Join Bob George as he navigates through significant questions and calls from listeners on this special edition of Classic Christianity Radio. From understanding Christ’s divinity to the depth of experiencing faith, this episode peels back the layers on key biblical concepts. Discover the importance of the New Covenant and unravel the truth behind giving and what it means to be generous in faith. Bob’s insights delve into the misinterpretations seen in different denominations, guiding us to a clearer understanding of what scripture truly teaches.
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.
SPEAKER 03 :
Let’s go directly to Hercules, California. Let’s go on KCBC. Ed, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 06 :
Mr. George, thank you for taking my call. You’re welcome. I have a friend that we used to be Catholic, but now I’m a Christian. And then there’s another thing that he joined, and now he is with the Jehovah’s Witness. And I want to find out… you know, some scriptures that will prove to him that Jesus is not a prophet, but God. And I told him one thing about the egg, you know, one component, but I mean one egg, and it has three components, you know, shell, and the same thing with water. And I want to know about the scriptures that testify that Jesus is God.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, Ed, your friend isn’t interested in scriptures, or he wouldn’t have been involved in the first place, and he’s not involved in the second place. He’s interested in something besides scriptures. When you’re dealing with Catholicism, you’re dealing with people, well-meaning people, I’m quite sure, whose faith is based upon what they have been told to believe. And you’ve gone from that over to another group of people who say, here’s what you put your faith in is what we believe, what our founder wrote. Not what the Bible says, but what our founder wrote. In both cases, you’ve put more emphasis on tradition than you have on the inherent word of God. When you’re dealing with someone like that, and a person goes from one bad to the next bad, I have to wonder if there’s any because I don’t see any seeking of truth. So I don’t know how to handle that with that. I would… certainly give them the gospel i would certainly not argue with them i i absolutely do not do that anymore i’m not going to waste my time talking to somebody who’s trying to convince me that jesus is not god i don’t think they’re worthy of my time the bible refers to that doctrine as antichrist and i’m not interested in entertaining people who believe in antichrist theology So I would try to, if they’re willing, I would certainly give them the gospel that this is how you’re saved and see what happens. If nothing happens, why then, you know, you dust the dust off of your shoes and you move on. Results are always in the hands of God. And there just isn’t a thing in the world that you can do to bring someone to Christ if their hearts are not ready for truth.
SPEAKER 06 :
So, go ahead. I mentioned to him about 1 John, you know, that in the beginning was God, and in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, you know. And I told him about the Word, which is Jesus, you know.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, again, you’ve told him, but you’re telling him, but he’s not responding. And so when somebody does not respond to truth, then they’re not indwelt by truth. Jesus called people like that, that your father is that of the devil, and that’s why you believe lies is because your father is the author of lies. I don’t think that we see the severity of what Jesus taught us. Ed taught us that if you are a rebellious unbeliever, that your father is that of the devil, period. So that’s what you’re dealing with there. Maybe a friend, be a nice appearing person. But according to the Scripture, if he has no truth in him, or he would be responding to truth. He’s not responding to truth. He’s responding to error. Keep us posted, brother. But again, once you have told a person how to come to Christ, the only thing you can do is leave the results into the hands of God. Okay. Let’s go to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, listening on WLNO. Ann, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 07 :
Hi, Mr. George. Thank you so much for your wonderful teachings on a closer look at the New Covenant. Well, thank you. I have battled for years in mainstream Baptist churches at the commingling of salvation by grace through faith, but then after you’re saved, the law comes in. And a couple of things that you pointed out to me that just spoke so much of what I was God was putting in my heart, and I was thinking, but I could not articulate it like you did, was, first of all, the promises under the New Covenant. They are so wonderful.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yes, they are.
SPEAKER 07 :
And they’re so much better than the promises under the Old Covenant. And that is so commingled. We’ve tried many churches, and it’s so commingled, and after that number, I think it was number nine, it was a couple of Fridays ago on the session, it was like, I got that so clear, and I am going to stand on the promises of the new covenant, because that’s where I am in this age of grace, and I thank you for that, and when the other ones start trying, well-meaning pastors start trying to tell me that I’ve got to live under the other one, And I can go back and live under the promises that you described. And one more thing you did that just spoke volumes of how God has been showing me this for years. We cannot love others as Christ did, except through the supernatural power of Jesus. Absolutely. And when you said we can’t do it, So we make up all these other things to do that we can do, like going to church and diving and all those good things. And we say, okay, well, we’re good enough with God because we do that, because we know we can’t love each other and ourselves with the agape love. And I just want to tell you, I experienced that not long after hearing session number five, where the love of God flowed through me to someone so strongly. that there was no explanation for it. And I think when we come to the peace of God in the new covenant, then we have the joy, and then the love flows freely. But the law steals that peace, and the law steals that joy, and it just breaks my heart. But thank you for articulating what God has been showing me in my heart for years now and making it more clear. I just so appreciate it. Thank you.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, Ann, we just so appreciate your sharing that with us. It’s a deep encouragement to not only me, but every member of the staff of People to People and the people all over the world that support People to People, both in their finances and prayers. You have just encouraged a whole nation of people, whether you know it or not. So thank you so much, my dear, for that. And keep growing in grace. And as the scripture says, don’t let anyone ever put you back under that yoke of slavery. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 07 :
Bless you. Thank you.
