In this enlightening episode of Classic Christianity Radio, Bob George addresses common and complex questions from listeners about faith and doctrine. Tune in as Bob provides insightful answers to concerns ranging from predestination, wrath, and salvation to the divine nature of Christ and the role of mercy in Christianity. Discover how these foundational issues are clarified through biblical teachings as Bob emphasizes the importance of leaving revenge and wrath to God, reflecting the essence of Christ’s teachings.
00:00:01 Introduction to Classic Christianity Radio
00:00:48 Discussion on Romans 12:19 and Wrath of God
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 Hollywood, California, listening on Kaybright. Blake, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 07 :
Hi, Bob. How are you?
SPEAKER 03 :
Fine, Blake.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, it’s great to be on with you. Appreciate your ministry so much.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, thanks, Blake.
SPEAKER 07 :
I’ll get to my question. We have a, there’s a fellow on the radio here, a talk show host, who was kind of proposing the question about Revelation chapter, excuse me, Romans chapter 12, in verse 19, where it talks about leaving room for God’s wrath. And he was saying, hey, if, if, the price for sin has been completely paid, and if God is not angry anymore, if there’s no more wrath, then he’s saying, well, why is that verse there? And he had pointed to a verse in Thessalonians also, and he seemed to be saying, you know, that there is wrath left. And almost like he was saying, maybe the wrath’s been taken away for the chosen, you know, predestined ones, but there’s a lot of wrath being stored up for those who haven’t been chosen, who aren’t, you know, It was confusing, and I just thought I’d get your perspective on it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, Blake, in the first place, there isn’t anyone who was chosen. When you’re talking about choice and you’re talking about predestination in the Bible, you’ve got to read the Bible to understand what that is. And it’s talking about Jew and Gentile. It has nothing to do with you’re chosen, but I’m not. Yeah. It has to do with the fact that it was God’s foreknowledge and his predestined will that the Gentiles would come to Christ and be conformed into the image of Christ by faith in the same way that the Jew would also come by faith. That doctrine of choosing that God chose you, but he didn’t choose me, To me, it’s the most ludicrous doctrine on the face of the earth, and it also is an insult to the character of God. So the chosen, to say that someone was chosen in advance for salvation, and therefore someone is chosen not for salvation, is about as opposite of the teaching of the Word of God as anything that I know about. But the Gentiles were chosen to be saved. That was an unthinkable thought to the Jew. that the Gentiles and their heathenistic practices could be saved the same way that the Jew could, and that God was going to make one new man out of the two, both Jew and Gentile, slave and free, will now be one man, and that’s a child of the living God. That’s such good news, and it’s so unifying to know. So when you’re talking about the wrath of God, the wrath of God is death. And so all this is dealing with is not for us to be sitting around thinking about the wrath of God, but to don’t take revenge on people. Don’t repay evil for evil and be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. It’s the same thing that Jesus said is in the last day. You try to go out and to pull out as you have many, many Christian people trying to do today is deal with the. with the wheat and the tares, then go out and try to rip the tares out. We’re going to be God’s hoe down here. And so we’re going to go down and take all the tares out of here and make sure that there aren’t any tares around. He said when you pull those up, you’re going to pull the wheat up along with it. And so that’s why I said it’s not for us to do that. God will make that judgment. And so the whole issue is for us not to take revenge. Leave that for God’s wrath. In other words, if there’s wrath that’s going to be taken care of, let God take care of that. We should not be assuming God’s role and taking wrath out on people that we think are not doing what we think they ought to be doing. It’s mine to avenge, Jesus said. I will repay, says the Lord. So get out of his business and let God do the work. Yeah, that’s really what it’s talking about. Not whether there’s wrath and how much it’s going to be, but if there is, let God take care of it. If there’s going to be a wrath, let God do it, not you. So see the whole context. Your enemy’s there, hungry, feed him. If he’s thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you’ll heap burning coals on his head. And don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. The whole context here is not how mad God is. Or what is His wrath going to be? The issue is, if there’s going to be any, leave it to God. Get out of the business, out of God’s business, and leave it to Him.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, that completely makes sense and helps. If I could just ask something, I mean, do you think it… I guess for me it’s also a little confusing just… I noticed in my NIV it used the word leaving room for God’s wrath, and I’ve heard you say that in… That’s just death as a result of sin is that wrath. And once we’re in Christ, that’s removed.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, we know that there’s no more punishment for those who are in Christ Jesus. We do know that Christ took away the sins of the world and took the punishment for the entire world’s sins upon himself. And he not only died for our sins, but the sins of the whole world. So as far as punishment for sins, that went upon Christ. But the wages of sin is death, and we’re born in that condition of spiritual death. A person that does not receive life will remain under the wrath of God, which is death.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay, that makes sense.
