Call-In Classic Christianity Radio – Bob George P553 (07-16-20)
Synopsis
You can hear people say today that everyone is a child of God or that there are many roads to God. Is that true? No. There is only one way to Jesus, and he tells us what gives someone the right to become a child of God.
John 1:11-13
11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 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.
When people say such things, it shows that they do not understand who Jesus is and what he came to do. Until a person has the Spirit of God living in him, which is what it means to be a child of God, a new spiritual creation. Recall the conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus, who asked him what is required to enter heaven. Jesus replied, “Unless a man is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.“
So the real question is who is Jesus? How can he make such a statement, that he is the only way? First of all, Jesus claimed to be God. That means the only logical conclusions are that he is the greatest imposter whoever lived, is insane or really is God. But we have overwhelming evidence from eyewitness testimony that he truly is God. We have the apostles, who were with Jesus when he walked this earth, who wrote down what he said and what he did, proving to us beyond a doubt that he is God. The most significant evidence is the empty tomb.
So Jesus really is God. He said that He is the only way to the Father. He said to the Samaritan woman at a well that he is the promised Messiah. He loved people and demonstrated that love. He raised Lazarus from the dead, raised a young girl from the dead, healed the blind, healed the sick, spoke truth confounding the wise, like no man has ever heard, and went to a cross and rose again.
Since Jesus is God, then what he says about how to get to heaven has to be true, and anything contrary to that is a lie. So anyone who does understand their state of sinfulness before a holy God, that they are born spiritually dead already, and in need of life, then the cross sounds like foolishness to him. But the truth is man is spiritually dead and Jesus came to take away the cause of our death, which is sin, by shedding his blood on a cross. This was done to fully satisfy the demands of the law, that says the wages of sin is death. But that is preparation in order for life to be given.
Jesus died to take our punishment upon himself. He did this in order for life to be given. Since He is God in the flesh, he has no sin of his own, so he was raised to new life so that that life that raised him from the dead can raise you and me from the dead. This new spiritual life must be received by faith. When someone comes to believe by faith alone in what the death, burial and resurrection of Christ Jesus accomplished for him, he becomes a new creation, a child of God. He receives the gift of eternal life that qualifies him for heaven. The Spirit of God comes to indwell Him forever, not based on anything man did but on what Christ Jesus alone did for him.
As a person grows in Christ, he continues to have his mind renewed with truth by reading God’s word, allowing the Holy Spirit to teach him. Pastors have asked questions in regard to the functioning of a church, asking for practical wisdom in his role in feeding the people of God with truth. There are certain things, such as end time events, that can take a long time to gain understanding. But the Holy Spirit ultimately is the one who will guide you into all truth, and He does that through His word. People may write all kinds of books, novels or other types of books, but ultimately we have to confirm the truth by the word of God through the Spirit of God who lives in us. At times, the Holy Spirit may direct us to look to the Greek manuscripts or another translation of the bible to gain clearer understanding of the more difficult passages in scripture.
Transcript
Nick from Corpus Christy, TX
Nick: I went to a movie rental place. I heard Barbara Walters interview a Dala Lama and a Catholic priest and pastors. The movie is about heaven, where it is and how we get to it. What is your view on that?
Bob: Well, Nick, there is only one way to Jesus. Jesus told us that. It all boils down to this. If Jesus is who he claims to be, and if he is not God, who he claimed to be, then he is an imposter that perpetuated one of the biggest lies in humanity, or he was insane, thinking he is God when indeed he was not, or he was a mad man, or he is God.
Bob: If I came up to you and said, Nick, I got news for you, “I am God”, I would either be deceived beyond comprehension, insane, or I would be God. I guarantee it would not be the latter. You are dealing with a person who came to this earth, who not only showed God’s love for us, but demonstrated in everything he said and did that he is deity. And he said there is only one way to God.
John 3:2
2 He [Nicodemus] came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
John 4:25-26
25 The woman [Samaritan woman at the well] said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you – I am he.”
Acts 4:12
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Bob: So, I know that I was saved and I am saved. I know that because of my relationship with Christ that when I leave this body I will be absent from the body and immediately present with the Lord. It was not because of anything I did. It is because of everything He did. I did nothing to earn salvation. I did nothing to deserve salvation. It was just an offer made and I accepted. It was in my later years of life, age 36, but I accepted that truth.
Bob: Now, what you have is every hair-brained idea under the sun that people come up with, that there are many ways to God. No, not according to Jesus. There are not many ways to God.
