Radio Broadcast Monday 08/22/2022

Classic Christianity – A Closer Look at Your Identity in Christ P70 (08-22-22)

God’s Love For Us Is: Always Patient, Kind, Never Boastful, Always Rejoices in Truth, Always Protects You, Never Remembers Our Sins

~ “No man is the author of his own writings. God told him what to write, God was revealing those things. So God graciously said, Paul, this is what love is. Well, isn’t that wonderful to know that that God is patient with with me and he patient with you, and he’s kind to you and God never is envious with you. And he is never boastful. God’s not proud he’s not dealing with you is because I’m god, I’m proud. And I’m not going to serve you. No, he, he humbled himself and became one of us as a servant. God’s never rude in his dealings with us. He’s never self seeking always looking out after your interest, even over and above that of his own. God’s never easily angered with you. God keeps no records of your wrongs. He never delights in evil always rejoices in truth always protects you. Well, that’s good to know. Always trusts you, always hopes the best for you, and always perseveres with you.”

Listen in to today’s lesson with more in-depth teaching, 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.

Bob George 0:44
You don’t have an old sinful nature anymore, you’re not an unbeliever anymore. So you may as well if you’re not an unbeliever, as well believe, and walk by faith. And when you don’t believe you’re acting unnaturally, to the fact that you’re not an unbeliever anymore. You’re you’re you’re doing something contrary to, to who you are now to your identity. So sometimes gets a little complicated to explain all those things. But the fact of the matter is that Bob, George that the Spirit of God living in Him, He’s gone, he’s dead, and only have one identity, that’s a child of the living God. But that new identity is still living in a body that contains indwelling sin, and there’s the conflict, but I don’t have to give in I don’t have to be an unbeliever, I’m not one anymore. So why should I, so I never will be one, I can just act and one belief. And when I’m doing that’s what I’m doing is acting, acting totally contrary to who I am.

Well, again, so that’s why it’s important for us to understand the love of God, folks, that’s the beginning step of renewing our mind. Paul talks about that in the third chapter of the book of Ephesians. In chapter in verse 14, he prays a prayer there. And the reason he prays that is, because it’s this is really the will of God concerning you and me as a believer. For this reason, he said, I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches, that he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being. So again, he’s praying that in my inner being, I will be strengthened with his power through his Spirit. Well strengthened to do what? Well, he’s going to tell us I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power now, together with all the saints to do something, What’s he want us to do? Go out and do great deeds for the Lord? No, that we might have power to grasp what’s in our minds, folks, how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. That’s the power of God in our lives, not the power to go out and do some powerful. Old man’s flesh and ego is always in big assemblies, trying to do something powerful, and walking around touching people in their head, let them fall back and say, Boy, that’s the power of God just zapped right through there. Well, I’m sorry, folks that didn’t have anything at all to do with anything in the Scripture. When you’re talking about power, you’re talking about the contrast between what we think is powerful, big, strong, noisy, we name our football teams after things that are powerful, big, strong, noisy, the, you know, the, the Tigers and the Bears, the Chicago Bears and the Cowboys and the Indians and, and man, we get powerful stuff, you know, because that’s the macho thing, you know, who in the world would ever call their football team, the Los Angeles Lambs, the Seattle Sheep? You know, that just wouldn’t make any sense. It’s bad enough with the Ducks. But it just doesn’t make any sense. It doesn’t tie in with the power of the macho stuff there. But the most powerful man that ever walked on the face of the earth was called was the tiger of God, the bear of God? no, the Lamb of God, gentle as a lamb, the Lamb of God who did what? took away the sins of the world. So folks, power is not what you and I think it is. It isn’t out there doing some big for God. It’s the power that God gives you to grasp a hold of his love.

There, there’s a terrific resistance to understanding the love of God. If perfect love is what casts away all fear. Is it God’s desire for you to walk in perfect love? Well, of course it is. What is that perfect love, do? Casts away all fear. So a perfect love casts away all fear. What does fear cast away? Perfect love. So guess where satan lives, in fear. Why? It keeps you away from understanding the perfect love of God. So it is God’s desire, it is God’s will. It is his ultimate intention for you and me. It’s it’s a part of that, that he says that I am committed to completing the work that I began in you. Faithful as he called you, who will do it teach you about his love. Why? Well it changes your life, love changes your life, folks. And so this power is strengthening you and me with power through his Spirit and your inner being. So the Holy Spirit of God is living in you and me. And he says, I pray that God will give you power in that Spirit living in your inner being to do what? grasps get a hold of this folks, the height and depth and breadth and width of the love of Christ. And then it says to know this love that surpasses knowledge. Now what’s the result of that? That you might be filled to the measure with all of the fullness of God.

