Why Not Live Like the Devil?

Summary

Podcast Summary: Grace in Focus

Episode: Why Not Live Like the Devil?
Host: Grace Evangelical Society (Bob Wilkin & Ken Yates)
Date: February 19, 2026
Duration: 13 minutes

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Overview

In this thought-provoking episode, Bob Wilkin and Ken Yates grapple with a classic challenge to Free Grace Theology: "If salvation is secure—if ‘once saved, always saved’ is true—then what motivation is there for Christians to live righteously? Why not just ‘live like the devil’?" Drawing from personal experiences, Scripture, and pastoral wisdom, the hosts unpack common accusations against Free Grace teaching, including antinomianism, and argue for grace—not law or fear—as the true motivation for godly living. The episode also previews key themes for their upcoming national conference.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Introduction to the National Conference (01:01–02:40)

• The hosts introduce the annual Grace Evangelical Society Conference (May 18–21, 2026, Camp Koppass, Denton, TX), themed "Everlasting Life and Abundant Life."
• Breakdown: Plenary sessions for all attendees and breakout sessions covering diverse Free Grace issues. All sessions later made available online.
• Purpose: To address both the assurance and experience of eternal and abundant life as offered by Jesus.

2. The “Why Not Live Like the Devil?” Question (02:40–05:13)

• The recurring criticism: If salvation cannot be lost, does this encourage sinful living?
• Ken Yates (03:16):
  “Calvinists say they believe in once saved, always saved…But they don’t know if they have it…So I’ve got to keep on keeping on in order to find out if I’ve got it or…to ensure I keep it if I’m an Arminian.”
• Bob Wilkin (04:51):
  “If we say, hey, once you have eternal life, you can never lose it…you’re going to encourage [people] to do it, you’re going to give them a false sense of assurance and…they’re just going to go out and live like the Devil.”

3. Responding to the Charge of Antinomianism (05:13–06:32)

• Free Grace advocates are often labeled “antinomian” (against God’s law).
• Ken Yates (05:46): “If you are someone who believes in work, salvation, or lordship salvation, you are promoting sin. They promote sin because legalism produces sin. Read Romans 7:13–25.”
• Supporting Argument:
  Legalistic focus on commandments (rather than Spirit-led living) paradoxically increases sinful behaviors.

4. Paul’s Struggle and the Spirit-filled Solution (06:32–07:24)

• Referencing Romans 7 and 8: Paul's frustration under legalism and his victory through walking by the Spirit.
• Ken Yates (06:54): “The Holy Spirit is going to enable me to walk in the resurrection power of Christ, overcoming the deadness of my body…Second Corinthians 5…we who are in these bodies were groaning, looking forward to the day when our bodies are changed.”

5. Legalism vs. Grace: Which Promotes Holiness? (07:24–08:46)

• Legalistic striving produces the “works of the flesh” (see Romans & Galatians).
• Ken Yates (08:07): “It’s not that…someone who is saying, ‘I’m going to rebel against God.’ Just the opposite. It’s the person who says, ‘I’m going to really, really follow the command…’ You do that, [and] that doesn’t produce holiness. That produces sin…By faith in Christ, I am absolutely sure that I am secure forever. That promotes holiness.”

6. Personal Testimony and the Transformational Power of Assurance (08:52–10:44)

• Ken shares his journey from a perfectionistic, works-based faith to Free Grace belief. Assurance led to a deeper desire to please Christ.
• Ken Yates (09:19): “When I came to faith, guess what happened? …My longing and desire is to please the Lord Jesus Christ. I long to hear him say, ‘Well done good and faithful servant.’ I live each day in light of the fact that he’s coming again and I’m going to stand before him at the judgment seat of Christ.”
• Real-life motivations against sin: personal transformation, warning from negative family experiences (e.g., growing up with alcoholism), and a sense of future accountability.

7. Logical Reasons Not to Sin—Christian or Not (10:44–12:29)

• Both hosts discuss the practical downsides of sinful living—destructive consequences that anyone can recognize.
• Bob Wilkin (10:44): “Grace is the greatest motivation to live…a godly life, not…a sinful life. But even if we just look at it logically…those things…why wouldn’t I take drugs? Why wouldn’t I become a drunk? Well, it’s expensive. It’ll ruin my life.”
• Ken Yates (11:31):
  “It ruins your marriage and it ruins your family and you’re going to get lots of sexually transmitted diseases and you’re going to have lots of turmoil in your life.”
• Bob Wilkin (12:23): “Wisdom literature in the New Testament, James or Proverbs in the Old Testament, it’s stupid to live that way.”

