Call-In Classic Christianity Radio – Bob George P502 (01-10-20)
Synopsis
One common question that gets asked quite often is about how the law of Moses applies to us today. Well, if you are a lost person, then it still applies to you to lead you to Christ, for that is the purpose of the law. The law was added so man might recognize he is a sinner, and then understand his condition of death to God, so that he might to Christ to receive new life. Otherwise, the cross of Christ has no meaning to him. The law of Moses was written on stone and is a ministry of death and condemnation. That is, the law is like a mirror, to tell you what your problem is. Although it was glorious, though fading, it does not compare to the glorious ministry of righteousness that Jesus gives to those who are born again.
For those who have been born again, the law of Moses does not apply. None of it. Not the ten commandments and not the ceremonial laws or any other laws. Why? You are no longer under the law of sin and death, but you are now under grace, the life of the Spirit. You are under the laws of Jesus. The laws of Jesus are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul and to love your neighbor as yourself. We love because He first loved us. He poured His love into our hearts, and by abiding in Him, He produces love in and through us.
The fruit of the Spirit, which includes love, and joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control (Galatians 5:22-23), is produced in and through us. It is the life of the Spirit of Christ, who lives in us. You have the Spirit of God living in you, guiding you and directing you into all truth, and so you have the privilege to participate in the divine nature.
Yes, the flesh wages war with your spirit, but when you walk by the Spirit you do not carry out the desires of the flesh. You are now under a New Covenant of grace now. This New Covenant started at the death of Christ. That was when Jesus took away the sins of the entire world. Jesus is God in the flesh, and God is Spirit. Now that he is risen and ascended to his Father, He gives eternal life, His Spirit to live in you forever. To all who simply put their faith in Him alone, what He accomplished for you by faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ Jesus, you have been given the right to become a child of God.
Another question people ask is how to get saved. A caller, who said he was schizophrenic and suicidal, asked Bob how he can be free from the devil who is after him. He wants to be free. Bob led him to understand what Jesus accomplished by his death, burial and resurrection. He understood this, for him personally, and became a child of God by faith in Christ alone. Salvation is receiving the resurrected life of Christ Jesus, having recognized that Jesus took all your sins away from the eyes of God, so you can freely come to Him to receive new life. He is now on his way to read and know the meaning of God’s word to know truth that will set him free. He now has truth that sets him free, truth that demolishes the strongholds of Satan’s lies.
Another common question people ask today is about Malachi 3:16, a passage often used by many pastors in regards to tithing. If one reads Malachi 3:6, one reads that he is writing to the descendants of Jacob. So the question that really needs to be answered is this, “Is tithing for today?” Are you a descendant of Jacob? No, then the passage is not talking to you, is it? It is talking to those under the law of Moses. Since we, who are in Christ Jesus, are under a New Covenant now, we give under grace. Paul explains what this grace giving is like, when you are led by the Spirit and directed by Him. Grace, or free will, giving is mentioned under the New Covenant, to give generously, to give without compulsion, to give in accordance with what you do have and not with what you do not have, to be a hilarious giver, and to excel in the grace of giving, not the law of giving, but the grace of giving (2 Corinthians 9).
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Transcript
Andy from Sierra, British Columbia
Andy: I send out my love to all the brothers and sisters out there. I am curious about something. I have listened to people who have talked about the ten commandments, and how that does not entirely go away. What is the role of the ten commandments in the life of a believer?”
Bob: What you are saying is dead wrong. It has been taught by someone who does not have any understanding at all of the scriptures. The law was given to lead you to Christ. So are the ten commandments applicable to a lost person? Absolutely. That is what it says. The law was added because of transgressions and sins until. When you see an “until”, Andy, there is a “before and an “after”. The scripture that I am reading to you right now is in Galatians 3:19-22. That is how it starts.
Galatians 3:19-22
19 Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. 20 A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one.21 Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22 But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
Bob: What was the purpose of the law? The question asked is not, “What ‘is’ the purpose?” but “What ‘was’ the purpose of the law?” . We are now in the book of Galatians, in the New Covenant. What was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed, who is Jesus, through whom the promise had come. That was the promise of Abraham. He believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.
Galatians 3:6
6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Andy: His was faith on what?
Bob: Abraham was saved by faith that was revealed to him. Do not worry about Abraham. Our salvation is on faith in Christ.
Bob: Let me continue. The whole world is a prisoner of sin, so what was promised, was locked up until faith might be given to those who believed. Before this faith came, we were locked up under the law. That would be before Jesus came or before faith came in your own life. You were held a prisoner of the law until faith should be revealed. So you are a prisoner of the law until faith is revealed, faith in Christ.
