This episode of Classic Christianity Radio with Bob George explores a variety of profound and challenging topics. Starting with the talk on the concept of the Sabbath as a spiritual rest, Bob discusses how resting in Christ’s finished works reshapes our understanding of daily living. We also dive into the sensitive issue of abortion, offering a compassionate yet firm biblical perspective aimed at encouraging life choices in alignment with God’s eternal forgiveness and love.
00:00:01 Introduction to Classic Christianity Radio
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. Edward, you’re on the air, brother.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, hey, how are you doing? Good. I have a question about the Sabbath day. Is the Sabbath day really on Saturday? And if it is, do we still have to abide by no work on the Sabbath?
SPEAKER 02 :
Edward, the Sabbath day is no longer a day of the week. It’s every day of the week. We’re told that we are to now don’t let anyone keep you away from entering into that Sabbath rest. Every day is a Sabbath today. We are to be resting from our works just as he did from his. And so when the new covenant was ushered in, the day of the week being a Sabbath disappeared. and every day became a day that God wants us to enter into the Sabbath rest, where we are resting from our works, not from his. That has nothing to do, nor did it really have anything to do, outside of giving people some physical rest, with physical rest. It’s talking about resting in the finished work of Christ Jesus, that you and I are to rest in that, Instead of working at trying to make yourself holy, rest in the fact he’s made you that way. Instead of trying to make yourself righteous, rest in the fact that he has made you righteous. Instead of trying to keep your sins forgiven, rest in the fact that you are a forgiven person. instead of trying to earn eternal life, rest in the fact that he has given you eternal life. And, of course, all of these things I’m saying are predicated upon the fact that you have come to Christ by faith and have been born again. But that is the Sabbath rest. It’s a spiritual rest, not a physical rest.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay, brother?
SPEAKER 03 :
All right, thank you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Let’s go to New Orleans, Louisiana, listening on KLNO. Lynn, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 04 :
Hi, good evening. How are you?
SPEAKER 02 :
Fine, Lynn. Fine, thank you.
SPEAKER 04 :
I had a question. I was wondering, what does the Bible say about abortion?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, Lynn, you have to realize that abortion is the taking of a life of a baby. And so it would be in the same category as that of murder. when a person destroys a child with the potential of springing into life, why you have taken a life away that God intended to live. And so now I just have to say to that question, is that sin a sin that was placed upon Jesus at the cross? Absolutely. Is it a sin that was forgiven at the cross? Absolutely. Yes, it was. So now he’s dealing with a person. If it was you, are you referring to yourself thinking about this or someone else?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, sort of.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, sort of can’t be sort of. It’s either yourself or somebody else.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, well, I’m a college student, and it’s just I’m going through a real hard time right now.
SPEAKER 02 :
right and so you’re pregnant right okay and you’re pregnant right right okay now lynn uh you realize that that baby uh didn’t get formed in there by osmosis so there was a sin of fornication that took place wasn’t there that that was the sin right right a fornication sure can a christian commit fornication absolutely can they commit adultery absolutely a person who is born again can be subject to any kind of temptation that is out there and that’s why it is so important for you lynn to recognize the fact that that those sins that we have committed and will commit have been placed behind the back of god never to see them again from his standpoint But he came to give you life. You see, the gospel, then, isn’t getting your sins forgiven. That’s a part of the gospel. But it’s only the bridge that you cross over to enter into eternal life. The salvation is receiving life. I came that you might have life. I am the resurrection and the life. He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life. The whole issue of salvation… is being saved from the consequence of sin, which is death, by the gift of God, which is life. God looks at life as a gift. And so that’s when you’re saved. It’s not when you just recognize and ask Jesus to thank him for his forgiveness of the cross or ask him forgiveness. But people stop there instead of going on to the resurrection to realize that it’s the resurrection that is what saves you. When you have Jesus coming to live in you as your Lord and Savior. So Lynn, you’re indwelt by God. And if so, you’re indwelt by the wisdom of God. And you’re indwelt by the heart and the love and the mercy of God. And so in as much as Christ is your life, you ask yourself the question, would the Jesus who lives in me want to abort this child?
SPEAKER 04 :
Right.
SPEAKER 02 :
You think he would?
SPEAKER 04 :
No.
