A couple of months ago some of the readers of this site began to read some Christian classics together. We spent eight weeks reading through J.C. Ryle’s Holiness, covering one chapter per week and posting some thoughts about the book on Thursday mornings. I’m not quite sure how many people took the opportunity to read along with us, but believe it was in excess of one hundred. Holiness was a worthwhile read and we learned that it has rightly earned its position as a Christian classic. Feedback from readers assured me that this was a project we should continue as it benefited all who chose to participate.

It is time to think about our next effort. Having asked many of you what you’d be interested in reading next, I think there will be a good bit of interest in reading some John Owen. Owen is known as being one of the greatest theologians in the history of the church and certainly one who offered penetrating analysis of the human condition. His works are known as being difficult to read, but always worth the effort. C.J. Mahaney says, “No writer has taught me more about the dynamics of the heart and the deceitfulness of sin than John Owen.” Jerry Bridges writes, “To read Owen is to mine spiritual gold.” Mark Dever says, “Sin is tenacious, but by God’s grace we can hate it and hunt it. John Owen provides the mater guide for the sin-hunter.” And Phillip Ryken insists that, “John Owen is a spiritual surgeon with the rare skill to cut away the cancer of sin and bring gospel healing to the sinner’s soul. Apart from the Bible, I have found his writings to be the best books ever written to help me stop sinning the same old sins.” It’s hard to argue with all of those men!

So for the next classic we read together, I propose John Owen’s Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers. You will find this as portion of Overcoming Sin and Temptation, edited by Justin Taylor and Kelly Kapic. This edition maintains the unabridged text, but provides useful introductions and editorial assistance. For example, the editors footnote difficult or obscure words, update archaic language (i.e. they change “thee” to “you”), transliterate words that Owen provided in the original biblical languages, and so on. They maintain the full impact of Owen’s words while removing some of the hindrances experienced by the modern reader. It is this edition that I will be reading and I’d encourage you to do the same. If you order it from Westminster Books, the book should ship to you immediately and be in your hands in just a few days. It is also available at Amazon and just about anywhere else.

Those who do not wish to purchase the book, can find it at CCEL though not in the edited version.

The book is divided into three parts and fourteen chapters. The chapters are mostly quite short, though as the editors point out, the divisions are somewhat less than ideal as Owen did not use chapter divisions in the way we might today. Still, they provide useful breaks in the text and we’ll stick with them. We’ll read one chapter per week and meet right here at this site to discuss things on Thursdays.

I think we can begin with the first chapter on November 15. So if you’d like to read along with us and begin to tackle some John Owen, get a copy of the book and check in here on the fifteenth to begin some discussion. You do not need to write any discussion of your own—just check in to see what others are saying.

Please let me know if you’re interested in participating by posting a comment below.

“We know that we are of God.” (1 John 5:19)

Today we come to the final chapter of the first classic we’re reading together. You can read more about this effort here: Reading the Classics Together. Even if you have not participated in this effort, please keep reading. I'm sure there will be something here to benefit you. At the very least read the end to see how you can join in our next effort.

The book’s previous chapters have covered Sin, Sanctification, Holiness, The Fight, The Cost and Growth. The final chapter concerns itself with Assurance—the believer’s privilege of being assured that he is a Christian. This is a doctrine that today, like in Ryle’s day, was too often neglected or, if not that, was the cause of much dispute. It is a doctrine, he is convinced, that has much to do with holiness. He approaches the subject cautiously and humbly, acknowledging that “the road between truth and error is here especially a narrow pass.”

He defines assurance in this way: “A true Christian, a converted man, may reach such a comfortable degree of faith in Christ, that in general he shall feel entirely confident as to the pardon and safety of his soul, shall seldom be troubled with doubts, seldom be distracted with fears, seldom be distressed by anxious questionings and, in short, though vexed by many an inward conflict with sin, shall look forward to death without trembling, and to judgment without dismay. This, I say, is the doctrine of the Bible.”

Ryle follows this outline:

Summary

1. An assured hope is a scriptural thing
2. A believer may never arrive at this assured hope, and yet be saved
3. Reasons why an assured hope is exceedingly to be desired
   1. It provides present comfort
   2. It tends to make a Christian an active working Christian
   3. It tends to make a decided Christian
   4. It tends to make the holiest Christians
4. Probable causes why an assured hope is never attained
   1. A defective view of the doctrine of Justification
   2. Slothfulness about growth in grace
   3. An inconsistent walk in life
5. Application
   1. If you are not a Christian, learn from the privileges and comforts of a Christian and come to Christ
   2. If you are a Christian and do not have an assured hope, then resolve today to seek it.

Discussion

As with one or two of the other chapters in the book, this one was perhaps a bit unexpected. I would not have thought a chapter on assurance would merit a place in such a book. But because Ryle does a superb job of showing the close connection between assurance and holiness and because he proves the importance of this doctrine, I can understand why it was good and necessary to include it.

Ryle is, in his own right, a master of illustration and analogy. Yet at one point he turns to another author to suggest why some true Christians never receive assurance of pardon. “‘A letter,’ says an old writer, ‘may be written, which is not sealed; so grace may be written in the heart, yet the Spirit may not set the seal of assurance to it.’” He goes on to speak of a child who is the heir of a great fortune, yet is never made aware of the riches and wealth that are rightfully his. In this way a Christian may never come to know that assurance is his birthright and that he may have full confidence in the validity of his salvation.

But the illustration that most gripped my soul as I read this chapter had to do with the importance of the doctrine of assurance. This is a doctrine that few people regard as having any great importance, but listen to what Ryle says.

Take, for an illustration of this, two English emigrants, and suppose them set down side by side in New Zealand or Australia. Give each of them a piece of land to clear and cultivate. Let the portions allotted to them be the same, both in quantity and quality. Secure that land to them by every needful legal instrument; let it be conveyed as freehold to them and theirs forever; let the conveyance be publicly registered and the property made sure to them by every deed and security that man's ingenuity can devise.

Suppose then that one of them shall set to work to clear his land and bring it into cultivation and labor at it day after day without intermission or cessation.

Suppose in the meanwhile that the other shall be continually leaving his work and going repeatedly to the public registry to ask whether the land really is his own, whether there is not some mistake, whether after all there is not some flaw in the legal instruments which conveyed it to him.

The one shall never doubt his title but just work diligently on. The other shall hardly ever feel sure of his title and spend half his time in going to Sydney or Melbourne or Auckland with needless inquiries about it.

