Holiness~Chapter 3 Part 3

~Queen Mom here finishing up our discussion of chapter 3 of J.C. Ryle's Holiness.

Ryle ends this chapter with some hard questions to help us apply what we're reading and learning. "Are you holy?" he asks. He then discusses a host of things that he's NOT asking when inquiring about our holiness...

~not whether you attend church regularly
~not whether you've been baptized and take of the Lord's Supper
~not whether you have the name of Christian
~not whether you approve of holiness in others
~not whether you like to read about the lives of holy people or talk of holy things

But, "Are you yourself holy this very day, or are you not?"

He explains that his asking and pressing this question "so strongly" is because Hebrews 12:14 is so very clear that "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." Yet, so many Christians reflect nothing of Christianity besides the name. His desire is for us to consider this text and search our hearts, examine ourselves.

There will be many objections to his questions, he states, as he addresses the many excuses we might have to offer...

a) Well, I think about holiness a lot...more than most people. His response is that this is "not the point. The poor lost souls in hell do as much as this. The great question is not what you think, and what you feel, but what you do."
b) Not everyone is meant to be holy. That is a gift that only some Christians have.
Ryle counters this objection with the reminder that 1 John 3:3 states that "every man who hath hope in Christ purifieth himself." Once again, Hebrews 12:14 is mentioned, too, reminding us that "without holiness no man shall see the Lord."
c) You can't be holy and do your duty in this life, too. Then, Ryle states, you must remember that "with Christ on your side, nothing is impossible. It has been done by...David, Obadiah, Daniel.." who are just some examples from God's Word to prove it.
d) But I wouldn't be like everyone else if I were so holy. Exactly, replies Ryle. True servants of Christ should be unlike the world around them..."a separate nation, a peculiar people."
e) Then very few would be saved. "I know it," answers Ryle. He reminds us that Jesus told us in Matthew that narrow is the way that leads to life, and there will be few that find it." "Men will not deny themselves the pleasure of sin and their own way for a little season." We must be willing to take up our cross daily, for "that which costs nothing is worth nothing."

He next asks us if we "feel the importance of holiness as much as should?" He thinks most Christians do not consider the subject of holiness very much and reminds us that "Judas Iscariot seemed very like the other apostles." Yet, we cannot neglect speaking about the character of God's people, nor should we constantly bemoan our corruptions as an excuse to "cover spiritual laziness." "If we say with Paul, 'O wretched man that I am,' let us also be able to say with him, 'I press toward the mark."

Finally, he offers advice to those who desire to be holy...

1) Christ must be our foundation. This cannot be done in our own power. You must be joined to Him. He quotes Traill's statement that "wisdom out of Christ is damning--righteousness out of Christ is guilt and condemnation--sanctification out of Christ is filth and sin--redemption out of Christ is bondage and slavery."

Holiness is God's gift to HIS people. "It is the result of vital union with Him. It is the fruit of being a living branch in the true Vine."

2) To continue to be holy, you must abide in Him. We're told in John 15:4,5 , "Abide in me and I in you. He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same beareth much fruit." God is our Physician, to whom we must daily go to keep well. He is the Manna which we must daily feed on, and the Rock from which we must daily drink. We must be "rooted" in Him and "built up" in Him.

Ryle then encourages us with this closing thought..

"Whether we live, may we live unto the Lord; or whether we die, may we die unto the Lord; or if He comes for us, may we be found in peace, without spot, and blameless!"