And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may discern the will of God, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect

17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ! — 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:17-24 ESV)

The writers of the New Testament had no concept of a Christian whom many today would call a “Carnal Christian.” All believers still sin in this life and there will be times when they struggle with certain sins as if in a deadly battle, which they perceive as one they are losing. However, God will not leave His children this way. There will be no peace in the heart of a genuine Christian who is actively indulging his or her flesh. Instead, there will be heartache, self-loathing, and a deep desire to get the victory and draw closer to the Saviour much as David did when finally confronted about his horrible sin of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband. There is no true peace in the heart of Christian who is hiding his or her sin. Those around them may not know what is going on, but God does  and so do those hiding their sin. It is not a spiritually healthy situation.

The proper walk before the face of God for the Christian is one of repentance. This walk consists of self-denial, prayer, and dying to the desires of the flesh. We often make the mistake of thinking that the way to do this is through will power or asceticism, but the best way to walk according to the spirit is to actively pursue God as His living sacrifice.

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2 ESV)

Here is this passage in Koine Greek from the NA28:

1 Παρακαλῶ οὖν ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, διὰ τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν τοῦ θεοῦ παραστῆσαι τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν θυσίαν ζῶσαν ἁγίαν εὐάρεστον τῷ θεῷ, τὴν λογικὴν λατρείαν ὑμῶν· 2 καὶ μὴ συσχηματίζεσθε τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ, ἀλλὰ μεταμορφοῦσθε τῇ ἀνακαινώσει τοῦ νοὸς εἰς τὸ δοκιμάζειν ὑμᾶς τί τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ εὐάρεστον καὶ τέλειον. (Romans 12:1-2 NA28)

The following is my own translation from the NA28:

1 Therefore, I urge you brothers through the compassions of God to present your bodies as living, holy sacrifices, well pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service. 2 And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may discern the will of God, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2 translated from the NA28 Greek text)

The transformation we are commanded to go through takes place as we obediently embark on continual mind renewal. This is a way of life. This is to walk through each day with our minds on Christ and His Word. It is not about “experience” per se, but about knowing God through the means of grace He has given us such as Bible Study, Prayer, service, worship, and partaking of the Lord’s Supper, et cetera. It is not about making the mind go into neutral and fellowshipping with “familiar spirits.” Nor is it about interpreting God’s word via experience. No, it is about knowing God’s Word and applying it to our obedient lives. As we know God more and more the more we will be changed. We will begin to become more and more indentified as having a nature like our Lord’s, a “divine nature.”

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. (2 Peter 1:3-4 ESV)

Please notice that we take on this divine nature by God’s power. Our efforts could never produce this. Instead, it is by His divine power as we obey Him and partake of His promises. This increases the level of the divine nature in us. The more we obey God this way the more we partake of the divine nature, which is opposed entirely to the corruption and flesh orientation of this lost and dying world. This is how we become transformed (Romans 12:2) because this is how our minds are continually renewed. We must remain in this growth process. When we slack off and pursue the things of the flesh, we are going nowhere. We are not growing in Christian maturity. We are not having our minds renewed, so we are not being transformed. Instead, we are being fleshly-minded and this only leads to darkness and despair because we are off the narrow path and have taken the easy way, which only leads to Doubting Castle and imprisonment by Giant Despair. The only way out of there my brethren is to get back to the narrow path by believing and submitting to the promises of God made to all His children by and through the Cross of Christ. These promises will unlock all the doors in Doubting Castle and then we can escape Giant Despair’s clutches as we get back on the narrow path that is the only way of continual mind renewal in obedience to our Lord.

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV)

This passage is a picture of how we must stay in continual mind renewal. We lay aside the weight and sin that clings so close so we can run with endurance the race God has set before us. The writer of Hebrews compares sin to a weight that keeps us from running with endurance. Laying it aside is a picture of repentance. We turn from it and move on. We refuse to pick it up again. We pray for the fortitude and courage to do this. Then we get into the race and run it by looking unto our Lord Jesus Christ for His direction and promised joy and strength to serve Him (John 15). Christ went to the Cross to save His people and the picture for us is that we must also be willing to lay down our own wants and desires so that we may obey God with our entire lives.

