Mercy, Law, and True Righteousness

SPEAKER 1 : 0:05

Put Jesus

SPEAKER 01 : 0:12

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 03 : 0:40

Now, what else does it say about the lost person? We have lost all sensitivity. We gave ourselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity and with a continual lust for more. Does that sound familiar? How many does that sound familiar to? How many of the rest of you have been living in a vacuum? Is not this what the flesh does? The flesh loses all sensitivity. We give ourselves over to sensuality and indulge in every kind of impurity there is and have a continual lust for more. Sin does not want less. It always wants more, doesn’t it? Now look what it says now. You, now this is talking now about being born again. You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. You didn’t come to know Christ through sensual indulgence. Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him in accordance with, and this is important, the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires. We are to put off our old self. Now what does it say about our old self? It is being corrupted by its deceitful desires. So do you have a former way of life and an old self that is still being corrupted by deceitful desires? Do you have experience like that? In other words, what is that called? What’s that called? It’s called your what? Your flesh. Do you still have desires of the flesh? And it’s a good thing, because if you didn’t, you’d be dead. So as long as you are alive, are you going to have desires of the flesh? That’s a reality. Christ Jesus is alive in you spiritually. Is that true? Your new identity is what? A child of the living God. So folks, you only have one identity. Do you realize that? You don’t have two identities. You’re not a child of God and a child of the devil at the same time. The moment that you stepped out of Adam into Christ, he stepped out of heaven into you, you became what? A child of the living God. So we can come up with all kinds of identities in this world, and Satan loves to give us all kinds of identities other than being a child of God. And in the Christian world, of course, we’ve substituted that for, I’m a Baptist, or I’m a Catholic, or I’m a Pentecostal, or I’m a Neo-Pentecostal, and all that kind of stuff. Do you see any of those names in the Scripture? No, they’re not in there. Now, John the Baptist is in there, but that doesn’t mean he’s a Baptist. So you see, instead of us as people saying, I’m a child of God, we would rather say, I’m a Baptist, or I’m a Presbyterian, or a Methodist, or a Plymouth Brethren, Assembly of God, whatever it might be, wouldn’t it? And that becomes our identity. How many people have you ever walked up to and said, that’s who I am as a child of God? We’ll say, where do you go to church? No one says, who are you, but where do you go to church? Because if you tell me where you go to church, then I’ll get an inkling maybe of what you believe. I’ll at least know whether you believe that you’re saved by baptism or not. and all that other stuff. Isn’t that why we ask the question? People will call and sometimes say, Bob, where did you go to seminary? You see, what they’re saying is, what denominations of seminary did you go to so that I can know whether I want to listen to you or not to see whether or not you agree denominationally with me. And so what we have come up with, folks, is the fact that as an identity, we only have one. You are a child of the living God. Now you have the flesh and the spirit that are in conflict with each other. And the spirit of God who lives in you is in conflict with the flesh that you were born with. And it says they’re at enmity with one another. And the desires of the flesh are totally contrary to the desires of the spirit and vice versa. Do you notice that in your life? Now the issue is, which one am I going to yield to, and which one am I going to allow to control my life? Because it says that when we give into the flesh, we will be mastered by that flesh. In other words, the flesh has a capability of mastering you. And also, when we yield to the Spirit, then we’re being controlled by the Spirit of God. Now folks, the interesting thing about this is that it’s being controlled by the Spirit is somewhat like being under the control of aerodynamics in an airplane. That as long as you’re under the control of aerodynamics, you’re going to be flying. But if you decide that I’d like to step outside and get some fresh air, you are immediately coming under the control of what? Gravity, and you’re going to splat on the ground. You’ll get your air all right. You don’t choose that. You don’t choose to come under the control of gravity. It’s a byproduct of getting out from under the control of aerodynamics. When you and I are in Christ, and we choose… to be controlled by the Spirit of God. And we are saying, Lord, it’s my desire for you to control me by your love. And I want to walk in truth, not in error. But I want to walk in truth. And I want to walk in grace, because you can’t be controlled by the Spirit walking under the law. Do we understand that? The law is not for a Christian. So we’ve got a lot of people who think they’re Spirit-filled legalists. That’s a contradiction of terms. It is impossible to be controlled by the Spirit of God when you are under legalism. The law is contrary to