Classic Christianity – Forgiven Forever – Part 2 – 10-13-26
~ But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive our adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, you are also an heir through God. ~ Galatians 4:4-7
Bob George’s central argument is that the law can reveal sin, but it cannot make people righteous. He points to Jesus’ teachings about anger and insults to emphasize that wrongdoing is not limited to outward actions; it also involves the heart. He also discusses Paul’s teaching that commandments can stir up the very desires they prohibit, rather than provide the power to overcome them.
Bob criticizes legalism and self-effort, arguing that strict rules and religious regulations cannot transform a person’s inner life. Trying to meet an ever-rising standard, he says, creates a cycle of striving and failure. In his view, the law condemns rather than provides a way to earn acceptance with God.
He contrasts righteousness pursued through works and obedience with righteousness received through faith in Christ. He cautions against simply copying Jesus’ outward actions, saying that genuine faith means trusting God and following His direction. He also urges listeners to study Scripture and depend on the Holy Spirit, rather than treating human teachers or traditions as their final authority.
The program concludes with the message that Christ fulfilled the law and redeemed believers from its curse. Because of Christ, Bob says, believers are no longer under the law’s supervision or trying to earn righteousness through rule-keeping. Instead, they can live under grace, rest in what Christ has done, and respond with gratitude.
Here are key Scripture passages Bob George discusses or alludes to:
- Matthew 5:21–22 — Anger and insults, like murder, reveal the heart’s condition.
- Matthew 5:27–30 — Jesus addresses lust and the inner life, not just outward actions.
- Romans 7:5–8 — The law can stir up sinful desires; Paul uses coveting as an example.
- 1 Corinthians 15:56 — Sin is the sting of death, and the law gives sin its power.
- Colossians 2:20–23 — Human rules may appear wise but cannot restrain sinful indulgence.
- Romans 9:30–32 — Righteousness is received by faith, not achieved through works of the law.
- 2 Corinthians 3:7–9 — Paul contrasts the law’s ministry of death and condemnation with the ministry of the Spirit and righteousness.
- Matthew 5:17–18 — Jesus says he came to fulfill the law.
- Romans 10:4 — Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
- Galatians 3:10–14, 24–25 — Christ redeems believers from the law’s curse; those who have come to faith are no longer under its supervision.
- Galatians 4:4–5 — Christ was born under the law to redeem those under it.
- Romans 8:3–4 — God accomplished through Christ what the law could not do.
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Pray to God:
Do you really want to know the WHOLE Truth of what is going on today?
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.”
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Announcer 0:13
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.
But of course, knowing us, we would look at that very carefully and explore what the Greek says and says. You will notice that it says your right eye, so I’ll just lust as my left one. Here’s another bit of encouragement for us. You’ve heard it said, people long ago don’t murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. I tell you that anyone who’s angry at his brother will be subject to judgment. Ain’t that encouraging? That if you’re angry, it’s the same as murder. I murder about three people a day on just getting to work on the freeway, how about you? That means any time you’re angry at somebody, as far as he said, same same root problem as murder. Are you going to live just going in the presence of God, saying, “God, did you see how good I was? With these things, just those two. Again, anyone who says to your brother Raq is answerable to the Sanhedrin, but anyone who says you fool, you’ll be in danger of hell. How many of you ever called somebody a fool? Is this encouraging? I mean, don’t you want to go in the presence of God? Say, and let me show you how I did all these things. This is Jesus getting under the skin where we live, not the outward act. We can all isolate ourselves and not do outward acts. He says, “I’m going to get under the skin where you live and show you that there’s no way in the world that you’re going to go into the presence of God on your own. The law stirs up sin. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is in the law. What do we do in our churches today? Put people under the law and then beat them to death for sinning. But you do get altar calls that way, because you see, if I can keep you under the law and keep you sinning, I can always say who sinned this week, and if you did, come forward and recommit your life. I had to kind of keep my job secured because my job is predicated on altar call. That the sting of death is sin, the power of sin is in the law. For when we were controlled, we’re told in Romans seven by the flesh, the sinful passions are roused by what, folks? The law, the sinful passions. How many of you ever experienced sinful passions? How many without your hands up lie a lot? Now let me ask again: How many of you ever experienced sinful passions? Okay, that’s good. You’re better off going