On this episode of Classic Christianity Radio, Bob George takes calls from listeners across the country with deep questions about Scripture, salvation, and walking in Christ. From San Diego, Rita asks about what it means to be created versus being born, drawing from Genesis and Psalms. Bob explains the difference between Adam’s creation and mankind’s birth, highlighting God’s sovereignty and the role of the human spirit.
Later, Cletus from Virginia raises questions about tongues, “slain in the spirit,” and the concept of a “Rhema word.” Bob carefully contrasts biblical teaching with modern church practices, warning against emotionalism and false doctrine
Welcome to Classic Christianity Radio with Bob George. Today we are pleased to present a special radio show featuring call-in listeners from Bob’s original people-to-people daily radio program that was on the air for over 30 years, offering real answers for real-life problems as he addresses common questions as well as the tough issues of today, directing callers to the centrality of Christ in you, your only hope of glory. We want to remind our listeners that Bob George Ministries needs your financial support to continue to have Classic Christianity Radio on the air. Please visit BobGeorge.net to find out how you can help support us financially. Let’s now join Bob as he presents practical biblical insights as he helps people experience a life of faith, hope, and love in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER 02 :
We’re going to go to San Diego, California, listening on Kay Bright. Rita, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hi, guys. How are you today?
SPEAKER 02 :
Doing fine, Rita.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you. I think it was yesterday I heard you speaking with somebody on the radio, and she was talking about how she was understanding in Genesis 5 about Adam being created in God’s image, but then after the fall we were born in Adam’s image.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 06 :
Which, of course, was a major thing to come to understand and really helped me a lot. But then what popped into my mind and I just was curious about was, and then after that, excuse me, After that, you said at that point in time, we went from being created to being born, I think is how you said it. I apologize if I didn’t say that correctly.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, actually, from the original creation, which was Adam and Eve, everyone from that point on was born.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right.
SPEAKER 02 :
mankind was born into this world, which it had to be that way. God had to create man in his image and created him with all of the complexities that we have in mankind. But from that point on, this mankind was perpetuated through natural means of birth.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right, and I understood that, and it’s been a central point of my understanding. Great. But then I was wondering… But we still say God created us. Is that correct? Because in Jeremiah 1.5, you know, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And then in Psalms 139, I think it’s 13, it says, for you did form my inward part.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, but that’s not saying that that’s not contradicting at all. You can’t have it both ways. You have to realize that God created Adam and we were born. And so now the foreknowledge of God, and I’ve told people just accept that and then put it on the back burner because you and I cannot enter into foreknowledge at all. Right. So all David was saying in the Psalms was, is talking about the fact that you created my inmost being. Now, again, I could look at that and say, well, that part of it, if he’s talking about a created part, would be the spiritual part of man. Because in the creation of man was a body and soul and a spirit. Mm-hmm. And man was created with a human spirit separating him from God, a human spirit that was to be indwelt by God, but still it’s a human spirit indwelt by God, whereby Jesus was God clothed in our humanity. We are human indwelt by deity. So the human spirit is a part of the creation. I didn’t get my spirit from mom and dad. So there is an aspect in which, in humanity, being born as well as created, that there is a spiritual aspect there of a human spirit that is there, that was made by God for the purpose of being indwelt by God, which could mean you created in my inner being and you knit me together in my mother’s womb. But again, you have to look at this as poetic language. And all David is saying here is that you knew who I was before I was even here. Now, again, you can have people like Mormons who will take that, and instead of just looking at it the way it is, will say, oh, see there, we were in existence before we were here. And that’s the basis of Mormonism belief is that we were little spirit children running around up here, and so God obviously knew us, and then he put us in a body down here. That’s from stretching scripture. The only thing you can do with this type of thing is not to look at this in a way as try to medically or physically figure out how we got here, but it’s a statement of God’s sovereignty that you knew everything. And so you don’t want to add to that. It’s merely stating that, God, you knew everything before the world even began. Now, I can’t enter into that because I wasn’t here and you weren’t here. And so all we can do is to say in some strange way in which we cannot enter into it and our minds cannot function on it. God knew all things before anything ever happened. And we just kind of leave it there.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, that’s what came to me. I thought it was sort of metaphorical for the whole, you know, this process of us, you know, being created in that sense. Yes. Our spirits and everything else.
