Radio Broadcast Tuesday 08/27/2024

Classic Christianity – Book of Galatians P14 (08-27-24)

If You Are In Christ Jesus, You Are a Joint Heir With Jesus, God

~ We who are in Christ Jesus are considered “sons of God” and God looks at us as sons of God (both male and female) is being spoken of here. ‘But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, having been born of a woman, having been born under the Law, that He might redeem those under the Law, so that we might receive the divine adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a son; and if a son, also an heir through God.’ We are children of God! This is good news to stand on. Because everything that Jesus has is ours also in Christ. We enter into that relationship with God, through Faith in the Faithful One of God, Jesus, who took away all Your sins on the cross, and is no longer counting any sins against you. He sent His Spirit to live in you, and to give you Eternal Life at the very moment you placed Faith in Him. Eternal Life is NOT some future event. You have Eternal Life at this very moment in time, for those that have the Holy Spirit living in them now. And there is nothing you can do to kick the Holy Spirit out of you. He will never leave you nor forsake you no matter what. Nothing can separate us from Him ever again. We are no longer enemies of God, but are His children. And as children, He is constantly teaching us the truth of the word of God. So pay attention to Him, especially in these times we live in today. Because quite frankly most so-called churches today operate on the teaching of a mixture of law and grace to live under, which is No gospel at all. Don’t let yourself be placed again under the yoke of slavery. Be FREE!

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.” John 3:36

“For Christ is the end of the law, to bring righteousness to everyone who believes.” Romans 10:4

Now I say, for as long a time as the heir is a child, he differs not from a slave, though being owner of everything. Instead, he is under guardians and trustees until the time appointed by his father. So also, we when we were children, were held in bondage under the principles of the world.

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, having been born of a woman, having been born under the Law, that He might redeem those under the Law, so that we might receive the divine adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a son; and if a son, also an heir through God.

But at that time indeed, not knowing God, you were enslaved to those by nature not being gods. But now, having known God, but rather having been known by God, how do you turn again to the weak and destitute principles, to which you desire to be enslaved again anew? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, lest perhaps I have toiled for you in vain. I implore you, brothers, become as I am, because I also have become as you. You have wronged me in nothing.

Now you know that in weakness of the flesh I proclaimed the gospel the first time to you. And of your test in my flesh, you did not despise me nor reject me with contempt, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. What has become then of your blessedness? For I bear witness to you that, if possible, having gouged out your eyes, you would have given them to me. So have I become your enemy speaking truth to you?

They zealously seek you, not rightly. But they desire to isolate you from us, so that you might be zealous after them. Now it is good to be zealous in a right thing, at all times and not only in my being present with you.

My children, of whom I travail again until that Christ shall have been formed in you, I was wishing indeed to be present with you presently and to change my tone, because I am perplexed as to you.

Tell me, those wishing to be under the Law, do you do not listen to the Law? For it has been written that Abraham had two sons, one of the slave woman and one of the free. But indeed, the one of the slave woman has been born according to flesh, but the one of the free, through the promise, which things are allegorized, for these are two covenants: one indeed from Mount Sinai, begetting unto slavery, which is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, who is our mother. For it has been written:

“Rejoice O barren woman,

the one not bearing;

break forth and call aloud,

the one not travailing;

because many more are the children of the desolate woman

than of her having the husband.”

Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as at that time the one having been born according to flesh was persecuting the one born according to Spirit, so also it is now.

But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman will never inherit along with the son of the free.” So then, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free. Galatians 4:1-30

Pray to God:

Do you really want to know the WHOLE Truth of what is going on today?

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

Lord Jesus, teach me the truth of the world today and give me the wisdom to know the truth and identify the lies of the devil. Thank you God.”

~ “Now, what does that tell us? What does that tell us about our spiritual birth? We are made sons of God to as many as received him to them, he gave the right to become what? The son of the living God. Now, how did we become one of those? The Spirit of God came to live within us. Remember what it says that the Spirit of God lives in you, and if the Spirit of God does not live in you, you don’t belong to Him. So what are you born again of? The Spirit you’re born again of the Spirit of God. That means the Spirit of God from outside of you comes to take place inside of you, and you’re born. Birth is life. You’re born again. You’ve been born physically, now you’re born spiritually. And that cannot happen apart from the Spirit of God.

