Classic Christianity – Call-In Bob George p409 (01-25-19)
Welcome to Classic Christianity Radio with Bob George. Let’s now join Bob George as he offers practical biblical insights as he helps people experience faith, hope and love in Jesus.
Proverbs 27:21
The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but people are tested by the praise they receive.
Many callers today called to thank Bob George for explaining truth. Bob responded in such grace and shared how he was in the crucible of testing throughout his ministry. Bob shared with humility and reiterated the main point that truth is what sets us free and error is what binds us, and really not any more complicated than that. Bob admitted where he did not know something and showed a teachable and humble spirit. For he himself, as we all are, are growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are all continually being renewed in our minds by the Holy Spirit who lives in us and guides us into all truth, and that will continue until the day we die.
2 Peter 3:18
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
John 16:13
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 has written several books to help people grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. The books callers mentioned today included Classic Christianity, Growing in Grace, Complete in Christ, and Victory Over Depression. Bob helped callers discern truth from error in thinking while explaining the central message of Christ in you, the hope of glory. He explained concepts of grace, predestination, the New Covenant in contrast to the Old Covenant, salvation, discernment in addressing sin, the church as a body where each individual member is directed by the Holy Spirit of God resident in him, and much more.
Jacob from Kansas City, MO
Bob shared with Jacob, the first caller, about the early days of People to People radio, where there were those who called their teaching heresy, being so unfamiliar with the teaching of grace that Bob was explaining. There are several of those who did indeed study the word of God over a period of time, and having tested what Bob was saying, reported back that Bob was correct. Bob shares about the completeness in Christ with emphasis on the resurrection. Several books that callers thanked Bob for were Classic Christianity, Growing in Grace, Complete in Christ, and Victory Over Depression. Bob shared with Jacob that as far as Bob knew, the books he wrote were among the first to have grace in it until Bob started writing books such as Growing in Grace. Bob says he wasn’t alone but it sure seemed like that. Nowadays grace has become a buzz word so one has to be more discerning in who you listen to. If you listen long enough you will know if just using the words because it is popular or are correctly dividing the word of truth. We verbalize those words : “Christianity is not about “do’s and don’t s” but a relationship with Jesus Christ” but to put them into practice and meaning is far and few between.
2 Timothy 2:15
15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
Another topic Bob and Jacob briefly discussed was predestination. Paul quoted something Bob had often said in regards to the meaning of predestination. “Predestination is not about “you’s and me”s but about Jews and Gentiles.” Sometimes it takes time to grasp truth, and Jacob admitted he struggled understanding the concept of predestination. Jacob said that the passages of scripture that helped him grasp truth on predestination were in Ephesians 1 and Ephesians 2.
Taking The Confusion Out of Predestination
Predestination is one of the most misunderstood truths of the Bible. In a clear, concise way, Bob George cuts through all the confusion surrounding this important topic. See how the mystery, that was hidden in the heart of God since the beginning of time, was revealed by the Apostle Paul to bring about unity of faith among Jew and Gentile believers alike. In this series, Bob tackles other related topics, such as: the foreknowledge of God, adoption, and man’s free will. If you’ve ever had difficulty understanding predestination, or trying to explain it to others, this series is for you.
This amazing study presented by Bob George also includes a 25 page PDF follow-along document with study notes and Bible verses.
Download to a computer first. Please follow the instructions found on our MP3 Instructions page.
Ephesians 2:14-17
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Dean from Colorado Springs, CO
The second caller, Dean, was deeply moved by the changed lives in his nephew and his mother from such teachings from Bob George’s books. Bob was quick to point out that truth is what sets men free and error is what binds you.
John 8:32
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
He himself has testified of his former life, where he was bothered by the fact he was incapable of loving, until faith was revealed to him and the Holy Spirit took residence in him. God’s grace had worked in Bob just as it has in those who called to thank Bob. So all praise rightfully belongs to God.
Dean’s nephew was caught up in a lifestyle of drugs and his nephew observed how his mother had been changed. She had read various books by Bob George, such as Victory over Depression and Classic Christianity, and what she learned was showing up in a change in her attitude and manner of life that her son took note of. When he read first two chapters, Victory over Depression, he felt like the book was talking directly about him. His thinking was changed. He said, ” “I am thinking straight now.”
Bob thanked him for such a call of encouragement and said he was humbled by such a report. Bob reiterated that truth is what sets you free and error is what binds you. If in a condition that is totally contrary to God then you are living in error. It is not complicated, just replace error with truth. You read truth and that truth dispels error in your head. We will always be in that process of renewing our minds. That will always be taking place while we are alive, replacing error with truth.
Dean’s spoke to his mother what deeply moved his heart. “You live this life so many years and I denied it and I have seen the changes in you and I seen the change in you and I want to thank you for being there for him.”
So Bob’ word of encouragement to us is the work of the Holy Spirit. God is not mad at you, but loves you unconditionally, and wants to set you free. Our only purpose for us being here is to make our bodies available to the living Christ who lives in us, to live His life in and through us. It is not living by principles or by a law or by getting all the church together doing the same thing in the same way in the same place with the same enthusiasm, but recognizing God saves you and me individually and there to guide us individually.
John 21:21-23
21 When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” 22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” 23 Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”
Bob referenced the passage in scripture where Peter about what God was going to do in reference to John. Jesus responded, “What is that to you?”. In essence God is saying, “Individually I will guide you. I will tell you where to go and how to do it. Learn to trust the Holy Spirit living in you. When you do, you will be amazed what will be accomplished through you.”