8. Biblical Foundation and Closing Encouragement (12:29–12:54)

• Bob Wilkin (12:31): “But more importantly, once saved, always saved is biblical. It’s what the New Testament teaches. John 5:24 and so many other verses in the Gospel of John.”
• Listeners are encouraged to attend the conference for deeper dives on assurance, grace, and godly living.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ken Yates (03:27):
  “The idea that everlasting life by itself being secure might lead someone to live like the devil is not really the question…the question is: if you…are absolutely sure…you are secure forever…why aren’t you getting high on cocaine every day…involved in immorality?”
• Bob Wilkin (11:47):
  “And if you’re an important person, you come out on the Epstein list, right?”
• Ken Yates (11:55): “If I’m eternally secure, why wouldn’t I break my leg, Right? Well, yeah, I guess I could, but that just doesn’t appeal to me…If you understand reality…the way the Bible explains life, then you know that the wages of sin is death…I mean, the wisdom literature, it’s horrible for you.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:01–02:40 — Overview of the conference and its relevance to today’s topic
• 02:40–05:13 — "Why not live like the devil?"—understanding the objection
• 05:13–06:32 — Antinomianism and the sin-provoking nature of legalism
• 06:32–07:24 — Paul’s experience in Romans 7–8: Law vs. Spirit
• 07:24–08:46 — Legalism vs. grace: what produces godly living?
• 08:52–10:44 — Ken Yates’ personal testimony of grace and motivation
• 10:44–12:29 — Common sense (and biblical) reasons to reject sin
• 12:29–12:54 — Affirmation of eternal security and biblical teaching

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Tone and Approach

• Warm, conversational, personal, and peppered with humor and honesty.
• Theological precision balanced with practical wisdom and empathy for skeptics.
• Open invitation for ongoing engagement—including conference participation and further study.

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Summary

The episode offers a robust defense of Free Grace Theology against claims that it encourages sinful living. Bob and Ken argue that true assurance and understanding of grace actually inspire deeper devotion to Christ. Legalism, they contend, is more likely to fuel sin, while grace sets believers free to pursue holiness. The hosts back their points with both Scripture and real-life examples, ultimately pointing listeners to the transforming power of life in Christ—and inviting them to explore these themes further at their upcoming conference.

Transcript

[Announcer]

The following is a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society. If grace is free and leads to assurance that we have eternal life that can never be lost, then what is the motivation to walk in the light and to live in fellowship with God? Why not live like the devil, as some say will happen? Hello friend. We're glad you're joining us today on Grace in Focus. This is the radio broadcast and podcast ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. Our web site is faithalone.org Lots to learn about us there, a number of things to interest you. We would especially like to invite you to our National Annual Conference 2026, happening May 18th through the 21st. You can get all the details, all the information you need right there on our website, faithalone.org get signed up. We'd love to have you with us. And now with today's question and answer discussion, here's Bob Wilken along with Ken Y.

[Bob Wilkin]

Bob, we're gonna do a few episodes on our upcoming national conference. So why don't you tell us a little bit about that national conference that we're having up here in North Texas here in a few months?

[Ken Yates]

Yeah, it's gonna be in Denton at Camp Koppass, May 18 through 21. Our theme this year is going to be everlasting life and abundant life, because the life that Jesus gives us is a life that's capable of greater or lesser fulfillment, greater or lesser experience in this life. Of course, in the life to come, we'll have that abundant life forever, although that too will vary depending on what we do in this life. And that'll be part of this conference. And so what we're going to do in the next few radio shows is go through some of the messages which have been proposed for plenary message plenary meaning all. In other words, all the conferees will be together to hear these. And these are some common questions or issues related to both everlasting life and abundant life.

[Bob Wilkin]

And for those who've never been to one of the conference, what Bob just mentioned, plenary, that's when everybody's together. But there's also breakout sessions.

[Ken Yates]

It's six or seven sessions where there's three or four different messages going on at the same time and the conferees pick which one they want to go to. Then after the conference, we make all the audio available and we also videotape these and put those up on YouTube over the course of the next six months or so.

[Bob Wilkin]

So if you've never been to the conference, we would encourage you to look at that Possibility. Come on out and be with us. It's always a great time being with free grace people. And we can go to these, both plenary and the breakout sessions. So again, if you haven't been, hope you come. Okay, so on our list here, one of the plenary titles is going to be why not live like the devil? And I'm sure that all of our listeners have heard that before. Right. If we have eternal life that can never be lost, once saved, always saved, then why not live like the devil?