Those who  are being continually transformed by mind renewal as part of running the race set before them by God stay in the Word of God, prayer, worship, and obedience. This is how it is done. It requires submission to those around them. It calls for humility. Both of these are necessities in this as well as products of it. The more we run the race the more humble we become and it requires humility and self-denial to stay in the race. Do you see it my brethren?

We all blow it at times. We sin, we become self-focused and do and say stupid things that are bound up in the ways of the flesh. This is the taking up again of those weights that keep us from running the race. This is self-focused and rooted in pride. It ends our spiritual growth. It puts us out of the race. The only way back in is confession, repentance, and obedience.

When we are in the race our focus is eternal. Even those temporal things that seem to make up the boundaries and consistency of our lives in the temporal are seen for what they are and they have no hold on us. We are able to deny ourselves and move on with God. However, if our focus is temporal then our circumstances run our lives. Our possessions actually own us. We are self-focused and submit to no one. While in the race we grow spiritually, but while living and operating in the temporal as our focus then we stop growing spiritually until we repent and get back into the race.

My brethren, do an inventory of your spiritual walk and how it intersects with your temporal existence. Which controls which? Which defines how you live, worship, and serve? If we are controlled by the temporal, we can often look very much like active Christians. We can be deeply involved in Church and do all sorts of religious “works.” However, that is not the same thing as walking in repentance and living ones life as God’s living sacrifice. Those who are in the race will serve God in all they do. They will be involved in our Lord’s Church, but their daily walk with Him is what defines them, not simply their religiosity. On the other hand, those who have many religious “works,” but who live for self the rest of the time are not in the race. They may very well be in a huge battle here. I know this because I was there for many years.

I was a Deacon and Bible teacher in a church for many years, but my daily walk could best be described as a disaster. I indulged the flesh. I rebelled against putting parts of my life under the Lordship of Christ. I would teach on Sunday and live for myself the rest of the time. Oh, I had periods of repentance in which I would serve God as well as I could with my whole life, but eventually I would devolve back into self-focused spiritual mediocrity. The OKC Federal Center bombing sent me down a new self-destructive path. I was in the blast zone when Timothy McVie set off his truck bomb. I became depressed. I was angry, bitter, and resentful about nearly anything having to do with me not getting my way. It was an awful time. However, God had mercy on me.

In late 2003 I had been on a 6 month sabbatical from teaching in Church. At our Church Christmas party, I was asked to teach a new class for young adults. God made sure I knew that I was incapable of doing the legwork to get this going because of my lack of focus and obedience. This drove me to my knees. For the next 8 months or so God drew me to Himself. By the time August rolled around, I was in the Word, prayer, or worship all day nearly every day. It was amazing. The closer I drew to God the more grace He gave me. Increasing obedience marked my life. God transformed me continually through this. He changed my value system. He put me in position to run the race as it should be run. I was amazed and still am. I have grown quite a bit since then. God has not got tired of me pursuing Him. He has used me in the battle for the truth in ways that still amaze me. He has revealed His ways to me. This has brought His Word to life for me.

In any case my brethren, if you are struggling with the desires of the flesh then you are where I was before God drew me to Himself. I pray for you to turn from this as you draw near unto God. Pray that God will not allow you to become distracted from this pursuit. Go hard after God my brethren and He will come hard after you.

By Mike Ratliff Soli Deo Gloria!

How Vital Is It that We Have Full, Precise, Thorough, And Correct Knowledge Of God?