SPEAKER 03 :
So again, we don’t have to take… We don’t have to go out and try to kill people on our own and try to annihilate people. I’ve said before there’s so much of that taking place today where the Christian world has forgotten what Jesus came to do, and that’s extend mercy. And we’re out trying to rip people up and trying to annihilate them and shooting our wounded and thinking we’re doing something for God. Instead of leaving that up to him. Look what Nicodemus said when they were going to crucify Jesus and beat him up. He said, look, if this man is of God, is not of God, he won’t last. But if he is, then we’d better stay away from him. Well, it’s the same thing. How do we know? And we see people out there kicking people off of radio and everything else and television or whatever it might be because we don’t think they’re as holy. as they are, or this person has gone through a problem of some kind, so we’re out there annihilating them. How do we justify that in the name of Christ? To the world, they look on that and say, they’re as vindictive as we are. But if they saw mercy, and they saw that type of thing extended, they’d say, hey, there’s something I’d like to be a part of. So when we’re out trying to play God and punish everyone who does wrong, when, if everyone got punished for doing wrong, there wouldn’t be anyone left, would there? And so that’s where Jesus said, he said, you hypocrite, why are you trying to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye when you’ve got a log in your own? And we have to understand those things, and we have to realize that God called us to be merciful, and he called us to be kind. and called us to be forgiving, and called us to be people to reconcile one another, not to annihilate each other. Go to a person with an attitude of restoration rather than condemnation. And so that’s all he’s saying. If there’s going to be revenge, if there’s going to be wrath, leave that up to God. That’s his business, not yours.
SPEAKER 07 :
That’s great. Well, that really does help out. And as usual, I mean, just such a blessing to have your ministry. Thank you.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, you’re welcome, brother. God bless you now. Okay. Good to talk to you, Blake. Bye-bye now. Let’s go to Hanford, California, listening on KERI. Howard, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hello.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hi, Howard.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, I’ve been intending to call for years, I guess. That’s the first time caller for me.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, we’re glad to hear from you, brother.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, thank you. I admired your program for so many years and so long, and I… I seem like I could never get around to calling you, but I just decided I better do it today. In any event, I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your program, how wonderful it’s been, and the blessings it’s been for me. And I’m an old guy, and I’m retired and sitting here in a chair, so I can’t do very much anymore, and I can’t contribute like I’d like to. But I wanted to tell you that the program has been so wonderful for me. And it’s provided a blessing that maybe someday when you get old time, you’ll appreciate what you’re doing for me.
