Radio Broadcast Thursday 01/17/2019

Classic Christianity – Bob George – Callin P405 (01-17-19)

Welcome to Classic Christianity Radio with Bob George. Today we are pleased to present a special radio show, featuring call in listeners from Bob’s original People to People daily radio program that was on the air for over 30 years, offering real answers for real life problems as he addresses common questions as well as the tough issues of today, directing callers to the centrality of Christ in you, the only hope of glory. Let’s now join Bob George as he offers practical biblical insights as he helps people experience faith, hope and love in Jesus Christ.

Bob shares about the message of grace and what salvation really is. Salvation is being saved from the consequences of sin, which is death, by the gift of God, which is the  resurrected life of Christ. Bob addresses how this is not even understood by many pastors today, where the message is in serious error when the message is about getting sins forgiven, a denial of the finished work of the cross. You do not confess sins to get forgiveness from God. Protestants say that you should keep short accounts with God, stemming from an incorrect understanding of 1 John 1:9, where people think they get their sins forgiven again. Catholics say that you must go to a confessional booth to get your sins forgiven. The Jew says you must go back to the day of atonement to get sins forgiven, which is what the Jews in 1 John 1:9 were doing. They never repented in the first place. Bob does share about the proper confession of sin in regards to sins against others but as far as forgiveness from God is concerned that has already been finished by Jesus shed blood on the cross and received in Christ Jesus. The cross took away sins. That provision for sin then only received in his resurrection. Don’t come to Christ to get forgiven. You come to Christ to get life. And in that life you have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. What do the scriptures say and not the traditions of men? Let’s not stop at the cross and fail to discuss the life in Christ Jesus. Most people incorrectly say you are saved when Jesus died for your sins. Bob shares that while we were yet sinners we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son. That is, we were reconciled before we were even saved. Bob shares about being taught by the Holy Spirit since the Holy Spirit is our teacher. Let the Holy Spirit teach you about what repentance really is. Bob shares from Hebrews 6 and Hebrews 10 to explain all this more thoroughly. He also referenced a book he wrote titled, “A Spiritual Journey to Discover the Grace of God“, where he discusses such topics as the deity of Christ, the validity of the word of God, the totality of the cross, the New Covenant in contrast to the Old Covenant, forgiveness of sin, the issue of life, and salvation in more detail.

Continued Below

A Scriptural Journey to Discover the Grace of God

A Scriptural Journey to Discover the Grace of God

An 86 page booklet with Bible verses and illustrations for teaching:

Bob George has used many of the illustrations used throughout this book on the radio program, in sharing the truths of the Word of God. Order your copy today!

This is a reference guide book (with Bible verses also quoted for quick reference) that will help you in sharing of God’s Truth with others.

Bobbie from San Diego, CA

Bob asked a question about forgiveness. He was going to Calvary Chapel Bible college and was losing his zeal for the Lord, getting bogged down in his studies. Is there a way to identify legalism? Bob mentioned he had a wonderful relationship with Calvary Chapel and that they have have been open to what the original People to People Ministries has been teaching. Bob encourages people to reason together with the scriptures to understand the meaning of God’s word, letting the Holy Spirit reveal truth to you.

Bob first answered by sharing a testimony from Chuck Swindoll, a respected spiritual leader. Chuck Swindoll said it took him 4 years to get through seminary and 20 years to get over it. So this is not an unusual experience among young people in seminary. Hearts are aflame for Christ and then before long are burned out. Why? Bob personally believes it is due to a lack of emphasis on the dependence of the Spirit of God to understand the meaning of the word of God. Much of what is taught in seminary are techniques in understanding the bible such hermeneutics or the study of Greek and Hebrew along with learning details on facts in the bible. Yet the bible is not written for that purpose. The bible is written so someone can get to know the author. This is so unlike any other book, such as in the fields of science, math or biology. You generally do not study a book written by Einstein to get to know Einstein. No, you study Einstein to know more about the theory of relativity. But to understand grace, you must get to know the author of the scriptures, and God is the author.

1 Corinthians 2:9
9 However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—

10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

In order for you to understand grace, God has to reveal that message to you. Bible seminaries are bent on proving that wrong. Hermeneutics, the study of Hebrew and Greek seems to be saying you don’t need the Spirit of God. It is as if you must do these special techniques in bible study to understand the scriptures. So the emphasis is misplace away from depending on the Holy Spirit to teach you and more on these hermeneutics and the study of Greek and Hebrew. Bob share that the most dynamic learning her received was in home bible studies and the most boring in institutional learning. Get facts but dry. The Bible is the only book one studies to understand the author. In other classes, you study to get a grade and move on.

