Call-In Classic Christianity Radio – Bob George P580 (10-16-20)
Synopsis
Truth is so important to grab a hold of so you can walk in the way God intended. On today’s program, two callers called, that highlight how when truth is not understood or grasped, you are unable to walk in the new life God has given you. There are those people who will not think it worthwhile to hold onto truth, and have been deceived by the thinking of the world, and are lost. Sometimes people call in on behalf of a son or daughter or granddaughter who has been ensnared, and are asking for counsel in how to reach their loved ones with truth. Then there are those who have not quite grasped what salvation is, and because of their faulty thinking, such as the fear of losing salvation, they are unable to walk in true freedom.
Glenn asked a simple question but really opened up to expose a more serious problem in his belief system. For many years he was enslaved in fear and depression over guilt over a past sin of fornication. Bob graciously helped guide him to truth so he could walk in new freedom. He no longer needs to be enslaved to the law but is free to walk in the grace of God.
Listen as Bob provides practical advice and shares truth from God’s word to help people walk in freedom (Galatians 5:1). Do not let yourself be put back under the law (Galatians 3:3). You are no longer under the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). You have been set free from that. There is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). You are now under grace (Romans 6:14). Learn to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). Satan will lie to you, to get your mind off Christ and on His wonderful grace (John 10:10). In our flesh, we will always be in need to have our minds continually be renewed with truth to dispel error (John 8:32). We are always to be alert and of sober mind, for the devil prowls around to see who he may devour (1 Peter 5:8).
Remember, Christ is in you (Colossians 1:27). He is living in you to renew your mind so you can walk in the newness of life (Romans 6:4). Get in the word, study it to get to know the author, who will use His word to renew your mind, so you can walk in the truth He reveals to you (Romans 12:2, 1 Corinthians 2:9-10). Put aside all bitterness, realizing that you are a forgiven person, a new creation, a child of God (Ephesians 4:32, Ephesians 1:7, John 1:12-13, 2 Corinthians 5:17). There is no sin that has overtaken you except what is common to man (1 Corinthians 10:13). Christ now lives in you. He is your life (Philippians 1:21). He has given you everything you need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). You can boldly go to the throne of God, to receive help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
Patsy called on behalf of her granddaughter, who is caught up in a lesbian lifestyle. Listen as Bob helps her in understanding and unraveling what is going on with her granddaughter. Through the application of truth in scripture, he provides practical advice on how to approach her granddaughter.
As the world gets worse and worse, there is so much thinking of this world that is in conflict with proper thinking. You may not be able to carry out that which is good, but you never want to get to the point of calling something other than what God calls it, sin. Homosexuality and lesbian behavior is sin. You do not have to be a Christian to know that. God has put a conscience in every person to know right from wrong. A person knows stealing is wrong and murder is wrong, for example. The way to walk free from being enslaved in sin and death is to come to Christ for life. In most cases, young people get ensnared into such perversion due to an absent father or mother, and are seeking to meet a need by means of the flesh and not the Spirit, being bound in deception.
The issue is people have thought it not wise to hold on to truth, and so they believe the lies of the world. Often this happens by evil people who recruit young girls or boys, enticing them to accept such behavior as an alternative lifestyle or a valid means of love. God calls such behavior, homosexuality and lesbianism, as perversion. Romans 1 clearly indicates such behavior as perversion. What often happens with young girls is that they have a breakup with a boyfriend, and are deceived into thinking that a girl understands her better, and gives up any hope of a meaningful relationship with boys. That starts a downward progression in thinking that is contrary to what is true and proper behavior.
Is their hope for your loved one who has been ensnared? Yes. You have the right to not allow that perversion to be flaunted in your home, and you appeal to her with the truth of Christ, his unconditional love and provision. You share the message of the gospel in Christ Jesus. But as long as a person continues in that perversion, they will not be able to live in the life God has planned for them. He did not die on a cross for a person to continue in sin, that leads to death, but to walk free from that, in a life that is truly free, where there is no more condemnation for you and so you can walk in a new way of living in all joy and peace. The only person who can meet a person’s need of unconditional love and acceptance is God. A perverse lifestyle is Satan’s trick in deceiving someone in thinking you can receive unconditional love and acceptance in a person, and in this case, in a perverse lifestyle, which only leads to eventual heartache, pain, and even death through sexual transmitted diseases, such as AIDS.