So this thing that some people teach that you’re born again yesterday, and then you get the Spirit tomorrow, is a total, not only impossibility, but it’s a perversion of the gospel, because there’s no way to be born again apart from the Spirit. So if you don’t have the Spirit, you’re not born again. And so you don’t get the Spirit here, then get another one tomorrow. You’re born again of the Spirit of God, and at that moment, you are given the right to become a child of the living God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. All of that takes place at that time. Now, because you are sons and the Spirit of God lives in your heart, that Spirit of God living in you has a testimony. And it says, this is a testimony we just talked about it that God has given. And it says, If this testimony is in your heart, you’re going to be agreeing with this, that you’re a son of God. You’re going to be agreeing that you have eternal life. If the Spirit lives in you, the Spirit can’t war against itself. And the Spirit testifies to the fact that you’re a child of God and you possess eternal life. And it says, because you’re a son of God, you cry out, Abba, Father, what does that tell you? When you’re possessed by the Spirit, you know something, God’s my father. I’m a son. I’m plugged into the God of this universe. I’m his kid, and I can cry out Abba, which is the word Daddy, Father. But he said, This is God you ought to, you know you ought to say thee and thou. He says he’s daddy. It’s daddy.” ~ Bob George

Bible Study Booklets

Join Bob George in this chapter by chapter exposition of the letter to the Galatians. Available for download the complete series on the Book of Galatians. The Letter to the Galatians is key to understanding Law and Grace, the new covenant, and being one in Christ Jesus.

Announcer 0:12
Welcome to Classic Christianity Radio with Bob George Bob’s clear, timeless teachings on the complete forgiveness and unconditional love of Jesus Christ will transform your life as you learn about God’s amazing grace. Let’s join Bob as he teaches us from God’s Word.

Bob George 0:29
Now it says, But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman under the law. Was Jesus born under the law? Did he teach under the law? Did he proclaim grace? But had Grace been given yet in its fullness? Was grace there? Yeah, grace was there. Grace was in the Garden of Eden, so was the law. But. Wasn’t called the law or the grace. The law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through who? Jesus Christ. Now, when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman under the law, to redeem those under the law. How come? So that we might receive the full rights as sons. Now, when you redeem something, what do you do? When something has been redeemed, how many of you remember redemption centers? Remember those? What’d you do with those? Well, you saved green stamps. You couldn’t buy a candy bar with a green with green stamps. You go to the theater and give them some green stamps, they’d laugh you away from the window. But in a redemption store, you could get a toaster, or you could get some other things, couldn’t you? So you turned in these worthless green stamps that were worthless to anyone except the redemption store and you got a toaster.

Now here, when the time had come, God sent His Son, born of a woman under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive full rights as sons. What is that? It’s called the exchange of life. I give him everything that I am, just a just a green stamp, and he gives me everything that he is, and that’s God. I turn myself in as a son. He gives me the right to become a son of God. I turn myself in as an empty jar. He fills it with his life and his righteousness and gives it back to me. It’s redemption. Now, all of that took place, and all of that was the time had fully come. Now, when the time had fully come was what? When Jesus came, until that we were locked up under the law, until Jesus came. Now, because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out Abba Father. Now, what does that tell us? What does that tell us about our spiritual birth? We are made sons of God to as many as received him to them, he gave the right to become what? The son of the living God. Now, how did we become one of those? The Spirit of God came to live within us. Remember what it says that the Spirit of God lives in you, and if the Spirit of God does not live in you, you don’t belong to Him. So what are you born again of? The Spirit you’re born again of the Spirit of God. That means the Spirit of God from outside of you comes to take place inside of you, and you’re born. Birth is life. You’re born again. You’ve been born physically, now you’re born spiritually. And that cannot happen apart from the Spirit of God.

It’s like John, John going into the office of his dad, of his president, Kennedy roaming around while they were talking about the conflict, he would say, kid, that’s the President of the United States, and he’s my daddy, and I call him daddy.

And that’s what it says to us, that we can approach the throne of grace calling him Abba Father, Daddy, Father and receiving mercy in our time of need. See, that’s what God has done for you and me. He’s made us his child. Who? Anybody on the earth that turns to him by faith, Hebrew, Gentile, slave, free, woman, man makes no difference to whosoever comes to him, he saves whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be what? Saved. What’s the only thing that keeps you from being saved? Not calling upon the name of the Lord, that’s all just saying, I’m going to do it my way, just like Sinatra, do it my way.