John 5:39-40
39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

In John 5:39-40, Jesus confronted the Pharisees in regards to their diligent study yet reproved them for failing o come to Christ for life. The purpose of the Bible is to get to know Christ. You can survive in that atmosphere of seminary but you have to divorce yourself from it. You have to say to yourself: “I am going to class and learn some facts but as far as understanding what the bible means I am going to let the Holy Spirit teach me.” You can teach people what you have learned about the bible says. But until the Spirit teaches you what it means then you only teach them what you taught yourself but not the Holy Spirit. And even what I have learned from the Holy Spirit is limited. I can only teach what God has revealed to me, and I myself am still growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not there as a teacher to take the place of the Holy Spirit, who is the teacher. We are limited.

Now the issue of forgiveness is emphasized more than anything else in bible college, as in 1 John 1:9, which is taught in error. Bob responds by referring Bobbie to Hebrew 6 and Hebrews 10.

Hebrews 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.

So what does the phrase “fallen away” mean? A lot of people God would say to them that they have never repented. It would be as if God said: “You have never changed your mind in regards to forgiveness. You cannot return to where you have never been. You can’t come back because you have never been there. ”

In regards to the Jew, he is going back to the day of atonement. When talking to a Catholic, he is going back to the confessional booth. When talking to a Protestant, he is going back to 1 John 1:9 to get forgiveness again. They never repented in the first place. They are either not understanding what Jesus accomplished when he shed his blood on the cross. They never came to trust that the work Jesus came to do for him is finished, requiring nothing of man but to believe in what he did. He never understood the grace of God so was never saved in the first place.

What does the phrase mean “have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance?”

If you fall from something, you have to fall to something. They say they held on to grace but then are defending the law. They are talking about bringing Christ for more forgiveness. Such a person is quite possibly in a situation where he has never repented.

Colossians 1:20-23
20 It was through what his Son did that God cleared a path for everything to come to him—all things in heaven and on earth—for Christ’s death on the cross has made peace with God for all by his blood. 21 This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies and hated him and were separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet now he has brought you back as his friends. 22 He has done this through the death on the cross of his own human body, and now as a result Christ has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are standing there before him with nothing left against you—nothing left that he could even chide you for; 23 the only condition is that you fully believe the Truth, standing in it steadfast and firm, strong in the Lord, convinced of the Good News that Jesus died for you, and never shifting from trusting him to save you. This is the wonderful news that came to each of you and is now spreading all over the world. And I, Paul, have the joy of telling it to others.

Essentially, the Jews were shifting from trusting Jesus to save them. Or rather, they never repented. They never changed their minds in regards to the law to even come to Christ to save them. Christ has already made provision for the forgiveness of sin by his death on the cross. He made peace with God for all by his blood. Sins of the world have already been forgiven. Come to Christ and believe what he has already provided for you. So when you ask God to forgive you of sins, you are essentially putting Christ back on the cross again, exposing him to public disgrace. He died once to never die again. Why put him on the cross again in your mind? That is an insult to the eternal payment of sin by his death. That is not acting in faith, and is not saving faith.

Hebrews 10:26-29
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

You can’t sin against the knowledge of truth unless you have heard the knowledge of the truth. Many people have never heard about the finality of the cross. They keep short accounts with God, going back to the confessional booth or day of atonement. When you do hear the message, then the scripture refers to those who keep sinning against the knowledge of the truth. It is finished, paid in full, sins and lawless acts are remembered no more, and where these have been forgiven there is no longer a sacrifice for sin.

Hebrews 10:15-18
15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

16
“This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”

17 Then he adds:

“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”

18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

If walk by faith, then thank him for the forgiveness you have. The only things scriptures instruct is to confess your sins to one another. And that is what we are doing is sinning against one another. God is not looking for us to be groveling, and doing what Martin Luther did, trying to beat his flesh into obedience. Rejoice and quit making a mockery of the blood of the covenant. You have been sanctified.

Live in hilarity over the fact God took away your sins in the eyes of God, never to be remembered again. That is the motivation for confessing sins to another. If you insulted someone, go to him. You are essentially saying: “I can thank God for what He did but hasn’t’ been taken away from you yet.” That is the the reason for confessing sins to one another. Traditions of men is to beat yourself to death. How are we ever to keep slate clean? It is impossible for man. That is why we have need of the grace of God, who never counts our sins against us.

