Join us for an insightful episode where Bob George delves into the complexities of divorce and remarriage as discussed in the Bible. Through heartfelt call-ins, listeners raise pertinent questions about remarriage and the reconciliation of sin in the light of Scripture. Bob offers clarity and depth, navigating the intricacies of sin, atonement, and our pathways to righteousness. By anchoring the dialogue in faith, this episode serves as a guide for those seeking solace and understanding amid life’s challenges.
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 :
Let’s go to Langley, British Columbia, listening on Carrie. Rolf, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 01 :
Hi, Bob. I’ve got a question. Thanks for taking my call.
SPEAKER 03 :
You’re welcome.
SPEAKER 01 :
I’ve got a question regarding Luke 10.10. A friend of mine and I, well, an acquaintance of mine at work, we were speaking about divorce and things just in general, and he mentioned that God strictly forbids remarrying after divorce, and he quoted Luke 10.10. I know it speaks of… Jesus is speaking to the… the priests and that, and they’re kind of testing him. Can you just kind of explain exactly what he means? Because I know that elsewhere in the Bible it talks about, you know, if you’re unequally yoked and the person who is not a believer decides to leave, then that person who was a believer and allowed that person to leave could remarry. And I’m just a little bit confused on that issue. Could you clear that up? And I’ll hang up because I’m driving, and I don’t really want to drive and talk on the phone.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. Well, Ralph, number one, Luke 10.10 has nothing to do with what you’re talking about there. That’s another part of Scripture besides Luke 10.10. But when Jesus was talking about divorce, again, did God want divorce to come into existence? No. Did he want sin to come into existence? No. Did he want death to come into existence? No. No. He didn’t want any of those things to come into existence. But when Adam fell and we all are born into this world in Adam and sin entered in the world, all of these things are certainly able to take place. And what Jesus was dealing with is the leaving of your wife in order to cleave to another person that is the same as committing adultery. The piece of paper that you sign has no meaning when you’ve left your mate in order to marry another. And that’s what he’s saying is that’s the same as living in adultery. But again, I have to ask the question of people is, all right, let’s say that you are living in adultery. Let’s say that you’re married and living in adultery or having an adulterous relationship. Has that sin been taken away at the cross or hasn’t it? And that’s what we have to ask ourselves is, has that sin been placed behind the back of God never to see it again or hasn’t it? And so is that the sin that’s going to send a person to hell? And the issue is, no, it is not, because that sin, as with all sins, were placed behind the back of God never to see it again at the cross where there he who knew no sin became sin for you and me so that in him we could become the righteousness of God and that he not only died for our sins but the sins of the entire world back to Adam forward to all eternity so the issue is that Jesus took away the sins of the world, including divorce, or including adultery, or including stealing, or any of the other sins that we recognize as sin, were all taken away at the cross. Now, where are those sins, where was that reconciliation that was given to the world received? It’s received in the resurrected life of Christ Jesus. It’s received when a person comes to understand that what Jesus was teaching is true from the vantage point of pure righteousness. But it’s also true that no man will ever be declared righteous in the sight of God through obedience to the law, period. And so all of us, that’s why he came to die for us. That’s why he went to a cross for us was because we had no chance in the world of ever being reconciled to God by anything that we can do or not do. No man will ever live a sinless life except Christ Jesus on this earth. And so we have to understand the truth of that. And so we come to Christ by faith. Now, to a lost person, he is not going to go to hell because he’s remarried or divorced. He’s going to go to hell only because he’s rejected the Son of God and what God did to save him. Because there’s no other way to be saved except through Christ Jesus. And so he came to this earth to take away the cause of spiritual death, which is sin. Having taken away the cause of spiritual death, he’s now there to offer you spiritual life that can only come through the resurrection of Christ Jesus. That’s why we don’t come to Christ to get our sins forgiven. We come to Christ to get life. And in that life, it says, we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Where is the forgiveness of sins to be found? In the resurrected life of Christ Jesus. And so to the lost person, they’re not going to go to hell because they’ve been divorced or because they’re committing adultery or stealing or whatever else we’re dealing with. Those are just the filthy five, the nasty nine. But I can think of other sins like worry. And jealousy and pride, all of those things are sins comparable to any of the biggies. But the person will go to hell for rejecting the salvation that was offered to him by God through his son, Jesus Christ. That’s the only way, the only reason that a person will ever not obtain eternal life in Christ is because they’ve rejected eternal life in Christ. Now to the saved person, you’re dealing with a person who now has come to Christ by faith, placed his faith in the cross of Christ that took away the sins of the world, including his own, and came to him as the only solution to spiritual death and that spiritual life. And now he’s alive in Christ Jesus. To them, there is no condemnation awaiting those who belong to Christ Jesus. For the condemnation of God in regard to sin is death. And that’s why it goes ahead to say, For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death. We have crossed over from death to life, from darkness to the kingdom of God. And we’re in Christ Jesus now eternally. Now, what does it have to say on this side of the cross in regard to how to live your life? He’s now saying to us that you’re a child of the living God, and I’ve made you into a new creation. If any man be in Christ, he’s a brand new creation. Old things have passed away. The old covenant is over, and all things have become new. You’re living under a brand new covenant of the grace of God. And now there’s instructions to us. Avoid sexual immorality. That’s not if you don’t, you’re going to get zapped because the zapping has already occurred to Christ Jesus. But it’s saying this is how you live as a new creature. It’s like a worm or a caterpillar being metamorphosized into a butterfly. And now he’s going to teach you how to live as a butterfly. He isn’t going to teach you how to live as a worm anymore. You’re not a worm. You’re a butterfly. And you may crawl down on the ground and act like a worm again. But if you do, he’s going to teach you as a butterfly. He isn’t going to try to teach you how to live as a worm any longer. You’re no longer that creation. You’re a new creation in Christ. He’s going to teach you how to live. And so the teachings of Christ Jesus that were before the new covenant, because the new covenant went into effect at the death of Jesus. We’re teaching to show man that as hard as you may try, there’s no way in the world that you’re going to obtain righteousness through your own behavior. And so people were saying, well, I’ve divorced my wife because she cooked the supper or burnt the supper, which is exactly what you could do back in those days. And he was saying, no, if you leave your wife for another person, it’s the same as adultery. What did he say that for? In order to show a person that I have had it, I am sinful, I am dead, and I need the cross that’s going to be provided for me when Jesus went to the cross and to his resurrection. And so as a new creature in Christ, he’s giving us instructions on how to live as a new creature in Christ. And like I say, that instruction is all through the Scripture as to how to walk in love. When you’re walking in love, you will not be fulfilling the desires of the flesh. And also in regard to marriage on the situation that you are dealing with, Paul gives us the instruction to that. If you are a child of God and you’re married to someone who does not want to be a child of God, does not want you to be a child of God, cannot stand to be around people who are children of God, it says let them go because God wants you to live in peace. Let them go. And so you can argue with on any side of that you want to, but that’s exactly what he says. Now, again, what if you don’t let them go? Are you any more righteous in the sight of God because you haven’t let someone go that you can’t stand to live with? That you’re sitting there every day of your life gagging down your meal at night because you can’t stand to look across to the old bag that you’re married to? Is that honorable? A person sitting there saying, man, I’d give anything in the world if I could get out of this thing, but I’m not going to. I’m sticking it in for Jesus. Do anybody think that’s impressive to God? You see, the issue that we fail to come to grips with is God has dealt and judged all of those things already. And he judged it at the cross. And what he’s dealing with today is I’m going to teach you how to live as a butterfly. And so he says in regard to marriage, if you’re married and you’re married to a Christian, hang in there. Work it out. If you’ll trust me, I’ll work out your problems together for you. If you’ll trust me. Don’t do it resentfully. Do it joyfully. That we’re in a jam and you watch me go to work. If it doesn’t work, is God going to zap you again? No, he is not. No, he is not. But the issue is that if you want total happiness and joy in your life, then what he’s saying to us is stay in there. On the other hand, he’s saying, again, if you’re married to a non-Christian who doesn’t want to be around a Christian, doesn’t want to live with you, hates what you are, let him go. And so those are the instructions. And what we have done today is beat people over the death and over the head and almost call divorce the unpardonable sin. And nothing can be further from the truth. The only sin attributable to man is the sin of the rejection of the Son of God who came and loved us and gave himself for us so that he could give his life to us. Well, brother, I hope that helps. And God bless you for your call.
SPEAKER 02 :
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SPEAKER 03 :
Denver, Colorado, listening on KLTT. Mike, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hi, Bob. How are you? I’m doing fine, Mike. Oh, good. Thanks for taking my call. You’re sure welcome, brother. Bob, I’ve been listening to you for a little over a year now, almost every night on my way home from work, and I’ve ordered and read your book, Classic Christianity, so I’m not a new listener or new to your teaching, and I thank you very much for your teaching, by the way. You’re welcome. I have a question, or I guess it’s more I need your help on answering a question, or I need your advice on something that I just can’t seem to break out of this circular argument that a person I work with that’s what I guess I’d call a religious fanatic versus a Christian, makes an argument, and it’s a catch-22, and it has to do with losing your salvation. I know this is your favorite topic. Losing your salvation and the inability to save yourself. But I don’t know how to talk to this person to break out of this argument.