Which now of these two men will have made most progress in a year's time? Who will have done the most for his land, got the greatest breadth of soil under tillage, have the best crops to show, be altogether the most prosperous?

Anyone of common sense can answer that question. I need not supply an answer. There can be only one reply. Undivided attention will always attain the greatest success.

Those who dwell secure in their relationship with the Lord, taking confidence not in their own rightness but in the grip of the One who holds them—these people are free to focus on the things that need to be done. Rather than spending much of their time in deep concern that they may not be saved; rather than continually studying the Scripture to discern whether or not God has done His work in their lives, these people are free from the tyranny of uncertainty and are thus free to be active, working Christians. But for reading this chapter, I would not have considered the practical importance and the practical ramifications of getting this doctrine right and having it applied to my soul. That is my “take home” application this week.

Holiness has been a joy to read and has given me much to think about. It is a book I know that I will return to often. I’m grateful that it is more than a classic I can cross of my list—it is a book that is as relevant and as important today as the day Ryle penned it. And it spoke to me as it has spoken to generations of believers before. Thank you for reading it with me!

Next Time

Now that we’ve finished this book, I guess it’s time to choose another. I think we’ll begin the next reading project in a few weeks and, in all likelihood, will read some John Owen. Stay tuned for more information in the next couple of weeks.

Your Turn

I am interested in hearing what you took away from this chapter. Feel free to post comments below or to write about this on your own blog (and then post a comment linking us to your thoughts). Don't feel that you need to say anything shocking or profound. Just share what stirred your heart or gave you pause or confused you. I’d also be glad to hear your comments about the book as a whole.

“Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18)

Today those of us who are engaged in this project to read some great Christian classics together are going to be looking at the sixth chapter of J.C. Ryle's Holiness. You can read more about this effort here: Reading the Classics Together. Even if you are not participating, please keep reading. I'm sure there will be something here to benefit you.

As we draw near to the end of this book we remember that Ryle has covered Sin, Sanctification, Holiness, The Fight and The Cost. This week he progresses to “Growth.” He begins with these simple questions: “Do we grow in grace? Do we get on in our religion? Do we make progress?” He says, “To a mere formal Christian I cannot expect the inquiry to seem worth attention. … But to every one who is downright earnest about his soul, and hungers and thirsts after spiritual life, the question ought to come home with searching power. Do we make progress in our religion? Do we grow?” Believing that spiritual growth is absolutely fundamental to the pursuit of holiness, Ryle leads the reader through the reality of religious growth, the marks of religious growth, and the means of religious growth.

Summary

1. The Reality of Religious Growth
   1. Growth in grace is the evidence of spiritual health
   2. Growth in grace is the only way to be happy in religion
   3. Growth in grace is the only way to be useful to others
   4. Growth in grace pleases God
   5. We are accountable before God to grow in grace
2. The Marks of Growing in Grace
   1. Increased Humility
   2. Increased Faith and Love
   3. Increased Holiness of Life and Conversation
   4. Increased Spiritual Taste and Thoughts
   5. Increased Charity
   6. Increased Zeal and Diligence
3. The Means of Growing in Grace
   1. The Private Means of Grace
   2. The Public Means of Grace
   3. Watchfulness
   4. Caution of Company kept
   5. Regular Communion with the Lord

Discussion

I found this chapter both an encouragement and a challenge. It was encouraging because when I examine my life I can find evidences of the Spirit’s work within me—I see evidence of growth. I suppose one could say it smacks of arrogance to say so, but I think any Christian, or any true Christian, should be able to see the same. And this should be a cause to rejoice in the Lord. But, of course, any Christian will also see just how much room for growth remains. And this is the challenge—to take comfort in the evidence that the Spirit is at work and to allow this to help assure us that He will continue to do His sanctifying work within.

I appreciated Ryle’s description of his term “growing in grace.”

When I speak of growth in grace, I only mean increase in the degree, size, strength, vigor and power of the graces which the Holy Spirit plants in a believer's heart. I hold that every one of those graces admits of growth, progress and increase. I hold that repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, zeal, courage and the like may be little or great, strong or weak, vigorous or feeble, and may vary greatly in the same man at different periods of his life. When I speak of a man growing in grace, I mean simply this—that his sense of sin is becoming deeper, his faith stronger, his hope brighter, his love more extensive, his spiritual-mindedness more marked. He feels more of the power of godliness in his own heart. He manifests more of it in his life. He is going on from strength to strength, from faith to faith and from grace to grace. I leave it to others to describe such a man's condition by any words they please. For myself I think the truest and best account of him is this—he is growing in grace.

He goes on to further define this term as the chapter progresses and he moves through the various marks and means of growth. What strikes me as I read about the means that are to be used by those who wish to grow in grace is how exceedingly simple they are. Christianity is a faith that does not call for us to do extraordinary things in order to progress in our faith or to mark or progress in faith. Rather, we do the extraordinary ordinary—we use the private and public means of grace, we keep watch over the little things, guard our hearts from unwise influences and commune daily with Jesus Christ. And through these things—not great pilgrimages or great acts of public self-sacrifice—we grow in our knowledge of the Lord, our love of Him, and our obedience to Him. The sheer simplicity of Christianity is, I think, one of the evidences of its truth, for we need only do things that come naturally to those who have been renewed by the Spirit.

What a blessing it is to know that the Spirit does His work in us as we do these small, obvious, day-to-day tasks. He works in us through these ordinary means, even when they seem just so very ordinary…

Next Time

We'll finish up this book next Thursday (October 18) with the sixth and final chapter (“Assurance”). If you've committed to join in this reading project, please keep reading and be prepared to discuss it!

Your Turn

I am interested in hearing what you took away from this chapter. Feel free to post comments below or to write about this on your own blog (and then post a comment linking us to your thoughts). Don't feel that you need to say anything shocking or profound. Just share what stirred your heart or gave you pause or confused you.

“Which of you, intended to build a tower, sitteth not down first and counteth the cost?”

Today (a day late, for which I apologize) those of us who are engaged in this project to read some great Christian classics together are going to be looking at the fourth chapter of J.C. Ryle's Holiness. You can read more about this effort here: Reading the Classics Together. Even if you are not participating, please keep reading. I'm sure there will be something here to benefit you.

To this point Ryle has covered Sin, Sanctification, Holiness and The Fight. This week he progresses to “The Cost.” In this chapter he examines the cost that will come with the fight for personal holiness. “What does it cost to be a true Christian? What does it cost to be a really holy man? This, after all, is the grand question. For want of thought about this, thousands, after seeming to begin well, turn away from the road to heaven, and are lost for ever in hell.”

