Radio Broadcast Monday 05/16/2022

Classic Christianity – A Closer Look at Your Identity in Christ P28 (05-16-22)

Jesus Wants You to Walk in The Newness of Life

Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Remember that. Walk in faith in that. Walk in the newness of life that is yours in Christ Jesus.

“In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22)

Why is it so important for our understanding of this today? Because Satan doesn’t want you to believe it, for when you believe it, you will be walking in the newness of life found in Christ Jesus. You need to rebel against the teaching that promotes ongoing forgiveness of sins. You need to rebel against the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees today. You need to be a good rebel and rebel against that which wants to do you harm. And instead, listen to the Holy Spirit of God, living in you (if you are a child of God), allowing Him to teach you all TRUTH.

In today’s lesson, from the Bible study booklet, A Closer Look at Your Identity in Christ, available for purchase from our online Bob George Ministries ecommerce store

Just as a person’s physical growth is based on proper diet and exercise, so is the Christians’s spiritual growth dependent on regular feeding upon the word of God and application of its principles. With more false teaching, shifting opinions and general confusion in the world than ever before, Christians need a solid foundation upon which to base their beliefs and build their lives. The word of God declares that Jesus Christ is that foundation of truth. With that in mind, let’s now take A Closer Look at Your Identity in Christ.

Now, again, if you have an enemy and you’re in war, are you rebelling? Are you in rebellion against your enemy? Absolutely. Should you be? Absolutely. You don’t teach a bunch of soldiers that, don’t be rebellious against those folks out there, after all, they’re neat people. No, their enemies. They’re out to kill you.

And so there is a spirit of rebellion that is within all of us that we’ve been taught so often that, that is evil, where the fact of the matter is, it is not evil. It’s god-given. But place that rebellion where it belongs. And when you hear that voice of the flesh coming out, demanding resentment, demanding to get even, demanding to go out and destroy people, demanding all of that. Our role is not just oh well, as just a nice voice rebelled against it. Say brother, you’re not gonna tell me what to do! When you talk about, you’re not going to tell me what to do. You don’t control me anymore. You’re not going to tell me what to do. That feels good to say that. And to say it legitimately, feels good saying you’re not going to tell me what to do. You’ve been telling me what to do long enough. You’re not going to tell me what to do anymore. I’m in rebellion against you. And I’m in harmony with the God who now lives in me, who’s made me into a brand new creation where I don’t have to sit around thinking about obedience anymore either, because that’s a natural outflow of being a child of God. And so I’m going to rebel against what you’re telling me so that I could live naturally. And that is with just joyful dependence upon a God who came to love me. Give Himself for me. Lives in me. Constantly renewing my mind, constantly teaching me truth. That is setting me free and I can walk in a newness of life to that, and I don’t have to listen to you anymore.

Again, to me. I have never verbalized these things before. It was just something that hit today. When I came to work and forgot my briefcase I had to go back home and get it. But Bob, I am convinced that this is an area of teaching that I just have never looked at before. I cannot say I’ve ever heard before. And yet the more I think on it, and verbalize it, the more I see the wisdom of it.

We talked about a little bit yesterday on a broadcast that had when you were talking about that lust, is lusting after desires. The lust itself is not a desire. It’s lusting after a desire. In other words, if you have a desire, the flesh, do you always think of lust as it involves in sexual things? But man’s lust goes all over the place. It’s any kind of evil desire that flows inside of us. Well again slanders in the same lineup as adultery and homosexuality. So if I have a fleshly desire to slander somebody, which I certainly could, and sometimes do, I can either ignore it or rebel against that desire. So I’m going to ignore, rebel against it. But if I don’t then lust is going to lust after that desire. In other words, the flesh says, I want to do that. I want to do that. And so that’s all lust is. It is lusting after evil desires, desires that have been perverted and evil. And so, we’re into a situation where it is just because of the very nature of the way that we are made in this flesh of ours. And with that, does contain indwelling sin, which creates, is the way we can identify the sins within us is by the desires created in us. And I can either like, I say, rebel against those desires, or I can allow lust to develop toward those desires. And that makes me want to do that more and more and more, and more and more. Or instead of rebelling against that, and I realize as even as I’m speaking that you can get people where we can, so I’m just so mad at sin and all that but that’s not the issue. It’s there. I don’t care how mad you are toward it. It’s going to be there till you die. So you don’t need to get so angry about it. You just need to rebel against it. I’m just, I’m sorry, but you’re just not going to tell me what to do. I’m not mad at you. I just don’t want you to tell me what to do. I’ve got someone else that I’m listening to.

