A Trustworthy Statement

by Mike Ratliff

1 But as for you, teach what accords with p sound [1] doctrine. (Titus 2:1 ESV)

6 x Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 y casting all your anxieties on him, because z he cares for you. 8 a Be sober-minded; b be watchful. Your c adversary the devil d prowls around e like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 f Resist him, g firm in your faith, knowing that h the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And i after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, j who has called you to his k eternal glory in Christ, will himself l restore, m confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 n To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:6-11 ESV)

Our enemy is quite clever in his deceit. He knows exactly what buttons to push to incite us to step into conflicts or situations designed to do damage to our faith and our relationship with our Lord. He also has his own deceived people whom he has convinced that they are the only Christians who have it right and everyone else, including such Bible scholars as John Owen or John Calvin or preachers such as Charles Spurgeon were heretics and tools of the devil. This group would also include men of today such as John MacArthur or R.C. Sproul. If we are not very careful, we can be drawn into “discussions” with these people whom our enemy is using for his own heinous purposes. These discussions can grow into conflict very quickly because it will not take long for these servants of our enemy to go for the jugular and attempt to demolish our faith by casting doubt through distracting arguments.