Summary

The chapter follows this outline:

1. The Cost of being a Christian
   1. Self-Righteousness
   2. Sins
   3. Love of ease
   4. Favor of the World
2. The Importance of Counting the Cost - The example of those who did not
   1. The first generation of Israelites in the wilderness
   2. Some of the hearers of Jesus
   3. King Herod
   4. Demas
   5. Hearers of famous evangelical preachers
   6. Some under the influence of evangelical revivals
   7. Some children of religious parents
3. Some Hints - Count and Compare
   1. Profit and Loss
   2. Praise and Blame
   3. Friends and Enemies
   4. Life now and Life to come
   5. The pleasure of sin and the happiness in God’s service
   6. The trouble of true Christianity and the trouble of the grave
   7. The number that turn to Christ and the number that turn away from Christ
4. Application
   1. Does your religion cost you anything?
   2. Consider the cost God paid to save your soul.
   3. If you have counted the cost then persevere to the end.

Discussion

This chapter is, in my estimation, the most unexpected of the lot. This is not to say that it is out-of-place, but more that if I had seven things to say about holiness, I’m not sure that I would have thought that “the cost” merited consideration. However, having read it, I definitely agree that it is worth considering and has a place in the book.

The point that particularly caught my attention was the simple fact that personal holiness will cost a man his sins. This is obvious, to be sure, but still profound. We might think that, as Christians, it would be easy to rid ourselves of our sin. But this is too often not the case. “Our sins are often as dear to use as our children: we love them, hug them, cleave to them, and delight in them. To part with them is as hard as cutting off a right hand, or plucking out a right eye. But it must be done.” It is amazing how tightly we cling to our sins and how much we treasure them. I think of Gollum of Lord of the Rings fame, cooing to and cuddling his precious ring, desiring that ring more than anything. And yet that ring was destroying him from the inside out. That ring eventually led to his death. And our sin can be just like this—almost a precious possession that we love like life itself. But as we pursue holiness we will need to rid ourselves of even our most treasured sins.

I suspect that, for many men, these are sins of lust. Many men harbor lust in their lives, considering it a harmless distraction, whether it involves pornography or even just stolen glances at attractive women. I will leave it to women to consider the favored sins that they are most commonly attracted to. As you think about this (whether you are a man or a woman), you may wish to consider reading Jerry Bridges’ Respectable Sins as it deals with a very similar topic.

So here, in an unexpected chapter, I found something to meditate upon and something to apply to my life. And best of all, it was something that collided perfectly with what I was reading by an author who wrote over a century later. I love it when that happens!

Next Time

We'll continue the book next Thursday (October 11) with the fifth chapter (“Growth”). If you've committed to join in this reading project, please keep reading and be prepared to discuss it!

Your Turn

I am interested in hearing what you took away from this chapter. Feel free to post comments below or to write about this on your own blog (and then post a comment linking us to your thoughts). Don't feel that you need to say anything shocking or profound. Just share what stirred your heart or gave you pause or confused you.

“Fight the good fight of faith.”

Today those of us who are engaged in this project to read some great Christian classics together are going to be looking at the fourth chapter of J.C. Ryle's Holiness. You can read more about this effort here: Reading the Classics Together. Even if you are not participating, please keep reading. I'm sure there will be something here to benefit you. We are at the half-way point of this study. If you’d like to participate, please do. Otherwise you may wish to wait until we have completed this study and begin our next one (did someone say, “John Owen?”).

To this point Ryle has covered Sin, Sanctification and Holiness. This week he progresses to “The Fight.” In this chapter he examines the biblical metaphor of the Christian life being a faith of faith. “There is [a] warfare of far greater importance than any way that was ever waged by man. It is a warfare which concerns not two or three nations only, but every Christian man and woman born into the world. The warfare I speak of is the spiritual warfare. It is the fight which everyone who would be saved must fight about his soul.”

Summary

The chapter follows this general outline:

1. True Christianity is a fight
   1. It is a fight against
      1. The Flesh
      2. The World
      3. The Devil
   2. It is a necessary fight
      1. A fight of absolute necessity
      2. A fight of universal necessity
      3. A fight of perpetual necessity
2. True Christianity is the fight of faith
3. True Christianity is a good fight
   1. It has the best of generals
   2. It has the best of helps
   3. It has the best of promises
   4. It has the best of issues and results
   5. It does good to the soul
   6. It does good to the world
   7. It ends in a glorious reward
4. Application
   1. To those who struggle for the fight of the word: Join Christ’s army
   2. To those who are tried soldiers of Christ, remember:
      1. to put on the whole armor of God
      2. to keep from civilian affairs
      3. to beware of insincere soldiers
      4. Balaam, Judas, Demas, and Lot’s wife
      5. the eye of Christ is upon us
      6. the countless soldiers who have fought before us
      7. time is short

Discussion

“The true Christian is called to be a soldier, and must behave as such from the day of his conversion to the day of his death. He is not meant to live a life of religious ease, indolence, and security.” How true these words are! And how they clash with the prevailing opinion of our day. We are accustomed to hearing preachers speak of the abundant life and the life of constant blessing and ease. We are accustomed to thinking that ease is the right of the Christian while difficulty is the result of a dead faith. But Ryle, looking to the Bible, tells us otherwise. The Christian life is a battle, from beginning to end, from conversion to consummation.

Many teachers today tell us that Christians must abandon the warfare imagery common in days past. If Jesus were to give us His Word today, they say, He would not use this imagery. It is contextual and a product of a violent Roman society. But I disagree. What better image is there of the Christian life than the constant battle against the flesh, the world and the devil. We cannot dialog and cannot rely on peacekeepers or negotiators. Rather, we must fight. We must battle continually as we seek to live in a way that is consistent with our position as children of God.

This is more than imagery. The fight is a principle, a worldview, a way of understanding life. If we do not understand that life is a battle, we will easily be lulled into complacency. “He who would understand the nature of true holiness must know that the Christian is ‘a man of war.’ If we would be holy we must fight.”

So this is the main point I take away from this week’s chapter. The battle is raging whether I choose to acknowledge it or not. If I see life in this way—in the way the Bible describes—I will be equipped to properly understand the difficulties that attend day-to-day life as a Christian. I will know that my flesh, the world and the devil are fighting against me and I will know that through the power of the Holy Spirit I can and must fight back.