Now what does it mean to be filled to the measure with all of the fullness serve God? Would that be the same as an example as being filled with a Spirit? Well, I think absolutely, as a matter of fact, just two chapters over in the fifth chapter of this same book of Ephesians why you see that terminology. Don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is, don’t get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery, instead, be filled with the Spirit. Well, what does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? Well, unfortunately, some people may think that that just means to speak to one another, as it says, with psalms and hymns, and always given thanks to the Father and everything, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, but folks, those are that’s the byproduct of what it truly means to be filled the Spirit is to be filled with the love of God. When you’re filled with the love of God, why you’re going to be speaking to one another in spiritual truths and songs and making music in your heart being, experiencing the joy of the Lord and the peace of the Lord and the love of God and all of the fruit of the Spirit. That’s, that’s a byproduct of those. So we’re out trying to hit the byproducts instead of being controlled by the love of God. What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit, folks? if you don’t put it in context, it just means anything you want it to me. And another one of those cases, Bob, have a verse that I memorized earlier, my Christian experience being a drunk with wine, wherein is excess be filled with the Spirit, just quote at the drop of a hat, but didn’t know what it meant so because I didn’t know what it meant as it relates to context, why it meant whatever I was taught, it was meant. It’s not what God says it is, to be filled with the Spirit says just what it says here to be filled to the measure with all of the fullness of God.

As we left off, we’re talking about that it was God who was going to give us power through the Holy Spirit of God living in us give it to us in our inner being so that Christ may dwell, in other words, be at home, in your hearts through faith. Well, how can someone dwell and be at home in your heart when you’re afraid of them? If you’ve ever been around somebody, people who are real touchy and irritable, why it really annihilates conversation and communication. When someone’s wanting to punish you all the time, or someone’s, you’re thinking all the time, but brother, I better not say some because I’m gonna get annihilated by them. It’s very tough to live with people like that, well, thank God, we don’t have to live with Jesus that way that, that he’s the one who took away our sins. And he says, I want you to be filled to the measure with the fullness of my love. And when that occurs, when you are, when you are filled, it means to be controlled by. So he said, I pray that you will be controlled to the measure with all of the fullness of God. So folks, terminology, like we said before, what does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? Man, if you don’t take that in context, it’ll mean anything you want it to be. And you got just denominations all over the place. And each one I’ve have a different interpretation of that. But what the Bible says it is not what man says it is. But what the Bible says that is to be filled with the Spirit is to be filled to the measure with all of the fullness of God. And you match those two scriptures up yourself in chapter three of the book of Ephesians, verse 19, and then go over to the fifth chapter, verse 18, in the same book, and you just see if the two don’t tie in together. So what does it mean then to be filled to the measure with a fullness of God? Well, to be filled means to be controlled by. So what are we to be controlled by? Well, the love of God.

So I just told you, I pray that you be rooted and established in love rooted in that that means that the roots of the love of God has gone down to the point like the apostle Paul being able to say, I’m convinced nothing can separate me from the love of God. It’s knowing his love for folks not just knowing about it, but to know this love that surpasses knowledge. In other words, it’s, it’s, it is absolutely a part of you. It isn’t something you have to think about anymore. It’s an intricate part of your very being. That I know that I’m a loved person by God. I don’t have to think about that a more. It’s just resting in that knowledge that I am a loved person, by the Lord Jesus Christ. I didn’t deserve an ounce of it didn’t earn a bit of it. It’s just God so loved me that He gave His only begotten Son for me. So that the very moment that I turned to him and believe he gave me his Son’s life, which is eternal. That’s a love that we can’t even enter into but that’s what it means to be controlled by the love of God. Well think about it for a moment, folks what controlled the apostle Paul? Well he said, the love of God constrains me or controls me. Same deal. What controlled? What control Jesus? Well the love of God. And what is to control you and me? Well, the love of God, were to be controlled by love. Now, Christ tells us to remain in his love. And however, we can’t understand how high and wide and deep and long is Christ’s love for us, through our finite minds, in other words, God has to teach us that too. And so in First Corinthians two, nine and 10, we’re told that no eye has seen no ears heard, nor mind is conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed it by His Spirit. So again, it isn’t one of those type of things, we go out and we say, well, I’m just going to go out. And intellectually, I’m going to study Greek and Hebrew, and whatever else it might be, so I can learn the love of God. Well, you can learn well about it, you can learn what it says, but you will never know what it means experientially, until it’s revealed to you by the Spirit. Why? Well, it tells us your eyes not seen, your ear has not heard your mind has not conceived of what God has prepared for those who love him. It’s got to be revealed by the Spirit. So God has given us the power to understand and experience His love for us through His Holy Spirit. And when you rely upon the Holy Spirit of God to reveal that to you, that’s when you’re going to know it. Now, folks, are we just going to know about the love of God through reading about it? I don’t think so. Paul said, I have become convinced that nothing can separate me from the love of God. And he mentioned trials, tribulations, hardships, life, death, all kinds of things. Why did he mention those? That’s where he learned about the love of God. Now he had to have heard about the love of God. But it’s while going through the trials and tribulations of life that the Spirit reveals to you the love of God.