like this. Maybe that’s what that means. Yeah. When we were controlled by our sinful passions, that were aroused by what? The law. Aroused by the law. By the law, we’re at work in our bodies, so that we bore the fruit of what? Of death. Why? What’s the wages of sin? Death. But sin, Paul said, seizing the opportunity. Remember when he said, “I wouldn what coveting was had the law not said don’t covet. But he said, when I read, “Don’t covet, sin seizing the opportunity that was afforded by that commandment, it produced every kind of covenant’s desire inside of me. And he said, “For apart from the law, sin is what dead. All you have to do to draw a crowd is just to put a hole in the fence and put a sign up that says “Don’t look in the hole, and you’ll draw a crowd. There was a hotel that fronted out on the ocean, and all of a sudden they started finding out that their windows were getting broken, and so they started to explore why their windows were being broken. Is because people were fishing off of the balcony, and they would throw the line out, and the and the weight would come back and hit the windows and break the windows. They said, “When did all that start? You know, when it all started, when they put a sign on a balcony saying, “Don’t fish off the balcony. So somebody was a Christian who knew that the power of sin was in the law. He said, “How are we going to keep these people from doing that? He said, “Very simple. Take the sign down, and they took the signs down. Haven’t had a broken window since.
The power of sin is in the law. Now Paul said, “Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world. You’re supposed to be dead to them. Why, as though, do you still belong to it, or submit to these rules? We get into all these rules, and He said, “You’ve died to these things. Why do you still belong to it and submit to its rules? Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch. If you’re a Baptist, do not dance. These are all destined to perish with use because they’re based on human commands and teachings. Such. Regulations. These kind of regulations don’t do this. Don’t do this. Don’t do that. There’s a very famous school that they were a Christian school that’s so legalistic. They have what they call the six-inch rule, that you’re not allowed to sit within six inches of a opposite sex. So they go around with their little ruler, measuring people to see if they’re sitting too close. Now, aren’t you sure that keeps those guys from lusting? I mean, you know, really, if you’re if you’re closer than six months, six weeks, or six inches, you are in trouble. I remember Amy and I went out to a Baptist encampment with a group of people out there, and we were having fun, and we all decided to go swimming. So we all jumped in a pool, and all of a sudden, this guy came out there screaming like a Comanche Indian, and we thought, “What’s going on? You know, is there poison in this water? What’s going on? Got to get out of there. I said. So we all got. I said, what’s wrong? What’s wrong? He said, you’re not allowed to swim together. And I said, what do you mean? He said, men and women can’t swim together. And I said, well, we slept together. Seems to me that’s a little more dangerous than swimming together. You know, I can’t do that. I can’t do that. I said that’s got to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of in alive. That’s the rules. It’s the rules. So we said, okay, girls, you go in. And so all of us got around the bushes, all the guys peeking in. You know, just just out of spite. Just it just stirs up something bad in you. The law, ain’t that the dumbest thing you ever heard of? That’s a law. Can’t swim together. Sleep together, okay. Just don’t swim together. All those indeed have an appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body. But they lack any value at all, guys, in restraining sensual indulgence. You’re just plain not going to restrain it. The law is based on man’s self-effort. Remember. Moses took the book of the covenant and read it to the people, and they responded immediately. We’ll do everything the Lord has said. We will obey. And by the time he got off the mountain, they were having orgies and making gold calves to worship. That’s how dependable we are. What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, you had the HEBREWs, the only people really with the voice of representing the one true God, and then you had the heathenistic Gentile world. Most of us sitting in this room who are Gentiles, our our heritage is total heathenistic, idol worshiping heathens, and the HEBREWs were representing the one true God. You go into Corinth today, which was probably the most sinful city on the face of the earth, and you’ll see a star of David right next to the Be Me seat in that area, showing the HEBREWs were there representing the one true God. So they were trying; they were trying to get to be righteous in the sight of God. But again, they were trying through the usage of the law, misusing what God gave them, but using it as a means of righteousness. And so the question is asked: Are we saying that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have obtained it-a righteousness that is by faith, but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Said you got it. Well, why? Well, because they pursued it not by faith, but as it were by works. This doesn’t make sense.