SPEAKER 03 :
How old are you, Howard? Eighty-five. Eighty-five. Well, that’s getting up there. I got a few years to go on that, not a lot.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. Well, I’m fighting off this 100 thing, but I don’t know how long that’s going to last. In any event, the Lord knows and I don’t.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, it’s wonderful to know that we’ve been a blessing to you, Howard, and yours certainly is a blessing to us. And I tell people so many times, don’t worry about… the amounts that, uh, people can give to support a ministry because, uh, it says in the scripture to give in accordance to what you have, not what you don’t have. And, uh, we just appreciate when people can do anything. And, uh, we’re so again, don’t ever feel bad about that. Uh, I, said before that if my thumb was in a cast why the other four fingers would have to make up for it yeah and uh then when my thumb gets well my why my ring finger may get broken and the other are going to make up for that so we uh god has a way of doing that and we thank god for it yeah his program has blessed me in lots of ways i want to tell you about uh classic christianity has been uh such a big thing for me i
SPEAKER 05 :
I bought three or four of your books, four or five of them, I guess, and tried to make amuse, do something, you know, and so my wife’s sister had been ill for several years, actually, and she had had a troubled youth, and her mother couldn’t keep up with her when she was just a young person, and as time went by, she got, you know, farther down the line than And so she developed cancer, and she got to be in the hospital. And before she went, though, I got the classic Christianity and went over to her house and told her, I said, I’d like for you to read this. And I don’t want you to read it once. I want you to read it twice. I want you to soak up all you can get out of this book. And so she said, I’ll do that. I promise you, I’ll do it. So sometime later, I went to the hospital where she was and told her that I appreciated what she’d done. And she said, well, I have done everything I could. And I said, you just put everything in the hands of Jesus, and you’re going to be all right. And she had in her book, she’d made some notes. I’m a child of God. And she was not before that. And I said, I’m a child of God. And she said, several references on different chapters in the book that had been in there during the end of classical Christianity. And so she had all these things written down in numbers and so forth. So when she passed on, I wanted to give the book to her brother, wife’s brother. Well, he didn’t He tried to read it. I said, I don’t think I can absorb that. It just don’t go with me. And I felt so bad about that. But anyway, I had the book. I wanted him to return it to me, so I wanted to keep those notes because they were quite precious to me.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I can imagine.
SPEAKER 05 :
But in any event, as time went by, he had sort of a miniature stroke, I guess you might say. He had a seizure. And he had some physical problems for quite a while, and he’s never really come around to doing anything. And I’ve also had another… Actually, it’s my wife’s daughter. She’s a stepdaughter for me, but she’s the same as my daughter. And… So I wanted her to read this book, and maybe she could get something, and she could get a blessing from it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
And so she said, well, you know, don’t give up on me.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, well, that’s why.
SPEAKER 05 :
I just don’t have time to read it, and I just can’t do it. Well, so I kept trying, and so after a while, she finally decided she’d go to the Catholic Church, and she’d go once in a while to that. But I could never really get next to her on the thing, and… And so I’ve tried to do a little missionary work, but I never could quite get it done because I can’t speak about things like you can. But in any event, I’ve got to thinking maybe possibly a good solution for me would be to have maybe if you’ve got a tape or just a tape on the… But the gospel, it’s just outlining the gospel, what it is, and explain it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. Well, I’ll tell you what I’m going to do, Howard. I’m going to put you on hold and let you talk to our counselor off air, and they’ll be able to go over some ideas with you on that, and we’ll be more than happy, whatever you pick, to send it to you, okay? Fine. I appreciate your time. All right, my brother. You hang on now. Thank you. Bye-bye. Thanks, Howard.
SPEAKER 01 :
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 04 :
I just wanted to ask you a question about the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization. I’m not calling just trying to discredit the organization because I’ve studied with them before. And I just have a lot of things right now that I’m dealing with with them. And the thing about one thing is that it seems like they discredit Jesus Christ’s teaching because in the Old Testament they talked about Jehovah God more than they talk about him in the New Testament now.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, they deny the deity of Christ, and that’s where you may as well not. Not even listen to them. You know, Maurice, if there’s something that you and I live by in nature, if your premise is off, your findings are going to be off. If you go to a doctor, as an example, and he examines you, and he has the premise that you have tuberculosis, where in fact you don’t have tuberculosis, he’ll probably kill you with his medication. Because his premise is off, your findings are going to be off. That’s a rule we live by. And so when your premise is off that Jesus Christ is not God, Everything is going to be off. All of your findings are going to be off, and that is certainly true in Jehovah’s Witness teaching. So whenever you have people who spend their lives going around calling on people in order to convince them that Jesus Christ is not God, you have the teaching of the Antichrist. There’s no question about that. That is the teaching of Antichrist. And so when you’re dealing with someone who is in that category, the last thing you want to do is to sit down and to acknowledge them or to, in any way, shape, or form, become involved with them. Because when you’re going to be studying a Bible, you’re not going to be studying it from the vantage point of truth. You’re going to be studying it from the vantage point of their persuasion, and their persuasion is based on the premise that Jesus isn’t God, and everything else they’re convinced of is also going to be wrong. That’s why they hang out in the Old Testament instead of the New, just like you said.
