The New Life

by Mike Ratliff

“This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts; who having become callous gave themselves up to lust, to work all uncleanness with greediness.” (Ephesians 4:17-19 WEB)

The vast majority of professing Christians in the United States and in other countries, whose churches are patterned after American churches, are enslaved to their flesh. Why? The trend that I have witnessed in our churches for at least the last 25 years or so is a de-emphasis of discipleship. Evangelism or outreach has crowded out in-reach and Bible study. Why? Church growth has become the golden calf of the new evangelism. Because of that, church leaders strive to be culturally relevant even if it means dummying down the Gospel and no longer putting any resources into biblical discipleship.

Christian Chraracter

by Mike Ratliff

“Pray for us, for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live honorably in all things. I strongly urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you sooner. Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Hebrews 13:18-21 WEB)

R.C. Sproul shared the following story in the September 2007 issue of Tabletalk magazine. “Several years ago I was participating in a discussion with some business men in Jackson, Mississippi. In the course of the conversation, one of the men made reference to a man who was not present at the meeting. He said, ‘He is an honorable man.’ When I heard this comment, my ears perked up as I thought for a moment I was hearing a foreign language being spoken. I realized that I was in the middle of the Deep South where customs of old had not entirely been eradicated, yet I still could not get over that somebody in this day and age was using the word honor as descriptive term for a human being.”

Spurgeon on Persevering Grace

I have always be puzzled over why some reject the Doctrine of Perseverance of the Saints. The evidence of the veracity of this doctrine in the Word of God is overwhelming. Of course the culprit in that resistance is the same as that which opposes each of the doctrines of grace. The Sovereignty of God is the issue. How far does it extend? Is there a limit to it? To what extent does Man have autonomy? I pray that our study of the doctrines of grace has helped you in seeing that God is Sovereign and Man, being a creature in His creation, is under His sovereignty even as all other creatures. Let us end this study with Charles Spurgeon’s take on the Doctrine of Perseverance of the Saints.

Isaiah 6 by Todd Agnew

I saw the Lord, seated on a throne, high and exalted
And the train of His robe filled the temple
Above Him were angels, with six mighty wings
And with two they’d cover their faces
With two they’d cover their feet
With two, they’d fly
With two, they’d fly… and sing

(Chorus:)
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty
The whole earth is full of His glory
He’s glorious

I said, “Woe to me, I am ruined
I am unclean, and so are all my kind
But my eyes have seen the King
The Lord Almighty

(Chorus:)
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty
The whole earth is full of His glory
He’s glorious

An angel flew to me and he had fire in His hand
He put it to my lips and God took away my sin
He took away my sin

(Chorus:)
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty
And the whole earth is full of His glory
He’s glorious
You’re glorious

Hymns – His Grace Untold

Christians draw near to their God through prayer, His Word, and worship. If we have a hard time worshiping our Lord because we don’t care for the “worship style” then what is the problem? At my former church many of my generation and older left when the Pastor decided to cut out all hymns and go 100% contemporary. Why do you suppose he did that? I like some contemporary praise and worship songs, however, hymns also carry my heart directly to the throne of almighty God as I bow at His feet in worship.

I received a copy of Tonya Betz’s latest CD a few weeks ago to preview. The title of the CD is “HYMNS – His Grace Untold.” I have been listening to it while I study and write for the last three weeks and have been blessed. The music style is Tonya singing to self-accompanied acoustic guitar. My memory of the wonderful hymns on this CD are of a large choir and the whole assembled church singing together. It is a whole different experience to hear them as Tonya sings and plays. Here is a list of the hymns on this CD.

1. Grace Greater Than All Our Sin
2. I Once Was a Stranger
3. O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus (this is my favorite one on this CD)
4. My Lord, I Did Not Choose You
5. I Will Sing of My Redeemer
6. All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name
7. When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
8. Be Thou My Vision
9. The Church’s One Foundation
10. It Is Well With My Soul

The price of the CD is $14.00 which includes shipping and handling. You can order it here. www.tonyabetz.com

Another thing important to know about this CD  is that the music is used in a very dynamic street preaching ministry and proceeds from sales are used to buy Bibles and tracts for that. I highly recommend this CD to you and I recommend that you incorporate it into your own devotional time with the Lord. To Him be all the glory! – Mike Ratliff

Persevering Grace

Persevering Grace

by Mike Ratliff

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39 ESV)

Probably the number one thing that I have learned while presenting the doctrines of grace is that there are people who simply will not believe nor back away from their own conception of Soteriology. For instance, I have friends, acquaintances, and relatives who smirk and roll their eyes back when the topic of Persevering Grace comes up. I heard one fellow say once that God writes those who are saved in the Lamb’s Book of Life in pencil and that pencil has an eraser. Where in the Bible is that one?