And God says I gave you a will. People ask the question, how does God allow these things to happen? Because he gave man a will. He could have made you and me as a robot. He could have made us as a puppet. He chose to give us a will so that I could choose to be loved by God and to love God. And whenever you give a man a will, there’s a danger to it, and that is that man isn’t going to choose to walk in dependency upon his creator. I’m going to choose to do it alone. I’m going to choose my own way. I don’t like you as God, I’m going to get me another one. I’m going to get another one. I don’t like what you testified about your Son. I’m going to get another thing to worship. And that is exactly what takes place in the heart of a man. You know what that is, folks? It’s called pride. And do you know what pride is? It’s PR with an I, right? Big in the middle of it, it’s for the big I, and God gives grace to the humble, but he resists the proud. Why does he resist the proud? Because the proud is resisting him. And so we have an opportunity on the face of this earth to come and to learn the testimony of God concerning his Son, and to turn to that Son and to receive life and our own stubborn pride many times keeps us from us. So I’d rather do it alone. I want to be the maker of my own destiny. I’m in control. You ever lived that way? I did for 36 years. That’s where I lived. I’ll do it my way. I don’t need God. I’ll go to Sunday, go Sunday to talk about him, put $1 in the plate. Do I know him? No, I don’t know him. Didn’t know him till I was 36 then it came to know him, not know about him, but to know Him. I became a child of God. My heart cried out, Daddy, Father.

Now it says verse seven, you’re no longer a slave, but a son. And since you’re a son, God has made you also an heir. That we are an heir of all that God has provided for us. Now, how much has God given us? Everything that we need for life and godliness. That’s a pretty good inheritance, isn’t it? He didn’t even divide it up. He just said to every one of you, it’s 100%. I’ve given you everything you need for life and godliness. Now it says formally, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who, by nature, are not gods. And in many instances, that would be slaves to your religious leaders who don’t know the Lord, or to your political leaders who don’t know it. You were slaves to them, but now that you know God, or rather are known by God, I love that distinction. What does it say? It’s not that we love God, but what? He loved us first. Does anyone ever initiate love to God? No only respond. And remember, guys, we are not initiators. We are responders. God is the initiator of all things. We are the responder to what he initiated. He initiated His love toward you and me. What do we do? We respond to it. And so it says that now that you know God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you’re turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You’re observing special days and months and seasons and years. I fear that somehow I’ve wasted my efforts on you.

You were talking to a group of people who were bogged down in all kinds of tradition and all kinds of holidays and everything was tradition. And then they came to Christ, and he’s saying, Why are you now returning back to those traditions? What did it say about those kind of things? Turn with me to Colossians for a moment. Look down in Colossians two, verse 16. Colossians two 16. Therefore don’t let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink or with regard to a religious festival, and that’s what he’s talking about over here in Galatians, or a new moon celebration, or what? A Sabbath day, these now he’s named, eat, drink, religious festivals, New Moon celebration or Sabbath day. So we could take any one of those, and instead of saying these, saying it. So let’s just for a moment, because so many people are hung up on a Sabbath day, let’s take a Sabbath day. What is a Sabbath day? It is a shadow of the things that were to come. The reality, however, is found in who? In Christ. So the Sabbath day is a shadow. The reality is Christ, who is our Sabbath today? Christ. Who do we turn to for rest? Christ, not a day of the week, but Christ. Now, when you still are worshiping the day of the week, and people say, Oh, you got to worship. The Sabbath is Saturday. No, the Sabbath is Sunday, and you say, No, the Sabbath is Jesus. He’s the Lord of the Sabbath. There is no more day of the week. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. That was a shadow foreshadowing the reality that was to come in Christ. What was the purpose of the of the Sabbath? To do what? Rest. What did Christ come to give us? Rest. What a day of the week? Seven days a week, we rest in him. Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I’ll give you rest and peace for your soul. It’s not a day of the week, it’s every day of the week. And we get all hung up on what day you come to sit in the pew and go home and smell.