SPEAKER 03 :
You too, Ann. Bye-bye now. Let’s go to Richmond, California, listening on KDIA. Roger, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 04 :
Good afternoon, Bob. How are you doing?
SPEAKER 03 :
Doing good, Roger. Thank you.
SPEAKER 04 :
This is about 2 Corinthians 9, specifically verse 6. I’ve got a brother in Christ who’s really hung up. He hasn’t been coming to church because he doesn’t feel good about he hasn’t been able to give. Or he put it, tithing. And I’m going over, I’ll call him, I want to meet with him and go over these scriptures with him. But could you expound on 2 Corinthians 9, 6 for me about the way I read it? It’s about giving generously or giving what you have when he speaks of sowing sparingly.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I would just read the ninth chapter. It’s very clear as to what he’s talking about there, that each man should give what he’s decided in his heart to give, not what he’s told to give, but not reluctantly, not to do so under a compulsion to give. But God loves a cheerful giver. And so what is the attitude of New Testament giving? A cheerful giver. And it says God’s able to make all grace abound in you so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. That’s what you’re going to abound in. That sowing spiritually and reaping isn’t that if you give, that God’s going to give back to you and make you rich. As a matter of fact, Timothy says that anyone who teaches that is a man of perverted mind. Anyone who teaches that godliness is a means to financial gain. But you are going to reap the benefit. of sowing your seed into the ministries that you give to that are teaching the truth. You’re not going to get rewarded by giving to people who are teaching error. That’s why I wouldn’t give a dime to a legalistic church. I’m not going to give money to somebody to try to build a better prison for me to live in. So it’s not just giving, but it’s… To whom are you giving? And what are you giving to see accomplished? Lies? Would you give to the Jehovah’s Witness? I wouldn’t give to the Jehovah’s Witness. I wouldn’t give to the Mormons. They’re not teaching truth. Not that they’re not nice people. Not that they might be friendly people. That doesn’t have anything to do with it. The fact is that truth is not being taught, and I’m not going to support error. But what I am going to support, I’m going to do so joyfully because, and the reason I can do so cheerfully and joyfully is because of what I’m giving to. That’s what makes it cheerful. I don’t just get goosebumps because I’m sending money to somebody. I’m going to get goosebumps because I’m sending money to someone who’s doing something with that money that has eternal value to it. That’s what makes you joyful, not just giving. I know people, Roger, unfortunately, who have become unbelievably successful in business, and they are big givers. But I want to tell you the people that they give to, I wouldn’t give a dime to them. People that I think just make, they sit around and build buildings. But when you say, have you led anyone to Christ? Do you teach Bible studies? What do you teach in the Bible studies? Well, let’s not get into those details. It’s unimportant. So there’s a lot of giving that goes on that people, I think, well-meaning people, but what they need to do is to sit back and say, what are these people teaching? Because that’s what you’re going to give to. I’m not going to give to some missionary out there just because he’s out on a mission field. I know missionaries who’ve been on missionary for 20 years and never led a person to Christ. So I’m going to give to somebody. I want to find out what are they teaching and what is the response of the people that they’re teaching. I want to do some investigation. There’s too much of this just give, give without looking into what are you giving to. So there’s a lot more to it than whether you’re tithing or whether you’re giving joyfully. As I said, there’s much more to it than just the giving aspect of it. You need to explore what are you giving to.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay, that’s good. Thank you. And like I said, I explained to him that he was no longer under the Old Covenant. You know, he used the Deuteronomy passages. He used the Micah passage. Oh, sure. And I told him, no, that’s the Old Covenant. You’re not a Levite. You don’t need to give to them. That’s not why you give. And God knows your situation. We know he’s going through some financial times. Everybody is, I told him. But if you can’t give at this time, God knows that. Take it to him. But you can give your time. You can, you know, we can go out and talk to somebody. There’s other ways to give than just financially. And I’m going to go over, having listened to your show, and God bless your show. Thank you so much. I know how this guy feels. I actually called about two years ago, and you talked me through this. And before I sit down with him and go over these same passages, I’ll be quoting you almost word for word, I think. But I just wanted to get an update from you and talk it over with somebody with a little more experience. And just God bless you.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 03 :
