Join us on Classic Christianity Radio, where Bob George engages with callers from across the country tackling some of the deepest questions of faith. From understanding the implications of the New Testament’s silence on the death penalty to discussing salvation and church roles, Bob provides insightful answers that direct listeners to the heart of Christ. Whether it’s someone wrestling with their church community or questioning the application of Old Testament laws, Bob offers clarity and encourages a Christ-centered understanding.
00:00:01 Introduction to Classic Christianity Radio
00:00:48 Discussion on the New Testament and Death Penalty
00:06:18 Guidance on Spiritual Leadership in Church
00:08:13 Understanding Ecclesiastics and the Old Testament
00:14:36 Conversation with Richard: Family and Faith Challenges
00:18:33 Clarifying Hebrews and Assurance of Salvation
SPEAKER 01 :
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 02 :
Well, why don’t we go directly to our phones. I’ll go to Grovetown, Georgia. That’s a new one for me, listening on WGUN. Matt, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hey, Bob. Good to talk to you. How are you doing today?
SPEAKER 02 :
Thanks, Matt. Doing fine.
SPEAKER 03 :
I just wanted to ask you, what does the New Testament teach on the death penalty?
SPEAKER 02 :
It doesn’t, Matt. There isn’t anything mentioned in there that’s talking basically about national government things, and really the New Testament is talking about the yous and mes. So there really is nothing in there to deal with that subject.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 02 :
The Old Testament is pretty explicit on it, but nothing is really talked about in the New.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay, brother? All right. Thank you very much. Good to talk to you. Bye-bye. Bay City, Texas. Let’s go on KCTA. Joe, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 04 :
Hey, how you doing? Thank you very much. I just wanted to say real quick, not this last gentleman, but the one before that, that took the, I guess you’d call it the pulpit call when you led him into receiving Christ.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
That was awesome.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, it’s always an exciting time for all of us, including our listeners, when somebody comes to the Lord. That sure is.
SPEAKER 04 :
I come to you today to talk about something, and God just gave me that little treat. That was wonderful. It’s amazing how God will discern to you right away when a person is in need of being saved. They just don’t get it. One of the things about me, I want to ask you a question, just maybe your advice, but just real quick. I’m 61. My salvation was five years ago on a deer stand. That’s a story all to itself. But other than putting me in the Word and being hungry for the Word and God revealing things to me, he put me on your radio broadcast right away. And I want to tell you what, in these last five years, I’ve been maturing more and more, and everything that you talk about, about people living in error, is coming to roost. I don’t think highly of myself, but I tell you, right now, until somebody tells me difference, I don’t know if anybody in my church understands this, including the pastor.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
And it’s just astonishing.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, you could be right, Joe. There are many, many instances in my experience where that was true. The whole church, including a pastor, didn’t even know anything about salvation, let alone the fullness of the gospel.
SPEAKER 04 :
I know. In a Bible class, we talk about that, and people want to talk about when their salvation comes. They don’t understand that the instant you receive Christ is your salvation. And the instant you receive him, what you receive when you go to heaven is glorification. And what I keep running into, I have people tell me, so, well, Joe, that’s just your opinion. And I say, no, that’s what God says in the Bible. Paul is very descriptive about it’s the death, burial, and resurrection, that you have to receive Christ in your heart. And they want to tell me that they’ve got to ask for forgiveness.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. Every day. Well, then you can’t be saved because you haven’t exercised faith, have you?
SPEAKER 04 :
Right, right. And they say, well, they worry about judgment. And I’ll say, I’ll ask them, well, if Christ lives in you and he’s the judge, if he lives in you, why would he judge you?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. Yeah, and the Bible says there is no condemnation or judgment for those who are in Christ Jesus. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s what Paul says, and wrong with what, eight?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yep, but most people really don’t have the Word of God. Go ahead, Joe.