SPEAKER 03 :
But he’s teaching you can lose.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 03 :
What God said is eternal. He says it’s not eternal.
SPEAKER 05 :
You’re right.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, what you’re dealing with there, Mike, is an unbeliever. You’re dealing with a person who cannot be a believer denying what Jesus meant, what he said when he said it’s finished, denying that God gave us eternal life, not temporal life. You’re dealing with a person that is denying the truth of the Word of God. and yet doing so with religious jargon when he’s as lost as a goose. You cannot be saved and deny what God said is true. So we are dealing with a lost person, and with a lost person, the only thing you can do is to continue to give them truth. I would ask a person like that for the sake of trying to get them saved. Bob, may I? Go ahead.
SPEAKER 05 :
If we go, what I wanted to do is talk about the Bible and what it says. The problem, or what I’m having trouble with is the one unpardonable sin is unbelief in Christ. And a couple weeks ago you had a tape broadcast, and I think it said that sin is the root of unbelief. And so, therefore, this is the argument, if you continue to sin, even though you’re forgiven for those sins, if you continue to sin, then that is unbelief. And then you go back to the first unpardonable sin.
SPEAKER 03 :
No, no, no, it’s not unbelief. It’s unbelief in Jesus. The only sin that’s attributable to man is unbelief in the saving work of Christ Jesus. It’s not if he thinks that this man is dooming himself to hell, Mike, this argument, because unless he thinks he’s without sin, then he’s going to hell. So he’s condemning himself by his own stupid theology. The issue is that did the cross take away the cause of spiritual death or didn’t it? That’s as simple as that. Did Jesus take away the sins of the world from the eyes of God? If he did, why did he do that? Because the wages of sin is death. And had he not taken away the cause of death, why would he offer you life? So in order to give you eternal life, he had to eternally deal with the cause of death.
SPEAKER 05 :
Which is sin. Which is sin. But if sin is the root of unbelief…
SPEAKER 03 :
Mike, that kind of argument doesn’t make any sense. Listen, the unbelief they’re talking about is unbelief in the finished work of Christ. It’s not unbelief in what I do. It’s unbelief in Jesus. The world’s sin is unbelief in Jesus. That’s the world’s sin, unbelief in Jesus, period. It’s not the nasty nine, the dirty dozen. It’s unbelief in Jesus and what Jesus came to do. What did Jesus come to do? Take away the sins of the world from the eyes of God. He didn’t take away your and my sins. He took our sins away from the eyes of God. It was, to a degree, atonement was a temporary covering. But the taking it away is an eternal taking it away. You could look at it as an eternal covering from God’s eyes. So that God has seen sin. He had his son to die to take away that sin as his sacrifice was of such a value that that God could say propitiation has taken place, meaning I am satisfied with that sacrifice. The preciousness of my son’s blood was such that it covered and took away the sins of the entire world. That’s sins, plural. The sin, therefore, that cannot be forgiven is a rejection of that act. And therefore, the world’s sin, singular, is unbelief in the completed work of Christ.
SPEAKER 05 :
So in his argument, he’s almost committing the one unpardonable sin.
SPEAKER 03 :
Absolutely. Without question, he’s doing exactly what Hebrews said, treating as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him and literally making a mockery of the cross of Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. He’s in trouble. I’ll go with him with that. He’s in deep trouble because the issue is that you’ve got to deal with what the gospel is. The gospel is what’s enabled you and me to be saved. Saved from what? The wages of sin, which is death. And the only way that the wages of sin, which is death, can be corrected is is by the resurrected life of Christ Jesus. And the only reason that that resurrected life is called eternal life, not temporal, is because of the eternal consequence of the cross, where he took away everything from the sight of God. Let’s go to Eugene, Oregon. Let’s go on KORE. Patty, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 04 :
Hi. Yeah, my question is on depression. I really like your tape series. And my son has been diagnosed with bipolar. Excuse me. And he seems a little more extreme than what I have been. And I wondered if those tapes would help him or if it’s different when it’s… Well, Patty, here’s the situation.
SPEAKER 03 :
I don’t know. Is your son a child of God? Is he a born-again believer?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, no. No.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay, there’s his problem.
