Join Bob George as he engages with callers from diverse backgrounds exploring the intricacies of faith, business, and spiritual growth. This episode dives into significant discussions about starting a business guided by faith, understanding the unpardonable sin, and the dynamics of baptism in Christianity. Bob George offers practical biblical insights, empowering listeners to deepen their faith and navigate life’s challenges.
00:00:47 Caller from Stroudsburg: Starting a Business and Blasphemy
00:04:15 A Call from Little Rock: Unpardonable Sin and Belief
00:08:20 Discussion on 1 John 1:9 Applied to Believers and Unbelievers
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 03 :
I’m going to go to Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, listening on the internet, and Ernest, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 10 :
Hey, Brother Bob, those are great words of encouragement there in regards to the financial situation.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, thank you, Brother.
SPEAKER 10 :
And it’s interesting, you mentioned about starting your own business. One business that I had kind of went under, but the Lord blessed us to be able to start another one. It’s been slow the first years, but it’s finally starting to kick in there. It’s amazing, the faithfulness of God.
SPEAKER 03 :
No, that’s great. That’s wonderful, Ernest. Glad to hear that.
SPEAKER 10 :
He leads you as you just try to be sensitive to his inner leading. I had a quick question in regards to the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and the unpardonable sin. Same thing, correct?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. Okay. Jesus said the world’s sin is unbelief in me, so that would have to be the unpardonable sin. That’s the world’s sin that could not be forgiven. It has to be repented of. God cannot say you’re an unbeliever, you deny everything I came to do for you, but that’s okay. It’s not okay. It’s going to condemn you to hell. And so the only sin that is not pardonable is the sin of the rejection of the finished work of Christ Jesus at the cross and through his resurrection. And that’s all the sins of the world, plural, have been put behind the back of God, never to see them again. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And for those who aren’t in Christ Jesus, they have never received life, so they’re still under the condemnation of the wages of sin, which is death.
SPEAKER 10 :
Great. So when Paul mentioned, like, he was a blasphemer, but he did it in ignorance, he was referring to his lost condition.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. You see, we can all rebel against the testimony of the Holy Spirit concerning Jesus. Many people have done that all their lives. And if they do that and die, they’re going to die in their sins. But there’s always that opportunity of repenting from that. and acknowledging the fact that you have been in rebellion to the message of Christ, but you want to accept him as your Lord and Savior and repent of that sin and be saved.
SPEAKER 10 :
Exactly. There are some fellowships that are trying to teach that a believer could commit that sin, but I was not out against that.
SPEAKER 03 :
No, no way, though. If they did, they went out from among us because they weren’t a part of us. So, no, you can’t commit that one.
SPEAKER 10 :
Because they try to tie it into specific sins. And what you were saying, I said that if there’s no sins, plural, that a person can’t commit, that would cause them to lose their salvation. Otherwise, Jesus Christ, when he died on the cross, it was perfect and complete. That’s why he said it’s finished. And I said, you guys are a little preoccupied with sin.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, well, that’s for sure.
SPEAKER 10 :
I try not to argue, you know. But sometimes you feel led to, you know.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, you’ve got to tell truth. And when error is being said, why, the only thing that’s going to correct that is truth. So I don’t consider it arguing. I just consider helping a person to come to understand what truth is. Some people are going to and some aren’t, Ernest. Well, brother, I appreciate your call and appreciate you hanging in there and witnessing to people and trying to get that good news of the gospel spread in your sphere of influence out there, my friend. Thanks, Ernest.
SPEAKER 10 :
Excellent. You guys are doing a great ministry. I love all your ministry there and I continually support it there, and there’s very few ministries teaching the pure grace of God, and you’re definitely one of them.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, thanks, my brother, and you keep hanging in there, okay, Ernest? All righty. Thanks. Okay, pal. Bye-bye. We’re going to go down to Little Rock, Arkansas. Let’s go on KKSP. Otis, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 11 :
Afternoon.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hi, Otis.
SPEAKER 11 :
Hi. Just wanted to see if you would address the subject as determined at the unpardonable or the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, and as it relates, if it relates to the new covenant believer. And I’ll listen on the radio.
