Call-In Classic Christianity Radio – Bob George P489 (11-07-19)
Synopsis
An often asked question is for help finding a church in their area that is preaching truth. Sadly, this is becoming harder and harder even today. More and more people are staying at home and if they are fortunate, they are meeting in homes with like-minded people who love the truth of the word of God. They want to be in a place where they can be mutually encouraged by one another’s faith and to be guarded from error and walk free.
To those looking for truth, often times they do not know where to look. Yet God gave us His word so we can know the truth. But people are led astray to look for truth in the wrong places, or to form doctrine from books that are not even canon. The canon is the truth as determined within the first hundred years as to the books that are inspired of God, the scriptures, the 66 book of the bible we hold in our hands today. It is dangerous to form doctrine, the foundation of truth, from sources other than God’s word. Yet today, when you go to many churches, what they call bible studies are not really bible studies, but book studies. Books about what men think, that may or may not be in accordance with truth. We are instructed to test every Spirit and to test and approve what any man says is true. If you have the Holy Spirit of God in you, rely on Him to teach you the meaning of God’s word. Then you are in the right position to not be deceived.
Not everyone who calls himself a Christian is a Christian. He quite possibly may not be born again. A person who says he was a Christian and is now an atheist, I would have serious questions to ask him to draw him out. If you are born again, you cannot walk away from the Spirit who is in you. You cannot walk away from spiritual truth. If you really decided that there is no God, then you are not born again. That is why people have problems in life. If you have no desire to live anymore then you are not connected with the head, who is Jesus Christ. Jesus came to give you life and life abundantly. You are listening to the voice of Satan, who wants to steal, kill and destroy.
God is often blamed for all the evils we see around us, the mass shootings and the like. God created man with free will. He will not impinge upon someone’s free will. You also have the free will to thank God that you are alive today and to thank Him for life. God did not cause evil. Man chose for himself to live independently of God, to discern for himself what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil. Man was not created to be that way. God created man to live in a vital, living relationship with Him, depending on Him to meet your need of unconditional love and acceptance, allowing Him to live in you and through you. That is where life is, the Spirit of the eternal God in you, your only hope of glory.
Transcript
Lisa from Corpus Christie, TX
Lisa: Thank you for taking my call, Bob.
Bob: You are welcome, Lisa.
Lisa: I have gone to different churches all my life. I cannot find one that I feel in my heart they are preaching truth. I ordered your books yesterday to start my own bible class. I went to a church and I wonder if you heard these churches there. They call them Cowboy Church. I went one Sunday. They have not finished the building but I went to their temporary place, invited by a friend. He said he is an ordained deacon. He came from a Baptist. They are not Baptist. They do not want to call themselves any denomination. He was up there preaching, and wore this hat. At least he could have taken off his hat, but he did take off his hat while he was praying. Then I went that night and he gave a booklet out, Discovering Church Membership 101. While he was there, there was about ten people. I noticed something in his mouth and I got distracted. I think he was doing snuff. I really did not like that. Have you heard of these churches called Cowboy Churches?
Bob: No, I sure haven’t. I think I have heard the name but I have not heard anything about them. But what I heard you say, I would not be interested in finding out.
Lisa: The scripture speaks that our body is a temple and we need to take care of it.
Bob: You see, the mere fact of a person saying he is an ordained minister means nothing. For who ordained you? Man. I am an ordained minister. Who ordained me? Man. God called me. Man ordains you. So I do not pay any attention to ordination. That is something man does and it has no meaning to it at all as far as I am concerned. If you are into ministry, then either God called you or man called you. If man called you then the result will be what looks like man called you to do. The mere fact of mentioning that, it almost sounds like I am trying to put credibility on what I am doing. It sounds like, “Let us all come and put on our blue jeans and snuff your snuff, chew your tobacco, and move on.”
Bud Gardner just reminded me that this movement came out of the rodeo circuit.
Bob: Again, Lisa, I have no idea what people are teaching. It makes no difference of whether you are in blue jeans or what you are in. The issue is, “What are you teaching? Are you teaching the truth and the gospel.” If you feel you have the handle on the truth of the gospel then I commend you for that.