Bob said he had a wonderful relationship with Calvary Chapel has been open to what we have been teaching. If people have problems with what is being taught then let us come together and reason together. Totality of forgiveness is in the bible and is not something people made up. Agreeing with God concerning your sins that is something we do all the time. But you are not confessing to get your sins forgiven. When we sin, it is right to ask: “Lord, what do you want me to do about it.” God would respond something like: “Go back to that person and straighten it out.” We all need to ask ourselves: “Is what I am teaching in accordance with truth?”

Bob referred listeners to the “Spiritual Journey to Discover the Grace of God”. The book is an excellent resource on the deity of Christ, the validity of the word of God, the New Covenant in contrast to the Old Covenant, the finality of the cross, forgiveness of sin, and the issue of life, and salvation. The book explains more thoroughly what salvation is. Salvation is being saved from the consequences of sin, which is death, by the gift of God, which is the resurrected life of Christ Jesus. Many do not understand salvation that way and stop at the dross. Most incorrectly say you are saved when Jesus died for your sins. No.

Romans 5:10
For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

Even before I was ever saved, I was reconciled! How much more, having been reconciled, we are saved through his life.

1 Corinthians 15:13-19
13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 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. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

The cross took away sins. That provision then only received in his resurrection. You don’t come to Christ to get forgiven. You come to Christ to get life. And in that life you have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. That is not taught. If premise is off, then everything is off. So that is what causes confusion in biblical teaching.

Ephesians 1:7
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace

Dan from Dallas, TX

Dan asked a question in regards to how to live in a pagan society. He seemed a little confused in regards to civil responsibility and in what God instructs you as a believer. He could not reconcile those two in his mind from his reading of 1 Peter 2.

1 Peter 2:11-18
11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.

18 Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.

Dan stated it this way: “We are have the attitude of a bond-servant. Now when seeing other Christians, such as Liberty Legal Counsel, stand up for our Christian rights. Are we all held to do that or are we to stand back and let God take care of whatever needs to happen.”

There are civil responsibilities and what God says to us.

This is what Go instructs us.

1 Peter 2:1-3
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

These are attitudes toward one another as born again believers toward one another and toward the world.

On the other hand, there are national problems that Jesus did not deal with. Probably 60% Jews in slavery to Roman rule. Jesus did not deal with slavery in his time. You never hear him talk against slavery. He did say to slave owners to be kind to slaves and slaves to be obedient to owners. By doing so, being kind and submissive, you develop a relationship, and out of that relationship both could potentially be led to faith in Christ and then slavery is no longer an issue. For then they interact with one another in love and slavery no longer is an issue.

Let us just love one another is often the thought of the day. But look at in perspective of an evil world that cannot and will not respond to love. That is like saying jump in the cage with a lion and be nice to the hungry lion. He will eat you no matter what you do. The amount of niceness will not stop the hungry lion. There are people who are evil. There are Stalins and Hitlers in the world today and are murderers with the intent to take over the world. From a government standpoint, they will have to defend it with people. Some will not get involved in war as conscience objectors. And nothing necessarily wrong with that. There are those who serve as medics, with religious convictions, and government makes provision for that. Nation will have to protect. There are people today who want to destroy our nation. Meanwhile, we are to live in this world getting along with our neighbors and going to live with rules Jesus is saying here. If I got a problem with someone, then vote. The ability to vote for people we agree with is the best avenue we have in our government. If you do not like him, vote him out of office. No good to scream and yell and call certain politicians idiots. That really solves nothing. We do have the responsibility to vote for what we know is best. If government says you cannot worship Jesus, then that is another matter. If government says you must have an abortion then that is the time to stand up. We cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard nor can we disobey God, a higher authority over government in these matters. As long as government is not saying that, then use the right we have to vote.

Andrew

What do you say to those who call others prophets and apostles today? And what do think about someone calling ladies of the church as first ladies?

Nonsensical. You cannot be an apostle unless you had been with the physical Jesus. Bible had to be written by an apostle. Prophets were used to communicate verbally what had not yet been written in the scriptures that we hold in our hands today. We call each other brothers and sisters, and that is okay, if indeed they are born again believers and can rightly be called that since they are in the body of Christ.

Andrew asked again, “How do we relate to people like that?” Intentional or not, I do not know, but what they are doing is deceiving people. Do not be involved with people like that, for they are deceivers. Andrew said “First family is like putting them above the rest of the church.” Bob responded: “First family of what? the church, who starting the fellowship there, or what. I am founder of People to People, so do I call myself the first family of People to People. Unless I have gone nuts. I recommend going to another place to fellowship.”

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