Call-In Classic Christianity Radio – Bob George P680 (10-15-21)
The Word of God Is Reliable and Trustworthy to Change Attitudes of Heart; Knowing Your Identity in Christ Shapes Your Behavior
Many times people have questions that they want answers to but do not know who to call or talk to. So it is wonderful to have had a program like this where a person can call and get answers to their questions. The bible is true and is reliable for truth. At times a person will call in because they are in a conversation with a person who has a different bible than ours, such as Catholics which also have the Apocrypha included in it. Other times a person calls in to ask about what this judging another person is about. Another person calls in because he is troubled by what he sees as the trends in society, such as the acceptance of homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle or people saying they are born that way. Then there are those questions about whether a person dies before his time. Listen as Bob George answers these questions from what the bible has to say about these things and see if that helps you.
The bible we hold in our hands today are made up of 66 books. These books do not include the Apocrypha. Jesus quoted from the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Old Testament that was translated around 280 B.C. from Hebrew into the Greek language, but he never quoted from the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha was never accepted as inspired scripture, or canon of scripture. The Apocrypha was never acknowledged by Jesus or any of the apostles or early church leaders and so is not looked upon as the inerrant word of God.
The real concern should not be whether the Apocrypha should be there in the bible, but to look at the bible itself instead of looking at traditions to determine how and what you believe. There is so much of a belief system in Catholicism that has nothing to do with scripture but it has to do with traditions. The problem is not believing the Apocrypha but not believing the bible itself that clearly states salvation is by faith and faith alone and not by works. There is no such thing in scripture as the worship of Mary or to put her in a position that the Catholic church has put her in, such as co-redeemer. That is not biblical. There are numerous other things that are traditions.
But so too do a lot of churches hold onto traditions of men rather than truth revealed by the Spirit of God through the word of God. People have the misapplication of 1 John 1:9 to get your sins forgiven, that has been talked about the last several broadcasts, and also have those who preach tithing is for today, and that you must be saved by a second baptism of the Spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues. If people would just rely on the Spirit to reveal to them the meaning of the word of God, the church would not be in such a mess today.
People also need to understand that your identity is not in your denomination, whether Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterians, or whatever else it might be, but that you are a child of God, having been born again by the Spirit of God, who is now living in you. A church is not where you go on Saturday or Sunday morning, but the church is born again people.
Romans 1:25,26
25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.
Now, what has happened in Christendom today is a great falling away or an apostasy leading to a false one world religion. As what happened in the days of the apostle Paul, their was homosexual behavior occurring in those days. Men thought it not worthwhile to hold onto truth, and have turned away to so-called science, and their mind became darkened, knowing heir behavior is wrong but doing it anyway and approving those who do the same things they do.
Someone might have been caught up in homosexual behavior, but as a child of God, you put that behavior aside, for that behavior is contrary to who you are. That is what some of you were, but you have been bought, not to live in such perverse behavior, but in accordance with how God designed you. No one is born a homosexual. That is taught you and someone convinced you that it is true, even as a child, but that is a lie. In Genesis, we read that God created mankind as male and female for procreation. The city of Rome fell because of such perverse behavior. So too, do we see these things happening today in America, the same pattern of depravity that Jesus said would be like it was in the days of Noah prior to His return.
Now, on this matter of judging a person, those passages in scriptures are referring to us not judging another person’s motives. We cannot do that. We do not know what someone else is thinking. Only God does. But we can judge actions and make judgments on that, and appeal to a person who claims to be a brother but his actions testify otherwise, then in all humility, we are to go to them to restore them to proper function as a child of God, pointing out their error just between the two of us. Yes, we do so realizing we too have weakened flesh and could be caught up in any such behavior ourselves. But we do not judge motives.