SPEAKER 02 :
We’re limited by time, Rita, and God is not. That’s why I tell people, don’t get involved in this thing of foreknowledge. Just acknowledge that it’s there and forget it because we have no basis for relating to it at all. I formed you in the womb. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. I want to tell you something. If you wanted to be a Mormon, you could camp on that and say, see there? See there? We were in existence before you got here.
SPEAKER 06 :
You mean people that are trying to prove that predestination thing outside of the Gentile Israel thing use the Jeremiah one?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, they’d use anything they could because if you’ve got a bias, you’re going to try to find any passage of Scripture you can to prove your bias. Absolutely, but you could sure look at it that way. And the issue is, what are you doing? You’re stretching something. This is talking about foreknowledge. We can’t enter into that. I wasn’t in existence before I was in existence. I didn’t get here until I got here. But because God is not limited by time and space, he could literally say, I knew this before it ever happened. We don’t know what that’s talking about. So like I say, recognize the word and put it on a back burner and forget about it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. Yeah, I hadn’t even thought it that way, but you’re right. If you start nitpicking there, you’ll start to pull everything off.
SPEAKER 02 :
Absolutely. You can come up with all kinds of harebrained ideas on what that means. Because you’re entering into God’s country and you don’t have any business there.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, well, I work in academia, too, so that’s kind of what we do. We pick apart little exegesis and forget the whole picture. Absolutely. But I also wanted to give you a little praise report of how great just understanding who I am in Christ and his life in me has been for my prayer life. so phenomenal, I couldn’t even give it words, about going from praying a list to just lifting up whoever he puts on my heart and saying, how do you want me to pray? I mean, it’s nothing short of miraculous daily. And then when you bring something to somebody that God’s put on your heart, it’s like that’s exactly, they’ll say, that’s exactly what he’s dealing with me on. In a whole different way. I’ve never seen it like that before.
SPEAKER 02 :
It totally changes your whole concept of what it means to talk to your best friend, God.
SPEAKER 06 :
It’s just really exciting. So, again, I just give you guys these little praise reports every once in a while.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, thank you.
SPEAKER 06 :
So, best to you today, and thanks again for everything.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you so much for your call, Rita, and God bless you. I hope that helped.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, it did.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay. Thank you. Bye-bye now. Falls Church, Virginia, listening on WFAX. Cletus, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hi, Bob and Bob. How are you guys doing today?
SPEAKER 02 :
Doing good. Fine, Cletus. Hey, Cletus.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hey. Thanks to take me again. I want to ask about two questions, actually. First one is, where is my word? It is something I’ve heard around, and I really don’t understand and believe what it is. And the second question, the follow-up question is, are you looking for a Bible-believing church? I attend a church today that the teaching is very good very biblical i don’t want to contradict myself but they speak in tongues and slain in the spirit and read my word which is something that i don’t agree on so can i be a member in the church i don’t agree on certain things about the church
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, again, Cletus, I don’t know why you would want to be into a place that’s full of error. It isn’t the case. You cannot say out of one side of your mouth they’re teaching biblical stuff because they’re obviously not teaching biblical stuff. When you’re teaching slaying people in the spirit, where do you find that in the Bible? When they teach prosperity gospel, where the Bible tells us that anyone who teaches that godliness is a means to financial gain is a man of perverted mind. and a man of nothing but controversy. So I don’t know how you could go into a place that’s teaching that kind of blatant error and teaching nothing but emotionalism and teaching that people are supposed to be babbling in some kind of a language when you all speak English, what in the world would anybody think that you needed to go into a church and babble in a language or in babbling, or if it was even a language, which is what tongues is. It’s not what you see today. I’ve never known anyone speak in biblical tongues. But if they went in and were speaking in biblical tongues, a foreign language, what in the world Would you want to speak a foreign language in a place where you understand English and so do the listeners understand English? Just what would you want to do that for? And so the purpose of tongues was to go into people into areas where you did not understand the language and they didn’t know the language that you spoke and be given a God-given gift to communicate the gospel in the language of the people that were listening. That is biblical tongues. Nothing else is biblical tongues. What you see going on today is not tongues from the Bible. It’s something that’s been made up different than that. So, again, I don’t know what you would want to go in and expose yourself to a bunch of error for when you can go find a place that doesn’t teach error. It doesn’t make any sense to go in and to be and to go in and to sit and expose yourself. Because that’s the emphasis of those kind of churches. That is the emphasis. The emphasis is not on teaching God’s word. The emphasis is on slaying people in the spirit, healing people, teaching prosperity gospel that everybody ought to be rich. That’s the emphasis. It’s not on the resurrected life of Christ and the meaning of the cross. It’s on something totally different than that, at least from my exposure to it. That’s what it is.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes. So what do you make of Raymar Word?