SPEAKER 02 :
No. And so you shouldn’t either, Lynn. It’s going to be an inconvenience for you, an embarrassment for you possibly, but all those things are short-lived. But in the long run, you’re going to bring a child into this world under some rather adverse conditions, but those things will be taken. God will cause that to work together for your good. To those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. He’ll cause that to work together for your good. It’s hard to see at the time, but I’ll tell you, Lynn, the minute that you hold that baby into your arms and look down into the face of that baby that has come out of you, life produced in you just like his life was produced in you at spiritual birth, you’ll have a love that you never knew you had before. Thank you. You know, Lynn, some people, I’ve seen people say, well, I’m not going to get my college education. Well, I will tell you there’s a lot of things more important in life than getting a college education. Right. You know, I’m 70 years old. I graduated back in 1955. I’ve been asked one time by all the employers that I ever worked for whether I had a college education. And I’ve never been asked what kind of grades I got. Right. And yet we place all of this emphasis on this type of thing. Nothing wrong with that. But right now, you made a mistake, you know, in love with somebody, and these are natural impulses that people have. At your age, you’re full of hormones. And you got into that trap of making physical love with one another, and when that occurs, there’s the possibility of pregnancy. And Lynn, don’t compound what you’ve done. Don’t compound it. Recognize this is what I’ve done. I’m a child of the living God. God’s never going to leave me nor forsake me. Nothing can separate you from the love of God. Trials can’t. Tribulation can’t. Life or death. In all these things, you’re more than conqueror. And so recognize that you and Jesus are going to get along just fine. But I just can’t encourage you enough to keep the child and to be a phenomenal mother to it. And God will send you. Let me ask you one question. Are you in love with the boy that got you pregnant?
SPEAKER 04 :
We’ve been together for about four years.
SPEAKER 02 :
And does he know about this? No. He doesn’t know about it yet?
SPEAKER 04 :
No.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay, now you see, you’re fearful of telling him, and fear doesn’t come from God. God didn’t give you a spirit of fear. He needs to know about it, and then that way you are going to be able to determine whether this is the boy that you would want to be or the man that you would want to be married to, and he’s going to determine if this is the woman that I want to be married to. He may cop out. I mean, it might be saying adios. Some people do that. Or he might say, if he’s a Christian, a true born-again believer and has any character to him, he’s going to say, Lynn, then you and I need to get married and make a family together. And if you don’t want to do that, why then wait for God to lead you to someone that you do want to live with? But if you’ve been together that long, it seems to me that a pretty good relationship is formed. and i don’t go ahead oh no i was i was just agreeing so uh i i think that you need to confront him uh with this and to let him know about this it’s that’s that’s proper to do these are some of the repercussions that you know that not everybody gets into that you know that’s what is so strange to me in life how You can take some people that are just as promiscuous as can be. I’ve known them in college, and never anything happened, and then one person goes out and slips one time, and the next thing you know, they’re pregnant. So we don’t know why those things take place, but they have. Do you praise God for the forgiveness that he extended to you 2,000 years ago when he took away that sin, Lynn? And to recognize that God loves you, he’s given you his life, And he wants you to preserve that life that is within you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 02 :
You think you can do that?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes. Okay.
SPEAKER 02 :
All right. Well, as a child of God, I’m sure you can do it. And I’ll tell you, I want to hope to meet you one of these days. And I want to look into the face of that little girl or boy, whatever it is, myself, one of these days. So you do what God would have you do on that, Lynn, and you will be blessed.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay. Well, thanks a lot.
SPEAKER 02 :
You’re sure welcome, Lynn. If you ever need any help, ever need someone to talk to, call at any time. If you need further counseling, we’ve got Ed Hecht who will talk to you until the end of the ages if you need him. So don’t go this alone. You’ve got friends here that you can count on and call on, and we’ll be more than happy to do that.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay. Thank you very much.
SPEAKER 02 :
You’re sure welcome, Lynn. God bless you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, Bob, that’s a tough one that people get to. You know, one of our calls, we’re not going to get a chance to get to a Doug in Atlanta to ask about what happens to babies who die. And I say to people that that decision is into the hands of a God who is perfectly loving and a God who is perfectly just. And we don’t have to worry about the decision on that. That’s in God’s hands. On the things that we don’t know, we place them into the hands of a perfectly loving and just God. and allow him to make the decision. And he, believe me, is going to make the decision that is for the benefit of his children. Without question.
SPEAKER 01 :
Classic Christianity Radio thanks you for your support of our online and radio ministry. Make sure to visit bobgeorge.net to order a copy of the Closer Look Bible Study Series. A Closer Look Bible Studies features eight in-depth study guides that detail hundreds of Bible verses to help you deepen your understanding of the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. A Closer Look Bible Study Guides are an excellent tool for both individuals and larger Bible study groups. Please visit bobgeorge.net to order your copy of A Closer Look Bible Studies, as well as many other wonderful books, CDs, and study guides. With your support, we can continue to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Let’s continue now with our Classic Christianity radio program.
SPEAKER 02 :
We’re going to go to Larry, listening in Santa Fe Springs, California, on Kaybright. Larry, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hey, Bob, how you doing?
SPEAKER 02 :
Doing good, thank you, brother.