Lisa: I just ordered your books yesterday. It was really for my own benefit to get closer to God and study the bible. The reason I bought those books is because I have been to so many churches. I have been to Pentecostal and to the United Church of Faith here. I did not like what they were preaching. And then Jehovah Witnesses. No. He left on his own accord because I would not read her pamphlets. If you are not going to read it, I am wasting my time. So there is the door. So I listened to your answers and I agree with what you are saying, but it is hard to find a church. Do you recommend anything near by where I live?
Bob: I do not know. I do know there are people from Corpus Christie who have been to our conferences who may be interested in bible studies or may have one. I will get you in touch with people and get that information to you. That way if people down there to get in contact with and have fellowship, and who knows where that will end up, if it is the beginning of something in Corpus Christie.
Lisa: Very good doing that. I truly appreciate that.
Bob: Your are welcome. You hang on now and we will put you on hold and switch you over.
Roger from Denver, CO
Roger: Hi, Bob.
Bob: Hi, Roger.
Roger: Today, I encountered something I had never encountered before. I wondered if I did the right thing and if you would help me if it ever happens again. I went up to a young man who was probably about 22 years old. He was a very nice young man. We got to talking and we were talking about shooters that should not have been in our area. He was very nice about it. He could have ripped my head off because he was so big. I asked him if he was a Christian. He said he used to be but said I am an atheist now. Why did you switch over? What happened? Things just got too difficult. Well do not blame God for it. God had nothing to do with why you were shot four times and all this happening in Aurora and I guess he spent a couple of years in jail. I did not know what to say. I was dumb-founded.
Bob: Well, Roger, to me it is an easy thing to deal with. Number one, the bible says they went out from among us because they were never a part of us. For a person to say he is a Christian and now he is not is an impossibility. That is where I would start. The fact that you were truly not born again or you would still be born again because you cannot walk away from spiritual birth. That would be the first thing I would deal with on that issue.
1 John 2:19
19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
Bob: Then I would ask him how he would think he was born again. He would probably tell you he was baptized but certainly would not have a testimony as to the day he has literally met Jesus Christ, what would be a born again experience. That is where it has to start.
Bob: Then I would probably go with what you did. God did not cause those things to take place. That is man’s will. God gave you a choice, didn’t He. He is not going to impinge upon the choice of man, who wanted to shoot you or your choice that was the result of that. Instead of praising God for the fact you are alive today.
Roger: Yes, I told him that. God is the reason you are alive today.
Bob: Again, Roger, you just have to say what you feel God has led you to say and move on.
Roger: I gave him my house number. I told him any time day or night come on over. What really bothers me is he said, “I do not want to live any more.” That is the part that really, really bothered me.
Bob: Again, you are probably at the right place at the right time there and you never know what words you said that he will be pondering over in his mind, contemplating. He may give you a call or seek help with someone who can help him understand the truth. If you call him again, I would explain to him. First of all you were either born again, and if you were, you still are. Then, you are not an atheist. If you really believe you made a conscious decision that there is no God, as an atheist would, then you are not saved. There is your problem. If you are not saved, then you are on your own to make your own decisions. That is why you are at the point that you do not want to live any more.
Roger: Thank you so much.
Bob: Thanks for your call.
Virgil from Fairfax, VA
Virgil: I have a question. I was reading in Jasatr. Also the scripture in Samuel. It was in the reference to the book of Jasatr. I went on the web and I pulled this book up and I went through the reading of it and it goes into great detail about the events that happened in the book of Genesis. Is there a book we can use as a means of study or are we just to disregard that?
Bob: You are better off to disregard that. It is not scripture. It was not considered scripture by those who put the scriptures together and it was done years before Christ. The Septuagint was put together years before Christ. That is a translation of Hebrew into Greek. The canon, what was considered scripture, was well established hundreds of years before Christ and was verified by Christ Jesus. There is nothing quoted out of the books by the Lord himself. A huge percentage of the Old Testament was quoted by the Lord and through the apostles. No, I would just disregard it.