[Ken Yates]

Well, it's not quite like that, as you know. You see, Calvinists say they believe in once saved, always saved.

[Bob Wilkin]

Exactly.

[Ken Yates]

But they don't know if they have it.

[Bob Wilkin]

Right.

[Ken Yates]

So if you say everlasting life is everlasting, so why not go out and live like the devil? Well, the reason is because I don't know if I have it. So I've got to keep on keeping on in order to find out if I've got it or in order to ensure I keep it if I'm an Arminian. Right, right. So the idea that everlasting life by itself being secure might lead someone to live like the devil is not really the question. The question is if you, Ken Yates, are absolutely sure that no matter what you do, you are secure forever, you're going to be with the Lord forever. And you know that because of John 3:16. Right?

[Bob Wilkin]

Right.

[Ken Yates]

Well, then why aren't you getting high on cocaine every day? Right. You could, right? Why aren't you getting drunk every day? Why aren't you involved in immorality? Why not go and be involved in a life of immorality? I mean, you could have all kinds of mistresses on the side and things. And pastors do this, right? Some. Now they're not doing it because they think they're eternally secure. They're doing that because they've got some besetting sin in their life and they get duped by ultimately the devil. But we hear this question a lot because people pooh, pooh the idea that simply by believing in Jesus they have eternal life. Right.

[Bob Wilkin]

Let me piggyback on that. What you're saying grace people, that's what we're accused of is if we say, hey, once you have eternal life, you can never lose it. The Calvinist, the Lordship, the Arminian guy is going to say, well, if you tell people that you're going to encourage them to do it, you're going to give them a false sense of assurance and, and they're just going to go out and live like the Devil.

[Ken Yates]

And they call us. They have a special curse name for us. It's called antinomian, from the Greek word namas, meaning law. And they say we're against God's commandments.

[Bob Wilkin]

Right.

[Ken Yates]

That we're actually encouraging people to go out and live like the devil.

[Bob Wilkin]

Yeah. The word they often use is we're promoting. We're promoting sin. That's exactly right. So is that true? If you teach grace and eternal security, are you promoting sin?

[Ken Yates]

See, I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but if you are someone who believes in work, salvation, or lordship salvation, you are promoting sin. They promote sin because legalism produces sin. Read Romans 7, 13:25. What Paul's talking about there is early in his Christian experience, before he came into contact with some legalists, he was enjoying his walk with Christ and he was experiencing the type of growth that God expected for him. But then he began to focus on the Commandments. Somebody guided him into a fixation on the Commandments, which would have been easy

[Bob Wilkin]

when he was a new believer, to do that because he was a Pharisee right before that.

[Ken Yates]

So he focused on the Commandments. And he said, when I focused on the Commandments, I. I found myself doing the things I didn't want to do. He ends that chapter by saying, wretched man who will deliver me from this mortal body, this body of death. And his answer in chapter eight is what?

[Bob Wilkin]

Walking by the Spirit.

[Ken Yates]

The Holy Spirit is going to enable me to walk in the resurrection power of Christ, overcoming the deadness of my body. Because this body needs renovation. Right. I need it to be glorified day by day. I see that more and more. Second Corinthians 5, 2 and 4 says, we who are in these bodies were groaning, looking forward to the day when our bodies are changed.

[Announcer]

It's coming. It'll be here before you know it. What am I talking about? The Grace Evangelical Society's National Conference 2026, May 18th through the 21st at Camp Kopas, an absolutely beautiful campground in North Tex. Right on the lake with lots of recreation, great food, a great place to stay, wonderful fellowship and wonderful free grace Bible teaching information and online registration [e-mail] events. First timers waive registration fees. Faithalone.org events well, both in Romans and

[Bob Wilkin]

in Galatians, when it talks about the works of the flesh, we're talking about legalism, right?

[Ken Yates]

Right.

[Bob Wilkin]

The works of the flesh produce this.

[Ken Yates]

Right. It's not that the deeds of the flesh or to walk in the flesh is someone who is saying, you Know what? I'm going to rebel against God. Just the opposite. It's the person who says, I'm going to really, really follow the command. I'm going to keep a list. I'm going to put it on my mirror. I'm going to put it on my mirror in my car. I'm going to keep it in my pocket. I'm going to check it every five minutes. Right. You do that. That doesn't produce holiness. That produces sin. What I would say is this the position that by faith in Christ, I am absolutely sure that I am secure forever. That promotes holiness.

