Bibleline Radio Show – 2020-05-21 – The Dangers Of Adding Works To The Gospel Pt.2


Transcription:

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Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word on Bibleline, here God’s truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, clearly declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family.

Number 5. 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. None 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 they go to heaven. Well, you got to keep the law. Well, it says they tried for 1500 years and none None of us have ever kept it.

And Peter says, why should we put a yoke of iron upon the next 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.

He can come all 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, well, 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 saved, they’re all wrong.

So how many is 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 and says, broad is the way that leads to what? To destruction and many that go in there 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 to die? 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, he said, Yankee, where are you going when you die? I’m going to heaven. I asked him in 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 says, 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? Because 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 died, 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, don’t die. And he said, 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. 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’s win them all. So down at the bottom, without this truth, men are blinded.

In whom the God of this world, which is the devil, hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God should shine under them. That’s why the most powerful thing in all the world that helps a blind man see is the light of the gospel. The light 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 seat 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 or man’s good works is part of Christianity. People will judge Christianity by the message that we preach. And so some people say, well, no, I’m not ready yet. What do you mean, 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.

It’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 He didn’t turn from sin.

But after you and I are saying, 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. IBCT, 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 why 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 to this world, then he says in verse to this world, but be a transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is a good and acceptable and 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 worked out of way. 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 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 believing and teaching church and learn sound doctrine.

sound doctrine comes from sound words and sound doctrine produces a sound mind and God says he have not given to us the Spirit of fear but of love power and a sound mind. Now look at number 10 it causes a split in the churches. In the book of Romans it makes a statement. Now I beseech you brethren, Markman which caused divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and joined them. Work for them, help them, support them.

No, it says avoid them. One of the greatest things you’ll ever have outside of the job you think you’ve got to have is a good strong church. I’ve had some people they get good and strong in a church and then they’ll move and it goes to some other times and goes, well, they’ll pay me more money and blah, blah, blah, blah. What do they have a good church? Well, I don’t know. And 99 times, there is no strong church from the go to it.

And then they lose their wife, they lose their kids, they lose everything. And they’re not faithful anymore. Don’t believe the same things anymore. Because you have to stay involved and stay coming and keep learning and endure those things with other believers so that you can continue serving God the way you should. you don’t you’re gonna fall by the wayside. It just happens. Look at number 11, number 11. Grace is stripped of its power when one work is added to the gospel.

The church loses its power and becomes a social club. I do not want our church to lose its power and all we’re interested in is we’re just a nice social club. But nobody ever trusts the Lord. Nobody wants to serve a Lord. Nobody wants to win people to Christ. Nobody cares about mission. Nobody cares about reaching people to the internet or to the YouTube or whatever. We want to try to reach people every way we can because we got confidence in the power of the gospel.

And if you add words to the gospel, it loses its power because people get confused and don’t trust the Lord and nothing happens. And nobody wants to become good witnesses because you never know if somebody ever really does trust the Lord. You know what was a blessing me the other day? My wife says this short person showed up. And anyway, she talked to them and she says, Yinqah, I led her to the Lord. Isn’t it nice when you know your wife is a soul winner?

And she leads people to the Lord too. And she does. And you’d be surprised how many people I’ve led to the Lord. Only because my wife says, Yinqah, go get him. She’ll open up the conversation and then say, Yankee, get him. Like I said, sick him to a bulldog. And she’ll start the conversation. Do you know where you going? No, Yankee, tell her. Set up your husband like that. It’ll embarrass him to know, but do it to him. Put him on the spot.

Say, look, I got something I want you to hear. I mean, this is awesome. You got to hear this. Go ahead, honey. He’ll go into cardiac arrest. That’s one way you can get rid of your husband. Not just joking here. Look at the next statement. When he says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the what? The means of having a good social club. Number 12, although the flesh could not perfect a new birth.

Are we now kept perfect by the works of the flesh? She says this in the book of Galatians. In chapter 3 and verse 3, he says, are you so foolish? Haven’t begun in this spirit. Are you now made perfect by the flesh? You were saved. Why? Because you were saved by grace. Why would you say by grace? Because you couldn’t save yourself by your works. But no confidence in the flesh. Now that you are saved, why are you going back to the flesh?

