Radio Broadcast Tuesday 01/24/2023

Classic Christianity – A Closer Look at Law & Grace P46 (01-24-23)

The New Covenant ~ Freedom to Serve in Love

~ Forgive as the Lord Forgave You!

~ “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” ^{Galatians 5:13}

~ “So when Christ Jesus comes to invade your life, does he come to invade your life? To have taken away all of your sins never to see them again? bought you back from darkness into light. reconciled you justified you? Did he do all of those things so that we can continue doing in the energy of our flesh what we were doing before we are born again? In other words, did Christ come to live within you in order to lead you back into a life of lasciviousness? And that is absolutely idiotic. But Bob, that is what the average Christian believes today. And what I say the average Christian believes that is the objection that people have to our teaching. And quite frankly, it’s not our teaching, it’s right out of the Word of God. And that is the teaching of the finality of the cross. People are scared to death. They’re fearful of being aware of the fact that Christ Jesus has taken away my sin, that as a child of God, that I don’t get forgiven anymore. I am a forgiven person, by a God who that because of being in the light I will never be in darkness again.”

Listen in to today’s lesson with more in-depth teaching, from the Bible study booklet, A Closer Look at Law & Grace, available for purchase from our online Bob George Ministries ecommerce store.

Jesus asked how does God love and accept us? And how does he expect us to live the Christian life? To answer those questions, this insightful study explores a vital issue at the heart of the Christian experience, the biblical relationship between law and grace, understanding their role in our relationship to God will bring joy, freedom and spontaneity to your Christian life. Now, let’s take A Closer Look at Law & Grace.

Purchase Online at Shop.BobGeorge.net

Bob George 0:39
So when Christ Jesus comes to invade your life, does he come to invade your life? To have taken away all of your sins never to see them again? bought you back from darkness into light. reconciled you justified you? Did he do all of those things so that we can continue doing in the energy of our flesh what we were doing before we are born again? In other words, did Christ come to live within you in order to lead you back into a life of lasciviousness? And that is absolutely idiotic. But Bob, that is what the average Christian believes today. And what I say the average Christian believes that is the objection that people have to our teaching. And quite frankly, it’s not our teaching, it’s right out of the Word of God. And that is the teaching of the finality of the cross. People are scared to death. They’re fearful of being aware of the fact that Christ Jesus has taken away my sin, that as a child of God, that I don’t get forgiven anymore. I am a forgiven person, by a God who that because of being in the light I will never be in darkness again. I couldn’t get in darkness again because I am in Christ and He is light and he is can’t get in darkness. And if he can’t get in it, neither can I. And people want to come up with all his hair brain theological gobbly gook. And that’s all I can call it about all of this positional type things, positional forgiveness and positional this and then you experiential down here. And all of this type of thing which is absolutely contrary to the Word of God. And if Jesus did not take away our sins once and for all, that is something that is done. Now, we can’t look at that as well. That’s what he did, and then put a billy goat but on that, but but we’ve got to ask, we got to ask for forgiveness. Well, you see, that’s double talk. But people the reason they fight that so much is say, boy, if you don’t ask for forgiveness, you’re gonna live a life of lasciviousness. Not if Jesus lives in you, you’re not. And and I want to tell you something, Bob can go in and confessing your sins. I haven’t noticed slowing down anybody’s sin. Because if it did, you wouldn’t have anybody in the confession booth anymore, they had already taken care of it or walk in the aisles, or your first John 1:9ing. If that kind of a mentality kept you clean as a pen, you’d never have to do it but once. So if it’s doing what you’re saying that us that it does, how come you’re having to keep confessing sins all the time? Seems to me like you ought to be cleaned up. So you see, Bob, all of these types of things that people come up with is because they do not know the power of God, that has come to take up residence inside of us. It’s a power that freed us from something we didn’t deserve to be freed. We didn’t deserve any of this. I didn’t deserve to have my sins taken away. I didn’t deserve to be reconciled to God. And for him to never to see my sins again, I didn’t deserve an answer that and I’ll show you I didn’t work for. I didn’t deserve for propitiation to take place where Jesus presented his blood to the Father. And He said, I’m satisfied. That’s it. There’s no more sacrifices, I didn’t deserve any of that. I didn’t deserve to be raised from the dead, to have Christ life to come to live within me. I don’t deserve eternal life. I don’t deserve to know that I’m going to go into the presence of God someday and live eternally in with him, not because of what I’ve done, but because of what he’s done. I don’t deserve any of those things. It’s all a gift of God. Now, does that gift make you say, oh, whoopee. Now just let’s just go back and just indulge in this flesh? Of course it doesn’t do that. The grace of God will teach you to say no to unrighteousness. But it is a lifelong project with us. And so we have to come to grips with that. So when he’s saying that we’ve got an option now, but use your freedom to serve one another in love, use your freedom to to be able to serve people. And you say, Well, what do you mean by that? Does that mean washing their feet? What is all of this talking about? serving one another in love.

