Radio Broadcast Wednesday 09/07/2022

Classic Christianity – A Closer Look at Your Identity in Christ P78 (09-07-22)

Walk by Abiding in Christ Jesus Not by The Flesh

~ “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5

Any lost person can abide in ethics, but only a child of God can abide in Christ Jesus. Many a Christian, come to life in Christ Jesus but then go out there and try to live in the energy of the flesh. They try to follow principles. They try to follow ethics.

“And so we’re gonna say, am I going to be arrogant? Am I going to act on becomingly? Am I seeking your interests over and above my own? That’s what Christ did. And here we’re saying, Well, I follow christian ethics, folks, that isn’t the issue, are you abiding in Christ? that’s the issue. And if you are, then you’re going to be abiding in His love, in his acceptance, in his kindness, in His mercy in His grace, that’s what it means to walk abiding in Christ. Any lost person can walk in your ethics, and probably outstrip you every time. But it takes a true born again, Christian, to abide in the living Christ who’s indwelling and to experience his love through other people.”

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

Just as a person’s physical growth is based on proper diet and exercise, so is the Christians’s spiritual growth dependent on regular feeding upon the word of God and application of its principles. With more false teaching, shifting opinions and general confusion in the world than ever before, Christians need a solid foundation upon which to base their beliefs and build their lives. The word of God declares that Jesus Christ is that foundation of truth. With that in mind, let’s now take A Closer Look at Your Identity in Christ.

Bob George 0:43
He makes a statement in an era highly recommend that you give up your Christian values. Now, isn’t that a statement? You may find this statement startling, but I wanted to shake you into some serious thought. I’m not advocating moral anarchy, nor am I suggesting that how you live is unimportant. But what I am saying is that focusing on a value system is not God’s intended way for you to live. God never proposed your lifestyle to be built around the principle of right and wrong and to do so is damaging in several ways. One, when I My lifestyle is built around this principle of right and wrong, I have an obsession with myself and I become self conscious instead of God conscious. Before the Fall, good and evil were irrelevant. Adam and Eve, they weren’t sitting around thinking about what was right and wrong. Their focus was not on their own behavior, but instead, they built their life around the relationship with God, they weren’t sitting around thinking about that. Focusing on behavior would make them self conscious. And God’s purpose was that they focus on him. Now after the fall, what happened to them? Well, they suddenly became aware of their own identity separated from God. Until that time, they had been called God conscious to such an extent that they were unaware of their own nakedness. That’s really God consciousness. In a matter of speaking, they hadn’t even looked at themselves. And when they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they became egocentric they became, and began to evaluate their own appearance, their actions, and their attitudes and their eyes were off of God and onto themselves. That’s a picture of religion. Yes.

Now that’s what concentrating on good and evil will do to you. And until you and I come to understand the fullness of the grace of God, we’ll spend considerable time and energy and self analysis. Every word we start thinking, Is that right or wrong, every thought? Is that right or wrong? every deed? Is that right or wrong. And when we began to find that we began to make more entries in that wrong column, we began feeling guilty and nothing robs a person of joy in his Christian life like guilt. Well, as a new creature, a new creation in Christ, one who is in Christ Jesus in Christ, Jesus is in us, do you measure your life by right and wrong? No, you measure your life, simply, am I abiding in Christ? Or am I not abiding in Christ? Am I being controlled by love? Or aren’t I being controlled by love? Our attitude and actions are expressed, because Christ is expressing them through us. That’s what it means when it says that we have the privilege of partaking in the divine nature, and that’s Christ nature. My new nature is not mine, it’s Christ, Christ living in me is my new nature. And I have the privilege of participating in that nature that lives in me, My old man, my old nature, the one in Adam is dead. My new nature is Christ. And I can participate in that. So that’s what it’s dealing with. Am I participating in His divine nature? Am I plugging into that I’m abiding in it, or am I listening to the desires of the flesh.

Now, when you’re under the law, the law is going to be demanding your flesh to behave. And it’s also going to be demanding your flesh to not behave. In other words, I’m going to be demanding your flesh to behave the way I Satan wanted to behave. So when you’re under the law, the power of sin is in the law. So Satan tries to keep you as a born again, Christian functioning under the value system of right and wrong instead of abiding. Because if he can get your eyes off of what it is to abide, and just get you back into the value system, you quite frankly, are living your life, absolutely no different than a last person who is under his own value system. And so he loves to get you under that law so that you will live under that value system, because you can’t walk in the Spirit and walk under the law at the same time, as I said, if you are under the law, you’re going to have to serve the law. And when you’re under grace, then you serve the God of grace. And so he keeps you under those value systems. And it sounds so noble and we walk around so proud that I’m such a such a moral, ethical person and remind ourselves of the obnoxious, religious man who looked over and said, Oh, I thank God that I am not a sinner like they are. In other words, my standing before God is based upon my righteousness instead of his.