SPEAKER 03 :
Otis, the only unpardonable sin is the rejection of Christ Jesus. That’s why Jesus said that the world’s sin is unbelief in me. The sins of the world have all been placed behind the back of God never to see them again. The sins of the world have been taken away from the eyes of God. He not only died for our sins, but the sins of the whole world. He did it once. He did it for all and cried out from the cross. It’s finished. And so that’s why Jesus said that the world’s sin is unbelief in me. The only unpardonable sin is not believing in him. That is cannot be pardoned. That’s the only sin that could not be forgiven at the cross. It has to be repented of. But there’s only one sin to be repented of. And that’s the sin of unbelief. The rest of our sins have been taken away from the eyes of God.
SPEAKER 11 :
So that’s scripture that talks about how that this particular, you know, saying it will not be forgiven. Basically, again, relating to.
SPEAKER 03 :
just unbelief to rejecting the work of rejecting yeah Otis and not just rejecting Christ that word we throw that around it’s rejecting the totality of the work of Christ in other words his death and the meaning of it. When I am, as an example, continuing to ask God for what he has already done, I am rejecting what he has already done. I am rejecting the cross when I keep asking for forgiveness. I’m rejecting that he meant what he said when he said it’s finished. I’m rejecting, as it talks about in Hebrews, making a mockery of the Son of God and treating as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified me. I am rejecting what God has finished. If I denied his resurrection, said Jesus was not raised, I would be rejecting the knowledge of truth in regard to his resurrection. So it is rejecting what Jesus said is finished. It’s rejecting that truth and rejecting the life of Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER 11 :
And one last question. What is your understanding of 1 John 1 and 9?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, it’s to an unbeliever. There isn’t even a question about that. We’ve dragged it over into the believer’s passage, but it’s not a believer’s passage. It’s an unbeliever’s passage. It’s dealing with people who claimed that they did not have a sin nature. If we claim that we don’t have a sin nature or sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. How could that passage be to a believer when Jesus is the truth and he says he’s not in you? So it is a lost person’s passage telling them that if you’re claiming to be without sin, you deceive yourself. The truth is not in you. And the literal translation is, I do not know whether you people doing this are ever going to come to your senses or not. But if you do, at any time tomorrow, the next day, whenever it might be, he is faithful and just to not forgive but have forgiven. That’s an aorist tense. That’s a past act with continual effect. He is faithful and just to have forgiven your sins and to have cleansed you of all unrighteousness.
SPEAKER 11 :
Wow. Yeah. I tell you, it’s definitely been misconstrued by many teachers and preachers.
SPEAKER 03 :
Absolutely. Yeah, and they won’t let go of it either because you can keep a person under guilt trips with it.
SPEAKER 11 :
Right, exactly.
SPEAKER 03 :
And guilt does not come from God.
SPEAKER 11 :
Exactly. Well, thank you for your time. I’ll keep listening and I’ll keep calling.
SPEAKER 03 :
We’re going to go to Toronto, Canada, listening on Joy. Mulatu, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 08 :
Mulatu?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you very much for taking my call. I have two questions that bother me. One is about baptism. Is baptism becoming a church doctrine and separating most of the church? Referring to Matthew 28 and Acts 1 and Mark 16, Is this Jesus there speaking about baptism with Holy Ghost or water baptism?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, John the Baptist said that I baptize with water, but the one coming after me, whose sandals I’m not worthy of in time, will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. And shortly after that, in the book of Acts, was the day of Pentecost. And we keep wanting to dunk people in water, and he said that John the Baptist baptized with water. But I baptize with the Holy Spirit. So the only baptism that saves you is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It says in Peter that the water is a symbol of that baptism. So symbols don’t save you. It’s a symbol of it. But it is only a spiritual birth that gives you birth and enables you to walk led internally by the Spirit of God living in you. So the baptism that saves is not water. It is spirit. You’ve got to be born again of the Spirit, not of water.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you very much. Does baptism save?
SPEAKER 03 :
Only the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and that’s when you are placed into the body of Christ. The Spirit of God comes to live within you. That’s Christ in you, your hope of glory. That happens at spiritual birth. That’s why you’ve got to be born again. Birth is life being imputed to you that comes through the resurrection. And when the Spirit of God comes to live in you, the Spirit of God then places you into the body of Christ. That’s what’s called the baptism of the Holy Spirit and placing you into the body of Christ. That happens simultaneously at spiritual birth.