And that just begins to put all of these things into place. The struggle that we go through between the flesh and the Spirit, and the struggle that I have seen at times of my own life. But seeing in the lives of people that I’ve been very close to and see how far that people can go in being deceived in destruction, and asking yourself the question, how can that be? How can a person continue to want to do that? And the more you think upon it, all that is, is continually giving in to lusting after the desires of the flesh that says, even though Jesus didn’t come to kill and destroy, I want you to come, I want you to kill, destroy in the name of Jesus because he said… It makes no sense at all. So, I believe that there’s a dual situation that we’re involved in here. And that is one of course, we have to recognize where these thoughts are coming from and we can’t sit around and rationalize those.

Love does no harm to your neighbor and it doesn’t make any difference whether you’re talking about on that, whether you’re talking about sexual sin and you’re talking about going at drunkenness, talking about homosexuality, you’re talking about slander, you’re talking about anything, you want to talk about. All of those are in the same camp. There’s no degrees on that. But when those desires of the flesh are there, we have to recognize those desires of the flesh. Don’t call them of God. There isn’t anything of God in any of those things. And so we have to recognize where they are coming from. And again, I believe you set up your natural rebellion against it in regard to the fact that someone’s trying to get me to do something that in my new nature I do not want to do. And I’m not going to listen to you anymore. And then turn and to walk in the Spirit. That’s walking in truth. Walk in the newness of life. Walk in love. Yeah, that’s what you’re going to be walking in when you’re walking in the Spirit is Truth and Love.

And love does no harm to your neighbor. So when you’re thinking about doing harm to your neighbor, you don’t have to wonder whether you’re walking in the Spirit or not. If you’re thinking about doing harm to somebody, you’re not, you’re walking in the flesh and you’re being used as an agent of Satan. I can be used as an agent of Satan, have, and will, and probably will again. Or I can be used by God. And the choice is mine as to, whether I want to listen to that voice in the flesh and give into it, or whether I want to listen to the voice of the Spirit of God that lives in me, can give into that.

We’ve taken quite a diversion here, but sometimes those diversions are very meaningful and they are to me and I appreciate our listeners giving me the opportunity to just share these things as they come to me. And hopefully they’re coming from the Lord, and come to me and are able to express them to you. Hope all of this that were talking about being able to be a new creation indwelt by a living God, living with the Holy Spirit of God alive, living in us, bringing Christ to our hearts, which is our only hope of glory. People who have been given new life In Christ. Made into brand new creations in Christ. Baptized into his body and chosen by God saved by His grace. Jesus’ blood presented to God, which is a propitiation for our sins, reconciled to Him. Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Freed from the law, so that I can walk in the newness of life. Totally forgiven. Totally cleansed. Made holy and blameless in the sight of God. Hidden with Christ in God, clothed, with Christ sealed in Christ. Given the righteousness of Christ. Justified in Christ, saved from the wrath of God in Christ, made peace with God, freed from condemnation, go on, and on, and on all of these things are yours of who we are in Christ today as a result of what took place at the cross of Jesus Christ when the New Covenant went into effect. Had it not been for Christ, fulfilling the law by his natural Life. Becoming a man and as a man fulfilling the law for you and me which we could never fulfill. Upholding the law, meaning that when a law is violated a punishment has to take place and death is the punishment. And so, His taking our death for us, for the punishment for sin, upheld the law. In other words, the law has been upheld, fulfilled it through His life, upheld it in His death, raised now in the newness of life, so that you could be raised in the newness of life. So what was the goal of the Cross? To enable you to be raised in the newness of life to walk in a new way of life, no longer under the law, that could only condemn you, but to be freed from the law. So that you could walk without condemnation in a newness of life indwelt permanently by a living God who loved you, gave Himself for you, gave Himself to you, and is now living His life through you. Now, if that isn’t good news, and I don’t know what good news is.

