Join us in this enlightening episode of Classic Christianity with Bob George as we delve into the intricacies of faith and the attitudes that accompany it. Bob unpacks the concepts of fellowship with God, exploring how the moment of spiritual birth places us in an unseverable bond with Christ. Dive deep into understanding the contrast between living under the Old Law and embracing the grace offered through the New Covenant. With rich biblical references and practical insights, Bob challenges us to examine our reliance on self versus God’s wisdom.
Thank you so much for tuning in to Classic Christianity with Bob George. Through our Classic Christianity radio program and the books, Bible studies, CDs, and DVDs we have available for purchase online at bobgeorge.net, it is our desire and prayer at Bob George Ministries that you continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen. Let’s join Bob now as he gets started with today’s lesson.
SPEAKER 01 :
We’ve been talking about faith and what I’d like to talk about today is some attitudes of faith what we will do is to turn to the book of Philippians just for a moment chapter 2 if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ if any comfort in his love if any fellowship with the Spirit if any tenderness and compassion then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and in purpose. Let’s stop here for a moment. When you’re talking about being in fellowship with the Spirit of God, we have to realize that that is what takes place at spiritual birth. That fellowship is not something that you bounce in and out of, which is so often taught in Christian circles today, where every time you sin, you’re out of fellowship with God. There’s no teaching to even hint of that in the Scripture. It talks in the Scripture that the very moment that you are born again, you are called into fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Fellowship is two fellows in the same ship. It has to do with you’re either in the fellowship saved or you’re out of the fellowship lost, but there’s no, as a saved person, being in and out of fellowship unless you believe you can be saved and lost and saved and lost. So fellowship in the Scripture has nothing to do with anything except are you in the fellowship saved or are you out of the fellowship lost? Now, when you’re talking about the contrast between Old Covenant and New Covenant, we realize that in this world in which we live, we have to have standards to live by. If you took the most brutal criminals and gathered them together in one spot and isolated them in prison, in about five minutes, they would have some principles or laws to live by. You have the law of the jungle. You have the law of the gangs. So it doesn’t make any difference what you’re dealing with. People are going to establish some criteria in which to live, aren’t we? children do that. They’ll establish their own criteria. Now we have to realize that if you are, as an example, on this side of the cross, in other words, the law was given for the lost, not for the saved. And so if you are over here under the law of You only have the standard of the law to live by, do you not? In other words, how are you going to determine what is right or wrong? You have the law of God that will tell you what is right and wrong, but if we ignore that, what do we have to lean on? Nothing but our own understanding, and that’s why we have situational ethics. That’s why we can be just absolutely dogmatic about one thing until it happens to you, and then you kind of ease off on it a little bit. So we have to realize that that’s just the way man is. But under the law, because you know that the law does something to you, it convicts you of your sin. Was that the purpose of the law? We’re taught that. What was the purpose of the law? The scripture says it was to show yourself to be a sinner. It’s to show you your condition. Now you cannot separate the law from the punishment of the law. A law without punishment has no meaning to it at all, does it? So if you’re talking even with a traffic law, if there was not a punishment for exceeding the speed limit, the law would have no meaning to it at all. It has very little meaning knowing that there is punishment connected with it for most of us. But for the fact of the matter is that the law must have a punishment or else it is a meaningless law. So people who want to say that we as Christians are still under the law must also therefore say that we are still under the punishment of the law because it is ludicrous to say you’re under the law but you’re not under the punishment of it. You may as well not have the law. Do you catch what I’m saying here? So the fact of the matter is that is why the Apostle Paul was able to say now there is no condemnation awaiting those of you who belong to Christ Jesus because the law of the Spirit of what? Life sets you free from the law of what? Sin and death. Paul does not separate the law from the law of sin and death. There is no such thing from God’s vantage point as the law. It’s the law of sin and death. Here’s the law, and the wages of sin under that law is what? Death. Now, if that is true, and you know that you cannot obey the law, then you have no option except to try to lean on your own understanding in regard to either its meaning… That’s why you have Shabbat elevators in Israel. That’s why you can’t spit on the ground because