John 3:3
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
John 14:6
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
For me to say that there are many ways to God, then I have to deny Jesus. I am not going to do that. Many people have said, “I will get there because I am basically a good person.” Not according to Jesus, we are not.
Mark 10:18
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good – except God alone.”
Bob: Jesus said there is nobody good but God. I cannot buy that lie that people come up with, “He is going to grade you on a curve because basically you are a good person”, or “They are going to accept what God had to do for us.” Nick, we were born into this world spiritually dead from the day that Adam died spiritually.
Romans 5:12
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned
Bob: All of us are born in Adam, dead spiritually. No one who is born comes out of the womb saying, “praise Jesus” or anything else. We are born dead spiritually. A dead man needs life. God looked down upon us, seeing us in our fallen condition of being, walking around spiritually dead, totally incapable of gaining spiritual life through our own deeds and actions, and devised a plan by which God could come to this earth in the person of Christ Jesus, and finding himself as it says, in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:5-11
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death –
even death on a cross!9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
So, he devised a plan for us. He did not send a bunch of people. He sent His Son.
Romans 5:12-17
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
Bob: Everyone on this earth, Jew, Gentile, slave and free, have the opportunity to listen to what God said. He sent Him to this earth and He walked on this earth and made Himself available for all mankind. He said there is no other name under heaven given among men by which you must be saved.
John 11:21-27
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
Bob: All of these television programs have people who are dead spiritually. Barbara Walters is Jewish. When they have those deals, they are bringing all these people from every religion and trying to make sense out of it, and they are not going to make sense out of it. They want to find out how to go to heaven. To go to heaven, you go to Jesus. He will tell you. Very simple, but people still rebel against it, don’t they? And at one time, we did too.
Nick: Yes, we do. The question about people that have died and come back and have gotten a glimpse of heaven, is there any truth to that?
Bob: I would not pay any attention to it, Nick. There are people who testify of those things and if they believe that has happened, why that is fine, but they are back here, and they are still not going to be there eternally when they die.
John 12:23-25
23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Bob: Recall the passage in scripture, Nick, where it says that unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone. Until this body of ours dies, we are never going to go into the presence of God. So, these deals of going and coming back, to me, you can create that type of thing with a powerful drug, those types of illusions, but if it did happen they are back here, and if they are going to go there permanently, they are going to have to come to Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Nick; And those scriptures in the bible when Paul was ascended into heaven and other passages in the bible when they saw heaven, are those true?
2 Corinthians 12:2-9
2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know – God knows. 3 And I know that this man – whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows – 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. 5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Bob: Absolutely. If it was written in the scripture, it is true. But, again, that was a special revelation to the apostle Paul, that God did for a specific reason, and he came back to earth didn’t he?
Nick: Yes, he did.
Bob: And, he was saved at that time as well. Those kinds of things are true. I am not saying they cannot happen. It certainly would not be normative in any shape or form, and I would pay no attention as to what was said. I have got everything that I need to go to heaven written in the scriptures. I do not need some kind of a personal experience from somebody in order to convince me that there is a heaven.
Nick: What about the scripture that says eye has not seen, ear has not heard what the Spirit has revealed to us by His Spirit? Can you elaborate on that scripture?
1 Corinthians 2:8-8-10
8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written:“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”[Isaiah 64:4] –
the things God has prepared for those who love him –10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
Just what Jesus said. No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him, but it must be revealed by the Spirit. It means that, in order to know what God has said to you in the word of God, even though you have the word of God in your hands, in order for you to know what it means, the Spirit of God has to reveal it to you. Your eye cannot determine it. Your ear cannot determine it. Your mind cannot conceive it. It has to be revealed to you by the Spirit. That is why, Nick, a natural man cannot understand spiritual things. It is foolishness to him.
1 Corinthians 2:14
14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.
Bob: So what do you have with all these theologians running around? Natural people, not saved, try to figure out the bible in the energy of their own flesh, and the bible says you cannot do it. It is foolishness to you. So they really treated it as foolishness. They treat miracles as foolishness. The Sadducees did that. They did not believe in miracles and the resurrection. The Pharisees did. The Sadducees did not (Mark 12:18-27). There is nothing new under the sun. You have the same doubters today you had 2000 years ago.
Acts 23:8
8 (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)
Bob: But the issue is, that in order for you and me to understand the meaning, the meaning, not what it says, what the word of God means, you have to be indwelt by the Spirit of God.
Nick: As we live today, does the Spirit still reveal things to us now?
John 14:16-17
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever – 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
John 16:13
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
Bob: Every day the Spirit reveals what the bible means to you when you are studying it, if you are depending upon the Spirit. He reveals the meaning of the word of God to you. Absolutely.