the Spirit. That’s like saying, I want mercy under the law. That’s impossible. There is no mercy in the law. If you’re going to obtain mercy, you’ve got to obtain it apart from the law. When you put mercy in the law, you have watered down the law. You have ruined the law. When you put mercy in the law, you’ve ruined it. Under the law, the wages of sin is death. You put mercy into there. Let’s call it out of fellowship. And what do we do? Water down the law until it has no meaning to it. I don’t have to fear being out of fellowship. I can get back in. But death? That’s another question. And so we’ve come down and watered down the law and it made it lose its meaning until there’s no respect for life because I don’t even know I’m dead. Because I’ve never been taught that the wages of sin is death. And under the law, it’s death, death, death. No mercy under the law. So if you’re going to receive mercy, you’re going to have to receive it apart from the law And that is exactly what Jesus did. He came apart from the law and gave us mercy. He canceled the law so that He could give us mercy. Why? Because you cannot put mercy in the law. If you do, you ruin the law. And that’s why, folks, there’s no man greater than the law. Because if your nation loses the law, it loses the nation. And we had better understand that as Christians. that when your laws and the enforcement of laws get diminished, you have diminished your country. And there’s no man greater than the laws of the land. Regardless of what you think. Mercy? Mercy apart from the law? Absolutely. Absolutely. As a born-again Christian, mercy apart from the law. But under the law, you’d better carry that out. If you don’t, you’ve lost it. Not a popular stance today, is it? In fact, people who take that stance are called bigots and everything else under the sun. But the fact of the matter is, is we do not see the ramifications. When God says the law is this, stick with it. You can’t go wrong with sticking with it. Okay. So we have desires of the flesh, not desires of the spirit. They’re in conflict with each other. Now, what did he say there in regard to that? We are now to be made new in what? The attitude of what? Our minds. So how are you going to be made new? By changing your actions? How are you going to be made new? Changing your mind. Do you realize, folks, there’s a lot of people who are non-Christians acting a lot better than us. Have you ever noticed that? I mean, on the outward actions, outward actions, you couldn’t tell the difference. You go over into some of the Muslim countries over there, you’ll see some pretty good behavior. If you don’t, you get your hand cut off, you steal something. Get your eyes plucked out if you look wrong. Want to live there? I don’t. So you see, outward action is one thing. But inward thoughts and inward attitudes are another. Now Christ came to change the attitudes of our hearts, and he said those attitudes will change your actions, but don’t ever think that actions cannot be duplicated or imitated. And in the final analysis, folks, isn’t it really true, just in the final analysis, everybody’s got all this emphasis on outward action. In the final analysis, how many people in your experience really know what you’re like? How many? If you’re married, your mate. They know what you’re like. Your kids know what you’re like. Outside of that, folks, hardly anybody knows what you’re really like, do they? And so can we not become performers? Because it’s just kind of for a short while. And then you get home and kick your shoes off and say, praise God, now I can be myself. Start knocking everybody in the head. So, folks, you see why God wants to change the attitudes of our hearts? Because this outward can be changed. It can be faked, can’t it? That’s why people are getting married. Man, you don’t know somebody getting married, do you? Now, how many can testify to that one? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you say, why is that? I thought I knew him. Yeah, but you didn’t live with him. You say, well, yeah, we lived together. That’s not the same. That’s not the same. And I’m not going to ask if anyone’s experienced that. But I’m just saying that is not the same. And so what we have to come to realize is not a whole lot of people really know what we’re really like. And that’s why he’s saying that we are to be made new in the attitudes of our minds. So until our attitudes have changed, nothing’s going to change. And so he says that we’re taught to put on this new self that was been created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Now, folks, there again, you were born a mom and dad, but you were created by God. Do you realize that? How many of you, when it says that man was created in the image of God, is that true? No, it isn’t true. Man was created in the image of Adam. Remember that fifth chapter of Genesis? When Adam and Eve had Seth, Seth was born in the image of Adam. Adam and Eve were created in the image of God. Seth was born in the image of Adam. So God created only two men, two people, created by the hand of God. From that point on, man was born out of man and out of woman. Are we together on that? So when you and I were born again, what is that, a birth? It’s called a new birth, but what is it? A new creation. If any man be in Christ, he is what? A new creation. Why? Because spiritual birth comes from God.