Now all of that folks, took place again, as a result of the New Covenant, a new agreement between God and man. Now last week we studied very briefly about the first Covenant and Hebrews 9 explains that. Hebrews 9:16 In case of a will that’s a covenant. Oh, you have a will and a testament. Your Bible is a testament. It’s a will. In other words, it shows what God has given to man. So it’s an Old Testament. In case of any will, it’s necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, because a will is enforced only when someone has died, it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. And it goes ahead and says, that’s why the first covenant, so in as much as you have a first covenant, obviously you have a second one, so you got an old one and a new one. So, under the first covenant, even that when it says was not put into effect without blood, in other words, without a sacrifice, a death sacrifice. When Moses had proclaimed, every commandment of the law, to all the people. He took the blood of calves together with water, scarlet, wool and branches of his hyssop and he sprinkled the scroll, and all of the people and he said, this is the blood of the Covenant, which God has commanded you to keep. In other words, there’s been bloodshed. There’s been death. There’s been sacrifice. And this is the blood of the Covenant, which God has commanded you to keep. Now. There was the problem, the command, not in the command, but our ability to keep the command, but that was the old covenant. Now in the same way he sprinkled with blood, both the Tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. And in fact, the law requires under the law that nearly everything be cleansed with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

So folks, there could be no forgiveness either in the Old Testament or the New without the shedding of blood. In the Old Testament, that was done through a sacrificial system called the day of atonement, and there an innocent animal, pure innocent animal was slain on our behalf, his blood, it’s blood shed on the altar on our behalf as a substitute for us and our sins were therefore placed on it in essence transferred through the priest into the animal and covered for everything that I did last year. So without the shedding of blood, that kind of forgiveness could have never taken place. Now, there’s a problem with that type of forgiveness. And that is, what am I gonna do tomorrow? And the answer to that is wait till next year and come back again. And so there’s a New Covenant that had to take place. A covenant that had permanency to that forgiveness. Now why? Just so that we could be forgiven people? No, it’s so that we could walk in the newness of life because you can’t walk in a newness of life when you’re having to get forgiven over and over and over again, through a sacrifice. In other words, there’s no way to walk in freedom knowing that someone has got to die for what I did yesterday.

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Beat me a little bit, that’s okay. You see, that’s where religion comes in today because there’s no blood sacrifice. So just say, well just beat me a little bit or just guilt me a little, or better do something. Then I’ll feel a little better and then I’ll go away. Said, no, I’m sorry, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. And so something new had to be added. And so Hebrews 8 beginning in verse 6, tells us about the New Covenant that we had an old covenant now we have a new one. Now, the Jesus one received is as superior to theirs; talking about the priest that if you’re going to have a covenant, you’d have to have a priest representing people to God. So, His ministry as a Priest is as Superior to the old testament priest, as the Covenant of which He is a Mediator, is Superior to the old one. In other words, Jesus is a Superior Covenant. He is a Superior Priest as a representative to the old covenant and the old priests. And it is founded, it says not only on that but better promises. In other words, there were promises in the old testament, but this New Covenant is going to be founded on a better promise. For if there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.

