Call-In Classic Christianity Radio – Bob George P531 (04-30-20)
Synopsis
Many times people called on the Classic Christianity radio program to get clarification and understanding. One of the most common things people call in about is that they are confused about this deal on forgiveness of sins. When you sin, are you supposed to confess those sins to God and ask for forgiveness? What is sin? Are there different categories of sin, such as positional and what about the future sins I do? These questions reveal a serious lack of understanding of something so vitally important as to what salvation is.
Listen as Bob converses with Martha in answering such questions, explaining to her what Jesus already accomplished, that his death took away the sins of the entire world. Jesus entered into our death with us, so we can enter into His resurrected life with Him. Jesus death on a cross is preparation for life to be given, and it is not faith to ask God to forgive you of sins for that is something God already did. When He sent Jesus to shed His blood on a cross, that was only done once and will not be done again, and that took away, forever, the sins of the entire world from the eyes of God. Think about it. All our sins were in the future when he died. It is in Him you have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. You see, salvation is not getting your sins forgiven, for that shed blood of Jesus was a necessary preparation for life to be given, but salvation is receiving the resurrected life of Christ Jesus. Salvation is not coming to get your sins forgiven, something Jesus already did for everyone, but coming to Jesus for life. Sin caused our death, so our real issue is death. If Jesus was not raised, then we are still dead. Salvation is about life. Come to Jesus for life.
Many times people get their belief system formed by what they hear from a denominational persuasion rather than relying on the Spirit to reveal the meaning to you as you read His Word. So, learn to trust what the Spirit reveals to you from his Word, setting aside things you have heard from well-meaning preachers, and grab a hold of truth that sets you free to walk in the newness of life. Enter into the Sabbath rest, resting from your works just as Christ Jesus did from his. So when you sin, you can certainly tell God you are sorry as a child of God if you want to, but you are already forgiven. It is not faith to ask God to do something for you he has already done, and anything that is not of faith is sin. As a child of God, your focus is not on sin anymore, but on living in the new life Christ has given you. When you sin, you thank Him for what He has already done. You walk by faith, not by sight, believing what God has said, that He has given you everything you need for life and godliness through Him who lives in you, who is your life.
As you grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, error will be replaced with truth, as you rely on the Holy Spirit to renew your mind. That is how we all grow and continue to grow. One key way to help you discern truth is to read entire chapters and books of the bible in its context. That way some of the more simpler questions can more easily be answered, such as how does a women learn in church if she cannot ask any man questions? That comes from not understanding the context in 1 Corinthians of what the overall topic is about in its context, and that is what tongues are. Listen as Bob helps a caller grow in discernment, as he reads and explains the scriptures.
As you are a child of God, you will inevitably want to share the good news of the gospel with others. Listen as Bob provides some practical advice to a caller in sharing such truth to his neighbor who recently got involved in the teaching of the Jehovah Witnesses, who deny the deity of Christ. The key point Bob addressed was to keep the topic on the deity of Christ and not to go off that topic. For if he believes in a different Jesus than the Jesus of the bible, who is God in the flesh, then he cannot be saved. So you approach him in love and generally ask him that you are wondering what he knows about what the Jehovah Witnesses teach concerning the deity of Christ, so as to open up the conversation that way. Then he will be left with a choice, to either reject or accept the message.
Transcript
Marsha from Argentine, Michigan
Marsha: I am confused. I have learned from listening to different preachers. I know I should not believe what everybody says, but what God says. They say to you to be sorry for your sins and repent, and then ask God for forgiveness. Yesterday, I think I heard Bob George say that all that he needed to do was to say to the Lord what he did wrong and the forgiveness was there.
Bob: Marsha, it is not what you have to do. Right now, God wants you to walk by faith. Does he not?
Hebrews 11:6
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Bob: Without faith it is impossible to please God. Without faith in Jesus and his finished work on the cross and his resurrected life, you are not saved. Everything is by faith.
Colossians 2:6
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Romans 1:17
For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Bob: You put your faith in the fact that Jesus went to a cross to take away the sins of the world. Jesus did not go there to cover sin, Marsha. He did go there to die for some sins. He went there to take away from the eyes of God the sins of the entire world.
1 John 2:2
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Bob: And then he was raised from the dead. He entered into our death with us, because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) and so when he became sin, he died, and then was raised in the newness of life. He entered into our death with us so we could enter into his resurrection with Him. That is an established fact isn’t it?
Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:3-4
3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Marsha: Yes, but …
Bob: Take it a step at a time, Marsha. Do not get ahead of it. Is that an established fact or isn’t it?
Marsha: Yes
Bob: He wants you to walk by faith. We do not walk by sight. We walk by faith. We do not walk by law. We walk by grace.
Colossians 1:13-14
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Bob: If you are going to walk by faith, and he has already accomplished that forgiveness, already taken that away from the eyes of God, then would it be faith to ask Him to do what He has already done? No, because then he would have to be beaten, taunted and ridiculed again to do that again? Would it be faith?
Marsha: No.
Romans 14:23
and everything that does not come from faith is sin.
Bob: How many times a day do you not walk by faith? It is a big deal that we do not walk by faith, but it is not unusual. But to continually insist upon not walking by faith in regard to the two things that God came to this earth to do, to take away our sin and give us life, that to me becomes serious. The way we handle our sins is acknowledge when I blow it in some way. I may even say to God, and I do not have to, but in that I am a child of God now, I could say that I am sorry for what I just did, but it did not take God by surprise. He is not sitting up there saying, “Wow! I did not know he was going to do that?” Then you ackowledge what God did in order to accomplish that.
Marsha: Now, is that past, present and future sins?
Bob: How many of your sins were in the future when Jesus died 2000 years ago?
Marsha: All of them.
Bob: I do not think we are that old. That is all of them. All sins. Now these ministers who are continually dealing with sin, that is all they deal with is sin. All they deal with in regard to salvation is sin, Marsha. It is a sad situation the Christian world has gotten into. All you hear are evangelists saying, “Come to Jesus and get your sins forgiven.” That is nonsense. Your sins were already forgiven. Your sins were forgiven when you were enemies.
Romans 5:8-10
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
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!
Bob: We ignore the meaning of the resurrection because most people do not even know what the meaning of the resurrection is. “Maybe it proves Jesus is God”, is what some say. But what does it mean to men? It means everything to me That is why Paul said that without the resurrection we are to be pited of all people and are still in our sins, knowing full well that a cross had occurred, where Jesus took away the sins of the world, but also knowing something that evidently we have never known or have forgotten, that forgiveness that was provided for us then is only received in His resurrected life.
1 Corinthians 15:16-19
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.
Bob: The call of salvation is not “Come get your sins forgiven” but it is “Come unto Me”. Come unto Jesus. You come to get Jesus. When you get Jesus, what do you get? Forgiveness of sins.
Bob: It is like saying to you, Marsha, that I put a million dollars in your bank account. I have a provision there that every time you spend it, it is replenished. You say, “that is fantastic. Where is that bank?” “It is the bank of Argentine.” “I do not like that bank. I like Bank One.” “I am sorry. It is not in Bank One.” I am not going to go to Argentine Bank.” “Then you will die a pauper.” The money is there, but you do not go to where you have to go to get it. Where forgiveness is received is not by saying, “Please forgive me”. Forgiveness is received by coming to Jesus and in Him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin.
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
Marsha: Sometimes when I do something wrong, I do not even feel sorry and I want to. Am I abnormal?
Bob: No. Not abnormal at all.
Marsha: I am sorry. I am crying tears of bitterness. I have slapped God in the face.
Bob: You have not slapped him in the face at all. You and I did not punish him. God did. God punished him for our sins. He died for us so we did not have to have the punishment. He stepped in between the wrath of God and us and took it all for us.
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Marsha: What I was saying, that when I do sin, and whether I am sorry or not, I feel like I am slapping the Lord in the face again. I have heard that, and I believe that.
Bob: You do not believe that do you?
Marsha: Yes. Well, the pastor said …
Bob: I heard ministers say that you have to roll on the floor and bark like a dog in order to be saved. So do not be listening to ministers. Marsha, bless your heart. I do not want you to be jumping around like a fly on a maneur pile.
Marsha: Me neither.
Bob: I want you to grab a hold of truth and hang onto that truth. You cannot believe what you just said you believed. In other words, how could you be hurting Jesus when Jesus has already been punished for the sins of the entire world at the cross, and has taken away the sins of the world in order to give you a life free from guilt and free from condemnation?
