Tried With Fire

This attribute renders God a fit object for trust and dependence. The notion of an unholy and unrighteous God, is an uncomfortable idea of him, and beats off our hands from laying any hold of him. It is upon this attribute the reputation and honor of God in the world is built; what encouragement can we have to believe him, or what incentives could we have to serve him, without the lustre of this in his nature? The very thought of an unrighteous God is enough to drive men at the greatest distance from him; as the honesty of a man gives a reputation to his word, so doth the holiness of God give credit to his promise. It is by this he would have us stifle our fears and fortify our trust (Isa. 41:14): “Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:” he will be in his actions what he is in his nature. Nothing shall make him defile his own excellency; unrighteousness is the ground of mutability; but the promi...

The issues of sin and justice have been on a back burner in my mind for several years. One particular aspect is the idea of moral equivalence - where all sins are considered equal. This older post by Kevin DeYoung is worth reading, the majority of which is also in Hole in our Holiness . In the book, he references The Holiness of God where R.C. Sproul states that all sins require atonement but all sins are not equal. [I]t seems humble to act as if no sin is worse than another, but we lose the impetus for striving and the ability to hold each other accountable when we tumble down the slip-n-slide of moral equivalence... When we can no longer see the different gradations among sins and sinners and sinful nations, we have not succeeded in respecting our own badness, we've cheapened God's goodness. 1 The idea of gradations of sin is important for us to keep in mind so we understand the difference between sin and gross sin . Again, all of our sins require forgiveness. All of...

Kevin DeYoung referenced this quote in Hole in Our Holiness . Here's the original: Modernity presents an interlocking system of values that has invaded and settled within the psyche of every person. Modernity is simply unprecedented in its power to remake human appetites, thinking processes, and values. It is, to put it in biblical terms, the worldliness of Our Time. For worldliness is the system of values and beliefs, behaviors and expectations, in any given culture that have at their center the fallen human being and that relegate to their periphery any thought about God. Worldliness is what makes sin look normal in any age and righteousness seem odd. Modernity is worldliness, and it has concealed its values so adroitly in the abundance, the comfort, and the wizardry of our age that even those who call themselves the people of God seldom recognize them for what they are. 1 So how are we doing with worldliness? How am I doing? Am I glad to embrace Christian freedom but without ...

I don't think I've read a book by Kevin DeYoung that I didn't like, and this book is no exception.  In The Hole in Our Holiness , Pastor DeYoung addresses the concern that there's a disconnect between what we believe (or say we believe) about the gospel and godly living.  We've seen the harm that legalism has done, so there's a temptation to swing to the opposite extreme where we fear that any hint of calling Christians to holiness is a return to that bondage. But this should not be and is not the case. DeYoung calls believers to live lives consistent with what they believe - not to earn their salvation but because they have been saved. This is not a contradiction of the gospel of grace but a manifestation of the power of that gospel in our lives. We are becoming and should want to become who the gospel has declared us to be. Holiness is not : Mere rule keeping. Generational imitation. Generic Spirituality. "Finding Your True Self". The way...

My favorite chapter so far in Living for God's Glory  is Chapter 15 -  Sanctification in Puritan Practice .  Dr. Beeke has distilled wisdom from the Puritans to help us in the sanctification process.  When we consider how to live as Christians, holiness may not be the first word that comes to mind, but it should be.  Rather than meaning "holier-than-thou", holiness should be the desire and fruit of a believer.  "A holy life should emanate from joy in the Lord, not negative drudgery.   The idea that holiness requires a gloomy disposition is a tragic distortion of Scripture, for Scripture asserts that those who cultivate holiness experience true joy." (pg. 214) Dr. Beeke offers some good questions to ask ourselves in regard to holy living: When hesitating over a course of action, ask yourself the following questions based on 1 Corinthians: 1. Does this glorify God? ( 1 Cor. 10:31 ) 2. Is this consistent with the lordship of Christ? ( 1 Cor. 7:23 ) 3. ...

[W]e should pray and work (ora et labora). Prayer and work belong together. They are like two oars that, when used together, keep the rowboat moving forward. If you use only one oar - praying without working or working without praying - you will row in circles. Holiness takes well-planned, hard, and sweating prayer and work, the Puritans said. Careful planning as to how you are going to live for the Lord is necessary if you want to achieve much of abiding value for Him. Yet the Puritans were not self-reliant. They understood that daily living for a Christian must go something like this: 1.  Look ahead and see what you have to do. 2. Go to the Lord in prayer and say, "Lord, I do not have what it takes to do this; I need divine help." 3. Rely on the Lord to answer the prayer you have offered, then proceed expectantly to the task that lies before you. 4. After completing the task, return to the Lord to thank Him for the help He gave. 5. Ask His forgiveness for all your failures ...