I’m working so hard to be good, I’m working so hard to keep the laws. I’m working so hard to do what the church tells me to do, and you’re telling me that doesn amount to a flip. So I’m telling you, and you’re telling me that those old heathenistic Gentiles over there that don’t care at all about any of this stuff, have obtained righteousness because all they’ve done is put faith in Jesus. Yeah, that’s what we’re telling you. It just doesn’t seem fair. I’m just working so hard. It just plain doesn seem fair. And he said, whether it seems fair or not, it’s true. And reason you shouldn be concerned about whether it’s fair or not is because what you’re doing doesn mean a thing to anybody, including yourself. Because I look on your heart, you’re sitting there saying, “I don’t commit adultery. Do you lust? And that’s what buries us, guys. That’s why Jesus came to bury us. His whole teaching was there to show us we are not, and he is. We try to use his teaching. Oh, I’ll do it. You know, we we have these things. Say, what would Jesus do? Well, he walked on water. Go try that one on for size. It’s what would Jesus do? I’ll tell you what Jesus would do. What his father told him to do, and we’re trying to imitate Jesus, and we become monkeys and parrots, parroting verbiage and acting, and we become what the Bible calls hypocrites. What are they? Actors trying to emulate Jesus, lots of luck. You can’t even emulate a good man, let alone Jesus. Jesus said, “To do as I do means to trust God. Isn’t that what He said? Everything that I do, the Father told me to do it. That’s what He did. Emulate Him, do what the Father tells you to do. Don’t try to emulate Jesus. The Father ain’t telling you to walk on water. Telling you maybe to go give a cup of water to somebody, but He’s not telling you to walk on water. So they pursued it not by faith, but as it were by works, and they stumbled over the stumbling stone by this idea that it’s not fair, isn’t strange when you start looking at what’s fair and what’s not fair. You’re going to get messed up. If God did, if God treated us on the basis of fairness, we’d all be in hell. Do we understand the truth of that? If I got what I deserved, I would be in hell. So please don’t ask God to give you what you deserve. You may not like the consequence. Living under the law is like the high jumper. You got a standard, you get over it, so you raise the standard, and then you get over that, and what do you do? Raise the bar, and then you get over that. And what do you do? You raise the bar.