SPEAKER 04 :
I’m sorry. I could talk about this forever, but my question is, do you have any suggestions? I’m not leaving that church. I’ve been there 30 years. I was a bench warmer until five years ago. I love that church and love the people, and I think God’s got me there for a reason. I just need to be patient. And just plant some seeds.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, as long as you have the freedom in that church to do that, you have the freedom to teach if you wanted to and to teach truth if you wanted to. That’s what I would do. I’d try to get a little Bible study going either on Sunday or through the week, a home Bible study or a Sunday school class, and begin teaching a handful of people. That happened to me, and an entire church ultimately ended up being saved because of it, including the pastor. And so that’s what I would do. And as long as you have the ability and they don’t stop you from that, why, you hang in there. If it comes down to the point where they say you’re being a stumbling block of you either shutting up or going someplace else, you better go someplace else where you have the freedom to teach truth to people. But I would use the opportunity to use it as a place of ministry now. Well, thank you very much.
SPEAKER 04 :
I’m doing what they object right now. I’m doing it in the Sunday school class with the junior and senior highs. But I think once they find out, I might be gone.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, well, again, if they are, then, again, like anything else, I would challenge them to allow you the opportunity to whoever has objection to what you’re teaching to allow you to come and to explain what you’re teaching and then just use the Scripture. I’d recommend you get a hold of our little booklet that we have. I cannot emphasize that enough to people. It’s called A Spiritual Journey to Discover the Grace of God. All of the scriptures, quite frankly, almost every scripture that I ever have used for the 20-some years we’ve been on air is in this book. Spiritual Journey to what? To discover the grace of God. We’ll put you on hold, and it’s one we produced ourselves. I think it’s, what, only $6.
SPEAKER 04 :
I’ve read your classic Christianity two or three times and listened to it, and it’s been wonderful.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, all the scriptures in that, that’s there, and it’s all set apart for you. If you want to find out about the New Covenant, just turn to the New Covenant. If you want to find out law and grace, everything is there. Carry it in your Bible. carry it with you and then if the occasion comes up say if you if you’re willing to listen i’d like to come and to teach tell you why i’m teaching what i’m teaching and then let you make a determination whether you want me to continue or not good idea well thank you so much i love your i love your radio uh service and i love your website all the information and stuff in there it’s wonderful and uh keep doing it i know all right in your lives Well, thank you, my friend, and you keep it up too, my friend. It’s nothing that satisfies us anymore hearing from people like yourself, Joe. Okay. Okay, my friend. Bye-bye. We’re going to go to Pasadena, Texas. Let’s go on KCTA. Mark, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 05 :
I had a question on the book of Ecclesiastics, chapter 12, verse 13. It says, when all have been heard, the conclusion of the matter is, fear God and keep his commandments. Yesterday at the church, Tim, they were saying that this verse is for believers.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, how could a verse be for believers in the Old Testament? A believer is a person who has put his faith in Christ Jesus. Has anybody in the Old Testament put their faith in Christ Jesus? Nope. Well, then it certainly couldn’t be for believers. The Old Testament is for old covenant people. The Old Testament is a recording of man’s total failure. And when I say total failure, I mean with a capital T. Total failure to keep the commandments of God and of God’s goodness in the midst of it. But it was through the law, we’re told. The law is for the lost, we’re told. We know that whatever in Romans 3, whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law. And that’s so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. And therefore, no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law. Rather, through the law, we become conscious of sin. So what was the purpose of the law? To make us conscious of sin. The law is not for the righteous. It’s for the unrighteous, we’re told. And in 1 Timothy, it’s a statement. The law is made not for the righteous, not for the saved, but for the lost. So what we have done, Mark, it’s like a hammer hammered. that the manufacturer made the hammer basically for the purpose of putting into the hands of a trained carpenter and let him build something with it. But you put that same hammer into the hands of a murderer and he’ll hit you in the head and kill you. And that’s exactly what we have done with God’s law. The intent of it was to lead us to Christ, and we have used it as a hammer to keep people under a guilt trip and to teach the lie that you are to obey the law when it tells us that no man has ever done so except one, and his name is not Bob George or Mark, it’s Christ Jesus. And he was the one who kept the law. He is the one who fulfilled the law and then ushered in a covenant of grace where Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more. And where these have been forgiven, not will be, have been forgiven, there’s no more sacrifice for sins. That’s the good news of the gospel.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, but it’s not for salvation.