Transcript
Glen from Colorado Springs, Colorado
Glen: Hi, Bob.
Bob: How are you doing, brother?
Glen: I have a question on 1 Timothy 5:12, about the widows. It is about the widows. When you put on the support of the church, when they go and get married, Paul says they incur condemnation upon themselves because they set aside a previous pledge. So this “pledge” and “condemnation”, what is that all about?”
Bob read the full context of the scripture and explained what he knew from simple reading of the scripture.
1 Timothy 5:3-15
3 Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. 5 The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. 6 But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. 7 Give the people these instructions, so that no one may be open to blame. 8 Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.9 No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, 10 and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the Lord’s people, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.
11 As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry. 12 Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge. 13 Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also busybodies who talk nonsense, saying things they ought not to. 14 So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. 15 Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.
Bob: We need to look after older widows and see they are cared for. In giving, a person over sixty is to be put on some kind of list. I do not have a list like that. But back then they did. As for young widows, do not put them on a list for they are able to work and provide for themselves. But also their sensual desires overcome their earlier pledge and they want to get married. What is that first pledge? Maybe to not get married, but scripture does not say.
Bob: Paul is providing practical advice to Timothy in leading the people of God under his care. In their day, widows were in need and since a church has limited funds a list was made to prioritize the need. Widows over 60 of good character were those identified to be helped by the church and younger widows who are able-bodied and able to work should do so. Also if widows have family who can help then the family should do so first so as to not to burden the church when the person’s own relatives are able. Young widows are also vulnerable to give into sensual desires and overcome their dedication to remain unmarried and therefore would no longer be a widow in need.
Bob also referenced the scriptures concerning Paul’s advice on marital matters, the choice of a person to marry or not, in 1 Corinthians 7.
1 Corinthians 7:8-11
8 Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. 9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. 10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. 11 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.
Glen: What is the pledge?
Bob: Scripture does not really provide enough information as to what that pledge is. We just do not know.
Glenn: Why then the condemnation if such a person should set aside the pledge?
Bob: The condemnation would be from other people, not from God. Paul is basically setting up safe-guards or practical wisdom so as to prevent a person from incurring abuse on themselves. Here a young widow, possibly immature in the Lord, could be boasting about her devotion to God but then decides to become married, and after having received income while a widow, both her and the church could incur condemnation. That just creates an embarrassing situation for her and the church who gave to help her. Even today, people are so quick to condemn a person for divorce and even condemn that person for life as if it is unpardonable sin. That should never be.
Glen: What is really bothering me is this. In the past, I committed fornication before I became married to this other woman I now have as my wife. I have fears of God’s condemnation because of what I perceive as a pledge I broke to be potentially married to a person I was involved in sexual fornication with, justifying my behavior that we were going to be married. So 17 years later, I turned to antidepressants to deal with this guilt.
Essentially he is not living under grace but has placed himself under law, whether he realizes it or not. He does not fully comprehend what God has done for him.
Bob: False teaching has gotten you off base. You are living in disobedience to the Lord all these years by not believing what He said when He said “I went to the cross to take away all your sins.” You are placing a lot of emphasis on your words rather than His words. Your sins are never seen again in the eyes of God. You are beating yourself up over 17 years of committing fornication with a girl you were hopefully planning on marriage but never worked out. In religion, you say: “I sinned and what do I do”. In Christ, Christ says: “You sinned and I already took care of that sin in the eyes of God. When I cried out from the cross, ‘it is finished’, that is what I meant.”
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: Christ is who helps you through the day. You turned to drugs to alter your mind rather than to Christ to renew your mind. If you are truly born again with the living Christ in you to guide you into all truth, to make the truths of God made known to you and to replace truth with error. You are doing this or you would not be calling to ask these kinds of questions. Just like those who study the dollar bill, study the real thing to recognize the counterfeit. Stay strong in the grace of God as a child of the living God, not because I am a good or bad person but because of the mercy of God. Do not ever negate that mercy. The mercy of God is the most important truth to hold onto. God is merciful. God looked down on our condition and said “forgive them, they don ’ t know what they are doing”. That is a merciful statement.