Now, when I fail to abide in Christ, my actions have no godly value, even if they were a mix of —- and —-. It just doesn’t make any difference when I’m not abiding in Christ. It doesn’t make any difference what my actions are. They are of no value at all. They’re wood, hay and stubble. They are actions produced by the desires of the flesh to bring accolades to the flesh instead of to Christ Jesus. And then if you ever noticed how we’ll get up and you see these people prancing around on the stage on television with their Buffon, hairdos and all this type of thing and knocking people over and just strutting around and all this type of thing and then again very, very lovingly say, Praise God, it’s all Jesus and not me. Well, if it’s all Jesus, him why he go home, you know, it’s all of this self accolade draw attention to myself, and then kind of Throw in praise the Lord. Now, folks, we can be fooled some of the time, but hopefully you’re not going to be fooled all the time. And there’s going to come a point in your life, when you’re going to have to get rid of this self absorption and self analysis. And to spend instead of spending your days in some kind of perpetual clinic, where you’re yourself are both the doctor and the patient.

And Satan is going to have a terrific amount of fun with sensitive and conscientious souls given into introspection. When you’re given into that, you’re going to be connoisseurs of your own moods, you’re going to be specialist and self examination, and to end and you’re going to give all kinds of time to this one, too. This is another one of these subtleties examining your sincerity. And everyone who is in introspective is going to be examining his sincerity they worry because they don’t pray enough, maybe I wasn’t sincere enough, they worried because they don’t read the Bible enough, testify enough, rejoice enough. And very often, people who are troubled like this will never find relief by increasing their performance and stepping up the quality of prayers turned out or chapters read very likely, they’re going to be whipping up jaded nerves already exhausted and will merely increase their load of guilt that they’re under. And so we have to realize, folks that these are subtleties. These are interceptors that Satan has put in the way of keeping us abiding in Christ. Paul said, it’s no longer I who live. So get rid of the self examination. It’s Christ who lives if you want to get to know you, you’re going to need to get to know Him. And if you’re going to get to know him, you’re going to have to get to know His love. And when you get to know His love, you for the first time in your life have stability, and a constant in your life.

Bob, this subject of love, is, you know, whenever you talk about God’s love, we everybody just kind of sits back and says, Oh, good, we’re going to hear some nice stuff to make you feel good. Oh, I’m going to tell you. God’s love has legs to it, it has actions to it, it isn’t something to just talk about. It’s something that he says I want you to experience and I want it to be a part of your life.

I ran into a situation the other day that I’ve thought a lot about whereby a business that is owned and operated by people who are born again Christians. And they’re, they’re their brothers and sisters in Christ. And they have employees. And so in that business, why they talk about that we subscribe to Christian ethics and Christian principles. And we’ve built our, our business on Christian principles. And you know, you can do that. I mean, there’s, there’s phenomenal principles in the Bible, that you can build a business on our family on lost or saved or you know, take things out of Proverbs and, and other biblical books of the Bible, and you can get some some great principles out of there. The Psalms or Proverbs are full of wisdom, God’s wisdom, supposed to you’d have to be saved to put those into effect, but but they it’s just plain wisdom to do so. And so, there was a situation where one of the employees did something it was certainly inconsistent with with what you would want to do if you personally as a child of God, but it wasn’t one of the biggies. I mean, it wasn’t adultery or stealing or any of those types of things. It was just being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

And the guy got fired from his business. And the the grounds for for firing him was that it doesn’t match up to our Christian ethics. And I thought to myself, Christian Ethics What are you talking about Christian ethics, Jesus said, The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through one love, not ethics. Love. And we talking about ethics. If you’re talking about ethics, are you ethical, or you know how many of us in our hearts are totally ethical? How many in our hearts are totally moral? How many in our hearts have we ever lusted, then if we have Jesus said it’s the same as adultery. How many of us therefore can stand before God saying, I’m a righteous person because of what I do and what I don’t do? None of us are When is the Christian world going to understand this? Now you see if I want to set an ethical standard as an example, in my own life and say, Well, I’m not going to go into a bar, personally. Well, that’s why how come well, because Jesus doesn’t belong in there and Jesus lives in me and I just don’t want to be there. And I could say, I’m so proud because that isn’t where I want to be. But I’m gonna go over there and forget to throw if the little green light going through the Tollway is on green. And I’m getting ready to throw my 50 cents in there, but it’s already on green, I stick it back in the pocket and drive on through and don’t think anything of it just robbed the city out of 50 cents, but that’s okay. You see what I’m getting at. And so here’s all of this, who in the world is 100%? Ethical in all things you see? But again, that’s, that’s my doing. But Bob, if you went into a bar, and somebody came back and said, Bob Davis was at a bar, am I gonna say you’re fired? Because we, we ascribe to Christian principles? I, first of all, if I’m going to be in Christ, and if then I’m going to see how am I going to respond to that I’m going to talk about where I would want to be. But you fell temptation to something gave into the flesh and there you are in a bar. Okay. Now, the issue is, how am I going to deal with you on that basis? I mean, if if, if I’m supposed to deal with you, if I’m an employer, how in the world am I going to deal with you on that basis? Under Christian ethics? That’s not the issue. It’s, am I going to walk in love? There’s the whole issue, am I not what you’re going to do? Am I going to walk in love? Were you walking in dependency upon Christ? If you went into the bar? No, I don’t think so. Were you thinking of what that might do to your wife? If something? I don’t think so. And incidentally, it’s illustration. You haven’t been the bar. But what I’m saying no, but that’s you. That’s between you and God.