that would be work on the Sabbath. And we could go on and on and on. That’s why you have to begin to lean on your own understanding. Under the law, you are forced to do that. because there your standard is out here and that standard stares me in the face showing me i’m guilty and therefore i must begin leaning on my own understanding in regard to how to live my life no option to that under the law you always are leaning on your own understanding because under the law the wages of sin is death Now, the very moment that you step out of this covenant into this covenant, in other words, you step out of death into life, and you are freed from not only death, but you’re freed from what caused death, the law. If death is caused, something has to cause it, right? If there is an effect, there must be a cause. Is that true or not? Death is an effect. There must be a cause. And it’s the law that shows you your sinfulness and the effect of that is death. Now when you step out of darkness into light, when you step out of death into life, when you step out of being lost into being saved, when you step out of the old covenant into the new covenant, all of those are identical. They’re all the same. You are a what? New creation. Now folks, God created Adam. You were born Adam. You and I were born. We were not created by God. Adam was created by God. You and I were born from mom and dad, weren’t we? And that’s why it says in the fifth chapter of Genesis that Adam and Eve, that God created Adam in the image of God. But when Adam had Seth or Eve had Seth, Seth was born in the image of God. Adam. You were not born in the image of God. You and I are not born in the image of God. We are born in the image of Adam, dead as a hammer spiritually. Now, Adam was created, we are born. Now, if I am born again, I am called a, if any man be in Christ, he’s what? A new what? Creation. New birth is a creation. So God recreated you who were born into a new creation, and that is a child of God. And what that means is now you are alive spiritually, just like Adam was created alive spiritually. You’re a new creature in Christ. Now that could not occur unless you are under the grace of God. Under the law, there’s death, leaning on your own understanding. Under grace, there is life, and you lean on God’s wisdom. So here are our options as a child of God. Am I going to lean on the wisdom of God, or am I going to lean on my own understanding? What does God say? Do not lean on your own understanding, but in all things acknowledge Him. And He will do what? Direct your path. He will direct your path. Now that’s what this is talking about here, so let’s go back to this. Is there any encouragement to being under this new covenant? Is anyone in here encouraged by being under the new covenant? Or do you think, oh, it wouldn’t be so bad being under the law? Well, if that’s the case, you are really leaning on your own understanding. And in essence, what you’re doing is saying, God, I don’t believe you. You couldn’t mean that. I was listening the other day to a well-known writer who is a Jewish rabbi. And there isn’t a difference between a Jewish rabbi and the way he thinks and a liberal Christian and the way they think, or at least a professed Christian, a legalist. and he was stating that how obviously presenting himself as a student of the scriptures, which indeed that was probably true, but do you remember something what God said? That your eye has not seen and your ear has not heard and your mind has not conceived of those things that God has prepared for those who love him, but it must be what? Revealed by who? the Spirit of God. Can an unregenerate man have the Scripture revealed to him? He has no capability at all of knowing what the Scripture means. And if I don’t know what it means, guess what I’ve got to lean on? My own understanding. So here is this gentleman, phenomenal speaker, in many instances the proclamation of wisdom. But in this particular case, when I read the account of the Garden of Eden and of Adam and Eve, there’s something that disturbs me there. So you automatically think, well, he’s a thinker. He’s thinking. He’s a thinkin’. Sounds good up to now. But you see, If God, he had to have known all along that Adam and Eve were going to eat of that tree, otherwise the account wouldn’t be there. And had he not wanted them to eat, he wouldn’t have put the tree there. I mean, had he not wanted man to eat of that tree, why, all he had done is not put the tree. So he put the tree there with full knowledge. And now we’re sitting there saying, hmm, amen. And then the punishment kicked him out of the garden for just eating of that fruit. That is severe, severe punishment. And that’s not God. And you think to yourself, man, if God was so severe to kick you out of the garden for just eating a piece of fruit, Well, what’s he going to do with me when I mess up? And the whole essence of this is how God is forgiving and loving, which is true, but with no foundation. And you sit there and you listen to that stuff. Well, where did he miss? You see, he never went to what the tree and the fruit is and what it represents. It’s the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Forgot all about that one. That’s never mentioned. It’s just that fruit that’s the problem. Like someone said, it wasn’t the fruit in the tree that’s the problem, it’s that pear on the ground that’s the problem.