Nick: Like one day you could be reading scripture, and it may not mean or sound like anything, but one day the Spirit can reveal what that is saying?
Bob: Absolutely. It has happened through my entire life time. I am nothing unusual. If you are depending on the Spirit of God to reveal to you what it means, He has a promise to do that. That is how I know what it means. It is not taught by man, but by the Spirit.
Nick: Thank you so much.
Bob: Okay, Nick. God bless you, pal. Bye. Bye.
David from Kingsville, TX
David: What would be the best translation of the bible to read? I am used to the New International Version (NIV). I started reading the King James Version (KJV). I see there is some difference.
Bob: Well, David, I am stuck with the NIV for a lot of years. Again, if I see something there that does not make sense, then I think it is God giving me discernment saying that it is not making sense. So, go check it out with Greek manuscripts or some other translation. The New American Standard (NAS) is probably the most accurate in regard to the Greek language. The KJV is an excellent version of the bible. If I was going to make a switch from NIV, if I could ever get people that make the King James, to get a version in paragraph form. I do not like columns. You read columns in a newspaper. What you do in a newspaper is scan it. I am convinced the reason the majority of people do not know the bible is they scan instead of read it, because of the very association between what is seen in their bible and what they see in a newspaper. This is a book. This is not a newspaper. A book is written in paragraph form. That is why I read the NIV. First, I like paragraph form. I would like to get it into a little larger print. In case people have not heard, people are getting older. When you are getting older, you normally have enough money to get another bible, and if you do, you get one you can see better. If I could get the KJV people to make a bible with larger print, in paragraph form, and do that in such a way that once printed, then you can put in your own commentary if you want to. If they can do that for you, then we have a bible we could promote unbelievably. I do think the NKJV is an excellent translation, but until that time, I will use the NIV.
David: That is good information there, Bob. I appreciate your time. I wish the Lord continues to bless you guys in ministry you have there.
Bob: Thank you very much. God bless you, David.
Ed from Corpus Christie, TX
Ed: I appreciate your insight on the New Covenant. I have been studying that for years. I just recently started listening to your broadcasts. It has been a blessing to me. I want more information on your conferences. I think we need more across the nation and the world.
Bob: That is for sure, Ed.
Ed: Yes. In light of what is going on today. I am a pastor. I am on the road traveling south. The New Testament does not say a lot about a pastor. It is always pastors. When it refers to the pastor, it is the shepherd, Jesus Christ. How should we view the situation of church as a whole when man is taking out control and being the head or leader of movements? Some particular movements are quite large as far as people. Should the church be led by a council of elders, with a minister being the responsible minister of the council? Or should it be the status quo we see today?
Bob: Ed, I think first of all, God calls a pastor to run a church. Jesus said, “if you love me, feed my sheep”. Obviously he was talking to people who will be in the position of feeding sheep. That is the number one responsibility we have as pastors is to feed the flock. The purpose of the early church, as the mode of operandi, was to meet for the apostle’ teaching, and for fellowship and prayer.
Acts 2:42
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Bob: We have turned the church into a fiasco, forgetting those points. We might meet on Monday and pray about Aunt Nellie’s toe nail, but as far as really feeding the flock and feeding the church, it seems like everything begins to take precedence over that. I think that your elders were basically people in the New Testament, not necessarily in a single congregation, but men who went to different bible studies, because all the church was held in homes in those early times.
Acts 2:46-47
46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Bob: So they went to be sure the doctrine and teaching is correct. If the teaching is not correct, it does not matter how organized, you will fall flat on your face, if teaching is not consistent. Any man in a position of leadership, if he has a brain, will consult with numerous people. Who I would consult with would be people I consider as elders, who are wise in the Lord. I know in our church, that is the people I consult with. I do not do something out on my own, I consult with the elders. They are not called elders but that is their function. To consult with them, to gain the opinions and the wisdom of many men is wise.
Ed: Are some of these elders, men in training, are the ones God so chooses?
Bob: No. they are just people who are deep in the Lord, who have a great understanding of the word of God, and that is all I am looking for. I am not going to do what they are going to do in the future or anything else. I am looking for people who have a great understanding of the word of the Lord, and are walking in information and a life that has been given to them. How many decisions do we have to make? We make church complicated, Ed. I do not have that many decisions to make. I go in on Sunday and preach the gospel. You have to organize the Sunday school department. You have to have financial accountability. Beyond that, I do not see it that complicated.