Well, Bob, this is not in in, in, in the context necessarily of our of all of our lesson but But I look at this that if God has reconciled me unto himself not counting my sins against me, well, then then I should be reconciled to my brother. I was God’s enemy, and He reconciled me. So how should we feel toward enemies of ours? Well, I guess the same way we ought to be reconciled to with other words, there should be nothing between us and reconciliation, there should be no block, no blind, pull down, no fence decline between us, and being reconciled to an enemy. Therefore, Matthew say five says, if you’re offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that a brother has something against you leave your gift there in front of the altar, and first go and be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Why should we be reconciled to one another? Because God reconciled us unto himself. We are reconciled people. Am I reconcile because I’m reconciled with you? No, I should be reconciled with you because I already am reconciled. In other words, I don’t go do something to get something from God. It’s because I’ve already got something from God that I should go do something. Now that’s serving one another in love. How come that serving one another? It isn’t good for you or the other person to not be reconciled to each other. It’s eaten all of our lunches. And so there’s no benefit to anyone. There’s no benefit for you. You hold bitterness in your heart toward that person. And there’s no benefit for the other person. He’s holding bitterness in his heart as well. And so there’s no benefit there. So it says to forgive all people, those that have offended you, Peter, did he not ask even before forgive In this was executed, he was saying to Jesus, how many times should I forgive a brother when he sins against me up to seven times? Lord said no, I tell you, not seven times, but 70 times seven. In other words, seven was a number of completeness. So just multiply that out. And so what he’s saying is how many times a week to forgive one another, just like I forgave you. Now, that was not aware of that yet, because that had not fully occurred yet. It was in the experience between Jesus and his apostles. But all they were seeing was this physical forgiveness, but they hadn’t seen this total forgiveness, because that was not fully executed, until the cross.

And so in Colossians, 3:12 and 14. And Bob, it is amazing to me how I saw an article that was put out the other day taking exception to teaching on forgiveness, such as we teach, and in that it sided oh, just emphatically, Matthew, The Lord’s Prayer at Matthew, and then and then James, where it says, Forgive one another. And what does that have to do with asking God to forgive you? So in other words, there, again, is trying to substantiate this through misrepresentation of Scripture. And then in the Matthew passage, quoting the Lord’s Prayer, but not going on to say For if you do not forgive your brother here on Earth, your Father in heaven will not forgive you. And if that is true, then the cross, you may as well just forget about it, because there is no forgiveness at the cross. That was true prior to the cross. But it sure isn’t true after the cross after the cross, you’re going to have to go to Colossians 3:12 And Ephesians 4:31. And, again, folks, we’ve talked so much about this. And I guess maybe the only reason that you bring it up as a matter of review, or the in the event, that maybe somebody’s listening for the first time, but you’re never going to ever see the scriptures fall together. And if you don’t realize that the New Covenant did not go into effect until the day that Jesus died, and and Hebrews nine spells that out very clearly. And you should go back and read that, that as with any will, that if you have a will, that will will not go into effect until the day you die, and your death has to be proven before it does. And so Jesus taught under the Old Covenant. And the Old Covenant was there to bury us. It was there to show us that you can’t, because the one who could was heading to across he walked on this earth to show us what true love was all about what true righteousness was not in his outward activity that we were involved in, but the inward reality of walking in perfect love, which is the fulfillment of the law. And so Christ fulfilled the law himself. We couldn’t, he did. And they went to the cross to uphold the law by becoming death for us, and taking the penalty for all of our sins upon himself. So that having now fulfilled the law and upheld the law, he could now usher in a New Covenant. And that’s a covenant of grace. But that did not go into effect until the day that Christ died.