East to West

In preparation for my post on the Doctrine of Perseverance of the Saints I would like to post the lyrics to one of my favorite songs by Casting Crowns. Its title is East to West. – Mike Ratliff

God’s forgiveness is an amazing gift. The problem is that our logic gets in our way.
~Psalm 51 / Ephesians 2:1-10 / 1 John 1:9 / Psalm 103 / Romans 8 / Colossians 2:9-15 / Isaiah 38:17 / Psalm 32 / Lamentations 3:22-24 / Romans 6 / Romans 3:5-8

Here I am, Lord, and I’m drowning in your sea of forgetfulness
The chains of yesterday surround me
I yearn for peace and rest
I don’t want to end up where You found me
And it echoes in my mind, keeps me awake tonight
I know You’ve cast my sin as far as the east is from the west
And I stand before You now as though I’ve never sinned
But today I feel like I’m just one mistake away from You leaving me this way

Jesus, can You show me just how far the east is from the west
‘Cause I can’t bear to see the man I’ve been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
‘Cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other

I start the day, the war begins, endless reminding of my sin
Time and time again Your truth is drowned out by the storm I’m in
Today I feel like I’m just one mistake away from You leaving me this way

I know You’ve washed me white, turned my darkness into light
I need Your peace to get me through, to get me through this night
I can’t live by what I feel, but by the truth Your word reveals
I‘m not holding on to You, but You’re holding on to me
You’re holding on to me

Jesus, You know just how far the east is from the west
I don’t have to see the man I’ve been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
‘Cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other
One scarred hand to the other
From one scarred hand to the other

Written by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms

© 2007 My Refuge Music/Club Zoo Music/SWECS Music (BMI) (admin. by EMI CMG Publishing) / Word Music, LLC (ASCAP), Banahama Tunes (ASCAP). All rights on behalf of itself and Banahama Tunes administered by Word Music, LLC.

Spurgeon on Irresistible Grace

Yesterday I posted my testimony about my salvation and how God had drawn me to Himself. It was His good work in me. Many years later He drew me to a much closer walk with Him. Again, it was His doing, not mine. Today let us look at the doctrine of Irresistible Grace or Effectual Calling. I actually prefer the later name for it. In any case, here is a sermon by Charles Spurgeon on the “I” from T.U.L.I.P. Enjoy and be blessed. – Mike Ratliff

God Has Allotted to Each a Measure of Faith

by John Piper

September 23, 1998

Romans 12:3

In my message on Romans 12:3-8 , I argued from verse 3 that God gives varying measures of faith to his people. Paul says that we ought “to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” In the context this is not a limited reference to the unique spiritual gift of faith (1 Corinthians 12:9). For Paul says, “I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” “To each” refers back to “everyone among you.” God has given all Christians varying measures of faith. This is the faith with which we receive and use our varying gifts. It is the ordinary daily faith by which we live and minister.

A Testimony

by Mike Ratliff

In January 1986 on a cold Sunday morning I drove my family to church. I took our son to his Sunday school class. He was four. My wife took our daughter who was seven to her class. The Church was a Southern Baptist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Pastor was a friend from High School. We attended that church because my wife and I felt that our children needed it. I had turned 34 the previous October and had lived those 34+ years the way I wanted. I grew up going to church, but as soon as I was old enough to do so, I quit. Neither my wife nor I were attending church when we met then later married. We chose that church because my friend was the Pastor. I had been baptized when I was in the 4th grade because all my friends did. I was as Christian as this Apple Computer I’m typing on right now.

Spurgeon on Limited Atonement

I have become convinced that God must open a heart in order for it to grasp the veracity of the doctrines of grace. The natural man seems to be born a Free Will advocate. Just as it takes God regenerating a heart in order to save a person, it also takes spiritual growth through many crises of belief for God to grow that person into submission to His sovereignty in all things. Last night I posted on Limited Atonement. It took me several days to work through that post, develop the outline, research, then put it together. However, this evening I believe we need to sit at the feet of one of God’s great pulpit men from the past. Enjoy and be blessed.

