A Very Grave Person

by Mike Ratliff

I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. (1 Corinthians 4:14-17 ESV)

We often lament the vast number of church leaders, pastors, Christian writers, et cetera who have compromised their ministries with the ways and means of the world from various motivations. Instead of doing all for the glory of God, these have some other focus most often fixed upon selfish ambition in one form or another. What about the genuine, God-called Shepherd of the Sheep who obediently takes care of those entrusted to him by our Lord? What is his modus operandi?

Why I Am a Christian

James White gives a 27-minute minute presentation of the faith for those without any knowledge of Christianity. 

Destructive Doctrines

by Mike Ratliff

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. (2 Peter 2:1 ESV)

False professors and false prophets have one thing in common. They are convinced that the ‘religious paradigm’ they love, cherish, follow, and proclaim is true. Of course, they come to this conclusion through what some of them refer to as their ‘thinkology.’ In other words, what makes it true in their hearts is their own acceptance of it. The deciding or defining standard, which is used by these people, is their own value system. They oppose clear Biblical truth because “they just don’t believe it” while they embrace humanistic forms of Christianity simply because their ‘thinkology ‘ gives them a green light.

What Defiles a Person?

by Mike Ratliff

“There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” (Mark 7:15 ESV)

One very interesting character in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress is a fellow named ‘Ignorance.’ ‘Christian’ and ‘Hopeful’ encounter him after they depart the company of the ‘Shepherds’ as they continue their journey to the Celestial City.  The path on which they traveled became crooked and it lay next to a country called ‘Conceit.’ ‘Ignorance’ came from there. Bunyan described him as ‘a very brisk lad.’ After ‘Christian’ learned  that ‘Ignorance’ claimed to be on the same journey as he and ‘Hopeful’ he also deduced that this fellow had not begun it at the Narrow Gate nor had he encountered Christ Crucified.

Out of Pocket

To all:

My brother-in-law had an accident at home which resulted in a shattered elbow and upper bone in his left arm as well as a some damage to his hip and spine. My wife and I will be traveling to their city to be with him and his family. I will not be able to post or do much with Possessing the Treasure until we return. Please be in prayer for my brother-in-law (Rick) and his family (Tara and Tristan) as well as our safe trip there and back.

In Christ

Mike Ratliff

The Ministry of Reconciliation

by Mike Ratliff

He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1 Peter 2:22-25 ESV)

Not long ago I had an offline “discussion” with a fellow who was Hindu. He did not grow up as a Hindu, but in a Christian family. However, he forsook his parents’ faith because he believed that those professing Christians all around him were nothing but a bunch of hypocrites. Since I didn’t know the people he was referring to I did not interject anything into the “discussion” about that, but instead, I kept pointing Him to the finished work of Christ on the cross and I explained how Christians are not Christians because they choose to be, but because God the Father gave them to the Son who reconciled them to the Father through His death on that cross. God regenerated them so that they would believe and repent and be justified by faith. He would not “hear” it though. He insisted that Free Will is the center of all genuine religions and it is through the exercise of that Free Will to obey one’s religious “deity” that causes what we refer to as “salvation” or “justification.”

Faith is a Gift

Perseverance of the Saints

by Mike Ratliff

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:37-40 ESV)

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. (John 10:28-29 ESV)

The Doctrines of Grace are all tremendous blessings to the believer since they teach us that our salvation is God’s Work from beginning to end, top to bottom, and side to side. However, each of us from time to time, since we are only vessels of clay and a vapor that is here one day and then gone the next, will experience  a loss of joy born from life’s disappointments. We suffer this way because our focus is not perfectly fixed on God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit as the source of our fulfillment. God, in His omniscient wisdom, prunes us as He takes things out of our lives that our hearts cherished. It is as we struggle through these times that it is a good thing to review who we are in Christ and what He has done, and what He is doing for us. One such precious promise is the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints.