SPEAKER 06 :
You’re good. I have a question about Acts chapter 19, particularly verse 1 through 7, especially verse 2, when he said Paul asked the disciples that he found, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? My interpretation of that, I want to know how is it possible if they did believe that they didn’t receive it, the Holy Spirit, or is it that they didn’t have the full gospel, or maybe it wasn’t that they actually did not believe So I wanted to know your explanation on that, and they were laying their hands, and then they received the Holy Spirit. My interpretation is that they really never did believe, because I don’t know how you can believe without not receiving the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, if you’ll go up into the 18th chapter, and you’ll read there in verse 24, Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos, a native out of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man. and a thorough knowledge of the scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great further and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. So Apollos had to, he was a man, thorough knowledge of the scriptures, instructed in the way of the Lord, But he needed to have the explanation of the way of God more adequately. And so evidently that was explained to him so that he was able then when he was at Corinth, that Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus and then found some disciples and asked them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And their answer was, no, we’ve never even heard of the Holy Spirit. So Paul asked, then what baptism did you receive? Well, John’s baptism. Well, John’s baptism is a baptism of repentance, Larry, and it would be that preceded the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ Jesus, to come and to be baptized for the remission of your sins by the one who is coming, the Messiah. But they had not heard evidently that Jesus had come and had been raised from the dead in order to impart life to us. And that was obviously a missed understanding for Apollos. And after it was explained to him, then he was able to, he and Paul, to ask the same question. So it wasn’t that these people were not believers in God. jesus who went to the cross but they were people who were not born again yet in other words because they had not heard of his resurrection and how the spirit of god comes to indwell us at the time of spiritual birth and places us into the body of christ and makes us alive in christ so i think all of your statements were correct there the reason i brought this question up because um they were teaching uh
SPEAKER 06 :
Some people are teaching, now they’re in your altar call, the message went forward, and then they were saying, well, they’re calling forward believers to receive the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, that’s nonsense.
SPEAKER 06 :
By using this verse, they’re saying, you come forward.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, no, I mean, how many, if you’re talking about a person who has never accepted the life of Christ, and all they have accepted is Christ’s death for them, Why then? It’s not that they’re not a believer in Christ. They just not have been taught more adequately, and they’re not born again. They may believe in Christ, but they haven’t yet been born again by his life. So if that was the case, you would be talking. You can’t say, I want all you born-again Christians to come forward and receive the Spirit. That’s nonsense. That cannot be true, because if the Spirit does not live in you, you don’t belong to him. right but again when you use the word christian larry that’s the problem with that word it doesn’t have any meaning to it anymore if you threw out the word christian why you’d have people like myself who were sitting there for 36 years not knowing the lord from an apple tree but i would have called myself a christian okay so you have to say all of you born again people If that’s what you’re meaning, all you people who are born again to come and receive the Holy Spirit, that is nonsense. That’s false teaching.
SPEAKER 06 :
And that’s what I think was going on. I think they misinterpreted Scripture because I think these disciples were here before Christ was born. I mean, I’m sorry, not Christ, before the death. And then they were here after, too. So the only thing they received was from the baptism of John the Baptist.
SPEAKER 02 :
Sure. John the Baptist was ministered to people a long time before Jesus Christ, death, burial, and resurrection. But he was the foreshadowing of Christ Jesus. In other words, he was there to announced the fact that the Messiah has come to Israel and to repent and change your mind and come to the Messiah for your forgiveness of sins. And that’s what the baptism was for, a cleansing. And so that’s all the baptism they knew. That’s all they knew. They had come that far, which was a big step for the Jew to say, I do believe that the Messiah has come. I do believe the Messiah is Jesus and that he died for my sins. How many people do we have today sitting in our pews that that’s all they believe about Jesus is he died for our sins? I mean, Larry, when we were over in Russia and we met with this Russian pastor and we ministered to people over there, and on the way back to the airport, the wife of the pastor was saying to Amy, all you have to do to come to Jesus is come and believe he died for your sins. That message is going out all over Christendom today. And that is totally ignoring the passage that says, while we were yet enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son. How much more, having been reconciled, shall you be saved for his life? You don’t come forward to get forgiven. You’re already forgiven. You come forward to get life. And that message is not given. So you have to wonder sometimes how many people are literally saying, sitting there thinking they’re saved and they’ve never come to christ for life all right yep okay let’s let’s think about this idea for a minute larry and we’re discussing this let’s say that there are many people like we’re talking about that all they’ve ever accepted and you were preaching the gospel and you were saying if the only thing that you’ve done is accept jesus it’s death for you that that in a different than accepting john’s baptism that was what that was about But have you yet received the Holy Spirit? In other words, have you come to him for life? And so if that’s where you are, because I’ve led numerous people to Christ by just asking the question, what’s your understanding of the gospel? The gospel is what saves you. And it comes back nine times out of ten, Jesus died for my sins, and that’s it. And then to go ahead and explain to them the fullness of the gospel and then ask them to come and receive Christ. If that’s what would be taking place in those services you’re talking about, well, at least they’re coming to him for life. Maybe that would be the first time they ever came alive. Yeah, go ahead.