SPEAKER 08 :
So is this different from being filled with the Spirit?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes. Being filled with the Spirit is an ongoing deal, and that means to be controlled by the love of God. In the third chapter of Ephesians, if you’ll read that, you’ll find out what it means to be filled to the measure with all of the fullness of God, which is identically to what it means to be filled with the Spirit in chapter 5. And so to be filled with the Spirit or to be filled to the measure with all the fullness of God means to be filled and controlled by the love of God. What controlled Jesus? The love of God. What controlled Paul? The love of God. What is to control you and me? The love of God. It’s not wallowing around on the floor. It’s not speaking in tongues. It isn’t anything except going and doing what God said is the only thing that counts, and that’s faith that expresses itself through love.
SPEAKER 08 :
People who are baptized with the Holy Ghost in the body of Christ are able to lead with the Spirit?
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s correct. Anybody who is in Christ Jesus has been indwelt by the Spirit of God, and now as we yield to that Spirit, we can be led by the Spirit, but you can also be led by the flesh. But the Spirit is there to lead us, but we have to yield to that Spirit. That’s what it means to walk in the Spirit. And when you do, you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. That means that you have desires of the flesh in you and you have desires of the Spirit. You have a choice as to which one you’re going to yield to.
SPEAKER 08 :
Is that something that also happens like the Holy Ghost baptism simultaneously or something that one needs to grow or develop it?
SPEAKER 03 :
No, when you’re born again, the Spirit gives it to you. You don’t have one earthly thing to do with salvation. You and I were left out of the equation of salvation. It’s all Jesus and none of us. He’s given you everything you need for life and godliness. Now he says, avail yourself of it. Don’t complicate it. Don’t try to grow. You’re going to grow as you yield to the vine. A branch cannot grow by trying to grow. A branch grows as it yields to the life of the vine, allowing the life of the vine to produce fruit in and through it, and as a result of that, the branch grows. It’s not going to grow by trying. It’s going to grow by abiding. Okay, my brother?
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you, and God bless you. You be strong in the Lord and His mighty power.
SPEAKER 03 :
You too, my friend.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 03 :
God bless. Bye-bye now. Good questions. Let’s go to Salinas, California. Let’s go on KKMC. Ralph, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 06 :
How are you doing today?
SPEAKER 03 :
Doing good, Ralph. Thank you.
SPEAKER 06 :
Good, good, good. My question is, do you think we should be reading the Old and the New Testament or just stay with the New Testament? The reason why I’m asking is because the first time that I listened to you on the air, and there’s people that ask you questions about the Old Testament. And you just get so grumpy with them, you get so rude with them that you kind of tear them down. And it hurts my feelings because I’ve listened to you since I barely started, and it just kind of hurts me for these people’s feelings. Because I think we do need to read the Old Testament because of these times that we’re living in, because of what they lived in. That way we can have faith in God, because even though in the Old Testament… it shows that they went through a lot, and even God was with them. Like right now, churches don’t even teach the Word of God properly, and even Christian people don’t have the faith.
SPEAKER 03 :
Ralph, I appreciate your comments. Do you want me to get grumpy with you now? No, Ralph, I’m saying this. Look, don’t read something into what is not there. If you believe that the Old Testament, that that could do… Provide salvation, the kind we have today, it can’t. Can any man be declared righteous through the law, which is what the majority of the Old Testament was? Absolutely not. If the Old Testament worked, why did Jesus have to come? So it’s not that you don’t read it for historical purposes or as a history of man’s failure and God’s faithfulness. Nothing wrong with that. But as far as the problem is, it is not taught that way. It’s taught that it’s all a part of the same. It isn’t. The old, we’re told, the old covenant is disappearing and should disappear. He said, you have been made a minister of a new covenant, not of the old that kills, but of the new that brings life. Now, the reason that I say what I do is because of that truth. And so to read, nothing wrong with reading, but to apply it to your life, there is nothing in the Old Testament about Jesus living in you, your hope of glory, or a vine and branch whereby we are to abide in Jesus Christ. It’s not there. And so if a person wants to spend a lot of time reading the shadow, that’s their prerogative, but I personally want to read the reality, and the reality is in the New Testament. So I do appreciate your calling on that, brother, and I hope I wasn’t grumpy with you. So you call again, okay? Thanks.