[Bob Wilkin]

Yeah, you have to start with grace and faith alone. Who I am in Christ. That's where it starts, Godly living.

[Ken Yates]

Well, let me give you an example. I came out of an extreme, sinless perfection holiness cult before I came to faith. I was taught if you committed one sin after you were born again, you lost your salvation and could never get it back. I was taught in that group that this idea that if you believed you were secure, you would go out and live like the devil.

[Bob Wilkin]

Well, sure, it's so common that we

[Ken Yates]

hear this, but when I came to faith, guess what happened? I was pre med. My life was driven toward going to medical school and becoming a doctor. And as soon as I came to faith, my interest in medical school went away. And I decided I wanted to spend the rest of my life telling people about this.

[Bob Wilkin]

And part of that was what Bob ain't going to say is that he was just starting advanced chemistry, so.

[Ken Yates]

That's right. I didn't want to take organic chemistry. That's right. But you know, the thing about it is I found in my experience. Now, experience doesn't prove anything, but all I'm saying is I found in my experience the exact opposite. My longing and desire is to please the Lord Jesus Christ. I long to hear him say, well done, good and faithful servant. I live each day in light of the fact that he's coming again and I'm going to stand before him at the judgment seat of Christ. And the idea that somehow I'm motivated to be an alcoholic. Having grown up in an alcoholic family and seeing the devastation that causes, I don't drink at all. And I could and I believe the Bible actually says a lot of nice things about wine. Right. But since I'm a child of an alcoholic, it doesn't make a lot of sense for me to drink. And the idea of rebelling against God is stupidity. Do I want to be like the prodigal son?

[Bob Wilkin]

Well, that's what when we first started off and you said, well, if we. If we believe, once saved, always saved. Why don't I go out and take drugs? Well, have you seen what a meth person's teeth looks like? I mean, I'm just talking.

[Ken Yates]

You know what they are? They're all messed up.

[Bob Wilkin]

They're all messed up. That's right. I mean, when you look at. Just take the theology out of it. First of all, grace is the greatest motivation to live. That's what we're saying. Grace is the greatest motivation to live a godly life, not to live a sinful life. But even if we just look at it logically, you know, those things you list, why wouldn't I take drugs? Why wouldn't I become a drunk? Well, it's expensive. It'll ruin my life. You know, just. I'm just talking about logically, why not have a bunch of mistresses? Because just look around and see what that does to people's lives.

[Ken Yates]

It ruins your marriage and it ruins your family and you're going to get lots of sexually transmitted diseases and you're going to have lots of turmoil in your life. You're going to be balancing all these relationships.

[Bob Wilkin]

And if you're an important person, you come out on the Epstein list, right? I mean, all kinds of things, you know, so why wouldn't you do that? Because I've got two brain cells.

[Ken Yates]

Yes. It's kind of like, if I'm eternally secure, why wouldn't I break my leg, Right? Well, yeah, I guess I could, but that just doesn't appeal to me. And so why wouldn't I do drugs? Because that doesn't appeal to me. Why wouldn't I be involved in immorality? Because, you see, if you understand reality, right, the way the Bible explains life, then you know that the wages of sin is death. I mean, the wisdom literature, it's horrible for you.

[Bob Wilkin]

Wisdom literature in the New Testament, James or Proverbs in the Old Testament, it's stupid to live that way.

[Ken Yates]

That's right. So.

[Bob Wilkin]

But more importantly, once saved, always saved is biblical. It's what the New Testament teaches. John 5, 24 and so many other verses in the Gospel of John. So anyway, if you're interested in more about this, come to our conference. This will be one of the plenary

[Ken Yates]

sessions and at the conference we're going to keep grace in focus.

[Announcer]

We would love to know where you are when you are listening to us. Please take a short minute to send us the call letters of this station and the city where you are listening and how many times a week you listen. Thank you. You will be helping us with our stewardship. Send it to radioaithalone.org that's radioaithalone.org we are so thankful for our financial partners who keep us on the air. Every gift is tax deductible and very much appreciated. If you'd like to find out how you can give, go to faithalone.org on our next episode. What is the substitutionary atonement and must we believe in it? Join us next time. And until then, let's keep Grace in focus.

[Bob Wilkin]

The proceeding has been a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society.