Next Time

We'll continue the book next Thursday (October 4) with the fifth chapter (“The Cost”). If you’ve committed to join in this reading project, please keep reading and be prepared to discuss it!

Your Turn

I am interested in hearing what you took away from this chapter. Feel free to post comments below or to write about this on your own blog (and then post a comment linking us to your thoughts). Don't feel that you need to say anything shocking or profound. Just share what stirred your heart or gave you pause or confused you.

As you know, I am, along with a group of readers, attempting to work my way through some great Christian classics. Today we have arrived at the third chapter of J.C. Ryle's Holiness. You can read more about this effort here: Reading the Classics Together. Even if you are not participating, please keep reading. I'm sure there will be something here to benefit you. Four weeks ago we began our eight-week study of this book by looking at the Introduction to the book, and then progressed to the first chapter which dealt with Sin and then the second chapter that dealt with Sanctification. This week we move on to the third chapter, the subject of which is Holiness.

Summary

The chapter begins with a simple but profound question. In previous chapters we’ve learned about sin and sanctification and on that basis and reflecting on Hebrews 12:14 (“Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”) Ryle now asks, “Are we holy? Shall we see the Lord?” He begins to move holiness from the realm of theology to the realm of personal application. “In this hurrying, bustling world, let us stand still for a few minutes and consider the matter of holiness.”

As with all of these chapters, Ryle follows a clear outline. There are three sections: The Nature of True Holiness, The Importance of Practical Holiness and Application.

1. The Nature of True Practical Holiness
   1. Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God
   2. Holiness endeavors to shun every known sin and to keep every known commandment
   3. Holiness strives to follow the example of Christ
   4. Holiness cultivates the passive graces of meekness, longsuffering, gentleness, patience, kindness, and self-control
   5. Holiness pursues temperance and self-denial
   6. Holiness practices love and brotherly kindness
   7. Holiness practices mercy and benevolence towards others
   8. Holiness is exemplified in purity of heart
   9. Holiness follows after the fear of God
   10. Holiness follows after humility
   11. Holiness follows after faithfulness in the duties of life
   12. Holiness follows after spiritual mindedness
2. Importance of Practical Holiness
   1. God commands it in Scripture
   2. Holiness is the purpose for which Christ came into the world
   3. Holiness is the only sound evidence of saving faith
   4. Holiness is the only evidence of love for Christ
   5. Holiness is the only sound evidence of being sons of God
   6. Holiness is most likely way to contribute to the good of others
   7. Holiness produces present comfort
   8. Holiness prepares us for heaven
   9. Application
3. A Word of Advice - If you want to be holy…
   1. Begin with Christ
   2. Go to Christ
   3. Abide in Christ

Discussion

This chapter offered a lot of content and gave me a lot to think about. I find the chapters in this book are just long enough that I can begin to have trouble adequately digesting them. If they were much longer I think I’d have to break them into chunks that are more easily digestible. The combination of the density and the length can make for tough going!

After discussing the nature of practical holiness, Ryle, always the pastor, pauses to ensure the reader knows that holiness does not shut out the presence on indwelling sin. Holiness is our goal and our motivation, but it is a goal we can never fully attain in this life. I was encouraged to read “some men’s graces are in the blade, some in the ear, and some are like full corn in the ear.” It is good to see all holiness in a continuum where the most godly men are on the same inclined plane as even the newest Christian—they are just further along the slope. Ryle provided this metaphor in the introduction and I’m glad that he paused here to ensure the reader does not become overly discouraged by his lack of holiness. While I appreciated that encouragement, I also appreciated the challenge that “it is the excellence of a holy man that he is not at peace with indwelling sin, as others are. He hates it, mourns over it, and longs to be free from its company.” A mark of holiness is the desire to attain more holiness and to put sin to death. Though we know that we will never be entirely free from sin in this life, at the same time we strive towards that impossible goal, seeking to join with the Spirit in destroying sin’s power over us. Encouragement and challenge side-by-side are a powerful force for change. I need to remember this.

Shortly after this, Ryle says that holiness is the only sound evidence that we are children of God. I think every parent has moments of shock or incredulity as we see our children begin to mimic our words, our habits, our priorities. The other day my son was talking on the phone while pacing in circles around the house. As he spoke to his grandmother he walked from the kitchen, through the dining room and living room, up the hall and back into the kitchen in endless circles. Aileen laughed, knowing that he has somehow inherited this habit from me. His habit is evidence that he is a member of this family—that he is my son. As Ryle says, “children in this world world are generally like their parents.” The degree may vary from person-to-person, but it is rare that there is no kind of family likeness. This is as true of the family of God. If God is our Father, we must begin to imitate Him and to resemble Him. “We must show by our lives the family we belong to.”

A third thing that stood out to me was a simple one and one I should have thought of long ago, I think. Ryle asks, “Do you think you feel the importance of holiness as much as you should?” He then says “how apt we are to overlook the doctrine of growth in grace, and that we do not sufficiently consider how very far a person may go in a profession of religion, and yet have no grace, and be dead in God’s sight after all.” He mentions Judas and says, “When the Lord warned them that one would betray Him, no one said, ‘Is it Judas?’” And that is exactly the case, isn’t it? Not one of the disciples stood up and said, “It’s going to be Judas! I haven’t seen the evidence of holiness in his life! It must be him!” No, Judas seemed to fit in quite well even though he was never saved. While it may be that he did a very good job of playing the part, it seems more likely that the disciples simply were not thinking in these categories and were not looking for evidence of holiness in their own lives or in the loves of each other.

So this walk I’m putting the book down knowing that without holiness I cannot see the Lord and am seeking to be deliberate about evidences of holiness in my life. I need to pause often to ask, “Am I holy?” And at the same time I need to seek evidence of holiness in the lives of other Christians, encouraging them were I see this, and perhaps lovingly exhorting them where I do not.

Next Time

We'll continue the book next Thursday (September 27) with the fourth chapter (“The Fight”). If you are interested in joining in, please do. There is still time to purchase the book or to read it online. See this discussion (Read the Classics Together - Holiness) for information.

Your Turn

And now it’s your turn. I am interested in hearing what you took away from this chapter. Feel free to post comments below or to write about this on your own blog (and then post a comment linking us to your thoughts). Don't feel that you need to say anything shocking or profound. Just share what stirred your heart or gave you pause or confused you.

A friend sent along some study questions he once prepared while leading some men in his church through this book and this question stood out to me. It’s worth thinking about and perhaps someone would like to take a stab at an answer: “If holiness is so great, not equal in every man, and, to some degree, contingent on our own works, why then does it produce such a deep humility rather than encourage pride?”