SPEAKER 04 :
So I know that in the Old Testament, they used the word Jehovah for God. But in the New Testament, they used Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, well, they don’t acknowledge him. They do not acknowledge that at all, that Jesus is God. And there’s ways that you’ve got a lot of things about Jehovah’s Witness people. I used to bring them into the house in order to keep them off the street. But they won’t pray with you. They don’t know how to pray. It’s just a strange teaching. They brainwash their people and they go out and totally brainwashed and go out and try to convince people of this doctrine that that has been in error ever since it began. There was a time in their history where they told everybody that the 144,000 were 144,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses, and those were the only ones going to heaven. Now, they kept that up until their membership exceeded 144,000. Then they had to change it. So there’s been so much in that denomination that has been changed and messed around that it isn’t even worth talking about. But I always think that… In the Revelation, in chapter 22, you have them where they would identify where it says earlier in Revelation that I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, says Jehovah God. So I acknowledge that. Let’s read that together. It says Jehovah God said. Then you go back to the 22nd chapter of Revelation, verse 12. Behold, I’m coming soon. My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Now, I say, now, who is this according to you, Jehovah God? Okay. Blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have the right to the tree of life and go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs who practice magic, arts, sexually immoral, murders, idolaters, everyone who are lovers. and practice falsehood. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give to you the testimony of the churches. I am the root, the offspring of David, and the bright morning star. It identifies by the name Jesus, who is the Alpha and Omega, and the beginning and the end. It identifies him by name. And yet they will look at that and change their Bible.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay, is it true that in the New Testament, okay, where they have inserted the word Jehovah, From my understanding, the word Jehovah is not in the New Testament at all.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and again, what would make any difference if it is? Jesus is God. You know, God revealed himself in the person of Jesus Christ, and we just have to go with that. That’s who God is. And God revealed God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And the word God is in the Old Testament. There’s many names for it. Elohim is the name of God in the Old Testament. There’s numerous names for God in the Old Testament. God of healing, there’s all, you know, I don’t know all of them, but there are hundreds, there are literally hundreds of names that God has used. The word Elohim, in the beginning, God, Elohim, created the heavens and the earth. So it’s nonsensical what they teach. The issue is God came to reveal himself to us in the person of Christ Jesus, and they deny that Jesus is God, and when you’re dealing with someone Denying that Jesus is God, they have nothing to say to you and me as a Christian.
SPEAKER 04 :
I understand what you’re saying. Thanks very much, Bob.
SPEAKER 03 :
You’re sure welcome, my brother. God bless you, pal. Bye. Bye-bye now. Let’s go to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, listening on WLVJ. Renita, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 02 :
Good evening.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hi, Renita.
SPEAKER 02 :
How are you?
SPEAKER 03 :
Fine, thanks.
SPEAKER 02 :
I had a question. I recently made a pledge to a Christian religious entity. I’m not going to name any names, but it was a sizable amount, which I don’t have. I did pay 10% of the amount that I pledged, and I want to know if I now have misgivings about their actual intent and who they profess to be, do I still have to fulfill that obligation to that pledge that I made?