Romans 8:1-4
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Bob: There is no condemnation for you, who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death. Now rest in that. Quit sitting around thinking. Can you imagine God sitting around grieved over you? No. There is a lot of people in this world. Your sins have been taken away from the eyes of God so you can walk free in the newness of life that has been given to you in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:4
4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Bob: So these people who are constantly talking about sin, sin, sin is because they never settled the cross. They are ministers, and they talk about it, but in their own life they never came to Christ for what he came to do. He did not come to forgive sins. He came to take away sins. He came to forgive, and in so doing, taking your sins away from the eyes of God. Rest in who you are. You are a child of the living God, totally forgiven, totally redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and totally given eternal life. So rest in that. That is what He wants you to do. You are still in the desert. He tells you to go into the Sabbath rest.
Hebrews 4:8-10
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.
Marsha: Thank you, Bob. That helps so much!
Bob: Satan is trying to keep you in the desert instead of allowing you to go into the Sabbath rest, resting from your works just as he did from his, walking and to take a deep breath and say, “Thank you, Lord Jesus. It is finished.”
Marsha: Thank you so much, Bob.
Ron from Utica, New York
Ron: The Catholic church is prevalent in the Northeast. I ran into teaching that mistakes are not sins. I approached a lady about it, sharing from Jeremiah, concerning sins out of ignorance and sacrificing for such sins. She said it was easier for us to teach children this way. What does their teaching enable people to do ultimately?
Bob: Ron, I do not know the answer to that. The issue is sin is sin. Anything that is a violation of the law is sin (1 Corinthians 15:56). Anything that is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:23). The mistakes we make is where we listen to Satan instead of God. The root of that sin is by listening to the wrong person (Genesis 3:1). The issue is that people who are continually trying to debate what sin is or isn’t have never come to the teaching that Jesus went to a cross to take away the sin of the entire world (1 John 2:2). What we have to realize the truth to that and to enter into his new life by faith, in thanking him for that truth. Our sins have been put on the back of God never to see them anymore, that God was in Christ reconciling the whole world unto himself not counting our sins against us (2 Corinthians 5:19), and to many as received him in his resurrected life, he gives the right to become a child of God (John 1:12-13). That is the good news of the gospel.
2 Corinthians 5:19
19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them
John 1:12-13
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Bob: People sitting around saying if this is positional sin or is it a mistake are preoccupied with the wrong thing. They need to be preoccupied with what Christ came to do. He came to give life and life abundantly.
John 10:10
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Bob: If the mind is focusing on what sin is, focusing on sin, being sin-oriented rather than life-oriented, then you will be living a miserable life, whether Catholic or Protestant.
Ron: That pretty much answers it. I am going through Finality of Cross booklet and getting understanding. I thank you for your ministry.
Bob: Thank you very much, Ron. I appreciate your call.
Raul from Clovis, California
Raul: I had a question about 1 Corinthians 14:34. It talks about the women are to be silent in churches. They are not permitted to speak. If they desire to learn anything, as in verse 35, let them ask their own husbands at home. If they want to learn anything in the church, do they just have to be at home? They cannot ask anyone questions other than their husbands?
1 Corinthians 14:34-35
34 Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. 35 If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.
Bob: The context of this is in relation to the speaking in tongues. He just got through explaining in chapter 14 in there the fact what what tongues are. There are all sorts of languages in the world. That is 1 Corinthians 14:10.
1 Corinthians 14:10
10 Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. 11 If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. 12 So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.
Bob: Nothing is going to build up the church by saying and talking in languages where no one understands what you are saying. If you are going to learn how to build up the body, which is what the purpose of gifts are, you cannot build up the body by talking in foreign languages.
1 Corinthians 14:22-23
22 Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in,
Bob: If an unbeliever happened to come into an assembly, or, who do not understand what you are saying, will they not say you are out of your mind. Just babbling. I have been in those places, and I say the same thing. They must be out of their mind.
1 Corinthians 14:23-26
will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24 But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, 25 as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”26 What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation.
Bob: This is where he says where a woman should not be speaking, and that is in relation to speaking in tongues. They should not be taking the leadership, standing up and speaking in languages no one understands. No one should. That should not be done by women.
1 Corinthians 14:26-28
Everything must be done so that the church may be built up. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, two – or at the most three – should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28 If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.
Bob: The context there is in the congregation of saints. Women should be silent. They must be in submission.
1 Corinthians 14:34-35
34 Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. 35 If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.