SPEAKER 04 :
He doesn’t have a relationship.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, so there’s his problem. And so that’s where you must start because, again, if you’re a Christian, it says do not seek the counsel of the ungodly, and I don’t think you went to a Christian counselor and got a diagnosis of being bipolar.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
I have to ask you a question. What does bipolar mean?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, they say that it’s where you have these depressions and then you have these manic moods where I’ve seen it happen where he gets all zipped up and hyped up. You know, and he can’t sleep for several days.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, now what kind, again, I will guarantee you he’s on some kind of medication.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, he’s done this when he’s not on medication.
SPEAKER 03 :
To those extremes? You see, Patty, when you’re talking about this stuff, all of these put names on things for only one reason. The only reason you put a name on something is to be able to medicate it.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
Don’t tell me bipolar. If you have a kid, number one, that is going from highs and lows, I would say that probably 95% is the diet that they’re on, probably drinking Cokes and all kinds of soft drinks that can cause that type of thing. Sugar highs, as you well know, you can get on. And all of those things can be related to diet. Yeah. And what a person needs is not a shrink, but they need a good nutritionist many times to just get a diet that is not causing those physical things that are taking place. But this idea of mood swings and this type of thing, you can get into depression. And as we say, what causes depression? thinking depressing thoughts uh and and you think depressing thoughts and you’re going to be depressed yeah it doesn’t matter how deep you get into depression that’s all in relationship to your unrealistic expectations but it’s the issue that you get depressed because you’re thinking depressing thoughts and when you get into a so-called high you’ve got to you’ve got to describe that um but i’ll guarantee you patty that the majority of the cases, and I’ve seen numerous cases like this, where a child was on Cokes, they’re given soft drinks, they drink soft drinks all the time, go to a restaurant and order soft drinks. That kind of stuff is what causes these things. There are chemicals in there that have drugs in them to cause that type of thing. And so the first thing that I would want to do with a kid like that is, number one, the first thing I’d want to do is get them to the Lord. And the second thing I’d want to do is I’d get them to a good nutritionist and try to get that child on a diet and try that for 30 days and see if that doesn’t cure these highs and lows.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I’m sure you’re probably right, but he’s actually 33 years old, so he’s an adult. We tried to bring him to the Lord, but you know how the Lord has to do that. But he did go to a naturopath, and he seemed like he was really trying for a while to, you know, get off, you know, just to eat better and get off foods that he might be allergic to and stuff. But he still had these highs where he couldn’t. He had a really hard time sleeping, and I don’t know, he got real energetic and I don’t know, and then the depression, but it’s probably lots of things.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, again, we know that there are drugs that people take and who take street drugs or getting it from a doctor’s office. It doesn’t make any difference where you get it. They’re drugs where you can stay up for days and weeks.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
And you don’t sleep. Why? That’s what the drug does.
SPEAKER 04 :
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER 03 :
And so, again, I have no idea because I’m not there to know or to question him or could I get an honest answer out of him. If I did, I don’t know that. But the issue is I would just venture to say that he’s on some type of drugs that have psychedelic qualities to them that are producing those extreme highs. That’s what drugs do.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay. So, anyway, I guess my question was, about the tapes, Victory Over Depression. So you think they help any type of depression if someone… Oh, absolutely.
SPEAKER 03 :
Those things will help any kind of depression at all if a person will listen to them and if they will apply them. And if your son is open to listening to truth that’s going to come out of the Scripture, why, he can be helped. If he won’t, why, he’s not going to be helped.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, okay. Well, thank you, Bob. I know I’ve gotten a lot of good out of those tapes, and my husband has too. And even when we’re not depressed, we think it’s just really good just for life.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and I think that is very true, Patty, that those tapes are not necessarily for a crisis situation but for preventive because all of us are going to run into situations sometime in our life where, we’re going to get depressed over something. That’s just natural. And it’s very preventive rather than once you’re into a crisis, then trying to break the crisis. If you can get prepared for those things, you never run into a crisis.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay. Well, thanks very much.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I hope it works for you, Patty, and you keep us posted. And if we can be of any help, let us know on that. But I would give it a try. I would see if he’ll listen to the tapes.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I’ll try. I’ll look around and see if I can find these. And if I can’t, I’ll order the CDs.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay. It sounds great, Patty.
SPEAKER 02 :
All right. Thanks very much. God bless you. Bye-bye. Until next time, walk in faith, be good to one another, and praise the Lord. Amen.
SPEAKER 04 :
Put Jesus first in your life and turn your life around.