15 Διὰ τοῦτο κἀγὼ ἀκούσας τὴν καθʼ ὑμᾶς πίστιν ἐν τῷ κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην τὴν εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους 16 οὐ παύομαι εὐχαριστῶν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν μνείαν ποιούμενος ἐπὶ τῶν προσευχῶν μου, 17 ἵνα ὁ θεὸς τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ πατὴρ τῆς δόξης, δώῃ ὑμῖν πνεῦμα σοφίας καὶ ἀποκαλύψεως ἐν ἐπιγνώσει αὐτοῦ, (Ephesians 1:15-17 NA28)

15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, (Ephesians 1:15-17 ESV)

Post-modernism has as one of its tenets “relativism” that, of course, leads to ambiguity not revelation nor precision in our understanding of the truth. In fact, I have been rebuked more times than I can count by those who hold to that false religion called the “Emergent Church” that I was full of pride and not humble because I declared that I knew truth revealed to us by God in His Word as absolute truth, authoritative and without error. The liberal insists that to be humble we must declare that we do not know the truth nor are able to know God or understand His Word.

However, the Apostle Paul reveals to the Ephesians in the first chapter of his letter to them that he does not cease to give thanks for them, and that God would give them the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. In v17 the word “knowledge” translates the Greek noun ἐπιγνώσει or epignōsei, which is the Dative, Singular, Feminine case of ἐπίγνωσις or epignōsis. This is a compound word made up of γνῶσις or gnōsis, “experiential knowledge” and ἐπὶ or epi, “motion upon or toward” thereby coming up with ἐπίγνωσις meaning “an experiential, personal knowledge that is full and thorough.” This would also speak of “precise and correct knowledge.”

Is it vital that we have full, precise, thorough, and correct knowledge of God? Our enemy and his agents work continually to confuse the truth, to make pursuing the truth look like a waste of time or even something that is prideful while exalting those who say it is best to stay ignorant of God and His truth. These same people relish is a religion that is vague and relative while being focused on each person’s experience. The modern philosophies of “open-mindedness” and “tolerance” were foreign to the Apostle Paul’s thinking and they should be expunged from the thinking of Christians today. Many today have “a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge” (ἐπίγνωσις, Romans 10:2).

We are not infinite like God so we shall never know everything, but our knowledge is full in the sense that we know what is right and necessary for Christian living. And, of course, our knowledge continues to grow with more involvement with God’s Word. The more we are transformed through the renewing of our minds by immersing ourselves in God’s Word our knowledge continues to grow. In other words, our knowledge can be full from moment to moment; we can right now know what God wants us to know, but tomorrow we will know more; so, each moment we are living in the full potential of our present knowledge.

Every pastor should pray for his flock the way Paul prayed for the Colossians believers:

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you , asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:9-10 ESV)

Soli Deo Gloria!

"How should a believer respond to the characteristics of God?"
God reveals Himself to believers through His Word (the Bible) and through His Son (Christ Jesus). 
The more we study the Bible,God's written absolute Truth, the more we come to understand God’s characteristics, the qualities He possesses. 
As mortals, we struggle to grasp the power and majesty of the God who has created time, space, matter, and all life. 
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8).

For the purpose of this article, we will focus on three key characteristics of God and the believer’s response to each.

Perhaps the most important characteristic of God is the moral attribute of His holiness.
Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8 describe the triple force of God’s holiness: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” Only when a person glimpses the holiness of God in comparison to human sinfulness is there any hope for true repentance. When we realize the dreadful consequence of sin and consider that the sinless Son of God suffered our punishment, it brings us to our knees. We are silent before the face of God’s holiness, struck dumb by the reverence such holiness demands. Like Job, we say, 
“I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? 
I put my hand over my mouth” (Job 40:4). Understanding God’s holiness causes us to exalt His compassion (2 Corinthians 1:3), mercy (Romans 9:15), grace, and forgiveness (Romans 5:17) toward us. “If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? 
But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared” (Psalm 130:3–4).