How can we love a holy God?  The simplest answer I can give to this vital question is that we can't.  Loving a holy God is beyond our moral power.  The only kind of God we can love by our sinful nature is an unholy god, an idol made by our own hands.  Unless we are born of the Spirit of God, unless God sheds His holy love in our hearts, unless He stoops in His grace to change our hearts, we will not love Him.  He is the One who takes the initiative to restore our souls. Without Him we can do nothing of righteousness.  Without Him we would be doomed to everlasting alienation from His holiness. We can love Him only because He first loved us.  To love a holy God requires grace, grace strong enough to pierce our hardened hearts and awaken our moribund souls. The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul, Ligonier, page 221-222.

From the Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul, Ligonier, page 206 The idea of gradations of sin is important for us to keep in mind so we understand the difference between sin and gross sin .  Again, all of our sins require forgiveness.  All of our sins are acts of treason against God. We need a Savior for our "little" sins as well as for the "major" ones.  But some sins are more significant than others, and we need to identify which these are, lest we fall into the pharisaical trap of majoring in the minors. This was a very interesting chapter, because I had assumed that "sin is sin, and no sin is greater than the other." However, the damage inflicted and the consequences from sins can be very different.  Dr. Sproul illustrates this point by comparing how we control our eating  versus how we control our speech.  Many have weight issues.  Great effort is spent to bring our appetites under control, but how much is spent on tongue control?  Perhaps it ...

We often blame God for injustices done to us and harbor in our souls the bitter feeling that God has not been fair toward us. Even if we recognize that He is gracious, we think that he has not been gracious enough.  We think we deserve more grace. Please read that last sentence again.  We think we deserve more grace .  What is wrong with that sentence? Grammatically it is fine.  But there is something seriously wrong with the content, with the meaning of the sentence. It is impossible for anyone, anywhere, anytime to deserve grace.  Grace by definition is undeserved.  As soon as we talk about deserving something, we are no longer talking about grace; we are talking about justice. Only justice can be deserved.  God is never obligated to be merciful.  Mercy and grace must be voluntary or they are no longer mercy and grace.  God never "owes" grace.  He reminds us more than once: "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy" (Exod. 33:19)...

Because God is holy, acceptance with him on the ground of creature-doings is utterly impossible.  A fallen creature could sooner create a world than produce that which would meet the approval of infinite Purity.  Can darkness dwell with Light?  Can the Immaculate One take pleasure in "filthy rags" (Is. 64:6)?  The best that sinful man brings forth is defiled.  A corrupt tree cannot bear good fruit.  God would deny Himself, vilify His perfections, were He to account as righteous and holy that which is not so in itself; and nothing is so which has the least stain upon it contrary to the nature of God.  But blessed be His name, that which His holiness demands His grace has provided in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Every poor sinner who has fled to Him for refuge stands "accepted in the Beloved" (Eph. 1:6) Hallelujah! The Attributes of God ~ A.W. Pink, Baker, page 45.

From Holiness by J.C. Ryle, Chapter 19 Wants of the Times: I cannot withhold my conviction that the professing church is as much damaged by laxity and indistinctness about matters of doctrine within, as it is by skeptics and unbelievers without. Myriads of professing Christians nowadays seem utterly unable to distinguish things that differ. Like people afflicted with color blindness, they are incapable of discerning what is true and what is false, what is sound and what is unsound. If a preacher of religion is only clever and eloquent and earnest, they appear to think he is all right, however strange and heterogeneous his sermons may be. They are destitute of spiritual sense, apparently, and cannot detect error. Popery or Protestantism, an atonement or no atonement, a personal Holy Spirit or no Holy Spirit, future punishment or no future punishment, "high" church or "low" church or "broad" church, Trinitarianism, Arianism, or Unitarianism, nothing comes a...

Spiritual Depression by Martyn Lloyd-Jones arrived in the mail last week. I haven't started reading it yet because I promised myself to finish some other books first. I did glance at the table of contents, though, which made it quite difficult to not start. It looks like it will be very helpful book I am two chapters away from finishing Holiness by J.C. Ryle. I have been blessed by this book as it clearly lays out basic truths about the Christian faith and Christian life. Ryle is extremely readable. His writing style is very entreatable, and yet he doesn't mince words telling it like it is. Ryle also has a knack for asking very probing and convicting questions. I know I will be returning to this book often. Here is quote from Holiness from chapter 18, Unsearchable Riches : The best Christian among us knows but little of his glorious Savior, even after he has learned to believe. We see through a glass darkly. We do not realize the "unsearchable riches" there are ...