But God found fault with the people, not with the covenant, but with us. And He said, the time is coming declares the Lord, where I will make a new covenant, a brand new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, and it will not be like the covenant that I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand, to lead them out of Egypt. Because why won’t it be like that? Well, because they did not remain faithful to My covenant. So they couldn’t do what they were commanded to do. So He said, I turned away from them. Now this is the covenant, so I’m going to make a new one. And with that, I’ll make it with the house of Israel, declares the Lord. I’ll put my laws in their minds, write them in their hearts. Now He wasn’t saying, well they didn’t do much good when those laws are on the stone, so I’m going to put the same laws in their hearts. NO. So He’s talking about it all. It says, I’m going to do something internal to you. I’ll be their God, they will be My people. That’s new. No longer will a man teach his neighbor or a man his brother saying know the Lord, because they all will know Me from the least of them to the greatest. I’m going to provide a way whereby a person could say, I know God. Not, I know about Him. Who’s your God? Oh, He’s the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It’s too bad He’s not yours.

I’m going to provide a way whereby you’re not gonna have to say that I worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. You’re going to be in a position of saying, I worship God. I know Him. He knows me. He lives in me. Had never been done before. Nobody could ever say that before. Knew about God. Yes. To say, I really know him personally, intimately, living in me. Never. Now He said in order for that to occur, here’s the reason they’re going to be able to say, I know the Lord, for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. Did you catch that folks? Your sins are remembered no more! Do you understand that? No more. In the Greek, that means no more.

Now by calling this Covenant New He has made the first one obsolete and what is obsolete is aging and will soon disappear. That was two years ago and I got news for you, it has disappeared. It’s gone. What did we do in the Christian movement? Why, we just took the Israelite law and just put those old clothes on top of our new Covenant. And we have made ourselves under the law, put ourselves back under what God said is obsolete and is aging and has disappeared. And put ourselves back under an old disappeared deal, which is called a shadow. And so, instead of living in the reality of knowing God, we prefer to live in the shadow, under the Law.

Now, Hebrews 9 goes on to say not only is this a New Covenant, but this New Covenant was brought about by a better sacrifice. The old covenant, there had to be a sacrifice. It was the blood of bulls and goats, animals. Now under the New Covenant, there’s another, a better sacrifice. It says it was necessary, then for the copies of the Heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices. In other words, these were copies of what was going to take place ultimately in Heaven. And they had to be purified with these kind of sacrifices. But the Heavenly things themselves, the things are going to take place not here on earth, but in Heaven, with better sacrifices for Christ. He did not enter a man-made sanctuary, that was only a copy of the true one. What’s any kind of a sanctuary down here? Just a copy of the true one, that’s all. No, He entered Heaven Himself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor, now catch this folks, He not only did He not enter a man-made sanctuary, He entered Heaven, but He did not enter Heaven to offer Himself again and again. Now why do you offer yourself the first time? As a sacrifice for sins.

In the Old Testament, after you offered a sacrifice for sins. Whose sins? Your sins. Let’s just pretend you were back there. What are you going to have to do next year? Go back and offer another sacrifice. For what? your sins. Again, and then next year. You’re going to have to go back and do what? Offer another sacrifice, one for your sins again. Now Jesus, it says, did not do that. Did He not do that because you don’t sin anymore. I don’t believe so.

I cannot emphasize enough to you. If you’re listening, to ask God to let you really listen and hear what’s being said here. In the old testament and the old covenant, sin has to be dealt with. Folks it isn’t the case that it can be blinked at. It is not blinked at. It was not like that. It cost Jesus his life just like in the old testament, it cost animals, their life, innocent animals, who had nothing to do with what you and I were doing, but had to be used as a sacrifice for what you and I were doing.

But you see that kind of a sacrifice was inadequate. First of all, it was a blood sacrifice by something different than that of a human being. In other words, even the character of the sacrifice itself, was something different than the one doing the offense. It was an animal sacrificing for a human being. Also, it was a sacrifice that had to be done over and over and over again. Now, when a priest who was representing man to God and God to man, was the initiator and the administrator of that sacrifice, he had to take blood and present it into the Holy of Holies. But it was blood that was not his own. It was an animal’s blood, but that is how God set that up for that period of time.

