From Religion to Relationship: Embracing True Identity

SPEAKER 1 : 0:05

For 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 02 : 0:41

Well, let’s turn together… to the book of Ephesians, as Paul has approached chapter 4. He’s going ahead now, and let’s start off with verse 17. Now guys, again… Were the Gentiles’ actions real good? No, what does he say? I tell you, you must no longer live as the Gentiles do in the futility of their thinking. So what is man’s problem? Where is man’s problem? Where? Right up here, isn’t it? All sin begins right here on the threshold of your mind. Everything develops from that concept. And so all sin and all life is all beginning right up here, and that’s why the Bible says, as a man what? Thinks, so is he. And so instead of trying to change actions, what is God doing? Changing our thoughts. So you can change actions, putting a person in jail, incarcerating them, and change their actions, but you’re not going to change their mind. And until their mind has changed, their actions have only been curtailed. But then when you get out and your mind hasn’t changed, your actions pick right up again, don’t they? And so as a man thinks, so is he. If anxiety was unusual, why did the scripture say, don’t be anxious if it was unusual for human beings to be anxious? That’s unusual behavior. There’s something wrong with you. You’ve got a syndrome. And if you’re depressed, oh, that’s unusual. Oh, oh, that’s unusual. All I need to do to get depressed is start thinking depressing thoughts. That’s all I need. I can get depressed in 10 minutes. Can’t you? I can get depressed looking in a mirror. Now, we have to understand reality on that, don’t we? So depression is not unusual, and we’ve conned people into thinking, oh, it’s unusual. There’s this guy, he never gets angry, never gets anxious, never has bad feelings, and you say, where is he? I’ve never met him, and I’ve got news for you. You haven’t either. But if you’ve been conned into thinking, oh, That’s normal behavior. And anything secondary to that, oh, that’s abnormal behavior. So if you’re depressed or you’ve got anxiety, something’s wrong with you. There ain’t anything wrong with you. You’re just human. That’s all that’s wrong with you is you’re human. Because that’s all a part of humanity. It’s all a part of being alive. It’s all a part of being a human being. All of those things are as much a part of being a human as eating and sleeping. And so there’s nothing unusual about it. But what happens is the more we think… the more we feel. And so we get all of these feelings, and we get down in the dumps feelings, don’t we? And we get depressed feelings, don’t we? So what do we deal with? Feelings. And you go for counseling, what do they ask you? How do you feel? You can’t deal with feelings. You can’t see feelings. How are you going to treat feelings? All a drug does is numb your head, and that numbing of the head changes the feelings. But you cannot deal with what you cannot see. You can’t deal with a feeling. So change your feelings. How are you going to do that unless you change your mind? The answer is you can’t. So what does God want to do? Alter your mind or renew your mind? The Bible says renew it. Doctors say alter it. You’re going to function in the futility of your thinking? Or are you going to trust what God says when He says, let me renew your mind? Why? Because if I renew your mind, those feelings will also be renewed. And so, folks, we’ve got the world out there that is totally contrary to everything in the Bible. God says one thing, man comes along and says another, and many of them in the name of Jesus. That’s what irritates the dickens out of me. Are people in the name of Jesus coming up with all of this psychological garbage that does nothing but put people under deeper bondage than what they’ve ever been before? Are we going to put our faith in Jesus and His Word, or are we going to put our faith in what man has to say? Now guys, that ties into this thing we’ve been talking about, the difference between believing something and putting faith in something. You see, I mentioned before, for many years of my early Christian experience, I believed two things. I believed that Jesus died for all my sins, past, present, and future. How many of you believed that when you were first saved? How many of you also believed you’d confess your sins, he’ll forgive you? How many figured out that was double talk? You see, I can believe both of those things, but I can only put my faith in one of them. That’s the difference between belief and faith. I believe both of them, but my faith was only in one of them, and that was, if I confess, He’ll forgive. That’s where my faith was. My faith was not in that He took away all my sins, past, present, and future. I believed that, but I didn’t have any faith in that. And all I did a number of years ago was to shift my faith, because I believed both of them, but I shifted my faith off of 1 John 1, 9. and put it on to the totality of the teaching of the scripture. And I am no longer a person who gets forgiven, I am a forgiven person. And that’s where my faith is, and that’s where it is today. And so there’s a difference between belief and faith. Well folks, it’s the same thing when we’re dealing with this futility of our minds. That I can believe Jesus is the answer to all my problems. And how many, if I were to ask you today, how many of