Call-In Classic Christianity Radio – Bob George P450 (6-27-19)
Bob answers calls from several believers who struggled with sin and temptation, like all of us (1 Corinthians 10:12-13). Believers can get caught up in a sin, whether a continual pattern of drunkenness or even a one time sin of fornication that led to an unwanted or untimely pregnancy. So Bob shares encouraging words and truth with those who called with their struggles and plea for help. Bob shares the truth of the gospel in Jesus Christ (John 1:12, John 10:10, John 11:25, 1 John 5:12, Romans 5:10, 1 Corinthians 1:30) and His unconditional love and acceptance (Hebrews 10:14, Romans 8:38-39). There is no fear in love and perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). God causes all things to happen for the good for those who love Him and are called according to His good purpose (Romans 8:28). Bob provides instruction on growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18, Romans 6:3-4, 2 Peter 1:4). We will all continue to have struggles in this flesh but let us learn to boast all the more in our weaknesses that our dependency is on Christ, who is our life (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).
On those continual patterns of sinful behavior, either a person is not saved or is saved but has not grown in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the latter case, a person is not grounded in who he is, a new creation in Christ, a child of God (2 Corinthians 5:7). He may have been told he was an alcoholic and he believed that lie (John 8:32). Such sinful behavior often comes out of fear, and then shows itself in anger, a secondary response to fear. Anger is just a sign of the fear in you, the fear of not staying sober, the fear of not being able to live the life you would like to live, or fear of people finding out what goes on under the skin.
There is only one solution to fear and that is the perfect love of God. Perfect love casts out fear. A person must come to understand that his identity is a child of God, not Presbyterian or Catholic or Methodist, which are false identities. He must be fully persuaded like the apostle Paul that nothing can separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39). He also needs to have truth revealed to him by the Holy Spirit by getting into the word of God for himself (Romans 12:1). If you cannot discern truth from the scriptures, then that is an indicator that you are not saved, not born again, devoid of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:14). If you are saved, then how can truth be revealed to you by the Spirit of God if you are not studying the scriptures for yourself, learning from Him (John 16:13)? If you are only listening to all kinds of teaching on the radio, how do you know what you are hearing is by someone who is leaning on his own understanding? (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Believers can also give into their fleshly desires that wage war with the spirit (Galatians 5:17, Romans 8). Again, everyone will fall from time to time (1 John 2:1-2), and scripture instructs the believer that if he sees a brother or sister fall into sin, to restore him gently (Galatians 6:1). Such is what Bob did when providing instruction to a young college lady who committed the sin of fornication. Because of the undesired consequences of such sin, there is a tendency for fear to crowd proper judgment and then commit even greater sin, with more painful consequences in this life. But God has already forgiven all our sins at the cross 2000 years ago, never to be seen again in the eyes of God (Romans 5:10). He deals with us not on the basis of sin anymore but on the basis of our new identity as a child of God, to renew our thinking so we walk in grace and truth (Romans 12:1, John 8:32). So the Spirit of grace and truth is to be shared delicately and with such tenderness the person sees hope in doing the right thing, and is set free to boldly go to the throne of grace to find help in time of need (Philippians 2:13, Hebrews 4:16).
For those matters too great for us, such as the death of a child, and where he will go when he dies, we too can totally put our trust in God to do the right thing, and do what is in accordance with a God who is perfectly loving and just. We do not need to concern ourselves with making such decisions, for that is not ours to make. Recall that king David shared that he did not concern himself with matters too great for him (Psalm 131:1-2). We know God to be perfectly loving and just and we can simply trust Him in all things (Proverbs 3:5-6).
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 John 2:1-2
1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
John 8:32
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
Hebrews 4:16
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Steve from Albany, New York
Steve called and identified himself as an alcoholic who was in church but kept backsliding. He said he does not go to church, lost contact and lost faith. He tries to keep up with the biblical stations. Then he said he has anger in him. He was really simply calling for help.
Bob replied first about this struggle Steve had with anger. Anger comes from fear. Anger is a secondary response to fear. Men do not like to admit they are fearful so they just take it out in anger. Anger is just a sign of the fear in you, the fear of not staying sober, the fear of not being able to live life you would like to live, or fear of people finding out what goes on under the skin. There is only one solution to fear and that is the perfect love of God.
1 John 4:18
18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
Steve has to come to the point he is convinced like the apostle Paul that nothing can separate you from the love of God.
Romans 8:38-39
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.
That is God’s goal for you, to know that truth in your heart, that nothing can separate you from the love of God.
Fear is what casts out perfect love. That is where Satan is, and that is Satan’s goal for you, because fear keeps you from the perfect love of God. If you are saved then God has saved you, and you are a child of God. If that is the case, then you are not an alcoholic, but rather a child of God. If you are not a child of God then being an alcoholic is as good as an identity as anything. But you must understand you are a child of God and God loves you perfectly. Then if you are a child of God then what is the most natural thing to do is to stay sober. If you are an alcoholic, then the most natural thing to do is to get drunk. No sense in going to a psychologist to tell you are an alcoholic, for if you are an alcoholic, then getting drunk is what alcoholics do. So you must come to know your true identity. You have to get a hold of your new identity. You do by action what you think you are. If you identify yourself as an alcoholic, believing a lie, then to drink alcohol and get drunk is what alcoholics do. But if you are a child of God, that does not make sense anymore for you, for you are a new creation. You need to get a hold of your new identity. You have been made into a new creation.