Luke 23:33-34
33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals – one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
Bob: He said this to those who just beat the daylights out of him. Learn to stand in the grace of God with the full knowledge my sins are taken away from the eyes of God once and for all and forever which Jesus did on the cross. He entered into my spiritual death with me so I can enter into his resurrection with Him. When I came to Him I came to Him for life. The consequences of sin is death and the solution to death is life and the only life available to me is resurrected life of Christ Jesus.
John 8:32
32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
Bob: I am a born again, forgiven forever, eternally saved person. Stand in that. Do not let those voices come in with all of these doubts and other stuff. Realize that truth is what will set you free. Counseling and pills do not set you free. Jesus sets you free. Truth sets you free. A true counselor is going to lead you to one who can set you free, who is Jesus. He will lead you to the word of God.
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.
Bob: You grab a hold and hang onto that, Glen. Put aside that guilt behind you and start walking in the grace of God. He came to save you from your sin and guilt. Take the marriage you now have, praise God for it, and continue on in the new life God has given you.
Bob: Okay, brother.
Glen: Sounds good.
Bob: Okay, Glen. Do not let yourself be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Do not put yourself back under the law. You have been freed from the law. You are now standing in the grace of God.
Galatians 5:1
5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Glen: Thanks, Bob.
Bob: Okay. God bless you, my friend. Bye bye.
Patsy
Patsy: I am concerned. We just sent our granddaughter back overseas. The reason we did is because she chose to live a lesbian lifestyle. We gave her an ultimatum that she should not continue in that lifestyle or she would go home. So she went home as a very bitter young woman. Her mother and her step-father are having a difficult time to know what to do with her. She wants to be on email to talk to these friends. We believe homosexuality is choice and not something you are born with. We are trying to get into counseling. We are having a difficult time dealing with her because she is making life difficult for everyone.
Bob: What you have to do with that time of thing, Patsy, is this. First of all, you and I, as a Christian, according to scripture, know that there is woe to those people who call what is good evil and what is evil good.
Isaiah 5:20
20Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
Bob: When God calls something sin, we have to acknowledge that that is sin. You do not have to be a Christian to know that homosexuality is a sin. You do not have to be a Christian to know that that is perverted. You know that is as a lost person. I did not gain my understanding of homosexuality by becoming a Christian. I believe the same thing as a lost person that I believe as a Christian, that that is sin.
Bob: I did not change my mind about stealing when I became a Christian. I knew stealing, lying, fornication, and adultery are sins as a lost person. I did not need to be taught that as a lost person. I knew those things as sin long before I became a Christian. So I say to people, “Do not blame this on being a Christian.” This is just good common sense. God puts it on the heart, into the conscience of men, that you know what is right from wrong. There is such a thing as a right and a wrong. If there is no such thing as wrong, how would you know what is right?
Bob: So you are making a stand on what is truth. Homosexual behavior is called sin according to God’s word. God’s word explains how such a sin comes about and how it manifests itself into more and more depravity.
Romans 1:18-32
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 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.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Bob: God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts, for the sexual impurity, for the degrading of their bodies, and exchanged the truth of God for a lie. And it says that because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. That is your granddaughter.
Patsy: Right
Bob: This is a by-product. This is a step to. Because of what? The exchanging of truth for a lie and worshiping a created being, another person, another woman, or another man if you are a male, rather than the one who created us. A perverse person says in her heart: “God, I do not care how you created me. I don ’t even care you did. I am a woman inside”. All such talk is nonsense. If you have the equipment for a woman, you are a woman. If you have the equipment for a man, you are a man. Quit exchanging the truth for a lie.
Patsy: Absolutely
Romans 1:27
27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Bob: So they received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. AIDS is a due penalty for such perversion, as are other sexually transmitted diseases. Here is the key.
Romans 1:28
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.
Bob: Patsy, I believe homosexuality is a form of insanity.
Patsy: I agree.