SPEAKER 02 :
Are you looking for encouragement and deeper understanding of God’s Word? Head over to BobGeorge.net where you’ll find books, CDs, and study guides created to help you grow in your faith. And when you order or donate, you’re also helping Bob George Ministries continue sharing the good news with listeners across the country. Your donation, large or small, makes a lasting impact. Visit BobGeorge.net today to explore helpful resources and partner with us in spreading God’s truth. That’s BobGeorge.net. Together, let’s keep this ministry moving forward.
SPEAKER 03 :
Let’s go to Vancouver, British Columbia, listening on Carrie. Ewan, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hi, guys. How are you doing?
SPEAKER 03 :
Doing good, good, Ewan. Thank you.
SPEAKER 05 :
Haven’t talked to you guys for a while, and haven’t talked to you, Bob, since the mortgage got paid off for him. We all celebrated that in spirit up here. It was a great day.
SPEAKER 03 :
We appreciate you guys’ help up there, too.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, you know, if we lose the head, what’s the body going to do? It’s going to shrivel up. Yeah, that’s true. We’ve got to keep the head going. But, yeah, I was just responding to your program yesterday, which was really phenomenal, real blessing, and then you got into how… you know, the government’s going to get into the school system and then check out these kids for depression. Of course, their answer is drugs. But I think in this time right now, the hope that you give to people from this program, you know, that’s what we as children of God ought to be doing. I mean, stepping up to the plate now with all this economic uncertainty and people losing their homes and their jobs, you know, Christ is the answer because this life is just temporal, you know. And if we as children don’t step up and start offering people real hope and asking them, well, you know, you’ve lost this and lost that. What is your hope really in? I mean, it’s just a natural way to share Christ with people. And I really hope that a lot of Christians, you know, will be getting out there and seizing this opportunity to share that hope, you know.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, me too. That’s why, you know, the Bible is preparatory.
SPEAKER 01 :
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER 03 :
It can be crisis, but it’s basically preparatory. You see, if we have failed as people to study the Word of God and to study the truth of the Word of God, and then these kind of conditions come on the scene, where people are totally open to a message that we don’t know how to give. We have failed. And that’s why we should be prepared at any time to give an account for that hope that lies within us. But when you’re not prepared, it’s because you haven’t studied the Word of God, you don’t know what it says, you don’t know what it means, and you don’t know how to communicate it. And there’s no excuse for that. We all have a Bible. If we’re born again, we have the Holy Spirit living in us who is there to teach us. It’s just the fact that we have not availed ourselves of the teaching. And therefore, when these kind of situations come up, because you’re right, it’s there. Everywhere you turn in, everybody listening to this program today, you have a sphere of influence. And I want to guarantee you, in that sphere of influence are people who are depressed out of their socks. And if you would be available to know how to communicate with them, if you can’t do anything more than to tell them how to get in touch with somebody who can help them, but be available to let them know that there is a solution to this depression that we’re going through as a result of the economy and just… quite frankly, the destitution that is in our society today and the immorality among our youth and everything else. It is absolutely a mess, and we have to be available to step out and give people the good news. Well, you and I appreciate your calling and encouragement, and you keep doing what you’re doing up there, and our thoughts and prayers are with you, and stay in touch, and we’ll encourage each other, okay?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I’m so looking forward to you guys coming up in August. I’ve got it marked on my calendar, and I’m just praying that a lot of people will make an effort to get out there and meet you guys and that we can make some eternal connections and that the ministry will just grow in leaps and bounds.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, we hope so too, my friend. Well, it’s good to talk to you. Thank you. God bless. Bye-bye. God bless.
SPEAKER 05 :
Bye-bye.
SPEAKER 03 :
We’re going to go to Arlington, Virginia, listening on WFAX. Kevin, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you. How are you today?
SPEAKER 03 :
Doing good, Kevin. Thank you.