Now, that’s why the confusion sometimes comes. And it’s amazing how we all have memorized the Lord’s Prayer, what we call the Lord’s Prayer. But we don’t realize that he gave that prayer to the apostles and the people prior to the cross. And we stop before we should stop. And as I was mentioning earlier, that we forgive our sins as we for as we forgive others. And it goes ahead to say for if you do not forgive your your brother’s sins here on Earth, that you can see your father in heaven will not forgive you. Was that true? Under the law? Yes, it was. Was it true before the cross? Yes, it was. Is it true after the cross? No, it is not. And so after the cross, you’re going to see a totally different form of of our activities toward one another. Colossians three, therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other, and forgive whatever grievance you may have against one another. Forgive, how? as the Lord forgave you. Now could Christ said, I’ve said that before the cross? No, because that forgiveness, No greater love has no man that he laid down his life for his sheep so that the ultimate in expression of love had not occurred yet until he laid down his life for us. And so forgive as the Lord forgave you, and over all these virtues put on love which binds them all together, in perfect unity. And so if we’re going to forgive as the Lord forgave you and me, how did the Lord forgive you and me? Totally, completely took it away and not to see it again. How are we to forgive one another, the same way quit keeping records of wrongs now, in other words, we keep concentrating on what we should or shouldn’t do, instead of concentrating on what love is all about. Now in the definition of love, and First Corinthians 13, it says, love keeps no records of wrongs. So if I’m not keeping records of your wrongs, or my wrongs, then how difficult is it going to be to forgive as the Lord forgave you? How do you forgive you? took them away. Well, then, if I’m not keeping records of your wrongs, I’ve taken away too, so we’re not going to bring them up anymore. Any more than the Lord is going to bring up your in my faults anymore, he isn’t going to bring them up. And so it says, quit bringing them up with one another.

In Ephesians, 4:32, to be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other how? Just as in Christ, God forgave you. How did God forgive you? in Christ, you are a forgiven person. So he says, do the same with one another, become kind of compassionate to one another, forgive one another how? as Christ forgave you. It’s a very devastating thing sometimes to have somebody that has absolutely ripped you off, and to realize Jesus died for their sins. I dare he do that. And, but again, that’s what brings you back to the reality of, if Jesus loved that person enough to go to that cross for them, that person had just ripped me off just just made my life miserable for me. If God died for them, who am I not to forgive them? Who am I? Am I going to have higher standards than them? And so that’s what we do. We sit back and say, Yeah, I do. I have higher standards, and they do.

Click to Donate to Bob George Ministries

Classic Christianity Radio thanks you for your support of our online and radio ministry. Bob, George Ministries offers nine in-depth Bible study guides, please visit shop.BobGeorge.net to find the Bible study books, along with many helpful materials to help you grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ. Let’s continue now, with our Classic Christianity Radio program.