SPEAKER 02 :
I don’t even know what you’re talking about.
SPEAKER 05 :
I heard a preaching that the written word, the Bible, is the written word. It’s the logos. It’s the written word. And then people get fresh word from God, which we call the Raymar Word. God still speaks to people today fresh. Like you have a problem today. You want to drive to New York, for example, and you pray to God, and God gives you the answer right away. They call that rhema word.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, again, you’re talking to me that’s something out of my realm of experience, and I think it’s out of the realm of anyone who’s preaching that’s experienced. Again, you’re getting that from that group of people that you’re involved in. You’re never going to get that anyplace else except in that setting.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you, Michael.
SPEAKER 02 :
All right, my friend. Good to talk to you.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 01 :
Bye-bye. Classic Christianity Radio is a listener-funded program, and because of your generous donations, we are able to be on the air. Go to bobgeorge.net to order the life-changing audio CD series, The New Covenant, Law and Grace, and How to Have a Proper Self-Image. These series are essential to understanding our inheritance in Christ, what it means to experience freedom and the abundant life in Christ, living under grace, not under the law, and to see ourselves as God sees us, as a completely forgiven person love perfectly and righteous in his sight please visit Bob George dotnet for additional information on how you can join us financially in help support the radio ministry with your prayers and support we can continue to share the good news of Jesus Christ let’s continue now with our classic Christianity radio program why don’t we just go directly to our phone lines and go to Mission Texas listen on KCTA and Rodney you are on the air my brother
SPEAKER 04 :
Hello.
SPEAKER 02 :
You’re on the air, Rodney. Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
I was listening to a preacher, and I’m not doubting God that he has forgiven me, but it seemed a little not right what he said. I don’t know. My question is, well, he said that we have to forgive in order for God to forgive us.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, Rodney, that is a good question based upon the end of the Lord’s Prayer where it says, For if you do not forgive your brother here on earth, your Father in heaven will not forgive you. And that would be true if there wasn’t a new covenant. But the question comes only because of not understanding the difference between the old and the new. You cannot bring that together with God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not counting their sins against him. You can’t bring those two to be together in harmony. If you don’t forgive your brother, your father in heaven will not forgive you. And that God was in Christ forgiving the world. You can’t bring that together if you’re under a single covenant. But that old covenant went into effect, and this is in the book of Hebrews, went into effect at the death of Christ Jesus, just like a will will not go into effect until you die. If you have a will, I hope you do, it will not go into effect until the day that you die. You know that, don’t you? I do. Yeah. And if you made a number of wills through your life, which one would go into effect?