So not only did he have to present the blood on behalf of the sins of the people that he represented, but he had this to present the blood of his self because he himself had also sinned. All of us have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. Isn’t it amazing how some people act as if somebody sinning is really unusual? That’s really surprising thing (Sarcasm). And in so judging another person acting as if they never have. And folks, that’s the problem with judging one another is it is insanity. And it’s also the most hypocritical thing that you and I can do because, who hasn’t sinned, who hasn’t fallen short of the glory of God? No one except Jesus Christ. Now, so with the recognition of this, here’s the difference between an old testament priest administering old testament sacrifices, the blood of bulls and goats, the blood of animals, and the New Testament priest, representing a New Covenant, whereby, the blood that was presented on our behalf was not the blood of an animal but of a Human, was not the blood of just a sinless animal, but was the blood representing the sins of a Man. An animal could not fulfill the Law by living a sinless life. A Man had to do that and a man could not adequately provide sacrifice for the sins of man. A Man has to do that. An animal can’t do that.

And so God became a Man and came to this earth and became a Man so that He could take that Humanity to the cross. First of all, take that Humanity, fulfilling the Law. Take that Humanity to a cross, die on our behalf, so that He could be raised again and offer you and me what man had never had before, resurrected life. Not just life, resurrected life! What kind of life was that? A life that had been lived on this Earth as a human being. Died on this Earth, and raised again in the newness of life. And now offering that kind of a life to an individual, which happens to also be called, an eternal life.

So Jesus entered Heaven Himself for us. Not a man-made sanctuary. He entered Heaven and He did not enter Heaven to offer Himself again and again, it says, the way the high priest enters the most holy place every year with blood that is not his own. If Jesus was entering Heaven Himself again,and again, the way the old testament sacrifices said, then it said He would have to suffer many times since the creation of the world.

So you see first if Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was the same as the old testament, He’d have to do that every year, or every day, or every month, or however often it would be, but before he could offer blood, he would have to shed blood. Is He going to do that? No. How many times did He die on a cross? Once. For how many people? All. For how long? Forever. For how many sins? All of them. For who? The world and every person will ever be born in it.

Now if that was not true, and if Jesus’ sacrifice was not different than that of bulls and goats… If His ministry that we talked about in Hebrews 8, was not Superior to the old covenant priests or any man-made priest by then, He would have to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But, now He has appeared once for all, at the end of the ages, to do what? Do away with sin. What do you mean do away with sin? Did He say do away with sinning? Obviously not, do away with sinning. What are you talking about? Deal with it once and for all. It’s deal with it judicially. In other words, forgive it. Deal with it in regards to its effect upon us as it relates to us and God. I see Him no more. That’s a new dealing with it. Taking it away instead of just covering it. He appeared for us once and for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of who? Himself. Not of the blood of bulls and goats, but Himself. Now, just as a man was destined to die and after that, to face judgment, so, Jesus was sacrificed once, to take away the sins of many people, and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring Salvation for those who are waiting for Him. Now, why folks, is He when He is coming again, He is not coming to bear sin? Why is He not coming to bear sin, when He comes the second time? Because He did it the first time. He already bore our sins in His own body on the cross. How many times? Did it only once. Is He going to do it again? No, He is not. Did he enter a man-made sanctuary to pull that off? No, He did not. He entered Heaven.

Thank you so much for tuning in to Classic Christianity, with Bob George. We hope you’ve enjoyed today’s program. We truly hope that today’s message has inspired you to walk a life of faith in the Lord, find more information online at shop.BobGeorge.net. There you’ll also find available CDs, DVDs, and bible studies available for purchase. It’s through your help that we are able to spread the good word of Jesus Christ. Until next time, walk in faith, be good to one another and praise the Lord. Amen.