Bob George 14:22
Now, all of this comes from a mindset that Paul gave us in Romans 12:18. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Now, does that mean that everyone’s going to want to live at peace with you? No, it is not. But it means as far as you’re concerned, as far as it depends on you. I want to live at peace with everybody. I don’t want to be at odds with anybody. Now, how come? Well, God isn’t at odds with me. He’s given me the peace of God that passes all understanding. So why should I not live at peace with someone else? You know, I see people get all hung up on theological issues, we get letters, sometimes from people just mad as a hornet in our teaching. I sometimes wonder why would they want to get mad at saying that Jesus died for all your sins? It seems to me that’s the central issue of the of the scripture. But see, it said, no, no, I agree with that. But it’s our response to that, you know, well, what is your response? What is the Christians response supposed to be to what God has done for us in Christ Jesus? It seemed to me it says, Walk by Faith. Well, how can I be walking by faith in what Jesus did for me? And deny what he did for me, if I’m asking him to do what he said already did, I am not walking by faith? I’m walking in stupidity, to be real honest with you. Because and I’m saying one thing out of one side of my mouth and saying something else, out of the other side of my mouth, it’s called a double minded man that is unstable in all ways. And you’ll see people when they don’t understand that, and I literally feel sorry for people in that category. Bob, I used to be there. I know that so I know both sides of this issue. I know full well, what it was when I Bob George was trying to keep my slate clean, trying to keep all my sins forgiven. You are you are met folks with so many contradictions in your life that you’re never going to strike them out. And you come up with this? What if you forget some of them? What if you forgotten? If we confess God will forgive me? If I don’t, he won’t. Now, folks, that if is not is a conditional IF. And it’s conditional IF means if you do, he will, if you don’t, he won’t, right. It’s that simple. Now, if that is true, then how could that be true to you as a believer who has been forgiven in Christ? forgiven in Christ, just as God forgave you? How’s that going to take place? In other words, how are you going to say that I am a person who has clothed in the righteousness of Christ, forgiven forever, but if I confess I will get forgiven. It is an absolute double minded statement, folks. And we will have people who are so irate, and they will get mad. We’ve been kicked off radio stations with that type of thing. Over one verse of scripture, because that’s all I can ever quotes. First, John, one nine, there aren’t any other verses. And you wonder, wonder why Paul missed that? You know, after I wrote most of the New Testament, what do I miss that? But someplace down the line, I guess he hadn’t been enlightened yet. So he missed that, folks, let’s quit playing spiritual games. Your response to what God has done for you is only one response, Faith without faith, it’s impossible to please God, that the just shall live by faith. Faith says, Thank you. Faith does not say if I do God’s will. That’s not faith that’s earnings. Faith says, Thank you, period. What else can you do? If by faith I have received the grace of God? Thank you. What can I do if by grace I have received the life of Christ? Thank you. What is your response to the fact that Christ took away your sins at the cross? All of them? What’s the only intelligent response? You can do? Spiritual response? Thank you. That’s it, folks. That’s your response. And people say no, no, when you sin, your response has to be that you got to confess and get forgiven. No, that’s a denial that you are forgiven. What now, does that mean, in this whole project that we’re talking about Bob, and we’ve been talking about for all these weeks? What does the role of confession have to do in the life of a believer? Well, it’s consistent. We’re constantly going to be agreeing with God. When we are thinking, contrary to His thoughts, His thoughts live in us now. His Holy Spirit lives in us he’s alive living in us. And there is a conflict, Paul said between indwelling sin and my flesh, and the indwelling Holy Spirit, in my spirit, they’re in conflict with each other, the flesh wars against the Spirit and the Spirit wars against the flesh. They’ve never please each other. So what do you have? You’ve got two desires living inside of you. flesh desires, spiritual desires. Now, God’s Spirit is never going to allow you because He loves you too much. To believe the lie that these flesh desires are anything except flesh desires. Now, you may you may dogmatically hang on to those but he ain’t gonna leave you that That way, God lives in you folks. And he lives in you to continually work with you and continually to renew your mind teaching you truth setting you free. That’s the freedom you’ve been called to. And you’re never going to be able to experience that freedom, live in that freedom, experience that freedom, and have it deepened into your heart, when you’re denying the truth of the cross.

Now, where does forgiveness come in? Well, you act like a jerk with somebody. Are you going to agree with God’s Spirit that lives in you that says, Bob, was that consistent with who you are? Of course you’re not. You’re going to be agreeing with God, Lord, you’re right. At that attitude is not right. You sit there and you kind of slip out of the corner of your eyes, maybe looking at something on television that might just be a little bit sloppy. And you say, Well, I hope I hope somebody didn’t see me. But Lord said, Bob, I’m living right here. Is this good for you? Is this what you ought to be watching? And you look here and say, Lord, no, it really isn’t, isn’t? He said, Not really, is it? What am I doing? While I’m agreeing with God? Am I asked, am I doing that to get forgiven? No, I’m already forgiven person. Or I wouldn’t be aware that that was sin.