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Bob George 14:00
I knew about the love of God long before I knew about the love of God. There’s a world of difference in those two, that experiential, coming to grips with the fact that nothing can separate you from the love of God. And many times, folks, it’s it’s in that condition. It’s like a dear pastor, friend of mine told me one time Bob, it’s when you’re flat on your face, crying your eyes out before the Lord. That’s the neatest place in the world to be that is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to you, because it’s what gets your dependency back upon the Lord. And so it’s where you learn about his love. So there is when you see in the scriptures in Hebrews where it talks about people who were sawn in two, were lived in destitution, that the world wasn’t worthy of them. All of those types of things, what they learned in that? They learned about the love of God. I think of music that some time items is a phenomenal reflection, of course of what’s going on people’s heart. But I’ve always had a very tender and loving place in my heart for the negro spirituals. When I was a kid I used to that’s about all I ever sang was negro spirituals. I love that I love the music, because it’s coming out of a heart. What happened to what happened to the black people who were sent over into this country as slaves? Well, they were certainly mistreated by human beings, in many instances, probably mistreated by one another. And in many instances, being a slave, you you own no property, you have no money, you live at the whim of the master. And in the midst of that, look at what developed in the hearts of our black brothers in that period of time, man, I want to tell you, there was spiritual depth that made the white man look sick. They learned through the trials and the tribulation and the hardships of life, to be able to cry out with Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen. Nobody knows but Jesus. All of these types of songs that that came out of the heart, that say, there’s a people who knew their God, they learned that even though the entire world would turn against them, that nothing could separate them from the love of God. That song I got us You got shoes all God’s god God shoes, and you say, Well, what when when I get to heaven, I’m gonna put on my shoes, and I’m gonna dance all over God’s heaven, heaven, I’m gonna dance all over God’s heaven. Well, to us, you know, that’s just a song. But to them, it meant something because slaves weren’t allowed to have shoes. That’s what, that’s what kept them identified. If any of them escaped, they’re going to have to steal some or something, because they were barefoot. And that was a sign of slavery, that’s a sign that you’re a slave. Then they said, boy, and I get to heaven, I’m gonna get some shoes, you know, and I want some shoes. And that’s the meaning of that song, I don’t have any here. And as a slave, I never will have any. But man, I got shoes, and you got shoes, and all God’s children got shoes. And that means I’m no longer a slave down here. I’ve been freed I’ve been set free.

So all of those things are, are a expression of people who came supernaturally see, not just through heavy education, didn’t have that. But through their revelation of the Spirit of God, living in them revealed to those people that you are loved. The whole world may appear not to love you, but I love you. And that is such a revealing things, such a magnificent thing for people to get a hold of. And it seems like it’s through those trials and tribulations of life that we go through, is when we come to grips with that truth that God loves me, the man might not but God loves me. And and of course, when you realize that, that as a child of God, if God loves you perfectly, he loves me perfectly. Then you get down the point of saying, Well, who am I had to do less on that? In other words, if God has forgiven all your sins, then who am I not to forgive your sins? If God isn’t judging you, then who am I to judge you? If God didn’t crucifying you all over again, who am I to crucify you all over again, that should be our mindset, but see, your own pride and ego may times keeps us from that. And we think that God has set us there to go out and to reveal sins of people, and to annihilate people and, and make mockery of people. It’s so contrary to God that it’s unbelievable. God didn’t call us to do that love covers. Love treats one another as you would a family member. And that’s what true love is all about when we’re dealing with people. So again, that kind of love has to be revealed by God. And of course, it can’t be revealed by God until we’re born again. Because if the Spirit of God doesn’t live in you, you don’t know Christ, so you’re not born again. So that Spirit of God has got to reveal these things to you. And I believe when you see people or individuals who continually insist upon trying to annihilate another part of the body of Christ, and it has to be a person who truly is not a part of the body of Christ because no man is right mindless is a real idiot would try to destroy his own body. That’s that’s called a sadist. It would be a sadist type of guy to sit around and said, I think I’ve cut my hand off I’m gonna destroy my body. It’s, it is unthinkable. It’s a bit would be perverted. But if it were, if it wasn’t your body, why then you might do that somebody else. It wouldn’t matter. But nobody in their right mind would be doing that too. is a part of their own body. So it’s everything that glitters is not gold folks. And we’re going to talk as we come back from our break, about what love is from God’s vantage point. In other words, there again is a word love. And to one person that may be one thing, and to another person who might mean something else. But first Corinthians 13, which you want to turn to, tells us exactly exactly what God says, love is. And it’s not a feeling it’s an action taken on behalf of another.