SPEAKER 03 :
Renita, I feel this way that, number one, to answer your question, no, you don’t. You have no obligation to do any one of those things. You made a pledge to someone based on information that you have found that you don’t agree with. And I think what I would do with them is just merely say that you have come into contact with some things that you don’t agree with and what they’re teaching and therefore will not be fulfilling your pledge.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 03 :
I know that I feel that way in our ministry, that if someone would make a pledge to us, we don’t have very many people doing that, although there are a number of people that are members of the Lifeline, which is a commitment to a certain amount per month to the ministry in order to keep it going. But if a person changed their mind and didn’t agree with what we were teaching overall, now I think if they were nitpicking over something, whether Jesus is coming back tomorrow or the next day, well, then that’s a little. And we’ve also had people who said they’re going to cut out support because I was a little nippy with someone on the air, and I feel like saying, give me a break. You know, have you ever had a bad day? So, you know, when people do that, I just have to say, well, there’s something wrong with your head. And in that regard, to withdraw the support of the work of the Lord because somebody had a bad day. I think a lot of times people forget about our ministry, that we’re alive. We’ve been alive for seven years, 17 years on the air. And when you’re live every day, some days you have a good day, some days you’ve got a bad day. Right. And people don’t understand that. You know, you may have had a fight with your wife before you got here or something. You don’t know what’s going on, but people have good days and bad days and don’t expect a perfect day out of a person every day of their lives. It just doesn’t happen that way. But if somebody doesn’t agree, if you don’t agree with what a person is teaching, I think you have every right in the world to just merely say that that’s what it is and you’re not going to fulfill your pledge. No problem with that at all.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay, thank you very much. Does that help? Oh, yes, definitely. Is there any scripture or anything in the Bible that I can refer to that maybe can help in that respect or no?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I think in the Bible it says don’t pledge, period.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 03 :
It says don’t swear by, don’t swear, don’t do this. Just let your yes be yes and your no be no.
SPEAKER 06 :
Uh-huh.
SPEAKER 03 :
But on the other hand, if your yes was yes and you found out that you were saying yes to something that you didn’t understand fully and you’ve come to now understand it, well, then it’s time to say no.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 02 :
All right. Thank you very much.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay, Renita.
SPEAKER 02 :
God bless you.
SPEAKER 03 :
Good to talk to you, too. Bye-bye. Lubbock, Texas. Lizzie on KJAC. Wayne, you’re on the air. Good evening, Bob. How are you, Wayne?
SPEAKER 08 :
I’m fine. Thank you. I listen to your program Friday, your teaching session, and I listen very carefully. And my question is, I want to know what happens to the people who died before Christ came. And I know there’s people waiting to get on the air, so I can listen off the air or whatever.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, it doesn’t make any difference. You say, what happened to them? What do you mean? How were they saved? Yeah, right. They were saved just like Abraham was. They believed the revelation. from God that had been revealed at that time, which certainly was not the fullness of Christ, and it was credited to them as righteousness. So there was no one that was spiritually regenerated as you are today. That never took place until the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came on people for service, but could leave them as well. So the Old Testament saints, whoever was credited as righteousness, were in a holding pattern. And in that holding pattern, after Christ went to the cross, it says that he went and announced to them that the price had been paid. So I said people were saved on a credit card. They got to enjoy the furniture, but it hadn’t been paid for yet. And that’s how Old Testament people were saved. They were saved on a credit. It credited to them. And after Christ died, it says that he went and announced to them that it is finished. It’s been paid for. And it said he led the captive captive, led them into paradise. So people were saved by faith the same way. Faith in what had been revealed. Only at that time as to what had been revealed to them by God, they believed God and it was credited to them as righteousness.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. So it didn’t have anything to do with how many lambs they sacrificed or anything like that?
SPEAKER 03 :
Not a thing. In that lineup of faith in Hebrews, there’s Rahab the prostitute.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. All right.
SPEAKER 03 :
You look at that and say, how’d she get in there? Say, I got a better idea. How’d I get in there? Yeah. Yeah. So it’s all by faith. They believe God, and God credited that to them as righteousness.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay, pal.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thanks a lot.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thanks, Wayne.
SPEAKER 01 :
Bye-bye. 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 06 :
Put Jesus first in your life and turn your life around.