Galatians 3:23-25
23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
Andy: When it says, formerly when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who are by nature not Gods. The law applies to them. But what applies after accepting Christ?
Galatians 4:8-9
8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you know God – or rather are known by God – how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?
Bob: You are no longer under the law.
Andy: Yes, but in your heart?
Bob: No, you do not have in the heart. If you have in the heart, you cannot live by grace. It say that very clearly. What you have to do is leave the law where it is to be left, at Mt. Sinai.
Bob: Those led by the Spirit, walking by faith, are sons of God. Those who are walking in faith, those led by the Spirit, are not under the law. If you are led by the Spirit, then you are not being led by the law. If you are under the law, you cannot be led by the spirit. I hope nobody here is saying, “I do not want to be led by the Spirit but I want to be led by the law?”
Bob: People say, “We are no longer under ceremonial laws but we are still under the ten commandments.” Go to 2 Corinthians 3:7-9.
2 Corinthians 3:7-9
7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!
Bob: The ministry that brought death, written on stone, what was that? That was the ten commandments. Moses gave us the law.
John 1:17
17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Bob: When you see law in the singular form, it is always referring to the first five books of the bible, called the Pentateuch. That is the law of God. When scripture talks about “putting my laws in their hearts” as in Hebrews, it is supposed to be a quotation out of the Old Testament, but in Hebrews, it says “I will put my laws in their hearts”.
Hebrews 10:16
16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”
Bob: What is the difference between the law of Moses and the laws of Jesus? It is not the laws of Moses but the laws of Jesus. The laws of Jesus are those that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 22:37.
Matthew 22:37-40
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Bob: The ministry of the Spirit is more glorious. He is comparing the ten commandments, given by Moses. We all know that story. If the ten commandments came with glory, how much more glorious is the ministry of the Spirit? If the ministry that condemns men. What is the law? The law is a ministry of condemnation (2 Corinthians 3:7). What did the Spirit bring? Righteousness! How much more glorious is the ministry that bring righteousness.
Romans 7:4
4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
Bob: When scripture is referring to being dead to the law, it means being dead to all of it. People in Galatians 3:10, Paul says all those who rely on the law are under a curse. If you want to be under the law, then you have to be under all of the law, and that means the punishment of the law. You cannot separate law from the punishment of the law.
Galatians 3:10
10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: #8220;Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.#8221;
Andy: That would disagree with grace then?
Bob: Yes.
Andy: Oh.
Bob: Galatians 3:19 is a great passage when you interpret it properly. The law can only apply to those under the law. The only people the law can speak to are the people under the law. So if you are under the law, then shut your mouth. You are held accountable to God. You will not be declared righteous by observing the law. Under the law, scripture instructs you to shut your mouth. You are doomed.
Romans 3:19-20
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
Andy: Every man asks himself these kinds of questions. Why am I here? What am I doing? What is my purpose? Is there life after death? At that point right there, the law will hit them, and say, “You want to have eternal life, live this, which you cannot?”
Bob: You can give the law a try or you can walk by faith. Those are your only options. If you want to try it, have at it. That is what Paul said, that he worked himself to death. He finally said, “what a wretched man I am”. If you are going to be under law, then you are under the law of sin and death. As Paul said, “Who will free me from this bondage?” Paul came to accept the grace of God by faith and said, “Praise God”.
Romans 7:21-25
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 8:2
2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Bob: We are no longer under any of the law. We are now being guided internally by the Spirit of God who lives in us, not externally by laws written on stone, but internally by the living person of Christ Jesus. He is our guide. He leads us and guides us into all truth.
John 16:13
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come
Bob: The law condemns and the Spirit gives life.
2 Corinthians 3:6
6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant – not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Andy:I feel like doing things wrong all the time.
Bob: In order to feel guilty then you must be guilty for a reason. But are you guilty in the sight of God? He took away all your sins from the eyes of God. Is He saying you are guilty? Your sins were guilty but they were all punished at the cross.
Hebrews 10:17
17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”
Andy: I still have these stupid habits hanging on.
Bob: Join the crowd, Andy. You do not think you are all by yourself, do you?
Galatians 5:17
17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
Andy: No, I guess not.
Bob: That is unrealistic expectations. You have indwelling sin still living in your flesh. You also have the Son of God living in you. What does scripture say? You have the privilege of participating in the divine nature living in you.
2 Peter 1:4
4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
Bob: You can also choose to participate in yucky flesh that lives in you. You have a choice. When you give yourself to God, called walking in the Spirit, you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. It does did not say, “The desires of the flesh will go away”. It did not say, “Clean up your flesh and you will be spiritual”. The only solution to not giving into the flesh is walking in the Spirit.
