Call-In Classic Christianity Radio – Bob George P599 (01-15-21)
Synopsis
It is so easy to have errors in your head. All you have to do is be born into this world, in the sin nature of Adam, and be exposed to the god of this world. God wanted to restore our thinking, so it is based on truth, in Him who is truth. But we grow hearing things, even from denominations or whatever church we grew up in. We hear things like, “I am just a sinner saved by grace.” If you are in Christ, is that true? Not according to the word of God, it isn’t. You are a saint who sometimes sins. You have a new identity called a child of God, a saint by calling, in accordance with who you are. So we must hear truth, and allow that truth to dispel error. That is growing in the knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Truth comes through revelation by the Spirit of God through the word of God.
Of course, you must be born again, having the Spirit of God placed in you. Just as you were born physically, you must also be born a second time, but this time born spiritually. Then you have Christ living in you, who explains to you the meaning of His word. Oftentimes people think they know Christ because they grew up in church and were told they were Christian because they got dunked in water or became a member of the church or completed the sacrament of Confirmation or something else. But God’s word say He gives the right for someone to become a child of God, to those who believe in His name, who receive Him, His life to come live in you forever.
A common error is when someone prays a prayer but only heard half the gospel, not a complete gospel. So many people think salvation, or the gospel, is getting your sins forgiven. No, that is not salvation. That is a necessary part for salvation, for if Jesus did not shed his blood on a cross to take away sins, which caused our death, from the entire world, once and for all, then life, eternal life, the kind of life God wanted to give, could not have been given. That is why salvation is the receiving of new spiritual life, and why Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is how life is able to be offered to all men as a gift to be received by faith alone. So salvation is being saved from the consequence of sin, which is death, by the gift of God, which is life.
As people grow in Christ, after being born again, they begin to ask questions. What does it mean to be living in sin? And if someone continues to live in sin, then are they truly a believer? But often these questions are asked without fully understanding what God’s definition of sin is? Everything that does not come from faith is sin. And sin is unbelief in Jesus. How many times do you worry? Are you impatient? Is that continually living in sin? No. Continually living in sin is living in unbelief, which means you have never come to faith in Christ for life in the first place. You were never born again. A person who is living in unbelief is like the Jew in Hebrews 6 who says he is going back to the day of atonement to get his sons forgiven yet saying he believes in Jesus. Well, then he never repented. He never changed his mind, and is continuing to believe he can do something to get his sins forgiven. He has tom ake his mind whether Jesus paid it all or he is going to do something to get his sins forgiven.
So listen as Bob explains truth from the scriptures as various callers call and ask questions. At the end, the callers seem to have a greater grasp on what Bob is sharing and thank him for explaining these things to them. He explains fundamental concepts of being made complete in Christ, your identity in Christ, what sin really is, and about complete forgiveness from God, that is received in Him the moment you believe, having already been taken away when Jesus died on a cross. Forgiveness, redemption, righteousness, and indeed every spiritual blessing is in Christ, and is received when you receive the life of Christ, the moment you were born again. That is being made complete in Christ. Christ is your sufficiency and you have everything you need in Him for life and godliness.
Transcript
Sadie
Sadie: I was teaching a Sunday school class, and I made a statement that we are all sinners saved by grace. One of the members of the Sunday school class rejected that as being called a sinner. She preferred being called a saint living in sin. I do not quite understand. I am almost certain she did not mean what she said.
Bob: I think she did mean what she said, Sadie. The issue is, do you remember any of Paul’s letters addressed to all those old sinners saved by grace in Colossae or all the sinners saved by grace in Corinth who were having orgie’s at the Lord’s supper. He called them saints, because you have a change in identity. You were a sinner that was saved by grace. Now your designation from God is called a saint, made in the image of God for good works. You can be a saint who sins but you are not a sinner saved by grace. You are a child of God and you used to be a sinner that was saved by grace, now called a saint.