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Bob George 13:26
Folks, all that stuff is foreshadowing. Christ is the Sabbath. He’s the Lord of the Sabbath. Now let’s go back to where we were. You’re observing these special days. We just talked about that months and seasons and years. Nothing wrong with those, but they become a substitute for Jesus, and anything that God can bless as a supplement he’ll curse as a substitute. And we make supplements to Jesus, and before long, they’re substitutes for Jesus. And instead of looking at going to church as a supplement to your faith, it becomes a substitute for your faith. And you hear people that’s all they talk about, is church, church, church, church, church. And you go to lunch with people, and all they talk about, church, church, church, church. And you want to throw up after a while, you say, Where’s Jesus in all this? What has happened? Church became a substitute for Jesus, not a supplement to, but a substitute for. And if you’re going to talk about something, talk about Him. He’s the reality, not your church. And that’s sometimes. That’s all you hear. And where I used to go. You went to lunch, brother, you’re going to talk about church. That’s all just church. Never Jesus, just church. Become preoccupied with your body instead of your head. We do that too, don’t we? We’ve got a good looking body and don’t have a thing in our brain. And God is saying to us, I gave you the Holy Spirit for you to think. I came to give you instruction. I came to teach your mind to control your emotions and direct your will, and that’s what I’m there for. Now he says, I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. I entered into your life so that you could enter into mine. You’ve done me. You’ve done me no wrong, as you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you, and even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Wonder why I didn’t heal himself. Probably didn’t have enough faith (sarcasm). Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel from God, as if I were Christ Jesus Himself.

Paul demanded such respect and had been through such trials and tribulation and persecution, I don’t think it would have been possible to be into His presence without seeing him as a very, very special servant of God. And he said, You welcome me as if I was an angel, as if I were Christ Himself. What’s happened to all your joy? I can testify that if you could have done so, you’d have torn out your own eyes and given them to me. And that’s why, when Paul talks about a thorn in the flesh, that I believe it was an eye problem. That was his sickness. Someplace down the line was eye problem, and that’s why he says, if you would have done so, you would have torn out your own eyes and given them to me. Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

Folks, how many times do you become an enemy by telling them the truth? You know, it’s a funny thing, isn’t it? We’ll believe anything except the truth. You don’t want to hear the truth. We don’t want to hear truth about anything. It makes you mad. Isn’t that funny? You can tell people anything. Tell you, listen, I got these hankies that I’ve dipped into Jordan. You send me 10 bucks, and I’ll send you one of them. And, man, you just say, lead me to the post office. You tell somebody you’ve been saved by grace, and you’re sustained by grace, and Christ, Jesus lives in you, and you’re no longer under the law. And Christ’s forgiveness was final. There is no more forgiveness to be executed on your behalf. It’s finished. It’s done. And they say too good to be true. We’re strange people, aren’t we? We really do. We believe anything except the truth. And so he says, How have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?

We got a notation from a radio station that we’re on that said, this is a notice to all people that are on our programs to quit saying anything about the Muslims. And if you do, we’ll take you off the air. I called the manager. I said, have you gone out of your mind? Since when are you going to kick off people who teach Jesus for the sake of a Muslim? Of course, he was just a manager. That was an owner’s decision. But again, they don’t want to hear truth. They don’t want anybody to tell you truth about what’s taught there. You’re not telling it to stir up trouble. You’re telling it so that people can be informed and people get mad at you for telling the truth. These people are zealous to win you over, but not for any good. What they want is to alienate you from us so that you may be zealous for them. I don’t think there’s anyone wants to alienate you from somebody else unless they want you to be zealous for for for themselves.