“We must be saints before we die, if we are to be saints afterwards in glory.”

Today those of us who are engaged in this project to read some great Christian classics together are going to be looking at the second chapter of J.C. Ryle's Holiness. You can read more about this effort here: Reading the Classics Together. Even if you are not participating, please keep reading. I’m sure there will be something here to benefit you. Two weeks ago we began our eight-week study of this book by looking at the Introduction to the book, and then last week progressed to the first chapter which dealt with Sin. This week we move on to the second chapter, the subject of which is Sanctification.

Where last week it seemed odd to us to begin a book dealing with holiness by discussing sin (though we saw why this was a necessity), this week we move into a chapter whose presence seems much less surprising. Ryle declares that there are three things that are, according to the Bible, absolutely necessary to the salvation of every person—justification, regeneration and sanctification. And it is to the last of these that he turns his attention in this chapter. He divides the chapter into three parts and follows this general outline:

Summary

1. The Nature of Sanctification. He defines sanctification as “an inward spiritual work which the Lord Jesus Christ works in a man by the Holy Ghost, when He calls him to be a true believer.” He lays out twelve propositions concerning sanctification:
   1. It is the invariable result of that vital union with Christ which true faith gives to a Christian. “The faith which has not a sanctifying influence on the character is no better than the faith of devils.”
   2. It is the outcome and inseparable consequence of regeneration. “Where there is no sanctification there is no regeneration.”
   3. It is the only certain evidence of that indwelling of the Holy Spirit which is essential to salvation. “The seal that the Spirit stamps on Christ's people is sanctification.”
   4. It is the only sure mark of God's election. “Elect men and women may be known and distinguished by holy lives.”
   5. It is a reality that will always be seen. A man’s “sanctification will be something felt and seen, though he himself may not understand it.”
   6. It is a reality for which every believer is responsible. “Believers are eminently and peculiarly responsible and under a special obligation to live holy lives.”
   7. It is a thing which admits of growth and degrees. “A man may climb from one step to another in holiness and be far more sanctified at one period of his life than another.”
   8. It depends greatly on a diligent use of scriptural means. “He will never bless the soul of that man who pretends to be so high and spiritual that he can get on without [the means of grace].”
   9. It is a thing which does not prevent a man having a great deal of inward spiritual conflict. “A true Christian is one who has not only peace of conscience, but war within.”
   10. It is a thing which cannot justify a man, and yet it pleases God. “The Bible distinctly teaches that the holy actions of a sanctified man, although imperfect, are pleasing in the sight of God.”
   11. It is a thing which will be found absolutely necessary as a witness to our character in the great Day of Judgment. “It will be utterly useless to plead that we believed in Christ unless our faith has had some sanctifying effect and been seen in our lives.”
   12. It is absolutely necessary in order to train and prepare us for heaven. “We must be saints before we die if we are to be saints afterwards in glory.”
2. The Visible Marks of Sanctification. Ryle lays out ten visible marks, some in the positive and some in the negative (the negative being in the form of “True sanctification does not consist of…).
3. The Differences and Similarities Between Justification and Sanctification.
   1. Where they agree
   2. Where they disagree
4. Application
   1. Let anyone who calls himself a Christian yet has not concern for Sanctification realize his perilous position.
   2. Test your own salvation by your progress in sanctification.
   3. Begin sanctification with Christ.
   4. Work at sanctification continually.
   5. Don’t expect too much sanctification before heaven.
   6. There is no shame in making much of holiness; holiness = happiness

Discussion

Once again I found a lot to pause and ponder in this chapter. After going through with my highlighter and highlighting each of the most important points, I went through again with a pencil, looking for the best of the best. Even then I had too much to discuss here, so I will merely draw out a couple of areas that are of particular interest to me.

Early in the chapter Ryle discusses the work of Jesus Christ and all that it has accomplished for us. He roots both justification and sanctification in Christ’s atoning death. “The Lord Jesus has undertaken everything that His people's souls require: not only to deliver them from the guilt of their sins by His atoning death, but from the dominion of their sins, by placing in their hearts the Holy Spirit; not only to justify them, but also to sanctify them. He is, thus, not only their “righteousness,” but their “sanctification” (1 Cor. 1:30).” I was struck by the beauty and the power of knowing and believing that not only has the guilt of our sin been removed at the cross, but that Christ has also made provision to deliver us from the dominion of sin. He has justified us and has given us the Holy Spirit to begin that great work of sanctification. All we owe, we owe to Him.

A little later Ryle discusses election and makes the important point that we are not only elected to eternal life, but are predestined to be conformed to the image of God’s Son—and chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world so that [we] should be holy. This is, I think, a fact that can often be lost in the discussions of election and predestination. Those who claim that believers are chosen for eternal life are correct, but they tell only part of the story. We are elected also to begin to model the example of the Savior in our lives and in our behavior. This is something we need to remember always! It is something we must always keep before us so we do not look only to the future while ignoring the here and now.

The third thing that really struck me was the idea that sanctification trains and prepares us for heaven. I have to confess that, until I read this chapter, this was largely a foreign idea to me. But Ryle’s words are true, I believe, and they convicted me. “We must be saints before we die, if we are to be saints afterwards in glory.” Perhaps the sharpest words he writes in the chapter are these ones: “Most men hope to go to heaven when they die; but few, it may be feared, take the trouble to consider whether they would enjoy heaven if they got there.” If heaven is a holy place filled with holy people, it only makes sense that only holy people could be happy there. So this life, this world, is a training ground for heaven—it is a place where we begin to enjoy just the shadows of the perfection and the holiness we will enjoy there. As we become a holy people and as we increasingly enjoy the company of other sanctified people, we enjoy a foretaste of the glory that awaits us. As we become holy we receive a glimpse of what will be when the Lord calls us home. “No man can possibly be happy in a place where he is not in his element, and where all around him is not congenial to his tastes, habits, and character.” No wonder, then, that we always feel a holy discontent in this world, but that we crave more worship, more holiness, more of God! As we increase in sanctification we more and more find ourselves growing into the holiness we will one day experience in its fullness.

And this is what I am taking away this week—the joy of sanctification and the beauty of holiness—and all of it for His glory. As we grow in holiness and as we are conformed ever more to the image of Jesus Christ, we receive that foretaste of heaven. And what a wondrous thing this is.