Colossians 1:2
2 To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
2 Corinthians 1:1
1 To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia
2 Timothy 1:8-10
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was granted to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, 10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel
Sadie: The thing I was trying to ask is, can you be a saint who is living in sin? Not a saint who sins.
Bob: Let me give you an example of that, Sadie. The root of all sin is unbelief.
John 16:9 (TLB)
9 The world’s sin is unbelief in me
Bob: That is the only sin not taken away at the cross. Every sin you and I commit is from unbelief. As an example, if you were living in a total trust relationship with Christ, would you ever worry? No, you would never worry because worry is not faith. Do you ever worry? Absolutely. Will you probably worry tomorrow? Absolutely. So, are you living in sin? The answer is possibly so. The issue is that is why Jesus came to take away the sins of the entire world.
1 John 2:1-2
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Bob: So the issue is that no one is going to be living a sinless life as a child of God. We all have times of faith, and we all have times when we believe the lie of Satan instead of believing the truth of God. That will be a conflict we will be in as long as we are in this body of ours. That will be one of the reasons we will be rejoicing to get out of this body so we will get out of a flesh and blood that contains indwelling sin, and to go into the presence of God, never to see that again. That will be quite a relief. In the meantime, you have to struggle. It is a struggle between the flesh and the Spirit and that struggle will take place until the day you are absent from the body and present with the Lord.
Romans 7:14-25
14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold into bondage to sin. 15 For I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 However, if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, that the Law is good. 17 But now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I do the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me.21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully agree with the law of God in the inner person, 23 but I see a different law in the parts of my body waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, the law which is in my body’s parts. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.
Bob: So what do we do? We walk by faith in the provision of Christ, not our goodness. You do not have any goodness. You have no righteousness.
Romans 3:10
10 as it is written: “There is no righteous person, not even one;
Galatians 3:11
11 Now, that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “the righteous one will live by faith.”
Bob: So we walk by faith in the fact that everything I have has been given to me by Christ Jesus. I cannot earn something. I am not going to go out and try to be better than somebody. I am not going to be a branch hanging on the vine grunting out fruit. I am going to relax because I am in Christ Jesus. I have been made a branch, grafted into the vine, and I want to abide in the life of the vine and let Him produce His fruit in and through me. I can bear that fruit but I can never produce it.
John 15:5-8
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Bob: So we need to realize that the sin issue between you and Me has been taken care of by God once and for all. It is gone, He says.
Hebrews 9:28
28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Bob: Why is He not coming back to bear sin? He has already done it. That is why He cried out from the cross “It is finished”.
John 19:30
30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Bob: So when we come to Christ, we have a brand new identity, Sadie. I am a new creature.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Bob: God called us saints. To the Corinthian church, he called them saints. They were carnal beyond recognition, but he called them saints.
Sadie: I am aware of that. I guess I am just not crazy with the answer. I just did not realize that as a saint, called to be saints, that we can continue to live, not to commit sins, for we all commit sins. But the phrase, “living in sins”.
Bob: Living in sin. The world’s sin is unbelief. Can a believer live in continual unbelief? No way. I agree with you there. When you look at sin, the definition God gave us, anything not of faith is sin.
Romans 14:23
23 everything that does not come from faith is sin.
Bob: A person who has come to Christ by faith, does he live in unbelief? No, not a continual living in unbelief.
Sadie: That is what I was looking for.
Bob: There. Yea.
Bob: No, he would not be a believer. That is what I was talking to another gentleman about in Hebrews 6.
Hebrews 6:4-6
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
Bob: You never changed your mind.
Sadie: I heard it that way.
Bob: A person is saying, “God has taken away my sins“, and also saying, “I am going back to the day of atonement, sacrificing a bull and goat for my sins.” He is double-minded, and has to make up his mind whether he is going to believe in Jesus or the blood of bull and goats, based on what you are doing, and so you have never repented. You are relying on the blood of bulls and goats to save you and never turned to Christ to save you. There are many people like that, maybe not going to a bull and a goat, but are still using man-made methods to keep themselves forgiven. In that case, they never trusted Christ for forgiveness.