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Bob George 13:51
Did you have your quiet time this morning? Really, kind of disappoints me. I was hoping you wouldn because I had mine. Incidentally, what time did you have it? Only six. I had mine at five, and we raised the bar. Did you study your scripture this morning? Really, how many chapters? Three. I did four. Hey, can you imagine a pastor going to a pastors’ conference who had a congregation of 30 people saying, “I have 30 people in my congregation. We’re hypocrites, and that’s what he says. You get, you raise the bar, and you get over it, and you raise it. Finally, what’s going to happen to you? You’re going to find to the point where it’s too high for anybody to get over, and then what do you do with yourself? Look at yourself as a total failure. That’s what the law does. You keep raising the standard until you can’t get there, and now I’ve got you because you’re a failure. The law is a ministry of condemnation and death. All who rely upon observing the law are under a curse, folks. It cannot get any clearer that if you’re relying on your relationship to God as a result of observing the law, you are under the curse of the law, now what is the curse of the law? That the wages of sin is what death. It’s not a paddling. It’s not as some people teach it. God takes you to the wood shed. I never have seen what the wood shed is, but people are supposed to be taking you there, or your business is going to go bad. Or you’re going to lose all your family and everything else. No, the wages of sin, according to God, is death. And so, if you’re relying upon observing the law for your relationship with God, you’re under the curse of the law, which is death. Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do what everything written in the book of the law. Anyone want to stand before God today, saying, “Lord, I’ve done everything in the book of the law. I’ve been 100% obedient. Don’t think so. If the ministry that brought death-that’s the law, which was engraved in letters of stone-came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was. Will not the ministry of the Spirit be even even more glorious? And if the ministry that condemns men, that’s the law, is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness? Christ is the end of the law. The law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ, the One who is full of what, grace and truth. Don’t think that I’ve come to abolish the law. Boy, you get the legalists always pulling this passage on you. It’s amazing. Don’t think that I’ve come to abolish the law of the prophets. I’ve not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. Well, guess what? He did. And I tell you the truth: until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter or the least stroke of the pen will, by any means, disappear from the law until until everything is accomplished. Is there anything else for him to accomplish? He didn come to abolish the law; he came to fulfill it. Could you and I fulfill it? Did it have to be fulfilled? Who had to fulfill it? The one who gave it to us, Christ Jesus. Christ is the end of the law, guys. For all who believe, Christ is the end of the law, so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes, because no one will ever be declared righteous in the sight of God through obedience to the law. Now, folks, what is amazing to me is how, in so many of our churches, main line, that they teach the commingling of law and grace. I got a call a number of years ago from a huge church over in Memphis, Tennessee, a very, very wealthy, wealthy church, and they did a lot of work in Russia. They would send the medical profession and dentists and doctors over to Russia to help people, which is a very noble thing for them to do and a wonderful thing for them to do.
And this guy called me and and said, Bob, he said, I’ve never heard of you before, but we were in Kyiv, in the Ukraine, in in Pastor David Duke’s home, and we had said to Pastor David Duke that Pastor, we will finance and do anything that you want us to do. You tell us what you want, we’ll take care of it for you. And he said he pulled up this book called Classic Christianity, and he said I want 100,000 copies of this in Russian. Said we had never heard of the book, but he said we had already committed that we’ll we’ll do that for him, and we’re committed to do that. Would you possibly think of coming over to Memphis and meeting with us? And I thought, well, that’s kind of strange. Why don’t you come meet with me? But, but yeah, we’ll do that. So Amy and I got on a plane, flew over to Memphis, and that night they had a big to do at somebody’s house, and these people were talking about grace and stuff. I thought, man, this is wonderful. Here’s this great big, wealthy, big old church, and they’re talking about grace. I thought this is this is good. So I had an appointment with a pastor the next day. Amy and I went into the pastor’s office. We sat down, very tall, nice looking man, Very friendly, and we talked for quite a while. And he said, “Bob, he said, not only are we prepared to finance the the printing of your book, Classic Christianity, into the Russian language, but we’re also prepared to finance for some of the rewriting of it, and I said, “Huh? Said, “Yeah, it’s for the rewriting. You’re a little confused on law and grace. We are still under the law. I said, “Really? He said, “Yeah, we need tracks to run on. I said, I’m not a train, and we don’t need tracks to run on. We have the Holy Spirit of God to guide us. And I took my little book and had that with me. That little book called Discovering, whatever it’s called, Discovering the Grace of God, and it’s we printed. In Bible size, so I normally