Why don’t we go to Los Angeles, California, listening on Kay Bright. And Tony, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you. I attended, this is going to be strange, I attended a Mormon baptism for my grandchild a couple of weeks ago, and there were two people got up and gave a testimony, and they were talking about the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit coming upon them, and the feeling that they had, and they described the same thing that happened to me. But I’m a Christian, and They’re Mormons, so I don’t understand this.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, number one, Tony, you’re not saved by experience, so what happened to you or what happened to them, quite frankly, is totally irrelevant. The issue is that if you placed faith in the finished work of Christ Jesus Christ at the cross, and you put faith in the fact that you are spiritually dead, born that way, and that Christ came to give you resurrected life, and that you came to him thanking him for the forgiveness provided at the cross, thanking him for the fact that there is a consequence to sin called death, and the gift of God is eternal life, and I therefore, Christ Jesus, receive you as my eternal life and rest in that. Salvation has not occurred unless you have put your faith in that. It makes no difference what kind of an experience you have. We pay too much attention, Tony, to experiences, and Satan lives in experiences. As a matter of fact, it says in the end times he’s going to perform miracles and wonders and all kinds of things that create experience. But the issue is, it’s not the experience, it’s have you put your faith. in the living Christ. To the Mormon, there is no way that they have put their faith in the God of the Bible or the Jesus of the Bible because they don’t worship the Jesus of the Bible. They worship their own straw man, their own Jesus who came over here to America, which he did not. And so that’s the issue is it really doesn’t make any difference what your experience was or their experience. The issue is have you put faith in the Jesus of the Bible, not of the Book of Mormon? but of the Bible and what he accomplished on your and my behalf. That’s the only thing that counts. Okay, brother?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, I still don’t understand.
SPEAKER 03 :
You don’t need to understand. You’re trying to figure out an experience. Forget about your experience. I don’t care what experience you had, Tony. It’s irrelevant because you’re not saved by experience. You are saved by faith, period. And so you’re wanting to concentrate and keeping your faith and your experience, and you cannot do that. You know, there are some people that go to a ball game and have the experience of jumping up and down and eating hot dogs and yelling and screaming. Other people sit there very calmly and enjoy. Both of them enjoy the game. You cannot count on experience. Forget it. The issue is when did you put your faith in the living Christ? Forget about the experience. It’s not important. It’s not even relevant. And neither is theirs. Okay, brother?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, thank you very much.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay, Tony. God bless. Detroit, Michigan. Listen on WLLZ. Sharon, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 08 :
Hi, Bob.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hi, Sharon. Hey, Sharon.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay, my question is, to be present, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. If I died today, would I immediately go and be with the Lord, or would it be like, In Revelation 20, verse 11 to 15, will I be at a holding place?
SPEAKER 03 :
No, Sharon. Absent from the body and present with the Lord means exactly what it says. The moment you’re absent from the body, you’re present with the Lord. So there’s no delay on that at all. Now, in the Old Testament saints, there was a place. called Sheol, or it could also be called Paradise, where the people who were credited as righteous were waiting for the final payment to be made by Christ Jesus, and they were in a holding pattern until Christ completed the cross and paid finally for the debts of the sins of the entire world, and then said, Paradise moved in essence, led them into the presence of God. But when you and I die, we are immediately absent from the body and immediately present with the Lord.
SPEAKER 08 :
So we are judged right after death.
SPEAKER 03 :
You’re not judged. You’ll never be judged. Your judgment for your sins has already been made at the cross, and the verdict was guilty, and the punishment was death, and Christ took it all, and that’s why there’s none left for you. So you will never be judged again. Your works will be appraised. That’s a totally different word from judged. you go to an art gallery, you appraise the artwork. That doesn’t mean it’s good or bad. It just means I’m going to appraise what I’m going to accept and what I’m not. But that’s not punishment. That’s just merely judging or appraising your works. But outside of that, you will never be judged. Those who are in the book of life are those who have come to Christ for life. And those who are not in that book will spend eternity separated from God in a place called hell. And so there will be no judgment on that. It’s just opening up the books and all of those who are in Christ, their name is going to be in there. And those who have refused him, their names are not going to be there. That’s not a judgment. Again, that’s just merely open up the books and verifying who’s there.