God’s most endearing characteristic is His Love. 
Love requires relationship, and throughout eternity the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit have existed together in relationship. God created us in His image, and we were created to be in relationship with Him (Genesis 3:17–18;Romans 1:19–20). 
Such is the extent of God’s love that He sent his only Son to redeem us from our sins.     “This is how we know what love is; Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. God is love. . . .     We love because he first loved us” (1 John 3:16–19). God provided the solution to sin in the person of Christ Jesus. Jesus came to take our punishment for sin and to satisfy God’s justice (John 1:1–5,14,29). 
At Calvary, God’s perfect love and perfect justice met. When we begin to grasp the great love of God, our responses are humility, repentance, and reciprocal love. 
Like King David we pray that God will create in us a pure heart and a steadfast spirit 
(Psalm 34:18;51:10,17). 
God lives in a high and holy place, but with Him are believers who are contrite and lowly in spirit (Isaiah 57:15).

Finally, we will consider the sovereignty of God (Psalm 71:16;Isaiah 40:10). 
God is eternal, from everlasting to everlasting (Psalm 90:2). He is the source of all life (Romans 11:33–36). He is independent of His creation (Acts 17:24–28). Abraham, Samuel, Isaiah, Daniel, and David all acknowledged God as their Sovereign Lord: “Praise be to you, O Lord, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. 
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. 
Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. 
Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. 
In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name” 
(David’s words in 1 Chronicles 29:10–13). The believer honors the Sovereign Lord who has bought us and gladly submits to Him (2 Peter 2:1;James 4:7;Jude 1:4).

King David eloquently summed up the characteristics of God: 
“The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed in majesty and is armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity. . . . The Lord on high is mighty. Your statutes stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days, O Lord” 
(Psalm 93:1–2,4–5).

A few men of faith have been privileged to experience God’s presence, to have God speak directly to them. This is how some of them responded:

Moses asked to see the glory of the Lord, and the Lord agreed to cause all of His goodness to pass in front of Moses. “I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen” (Exodus 33:21–22). Moses’ response was to bow down and worship. Like Moses, the believer will bow down and worship the Lord, filled with awe as we contemplate the glory that is our God.

Job never lost his faith in God, even under the most heartbreaking circumstances that tested him to his core. “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face” (Job 13:15). Job was utterly silenced by God when He spoke to him out of the storm. Job confessed that he spoke of things he did not understand, things too wonderful for him to know. “Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:1–6). Like Job, our response to God should be one of humble obedience and trust, submission to His will, whether we understand it or not.

Isaiah had a vision of the Lord seated on his throne and of seraphs who cried out, 
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3). 
So overwhelming was this vision that Isaiah cried out, 
“Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (Isaiah 6:1–5). 
Isaiah realized he was a sinner in the presence of the Holy God, and his response was repentance. John’s vision of the throne of God in heaven inspired in him great awe. 
John fell down as if dead at the feet of the glorified Lord (Revelation 1:17–18). 
Like Isaiah and John, we are humbled in the presence of God’s majesty.

There are many other characteristics of God revealed in the Bible. 
God’s faithfulness leads us to trust Him. His grace prompts gratitude in us. His power incites awe. His knowledge causes us to ask Him for wisdom (James 1:5). 
Those who know God will conduct themselves in holiness and honor 
(1 Thessalonians 4:4–5).
His Kindness leads us to repentance-------Romans 2:4

Is there a war going on between God and His forces on one side and Satan and his forces on the other?

by Mike Ratliff

1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” (Zechariah 3:1-2 ESV)

Today I was sent this link. It brought back a lot of memories of some very serious battles from about 5 to 6 years ago between many of us at CRN and those who proclaimed allegiance to “The Emergent Village.” The fight got ugly at times, but from it it became more and more apparent that the Emergent or Emergence movement was just another form of the “Liberal Christianity” that Charles Spurgeon faced during the Great Downgrade Controversy in his time and what J. Gresham Machen stood against in his ministry and wrote of in his fine bookChristianity and Liberalism. In that book Machen proved that what was called progressive or Liberal Christianity was a different religion from genuine or Orthodox Christianity. It was a good thing that my friend sent me that link and it was also a good thing that I read what was going on there and thought back on those days and those fights. Why? It is imperative to know the enemy and how he works. To have an enemy implies that there is a conflict of some kind. Is there a war going on between God and His forces on one side and Satan and his forces on the other?