SPEAKER 01 : 14:14

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SPEAKER 03 : 14:45

And so, because it comes from God, not from mom and dad. Your physical birth came from mom and dad. Spiritual birth comes from God, called a new creation. So, we’re told that we have now been not born, but created brand new to be like God in true righteousness. and holiness. Now, what does that mean? If I’m created to be like God, does that mean, let’s just stop there and say, well, you’re created to be like God. Try that one on for size. To be like God. How can you be like God? God’s spirit. So how am I going to be like a spirit? But he says we’re created to be like God in true righteousness. So do we have any righteousness of our own? So if I’m going to have true righteousness, where’s that righteousness going to have to come from? from him and that’s why that it is because of him that we are in Christ Jesus who has become for us our what righteousness so I have been recreated by God to live in his righteousness and in his holiness how many have you are righteous in the sight of God and holy in the sight of God okay now let me ask a question It is because of him that you have become in Christ Jesus, who has become for you your righteousness. So who is your righteousness? Christ. Do you have any of your own? No. But are you righteous in the sight of God? Why are you righteous in the sight of God? Because he gave you his righteousness. So how many of you are righteous in the sight of God? I see your hands. How many of you know that you’re righteous in the sight of God? Okay, that’s better. Now, by that one offering, he made forever perfect in the sight of God all of you whom he has made holy. So how many of you are complete, that’s what perfect means, complete in the sight of God, and how many of you are holy in the sight of God? How many of you can say that without exception? Believe it by faith. Now again, where does your holiness come from? God. So is holiness predicated on your acting holy? Is your holiness predicated on how you look? Whether you have your hair short, long, and a bun? Any other way? No? So, now how many people have tried to make themselves holy by looking strange? I’m going to be set apart from the world and everybody’s going to know it. You say, you sure are. I wish you’d get more set apart from the world. They make themselves so ugly they go to the beach and the tide won’t even come in. We have to realize that that is not what holiness is. That you and I have been set apart because of the change of attitudes towards In our minds. Now, should that thinking result in different behavior? Are we together there? Absolutely. Does that take time to spell itself out? Yes, it does, guys. And we are in the process of continually being renewed in the newness of attitudes of our minds. That’s a process that God has us in. And that process, we will be in that process until the day that we’re absent from the body and present with the Lord. But again, does God want you to know all the ramifications of your inheritance? In other words, to say you have an inheritance from God, that sounds good, but what would be the most logical next question? What is it? What is it? One is He made you holy. He’s already set you apart. Now, if He set you apart, can you set yourself more apart? No, absolutely not. I’ve got another question for you. Can you make yourself less righteous? No, because your righteousness is not yours, it’s His. If He gave you life, can you get more life? Can you get less life? No. You are in Him. You have been raised from the dead. You are secure in Him. And when you fall into that grave, you are going to be absent from the body and immediately present with the Lord. Folks, this issue of death, it’s a much bigger issue than what many of us think about as Christians because we kind of forget about that. But I was watching a program the other night where they had Billy Graham was on, and I think President Carter was on, and Hugh Downs was on. Did any of you see that? And they were talking about death. Well, to Billy Graham, are you afraid of death? No, of course not. Why would I be afraid of death? I’m going to be absent from the body, present with the Lord, and I believe an angel comes and takes me right in the presence of Jesus. President Carter, are you afraid of death? No, I’m not afraid of death at all. I’m going to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. I’m looking forward to it. Hugh Downs, petrified of it. Petrified. Been afraid of death all my life. Why? He didn’t know where he was going. And as much as he’s heard, he still has not believed. Nice guy, but lost as can be. sitting there in the presence of Billy Graham, admiring them. Admire these guys. Admire them. Larry King. You ever watch that program or ever see Larry King live? Man, he’s had all these people. He admires them. Lost? Just as lost as can be. Why? Well, I’m not going to put my faith in that. Why would I put my faith in that when I can put my faith in how smart I am and how knowledgeable I am? But as knowledgeable as you can get, The answer is, what are you going to do when that heart stops beating? Where are you going to go? And folks, that’s a question everybody’s got to ask themselves. Do I know where I’m going to go when I die? Because if I’m not prepared to die, I’m not prepared to live. If I’m afraid of dying, I’m afraid of living. Because every