It’s fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, but to be so always, and not just when I’m with you, my dear children for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth, until Christ is formed in you. How I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I perplexed about you. I cannot understand what is going on. In Galatians three he said, I came to you with such a clear message that I could have written a postcard in front of you about Jesus, and he said, Have you gone mad? What’s happened to you? Have you gone crazy? I couldn’t have made it any more clearly. And I want to ask you a question, Did you receive the Spirit of God by believing Christ or by obeying the law? And after beginning in Christ, why are you now trying to perfect yourself by human effort. Why are you not walking by faith instead of going back under these stupid principles that kept you in bondage? That’s all a part of the law that had you in bondage. Why are you going back to those principles? I am totally perplexed about you. I don’t understand what’s happened to you. And folks, I want to tell you something. When you’re in the ministry, you see that constantly with people, and I’ve had people that have sat for 10 years that didn’t know any more than the day they walked in here, their head was as empty 10 years later as it was when they walked in and sit there and look at you and nod their head and never hear a word you say, and you look at people sometimes that they walk away. They walk away, and the reason they walk away is you might have said something you didn’t like about some something that really wasn’t that important. In other words, what you’re teaching isn’t important. It’s that you teach what I want to hear. And again, it says that in the Scripture, doesn’t it, in the last days, people want to get their ears tickled, and we want programs, and we want entertainment, and that’s why we go to church, is to get entertained and programmed.

And so he’s saying, I’m perplexed about you. I’m in the pains of childbirth again, until Christ is formed in you. You know about him, but he had been formed in you. He’s not your life. He’s just someone out there. But he hasn’t become your life. He hasn’t become your reality. He hasn’t become your rest. He’s just a name and you tell me, you who want to be under the law. And that’s what he’s talking about, people who have fallen back under the law, came to grace, fallen back under the law. We have people today who say, I’m Christian, but we got to go obey the Jewish laws. Who are they? People? That is perplexing Paul, where he’s saying, What’s wrong with you? I don’t understand I’m perplexed. Until Christ is formed in you, why are you returning to the law and to the ceremonies and to all the things that he’s talking about here? What’s gone on with you? I don’t understand you.

We’ve seen it on television, the religious services, have we not? In the big temples, so to speak, and with the hats and with the robes and with the sticks, you’ve seen everything going on and pompous. And Paul would say, I am perplexed about you. What in a world are you thinking about since when did coming to Christ mean that you dressed up in funny looking robes and wore funny looking hats and spread stuff all over the place? What does that have to do with anything? Sitting there and people bowing down and doing hocus pocus on the heads and all this kind of stuff? What does that have to do with anything? We can look at these things, folks, but it’s nonsense. According to the Word of God, it’s total nonsense. It’s perplexing, and yet we just love it. Give me more of it. Give me more robes, give me more hats, give me more pomp. Folks. Do you know the early church, until Constantine came along, there were not buildings with stained glass. Can you imagine going someplace without stained glass? We even got some up there. I mean, what’s happened? I can tell you what happened is religion has become a substitute for Jesus, not a supplement, but a substitute. And Paul’s perplexed about it, and we ought to be perplexed about what’s going on as well.

Tell me you want to be under the law. Are you not aware what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in an ordinary way, but his son by the free woman was born as a result of the promise. These things would be taken figuratively for the women, the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount, Sinai, Sinai, and it bears children are to be slaves. This is Hagar. This was the slave woman’s son. Ishmael. That’s who we’re fighting against today. And now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free. She is our mother, for it is written, Be glad, o barren woman who bears no children, break forth and cry aloud. You who have no labor pains, because more are the children of the desolate woman than those of her who has a husband. Now you brothers like Isaac are the children of promise, and at that time, the son born in the ordinary way. Was persecuted by the son born of the power of the Spirit. In other words, the son Ishmael born of the ordinary way. What’s the ordinary way? The ordinary way. Was born by the power was persecuted. Then the ordinary persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit, and who was that? That was Isaac. It is the same now, nothing’s changed. But what does the Scripture say? It says, to get rid of the slave woman and her son. The slave woman and the son represented the law. It said, get rid of it, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son. You’re never going to share in being a child of God by coming to God through the law, only by grace. You put the law aside and you get rid of it. That’s what it says. Get rid of the slave woman and her son. You get rid of it. You want to still live by the law, how are you going to be sharing in the inheritance of the free woman’s son? Get rid of what binds you and walk in grace led by the Spirit of God. Therefore brothers, we are not the children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. Does that make sense? And folks, that’s exactly where we are today. We either live by grace or we live under the law. And he’s saying, you have been saved by grace. Now live in grace. Two cannot commingle together any more than you can bring foreign gods into your land and commingle together. It doesn’t work. And so what we have to do is as children of God, who know the grace of God is to live by grace and to function by grace and to love by grace. Why? Because you’re indwelt by Grace.

Announcer 27:11
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 BobGeorge.net. There you will 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.