SPEAKER 04 :
The one, the most… The one I left right after I did.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s right, the last one that you made. Now, so Jesus taught under the old covenant, the covenant of the law. The covenant with speculation to it and with conditions to it. And the condition under the law is, I will forgive you if you forgive your brother. No man could live under that, Rodney. Everything that Jesus taught, as an example, the ball says, don’t commit adultery. I say, if you look at a woman with lust in your heart, you’ve already committed adultery. That kind of annihilates the male population. that the law says that don’t kill, but I say if you’re angry at somebody, it’s the same thing. That annihilates the rest of it. There is no man, as Paul later says, that under the law there is no one who will ever be declared righteous in the sight of God through obedience to the law. So Jesus taught under the law and buried us under it. Those kind of statements were made to show man, Lord, I can’t do that. And he says, now you’re ready for what I came to do, and that’s die on a cross and to be raised from the dead, to give life to you, to bring in a new covenant of grace where you are totally out of the equation. And it’s all me and none of you. Under the old covenant, you’re involved in the equation. Under the new, you’re not. Why? Because if I put one little thing to do, just like that, seems like easy. If you don’t forgive your brother here on earth, I won’t forgive you. Seems no problem with that, Lord. I’ll forgive my brother. No, we can’t. No, we won’t. If I put one condition, you’d blow it. And so the new covenant was a covenant of grace where he said, There are sins and lawless acts I will remember no more. And where these have been, not will be, but have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sins. That’s in Hebrews 9. Read those passages, Rodney, because it explains the new covenant in which we live today. It’s a covenant of grace. And the study guide will amplify it. So there’s the difference between the old and the new. Under the old, if you don’t forgive your brother here on earth, your father will not forgive you. Under the new covenant, I have taken away your sins from the eyes of God, never to see them again. And when I come back, I’m not going to come back to bear sin. Why? Because I’ve done it. And I said, it’s finished. I said, paid in full. And there’s no more forgiveness to be executed on my behalf towards you. If there was one sin to be executed on his behalf toward us, then he lied when he cried out from the cross, paid in full. So that’s the difference between the old and the new. People that don’t understand that will get up and teach out of Jesus’ teachings. Instead of using those teachings as preparatory for salvation, that’s the way we’re supposed to live. It says, as a child of God, what does it say to me? It says, forgive one another. How? As Christ Jesus forgave you. So my motivation for forgiveness of my brother is not that if I don’t, God isn’t going to forgive me. But the motivation is God has forgiven me. God has forgiven them. So who am I not to forgive them? It’s not an obligation. It’s a privilege that we have.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, sir. I totally believe what you’re saying. And like I said, I’ve been studying. I haven’t gotten to the new law and grace. Law and grace, uh-huh. But, you know, it was just like it didn’t make sense what he was saying, but what you’re explaining to me, now it makes sense that he’s trying to mix law and grace.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. I think I probably heard the same message.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. Yeah. So I was like… I just turned it off. I was like, no, that’s not the way it should be. That’s not the way I feel.
SPEAKER 02 :
I feel sorry for ministers, Rodney, who are standing in a pulpit today, especially… with i would say a fresh understanding or else god just absolutely exploding this into my mind the 10th chapter of the book of hebrews where it says if we intentionally keep on sinning after we receive the knowledge of truth and the knowledge of truth that it’s talking about is the a few verses earlier their sins and lawless acts i will remember no more and where these have been not will be, have been forgiven. There’s no more sacrifice. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. There is no more shedding of blood. There is no more forgiveness. It is finished. It is paid, not in part, but in whole. It is paid in full. And these ministers today are getting up, supposed to be ministers of reconciliation, supposed to be ministers of a new covenant, we’re told, not of the old that kills, but of the new that gives life. And we’re standing up commingling law and grace, Old Testament and New Testament, and putting them on the same par where the fact of the matter is there is nothing in the Old Testament that I live by. There’s nothing that will save me in the Old Testament. If there was, Jesus came and died for nothing. There was no success in the Old Testament, only the failure of man and the faithfulness of God. And yet we want to commingle the two. It says that we are under a new covenant. The foundation of the new covenant is not the old, it is Jesus. He is our foundation. It’s new. If any man be in Christ, he’s a new creation. Old is passed away, and behold, all things have become new. And we stand there and proclaim as if we know what we’re talking about and proclaim these things. And what we’re doing is leading people, in many cases, keeping them away from the salvation that will ensure their place in heaven. Because it goes ahead to say that if you’re not going to accept the sacrifice of Jesus, and you’re going to try to be adding to that sacrifice, you don’t have anything to look forward to except the raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. That is extremely serious language, Rodney, as you know. And it’s language that we need to take heed to. And quit playing around with this issue of forgiveness. Settle it. Jesus, settle it. He said it’s finished. Walk from this point on by faith in that truth. And faith says, thank you. Faith does not beg for what in him you already have. That is not faith. And apart from faith, it’s impossible to please God. Okay, my brother.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, sir.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay. Keep growing in grace, my friend.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right. I have your book, Growing in Grace.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, that’s great. We’ll keep growing in there. Yes, sir. All right, Rodney. God bless, my friend. Thanks, Rodney. We’re going to go to Los Angeles, California, listening on Kay Bright. Ricky, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hi, Bob. How’s it going? God bless.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you, brother.