Bob: You have books called the Apocrypha. These were writings but were never ever considered scripture.
Virgil: As far as the writing of them, it goes into detail. I had my bible open as I was reading that. It all seemed to line up with the same events that happened.
Bob: It could be but it was not considered scripture. We have to realize if Jesus Christ is God, which he is, and if there was any error at all in the compiling of the books of the bible or any error in the Old Testament, it would have been the obligation of God, who is full of truth to reveal that. There is no record of Christ stating anything about the word of God but that is all given by inspiration of God. So we have to take that and ignore the others. You can study the others but never study them as scriptures. That is how people get off into other areas, into false doctrine or teaching, ignoring the word of God to books never acknowledged by anyone as scripture and build their life around a book that has not been considered inerrant in nature. So be careful in those things.
2 Peter 1:21
21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Virgil: Thank you.
Bob: Does that help, Virgil?
Virgil: Yes, thank you.
Dale from Corpus Christie, TX
Dale: Thank you, Bob. I was reading through the book of Romans, at Romans 8. I came across carnal minded versus spiritual minded. Would that make reference to carnal mind being a lost person and spiritual mind being a saved person?
Romans 8:1-17
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation – but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Bob: In that context it does. It talks about the fact the mind of sinful man, that lives in accordance to the flesh is death. So obviously that is the lost person. But the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. The sinful mind is hostile to God. That is a lost person. Again, one who does not submit to God’s law. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. Definitely talking about lost and saved.
Dale: Okay. The reason, what made me think about it, is because I had a pastor refer to one of our members as a carnal Christian and it just did not set right from what I know about carnal versus spiritual so I was wondering if there is such a thing as a carnal Christian?
Bob: It is a term used a lot in evangelical circles. When I was in Campus Crusade, they used carnal Christian all the time. There is nothing in the bible about a carnal Christian. There is a person who is thinking carnally. Anybody can do that. Just like a lost person can think spiritually. And so you have to realize that basically it is saying to them that you are thinking like the world. Are you not carnal? In other words, are you not worldly? Yes, but there is no such thing as an identity. Your identity is either you are lost or you are saved. If you are saved, your identity is a child of the living God. What happens when you put such labels on people, they lose their identity. I can be a child of the living God who thinks carnally or worldly but my identity never ceases to be a child of God. What those deals do subtly is to get a person from ever knowing who they are. It really attacks at the core of their identity.
Dale: Well, I believe that nailed it. Thank you, Bob.
Bob: Thank you, brother.
John from San Diego,CA
John: Hi Bob. How are you?
Bob: I am doing good, John
John: I have a quick question for you. I was on the website this morning when I was at work. It made mention of the fact that Leviticus 20:13 stated that if a man is to lie with another man that those two men should be put to death. I was not familiar with that passage and sure enough that is what it says. I was wondering if you can put that in context. I saw on this website where people like to take scripture like that and use it to prove points that can be controversial. Is that a true word of God? I know it is the word of God. How do we interpret that under the New Covenant?
Leviticus 20:13
13 “‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
Bob: We don’t. It is not under the New Covenant. I happened to be looking over at Leviticus 19:28.
Leviticus 19:28
28 “‘Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.
Bob: I want to tell you. People would look strange anymore if they do not have a tattoo on them. But that was absolutely prohibited for the Jew. The law was never given to the Gentile. It was given to the Jews only. You are talking about the law here and what is the wages of sin under law? Death. It was very, very strict. It talks about a man who marries his sister and a lying with a woman during her monthly period. Those are the things people do that the law say you are to cut them away from the people. Do not have sexual relations with your sister, your mother or your father. It says cut them off. A man sleeps with his aunt that he dishonored his uncle. All these things are laws that God gave to the Jews to keep them on the straight and narrow, quite frankly.
