Partakers of the Divine Nature

by Mike Ratliff

[3:1] See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. [2] Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. [3] And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:1-3 ESV) 

The way things worked out today (Sunday, November 26^th, 2011) I found myself visiting another church this morning other than my own. This one is somewhat larger than the one I usually attend and is quite a bit closer to where I live, but we drive the extra distance because it most definitely “worth it.” On the other hand, there were certainly our Brethren in the Lord at the Church we visited today and even though I missed being with the local body of believers a few miles away at our church, we were with God’s people. What was I sensing? What was that “thing” that enabled us to fellowship together even though we were not known among them nor did we know anyone except those who invited us. It is that we are all partakers of the same divine nature.

The Abiding Commandment in a Transient World

by Mike Ratliff

15 Μὴ ἀγαπᾶτε τὸν κόσμον μηδὲ τὰ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ τὸν κόσμον, οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ πατρὸς ἐν αὐτῷ· (1 John 2:15 NA27)

¹⁵ Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15 Possessing the Treasure New Testament V1)

I’ve been on the road almost constantly over the last couple of weeks. In that time, I have not been able to write or post much, but that did not keep me from reading my emails from our CRN discussion group in the evening in my hotel room and marveling at the continuing spread of silliness that pretends to be Evangelicalism in our time. If we are not prayerful and become careless in our own abiding in our Lord, we can become distracted and then susceptible to the wiles of our enemy to become discouraged and even despair about these things. On the other hand, when we are in the heat of battle and God is using us, it is amazing how clear we can see the compromise all around us. We see believers with a love for truth and a profession of faith, but also with a love for this world and the things of this world that becomes evident in those compromises. When this takes place in “Christian leadership” what are the evidences we should look for? Are there consistent ones that obviously point to ones that we can say, “Blindness has blinded his eyes?” 

Proof of Salvation Part 2

by Mike Ratliff

28 Καὶ νῦν, τεκνία, μένετε ἐν αὐτῷ, ἵνα ἐὰν φανερωθῇ σχῶμεν παρρησίαν καὶ μὴ αἰσχυνθῶμεν ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ αὐτοῦ. 29 ἐὰν εἰδῆτε ὅτι δίκαιός ἐστιν, γινώσκετε ὅτι καὶ πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν τὴν δικαιοσύνην ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεγέννηται. (1 John 2:28-29 NA27)

²⁸ And now little children, abide in him that when his is manifested we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. ²⁹ Since you know that he is righteous, you also know that everyone practicing righteousness has been born of him. (1 John 2:28-29 Possessing the Treasure New Testament V1)

Antinomianism which is an attempt to claim to be Christian without Christ being Lord of a believer’s life along with Christless Christianity which is man-made religiosity in the form of Christianity, but totally denying the power of our Saviour and Lord because those within are neither rooted nor grounded in Christ offer only “feelings” and the forms of religiosity (works) in an attempt to assuage the consciences of those ensnared in those false religions. On the other hand, genuine Christianity can be put to the test and those who are in Christ can know if they are truly saved. All false religions have people looking within, to find that change within the inner person to see if that “salvation has really happened.” Only genuine Christianity looks at undeniable proof. 

Proof of Salvation

by Mike Ratliff

1 Εἴ τις οὖν παράκλησις ἐν Χριστῷ, εἴ τι παραμύθιον ἀγάπης, εἴ τις κοινωνία πνεύματος, εἴ τις σπλάγχνα καὶ οἰκτιρμοί, 2 πληρώσατέ μου τὴν χαρὰν ἵνα τὸ αὐτὸ φρονῆτε, τὴν αὐτὴν ἀγάπην ἔχοντες, σύμψυχοι, τὸ ἓν φρονοῦντες (Philippians 2:1-2 NA27)

¹ Therefore, since there is encouragement in Christ, consolation of love, fellowship of the Spirit, affection, and compassions, ² complete my joy by being of the same mind, the same love, as ones joined in soul and of one mind. (Philippians 2:1-2 Possessing the Treasure New Testament V1) 

Christian unity is a much-abused topic at this time. Some insist, such as T.D. Jakes with his inclusion in Elephant Room 2, that all who claim to be Christian, regardless of their “doctrinal views” should be unified because this is God’s will. We can offer plenty of passages from the inspired Word of God that disproves both his claim of universal unity being God’s will and the fact that just because someone claims to be Christian they really are. The Postmodern mindset is irrational as we have seen in that it has no issue with holding various “truths” as being true even if when, in reality, that is impossible because to the rational person, those truths are absolute and cannot be true and something else be true that conflicts with it. For instance, Christian Orthodoxy has as one of its base doctrines that God is One, but is also the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, which is the Holy Trinity. T.D. Jakes, a Modalist, rejects this. He says that God manifests himself as one of these three as he pleases, but only one at a time. T.D. Jakes’ god is not God.