin.

But after you and I are saved, yes, God says for his children a lot of things he tells us to do. And then he says this in chapter 12 of the book of Romans. I beseech you therefore, brother, by the mercies of God to the believer that you present your body as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. You see, salvation is one thing. That’s what we just trust Christ. But for service to live for the Lord, that’s after I’m saved because of what He’s done for me.

Then I present my body as a living sacrifice to the Lord, but I don’t do that to get saved. Then it’s works for salvation. Then He says in verse two, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is a good and acceptable perfect will of God. See, God wants us to be transformed, but this is after we’re saved and by renewing our mind to think the way God wants us to think.

So the Bible is God’s mind on paper, so we study the Word of God and we’re putting God’s mind in our thoughts. And then it’ll work that away. Look at the next statement. Number nine, because this is found in the book of Galatians, where it says in chapter 5 and verse 7, he says, you did run well. Who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth? Who hindered you? Because they used to believe the truth about the gospel.

Now there’s people who are telling them contrary to it, and now they’re not running so well. You see, truth is a very powerful motivating thing. But when you start believing lies, it just takes and saps the motivation out of you, shaps the strength out of you, and you can’t go. So he says here in number nine, it causes the save to be confused because you get to where you really don’t know what to believe. That’s why you need to get into a good Bible believer in teaching church and learn sound doctrine.

Sound doctrine comes from sound words and sound doctrine produces sound mind and God says He have not given to us the spirit of fear but of love, power, and a sound mind. This is you and me. No wallet represents sin. We all have sin on us. God, now He loves us. He hates our sin but He loves us. And for you and I to pay for sin is eternal separation from God in hell. But He loves us and wants us to go to heaven.

But to go to In the heaven we have to be perfect, no sins. But because of sin, we can’t get in. So God says, you cannot earn eternal life impossible. So this hand represents Jesus Christ. They used the Lord God in the flesh. He came into this world, he had no sin, he didn’t have to die. But because he loved us, he hated our sins, because our sins separated us from him. And so what he did, because he loved the whole world, He took all the sin and paid for it on the cross.

He came back from the dead. And he says, the only thing he wanted us to do is believe that he did it for us. It’s the gift. It’s free. Jesus Christ is my payment. So when I accept Jesus Christ, I have a payment for how many of my sins? All of my sins. And he said, he would never cast me out, never lose me. And he says, I am in his hands. And he said, he had never cast me out and never lose me.

Now let me show you this very quickly. Here’s the Lord, and here’s me. I thought for a while that to go to heaven, you have to be good. So I’d get a good grip on God. See, now I’m hanging on to God. And so I had mixed emotions. There was time when I thought I’m pretty good. And then there’s time when I know I’m pretty bad. So as long as I’m good, I’m going. When I’m bad, I’m not. So all depends on just how good I am.

And so there’s people, even, believe it or not, that think they’re going to heaven because, well, I go to church and I sing in the choir. I’m one of those demons, I mean deacons. And so I got a good grip and then some good looking blonde bombshell won’t buy. Ah, ah! And you hope that you don’t die middle of some bad thought or something. See, this is a person who’s trying to save themselves. That’s the person who believes they can lose their salvation.

The only one who can lose their salvation is the one who is trying to save themselves. That means they’re not trusting Christ. They’re trusting themselves. If they believe you can lose it, it’s because they’re trying to save it. It It depends on them. But the Bible says, if I trust Christ, he will save me. Now, my going to heaven doesn’t depend upon me because I’m not hanging on anything. He’s got me. And he says, no man can pluck you out of my hand.

He said, I will never cast you out. I’ll never lose you. So if he’ll never cast me out, never lose me. And nobody can pluck me out of his hand. Where am I going when I die? The heaven. See the difference? I’m saved by grace. I’m being saved because he gave me eternal life as a gift. This person is trying to earn his way to heaven. This person can lose his salvation and he doesn’t have salvation because there is no other salvation.

There’s only one gospel and that’s where you trust Jesus Christ and below. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you are blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach by the line and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll Learn more at 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. To listen to today’s message again or to obtain a message again, please visit us at www.beadaholique.com to purchase beading supplies and to get design ideas!

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Thanks for joining us on Bibleign, 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, and just keep looking up.