Ed: Well, it is simple. I heard you say you were a businessman. I do not know if you still do or not. I do run a corporation and I serve the Lord. I am comfortable doing it. The question was, could there be more than one pastor in a church?
Bob: I think there were. There were a multiplicity of pastors in the early church. But there has to be the pastor. You have to have one person who makes the final decision, just like in a home. Again, if he has got a brain in his head, he will be consulting with people who have greater expertise in certain fields than he does, but in the final analysis, he is going to say this is what we are going to do.
Ed: He also is comfortable in the fact that God will later call, rather than a man in competition against him. I think that a pastor is called from the Lord should not be afraid of anything someone tells him.
Bob: Absolutely. You should always be training someone who will be able to step in to whatever you are doing. That is only good management.
Ed: In business too.
Bob: In business, I trained people who could take my place in case I died.
Bob: I think we complicate the church and organize the Holy Spirit right out of it. The fewer the amount of organization you have to do the better. Teach people how to walk in total dependency on the fact Christ lives in him and the Holy Spirit will guide them into all truth. Quit trying to have organized programs all the time and give people the freedom to be led by what God calls him to do.
Ed: I look forward to attending some of your conferences. May the Lord bless you and continue to teach the good news of the New Covenant.
David from Corpus Christie, TX
David: My youngest boy is reading the Left Behind series. I wanted to make sure if it was okay for him to do that.
Bob: David, I think any book like that is okay to read. I just do not think you should be reading something as gospel. Tim Lahaye, has a viewpoint of the end times, along with the gentleman who co-authored the book with him. Jim has written many books as to what he believes the end times will be. He may be right and he may be wrong. Not everyone will agree with those opinions. Therefore, he does not agree with theirs. When reading a book like that, remember, it is a novel. It is just a book that you are reading as any novel. It is like people reading the DaVinci Code. I do not know why people do. But it is a novel. It certainly isn’t scripture. And it should be taken with a grain of salt.
Bob: There is nothing wrong with reading the Left Behind series, but just do not say “I am reading scripture”. In the final analysis, you have to go into scripture and ask God to reveal to you what truth is in regard to end times. Sometimes that revelation might take a long time.
David: Alright.
Bob: I think it is an interesting book to read. Interesting to talk to you, brother. I hope that helps.
James from Waco, TX
James: I have been doing a little extra reading, trying to meditate and search further in the scriptures. In relationship to the Lord’s prayer, when Jesus gives the example of the prayer, and He says, “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil”. I kind of fumble through that. I do not feel like I have really got a good understanding of that. I wanted to hear what your thoughts are?
Matthew 6:9-15
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Bob: James, it is really in the way in which the passage is read. Lead us, not into temptation, but lead us, Lord, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. So, when you look at that, with a comma after it, “Lord, lead us, not into temptation”, then you understand what the passage is saying.
James: I appreciate that. The one thing I was kind of walking away with, if you do not mind, is what it means to you about that leading me not into temptation, that there are places where I read and understand that God said there are various levels of spirituality. You are not born completely knowing and understanding and strong as a Christian. When you start, you start on milk like an infant, then you work your way up. Then after awhile you can digest the meat like an adult. Christianity is a spirituality, a way of maturation. One of the things I was curious about would that not also apply as in that God would not present us with things that we are not capable of handling? Does that come across?
1 Corinthians 10:13
13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
Bob: Well, he says there is no temptation to man except that which is common to man but with the temptation there is a way out. That is for a brand new Christian or whether you have been a Christian for a long number of years. There is no new temptation. It has been in existence for a long time. I have to correct that to a degree. We have temptation, like on the internet, which is one of the greatest destroyers of children. They have access to pornography in ways, that in ages past would never dreamed of growing up with. If a person wanted to look at pornography, you had to drive into some crazy area of town and go into some sloth place and find it. Today, you go into your bedroom or living room and turn on a computer. It is destroying many families. It is satanic in every shape and form. It is the old deal. God may have meant it for good but Satan comes and perverts it for evil. Drugs were not even in existence when I grew up. I never knew what a drug was. There are temptations today that children run into that I never experienced in my life.
Bob: But James, as far as the Lord’s prayer is concerned, we have to understand that that was the Lord’s prayer he was given. He did not give them a prayer. He taught them how to pray. That was under the Old Covenant. That is why it says in there, forgive us our sins. That is never mentioned again after the New Covenant went into existence. He says, forgive one another as Christ Jesus forgave you. We have to realize those kinds of prayers, you look at it and then you apply to what you live under today, whereby God has taken you and created you into a new creation.
Colossians 3:13
13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