Next Time

We'll continue the book next Thursday (September 20) with the third chapter (“Holiness”). If you are interested in joining in, please do. There is still time to purchase the book or to read it online. See this discussion (Read the Classics Together - Holiness) for information.

Your Turn

I am interested in hearing what you took away from this chapter. Feel free to post comments below or to write about this on your own blog (and then post a comment linking us to your thoughts). Don't feel that you need to say anything shocking or profound. Just share what stirred your heart or gave you pause or confused you.

“Mighty indeed must that foe be who even when crucified is still alive!”

Today those of us who have embarked on a project to read some Christian classics together are going to be looking at the first chapter of J.C. Ryle’s Holiness. You can read more about this effort here: Reading the Classics Together. Last week we began our eight-week study of this book by looking at the Introduction to the book. This week we move on to the first chapter.

It seems a mite strange that a book dealing with holiness would begin with a look at the very opposite of holiness. The title of this post is telling: “Holiness (Sin).” It is like a book dealing with the art of Van Gogh beginning with an examination of the art of Challies or a book dealing with the music of Bach beginning with the music of William Hung. But Ryle makes a compelling argument that this is the place to begin. “The plain truth is that a right knowledge of sin lies at the root of all saving Christianity.” If we do not get sin right, we have no hope of getting holiness right.

Summary

The chapter follows this basic outline:

1. What is sin?
   1. Definition - a vast moral disease which affects the whole human race. “A sin consists in doing, saying, thinking, or imaging, anything that is not in perfect conformity with the mind and law of God.”
   2. Origin - the natural corruption flowing from the Fall. “The sinfulness of man does not begin from without, but from within.”
   3. Extent - pervading all men and all parts of a man. “The understanding, the affections, the reasoning powers, the will, are all more or less infected.”
   4. Guilt - we can’t know how bad it is but we approach the truest estimation in the Cross. “I do not think, in the nature of things, that mortal man can at all realize the exceeding sinfulness of sin in the sight of that holy and perfect One with whom we have to do.”
   5. Deceitfulness - sin pretends to be a small and light thing. “You may see this deceitfulness in the wonderful proneness of men to regard sin as less sinful and dangerous than it is in the sight of God and in their readiness to extenuate it, make excuses for it and minimize its guilt.”
2. Sin seen like this, should make us:
   1. Humble ourselves. “What a mass of infirmity and imperfection cleaves to the very best of us at our very best!”
   2. Thank God for the gospel. “We need not be afraid to look at sin, and study its nature, origin, power, extent, and vileness, if we only look at the same time at the Almighty medicine provided for us in the salvation that is in Jesus Christ.”
3. A thorough understanding of the sinfulness of sin provides the antidote to:
   1. Vague Theology. “People will never set their faces decidedly towards heaven, and live like pilgrims, until they really feel that they are in danger of hell.”
   2. Liberal Theology. “I know nothing to likely to counteract this modern plague as constant clear statements about the nature, reality, vileness, power, and guilt of sin.”
   3. Ceremonial Christianity. “When that wonderful part of our constitution called conscience is really awake and alive, I find it hard to believe that sensuous ceremonial Christianity will thoroughly satisfy us.”
   4. Perfectionism. “if men really mean to tell us that here in this world a believer can attain to entire freedom from sin, live for years in unbroken and uninterrupted communion with God, and feel for months together not so much as one evil thought, I must honestly say that such an opinion appears to me very unscriptural.”
   5. Low views of personal holiness. “There has been of late years a lower standard of personal holiness among believers than there used to be in the days of our fathers. The whole result is that the Spirit is grieved and the matter calls for much humiliation and searching of heart.”

Discussion

There were several areas that jumped out at me this week. Last week I discussed how relevant the book seems to our day, even though it was written long ago. This chapter only affirmed its relevance. Liberalism, perfectionism, a low value on personal holiness: all are evident in our day as much as they must have been in Ryle’s. It is good to read the classics and to see that they speak even today.

There were a couple of quotes that I highlighted (and wanted to highlight again and again). Yesterday I congratulated my friend Stephen Altrogge on the birth of his first child. Today I wanted to send him this (but perhaps I’ll wait a day or two). I’m know that he knows this, but it is good to reaffirm this truth often:

The fairest child, who has entered life this year and become the sunbeam of a family, is not, as his mother perhaps fondly calls him, a little “angel” or a little “innocent,” but a little “sinner.” Alas! As that infant boy or girl lies smiling and crowing in its cradle, that little creature carries in its heart the seeds of every kind of wickedness! Only watch it carefully, as it grows in stature and its mind develops, and you will soon detect in it an incessant tendency to that which is bad, and a backwardness to that which is good. You will see in it the buds and germs of deceit, evil temper, selfishness, self-will, obstinacy, greediness, envy, jealousy, passion, which, if indulged and let alone, will shoot up with painful rapidity. Who taught the child these things? Where did he learn them? The Bible alone can answer these questions! Of all the foolish things that parents say about their children there is none worse than the common saying: “My son has a good heart at the bottom. He is not what he ought to be, but he has fallen into bad hands. Public schools are bad places. The tutors neglect the boys. Yet he has a good heart at the bottom.” The truth, unhappily, is diametrically the other way. The first cause of all sin lies in the natural corruption of the boy's own heart, and not in public schools.

So often theology we know to be true is overcome by our emotional attachment to our children. Theology we would extend to others is discarded when we look at our children. This is particularly true in the case of depravity. But Ryle will not let this happen.

I also greatly enjoyed Ryle’s thoughts about original sin providing the only workable solution to the extent of human depravity. I’ve been reading God is Not Great, the anti-religion screed by Christopher Hitchens and he offers a slightly different take on depravity. “Evolution has meant that our prefrontal lobes are too small, our adrenal glands are too big, and our reproductive organs apparently designed by committee; a recipe which, along or in combination, is very certain to lead to some unhappiness and disorder.” When men consider the most fundamental truth of human nature and do so without God, this is the best they can do. Prefrontal lobes are too small, adrenal glands are too big, and reproductive organs are badly designed. These factors combine to explain all of the terror and warfare and evil that exists. What nonsense! Men may scoff at the account of Adam’s sin, but what else can explain the widespread problem? And what else can even begin to suggest a solution. Ryle gets it right. “And we say that nothing solves the complicated problem of man's condition but the doctrine of original or birth-sin and the crushing effects of the Fall.” And again, “I know no stronger proof of the inspiration of Genesis and the Mosaic account of the origin of man, than the power, extent, and universality of sin.”