SPEAKER 02 :
It isn’t for you, period, Mark.
SPEAKER 05 :
No. I told them to Galatians, but they said that, That we still have to have a guideline, that’s what they said.
SPEAKER 02 :
No, it isn’t. How can you say that when it says, in James 2.10, whoever keeps the whole law and stumbles in one point is guilty of breaking all of it. Now, are you going to go before God saying that I’ve kept the whole law? Well, of course not. And it says no one will ever be declared righteous in the sight of God through obedience to the law, and these morons are still trying to keep it. And I call them a moron because evidently someplace down the line, you’re not studying the New Testament. You’re not studying that. What are you doing there? We are to be under a new covenant, and it’s called a covenant of grace. And a covenant of grace is what saves you from what it says in the book of Galatians 3.10. All who rely on observing the law are under a curse. Now here the Bible is telling us you’re under a curse. And they’re saying, you’ve got to keep obeying it. You can’t obey it. So that’s why Romans 10, 4 tells us Christ is the end of the law, period. It’s the end of the law. How come? So that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. Not everyone who obeys the law, because no man is going to be declared righteous through obedience to the law, but for the man who believes in the one who did, and that’s Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER 05 :
I’ll tell you what. I told them that they’re supposed to be led by the Spirit, not by the law.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, there you go. There you go. But you see, until you understand that truth, Mark, and until you are born again and indwelt by the Spirit, they don’t know what you’re talking about. And quite frankly, a person who has tried teaching what they’re teaching, they don’t know what you’re talking about. They have no awareness of being indwelt by the Spirit of God. In Romans 8.14 and in Galatians 5.18, two passages to Scripture that I think you have to put together. And here they are. Listen carefully to them, Mark. Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. So he said those who are led by the Spirit, which is what you’re just talking about, are sons of God. Those are the people that are the sons of God. And if you’re led by the Spirit, you’re not under the law. Now reverse that. If you’re under the law, you are not led by the Spirit, and if you’re not led by the Spirit, you’re not a son of God. So I have to look at these people. They are not being led by the Spirit. They have no awareness of the Spirit. That means, because they’re under the law, and that means that they’re not being led by the Spirit, which means they’ve never been born again. Mark, I hope that helps, brother. You call again, my friend.
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 02 :
We’re going to go to Abbotsford, British Columbia. Listen on Carrie. Richard, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hi, Bob George. Hi, Bob Davis. How are you doing today?
SPEAKER 02 :
Good, Richard. Richard.
SPEAKER 06 :
I talked to you a couple of weeks ago about my dad, and as we were talking about in the beginning of today’s show, people have a dependency. His dependency is on making money, and there’s a lot of the Bob George story in there, which you sent me a couple of weeks ago, and I listened to and gave it to him. His first reaction when I gave it to him was, the direct quote was, this is the last thing that I need. That’s what he said when I handed it to him. In other words, like, I’m just fine, everything’s okay. I think I’m perfectly okay as for Jesus and going to heaven, and don’t worry about me. And it’s true that only the individual themselves really knows whether they’re truly born again. Like, I know I am. I’m sure you’d agree that you know you are, and that sort of idea. But there’s just nothing that convinces me that George is born again, especially with the type of reaction I get. Now, I’m taking him in for some cancer treatments of sorts tomorrow, and I’m not sure whether to pursue this further. I don’t know what to do. Do you just take someone at face value when they tell you, don’t worry about me? You know, I’m just fine in the Lord when there’s just absolutely no external evidence of that? Or should I continue to pursue it? And what my concern is, am I going to turn him away? from anyone reaching out to him by almost pursuing it in a way that is upsetting and distressing to him.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, Richard, I cannot answer that question for you. You have to be sensitive to the Spirit of God and to be sensitive to what he’s leading you to do at any particular time. I obviously had the same type of a situation with my dad of, when do you stop talking and when do you start? And what I did with him, as you know, was to give him that book to read, which you have now done to your father. And if he has read it and he thinks everything’s okay, I would leave it at that and kind of begin conversations as if he’s okay and just see what happens. You know, in your conversation saying that great dad to know that you’re, you know, when we die, we’re going to be absent from the body and present with the Lord and doesn’t have anything to do with what we do, but had everything to do with Jesus did. Isn’t that wonderful? You know, talk, talk to him as if he knows.