You see so many times with this mentality that we have been enmeshed in, in the Christian world of this, the sin issue instead of settling it. And realizing, Bob, that if sin and the forgiveness of sin was to be an ongoing process in our lives, where then Jesus should have stayed at home, because he already had a system to bring that went about it was called the sacrificial system, the atonement, where sin had to be forgiven over and over and over again. But Christ came to give a better sacrifice than that. And see, we’re still diminishing his sacrifice. He came to give us a sacrifice it was once and for all, where he said, their sins and lawless acts, I’ll remember them no more have taken them away. Now, why did he do is that? so that he could come live within us. And the reason people are in such objection to the finality of the cross, is because they don’t have a clue as to the reality of the resurrection. That’s the only thing I can come to grips with. And I know that experientially, in my own life, that when I came to understand the truth, that Christ Jesus is alive living in me. And he is my hope of glory, that that obsession with confession for forgiveness absolutely left me. Agreeing with God, of course, we’re agreeing with God, I’m agreeing with him when he says, Bob, you ought to be reconciled to that that person that ripped you off, and I’m, I’m agreeing with him. I’m agreeing with him when he says, Bob, you ought to be forgiving people. You haven’t forgiven that person over there who did something bad to you. And you say, Lord, you’re right, I need to do that. You’re agreeing with God, when He says, Bob, you need to live at peace with everybody. As far as you’re concerned, don’t don’t be an enemy of people. And you say, Lord, you’re right, because you’re not an enemy of anybody. He says, Bob, don’t hold on to anger. Ephesians 4:26 In your anger, don’t send don’t let the sun go down. You’re still angry. How many times you ever gotten a little split with your wife, and said, Brother, I’m going to bed? And and I’ve done that. I’ve done that. And you just go to bed, we wake up next day as mad as when you went to bed. And so that’s stupid. It really is just idiotic. Because by the time you wake up the next morning, you can’t remember what you were mad at last night. So you know it, all of those things are so practical. Everything the Lord tells us is so practical, that we have to sit and scratch your head and say No wonder he called a sheep. So, so you’re agreeing with God. So when you’re if you’re in a spif or something, settle that issue before you go to bed, why it you’ll sleep better, you’re gonna get some rest, otherwise you’re not. Lord comes along. And Romans 14:13 says, Therefore, let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put a stumbling block or an obstacle in your brother’s way. I sit there, Bob, and I say, Brother, do we judge? And they said, Bob, pick the word we out of there, do you judge? And and and in Matthew seven, the Lord talked about that don’t judge or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you as well. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye. When all the time there’s a plank in your own I said You hypocrite. First take the plank out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck in your brother’s eye. Now all of that’s talking about judging one another passing judgment on one another. And how often do we do that, folks? And to those of you who may still be struggling with this area forgiveness, do you realize how often you’d need to be first John 1:9ing? If you paid any attention at all, to this thing of judging, how many times do we judge? constantly, we’re judging somebody because we have become the standard of truth. And we have become the center of the universe. And of course, if I’m the center of the universe, then I expect everybody to evolve around me. And if they don’t function the way that I do, so obviously, something’s wrong with nothing wrong with me, but something wrong with them. Now, that is the mindset of flesh, all flesh is like that, not some all of it. And so when we, what he’s saying is, look, before you take the try to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye, you better take the log out of your own, you want to take a look at your reactions. Are your reactions worse than what the person has done? And there’s the answer, yes, it is. My reaction is worse than what the other person has done. And we have that tendency to judge one another. Look what Jesus said. He said, You without sin cast the first stone. Is there any one of us who are without sin? then why should we be ever throwing a stone at somebody? Why should we ever be condemning somebody else when there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus? What is the reason for that? We think we’re Jesus, we think we’re God. We think that our standards are higher than his. God came to die for sinners, not to humiliate them, not to expose them, not to ridicule them, but to die for them. The world wants to expose sinners wants to ridicule sinners, we’re all sinners. Now, should we feel that is unusual for the world? I say no, I don’t think so. No. But what if Christians involved in that type of thing? We’re supposed to be separate from the world, folks, there is no place for that at all.

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.