Bob: If you did not have the law you would not know what is right and wrong. Today we ignore what the law says. The law is dealing with what is right and wrong. You do not have to be a rocket scientist that sleeping with your daughter-n-law should not be done. Or lying with another man that that should not be done. Or marrying a woman and her mother. If a man does that that is wicked. That should not be any great revelation to anybody. But again, because we are so conditional and we are so situational, that if that was not written down, you would have people doing those things. Today, people are saying no big deal. Whatever feels good do it. So that were not for God who wrote those things in the law, people would find the loopholes to do what they want to do. Of course the wages of sin is death here. But even under grace, we still live under what is right and what is wrong. Of course, now we have the Holy Spirit of God leading us in that there. Thank God for that.
John: Certainly. Every thing you said absolutely makes sense. I am trying to get myself in a position to defend the word to someone who would take that and say there you go. If you were to say to them this is law, the right and wrong and the punishments to go lay down to keep the Jews in line. Now the person says you are picking and choosing what you want to adhere to and what you would not want to adhere to. Why do we not put certain people to death for violating those laws he had? I am trying to get in a position to defend the word.
Bob: If you put people to death who have committed adultery you would not have anybody around. People coming up with that are coming up with nonsensical arguments. In the first place, the old and the new is the old and the new. You are no longer under the Old Covenant, neither Jew nor Gentile. But all of us are under the law until such time we are freed from the law through Christ Jesus. So a person making such an argument is a person who is, quite frankly, lost and still under the law. Being under the law, they cannot understand spiritual things. So it is really not a very intelligent argument to be talking about why we are not still doing this or that. If we did, then under the law, when you stole that would be death. And it is spiritual death. As an example, if you were saved, given life in Christ Jesus, according to the law of God, the man who sins shall surely die, and you were given life and you went out and stole something or you coveted, what would happen to you, if it were not for the cross? You would die. The wages of sin is death never changed as far as God is concerned. What happened is that the law of sin and death has been replaced by the Spirit of life. That only happens through the life of Christ Jesus.
John: Thanks. I appreciate your help.
Bob: You are welcome. Bye. Bye.
Uriah from Kansas City, MO
Uriah: Thank you for taking my call. My question is this. My sister passed away a couple of years ago. I had just recently been born again and stuff. I was really connected with God. The time my sister passed away we were kind of in an argumentative time. I did not spend the time I really wanted to with her. She had cystic fibrosis so she was slowly passing away. So I had that regret of not seeing her as much. So what I did is I asked the Lord. I was very emotional at this time. It was the night after I found out she passed away. I asked the Lord, I have to see her again. I just needed to see her again. The most beautiful thing happened. I had a dream. She was there. She was in this room and she was healthy as can be. She looked as beautiful as I have ever seen her before. I just ran up to her and gave her a hug. That was basically it. I woke up with the most peace and just relief that I have ever felt. It was amazing. My question was. You had a lady on the broadcast yesterday. Is that like me just dreaming what I wanted to see or was that from God? I asked God for that.
Bob: Uriah, you may have asked God for that. God does not speak through dreams today. It says in Hebrews, God spoke through the prophets in various times and in various ways, but in these last days he spoke to us through his Son. We cannot trust dreams. That is just a dream. I laughingly went to Ed Hecht, whose wife is on staff. His wife passed away on the weekend. We were at the funeral on Saturday. The next day I dreamed she was tap dancing on some day. I am quite sure she was not tap dancing in this life or the next.
Bob: If that made you feel good, fine. But that is not of God.
Uriah: What was that scripture you gave me ?
Bob: Hebrews 1 is where you will read that.
Hebrews 1:1-2
1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe
Acts 2:17-21
“’In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
The scripture here states that in the last days, young men will have visions and the old men will have dreams. If God still speaks to us in dreams and visions, these things are hard to verify. There is subjectivity to it. How can it be confirmed as true? From Acts, we cannot form doctrine on a book that is written to record the history of the early church. In the days of Acts, signs and wonders were performed through the apostles to confirm the word of God they preached, to give credibility that they were messengers of God, that what they were speaking was of God. They also had to be eye-witnesses of Christ. There are no such offices today. There is no new revelation to be written down. What is being referred to here as the last days?
Uriah: I like to say I appreciate your ministry. It is really awesome. It is not traditional, which is awesome. I really appreciate it. I try to listen when coming home from work.
Bob: Thank you. You call again, okay.