SPEAKER 08 :
very much.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s good news, isn’t it? Yeah. Well, okay, Sharon. Well, I hope that helps. And so that’s why we have no fear of death, Sharon. I mean, like it says, oh, death, where’s your sting? We don’t have any. Like Paul said, for me to live is Christ, but for me to die is gain. And that’s really true. For me to live, we get to be with Christ here on earth, and when we die, we get to be with him forever and eternity. So it’s a win-win situation for us.
SPEAKER 08 :
So that part of Revelation when it says the sea will give up the dead, that was… Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
Has nothing to do with you at all.
SPEAKER 08 :
Nothing.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay. Thank you. Okay, Sharon. All right, bye-bye. Good to talk to you. Bye-bye now. Let’s go to the City of Industry, California. Let’s go on Cave Ride. Oscar, you’re on the air. Hey, how are you guys? Doing good, Oscar. Thank you.
SPEAKER 05 :
I have a question concerning the baptism. I was taking some Bible studies with this Pentecostal church, and they were saying that when we got to the point of baptism, they were saying that the baptism that I got was wrong. because it seems like they don’t believe in the Trinity. I told them that I was baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And it seems like they don’t believe in the Trinity. They were saying that there’s only titles that I need to be baptized according to the book of Acts.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, let me tell you on that, Oscar, those people that are saying that don’t tell me that they’re saved. And I know that’s a tough thing to hear, but it may be tough to hear, but it’s not that tough to say when you’ve been around as long as I have. If you believe that you are saved through baptism, period, you are not saved. In Corinthians, Paul teaches very, very clearly, this is the gospel that saves. Those are the words that he uses. This is the gospel that saves. The death… Burial and resurrection of Christ Jesus. There is no baptism in there. There’s no tongues in there. There’s no church membership in there. There’s no tithing in there. There’s no what are you doing for God in there. It is all what Jesus did. This is what saves you. This is the gospel. You have nothing to do with anything in regard to salvation. Anytime anybody adds something to salvation, they haven’t been saved. Because what I’m saying is this, if you add to salvation, that’s all you talk about. And so, therefore, you tell people just what was told to you. Your baptism is not any good. No one ever checked to see, was your heart open when you accepted the death, what Jesus did for you and thanked him for that death on the cross where he took away your sins? Oh, yeah, I did that. And did you understand that you were dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your sinful nature and that God came to give you life? No. And there’s a consequence to sin called death. But the solution to that is resurrected life. And that’s the meaning of his resurrected. Did you accept it? Yeah, I accepted that. Well, then you need to be baptized. Well, then, in other words, you’re just saying, well, this is kind of peripheral over here. Here’s what you need to do. And I’m sorry you’ve missed the whole point of salvation. I would get away from whoever that group is and find a group that teaches truth because they are not teaching truth. When people have an emphasis on baptism, they’re not teaching truth. Paul says, I’m glad I didn’t baptize anyone. Now, this is the same Paul that just wrote that this is the gospel that saves. The same Paul that wrote this is the gospel that saves is the same Paul who wrote, I’m glad I didn’t baptize anybody except Gaius and Paul. At Christmas. At Christmas. And besides that, he said, I don’t remember baptizing anyone for, here’s why, God didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Now, how could you say that if baptism is in the gospel? It isn’t in the gospel. In the same chapter, he says, this is the gospel that saves. So when you’re talking to people who are talking about baptism for salvation, get out of there because they are not teaching you truth. And you go off in one area, you’re going to go off a million miles in another.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay. Thank you very much for the answer.
SPEAKER 03 :
You’re sure welcome, Oscar. God bless you. And I hope you find some place down there where you can get in where people are teaching what truth is, and that is not truth.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, definitely. I stopped the Bible studies because that’s when I found out about they were emphasizing the baptism. And I told them that I already had been baptized. That’s when I’m like, no way, you know, I don’t want to talk to them.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, well, then that’s the case. You’re not going to change their mind. You know, I have people that call in wanting to change my mind. I’m not going to change my mind. I’m not probably going to change your mind. So unless you want to have a gun battle or arm wrestle, we may as well just part our ways. And you go on your way and I’ll go my way. But the way that I’m going, I’ll guarantee you, is in accordance with what the Word of God says, and there’s no baptism and salvation in the Scriptures. Okay, Oscar, God bless you, my friend. I appreciate your having interest enough to call.
SPEAKER 01 :
Until next time, walk in faith, be good to one another, and praise the Lord. Amen.