You don’t have to do that. You weren’t saved by keeping the law because you could, not that you’re saved, forget the law. There is the law of Christ, which is the law of love. And when you love the Lord, you’d be surprised. You want to do a lot more than the law ever talked about because you see, this will keep you going all the time. Love. Love is one of the most powerful motivating forces in your life. It’s kind of like this mom trying to get her son to, you know, cut his hair and take a bath and all that because well, he was one of these long hair hippie.

You know what frustration is? Ball-headed hippie. But anyway, there’s a long-haired hippie. He came out of the house and he walked down the street and he saw some people down here and walked up to him and he says, hi, what y’all doing? They said we’re killing all the sissies. Is that right? That’s called repentance. It’s called a change of mind. But he wouldn’t take a bath. Change his clothes. Wouldn’t brush his teeth. And all of a sudden this blonde bombshell walks by.

You know a 50% fallout. you up by and they’re only fell in love. All of a sudden he cuts his hair, you know about this year one hippie? Dad couldn’t find his son for months. Finally gave his good-of-hear cutting. There he was. But anyway, you find out that girl and love of that girl caused him to take a bath and use that spray lotion, you know that special deodorant they have called pit stop or whatever it was. Stereot deodorant doesn’t kill the smell you just can’t tell where it’s coming from but anyway brushed his teeth and I mean just cleaned up why because love love and love can make you do it love will make you clean up your life where laws and regulations won’t work when you fall in love with the Lord you be surprised how I just want to please them.

You want to please the one you really love. But how can you develop that? Because see, when I found out how much God loved me, and then I began to read the Bible, I just kind of fell in love with the Lord. And serving God is not hard for me because I love Him. But now if I didn’t love Him and I had to try to make myself do all the things that I’m supposed to do, well then that’s hard.

then it gets drudgery, then it’s boring, and then you just get drained, and then you’ve got that call, I’m just burn out. Well, that’s because you stop loving the Lord like you should. Look at the next statement. Number 13, it frustrates the grace of God. It renders the sacrifice of Christ useless and unnecessary. Number 16, it brings persecution to those who witness to the truth. When people who do tell the truth, There’s people who want to mock them because that’s that old Yankee aren’t all easy believerism.

I guess they want hard believerism. Why should it be hard for people to understand the gospel? You just got easy believing. If I make it easy for a child to understand, shouldn’t they be able to understand it? Go in the world and preach the gospel to every person who has a degree after their name. No, who did Jesus choose? He got some ignorant fishermen. Number 17, it denies the assurance of your salvation by the addition of one word. These things have are written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

If you have to add one word to the gospel, you cannot know you have eternal life. Because your eternal life and your eternal security depends upon did I perform and then how long do I have to perform and how well do I I have to perform and you’ll never know until you die.” And that’s a little late. I’m so glad that I settled this 58 years ago in a little old living room when my father-in-law, I didn’t know he was a son of his school teacher in the Baptist Church for 20 years.

And he told me the best news I ever heard. And all I had to do was trust Christ as my Savior and he would give me eternal life and I’d go to heaven when I died. So I trust Christ as my Savior. What does he give me? Eternal life. If it’s eternal life, how long did it last? Well, if it lasts forever and all my sins are paid, where am I gonna go and I die? You see, I can’t go to hell.

Why? I don’t have any sins paid for it. So you don’t deserve it. What is grace? You don’t deserve it. Well, la de da. But if I had one work to it, now I deserve it. Why? Because I trusted Christ in my Savior and I quit my smoking. Now, why are you going to heaven? Because I quit my smoking. Number 18, it calls the salvation to depend upon man’s reformation. And what does it do? It calls God a liar.

God says he cannot lie. You know what the Bible says? See, there’s a verse right here. It’s Hebrews, chapter 6, verse 8. God cannot lie. He can’t lie. But how did he say the man is saved? Well, Titus chapter 3 and… 5. is that not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy He saved. I’ve already been saved. I’m not trying to be saved. I’ve already been justified. Just if I never sinned, I’m not seeking to be justified.