Loving the Esteem of Men Over the Esteem of God

by Mike Ratliff

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? (John 5:39-44 ESV)

The sin of unbelief is amazing to behold. Those in its clutches deliberately refuse to believe the truth preferring instead to pursue untruths that are popular with men. What motivates so-called Christian leaders to do this? They do this because they love the esteem or praise of men more than the esteem or praise of God. This is no different than believers remaining silent because they fear that taking a stand as a Christian would lower their esteem in the eyes of their peers. However, when these preachers or pastors or writers who profess to be Christians teach or preach a form of the gospel that has all of the offense of sin, hell, and the sacrifice on the cross of our beloved Saviour removed or glossed over then they are just a guilty as those Jewish leaders who were secret followers of Christ out of fear of being excommunicated.

New and Old Treasure

by Mike Ratliff

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13:44-46 ESV)

The correct way to understand Sacred Scripture is that the Old Testament contains the “old” promises of the Messiah and the fulfillment of His Kingdom while the New Testament is the “new” revelation from Jesus and His Apostles, which reveal to us how the “old” promises are fulfilled in Him. The New Testament explains the Old Testament, not the other way around.

Do Not Grow Weary

by Mike Ratliff

My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. (Proverbs 3:11-12 ESV)

A huge part of the Lord’s discipline is designed to eradicate within His people a love for this world. How can it be pleasing to God for His people to love the system that despised His Son and killed Him? Yes believers must live the lives God has given them here amidst people who are not His. God uses this to discipline and reprove His people. Unlike the message of many false teachers in our day, sickness, conflict, and trouble are not outward signs of God’s displeasure with a believer, but are, in fact, His work of sanctifying those in whom He delights.

Salt of the Earth and Light of the World

by Mike Ratliff

And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark 4:21-23 ESV)

In Ephesians 5:18 Christians are commanded to continually be filled with the Holy Spirit instead of being filled with the desires of the flesh. This filling by the Holy Spirit is best understood in two ways. The first is the Christian being driven into God’s will by the Holy Spirit filling his or her spiritual sails. The believer must raise these sails and that happens as he or she pursues holiness and obedience by God’s grace. The other way to understand this is the Holy Spirit seasoning the Christian as salt permeates meat in order to preserve it and make it savory. This permeation is part of the believer’s persevering, however, it also flavors him or her to have the same savor as Christ. In turn, the believer who is so filled with the Holy Spirit is also the salt of the earth.

Have You Lost the Love You Had at First?

by Mike Ratliff

The word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the LORD, “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest. All who ate of it incurred guilt; disaster came upon them, declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 2:1-3 ESV)

Christian, think back to those early days of your walk with the Lord. Your entire value system seemed to be turned upside-down. You loved God and your devotion to your Saviour was the most important thing in your life. Old sins had no power over you. You were full of joy and wanted only to serve the Lord Jesus with your all. At the same time, you also discovered that your relationships changed. You could love others with a deeper and more sincere love that was active and compassionate. Would this describe your relationship with the Lord Jesus and all those around you today?

Sin Not Mortified Leads to a Darkened Soul

by Mike Ratliff

O LORD, God of my salvation; I cry out day and night before you. Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry! For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am a man who has no strength, like one set loose among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand. You have put me in the depths of the pit, in the regions dark and deep. Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape; (Psalms 88:1-8 ESV)

Despite what many so-called Christian leaders are teaching in our day about the necessity of repentance in the life of the believer, the Word of God teaches us something entirely different. In it, we learn that the life, vigor, and comfort of our spiritual life depends much on our actively and deliberately mortifying the sin that clings so closely. This teaching has unfortunately been neglected much over the last several decades to the point that some scoff at its necessity in the Christian walk. However, if we go back and read the Puritans and others that came before we find that personal holiness has not always been neglected in the Church as it has been in our day.

What is Faith?

by Mike Ratliff

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1 ESV)

Much of the false doctrine that we see in our time can be at least partially seen to emanate from a misunderstanding of what faith is. Paul tell us in Ephesians 2:8 that Christians are saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. So, whatever faith is, saving faith has as its source something other than our fallen nature.