SPEAKER 02 :
Go to BobGeorge.net to find the best-selling book, Classic Christianity by Bob George. This book will change your life as you read about God’s unconditional love and His forgiveness. Let’s rejoin Bob now as he continues with today’s lesson.
SPEAKER 01 :
So you see what you have there is you have someone who is leaning on their own understanding and missing the whole point. The eating of the tree was that was the tree from the knowledge of good and evil. It was the tree that I’m going to eat up that says, God, I do not need you anymore to determine what is right and what is wrong. I’m going to lean on my own understanding. I am going to be God in regard to these things and therefore I really do not need you I will determine right from wrong and good from evil only God can determine right from wrong and good from evil but man says no you don’t understand Lord you just you know you’re kind of old and old-fashioned you just you just haven’t been enlightened yet into our generation And so we lean on our own understanding, determining right from wrong, good from evil, and that’s the whole essence. Now with that, sin entered into the world. And when sin entered into the world, man was left to his own. It’s as God is saying, if you want to play this game of determining right from wrong, good from evil, I’ll let you do it, and I’ll show you the results. You’ll produce your own results. I don’t need to produce them. You’ll produce your own. That’s like saying someone to us, I don’t need to mess your life up. You’ll do it yourself. Is that true or not, guys? I don’t need someone to mess my life up. I’m very capable of doing it myself. Aren’t you? And so God says, I’ll let you do that. I’m going to show you the futility of that sin. Because you see, to this gentleman, that’s such a minor thing. Such a minor thing. A minor thing of a created being saying to his creator, you don’t know what you’re talking about? A minor thing of a created being saying to his creator, who needs you? A minor thing for the created being to say to his creator, I’ll boss you around, I’ll tell you what to do and expect you to obey me? Minor? That’s not minor. It’s pretty major. And folks, it’s at the very root of all sin. Every sin you and I commit is a sin that the root attitude behind that is, I’ll do it my way. One of the most popular songs ever recorded. I’ll do it my way. Lean on our own understanding. Now it says, instead acknowledging Him and letting Him direct our paths. So he’s saying to us here, is there any encouragement from being freed from death to life? Does that mean anything to anybody, or is it just words? You see, folks, many times we have words in our heads, but have we ever thought through these things? I think one of the reasons that there is an advantage to seeing a corpse Seeing a loved one dead is to see how dead dead is. Because until we’ve seen death, we don’t know how dead dead is. And dead is dead. You can talk to that body. You could get up and tantalize that body, and it isn’t going to respond. It’s dead. And that physical death is a picture of spiritual death. We’re dead. Spiritually dead and in need of life. And what it’s saying is do you realize what you’ve been freed from? And the thing that killed you is the law and we still hang on to that and say we’re still under that when if you are, you’re under the death penalty of that. No, I’ll tell you what, Bob. I’ll tell you what, God. I’m going to keep what appears to be good and kind of alleviate this over here. In other words, I want to forget about death, but this thing over here that caused it, I’m going to drag that over. And I’m going to be led by that because under here I can lean on my own understanding. And when I have God communicating to me direct, I can’t lean on my own understanding. I might try, but there’s always that little voice there that says, you’re really out to lunch trying to do this. Guys, we’ve been freed from death. Do we realize that? We have been freed from condemnation from God. Wherefore, there is now no condemnation awaiting those who belong to Christ Jesus. And you say, why? Because I’ve been so good? No, because the law of the spirit of life set you free. from the law of sin and death. Now what’s he saying here? If there’s any encouragement from being united with Christ, in other words, you’re now in relationship with the living God. Is there any comfort from His love? Is there any comfort at all from knowing that God loves you perfectly? You see, I don’t have to sit and lean on my own understanding and try to mess around with the story of the Garden of Eden and try to rationalize all this stuff in order to know the love of God. God sent His Son to teach us the love of God. But you see, to the Jewish rabbi, he’s denied the source of love and just says, I want to wallow in the result of it. But I don’t want to acknowledge the source. Isn’t that something? Now, so he says, is there any comfort in his love? Is there any fellowship? If there’s any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion is then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and in purpose. So there’s