day that I’m living, I’m afraid of dying. And it’s only until you can settle that issue to know that I am in Christ, and I am in Christ, thank God, not because of what I do or what I think, but I’m in Christ because of who He is and because of what He came to do in and through me. I didn’t deserve one ounce of salvation. I just received His offer of salvation to say, Bob, you’re a mess. and I’ll clean you up. I’ll give you a new heart. Your heart is stony. I’ll give you a new one of flesh. You’re lost. You’re dead. I’ll give you life. And the only motivation behind any of that was love. And every one of us sitting in this room today who is saved responded to one thing. We responded to love, didn’t we? We heard God loved you, and we responded to that. But because of that, I have an assurance that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that when I… this body falls in the ground, I’m going in the presence of God. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. And because I have no fear of death, I don’t like the process. None of us like the process. I don’t like the process of thinking about getting sick or that type of thing. I’d just as soon die in my sleep. I’d put that request into the Lord. Or die teaching. That’d be fun for me. It’d be a little shock to you. But I have no fear of death at all. Why? Because I know I’m going to a better place to live with Him eternally in heaven. To see some of my loved ones and to someday wait on the rest of my loved ones. And so there’s no fear in death in Christ. Now folks, that is unexplainable. I can’t sit down and explain that, and I don’t think there’s anyone who can. That’s just something you know to be true. And because I’m prepared to die, I’m prepared to live. Not because of being good, not because of being in need, not because of any of that stuff, just because of being saved in Christ Jesus. So he says that you and I have been taught to put off that old self, We don’t have to think anymore like a lost person to put on this new self and to be made new in the attitude of our minds and to put on this new self that’s been created to be like God in true righteousness and in true holiness, and that means in His righteousness and His holiness. And therefore, now because of this, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for, now here’s the other assumption, we’re all members of one body. Now again, if you and I are sitting in this room today as born-again Christians, then we’re a part, are we not, of the body of Christ. And that’s what happened to us at spiritual birth, was the Spirit of God came to live within us and then placed us into His body, and that’s the true body of Christ. The true body of Christ is not the church down on the corner of walk and don’t walk. Because in that building, you can have lost people and save people, just like you can in any assembly. But the true church, the true ekklesia, that’s the Greek word that we’ve translated church, ekklesia, called out ones, is only born-again believers. The only true ekklesia are people who are joined to Jesus at the head and joined down here to His body. And that’s the only church that God recognizes. That’s the only church that He’s dealing with. So the church isn’t called Baptist or Methodist or Presbyterian. The church is called the ecclesia, the called out ones. Those who are in a relationship with the head who is Jesus Christ. Now do we all understand that? So the true universality of the church are born again believers all over the world. And every place you go in the world you run into born again believers who were saved just like you. Have the same experience that you did. Come to know the Lord the same way. Have no fear of death. All these things that we’re talking about, identical all over the world. Wherever you meet born-again believers, regardless of their nationality, their color or creed, they’ve all gone through the same experience. That’s God’s church. Now, we gather together because it’s a little hard to meet all together. all over the world at one time. So people started meeting together locally. And when you’re talking about the church of Ephesus, the church of Philippi, you’re not talking about a bunch of churches all over Philippi. In the little community of Philippi, believers met together. In the church of Colossae, believers met together. And that was called the church of Corinth because it was just one group of born-again believers. It wasn’t the thing to do. It wasn’t nice for your children because they didn’t have Sunday school back then. And in the early Ecclesia, it said that the believers met daily for the apostles’ teaching and for fellowship and prayer. So there was a daily assembly. It was easy to do because there was one little community. You go into Corinth today or any of those places, real easy to get someplace. They were not huge communities. As a matter of fact, those cities were walled in. So they weren’t huge in nature. And so it was very easy to get together with the church of Ephesus or wherever it might be. And that’s what church was. It wasn’t this denominationalism that we have today. It wasn’t the activity center. It wasn’t the place where you go so that you can get entertained. It was a place that you went to learn.

SPEAKER 01 : 27:13

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.

SPEAKER 02 : 27:43

Put Jesus first in your life and turn your life around.