Galatians 5:16
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Bob: It is like saying the only way to escape the law of gravity is to get under the law of aerodynamics and stay there. If you decide to step out of an airplane to get a breath of fresh air, then you are no longer under the law of aerodynamics and are now under gravity and will fall to the ground. Do not get preoccupied in what the flesh is doing, but keep preoccupied with Christ Jesus and what he is doing. He is not through with you yet. If you are sitting under guilt then you cannot love Him. You can say you love Him. You can say, “I am sorry” but it is not true to say you love God when you are in guilt. You love God because He first loved you.
1 John 4:19
19 We love because he first loved us.
Bob: You cannot love God if you think He is beating you to death. It is only when you can come to the conclusion that nothing can separate you from the love of God.
Romans 8:37-39
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Bob: Live in that love and you will be controlled by the Spirit of God.
Andy: Okay then.
Bob: Alright, Andy, You keep listening. Ask God to keep revealing truth to you.
Todd from El Paso, TX
Todd: Hi, Bob. How are you doing?
Bob: I am doing good, Todd
Todd: I am a first time caller. Right now today, I am lost about Jesus. When I was back in 1994, I was schizophrenic and suicidal. There have been times I tried to kill myself because I do not know the Lord Jesus right now. I got the devil tugging at my throat to do this or do that. I want to get away from that. How can I do that?
Bob: As you probably heard, as I was talking to some other people, about what salvation is. Salvation is recognizing what God has said about you. Now, you can go to a psychologist, but he does not know anything about you any more than you do. Now you can go to a shrink who knows nothing about you more than a lamp post. He is as messed up as you are. When God says something about you, and He created you, and if anyone who ought to know something about you, then it would Him. So you are willing to listen to what God has to say about you, rather than a shrink, who says you are a schizophrenic or bipolar, none of which is in the bible.
Bob: What God has to say about you is that you are born dead spiritually. What death is, is the absence of life. The life of God departed from Adam when he sinned. And you and I are born in Adam, dead to God. God is saying, “I do not want you to stay that way. That was your condition. I was raised from the dead to give you life. The kind of life I want to give you is eternal life. If you are willing to turn to me by faith, accepting the fact I took away your sins at the cross, when I died on that cross to do that, and was raised from the dead, in order to give you resurrected life. If that is your desire, I am willing to come and live inside you, and to be your guide and lead you into all truth”.
Bob: Todd, is that what you want to do?
Todd: Yes, sir.
Bob with Todd repeating: Lord Jesus I need you. I thank you for taking away my sins at the cross. I now receive you into my heart as Lord and Savior and my very best friend.
Bob: Todd, now when you just prayed a minute ago, it was the result of exercising faith in what God came to do for you, to take away your sins to never see them again. Do you realize all your sins your entire life was placed on the back of God, never to see them again? That is what Jesus suffered and died on the cross to provide for you. He did that because the consequences, or wages of sin, is death (Romans 6:23), and if He had not taken away the sins of the entire world, He could have never offered you eternal life. That is really what you needed, was life. Because He took away the cause of spiritual death, he has now given you eternal life. Jesus has literally taken residence in your life. He lives in you. Now He is going to guide you into all truth. Todd, I cannot encourage you enough to realize that man will tell you anything as long as it sells. I cannot depend upon man. I have to depend on God to find truth in His word to find truth about myself, about God, and about people.
Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 5:19
19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Romans 5:10
10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
1 John 2:2 (KJV)
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
John 16:13
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
Bob: Do you have a bible, Todd?
Todd: Yes, sir.
Bob: I will send you a new believer’s package, and if you work through that, with your bible, it will solidify what you have done. I rejoice with you, Todd.
Todd: Thank you.
Bob: All the angels in heaven rejoice over one sinner who turns to Christ. There is a lot of rejoicing up there, right now.
Todd: I know it.
Luke 15:7
7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
Todd: I think about it every day because the devil is trying to get to me. I am in tears every day that the devil is still after me.
Bob: The thing is the devil was going to still stay after you because he was afraid of losing you. But now he has lost you. What you need to do now is to come to know truth. That is why you need to study the word of God. Study the word of God and ask God to reveal the meaning of the word of God to you, and when that error comes back in your head, you can give it right back to him because you know what truth is now. The only source of truth we have is the word of God.
Todd: Yes, sir. I know now.
2 Corinthians 10:4
4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
2 Corinthians 10:5
5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Ephesians 6:10-17
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Bob: If you have any further questions, any time, do not hesitate to call. You are never a bother. We love to hear from you. Do not hesitate to call us. Do you have any ohter questions before we go?