SPEAKER 06 :
One more quick question about the laying on the hands. In my Bible here, it says here that, I know back in Acts 10, I believe, actually, obviously the Holy Spirit came without the laying of hands. Now, what was the saying here when they received the spirit by laying of hands? Was that showing a kind of authority? or did the spirit, can you actually receive the spirit by the laying of hands?
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, absolutely not. There isn’t anything that happens laying on of hands, and later on it talks about right in the middle of one of Peter’s speeches, or Paul’s speeches, they came to Christ. So it didn’t talk about laying on the hands there. So again, in the book of Acts, you’ve got all kinds of things. One place laying on hands, another place not laying on hands. That’s why you can’t take The book of Acts is doctrinal. It isn’t doctrinal. It’s just explaining what happened. Paul placing his hands on the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. Well, Paul had to be there. Paul or Peter had to be there to verify the fact that these people have truly been saved. And one of the ways back then that that was because the tongues is for the unbelieving Jew, And one of the only ways that they could have known whether or not that took place was because of this speaking in other languages and prophesying. And so that was back then, but that is not now.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. Thank you. You helped me a lot.
SPEAKER 02 :
All right, brother. Thanks, Larry. Good to talk to you, pal. Bye-bye. Let’s go to Ontario, California. Let’s go on Kay Bright. Joseph, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hello. Thank you for taking my call. Uh, I just got a quick question. I’ve been going around to different churches, and it seems, these are like Christian churches, Christian-based, and it seems like, you know, even though they all talk about Jesus, yet, you know, the ones that I’ve gone to, they’re different in a lot of ways. Yeah. Like in Ephesians, I’ve been reading over Ephesians, and Ephesians 6, I think it’s Ephesians 6, it’s one of those chapters, sorry I don’t have my Bible in front of me, But, you know, it talked about that, you know, Christ gave us, you know, apostles, prophets, all these different teachers and ministers, I guess, for the edifying of the body of Christ, perfecting of the… or something about the saints, until we all come to the union in faith. And it seems to me that even within Christianity, within the denominations, there is no unity. Like, you know, why doesn’t the church on the hill… get or one with with the methodist why aren’t it just seems like even within christianity i guess my my main question this is my main question you know i want to find the church a church that’s most similar to what christ you know brought i guess the same well joseph let me let me stop you there because i got your question in the in the interest of time why do you think you have denominations very simply because of what’s taught
SPEAKER 02 :
If you go to a Methodist seminary, you’re going to come out and teach Methodist theology. If you go to a Presbyterian seminary, you’re going to come out and teach Presbyterian theology, and it isn’t going to agree with Methodist theology. If you’re a Catholic, you’re going to, hold on a minute, let me finish. If you go to a Catholic seminary, you’re going to come out and teach Catholicism. That’s not going to agree with the Baptists or the Presbyterians. If you go to another seminary, that’s what you’re going to teach. Now, the whole issue is this. For you to know who is teaching truth, you’re going to have to know what truth is. And the way that you’re going to know what truth is, is that, number one, if you’re born again, and if you have truly been born again of the Spirit, then the Spirit of God lives in you. And the promise of the Holy Spirit living in you is, Joseph, I will lead you and guide you into all truth. I will take the things of the Lord Jesus and make them known to you. That’s a promise if you will abide in me. But no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, or mind has conceived of those things that God has prepared for those who love him, but it must be revealed by the Spirit. And so, why do you have all these interpretations? Because of people… interpreting Scripture not by yielding to the Spirit to reveal it to them, but leaning on their own understanding. Whether it be leaning on their understanding of Greek or Hebrew, or leaning on their understanding that this is what my denomination teaches, so this is what I will teach. You have to be absolutely confident, Joseph, that you can go into the Word of God And say to Jesus, Lord Jesus, if you don’t teach me the meaning of what I’m going to read, I’m not going to know what it means. But I’m going to count on you to do so. When that occurs, God will get involved teaching you. And Joseph, when God has taught you, you’re taught. When I teach you, another man can teach you something else. When God teaches you, you’re taught. So don’t lean on other people’s interpretation. Go in and trust God. to give you the interpretation.
SPEAKER 01 :
Until next time, walk in faith, be good to one another, and praise the Lord. Amen.
SPEAKER 05 :
Put Jesus first in your life and turn your life around.