First let us take a look at Satan, our enemy. Who is he? Should we fear him? Satan is not God nor is equal with God in any way for he was created.

13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared.  15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. (Ezekiel 28:13,15 ESV)

God created him as the model of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

12 “Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God: “You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. (Ezekiel 28:12 ESV)

He was in the garden of Eden and every precious stone adorned him.

13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. (Ezekiel 28:13 ESV)

He was anointed and ordained by God as a guardian cherub who was blameless in his ways.

14 You were an anointed guardian cherub.I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. 15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. (Ezekiel 28:14-15 ESV)

That described Satan before his fall. However, something went terribly wrong. His heart became proud on account of his beauty, and he corrupted his wisdom because of his splendor.

17 Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you. (Ezekiel 28:17 ESV)

He became filled with violence.

16 In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. (Ezekiel 28:16 ESV)

He led many of the angels in a war against God and his angels.

7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world— he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (Revelation 12:7-9 ESV)

He tried to take God’s place.

12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! 13 You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. ’ 15 But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit. (Isaiah 14:12-15 ESV)

Satan sinned. He is therefore credited with sinning since the beginning.

8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8 ESV)

Because of his actions, he was a murderer from the beginning.

44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44 ESV)

According to Jude 6 he abandoned his home in heaven. He was driven in disgrace from the mount of God and expelled (Ezekiel 28:16). He lost his place in heaven (Revelation 12:8), was thrown or hurled from heaven (Ezekiel 28:16; Revelation 12:9-12), fell like lightning from heaven to the earth (Isaiah 14:12; Luke 10:18), and was made a spectacle before kings (Ezekiel 28:17).

That is how Satan came to be where he is now and explains why he is the way he is. What is he up to now? He is kept in darkness and is bound with everlasting chains.

6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—(Jude 1:6 ESV)

He is filled with fury, because he knows his time is short (Revelation 12:12). Not only does he have power (Acts 10:38), but he is the power of this dark world and is the spiritual force of evil in the heavenly realm (Ephesians 6:12). The whole world is under his control (1 John 5:19), and he leads it astray (Revelation 12:9). He roams the earth (Job 1:7; Job 2:2), and prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Needless to say, he is earthly and unspiritual (James 3:15).

Not only is Satan our enemy (1 Peter 5:8), but he is also an enemy of everything that is right (Acts 13:10). He can present himself before the Lord and make petition against us (Job 1:6-12; Job 2:1-7). Satan asks God for permission to “sift” us (Luke 22:31), and he accuses us day and night before God (Zechariah 3:1; Revelation 12:10). He lies and slanders; in fact, there is no truth in him (John 8:44; Revelation 2:9).

The devil twists the scriptures for his purposes and perverts the right ways of the Lord (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:2-13; Acts 13:10). He is cunning and deceives (2 Corinthians 11:3). He schemes and tries to outwit us (2 Corinthians 2:11; Ephesians 6:11), and is full of all kinds of deceit and trickery (Acts 13:10). He takes the Word away from hearts (Luke 8:12), and blinds the minds of unbelievers (2 Corinthians 4:4). He traps and takes captive (2 Timothy 2:26), binds (Luke 13:16), incites (1 Chronicles 21:1) and, in general, is a stumbling block (Matthew 16:23). He can fill one’s heart (Acts 5:3) and lead minds astray from Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3).

Satan masquerades as an angel of light, and his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). He is at work in those who are disobedient (Ephesians 2:2). He sows “weeds” (Matthew 13:38-39), and can work through anyone (Matthew 16:23; Mark 8:33). He can even display counterfeit miracles, signs, and wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:9).

No one is immune to Satan’s temptations; he even tempted Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:2-13). But Satan could not prevail; he had no hold on Christ (John 14:30)!