SPEAKER 07 :
That’s good. You know, most Protestants, or about 75% maybe, believe that Wednesday, the fourth day of the week, was the day of crucifixion. Now, can you give me a brief explanation as to why you think it is Thursday?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, most Christians think it’s Friday. That’s why they call it Good Friday is the day of crucifixion. Yeah, but no. Well, the thing of it is… Yeah, well, I don’t know where it came from, but it’s wrong. And Thursday is the day it was called a special Sabbath, Kevin. And Jesus said he was going to be in the ground three days and three nights. And Thursday, Friday, and Saturday is three days and three nights. And so that’s why, to me, I can never make three days and three nights out of Friday and Saturday. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday is the three days and three nights. And the scripture explains that as he was crucified on a day of preparation. It was called a special Sabbath, a day of preparation. And it’s interesting, Kevin, that that’s exactly what Jesus’ cross was. was preparatory for salvation. It is not in and of itself salvation. It was what prepared man for salvation. And it’s interesting that he died on the Jewish holiday of the day of preparation because that’s exactly what the cross did. It prepared us for salvation, which came three days later at the resurrection.
SPEAKER 07 :
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, wouldn’t Wednesday also provide for three days and three nights? Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
If that’s, I don’t believe that. If somebody wants to, that’s a prerogative. It ain’t going to change the way they think about Christ anyway. I think what you have to do is to take three days and three nights, and you can’t make three days and three nights out of Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Okay, my brother. All right, my brother.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, I appreciate your call, Kevin, and your call again.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right, my friend. Bye-bye now. Let’s go to New Orleans, listening on WLNO. Josh, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, hey, Bob, I was just curious about your comment about the answer to the question regarding the babies. Yeah. So what if it turns out that they’re in hell?
SPEAKER 03 :
Is that going to be okay? Well, why would you care, Josh? The whole issue is to think that a baby who has not had an opportunity and is born into this world as a child and that decision turned over to God, who is a perfectly loving God, the fact that God is perfect love and perfect justice negates that question altogether. So it isn’t even worth thinking about the answer to it. because it negates the love of God. We know that when you turn a baby over into the hands of a perfectly loving God, a perfectly loving God isn’t going to send somebody to hell. We send ourselves to hell through the rejection, but a child does not have that opportunity. And so we can certainly count on the fact that they’re into the hands of a loving God and a just God who will make a just decision.
SPEAKER 09 :
So you’re in basically the… then you’re saying that the likely decision would be that they’re not going to be in hell.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, absolutely.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 03 :
I mean, yeah, absolutely. Why would a loving God send an innocent child to hell?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, that was my question.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, no, it isn’t even really worth thinking about. It’s one of those things that, as far as I’m concerned, isn’t even a decision. It’s into the hands of a perfect loving God. And I think those decisions will be made from the vantage point of love. So I don’t think you’re going to worry about babies being in heaven.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay. Well, thank you for explaining that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, let’s go to another call here. Warren in Toronto, Canada. Listen on joy. You’re on the air, Warren.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yes, how are you today?
SPEAKER 03 :
Doing fine. Thank you.
SPEAKER 12 :
Good, good. I have a…
SPEAKER 03 :
few concerns but i’m going to ask the question first uh what is baptism and when does a person get baptized well baptism is a visual aid warren it has nothing to do with salvation at all it’s a visual aid of what took place when you were saved it’s a picture of being under the law uh and uh And water baptism, which is the picture of that, is really you are under the law. You die. The law killed you. Paul said it’s through the law that I died to the law. The law kills you. You leave the law in the grave and you’re raised to marry another Christ Jesus. And so it is a picture of if any man be in Christ, he’s a new creation. Old things have passed away and behold, all things have become new.
SPEAKER 12 :
Okay, I like that. But what I’m thinking of is that there are some people whose babies are being baptized.
SPEAKER 03 :
There’s nothing in the Scripture about… I look at it and talk about… Yeah, we’re about out of time here, Warren. There’s nothing in the Scripture about baby baptism. That is man-made.
SPEAKER 12 :
I was just trying to touch back on the gentleman who talked about a baby going to hell.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. Well, I don’t think babies are going to hell, and they’re certainly not going to hell because they got baptized. So I think we need to get off of those subjects. See, what God wants you to do is to go tell people. I can’t tell a baby to understand what I’m saying. Those decisions are in the hands of God. He wants us to go and to communicate truth to people. Warren, that’s all the time we have today, my friend. You call again.
SPEAKER 02 :
Until next time, walk in faith, be good to one another, and praise the Lord. Amen.