you believe Jesus is totally sufficient for all your problems? Every hand go up. How many have put faith in that? You see, there’s a world of difference in those two as to whether I’m going to put faith in that or whether I’m going to say I believe it. Because what you’re saying is, Jesus, I believe you’re capable of doing that, but I don’t have any faith you’re going to do it for me. Remember when the man came and he said, if you’re willing… You can do this if you’re willing. And many times we’re in the same boat where we’re saying, I believe, but I’m not sure, God, you’re willing to do this. And if I don’t think that he’s willing to do that, why would I want to put my faith in that, you see? And so we all have to test, and that’s what it says to test our faith, because all of us need our faith tested. There are many things in my life that I believe, but I really haven’t put faith in. And I’m sure the same is true with you. We can say, I believe it, but I’m not sure I can trust it. Now, the reason for going over this is because of what he’s saying, that we are to no longer live like the Gentiles do in the futility of their thinking. If you and I are in Christ, then we no longer need to live and to think like a lost Gentile thinks. You see, guys, the opposite of a Jew is not a Christian. The opposite of a Jew is a Gentile. And you got lost Gentiles, and you got lost Jews, and you got saved Gentiles, and you got saved Jews, but the opposite of a Jew is not a Christian. And most Jews function today believing that the opposite of a Jew is a Christian. And so, I’m not going to be a Christian, I’m a Jew. I’d lose my inheritance and my heritage and everything else. No, no, no. The opposite of a Jew is a Gentile. I’m a Gentile, you’re a Jew. I’m lost, so are you. That rhymes. Now, what we want to do is to pick up, to understand that our thinking, therefore, the futility of our thinking, we as Christians do not have to retain the futility of the thinking of the lost. Do we understand that? There’s a different way of thinking today. Now he says, “…they are darkened in their understanding.” We’re separated from the life of God. And it says why? Because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. So what is it that keeps our thinking futile and separated from the life of God is the hardening of our hearts is saying, I do not need the instruction of God, I know best. Is that not the sin in the Garden of Eden? that I do not need God to tell me right from wrong and good from evil. I will do that on my own. I will figure that out on my own. Amy and I, when last week we were talking with a couple from Germany, and when you’re talking with people who are lost, your entire thinking is just totally different. And it’s like, to me, it’s like speaking Swahili to somebody or something. I can’t understand what they’re saying is because their mind has been darkened and hardened. And to them, their mindset is all religions are good. Why? Religion’s good, all of it. All of it’s good. And you say, how could all religion be good? As a matter of fact, I got a better statement than that. I think all religion stinks. I don’t like any religion. As a matter of fact, I think that religion, as I think that Lennon said, is the opiate of the people. I agree with him on that. It’s about the only thing I’d agree with him on. But I agree with him. Religion, you know what the definition of religion is? A return to bondage. Jesus did not come to form a religion. He came to form a relationship. He came to give us something that we did not have, and that’s life. And that life is in Him. And when I have Him, I have been raised from the dead spiritually. I have life. And not only do I have His life, but He is my life. And that’s why Paul could say, for me to live is what? Is Christ. Now, folks, when Christ comes to take up residency in our hearts, then we have the ability to think. We always had the ability to think, but to think truth and to place our faith in that truth. Faith is somewhat like the old story of the guy at the circus that got the high wire up there, and there’s no net underneath it or anything else, and he walked across the high wire with a wheelbarrow And he went across that, and I’ll tell you, the place just went nuts in applause. Thought that was the most marvelous thing he’d ever seen. And he came back again, walking on that high wire at the wheelbarrow. And finally, he was still up there, and he said, how many of you believe that I can do this again? Well, everybody in the place, yes, for sure. How many of you think, I can go over there and come back again? Everybody, yay, scream, thought it’s the greatest thing you ever had. So you believe that I can do that? Absolutely. Who wants to volunteer to get in the wheelbarrow? And there was total silence. That’s the difference between faith and believing something.

SPEAKER 01 : 13:18

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 02 : 13:33

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 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 itself. 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, you’re a 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, they get married. Man, you don’t know somebody get 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 : 27:07

Until next time, walk in faith, be good to one another, and praise the Lord. Amen. Put Jesus first in your life and turn your life.