two things there that he wants us to deal with. I want to be a oneness in spirit, and I want a oneness in spirit and love in purpose. What is the purpose? What did Jesus say the purpose of the Holy Spirit coming to live in you and me would be? He said, first of all, when the Holy Spirit comes, he will what? Guide you into all truth. Are you indwelt with the Spirit? Then what should be our heart’s desire? Number one is to be guided into all truth, not leaning on my own understanding, but allowing God to guide me into truth. And then to guide others into truth. Taking the things of the Lord Jesus Christ, make them known to me. What do I desire in my life? To have the Holy Spirit of God make known the things of Jesus. That should be our desire, should be our attitude. So he’s saying to us to be like-minded, having the same love, and being one in spirit and in purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition. Well, what is selfish ambition? I’m going to do something in order to get something. Is that not selfish ambition? I’m going to do something. I’ll be nice to you because I want you to do something for me. Do we see that in the world today? Well, of course you do. Of course you do all the time. I’ll be nice to you, get what I want, then I’m going to dump you. Has that ever happened in human experience? Absolutely. Absolutely. So it’s called selfish ambition. It’s called, I’ve got an ambition to make me better. He says, don’t do anything with that. Is that leaning on your own understanding? What’s human understanding say? Man, if you don’t look after me, me ain’t gonna get looked after. Isn’t that the world’s philosophy? Do unto others before they do unto you. The golden rule, he who has the gold rules. That’s the world’s mindset, without question. Competition, ah, that’s good. Go get it before they do. Isn’t that the way the world runs? He’s saying don’t do that with selfish ambition. So again, what should our work habit be? Work as unto the Lord. whether your boss is watching or whether he isn’t, work as unto the Lord. Paul deals with that, doesn’t he? To work as unto the Lord means you work honestly, you work diligently, you don’t just give what you must, but you go beyond the call of duty. It’s an attitude. It’s an attitude of servitude. And you don’t do that so that you’ll get. You do that because that’s what serving’s all about. A Christian should be the best worker on the face of the earth. And unfortunately, many times, from what I’ve seen, I don’t mean the ministry, but I mean what I’ve seen in the marketplace, is sometimes they’re the worst. And so there’s an attitude that if I’m going to be a Christian in the marketplace, I’m going to be the best worker there is. And I’m going to do my job diligently. And I’m going to fulfill my responsibilities diligently. Why? Well, that’s what the Lord says. I’m not doing that out of selfish ambition. I’m doing it in order to serve. Now it says to do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. So what does he call conceit? Thinking of yourself more highly than you ought. Calls it vanity, doesn’t he? And that’s what it is. It’s vain conceit. And there’s nothing real to it. But he said, in humility, consider others better than yourself. Now this is the whole deal. Now guys, how are you going to do that when your attitude is that all bosses are bad, all owners are rotten, the attitude that you have going on in the world today that they don’t deserve to have anything so let’s us get it. That’s a mindset, isn’t it? That’s a mindset that we have. And what he’s saying here is that’s not a mindset of a child of God. In humility, when you’re considering others better than yourself, that didn’t have a poor self-image. It’s to have an attitude of servitude. Well, you mentioned that today. As an example, in marriage, wives serve your husband. I tell you, all you get is, you know, look like you just ate a skunk. God forbid I’d have to serve somebody in love. Why, that’s for the unenlightened. It’s leaning on your own understanding. Be like a man. You should support your wife. Let her go make her own way. Those are not attitudes of servitude. They’re attitudes of vain conceit. That with me, if you think I’m going to serve him or her, you just watch. I’m not a servant. I’m God. I just haven’t recognized it yet. Folks, these attitudes he’s talking about, he’s saying, is there any comfort at all in being over here? You certainly didn’t get over here because he had that attitude. If Jesus would have had our attitude, we’d all be still lost. Can you imagine being God and seeing someone, some little peyant down here spitting in your face? If it had been me, I’d have tramped on him, wouldn’t you? I’ve said many times, it’s a good thing I’m not God. There wouldn’t be anybody saved. Isn’t that right? That’s the way we are. Boy, I don’t deserve to be treated that way. Not old King here. That’s the way we are, isn’t it? I don’t deserve that. Well, if you got what you deserved, you’d go to hell. If you got what you deserved from God.
SPEAKER 02 :
Until next time, walk in faith, be good to one another, and praise the Lord. Amen.