Todd: No, sir. No.
Bob: Okay. You hang on so we can get your address and get these materials to you. You work through those materials and if you have any questions along the way, then give us a call, okay?
Todd: Okay. Thank you.
Rene
God bless you. I need an explanation on a verse, to get your take on it. Malachi 3:16
Bob: What is it you do not understand on this verse?
Rene: Well, I guess.
Bob: First of all, it is not speaking to you anyway. So I do not know why this would be a concern. Let us go back to what this is about.
Malachi 3:6
6 “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.
Bob: So you are not a descendant of Jacob, are you?
Rene: No
Bob: So this was not written to you. It was written to the descendants of Jacob.
Malachi 3:7
7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.
Bob: Who is God, speaking through Malachi, addressing? He is addressing the descendants of Jacob. You are not a descendant of Jacob so this is not written to you. The Jews were under an Old Covenant system, where there was a promise of curses and blessings based on their obedience. God is appealing to his people to return to him so he may bless them. God longs to be gracious to us. Return to me and I will return to you.
Malachi 3:7-8
“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
Bob: Those are the descendants of Jacob. Then they ask a question, which people today, drag over into the New Covenant, teaching tithing out of it, where the thing was not written to them to begin with.
Malachi 3:8-9
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’“In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse – your whole nation – because you are robbing me.
Bob: Who is under a curse? The whole nation of you. What nation is He talking about here, Rene?
Rene: He is still talking about Jacob.
Bob: Yes, He is talking about the descendants of Jacob, not you’s and me’s.
Malachi 3:10
10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”
Bob: That is what tithing was. It was not giving money and checks. It was giving to the Levites to the Levitical priesthood. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. A storehouse is for storing food, such as grain. The tithe was not for giving money and a check into an offering plate. It was giving food to the Levites, to support the Levitical priesthood, a temporary system in place for the Jews in order to carry out animal sacrifices as a temporary (atonement) covering for sin. It was so they could eat. The Levites were prohibited from going out and making a living. So their needs had to be furnished by the food and clothing brought by the other eleven tribes of Israel. That is how God set up the Levitical priesthood. It is not talking about us.
Malachi 3:10
11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.
Bob: What is this about preventing pests from destroying crops? That is not for us today. What about verse 12, “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land.” That is certainly not for us today.
Rene: The way I heard it explained was about a “scroll of remembrance”, a scroll of remembrance concerning those who feared the Lord.
Bob: If there is anything such as a scroll of remembrance, it would be to those who feared the Lord and honored His name, but he is not talking to us.
Rene: That is what was throwing me. I just did not understand what they were talking about.
Bob: Rene, in this day and age, people are so desperate to say anything to convince people to tithe they will nit pick any scripture to justify tithing.
I was even in a church once where the church handed out a free book, “Blessed Life” by Richard Morris, to all members, and even guests, to persuade people of the benefits of tithing.
Bob: There are all kinds of people who stand up every year when the topic of tithing comes up to convince you how blessed they were when they started tithing and obeying God. So they claim.
I even heard a pastor challenge: “if you tithe for one month and God fails to return a blessing then we will refund you your money back.” Such is the teaching and persuasion you hear today, but it is not based on truth from the word of God! I even heard a leader visit a single mother who has not tithed in 10 years and was told she must back-tithe!“
Hebrews 7:12
12 For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also.
Bob: So unless a person’s priest is still a Levite and not Jesus, then and only then could tithe even be considered for any hope of making sense, and do all of it. Why pick up tithe and yet ignore eating shrimp and pork chops? So then people ignore what they do not want and pull those things over that is for their benefit. Tithing is not a form of giving in the New Covenant. It is never mentioned under the New Covenant. Free will giving is mentioned under the New Covenant, to give generously to give without compulsion, to give in accordance with what you do have and not with what you do not have, to be a hilarious giver, and to excel in the grace of giving, not the law of giving, but the grace of giving.
2 Corinthians 9:7
7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Bob: That is part of the instruction by Paul in Corinthians as to the attitude of the heart to a giver today under the New Covenant. It has nothing to do with you and me.
Rene: I did not understand. I did not know how that was worked in. So I thought I would ask.
Bob: Yes. It is a good question. People ask that all the time, these things. The issue is, is that we have to realize when we read this, this is what God said to the descendants of Jacob. I can read that as to what he said to the descendants of Jacob. It does not have anything to do with you and me. The scroll of remembrance was written in His presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored His name. If there is a scroll of remembrance it would be to those who honored Him and feared His name.
Rene: Okay, you answered my question. Thank you so much.
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