Original Message Date 11-30-97 Classic Christianity – Bob George – P3 (01-09-19)
Welcome to Classic Christianity radio with Bob George, where Bob’s clear and 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.
Romans 8:2
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
Bob shared precisely why there is no punishment for you and me today. Bob shared about how a person incorrectly thought that God punished him for his sins and the ramifications of that kind of thinking, being mad at God with a mean and vindictive spirit. There is slander and all sorts of evil behavior from that kind of thinking. God does not punish you for your sins. God punished Jesus for that. There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. People tend to blame God for what Satan is doing.
Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Bob also shared about how persecution comes about to the children of God. Because of the world we live in and people’s darkened understanding with indwelling sin, persecution will inevitably come. Whoever wants to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
2 Timothy 3:12-14
12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,
Bob then spoke about tolerance as a form of persecution to the people of God, particularly in America. In our culture today, tolerance is being used as a means not to call sin what it really is, sin, excusing the sins of homosexuality, adultery, and even pedophilia. Tolerance, as being used in today’s world, is really being intolerant to the Christian, suppressing truth in unrighteousness and name-calling them as narrow-minded.
Romans 1:18-21
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
In about the 16:00 minute into the audio, Bob expands on the teaching to explain the right attitudes that should be in a believer and how he can live, not in perversion, but a new life in the Spirit. How is a believer to look towards those who sin, even those sins such as homosexuality and adultery? Should a believer ever think he is not capable of doing such perverse sins as he sees or hears about others doing? No!
There is no sexual perversion or behavior that is in the world today that any one of us is incapable of engaging in. There is no sin you cannot do, that you are incapable of performing, and that, even as a Christian. You still have indwelling sin living in you. By choice, you are capable of giving into anything. So should we ever look down with a judgmental spirit towards perverse behavior? No. You are not judging the person but the sin. The only judgment on the sin is calling what God calls it. Since God calls it sin, then that is what I call it, sin.
The believer also struggles with indwelling sin, even as the Apostle Paul testified of his own struggle. But praise be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 7:16-18
16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
I am not judging the person but the action. But God died for that person. He died for that person just like he died for me and was raised for that person just like he was raised for me. Everyone in this world has the possibility of getting a new heart through the Holy Spirit who comes to live inside him. If you are yielding to the Spirit, the new nature living in you, then you will not be practicing perverse behavior.
2 Peter 1:4
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
To be clear, the flesh will not go away. Learning how to walk in newness of life is learning to be controlled by the love of God. Desires of the flesh and the desires of the Spirit are in conflict. The issue is which one are we going to walk in. Jesus came to this earth and gave us an ability we did not have before. God gave us a new heart, a new identity as a child of God, with the Spirit of God living in you. You have the ability to walk in the newness of life in Christ Jesus. The flesh says,”I want to make myself acceptable in Christ Jesus.” The self-righteous in religion will always be in a mindset that says leave me alone and I will show what I can do. “I will show you how I will be dedicated to my quiet time, how many times I can pray every day, I will show you how good my flesh can be.” It makes no difference if the flesh is 99% perfect, it is not going to heaven. This body of death will die and be swallowed up in victory. The Spirit is the only thing God is dealing with.
So then, let us look to the Spirit.
Galatians 5:16
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
1 Peter 5:6-8
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Humble yourselves under God’s mighty hand and cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you. Do you know he cares for you? If you don’t, why would you cast your cares on Him? Do you know the character of God? If you don’t know the character of the one who told you to cast your cares on Him, why would you do so?
Come to know God who loves you perfectly. To know God, get to know Jesus, for He has shone what God is like for He truly is God in the flesh! Come to know who Jesus is, what he did and why he did it and how he lived as the perfect man living by the Spirit of God, even as He is God, but humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. He lived as a man, referred to in scripture as the second Adam, totally dependent on the Spirit, doing only that which he heard from His Father. Think about such things.
Romans 8:31-32
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
Romans 8:28
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
So look us look at the common things that plague all men, even the common problem of anxiety. How can walking by the Spirit of God help us not yield to anxiety?
Anxiety is an emotion directed to the future. Cast anxiety on Him because when thinking about the future you are in God’s country. Are you in an emotional wreck by thinking about what might happen tomorrow? Emotions do not think. Emotions respond predictably to what you put in your mind, those things you think is going to happen tomorrow. Fantasizing is really what you are doing.
When you place things of tomorrow on Him, are you not redirecting your thinking? God instructs you to live one day at a time. God provides your needs today. So when you follow God’s instruction, and He tells you, “Do not worry about tomorrow” and you trust Him, what happens to anxiety? Your thinking is not on tomorrow anymore, so there is no more anxiety. You are resting in God’s provision for today. The Jesus who is in you life today is already there for your tomorrow.
Be alert to the dangers around you for the enemy prowls around.
1 Peter 5:8-10
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
There is nothing new under sun (recall the book of Ecclesiastes). Anything you and I experience today has been experienced for thousands of years. If the Lord tarries, it will be experienced thousands more. (Of course, in this day and age, I highly doubt the Lord will tarry much longer as we see prophetic events unfold, such as preparations being made for the building of a new temple and events occurring in the Middle East surrounding Israel). Nevertheless, we are to live one day at a time, giving thanks in all things. Walk in that security in Him for He holds the future. Being a Christian is not predicated on what you are doing or not doing. It is predicated on whether you are in Christ or not. That life is eternal and will never depart from you. That is the good news of the gospel!
Romans 8:11
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Ponder over the final instructions the Apostle Paul gave to the Thessalonians.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-28
12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us. 26 Greet all God’s people with a holy kiss. 27 I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
In this world, we are always under the Lord’s total discipline, for the teacher is living in us. We are called children of God. We are continually under the instruction and teaching of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Never think that God is punishing you for all punishment was placed on Jesus Christ. You can live in full knowledge that God loves you perfectly. Think of the magnitude of God’s love for you!
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Are you fully persuaded of God’s love for you?
The apostle Paul testified that he was fully persuaded when he wrote this letter to the church in Rome.
Romans 8:38-39
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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