Finally, I loved his hopeful expectation when looking to the future. “Nothing, I am convinced, will astonish us so much, when we awake in the resurrection day, as the view we will have of sin and the retrospect we will take of our own countless shortcomings and defects. Never until the hour when Christ comes the second time will we fully realize the ‘sinfulness of sin.’ Well might George Whitefield say, ‘The anthem in heaven will be: What has God wrought!’” Oh, how I look forward to seeing the full measure of the greatness of the Savior and the mercy of God. And what better way to understand this, than to regard His purity in contrast to my imperfections. And this, of course, is exactly what Ryle has attempted to do in this first chapter. Now that we have considered our sin, we are able to move forward to the solution to that sin and to its eradication, both now in part, and in eternity in full.

I walk away from the book this week with a greater appreciation of my sin and a better appreciation of how I cannot even begin to understand just how awful my sin appears to such a holy God. Yet I trust that as I see more of the holiness of God I will see more of my own sin and then begin to understand, just a little clearer, how great a Savior it took to bring about forgiveness for a man like me. The anthem, indeed, must be “What has God wrought!”

Next Time

We'll continue the book next Thursday (September 13) with the second chapter ("Sanctification"). If you are interested in joining in, please do. There is still lots of time to purchase the book or to read it online. See this discussion (Read the Classics Together - Holiness) for information.

Your Turn

I am interested in hearing what you took away from this chapter. Feel free to post comments below or to write about this on your own blog (and then post a comment linking us to your thoughts). Don’t feel that you need to say anything shocking or profound. Just share what stirred your heart or gave you pause or confused you.

The Introduction to J.C. Ryle’s Holiness

This is the first of what I hope will be many opportunities to read the classics together. You can read more about this effort here: Reading the Classics Together. Today we start into an 8-week study of J.C. Ryle’s Holiness. Written in 1879, this book has stood the test of time and is considered one of the best works on practical holiness. At just eight chapters, it seemed like a great place to begin in our quest to read some Christian classics together.

I hope this will be a collaborative effort, meaning that we will read the book through the week and then discuss it together right here on Thursdays. I believe some seventy or eighty people expressed interest in reading it, so I trust many of you did so and will have your own thoughts to contribute. I will provide a brief overview and then post a few thoughts of my own. The comments section is available for discussion.

Summary

In the Introduction Ryle provides a defense for writing this book. He saw a lot of interest in the subject of holiness, but “had a deep conviction … that practical holiness and entire self-consecration to God are not sufficiently attended to by modern Christians in this country.” Ryle felt as if he had to defend the doctrine of sanctification, assuring the reader that it is “quite as important as justification. 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.” Tragically, at his time and in ours, any movement towards personal holiness can be “damaged by crude, disproportioned, and one-sided statements.” Satan hates holiness and will do all in his power to stop and destroy it.

As he surveyed the subject of holiness and the reaction to it, Ryle felt deep concern and expressed this in the form of seven questions to the reader, questions that together form the heart of this chapter:

1. Is it wise to speak of faith as the one thing needful, and the only thing required, as many seem to do now-a-days in handling the doctrine of sanctification? Is it wise to proclaim … that the holiness of converted people is by faith alone, and not at all by personal exertion?
2. I ask, in the second place, whether it is wise to make so little as some appear to do, comparatively, of the many practical exhortations to holiness in daily life which are to be found in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the latter part of most of St. Paul’s epistles?
3. I ask in the third place, whether it is wise to use vague language about perfection, and to press on Christians a standard of holiness, as attainable in this world for which there is no warrant to be shown either in Scripture or experience?
4. In the fourth place, is it wise to assert so positively and violently, as many do, that the seventh chapter of the Epistle to the Romans does not describe the experience of the advanced saint, but the experience of the unregenerate man, or of the weak and unestablished believer?
5. In the fifth place, is it wise to use the language which is often used in the present day about the doctrine of “Christ in us”? I doubt it. Is not this doctrine often exalted to a position which it does not occupy in Scripture? I am afraid that it is.
6. In the sixth place, is it wise to draw such a deep, wide, and distinct line of separation between conversion and consecration, or the higher life, so called, as many do draw in the present day?
7. In the seventh and last place, is it wise to teach believers that they ought not to think so much of fighting and struggling against sin, but ought rather to “yield themselves to God,” and be passive in the hands of Christ?

He wrapped up (reluctantly, it seems) by providing a brief glimpse of the state of the church and the importance of recovering holiness.

Discussion

Like any true classic, this book has stood the test of time because it deals with issues that are always relevant. Many books come and go because they discuss issues that soon pass away. But in the introduction we see that the concerns of Ryle’s day match the concerns of our own. There may have been different emphases and a different cultural setting, but it is clear that his concerns at the close of the 19^th century are very similar to ours at the dawn of the 21^st. Consider Ryle’s seven questions:

The first question may not be asked in those terms today simply because so many people within churches have no real sense of the doctrine of justification by faith. But reading the Christian books you might encounter in your local bookstore will show that very few discuss the Christian life as difficult and laborious. Rather, they discuss a life of constant victory where sin and Satan melt before us. Rarely do they discuss just how difficult it is to overcome sin and how this life is a constant battle with evil. They promise an abundant life, but with no abundance of labor.

The second question can be answered in a way that is similar to the first. Look at the books and teaching that arises from contemporary Christianity and you will soon see that there is little time given to true personal holiness. There may be lip service to it, but there is little of the particulars, the nitty-gritty details of how we are to destroy sin in our lives. We are given generalities, but few specifics; we are told to whitewash the tombs but without removing the scent of death.

The third and sixth questions seem to me to deal with very similar issues and ones that still exist today. Great harm has been done by those claiming that there are different “levels” of the Christian life and that we are to strain to be like those who have reached a state of perfection (or even of near-perfection). This teaching exists in the fringes of the charismatic movement but also in more conservative circles. Ryle’s illustration of Christians occupying varied positions along an inclined plane is a good one, for it shows that all Christians exist in a sinful world and that they can never fully rid themselves of its influence. What an encouragement it is to know that even the greatest Christian exists on the same plane as we do, the only difference being his effort in attaining sanctification and God’s subsequent blessing upon his life.

The fourth question confused me just a little bit, but I believe he is pointing to some kind of antinomianism or lawlessness that must have existed at that time. Clearly people were using Romans 7 to defend sinful and lawless practices.