Take a lesson from the migration of birds, to the voice they are listening to.
Dean is humbled by what the Lord is doing in his sister’s life and nephew’s life, expressing thanks to Bob.
Paul from Willard, CA
In answering the call from Paul, Bob was honest in that he had not studied the passage concerning 1 Samuel 28:9 in detail and is not on authority on that topic. Paul’s original question was in regards to the witch of Endor and when Samuel was called up was it really Samuel or a ghost?
1 Samuel 28:8-14
8 So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. “Consult a spirit for me,” he said, “and bring up for me the one I name.” 9 But the woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?” 10 Saul swore to her by the Lord, “As surely as the Lord lives, you will not be punished for this.” 11 Then the woman asked, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” “Bring up Samuel,” he said. 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!” 13 The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?” The woman said, “I see a ghostly figure coming up out of the earth.” 14 “What does he look like?” he asked. “An old man wearing a robe is coming up,” she said. Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.
Bob had not studied that and admitted he was not an authority on that. So he addressed what he knew as far as on this side of the cross. He perceived what Paul really wanted to know by asking a question why it was so important for Paul to know and why would it matter? By asking such a question, you can usually get an idea of why someone is pondering over such things. Paul then shared about a loved one whose spouse had died and a relative said he saw the presence of the departed person with him. Bob replied by saying that after the cross, we are with Jesus period and are not coming back to appear to people and certainly not doing that now. Both Paul and Bob were in agreement that Paul’s relative was into wishful thinking.
Andrea from Lakeland, MI
The last caller, Andrea, called concerning a person who was involved in blatant adultery and saw nothing wrong with it. Woman is divorced and remarried and not married to the one she is now in adultery with. A close girl friend is severing ties with her because she is taking up with a married man. She looks at Andrea as a sinful person because she is an divorced person. Andrea was puzzled concerning this. Why is she doing this?
Bob explained this passage of scripture in context of Jesus speaking under an Old Covenant system he was still living in because he had not yet gone to the cross.
Matthew 19:3-9
3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” 4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’[a] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’[b]? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” 7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” 8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
Bob said that if a person believes she is divorced and a goner then might as well eat drink and be merry for tomorrow you die. Her problem is what she understood in regards to the truth of these things. Bob addressed that under the times of the Old Covenant there was a writ of divorcement, a decree for a man to divorce for any single thing, like in the Muslim world today, to do whatever you please with a woman, since a woman has no rights and was considered property. Then Jesus answered a question by the Pharisees explaining to them that if you are leaving a wife to sleep with someone else, forget about the writ of divorcement, you are committing adultery. That is true. What covenant is Jesus teaching in. He is teaching under an Old Covenant because has not gone to the cross yet. This is what is written in regard to the New Covenant.
Hebrews 10:17-18
17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” 18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.
Under the Old Covenant, had to bury us under the law. The Old Covenant was worthless because never made anyone perfect. The purpose of the law was to show us our sinfulness so that we might turn to Christ for salvation. The new covenant of grace is here now since sins and lawless acts are taken away eternally.
Then Andrea asked, “How can someone continue in sin?” Bob put her question in proper perspective. People could say to us why we continue to worry, or be depressed. “I don’t understand how you can be depressed”. But Andrea followed saying, “But knowingly go on sinning. Knowingly sinning.”
So Bob explained further. “No one is ever going to go into the presence of God in his own righteousness. You will get arrested for indecent exposure for no one goes into heaven with his own righteousness. Never get into thinking ‘thank God I am not a sinner like that’.”
Bob said, “What I am hearing out of that woman is out of someone who does not know the Lord. You cannot be saved and argue against truth. Going out with married man is adultery and is horrible sin.” What she hold be doing is saying, ” I am entrapped in this sin and do not know how to get out of it.” That is the mindset of a believer caught in sin. Scripture says go to him.
Bob explained from the perspective of the New Covenant of grace, contrasting that with the Old Covenant law, and how all sins have been taken away at the cross to help her grow in discernment. Bob assessed that the person she was referring to is sinning against the knowledge of truth for she did not have any desire to speak to God and was not only justifying her actions but not even acknowledging what she is doing is sin.
Hebrews 10:26
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left
A believer can be caught up in such a sin but his attitude will be different. Bob references an instruction in scripture on how to go to a believer caught in sin. A believer trapped in such a sin will acknowledge it as sin, admit they are trapped and seek to get out of it, and they would be inclined to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. The unsaved hopefully will respond to the law and realize they are spiritually dead, buried by the law, and seek a savior to give him new life. But a sinner does not have a new heart yet so God has to be at work. The hardened sinner will not even acknowledge the action as sin and does not even care what you have to say about what God says about it.
Galatians 6:1
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.
1 Corinthians 10:12
12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
Bob also made a point to say, “No one is ever going to go into the presence of God in his own righteousness.” Man never had any righteousness of his own so why does man continue to be depressed or get angry or any other sin? Is any sin worse than another? Under the law, is not death the same price for any sin?
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The only sin that keeps a person from heaven is the sin of unbelief in Jesus.
John 16:9-11
9 The world’s sin is unbelief in me; 10 there is righteousness available because I go to the Father and you shall see me no more; 11 there is deliverance from judgment because the prince of this world has already been judged.
Jesus already provided the payment of death for sin for all men at the cross and is now risen to offer eternal life to whosoever would put their trust in him. That is, trust Jesus to have already taken your sin away when he shed his eternal blood on the cross 2000 years ago and come to Him to receive new life, His righteousness as a gift. Then, the Holy Spirit will take residence in you so you can live a new life.
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