SPEAKER 06 :
So instead of.
SPEAKER 02 :
appearing as a confrontation appear as a reassurance oh yeah yeah absolutely uh go go into conversations on that as man dad you know sometimes i sit back and i wake up in the morning and what comes into my mind is thank god for jesus because otherwise i’d be a goner and uh it you know and don’t you find that to be true and those type things just in other words approach it as if he he knows the lord and if he’s mature the lord and you’re just talking about things the lord together
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, that’s good advice, because that’s something I hadn’t actually thought of. When people get on a point in their life where it looks as if their life and flesh is about to be terminated, it’s really easy. And I’m sure the wicked one has a lot to do with it. It’s really easy to get into a pity party, I guess is the word we use, where everybody feels sorry for everybody else. And maybe that’s part of what’s going through my head is I’m trying to both feel sorry for him and be angry at him by trying to force him to listen to me. Yeah, that’s good advice. I haven’t thought of that, and thank you very much for that advice. I think that’s what I’ll do to proceed.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, just from now on in your conversations, you know, it’s kind of like, gee, Dad, thanks for assuring me that you’re okay, and now let’s talk about the Lord. Yeah, just talk about as if he knows.
SPEAKER 06 :
Good advice, Bob.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay, brother?
SPEAKER 07 :
Very much, okay.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay, Richard. Bless you now. Hi, Wade.
SPEAKER 07 :
I’ve got a question about Hebrews 10, 26, where it says, if we deliberately continue sinning after we’ve received the knowledge of the truth, there’s no longer any sacrifice left for sin. And ever since… I’ve been a Christian for about eight years, and it seems like, you know, ever since then, I’ve always had this lingering thought in the back of my mind, you know, worrying about my salvation, you know, just because… I guess worrying about it because of my unbelief in it, I guess. Is that… I mean, it’s not that I don’t believe in it. I just, you know, I have questions from, you know, from doctrines that I’ve heard.