The fifth question discusses the doctrine of “Christ in us” that was clearly denying the importance of the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian. People were ascribing to the Son the work of the Spirit. While it is more common today to make the opposite error, focusing almost undue attention upon the Spirit, I can see shadows of the “Christ in us” teaching even now. I think, for example, of those who discuss “being Jesus” to others or those who do not understand that it is the Spirit who does the work of sanctification within us.

The final question discusses a kind of passivity towards holiness that certainly exists in our day. Too many people believe that becoming more godly is not a battle, but simply a process of leaning on Christ and expecting him to change us. But the testimony of Scripture is clear—we are to exert ourselves in pursuing holiness; we are to strive after it.

I say all of this to express confidence that Ryle’s book is relevant to us today, not only because it claims to simply provide what Scripture says on the subject of holiness, but because Ryle was writing it as a reaction to trends we see even today. He could as easily be describing 2007 when he writes:

There is an amazing ignorance of Scriptures among many, and a consequent want of established, solid religion. In no other way can I account for the ease with which people are, like children, “tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind of doctrine.” ( Ephesians 4:14.) There is an Athenian love of novelty abroad, and a morbid distaste for anything old and regular, and in the beaten path of our forefathers. Thousands will crowd to hear a new voice and a new doctrine, without considering for a moment whether what they hear is true.—There is an incessant craving after any teaching which is sensational, and exciting, and rousing to the feelings.—There is an unhealthy appetite for a sort of spasmodic and hysterical Christianity. The religious life of many is little better then spiritual dram-drinking, and the “meek and quiet spirit” which St. Peter commends is clean forgotten. ( 1 Peter 3:4.) Crowds, and crying, and hot rooms, and high-flown singing, and an incessant rousing of the emotions, are the only things which many care for.—Inability to distinguish differences in doctrine is spreading far and wide, and so long as the preacher is “clever” and “earnest,” hundreds seem to think it must be all right, and call you dreadfully “narrow and uncharitable” if you hint that he is unsound!

I think my primary take-away through reading this portion of the book is not so much a point of theology (as I’m sure it will be in subsequent chapters) as it is a sense of how the history of the church is cyclical. The same problems arise time and again; sin continues to manifest itself in the same way from generation to generation. This shows to me the value of turning to the old masters, men like Ryle, to show how they faced these problems in their day and to see how the gospel was the remedy, even then.

Next Time

We’ll continue the book next Thursday (September 6) with the first chapter (“Sin”). If you are interested in joining in, please do. There is still lots of time to purchase the book or to read it online. See this discussion (Read the Classics Together - Holiness) for information.

Your Turn

I am interested in hearing what you took away from the Introduction. I realize that we have not yet struck at the heart of the book, but I am sure you benefited even from reading the Introduction. Feel free to post comments below or to write about this on your own blog (and then post a comment linking us to your thoughts).

Yesterday I proposed Read the Classics Together—choosing a classic Christian book and reading it in tandem, returning here once a week or so for a bit of discussion. This method, I thought, could provide the accountability many of us need to make our way through some of the classics of the faith. Based on the comments for that post I guess you are in agreement. So let’s make it happen!

After receiving many suggestions I decided J.C. Ryle’s Holiness may just be the best place to start. While it’s not the title that is highest on my list, I think it is the most suitable starting point. The first edition is only seven chapters long, meaning that, if we read just one chapter per week, we can work our way through it in seven weeks (Make it eight with the introduction.). This makes more sense to me than beginning with something very long and intimidating (such as Calvin’s Institutes which would probably take at least a year!). We can test the idea and the methodology with a fairly short commitment and reassess before moving to another book.

Of course this is not to disparage Holiness. J.I. Packer says that though “much of Ryle reads dated, culturally and situationally, what he has to say on the interior aspects of personal holiness in Christianity is of perennial importance. Though Ryle’s rhetoric retains its Victorian tinge, his points, biblical and Puritan as they are, are uniformly relevant to Christian living here and now, and indeed speak as pungently to our own shallownesses and superficialities as they did to the counterparts of these lapses a century and a quarter ago.” This is regarded as a classic text on the subject of personal holiness. Packer promises “Real Christians will find it a gold mine, a feast, a spur and a heart warmer, food, drink, medicine and a course of vitamins, all in one. Reading it will, I trust, confirm to you the estimate of Ryle … as a great man and—more important!—fill your heart with the realism, wisdom, energy, lowliness, and joy of Christ. So may Ryle truly come into his own in all our lives.”

The edition I recommend and the one I’ll be reading from is called Faithfulness and Holiness and was published by Crossway in 2002. It includes the full text of the First Edition of Holiness along with an “Appreciation” by J.I. Packer. This will give some useful context for those who wish to understand more about the book and its author. It’s a nice hardcover volume with the first 85 pages being Packer’s contribution and the following 140 or so being Ryle’s book. In the Foreword, Packer explains why this First Edition, some 13 chapters shorter than the Second Edition, is the best choice:

While many of Ryle’s books, including the second edition of Holiness (1879, often reprinted), appear as a set of some twenty coordinate yet separate messages on a single multi-faceted theme, rather than as a series of stages in a single line of thought, these seven chapters were meant to be read as a set, restoring biblical breadth and depth to evangelical minds that had been swept away by fashionable holiness teaching that was actually extreme, shallow, biblically incorrect, and a hindrance to growth in grace. Ryle’s response was not to cross swords with its exponents, but to lay out afresh, biblically, systematically, and in practical terms, the true fundamentals of Christian sanctity, with constant appeal to Puritan and other pundits who had trodden this path before him. These seven chapters are the nearest thing to a treatise that Ryle ever composed, and they enable one to assess the range and balance of his mind, and the shrewdness of his judgment on spiritual things, better than any alternative selection of items would do.

I believe the editions vary only in that thirteen chapters are appended to the Second. As I understand it, the first seven are identical, so even if you have the Second Edition you should be able to follow along without any complication.

If you’d like to purchase the book you can do so at Westminster Books where it’s listed at $11.69. Amazon shoppers will find it here ($14.03). Alternatively, those wishing to read the book online can find it in a variety of formats at CCEL.

I propose we begin our study two weeks from today—August 30. I think that should allow time for people to arrange to obtain a copy of the book and to read the first chapter (“Introduction”). I will post a topic with a few initial thoughts and will invite readers to post their thoughts, reflections and questions on the first chapter. Obviously the greatest value will be in the reading while the discussion will serve to reinforce and clarify what we’ve learned.

Let me know in the comments if you’re going to be part of this (though if you aren’t the kind who comments that’s fine—feel free to remain silent but to read along anyways).