Sadie: My question was really about saints who are living in sin. I know we all commit sins. We are all sinners.
Bob: What would be your definition of living in sin, Sadie?
Sadie: Continually living in sin. Not just committing a sin, for we all do that. Living in sin would be living in a sinful way that you know is sinful but you are a saint and you cannot continue to live that way.
Bob: Can you give me an example of that?
Sadie: An example of living in sin?
Bob: Yes.
Sadie: Well, one example of living in sin is living in a relationship with the opposite sex, someone you are not married to. That to me would be living in sin. It is not committing a sin.
Bob: Of course it is commiting a sin, living with someone and committing intercourse. You see, Sadie, you are in a situation there, where you really need to think through this. Everyone comes up with that definition because they are not doing it. What about continuing to live with a critical spirit? Would that be living in sin? What about continually worrying and continually being anxious? Would that be continuing to live in sin?
Galatians 5:6
6 The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Bob: For example, the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love and you look at 1 Corinthians 13 love and just put an “always” to it. “I am always patient.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.8 Love never fails.
Sadie: No, I am not patient.
Bob: What if you were not always patient. Would you continually be living in sin? What about keeping a record of wrongs? Love keeps no record of wrongs. Let’ say you keep a record of wrongs, would that be living in sin? Yes. So I think you need to get …
Sadie: I think I hear what you are saying.
Sadie: Saint is another word for standing in the need of correction. A consecrated person, that is saints by virtue of what they are in Christ. Being saintly has to do with how we live for Christ.
Bob: And again, what he said was live by faith. You can go out and not know the Lord and do outside deeds that look good on the outside. There are a lot of denominations that look very good on the outside that do not know the Lord Jesus of the bible. The issue is what sets you and me apart, Sadie, is what we believe. You are not set apart by how you dress or how you act. What sets you apart from the world is what you believe. You are sanctified by the word, He says. The word of God and believing in the word of God and the meaning of the word of God is what sets you apart from the entire world. When you and I step out and say, “I believe in Jesus”, that Jesus is my Lord and Savior, that Jesus comes to live in me, you just separated yourself from the majority of the world.
Sadie: I hear what you are saying.
Bob: If we are truly believing in Christ Jesus, that is a moment by moment deal, and trusting Him with our life, then Christ’s life will be manifested in and through us. When I focus on the flesh, flesh will be manifest. We will be doing both of those until the day we die. If a person is in a continual mindset of sin, and they are truly born again, God is not going to leave him there.
Galatians 5:16
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Like the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). Did he ever cease to be a son? Never. But God did not leave him there. He finally came to his senses. If a person is living in sin, and he is a child of God, He will not leave him in that state. Sooner or later, God will bring him to his senses, or He will take him home. That is not punishment. I do not think you will ever get over this thing, so I will just take you home to be with me.
John 1:12
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
Hebrews 13:5
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Sadie: I believe that also.
Bob: Okay. It is a good talk, Sadie. That was a good question. That was a fun interaction.
Sadie: Thank you. Thank you very much.
Bob: God bless you.
Bob from Springfield, OR
Caller: In Revelation, John speaks about praying in the Spirit. I do not understand that completely and how that is different from speaking in tongues perhaps.
Bob: Praying in the Spirit is opposite of praying in the flesh. Just like a natural man and a spiritual man. You can pray in the flesh, praying your will to be done, or you can pray in the Spirit, praying for His will to be done.
John 4:24
24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
Bob: God is Spirit isn’t He? And you must worship in Spirit. Do you not consider prayer a part of worship? God is Spirit and you must worship Him in what? Spirit and in what? Truth. So what is praying in the Spirit? Praying in truth, praying not in the flesh, but praying in the Spirit. When I get up and someone says pray. Oh, I get up and mumble some words. How can that be praying in the Spirit when you do not even know what you are praying. We have to understand that praying in the Spirit is not some kind of manifestation. It is praying in truth. It is the opposite of praying in the flesh.