Limited Atonement

by Mike Ratliff

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the LORD. And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. For whoever is not afflicted on that very day shall be cut off from his people. And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.” (Leviticus 23:26-32 ESV)

As I write this, it is mid-morning on Yom Kipper. That is, it is the 10th day of the seventh month (Tishri) on the Jewish calendar. Please carefully read the passage I placed at the top of this post. Do you see the serious emphasis God places on the need for His people’s atonement? What is this atonement? Biblical atonement is the act of God canceling the debt of His people’s sin. Without it God’s wrath against their sin could not be appeased.

Ten Effects of Believing the Five Points of Calvinism

by John Piper

April 20, 2002

These ten points are my personal testimony to the effects of believing in the five points of Calvinism. I have just completed teaching a seminar on this topic and was asked by the class members to post these reflections so they could have access to them. I am happy to do so. They, of course, assume the content of the course, which is available online from Desiring God Ministries, but I will write them here in the hope that they might stir others to search, Berean-like, to see if the Bible teaches what I call “Calvinism.”

A Word of Encouragment

No matter what the circumstances might look like when the days of evil come as this apostasy spreads like a spiritual wildfire, we who are in Christ will understand that the Bible is a supernatural Book. In this short devotion over at Apprising Ministries Ken Silva reminds us how comforting it is for us to know that no matter what happens in this sin-sick and cursed creation, the Word of God tells us that the life of the Christian is even now hidden with Christ in God.

The True Love of God

[Synergists] … say that the Augustinian tradition subordinates the love of God to the will of God … But this is not what distinguishes the Augustinian tradition from the Arminian tradition. The distinction is between intensive and extensive love, between an intensive love that saves its loved ones, and an extensive love that loves everyone in general and saves no one in particular. Or if you really wish to cast this in terms of willpower, it’s the distinction between divine willpower and human willpower. Or, to put the two together, does God will the salvation of everyone with a weak-willed, ineffectual love, or does God love his loved ones with a resolute will that gets the job done?

The God of Calvin is the good shepherd, who names and numbers his sheep, who saves the lost sheep and fends off the wolf. The God of Wesley is the hireling, who knows not the flock by name and number, who lets the sheep go astray and be eaten by the wolf. Which is more loving, I ask? – Steve Hays

Here is a link to a parallel article.  

Repost of But that’s not fair!

The following article was posted on January 15, 2006.

by Mike Ratliff

What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! (Romans 9:14)

The natural mind, plagued with selective rationalization, demands that God be fair in His dealings with all humankind. Fairness speaks of justice. One of the tenets of our republican form government in the USA is a right to a fair and speedy trial before one’s peers. A person on trial for a crime may or may not truly want justice. They may be guilty so their desire is not justice, but grace. If a judge in a criminal trial declares a defendant guilty, but then defers sentencing in lieu of probation or “time served” then he has extended grace to the guilty party.

It’s Time to Stand in the Gap

Several days ago I wrote a piece called Call to Repentance. With that call in mind please consider the following. The American Christian Church is at a crossroads. Satan has so blinded the eyes of the fence sitters amongst us that any call by those with godly discernment that shines the light of truth into the darkness of compromise and easy-believism will be met by a wall of resistance that is intended to discourage and defeat. What is most disturbing is that much of this comes from people who profess to love the Lord and to obey Him. The lie from Satan that they are believing to be the truth is that it is wrong and foolish to take stands for the truth as the absolute truth. We do have absolute truth. It is found in God’s Word. It is the only source we have. The lie says that we cannot know the truth. The Word says we can as the Holy Spirit reveals it to our hearts. The lie says that we must always acknowledge that our doctrinal positions such as the doctrines of grace may be wrong. Is this standing in the Gap?

Spurgeon on Unconditional Election

The Reformed Doctrine of Unconditional Election is probably the most hated and loved doctrine in existence. I knew when I posted Unconditional Election last night that I would receive much heat. The comments that I posted are only a fragment of those I received. I have been labeled as a heretic. I have been accused of deliberately causing division in the body. I have been told that I am going to Hell because I teach this. Well, none of that is pleasant, however, should those who know the truth keep it bottled up and tell no one simply to avoid the heat?

Here is a sermon by Charles Spurgeon on this doctrine. Enjoy and be blessed.

Unconditional Election

by Mike Ratliff

The Doctrine of Unconditional Election is not for sissies. What I mean by that is if we adhere to this doctrine then we had better be ready for those in unbelief to attack us with their broadsides and accusations. It seems that every Pelagian out there, whether full blown Pelagian or semi-Pelagian or Arminian, is convinced that Man is not dead in his or her trespasses and sins and is fully able to elect God or not. Of course, none of their arguments hold any water because they are derived either from man-centered philosophy or from Bible verses taken out of context (eisegesis). On the other hand, the Doctrines of Grace are all completely Biblical and are based entirely in Holy Scripture expositions done exegetically.