Satan will put some Christians in prison to test them (Revelation 2:10), and he holds the power of death (Hebrews 2:14). But Christians are not powerless against him. The Bible tells us that faith extinguishes his flaming arrows (Ephesians 6:16), and if resisted, Satan will flee (James 4:7). He has been overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the testimony of Christian martyrs (Revelation 2:11). Christians have overcome him (1 John 2:13)!

Now, with all of that in mind, could we agree that there is a war still going on between God and His Kingdom on one side and our enemy Satan and his powers on the other? Yes, and it is very real. The more I get involved in this struggle the more it has become apparent to me that our enemy can and does use other professing Christians against us. They may very well believe they are not serving him but God, however, their actions reveal that they are deceived. I have learned in a very painful way to discern that I am dealing with one of these. There will always be a few characteristics that give them away. Remember, our enemy’s “people” operate as he does. How is that? It is through lies and deceit. He is the devil and that means he is a slanderer. He twists the truth in order to build doubt in the heart. This is what we must look for in those who come to us as angels of light, but inwardly are nothing more than Satan’s pawns.

They will often have a very convincing appearance of godliness. They use the right words and know a lot of Biblical jargon. However, when those points of contention come to bear such as The Gospel, Justification, Sanctification, the Nature of God, the Nature of a genuine Christian, Doctrine, humility, pride, spiritual warfare, etc. you will find at least one hot button in there where their true nature will be revealed. This can be one of myriads of things, but if we pray for discernment and wisdom, we will be able to spot them. One very telling thing I have found that differentiates these “folks” is the mention of “compromise” and “unity” and “experience” and “Biblical doctrine.” Their reaction to these things are very telling. Also, these people tend to be “universalists” to some degree. If the discussion leads to Spiritual warfare or Spiritual maturity, if they are a pawn of the Devil, they will respond with scorn against the need for either.

They will accuse all who are certain as being prideful. If these who are certain refuse to compromise then they are accused of being so prideful that they must be Satan himself. The cry is unity, unity, unity, at all costs! Compromise, compromise, compromise! To them the truly humble are compromisers who are totally uncertain about anything.

For those reading this who were upset by those last two paragraphs I have some reading for you to do. Start at Ephesians 6:10 and read through 6:20. If we weren’t supposed to stand and not give in to the lies of the enemy then why did Paul give us this passage? To stand means we are standing on something substantial. That is the truth of which we are certain. Our example on how to stand is found in Matthew 4.

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. ’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. ’” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. ’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve. ’” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. (Matthew 4:1-11 ESV)

This is why we must become totally immersed in the Word of God. We must know it. We must always be in prayer with a constant God focus. When we do this much of what calls itself the Church will hate us because we will not be all about unity at all costs, but will be all about the truth and God’s glory. This does not make anyone popular. John MacArthur has said that it is impossible for men to be obedient to God and be popular with the majority. He is right.

To those called to this level of discernment, the way is rugged. It can be confusing and treacherous. Our enemy is a wordsmith and is a deceiver at heart. He knows how to create chaos in our lives to the point that we become disoriented at times. At these times the words of whoever is being used by Satan to attack us will cut like a surgeon’s scalpel. We will believe that our entire being is being exposed in a way to cause us shame. What we hold as right will be twisted in our presence by our enemy to be made to resemble the worst evil and what we know to be evil will appear to be the greatest good. This is why we must NEVER respond to these things emotionally nor from any fleshly position. We must pray and respond with the Word of God for it is the only weapon we have that will make our enemy flee as we resist Him.

As we deal with these people we must also beware of a backlash of “guilt” that we are made to feel because we were “so harsh.” We must be careful here. This is the time to get to a quiet place to pour out our hearts to God. We must repent of what He shows us, but also praise Him and thank Him for helping us stand and not fall. When we do this, more than likely, we will find that those feeling of “guilt” were more fiery darts from our foe as he fled. Never be above asking for forgiveness of these fellows, but do not be surprised when they respond with Satan’s vileness.