Bob: If I am sitting down here saying, “I need a Cadillac”, is that praying in the Spirit or praying in the flesh?
Caller: Praying in the flesh.
Bob: Yes. What would praying in the Spirit be?
Caller: Praying for His will.
Bob: “I need some transportation, and if that is your will, I would like for you to provide that for me. If that is what you think I need, but not my will but yours be done.” That is praying in accordance with truth and praying in accordance with the Spirit.
Bob: If I was praying that I want, saying “Lord, I know this woman over here is married, but I want you to give her to me.” Would you be praying in the Spirit, or would you be praying in the flesh?
Caller: Right. I understand what you are talking about?
Bob: Sure. It has nothing to do with this babbling that people are talking about. How can you pray in truth and God is Spirit, and you must worship in Spirit and in truth, how are you going to do that when you do not even know what you are saying?
Caller: Okay. I have never been around that babbling. I am curious about it. I hear what Paul says about it in Corinthians. I earnestly desire gifts God would want me to have.
1 Corinthians 13:13
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Bob: So, why would you want the least of them? Why would you want a gift that is not even in existence, Bob. Think through this. I know the curiosity is there. People say, “Man, something is missing.” If something is missing then Jesus lied when He says you are complete in Him. Jesus never spoke in tongues did he?
Caller: As far as it was recorded.
Bob: I am sure somebody would have recorded it if that was the case. Why? His ministry was in Israel. He did not need to be speaking in a language other than the language he spoke in because the people he spoke to understand his language. The purpose of tongues, Bob is a language. The bible is clear on this. It is a language.
Acts 2:1-12
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
1 Corinthians 14:6-7
6 Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? 7 Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes?
Bob: Paul said, “I suppose there are hundreds of languages in the world but if I do not know what they mean, what good are they?” So it is nothing except a recognizable language, a language spoken by a group of people, or native tribe of people, or a country of people. It is not some mystery language that no one knows, whoever speaks it.
Bob: Remember the day of Pentecost? What was mysterious about that? God spoke in the people’s language. Why did he do that? He did that in order not to go through an interpreter. He could have spoken to the apostles in Hebrew, and said “Now you interpret that”. He said, “No. This message is going directly into the ears of the people who are hearing and I do not need an interpreter. So I get you out of the way, and you speak the language I am giving you and it is their language.” That is tongues.
Bob: I have never heard a person speak in biblical tongues. I do not think any person ever spoke in tongues unless you had been in a country they did not understand the language. The people did not understand my language and He gave me the gift to speak in their language. I do not know anyone who has done that. Maybe someone has, and if they have, then I suppose that is what tongues are. But if you think what is going on today is biblical tongues, there is nothing biblical about that.
Caller: No, what I am searching for is what Paul is talking about in his prayer closet.
Bob: Where did Paul ever talk about being in a prayer closet?
Caller: When you are praying, pray in secret.
Bob: In private, yes.
Bob: So, I am saying to pray in private. Whenever you are going to pray, you are talking, Bob. What good is it going to do to be talking when you do not understand what you are saying?
Caller: I do not know. I understand what you are saying. The other question I had was about. I know that I a missing something because God is making me complete.
Bob: No. He is not making you complete, Bob. You are not worshipping God in truth right now. He is not making you complete. He has made you complete.
Colossians 2:10
10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over every ruler and authority
Bob: If you are in Christ, you have been made complete the day you have been born again. You cannot be saying that word, and be talking in truth. That is not truth. He is not making you saved. He saved you. Isn’t He?
Caller: Yes.
Bob: Do you understand what I am saying now?
Caller: Yes. I do now.
Bob: Get a hold of the fact, that the day you were born again, just like physical birth, you got everything you are going to get. Nothing else grew on you.
Caller: Okay.