What the Gospel is and What it is Not

by Mike Ratliff

But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20-21 ESV)

Any attempt to “improve” the Gospel according to human wisdom or philosophy empties the Cross of Christ of its power. In our day, this tinkering with Gospel is called “Contextualization.” This is the process of adding to, taking away, and changing the Gospel message in an attempt to make it relate to culture. While there is a part in all of us that sees this as a “good move,” if we compare this with what the Word of God teaches us about the Gospel and how God works through it to save His people, we will see that this process actually creates just another false gospel or non-gospel.

The Unchanging Gospel

by Burk Parsons

I am a Christian, and I am a Protestant. Im a Christian because I trust Jesus Christ alone, believing that salvation is accomplished by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone. I am a devout Protestant because I continue to protest against anyone who even suggests that salvation is accomplished in any other way.

The Curse of Gospel Contextualization

by Mike Ratliff

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:13-19 ESV)

Several weeks ago I found myself in a battle of words with a couple of men who tried every argument you can imagine in an attempt to move me away from the stance I have taken, which is that truth is the truth regardless whether people believe it or not. Along with this, I also refused to “compromise” by admitting that what I held to be true was only my opinion and, therefore, their “opinion” was just as valid. While this culture may actually side with those two fellows rather than me, I still stand and refuse to budge from the stance that the truth revealed in God’s Word is not hidden from the regenerate heart. The Holy Spirit works in our hearts to validate what is true and what is not. I have always allowed discussion on these topics as long as the one disagreeing with me will use scripture alone, in context, as the basis for his or her argument. No one has taken that challenge. Instead, all I have received are philosophical arguments and quotes from some source other than God’s Word.

Debtors to God

by Mike Ratliff

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Romans 8:8-14 ESV)

In the late 1980’s I was asked to teach a Sunday School class at the church (SBC) my family attended. I had never taught anything at any level before. The class was the 5^th grade boys and girls. Even though I had not taught before I did have enough discernment to know that the curriculum they gave us to teach from was pathetic. It was about that same time that I took a class at church on Sunday evenings called Masterlife. I had been a Christian about two years at this time and did not know much about theology.

As I look back on Masterlife and the curriculum I was asked to teach from, I marvel at the foundation of sand on which much of it was based. For instance, the Masterlife course taught that there were three types of people. There are unbelievers who are spiritually dead. There are spirit-filled or spirit-led believers who walk in a close relationship with God. These are disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. However, the writers of this course included a third group. This group was made up of Christians, but they were carnal or fleshly. The course contended that there was not much difference between them and the lost person other than the fact that they had made a profession of faith, which guaranteed that their spirit was not dead, but alive.

Blessed are the Forgiven

by Mike Ratliff

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” (Romans 4:7-8 ESV)

The Church, the genuine Church that is, is made up of people whose sins have been forgiven by our merciful God. What is the basis for this forgiveness? Are these God has forgiven more worthy than those outside the Church? Let us look at the paradox of our Holy, Righteous, and Just God who proclaims that He will not forgive those who have sinned against Him, but who does show mercy to some.

Submission to One Another

by Mike Ratliff

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:15-21 ESV)

My wife and I just completed viewing the recently released movie Fireproof. It is the third movie made and released by a church in Albany. Georgia. We own all three, which are Flywheel, Facing the Giants, and now Fireproof. Kirk Cameron plays the main character who is a Fire Station Captain. His marriage is falling apart. The movie is about how God worked through Biblical truth to breathe life into what was dead. The main characters are unbelievers, but as Christians all around them pray for them, God draws them both to Christ. Through His miraculous heart surgery, creating faith where there was only doubt and resentment, their marriage is saved.

The Great Commandment

by Mike Ratliff

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.‘ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions. (Mark 12:28-34 ESV)

The rabbis of Jesus’ day engaged in an ongoing debate to determine which commandments of the Law were “light” and which were “weighty” (Matthew 23:23). It reminds me of the debate in certain circles of the visible Church today in which some are concerned with how far they can push their “Christian Liberty.” This concept is no more biblical than that of the rabbis attempting to compartmentalize their religion. Does our Lord’s answer to the Pharisee in Mark 12, Matthew 22, and Luke 10 have any significance to the Christian?