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, it just, I mean, does that… Wade, let’s go ahead on this passage of Scripture. If we’re deliberately keeping after we receive the knowledge of truth, what are we sinning against? The knowledge of truth. And what is the knowledge of truth that we’re sinning against is not believing that our sins have been taken away and remembered no more. And where these have been forgiven, there’s no longer any sacrifice for sins. In other words, it is denying what Jesus cried out from the cross when he said it’s finished. Now, how do we do that? Keep asking God to forgive us. ever begging God to forgive us, continually going to the confession booth to ask God to forgive us, going back to the Day of Atonement to ask God to kill a bull and goat for forgiveness, 1 John 1, 9, to keep yourself forgiven. All of those things are the total opposite of what faith is. Faith says, Lord Jesus, thank you. And if you deliberately keep on sinning after you receive that knowledge of truth, the knowledge of truth that there is no longer any sacrifice for sins left. There is no more forgiveness to be executed on your behalf by God. When he cried out, it’s finished, it’s finished. When it said that I died for the sins of the whole world, that there he who knew no sin became sin for you and me, so that we could become the righteousness of God in him. Faith says thank you for that, and that faith does not ask for what in him you already have. And so to the audience in Hebrews here, whereby they would be trying to keep themselves forgiven by going back to the old sacrificial system that was pointing toward the completed work of Christ on the cross. They keep going back to the pointer instead of what it pointed to or who it pointed to, which is the work of Christ Jesus. And so he’s saying that if you’re going to keep on going back to your sacrificial system or going back to your confession booth in order to get forgiveness or keep asking God in prayer to forgive you when then you’re not exercising faith and without faith, it’s impossible to please God. And he says that the only thing that you have to look forward to if you’re going to continue doing that is the expectation of judgment and the raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. He says you’re going to hell. Why are you going to hell? For refusing the work of Christ Jesus. In other words, when you are refusing to walk by faith in what Jesus said is finished, then it says you’ve never been saved. You’re saved by putting your faith in the truth of what God came to accomplish for you. That has nothing to do, Wade, with you and me. We’re out of the equation on salvation. It’s all him. It’s putting your faith in what Jesus did. Jesus took my sins away from the eyes of God, never to see them again. Every single one of them. There’s no such thing in God’s economy as past, present, and future sins. They’re all just sins. And all of them were placed on Christ Jesus at the cross and forgiven. Father, forgive them. They do not know what they’re doing. Now, if I’m going to walk by faith, then I’m going to have to walk by faith in that truth. And I’m not walking by faith in that truth when I keep asking for what in Christ I already have. And so it goes ahead to say, anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves, doesn’t say he will, but deserves to be punished? Who’s doing what? What are you doing when you keep asking for what in Christ you already have? Trampling the Son of God underfoot, treating as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified us, and insulting the spirit of grace. So if you are walking by faith, Wade, not in the fact of your ability to live the perfect life, because you can’t live it, But in your ability to walk by faith in what Jesus did, you should never have to doubt your salvation again. Your doubting your salvation is doubting that Jesus took away what caused your unsalvation, which is spiritual death. And there’s no necessity in walking by in unbelief on that when all you have to do is to recognize the truth of it and put your faith in it. Not in you, in him.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 07 :
So by turning from that today and just putting my trust in him from now on, I mean, that doesn’t apply to you then, right?
SPEAKER 02 :
Absolutely. What I would do today is let’s pray together. And you just merely say to the Lord that, Lord, from this day forth, You’re never going to hear me insult you again by asking you to do what you’ve already done, and that’s forgive me. I’m going to thank you for that for the rest of my life. And I’m going to thank you that you did that so that the resurrection of your life could be given to me and I could be resurrected into new life and to have new life in Christ called eternal life. And I’m going to stand on that today. This is the end of doubting. And that is what my faith is in. And that’s what I will say to you. If you ask me the question, what do I deserve to be here when I die? That’s what I’m going to say to you. I put my faith in your son. You want to pray with me, brother? Yes. Why don’t you just repeat with me, Lord Jesus. I thank you that you took away my sins at the cross 2,000 years ago.
SPEAKER 07 :
And you took them from the eyes of God never to see them again. I thank you for that. I’ll never insult you again by asking you to do what you’ve already done.
SPEAKER 02 :
But I’m going to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Every day of my life. For that forgiveness. That enables me today to have eternal life. In Christ’s blessed name, amen. I wait according to the word of God. It says to his men has received him. To them he gave the right to become a child of God. That’s another thing. If anyone’s in Christ, he’s a new creation. That you became a new creation the moment that you put your faith. Whenever that event was, if that’s today, praise God today. Today’s when I exercise saving faith and put my faith in what he did instead of what I do. When I hear people say otherwise, my ear is going to be turned away from them because I’m walking by faith in what the word of God has revealed.
SPEAKER 01 :
Until next time, walk in faith, be good to one another, and praise the Lord. Amen.
SPEAKER 03 :
Put Jesus first in your life and turn your life around.