2 Corinthians 5:7
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Steve then said he also struggles with depression, and said he had been homeless and in shelters, and that money is a trigger for him. He said he lived in the mission for 10 years, lived in the streets and homeless, and that people, places and things just triggers him. He said he listens to biblical stations and then backslides.
Bob replied, “Listening to stations is not going to do it for you”. Here is something I heard listening to what Bob George said but God wants you to be taught by Him. If you are truly a believer, then God gives you the ability to understand the meaning of God’s word by His Holy Spirit He has given you. The bible is so important to a believer. God cannot reveal the meaning to you if you do not study.
Steve then asked, “Are we going to be judged by Him?” No, we are not. The reason you ask that question is because you do not read the scriptures. You err because you know not the scriptures.
Mark 12:24
24 Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?
Find a translation easy to read and ask God to reveal the meaning of the word of God to you. If you do not understand, then that is an indicator you are not a believer.
1 Corinthians 2:14
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.
You can learn from a teacher who has been taught truth revealed to him by the Holy Spirit, but if you are listening to Christian radio, then at the end of the day, all you can say is, “Does anybody agree with anybody?” If you are relying on someone else who is leaning on their own understanding, then you will get a different viewpoint, and maybe not even God’s intended meaning, but how would you know? If you went to a Presbyterian church then you get Presbyterian theology. If you went to a Catholic church, then you would get Catholic theology. Steve then said that he did go to Sunday school as a child. Bob replied, “Yes, all of us did, but that did not save us”.
Whatever you are currently doing and believing is not working. So you need a change in mindset. You have to get into the word of God, listen to truth and come to know what truth is and what truth isn’t. The only way to know if Bob George is teaching you correctly is to go into the word of God and check it out. There are all kinds of ideas floating out there in the world of Christianity but God reveals truth to you through his word. The issue is that you have to come to understand your new identity. God has made you into a child of God and that is your identity.
If you were asked, “Who are you?” and you respond, “I am a Presbyterian”, then you have not understood your identity or the question. I did not ask you where you parked your body on Sunday mornings. That is not your identity. Those are false identities, Presbyterian, Baptist or whatever. What you are is a child of God. The psychology profession comes along and says you are an alcoholic. No, you are a child of God who gets drunk. But if you are a child of God then that does not make sense, to sit down and do those things that made you so miserable that you came to Christ in the first place.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
John 1:12
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
So you must come to this way of thinking, “I am a new creature and I do not need this because I have Jesus”. The fears, and depression, and the main ingredient of depression is fear, and alcoholism all comes from fear. Those fears can only be taken away by the perfect love of God. You must come to the point as the apostle Paul that nothing can separate you from the love of God. Fear separated you from reality but it did not separate you from the love of God. That perfect love will cast away that fear, and when fear is cast away, depression will be cast away, and when you hang unto that, then there will be no need to alter your mind when God says “I want to renew your mind”.
Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 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.
That perfect love will cast away that fear. When fear is cast away then there is no need to alter your mind when God says he wants to renew your mind.
Romans 12:2
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
There is no better way to renew the mind than to let the Spirit of God reveal truth to you through His word.
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.
Philippians 2:13
for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Tom from Dale City, VA
Before he became a Christian, he had girlfriends, and then after he became a Christian, he broke off with them and has not seen them in three years. He struggles with thoughts of them, and how are we to let that go. Unfortunately, he said, there were sexual sins and he still has those memories.
Matthew 5:28
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Looking at a woman with thoughts and having sexual thoughts you act on in your mind is the same as committing adultery. It the same as fornication. What you repented of is coming to Christ. The issue is that you can do it again. The issue is “I am now in Christ Jesus”. That does not mean the moment you came to Christ that you went blind and deaf or that your thoughts automatically left. If you are thinking of the sexual aspect of it, then that is not from God, and recognize that there is an enemy who is trying to get you off track. Satan puts those thoughts in your head. Maybe one of those girls is in Christ today, for you are. It took place in your life so it could take place in theirs too. Anything you are thinking about today is fantasy. Tom said that when he came to Christ, he had to step away from that.
Bob replied. Do not put yourself on guilt trips for that is Satan trying to throw you off. He is trying to trip you up on those past memories. He does it with all of us. Anyone who had a sinful past and says he does not think about it is either dead or lying.
Tom confessed that he wants to walk right and most of the time he rejects such thoughts but it is difficult at times.
Hebrews 10:14
14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
You are not going to get any more complete. He did that to all; he made us holy. You are not going to get more holy nor are you going to improve on it.
Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Romans 6:3-4
3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
2 Peter 1:4
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.