God knows that we are fragile creatures who are subject to great emotional stress. He knows that we cannot remain in the front lines indefinitely without some relief. What we must be wary of, however, is to not become complacent during the quieter times. I have found that being in unrelenting battles can wear upon me. I become weary. However, there are times that that is the very moment when the most deceiving of our enemy’s pawns will appear like an angel of light. We must seek the Lord’s face here and plead for help because it is when we are weary that we can make huge mistakes by reacting emotionally in the flesh. This only creates fruitless arguing and hurt feelings that will eventually lead to a very long time on our knees confessing all of this to God, seeking forgiveness, strength, wisdom, and discernment.

Is there a war going on between God and His Kingdom on one side and Satan and his forces on the other? Yes! Sadly, most believers interpret the warnings in God’s Word about this war as it only being Satan trying to tempt Christians to sin. That is only a small part of this war. Satan also attacks the Church. He attacks the Gospel. He attacks the leadership of the Church. Not every Christian is equipped to fight this battle because most are not very mature and are enslaved to their flesh. These are no threat to Satan so they are not attacked. However, those who are maturing and are equipped with God’s armor are a huge threat to our enemy and his kingdom. Therefore, he attacks them. We must do as Paul instructs in Ephesians 6:10-20. We must take up the armor of God and put it on and use it as we bathe our lives in prayer and immerse ourselves in God’s Word. Then when the fiery darts come we will be ready.

Mike Ratliff Soli Deo Gloria!

Is the Bible the Word of God and Does it Have Authority?

12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Proverbs 14:12 ESV)

Just a few days ago I posted “Is there a war going on between God and His forces on one side and Satan and his forces on the other?” In that post I mentioned a link sent to me by a friend to a post on another blog called The Emergent Village. On that blog I could not help noticing a link to another post by another writer there titled “The Bible is NOT the WORD OF GOD: a polemic against Christendom“. What that fellow had to say is the centerpiece of “Christian Liberalism.” Denying The Bible as the Word of God, a gift from God to His people is the first step into apostasy. Once that step is taken all other truths are no longer held as absolute.

Without that God-given anchor into His absolute truth all else is up for grabs. Those like the fellow who wrote that article and those who agree with him are those who also have a problem with what Orthodox Christianity holds as the gospel, the sovereignty of God, election, the exclusivity of genuine discipleship, et cetera. Because of this “liberalism” they also force a man-centered perspective on God’s Word in one form or another. These same people lean towards a form of Christianity that is almost all experiential. Since their view of how the gospel works and how God works with Man is wrongly focused and the Word of God contains clear teachings about the sovereignty of God, these people conceive of their entire “Christian” paradigm from a philosophical and existential base rather than on the authority of Sacred Scripture. They have to do this since they deny that what we call Sacred Scripture has any authority.

The Christian principle of the authority of Sacred Scripture is centered on the truth that God is its author and He has given it to direct the belief and behavior of His people. Instead of conceiving of God, His ways, and our conduct from a man-made, philosophical base, these understandings should be measured, tested, corrected, and enlarged according to God’s Word. The sad state of the 21st Century Church did not come from God’s people diligently adhering to this principle. No, the man-focused free-for-all we see all around us now with the doctrines of demons being preached from pulpits of very large churches, is the product of this principle being largely and deliberately ignored.

The main reason this has taken place is that the church leadership has been deceived with the lie that God’s word does not have the right to command. Part of this delusion came from the philosophies of men, which teach that there is no absolute truth. When these leaders threw off the yoke of adhering to God’s Word as the ultimate authority they instead took on the yoke of the social gospel as they gleefully proclaimed the mantra of liberal theology, which is that Christianity is all about the person rather than all about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit-their glory, their honor, not the glorification of Man.