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Bob George 14:19
Now my role is, how am I going to respond to that? Am I going to respond with patience? Am I going to respond with God’s kindness? Am I going to be envious of my position? And other words, what are people going to think of my ministry if they know that this guy that worked for me is gone to a bar? And that’s what majority of this kind of stuff is it’s protecting your backside from what you think others are gonna think about you? It’s the same sickening mindset of the Pharisees that said, if we allow this man to continue, that before long the whole world is going to follow him. We’re about to lose her job and our position. That’s all that is bomb. It’s self protection, self protection. What are people going to think if we’ve got a sinner working for us? Well, I got news for you. That’s all you got work for you. And so we’re gonna say, am I going to be arrogant? Am I going to act on becomingly? Am I seeking your interests over and above my own? That’s what Christ did. And here we’re saying, Well, I follow christian ethics, folks, that isn’t the issue, are you abiding in Christ? that’s the issue. And if you are, then you’re going to be abiding in His love, in his acceptance, in his kindness, in His mercy in His grace, that’s what it means to walk abiding in Christ. Any lost person can walk in your ethics, and probably outstrip you every time. But it takes a true born again, Christian, to abide in the living Christ who’s indwelling and to experience his love through other people. And so the issue of dealing with people is giving them another chance, helping them to get up and sin no more. finding out what’s going on and trying to help a person trying to restore a person. Isn’t that what the Scripture says, If you see a brother caught in a sin, you who are spiritual, go to him, but be careful that you don’t fall into the same trap. That’s how you deal with people, if you’re abiding in Christ. Now, that is not the way you deal with people, if you’re following christian ethics, Christian morality, Christian laws, Christian principles, Christian promises. Anybody can do that, and not know the Lord from a spook.

Now, when it says, And Paul says that the only thing that counts is faith, expressing itself through love, true faith in a true loving God is the only way you are going to be able to express yourself through love. Because you and I do not have that in us. Oh, I can develop christian ethics and morals without knowing the Lord at all. In fact, that’s where most, most of the not what God has to say, but what man has built up, that’s where it comes from. But I cannot abide in the living Christ, unless I’m in the living Christ.

So as I look at some of these things, and I see the treatment, and in this particular case, go back a moment, the gentleman that made the mistake, when he was out looking for other jobs, went to, you know, is that talking to people that some of whom are Christian, some non Christian. And this person asked me, why did you lose your job? You said, well, because I was in this place that I shouldn’t have been. And they laughed at him, laughs I mean, to the last row to say, That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard in my life. You get fired because you’re in a bar, you know, we live in. But what would be your mindset if you were a non Christian? And somebody came to you and said, That’s why I lost my job was because I was at a bar. And I got fired because of this Christian company with a christian ethics. You know what you’d say? If that’s what Christianity is, I don’t want anything to do with it. Exactly. Don’t ever come and share your Jesus with me. Because I don’t want anything to do with that kind of people. On the other hand, you come to somebody and say, What happened to you said, Well, I was in this place, I shouldn’t have been in it. And but it came back and my boss did, he sat down with me and he loved me. And he was patient with me. And he is kind with me. And any he was he wasn’t even thinking about covering his own self. He looking out after his own interests. He was looking out after mine over and above his, and I made a mistake, but he was loving with me kind and compassion and wasn’t seeking his own and he wasn’t provoked any. And he didn’t keeping records. He hadn’t written to him and brought it up. You know, it happened a year ago, and he hadn’t even brought it up to me again. And that lost person says, You kidding me? He said, How come he’s that way? Well, because he’s in Jesus. And that lost person says, I’d like to know that Jesus. Folks, we wonder why the world is so alienated from Christ is because of Christians who are mean as hornets. Christians who are a ascribing to their principles and their ethics, rather than abiding in the love and the grace of God that has been given to us in Christ Jesus. That’s what the non Christian world rebels against. And they think they’re rebelling against Jesus because they assume that that must be the way Jesus is. And folks, that is not anymore the way Jesus is. Then the man in the moon, Jesus walked on this earth, demonstrating His love toward us. And that while we were yet sinners, he came to die for you and me. He came to live inside of you and me. He came to prove to us His love, and that while we were yet sinners, that he came to die for us, not die for good people, but die for sinners. The one who says get up and sin no more, neither do I condemn you. The one who says when the man is sick along the road, the Pharisee walks to the other side, because he doesn’t want to get his hands dirty. The Samaritan reaches down and helps him, he said, which one is from God.