As ever you would grow in grace, and have joy and peace in believing, beware of falling into this error. Cease to regard the Gospel as a mere collection of dry doctrines. Look at it rather as the revelation of a mighty living Being in whose sight you are daily to live. Cease to regard it as a mere set of abstract propositions and abstruse principles and rules. Look at it as the introduction to a glorious personal Friend . This is the kind of Gospel that the apostles preached. They did not go about the world telling men of love and mercy and pardon in the abstract. The leading subject of all their sermons was the loving heart of an actual living Christ . This is the kind of Gospel which is most calculated to promote sanctification and fitness for glory. Nothing, surely, is so likely to prepare us for that heaven where Christ’s personal presence will be all, and that glory where we shall meet Christ face to face, as to realize communion with Christ, as an actual living Person here on ea...

It is good to understand this clearly. It is good to understand that Christ’s service never did secure a man from all the ills that flesh is heir to, and never will. If you are a believer, you must reckon on having your share of sickness and pain, of sorrow and tears, of losses and crosses, of deaths and bereavements, of partings and separations, of vexations and disappointments, so long as you are in the body. Christ never undertakes that you shall get to heaven without these. He has undertaken that all who come to Him shall have all things pertaining to life and godliness; but He has never undertaken that He will make them prosperous, or rich, or healthy, and that death and sorrow shall never come to their family. I have the privilege of being one of Christ’s ambassadors. In His name I can offer eternal life to any man, woman or child who is willing to have it. In His name I do offer pardon, peace, grace, g...

Let us settle deeply in our minds this great truth, that Jesus Christ was verily and indeed Man. He was equal to the Father in all things, and the eternal God. But He was also Man, and took part of flesh and blood, and was made like unto us in all things, sin only excepted. He had a body like our own. Like us, He was born of a woman. Like us, He grew and increased in stature. Like us, He was often hungry and thirsty, and faint and weary. Like us, He ate and drank, rested and slept. Like us, He sorrowed and wept and felt. It is all very wonderful, but so it is. He that made the heavens went to and fro as a poor weary Man on earth! He that ruled over principalities and powers in heavenly places, took on Him a frail body like our own. He that might have dwelt forever in the glory which He had with the Father, amid the praises of legions of angels, came down to earth and dwelt as a Man among sinful men. Surely this fact alone ...

Are you a true believer? If you are, you ought to glory in Christ. Glory not in your own faith, your own feelings, your own knowledge, your own prayers, your own amendment, your own diligence. Glory in nothing but Christ. Alas! the best of us know but little of that merciful and mighty Savior. We do not exalt Him and glory in Him enough. Let us pray that we may see more of the fullness there is in Him. From Holiness by J.C. Ryle

Nothing so hardens the heart of man as a barren familiarity with sacred things. Beware of a half–hearted religion. Beware of following Christ from any secondary motive, to please relations and friends, to keep in with the custom of the place or family in which you reside, to appear respectable and have the reputation of being religious. Follow Christ for His own sake, if you follow Him at all. Be thorough, be real, be honest, be sound, be whole–hearted. If you have any religion at all, let your religion be real. See that you do not sin the sin of Lot’s wife. From Holiness by J.C. Ryle, Chapter 8 - A Woman to be Remembered

You must learn to believe promises better than possessions, things unseen better than things seen, things in heaven out of sight better than things on earth before your eyes, the praise of the invisible God better than the praise of visible man. Then, and then only, you will make a choice like Moses, and prefer God to the world. Holiness, Chapter 8 Moses: an Example by J.C. Ryle

J. C. Ryle asks some very tough questions. This quote is from Holiness , Chapter 8 - Moses, an Example. Now are you making any sacrifices? Does your religion cost you anything? I put it to your conscience in all affection and tenderness. Are you, like Moses, preferring God to the world, or not? I beseech you not to take shelter under that dangerous word "we"—"we ought," and "we hope," and "we mean," and the like. I ask you plainly, what are you doing yourself? Are you willing to give up anything which keeps you back from God; or are you clinging to the Egypt of the world and saying to yourself, "I must have it, I must have it: I cannot tear myself away"? Is there any cross in your Christianity? Are there any sharp corners in your religion, anything that ever jars and comes in collision with the earthly–mindedness around you? Or is all smooth and rounded off and comfortably fitted into custom and fashion? Do you know anything of the aff...

Many have recommended Holiness by J. C. Ryle to believers coming out of pietist/deeper life teaching. I heartily concur. The following excerpt is from chapter 7, Assurance . I am inclined to think that justification and sanctification are insensibly confused together in the minds of many believers. They receive the gospel truth, that there must be something done in us as well as something done for us , if we are true members of Christ: and so far they are right. But then, without being aware of it, perhaps, they seem to imbibe the idea that their justification is, in some degree, affected by something within themselves. They do not clearly see that Christ’s work, not their own work—either in whole or in part, either directly or indirectly—is the only ground of our acceptance with God: that justification is a thing entirely without us, for which nothing whatever is needful on our part but simple faith and that the weakest believ...