He set you apart for the divine purpose of walking in newness in life, alive in Christ Jesus, to allow him to live in you and through you. That is a day to day decision. Sometimes you will fall flat on your face, and when you do, you get back up again. That is the process we will go through until the day we die. We all have struggles. Those struggles are what keep you dependent on Jesus. If you did not have such struggles or weakness in the flesh, then you would stop trusting God in a New York minute. Paul rejoiced in his weakness because his weakness kept him dependent on Jesus.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
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.
Keep growing in grace.
Lynn from New Orleans, Louisiana
Lynn, a young college girl, called to ask, “What does the bible says about abortion?” Bob drew her out to find out her reason for asking. She had committed the sin of fornication. Bob gently talked to her in a Spirit of grace, providing her needed instruction and encouragement to make right choices. She is a believer and like all of us, we are all susceptible to committing any sin. God unconditionally loves her and will cause all things to happen for the good. She will be facing difficult times ahead but God will always be with her.
Abortion is taking the life of a baby. So it is in the same category as murder. When a person destroys a child with potential to spring into life you took the life away God intended to live. Is that a sin that was placed on Jesus on the cross? Yes. It is a sin forgiven on the cross. Are you referring to yourself or someone else? Just lie all of us, when we are ashamed of our sin, we want to hide, possibly out of fear of how others will respond to that sin. Her answer was, “Sort of.” Bob persisted, “It is either yourself or someone else. There is no sort of. She admitted she is a college student, that she is a Christian and is now pregnant.
That baby did not get formed in there by osmosis. There was a sin of fornication that took place. Can a Christian commit fornication? Yes. Can a Christian commit adultery? Yes. Christians can be subject to any sin out there.
1 Corinthians 10:12-13
12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.
It is so important for you to recognize that those sins you commit and will commit had been placed on the back of God never to see them again, from His standpoint. He came to give you life. The Gospel is not getting your sins forgiven. That is part of the gospel but it is only a bridge you cross over so you can have eternal life. Salvation is receiving life.
John 10:10b
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 11:25a
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.
1 John 5:12
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
The whole issue of salvation is being saved from the consequences of sin, which is death, (Romans 3:23) by the gift of God, which is life (Ephesians 2:8-9). God looks at life as a gift. That is when you are saved. It is not when you just recognize and thank him for the cross and ask him for forgiveness. People stop there but it is the resurrection that saves you. He lives in you when you ask him in you as your Lord and Savior.
Romans 5:10
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!
Lynn, you are indwelt by God. So you are indwelt by the wisdom of God with the heart, love and mercy of God.
1 Corinthians 1:30
It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
So you have to ask yourself, when Christ is your life, would the Jesus in you want you to abort this life? No. So you shouldn’t either. It will be an inconvenience and an embarrassment but all those things are short-lived. In the long run, you are going to bring a child in this world under some adverse conditions but God will cause this to work out together for your good.
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
It is hard to see it at the time. But once you see the child come out of you, just as new life was produced in you at new spiritual birth, you will have a love in you that you never knew you had before. I have heard people say “I will never get my college education.” Well, there are a lot more important things than getting a college education. Bob, at 70 years old, has only been asked one time if he had a college education and was never asked what grades he got. You were in love with someone and these are natural impulses that people have (there is no sin except that which is common to man; sexual desires are naturally God-given but sin is when improperly exercised out of context of marriage). At your age you are full of hormones. You got in the trap of making physical love with one another and you got into the trap of pregnancy. Do not compound the problem.
Romans 8:31-39
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 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.
Nothing can separate you from the love of God. In all these things, you are more than conquerors. You and Jesus will get along just fine. Keep the child and you will be a phenomenal mother.
They have been together for 4 years. Bob asked here, “Does he know about this?” She replied, “He does not know about this yet.” Bob said, “You are fearful of telling him and fear does not come from God. God did not give you a spirit of fear.
2 Timothy 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
He needs to know about it. That way you are going to determine whether this is the boy or man you want to be married to. And he is going to determine if this is the woman he wants to be married to. He might cop out. If he is a true born again believer then he will say, you and I need to get married and have a family together.” And if you do not want to do that, then wait on God to bring the right man along. If you have been together that long seems that a good relationship was formed. You need to confront him with this and let him know about this. That is the proper thing to do. These are some of the repercussions that not everybody gets into. There are those who are very promiscuous as can be and nothing ever happens. Another person slips up one time and get pregnant. We do not know why those things take place.
Bob extended such grace and offered practical help and reached out in love to her. Do you accept that God took away your sins 2000 years ago? Recognize God loves you and God wants you to preserve that life that is in you. As a child of God I am sure you can do it. I hope to meet you some day. You do what God would have you do and you will be blessed. If ever you need help call at any time. If you need future counseling we have got Ed Heck to talk to. Do not go this alone. You have friends here to rely on.
Doug from Atlanta, GA
What happens to babies who die? That decision falls into the hands of a God who is perfectly loving and just and so we do not have to worry about making a decision on that. That is in God’s hands. In the things we do not know, we place it in the hands of God to make that decision, and he will make the decision that is for the benefit of his children.
Consider king David, given authority over the Jewish people, and given much responsibility and many people dependent on the decisions and choices he makes as king. Known as a man after God’s own heart, he himself said he did not concern himself with matters too great for him.
Psalm 131:1-2
1 My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.
Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