My brethren, God has chosen to exercise His rule over us through His written Word, which is the embodiment of His truth and wisdom. Sacred Scripture is the instrument of Christ’s lordship over the Church. We see a working example of this principle in Revelation 2 & 3, which are the seven letters to the seven churches. Each letter starts with a command from the Lord Himself directing John to write the Lord’s words to that specific church. Then our Lord dictated each letter to John who faithfully obeyed His Lord. Here we have God’s Word being spoken by our Lord directly to John for each specific church.

Church history contains some very sad chapters. Prior to the Protestant Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church had compromised its unique authority by combining God’s Word the tradition of the Church. In fact, they still hold to this, but prior to the Reformation it held the official policythat only it could interpret Sacred Scripture in light of Church Tradition so common people were forbidden to read it. This led to the Reformation. A large part of this movement was to print as many Bibles in the vernacular as possible and put them into the hands of the common people. Why? The reformers were working diligently in the task of recovering the Doctrine of Justification by Faith and they knew that when people could read the Bible for themselves combined with godly and Biblically sound preaching that the Church would be strengthened and become what God intended for it to be.

Our enemy, Satan and his seed, hate this. They have never stopped attacking the authority of Sacred Scripture. These attacks come from every conceivable direction and, sadly, from many theologians who should know better. One such attack, which I have dealt with many times, is the one in which the Bible’s authority is not attacked directly, but it is subtly changed so that its authority is understood to reside in subject matter or in the experience and insights of the human authors. This subtle attack assumes that the Bible is fundamentally a human book and not divinely inspired. They view the Bible as a guidebook for one’s religious experience, but it is only one of many that they use. These people will view things such as political movements and social forces to have at least as much, if not more, influence than God’s Word.  Those in the midst of this deception often consider themselves to be Christian and view those of us who hold to the authority of Sacred Scripture to be unenlightened.

This battle is crucial. Historic Protestantism holds that Sacred Scripture is the only written revelation of God. It was “breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). He inspired it. Because of this, Sacred Scripture is infallible and true in all it affirms. God’s Word contains all there is necessary to know for salvation and eternal life. God’s people can read His Word and come to a clear understanding of what God requires without the necessity of a human interpreter because each believer has the Holy Spirit. God’s Word is sufficient and clear. When I encounter very well educated people with degrees in theology that cannot understand scripture it makes we wonder. As I attempt to clarify God’s Word for them, they become even more mystified. When this happens we must conclude that they have not the Holy Spirit. Their hearts are darkened and hardened to the light of God’s Word.

Sacred Scripture is the voice of God in the world. It is authoritative in that it has the right to command because its author is God Himself. God’s people walk the difficult, narrow path, which takes them to meet their Saviour face-to-face in eternity, by submitting their thoughts and moral standards to God’s Word. Many Reformers lost their lives because they labored to get the printed Word of God into the hands of their people. In our day we take the Word of God for granted and, as we said earlier, many so-called Christian leaders today actually denigrate it in the eyes of those they lead. The Reformers recognized that the Bible cannot be subject to any person or group, even an exalted church denomination. In and through this recognition, the Reformers freed their consciences from human traditions and authorities.

Our struggle is not dissimilar. There are many very loud voices today attempting to make believers ashamed of God’s Word and the Gospel by continually working to disesteem it in our hearts. When we submit to the authority of Sacred Scripture we are not going to find ourselves in the mainstream. No, we will be in the minority. Each stand we take in the face of the cry to compromise will raise the ire of our enemy and his seed. This will lead to some form of persecution. 

12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:12-13 ESV)

We must not let this dissuade us or discourage us from having a clear and clean conscious before the Lord as we submit to the authority of His Word in obedience and spirit-filled humility. We are living in a time of clarification. The line is being drawn between those truly in Christ and those who only profess that they are, but are not. This line divides those who compromise God’s truth from those who do not. I pray that each one reading this will repent of what God has revealed in their heart that is not of Him. In any case, I pray for the Lord to return soon and find us ready.

Mike Ratliff Soli Deo Gloria!