carry it in my Bible, and I just went to this lecture, and I begin to pull out every passage of Scripture. Christ is the end of the law. What are you going to do with that? Well, Professor So and So, sir, I said I don’t give a flip what Professor so and so said. I’m interested in what the Bible says, and I really don’t care what Doctor So and So said. It says Christ is the end of the law. It says we’re no longer under the law, but we’re under grace. What are you going to do with that? Well, John Calvin, I could care less about John Calvin. If Calvin had anything to say that was worthwhile, he learned it from Paul, and if he learned it from Paul, then he ought to call himself a Paulinist, and if he called himself a Paulinist, you know what Paul would say? Who’s Paul? Who’s Apollos? We’re just servants. We plant the seeds, we water them. God makes them grow. He wouldn’t allow you to call himself a Paulinist, but you’re allowed to call somebody a Calvinist. So I’m not interested in what Calvin says. I’m interested in what the Bible says. So I’d go down to another passage. Well, professor, so not one time did this man ever refer to Christ or the Bible. Only what some professor said. Only what some Doctor said, some PhD said. You know what PhD stands for? Piled higher and deeper. You know, I I would be embarrassed to think that I believe what I believe because Calvin taught me. I’d be embarrassed because that’s showing me that I don’t read the Bible. You just tell me what to believe, and I’ll believe it. Or what Luther taught you, or what anyone else, or what Bob George taught you. That’s sick. I’ll teach you what God has taught me, so that you’ll get in the Bible and let God teach you. But until God’s taught you, you’re not taught. You’re just believe what Bob George said, or what Calvin said, or what Luther said, or what the Pope said. Or guys, that’s sick to say.
Look, I don’t want to study this Bible. It’s like they said, we’ll believe Moses, but we don’t listen to God. Moses tell us what to believe. The issue is that God is pointing you and me to this book, so God can teach you what it means. If God teaches you the meaning of the Word of God, and God’s taught me the same thing. We’re going to have some great fellowship with each other because we’ve both been taught with the same source. And so, ultimately, I finally said, Pastor, I said, there really is not much need in us talking any further on this. We’re not getting any place there. I really appreciate your offer and your generosity, but we’ll raise the money and get the books printed without your revisions. And Amy and I flew back to Dallas and went on the air, and in one week we raised over $70,000 from you people for us to print those books ourselves without the revision. And so, that’s what you’re up against. This was a church that, when I was listening to the people, they’re talking grace, but they’re talking grace in the Calvinistic form, and commingling it with law and grace. You can’t do it. You cannot do it. Christ is the end of the law. If Christ is the end of something, it means it’s not there anymore. Is that correct? Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. If you’re under the law, you’re under the curse of the law. We just studied that by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hung on a tree. He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. Redeemed us. You remember the old days of the redemption stores? Remember the old green stamp redemption stores where you used to save green stamps, and you’d go to the redemption store and turn in those worthless green stamps and get a toaster. Well, that’s what Christ did. He redeemed us. We turned our worthless self into Him, and He gave us His life. That’s what’s called the exchange of life. I gave Him all of me, and He gave me all of Himself. I gave Him all that I am, nothing, and He gave me all that he is, everything, so that in Christ we have everything. So he redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. When the time had fully. God sent His Son, born of a woman under the law, to do what? Redeem us under the law, buy us out of that, so that we might receive full righteous sons. Christ came and bought us out of the demands of the law, so that we could walk in a newness of life in Christ Jesus. In order to do that, he had to be born of a woman under the law. He ministered under the law, proclaimed the goodness of grace to come, but showed us that only he was capable of fulfilling the law. The law has now been fulfilled in us. For what the law was powerless to do, in that it was weakened by our flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering, and so He condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met now in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the spirit. The law has now been fulfilled by Jesus, and through my identification with Him, the law has been fulfilled in us. Now, is that good news? Now, if we’ve already fulfilled the law, is there anything else to fulfill? Is there anything else to fulfill, if it’s already been fulfilled, guys, then what do you do? Rest and say thank you. The law was put in charge to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. And now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
It’s one of the passage I showed to the pastor. What are you going to do with that? Quotes a doctor so and so says. Now that faith has come, we’re no longer under the supervision of the law. What is so hard to interpret with that, guys? What is so hard to grab a hold of with these passages? What is so hard to come to a conclusion that the law is not our friend?
Announcer
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’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.