Why? Because it’s already been done. I’m good to go. At the cross, Satan was defeated but he’s still around. I was saved and I’m going to heaven, but I’m still around. You see, He was defeated and I am victorious, but it ain’t over yet. I’m not in heaven yet, but I am just as victorious because Jesus was victorious. He gave me His victory and He had victory over sin and over death and over the devil and over the grave and all that was put to my account and I am victorious because I believe in the one who was.

What? Good preaching. Look up here. I want you to understand that the purpose of communion is because when we take the bread, we’re talking about he bore in his body all the sins of the world. All the sin of the world was laid upon him. And when he gave his light and payment for the sin, He shed his blood. Now, when we add works to the gospel, we mutilate the Lord’s Supper. It is a shame to say, I believe that you’re saved by grace, but, and you add some more to it, you’ve just destroyed the purpose of all this.

This is so, we’re a member of the only reason that I’m a saved man. The only reason I’m going to heaven is because Jesus Christ took all my sins in his own body and died in my place shed his blood. And I do this understanding this, that it has nothing to do with me because if I am saved by any of my works, then it frustrates the gospel. He says, I do not frustrate the gospel of Christ or set it aside.

For if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. All of this is in vain. If a man has to earn his way to heaven by his good works. works. I hope you understand this. 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 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. He’s 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, that He took all the sin and hatred on the cross, came back from the dead. And He says the only thing He wanted us to do was 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, nears 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 the 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 walked Bye. And you hope that you don’t die in the 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 depends on them. But the Bible says, if I trust Christ, He will save me. Now, am I going to heaven, doesn’t depend upon me, because I’m not hanging on to 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 you’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 him alone. Let’s pray, shall we? Every headbound, every eye closed, and no one looking around. If you hear this morning and you have never trusted Christ as your Savior. Why not write down the quietness of this moment? Or even if you’re watching by internet, the only thing you need to do is to be honest between you and the Lord, Lord, I’m a sinner, friend we all are, and that I cannot save myself.

And I’ve heard that Jesus Christ died on that cross pay for my sins, and right now I will trust him as my Savior, and if you’ll trust him, God will save you. He’ll give you eternal life, and you can know that you’re going to heaven whenever you die. It’s the gift of God’s not a works list any man should boast. I pray that you will. I’m gonna ask for just a moment, I’ll raise your hand. Raising your hand does not save you.

It only lets me know that what I said made sense to you. So with his bow and I just close it, anyone at all say yes, that made sense to me and I want to be certain of one to heaven and preach out like for you to pray for me and close it. We just slip you in it very quickly and put a right back down, say what at all. If you’re watching by internet right on the screen. All you have to do is just punch the screen and let’s us know that someone trusts the Lord.

You don’t have to do that because eternal life is free. Our Father, we thank again for your blessings, thank for all you do for us. And we thank you for this time that we can come before you understanding the purpose of the Lord’s Supper. That when you died, you died to give us eternal life, not temporary life. You took all our sins on your own body and shed your blood so that you would die, give your life so that we would have the chance to go to heaven.

But we know that you’ve given us the opportunity to believe or not to believe, to receive it or to reject it. And I pray, Lord, you will to be done. For those who have already trusted your Savior, or we asked you to work in their heart, or they know and understand that as a child of God, they should discipline themselves and walk with you. And if there’s anything in their light that needs to confess to you, they would do so.

Christ, Amen. Are you a new listener to Bibleline? Do you enjoy the teachings of Dr. Arnold? Well, if you’ve never contacted us before, we want to give you Dr. Arnold’s book, The Gospel Driven Man. Every day we receive many emails from folks who have questions about repentance and salvation, about faith in works, and about how to share the gospel with friends and loved ones. This book, The Gospel Driven Man, covers all those topics, and we want all new listeners of Bibleline to receive a free copy.

There’s no obligation, no donation necessary, simply call us at 1-800-576-3771 or write us and request your free copy of the Gospel-Driven Man. The mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Again, don’t forget to include your mailing address, and God bless you and thank you for listening to Bibleline. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline. If you are in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4081 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. Kata can meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believe it that the Lord is coming soon. Just keep in looking up.