Bob: You got everything. Now, there is growth. You are going to grow, but you are going to grow with what God gave you when you were born. You were born complete. If you got ten toes, you were born with ten toes.
Caller: Okay.
Bob: You got it?
Caller: Yes sir. I do.
Bob: Hang onto that truth, Bob, because there are deceivers continually saying there is more. No, there isn’t. If there is more then God lied when he said you are complete. There is no more. You have gotten everything you are going to get in Christ Jesus. You are not going to get anything else. Quit looking. If you are still thirsty, you have not drunk the water. Do not be thirsty anymore.
Ephesians 1:3
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
2 Peter 1:3
3 for His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
Bob: Okay, brother?
Caller: Thanks, Bob.
Valerie from Atlanta, GA
Valerie: I have a question for you. I have a good friend that loves the Lord from what I can tell with all her heart. She has accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior but she is like she needs deliverance from demonic spirits. We have prayed. We have fasted. And she says she is still being tormented. I can tell from my heart and from my observance that this woman really loves God.
1 John 4:10
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Bob: Well, Valerie, here is the thing. It is not that we loved God but He loved us first. A lot of people who try to say how much they love God. They put their hands in the air to let you know how much they love God. But that is not an indicator of that. We respond to God’s love. We would never initiate love to God. He initiated love to us, and we responded to that. Everything we have in salvation is responding.
Bob: She is not worshipping God that she says she loves because she does not know Him. If she knew the God you are talking about, that you say she loves so much, she would know that demons do not exist in the same house with Jesus. So the key to getting out of demonic influence is to get the right man in and the wrong man goes out.
Bob: It does not mean Satanic influence cannot hit us from outside, but there is no way to be demon possessed and be a born again believer.
Valerie: You do agree that she is demonically oppressed?
Bob: She could be influenced but that is her own fault. I asked some people, “How many of you been within in ten feet of a lion?” Everyone holds up their hand, and asks “How come you are still here?” He was in a cage. How much sense does it make if you got in a cage with a lion? If you get in a cage with a lion, you are going to get eaten. You do not sit around in a group and talk about how you got mauled last week. The issue is, get out of the cage.
James 4:6-8
6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God and He will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Bob: A person can be demonically influenced, but you have the ability, based upon the word of God, to cast that influence away. It does not mean you are demon possessed. All of us are demonically influenced. Every time you turn on the television, you are demonically influenced. Sometimes you can feel the influence of Satan’s demonic influence. But I can cast that away. I cannot do it but based on the authority of Jesus, to say to that demonic influence to flee from me. Then get back to where you belong, and that is in truth. She is concentrating on the wrong thing. Her preoccupation is on demonic influence instead of the sufficiency of Christ Jesus.
Valerie: Okay.
Bob: So get her to see, Valerie, her faulty thinking. Found out where she is. Ask her questions, such as “What is your understanding of salvation?” “Tell me what you think the gospel is?” Valerie, I almost venture to say, if I was talking to that lady right now, and I asked her that question, I would almost venture to say that her response would be, “Jesus died for my sins.” Is that salvation? No, that is not salvation. You missed the life of Christ living in you. Salvation is not getting your sins forgiven. Salvation is getting saved from the consequence of sin, which is death, by the gift of God, which is life. Nine times out of ten, people say the gospel is getting your sins forgiven. They missed the whole dynamic of the resurrection, where Paul said that without the resurrection we are still dead in our sins.
1 Corinthians 15:16-17
16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
Bob: Start there, at the foundation, and work your way up with her. There is some place missing in her understanding. We were talking to the other gentleman about this. We are complete in Christ. Christ has given you everything you need for life and godliness. Why do I need to listen to this dumb thing talking to me? I do not have to listen to that voice. It is not that voice. That is not here. I do not have to listen to it. It is like turning on the radio, with this rap, and I am certainly not going to listen to it. I am going to turn the dial.
Valerie: Okay. Alright. Bye. Bye.
Bob: Good to talk to you. Bye. Bye.