Bob: Some people are not going to like to hear that, but I am going to say it anyway. You have to have a hinge of insanity in you to think that as a woman that I am going to behave as a man, or as a man that I want to be a woman. There is a point of insanity connected with that. What some people define as insanity is a person who continues to do something what they know is destroying them. That is really insane too. What it says here is true. You have been turned over to a mind of depravity, so you continue doing what you should not be doing.
Romans 1:29-30
29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.
Bob: You have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. Then it goes ahead, which you see today, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.
Romans 1:32
32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Bob: In other words, they are encouraging other people to get involved in it.
Patsy: Oh yea!
Bob: Homosexuality is a perversion. It is a sexual perversion. In saying all of that, what do you do with your granddaughter? You set a standard and tell her the truth in regards to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ loves you and he was raised to offer you eternal life. He did not create you as a pervert. He did not create you depraved. That came from your own choices. We love you just like God loves you, but I am not going to have that behavior flaunted in front of our family and in front of our own home. What you do in your own privacy is your own business, but when you flaunt that behavior in other people then we have to take a stand on that.
Patsy: Right.
Bob: That was the same thing taking place in 1 Corinthians. The man having intercourse with his father’s wife was flaunting that. He was proud of that and happy about that. Was that harsh? No. The instruction obeyed was to save the body of Christ. If you approach it in that way. Not that we hate you, but we hate what you have given your mind over to. It is a depraved mind. It is not a mind where you are listening to God. As a matter of fact, you do not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God. If you did, then you would not say something is okay when God says it is perversion. We love you, and if you ever change your mind, we welcome you back, but we are not going to have you flaunting your lifestyle in front of me or your family.
Patsy: That is the stand her mother is taking. The step-father is the one who said she can e-mail these friends. I was hoping that he wouldn’t but they did not ask me so I did not really tell them. That is exactly the stand we took in our home. We are Christians and you knew that when you came here. So you will not do this.
Bob: I think, Patsy, to me, the mistake we make is by saying we are Christians. Whether you are a Christian or not, that is not the issue. As a non-Christian, you know homosexuality is wrong and perverted. You do not have to be a Christian to know that.
Patsy: Right. That is a very good point.
Bob: When you say, “We are Christians so we are not going to tolerate that behavior”. Such a statement plays into the defensive response that Christians are intolerant people. No, whether you are Christians or not is irrelevant to the problem. I know right from wrong. I knew right from wrong even before I knew the Lord. This is wrong. As a non-Christian, you know such sexual behavior is a sin. This is wrong. I am not going to have you flaunt that perverted behavior in our faces. That is the key. What you do in private is between you and God. But you are not going to flaunt this before our people and our family.
Patsy: I appreciate that we are working toward that. I think what she is doing is absolutely out of rebellion and anger. A lot of things she said to her mom, when she went back home, is absolutely not true. She is doing that to hurt her, hoping she will get so angry that she will load her back on a plane and send her back. Which is absolutely not what needs to be done and she knows that. She is a beautiful young lady and brought us nothing but happiness until this, which happened about 6 or 7 months ago.
Bob: She is in rebellion and anger but she was recruited into this behavior. There are really evil people out there, preying on vulnerable people. You are not born that way, so you have to be recruited. With a woman, you are recruited with a friendship and this person knows what she is doing. All of this is part of an agenda. Someone who is practicing homosexuality and get eyes on someone who isn’t, they tenaciously keep at it until it is finally fulfilled. That is where wisdom has to take place in woman lives as well as men, as to why this person is so interested in me.
Patsy: She had gone through two boyfriends, and had just broken up with one. This little girl came into the picture of this other girl, who had this reputation all through the years. So she struck up this friendship with our granddaughter. That is how that went.
Bob: Men do not understand this. They keep at it and at it. She had an agenda and accomplished it.
Patsy: Yes.
Bob: You talk about evil and the recruiting of that. Those are the evil people.
Bob: The best to you, Patsy. I hope she comes to her senses.
Patsy: She is going to. We are going to see to it. We are going to pray and pray and see to it she does. I thank you so much for taking my call. I enjoy listening to you.
Bob: Thank you, Patsy, for your call. Bye bye.
