Holiness by Ryle
Bishop JC Ryle on Holiness
for Forum 3 , Advent 4
John Charles Ryle was one of the greatest of
the Victorian evangelicals. CH Spurgeon,
the noblest of the Baptists called him “ the best man in the Church of
England.” A deep conversion at the age
of 21 along with family poverty, the death of two wives gave him a measure of
authority when he spoke Christ’s power to meet human need. He upheld the reformation doctrine of grace
as found in the 39 articles, he commended the English reformers. He was a
minister of the gospel in the church of England for 40 years before being
appointed as the first Bishop of Liverpool in 1880. ( all from Holiness, evangelical press, 1979---Ryle’s other works
include Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, The True Christian, A Call to
Prayer, and A New Birth and Practical Religion.)
Ryle says in the introduction
that “ practical holiness and entire self-consecration to God are not
sufficiently attend to by modern Christians…politics, or controvery, or party
spirit, or worldliness, have eaten the heart of lively piety in too many of
us.” We have neglected the “ immense
importance of ‘ adorning the doctrine of God our Saviour ‘ Titus 2:10 and making it lovely and beautiful by our daily
habits and tempers.”
“ Sound Protestant and
evangelical doctrine is useless if it is not accompanied by a holy life. It is worse than useless: it does positive
harm.”
“ Faith in Christ is the root
of all holiness; that the first step towards a holy life is to believe on
Christ; that until we believe we have not a jot of holiness…the life that we
live in the flesh we must live by the faith of the Son of God; that faith
purifies the heart; that faith is the victory which overcomes the world.”
This takes “ personal
exertion as well as faith.” Gal 2:20; I
Cor 9:26; Heb 4:11; 12:1 “ True holiness does not consist merely of believing
and feeling, but of doing and bearing…our tongues, our tempers, our natural
passions and inclinations.
I John 3:4 “ Sin is the
transgression of the law” “ The plain
truth is that a right knowledge of sin lies at the root of all saving
Christianity.” The 9th
articles of our church says, “ the fault and corruption of the nature of every
man …of the offspring of Adam; whereby man is very far gone from original
righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh
lusteth alway against the Spirit; and therefore in every person born into the
world, it deserveth God’s wrath and damnation.”
“ Sin in short is that vast moral disease which affects the whole human
race.” There are sins of omission as
well as commission as the “ Prayer Book justly reminds us by ‘ leaving undone
the things we ought to do’ and ‘ doing the things which we ought not to do.’ Mt 25:41,42
Holy Archbishop Usher just before he died said, “ Lord forgive me all my
sins, and specially my sins of omission.’
The sin of man begins from
within….from Adam, Romans 5:12; Gen 6:5 ; Jer 17:9…and it runs “through every
part of our moral constitution…”
“ Holiness , without which no
man shall see the Lord.” Heb 12:14
1. “ being of one mind with
God….hating what He hates, loving what He loves”
2. “ a holy man will endeavour to shun every
known sin, and to keep every known commandment”
Ro. 7:22 ; Ps 119:128
3. a holy man will strive to be like our Lord
Jesus Christ.” He will not only live the life of faith in Him, and draw from
Him all his daily peace and strength, but will also labour to be conformed to
Him. “ Ro. 8:29 He will bear
with others and forgive others, even as Christ forgave us…
4. A holy man will follow
after meekness, longsuffering, gentleness, patience, kind tempers, government
of his tongue. Num 12:3 ex of Moses
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