If we are told to love one another, which Jesus certainly told us, but before we can love one another, we have to be controlled by his love for us. Why then it’s pretty important for us to understand what is the definition of love? What is it then again, First Corinthians 13, four through seven, tells us that he defines love for us. He said, Love is patient. And what you would have to do on that is, this is God’s love for you folks. And, you know, we read this first Corinthians passage and say, gee, this is what I’m supposed to do. But really, it’s a definition of what God has done for you. This is, this is how he loves you. And so when we’re talking about this, why don’t we put it in that context, because that’s certainly the context that it’s in. And what we will do is just define what it’s saying, as we’re reading what it’s saying,

God, his and his love is always patient with you. God is love. So you can literally substitute love and God, God is patient with you. God is kind to you. God’s love, shows kindness to you. God’s love never is envious of you. In other words, he never looks at you the way we look at each other, being envious toward one another. He just loves you, and delights and in the things that you do and the things that you allow him to do through you. God’s love is never boastful. God is never proud in his dealing with you. In other words, pride is always looking out after my interest, over and above yours, and God obviously looked out after our interest over and above his own, or he would not have hung on a cross on our behalf. So love’s not proud. It’s not too proud to humble itself. You know, that story of the footwashing that took place with Jesus is here, it was God himself, who humbled himself and and took upon himself the the role of the lowest of the lowest of the lowest of servants in washing people’s feet. And he said, as I’ve done to you do to one another. In other words, let that pride go, get rid of that pride and serve one another. And there’s no job too small. There’s no job too small. So that was God. God is not rude in his dealings with you. God is not self seeking, love never is self seeking, love is always serving, not self seeking. Love is not easily angered. Love keeps no records of wrongs. God keeps no records of your wrongs. God is never easily angered with you. Love, the love of God does not delight in evil, but rejoices in truth, it doesn’t delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth, that that evil has been placed on a cross. In other words, there’s a, there’s that seems like a contradiction, but it isn’t. I don’t want to delight in evil. But at the same time, I want to rejoice with the truth as to what God did with evil. I don’t delight in sin. But at the same time, I want to rejoice with the truth, that God has put sin behind her back, never to see it behind his back, never to see it again. So one without the other, almost begins to negate one another. I’m not going to delight in my sinful thoughts. But I at the same time when I have them, I’m going to rejoice with the truth of the fact as to what God has done in the midst of those things. I’m not going to delight Bob, if you fall into a sin of some kind I’m not going to delight in the fact that you’ve done that, or I’ve done it or somebody else, but I’m also going to rejoice in the truth as to what God did with that sin. And that if he has done that, who am I to do anything but that. So there’s the two deals that you’re dealing with all all the time. It’s, it’s the fact that yeh the sin is there, but I’m going to also and it’s wrong, I’m not going to call it right, it’s wrong. That passage of scripture talks about that. Exposing sin it isn’t exposing people it’s exposing sin

I’m not going to call homosexuality and alternate lifestyle, I’m going to call it what it is. Now, I’m not going to go out and expose a homosexual and try to ruin him in this world. That is that’s evil. But I’m never going to say that homosexuality is okay, from God’s vantage point, nor am I gonna say that it’s not a sin, it is. I’m just using that. So as worry I’m not going to come down and say, well, that’s just a healthy concern. No, it’s not a healthy concern. Worry, is worry any thing not of faith is sin. So, worry is not trusting the Lord so and to God, all sin is a life, there’s no big ones and little ones. So love never delights in evil, but it also rejoices in the truth as to what God did. In the midst of that evil. God’s love always protects you and may therefore, God always trust the best in you. God always hopes the best for you, and God’s love always perseveres with you. Now, you can see, Bob, of course, when would Paul wrote these letters, and he wrote up that definition of God’s love, he had to write it out as a result of what God told him to do, because the Scripture is all initiated by God. No man is the author of his own writings. God told him what to write, God was revealing those things. So God graciously said, Paul, this is what love is. Well, isn’t that wonderful to know that that God is patient with with me and he is patient with you, and he’s kind to you and God never is envious with you. And he never boastful. God’s not proud he’s not dealing with you is because I’m god, I’m proud. And I’m not going to serve you. No, he, he humbled himself and became one of us as a servant. God’s never rude in his dealings with us. He’s never self seeking always looking out after your interest, even over and above that of his own. God’s never easily angered with you. God keeps no records of your wrongs. He never delights in evil always rejoices in truth always protects you. Well, that’s good to know. Always trusts you, always hopes the best for you, and always perseveres with you.

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.