Bob: Quite frankly today, the so-called tongues movement, if you took the women out of it, you will not have a movement. Many of the women are the promoters of that type of thing. It is amazing that people who say they are so spiritual, and many times they want to call me and chew me out for teaching. I tell them to look at 1 Corinthians and tell them why they are talking to me. You should be talking to your husband. If people will just do what it says, we will not have conflicts in Christianity.
Raul: I watched the tape you made about baptism. It came in a timely moment in my life. My brother is in prison. In there, he got involved with a bible teacher that is teaching that you are saved by being baptized in Jesus name only. That is the way you are saved. Then I heard that tape. You go through verse by verse on the baptism by John. He baptized with water. Jesus is going to be baptizing with the Holy Spirit. That is the baptism that saves us. Thank you for making that tape series, Batism and the Lord’s Supper. That was an encouragement.
Matthew 3:11
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
1 Peter 3:21
21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also – not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
Bob: That is a tape series a lot of people ought to get a hold of. Many times the baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the most perverted things in the church world. So the tape series gives a biblical account of what these things really are. Check out Lord’s Supper. It is good to get those things straight.
Raul: I want to encourage you guys. I was reading about giving thanks in all things for it is the will of God. When we sin, and so we give thanks in all things, so we should be thanking Him for the forgiveness He has provided for us.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Bob: Absolutely. That is all we can do. We cannot ask Him to do what He has already done, but we can certainly thank Him for that.
Raul: So I give thanks.
Bob: Absolutely. That is God’s will for you to be thankful. And you cannot be thankful until you put faith in the fact that Jesus meant what he said when he cried out “It is finished” (John 16:9). When you are asking Him to do what He has already done that is proof of the fact that you have not put your faith in His completed work.
Raul: Thank you for the ministry. I pray for you guys every day because it is so important in this world.
Bob: Thank you, pal. We pray for you too.
Bill from Spring Hill, Tennessee
Bill: I have a good friend who was led to be a Jehovah Witness by his mother. I had it on my heart to witness to him, but I have been afraid to. My preacher said on Sunday that people are afraid to go overseas while people are afraid even here to talk to his neighbor. I need to speak to him, but I do not want to drive him away. Maybe you can help me with that.
Bob: Bill, again, I think if anybody who is truly indwelt by the living Christ, if we will forget about what we are going to say, and just begin to talk to a person and love him. I would say to a person like that. “I understand that you have gotten associated with a Jehovah Witness, and I want to ask you a question. Do you know what Jehovah Witnesses believe, especially as it relates to the deity of Christ?” Do not go beyond that. Because he may not even know. If he doesn’t, then you can inform him. “Did you know that the Jehovah Witnesses deny the deity of Christ Jesus?” Even though Christ Jesus claimed himself that he and the Father are one (John 10:30) and he who has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:9), and the apostles proclaimed him to be God (Acts 4:33). You can quote, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God (John 1:1). They have rewritten that to say that the word was a god, which defiles their own verbage on the Watchtower that there is no god before and no god after, or if there is a god, then there is a big god and a little god.
Bob: Thomas, when he finally was confronted by Jesus, after he said “unless I can put my hand in his side, I will not believe”., then Jesus appeared. Then what did he say. “Oh, my Lord and my God” (John 20:24-29). You have enough information to camp on the deity of Christ, and do not get off of it. It makes no matter of difference if you can convince someone of everything else except the deity of Christ. If they do not come to Christ Jesus, who the Jesus of the bible is, then they have come to a Jesus of their own making. You cannot be saved by coming to a Jesus of your own making. There is no Jesus of the bible that is not God. The only Jesus mentioned in the bible is the Jesus, God who became flesh and walked among us (John 1:14). If you come to Jesus different than that then you have come to one you have made up. There is no way to be saved to come to a made-up Jesus. Refuse to get off of it. Refuse to talk about anything else. “I am sorry, but we are going to talk about the deity of Christ.” After a while they will have to make a decision to either deny what the bible says about Jesus Christ or come to Jesus and who He says He is.
Bob: I would approach that in this way. “Friend, I love you. I understand you started becoming a part of the Jehovah Witnesses and I am just wondering, ‘Do you know what they believe?’“ Open up the conversation in that way and let the Lord lead you from there.
Bill: Thank you so much. Your program has blessed my heart.
Bob: You have blessed ours by calling today. We appreciate that Bill. Let us put you on hold, and we will get you a copy of a booklet called Born Free that might help you as well.