SPEAKER 03 :
Sorry, I’ve got a quick question. All right.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s not pertaining to the Bible, but it has something to do with it. I married a girl from a metro line. I went to the Philippines to visit. did paperwork when I got back here and married her when she got here, right? And Philippines is like, I think 90% Catholic and another 10% Muslim. But anyway, when she got here, I was already studying the word of God from Genesis all the way over to Revelation. And I learned it quite a bit by listening to the pastors on the radios and reading it for myself. And when she got here, I shared that with her and it opened our eyes to some things that she was doing in the Catholic religion that was wrong. And now she told, she acts like, About maybe six months to a year from now, she’s going back. And she asked would I go back and tell her family about the gospel because they’re buying statues and bowing themselves down to these statues and stuff. And she wants me to let her know, let her family know that it’s wrong. But I told her I’m not too fond of flying. I flew over there once. It was an 18-hour flight there and back. And I said I’m not too fond of flying. I like it better on the ground, but I know also Jesus said, go into all the world and make disciples and stuff. I understand that. But do you think I’m wrong by telling her I don’t want to go?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, Ricky, I think you have to be led by the Spirit as to what to do on something. And many times I always feel like if there’s a question, should I or shouldn’t I, well, I would think long before doing it. But, again, you have to be led by the Spirit on that. If the Spirit of God is nudging you to do something, why, then you need to do that. But if it’s just the nudge of another person, why then? I wouldn’t do it. If somebody’s, you know, putting you on a guilt trip because of it, then I don’t think you function through guilt or fear. I certainly wouldn’t fear flying over there. But to be real honest with you, flying is probably the safest thing. form of transportation that he is. It’s a lot more safe than my driving to my home tonight. So I wouldn’t fear that. And I think if you do have a fear, get on a plane and get rid of it because it’s a wonderful way to travel. So I wouldn’t let fear hold me back. The only thing that would hold me back is if the Spirit of God isn’t saying to you, Ricky, I want you to go over there and spread the gospel to those people. If that’s taken place, then pick up and go. You’ll be blessed. If it isn’t happening, I just say, I don’t feel the Lord leading me to do that. I appreciate your wanting me to go, but I do not feel the tug of the Lord on my heart to do that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, it’s the fear of flying, really, that’s holding me back. Because he heard me talking to a friend of mine, I’m sharing the gospel with on the East Coast, that’s totally against what’s going on in the world and how God is involved in affairs of men and putting… who he wanted to offer, and this and that. But anyway, so I explained that to him. I said, you know what, dude? I know enough now that I can share this information with people, you know, the gospel. I understand it. I know how to teach it. I’m teaching right now every Sunday. And I said, I told him, I said, dude, I feel like selling everything and just moving to the Philippines and preaching the gospel over there, dude. He said, oh, man, you’re crazy. Somebody’s going to cut your head off and this and that. And I think my wife overheard me say that, and that’s why she brought that up, that would I go?
SPEAKER 02 :
but inside I want to go but like you said I may just have to hop on a plane and get there I know a lot of people fear flying and I think everybody the first time they ever fly has somewhat of a fear of flying but I guarantee you it is not a when you stop to think of all of the accidents all the people that are killed in automobile accidents down here in this country and compared to however many people have died in plane crashes The only problem with a plane crash, which is really the only thing you have to fear, is when it happens, there’s a lot of people that are wiped out at one time. But when you stop to think of all the accidents in this country today on the highways, and you put all those together, why, you also have a pretty good slugger just in different locations. Ricky, just ask the Lord to give you wisdom on that type of thing. He’ll guide you and just be guided by what he’s telling you.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you, sir.
SPEAKER 02 :
All right, my friend. Thanks, Ricky.
SPEAKER 01 :
Bye-bye now. Until next time, walk in faith, be good to one another, and praise the Lord. Amen.