This is such a such an important subject to me, Bob, and it’s a very personal one. It’s things that we see going on every day of our lives we, we deal in our ministry, probably with the majority of people who have been totally burned out of religion, people who have been rejected by so called other Christians, who have turned their back on religion thinking that they might have turned their back on God, and are devastated and in need of someone putting their arms around them and saying, Come unto him, when your labor and are heavy laden, let him give you peace and rest for your soul. Whenever you’re whenever you are in ascriber to, like we talking about, and again, like we said, don’t, we’re not talking that we’re against behavior that is consistent with Christ behavior. How could you be against that what you’re talking about is where is your focus, because when your focus is on your ethics, then you’re not only going to be judging yourself, in introspection, you’re going to be judging everyone else. And Bob, the angrier that I see people in regard to your sin, that shows me that’s the one they’re struggling with worse than ever. And when you see a pastor getting up and beaten the pie of the Bible, read down through the top of the pole, but talking about the evils of, of sexual sin and everything else. He’s probably some mad because that’s his biggest weakness. And we’re talking about the evils of drinking and the evils and all of that, it’s probably because deep down his heart, that’s what he’d like to be doing. And you’ll see that you sit down and you sit down the evils of divorce and the evils and no one is saying that divorce is not bad, it is bad. But that those are my ethics and and I’m and I’m down, and it’s probably because they’re saying, brother, if you think you’re gonna go out and get divorced, and go free from your wife, have no and I’ve been living this thing I’ve been living with for all these years. And I have to stick in here because of my ethics. And I’m gonna let you go through that condemnation. You’re crazy. So I’m going to beat you to death with it.

And what we have to come to grips with folks is those things are not the issues of the Christian life, the issue of the Christian life individually is are you and abiding in the vine of Christ Jesus? Are you abiding in the love of God? Are you filled with the Spirit, which means controlled by this love of God, that has been given to you in Christ Jesus, that’s all that means to be constrained to control by the love of God. That’s the issue. Are you abiding? Or aren’t you abiding? It’s not. Is this right or is it wrong? It’s am I abiding? Or am I not abiding? What is right if you are going to use that vinacular is abiding in him, abiding in love functioning in love, the only thing that matters the only thing is faith expressing itself through love.

Now, how does this spell itself out? And in actual experience? Well, if Christ Jesus who is always patient, that is Christ, he’s patient is living in Me, then can he teach me his patience? And the answer that is yes, he can. Can his patiece become my patience? Yes, it can. What is patience? Well, it’s that calm self restraint from a desire had to punish others, either physically or emotionally for a wrong suffered or mistake made. In other words, it’s always forgiving patience is always forgiving. I’m not through with you. You see that what Jesus said? I’m not through with you yet I promised to complete the work I began with you. So what does that mean? That he’s patient with me? When I’m when I’m messing up? There’s not that desire for punishment. He’s already been punished for my sin. It’s the desire for restoration. That’s his goal for me to restore me. Now the opposite of agape love. It’s God’s unconditional love is pride. Because pride is never patient with other people’s mistakes. It always retaliates when a wrong is suffered, except when he’s the one that’s wrong, then he doesn’t want a retaliation for that. But pride never is forgiving. Never is patient with another person’s mistakes. Pride will always go after condemnation. And Grace will always go after restoration. Love restores pride condemns. It says that love is kind Well, what is kind? Well, it’s a goodness of hearts Express and actions for another person’s benefit. In other words, is a kindness. A desire to do well for another person. Is pride ever kind? No, it’s never interested in others benefit. It’s just what’s it going to do for me? How’s it going to protect me? From what I don’t need criticism? How’s that going to protect me? It doesn’t make any difference it ruin somebody else’s life and family. I just don’t want to have to have a day or two of criticism doesn’t make a difference that that family is ruined for the rest of their life. Through my rumor, that’s irrelevant. Just don’t let any body think ill of me for a day or two because that’s about the most no one’s going to be thinking about us anyway. But that’s pride. It’s not kind. Love is never jealous or envious.

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.