The Doctrines of Grace describe and teach what God has done for His people in Jesus Christ. While the Doctrine of Unconditional Election is important it is not the best place to start in trying to understand God’s good work in His people’s hearts and for their behalf in eternity. Why? It is completely contrary to Man’s natural way of thinking and understanding. However, it is vital that we do understand and grasp it. Why? This doctrine is “an important measuring rod for someone’s theology, since an acceptance or rejection of this doctrine reveals at once whether a person is biblically correct on such other doctrines as the nature and extent of sin, the bondage of the will, the full grace of God in salvation, and even the presentation of the gospel.”1

Total Inability

by Mike Ratliff

As many of you know, I was in Washington, DC from Thursday last week through Sunday. My wife and I were there specifically to visit our son who is a first year Resident at GWU Hospital in their Emergency Medicine program. We flew home on Monday. We didn’t go to visit the monuments. However, we did spend a lot of time walking through the Columbia Heights, Dupont Circle, Foggy Bottom, and Georgetown areas of our nation’s Capital. I wrote my first impressions of this on Friday in my post Reflections from Washington, DC. After some further reflection on what God was revealing to me through this, I have come to the conclusion that I must post a series on the Doctrines of Grace.

Those of us who dearly love these doctrines often use the acronym “T.U.L.I.P.” to represent the five points. One of my favorite books about this is The Doctrines of Grace by James Montgomery Boice and Philip Graham Ryken. I will use this book extensively in this series along with others by R.C. Sproul, John Owen, and Martin Luther. However, my primary source will be The Bible.

False Religion

by Mike Ratliff

Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.” And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. And the LORD sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?” And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. (1 Samuel 15:16-20 ESV)

The Reformers and Puritans would not recognize as genuine most of what we call Christianity today. Of course one the main thrusts of the Protestant Reformation was to make the Word of God accessible to all people. Why? It is in the Bible that we learn the truth. We learn what genuine worship is and what it isn’t. We learn that genuine Christianity will always have the requirement of obedience to God as what marks a true disciple of Christ. False versions of Christianity will always be marked by a version of the truth to obey that is not the complete truth from God’s Word. Instead, men’s rules are used.

False professions abound in false churches. Instead of complete obedience being the standard for believers, obedience to man’s version of God’s standard suffices. Just as Saul said he was obedient when he partially carried out God’s mission to destroy the Amalekites, false churches propagate this sort of thing in believer’s day-to-day obedience. It is all relative. There are no absolutes and only someone ate up with legalism would insist on complete obedience to God.

Charles Spurgeon Quote on God’s Mercy

“The Lord’s mercy is a sea which cannot be filled, though mountains of sin be cast into its midst. It is like Noah’s flood, which covers all and drowns even the mountaintops of heaven-defying sins.”

Reflections from Washington DC

by Mike Ratliff

My wife and I are in our nation’s capital visiting our son. He lives in Columbia Heights because he is physician who is in his first year residency at GWU Hospital in their Emergency Medicine program. As we ate dinner with him this afternoon he shared some things with us about some of his latest patients. There was the woman who died as they began treating her. She had massive hemorrhaging in her chest cavity and bled to death in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Then there was the intravenous drug user who didn’t have any veins left in which to give him an IV. There were more…

The Valley of Vision

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,

Thou has brought me to the valley of vision,

where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;

hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold

thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox

that the way down is the way up,

that to be low is to be high,

that the broken heart is the healed heart,

that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,

that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,

that to have nothing is to possess all,

that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,

that to give is to receive,

that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,

and the deeper the wells the brighter

thy stars shine;

Let me find thy light in my darkness,

Thy life in my death,

that every good work or thought found in me

thy joy in my sorrow,

thy grace in my sin,

thy riches in my poverty

thy glory in my valley.

Quick Trip

On Thursday morning (Sept. 13th 2007), which is Rosh Hashanah according to the Jewish calendar , my wife and I will be boarding a plane to fly from KC to D.C. We will be there to visit our son who is in his first year of residency as a Emergency Medicine Physician at GWU Hospital. Unless the Lord returns while we are on this trip and if the Lord allows it, we should return home on Monday the 17th. Please pray for a fruitful trip. – Mike Ratliff