Holiness: What it looks like.

The Following is taken from the book 'Holiness' written by J.C Ryle. Please go buy the book, read it and be blessed (or be sucker-punched to your soul, like I was).

1.       Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according to how we find His mind described in scripture.

a.       Agreeing with God’s judgments

b.       Hating what God hates

c.       Loving what God loves

2.       A holy man will endeavor to shun every know sin and to keep every known commandment. He will have…

a.       A determined bent of mind towards God

b.       A hearty desire to do His will

c.       A greater dear of displeasing God than of displeasing this world

d.       A love for all His ways

3.       A holy man/woman will strive to be like our Lord Jesus Christ. He will not only live the life of faith in Christ and draw from Him all his daily peace and strength, but he will also labor to have the mind that was in Christ and to be conformed to His image. It will be his aim…

a.       To bear with and forgive others even as Christ forgave us

b.      To be unselfish, even as Christ pleased not himself

c.       To walk in love even as Christ loved us

d.       To be lowly minded and humble, even as Christ made himself of no reputation and humbled himself.

He will remember…

a.       That Christ was a faithful witness to the truth

b.       That He came not to do his own will

c.       That it was his food and drink to do His Fathers will

d.       That He would continually deny Himself in order to minister to others

e.       That He was meek and patient under underserved insults

f.        That He thought more of goodly poor men than of kings

g.       That He was full of love and compassion to sinners

h.       That He was bold and uncompromising in denouncing sin

i.         That He sought not the praise of men, when He might have had it

j.         That He went about doing good

k.       That He was separate from worldly people

l.         That He continued in prayer

m.     That He would not let even His nearest relations stand in His way when God’s work was to be done

All these things a holy man will try to remember. By them, he will endeavor to shape his course in life… happy is he who has learned to make Christ his ‘all’ both in salvation and example.

4.       A holy man will follow-after meekness, gentleness, patience, kind tempers, and government of his lounge. He will bear much, forbear much, overlook much and be slow to talk of standing on his rights.

5.       A holy man will follow-after temperance and self-denial. He will labor…

a.       To mortify the desires of the body

b.       To crucify his flesh with his affections and lusts

c.       To curb his passions

d.       To restrain his carnal inclinations – lest at any time they break loose.

6.       A holy man will follow-after love and brotherly kindness. He will endeavor to observe the golden rule of doing as he would have men do to him, and speaking as he would have men speak to him. He will be full of affection towards his brethren, towards their bodies, their property, their characters, their feelings, and their souls… He will strive to adorn his religion by all his outward demeanor, and to make it lovely and beautiful to all the eyes around him.

7.       A holy man will follow-after a spirit of mercy and benevolence toward others. He will not stand idle all the day. He will not be content with doing no harm – he will try to do good. He will strive to be useful in his day and generation, and to lessen the spiritual needs and misery around him as far as he can.

8.       A holy man will follow-after purity of heart. He will dread all immorality and impurity of spirit, and seek to avoid all things that might draw him into it. He knows his own heart is like tinder, and he will diligently keep clear of the sparks of temptation. Who shall dare to talk of their own strength when David can fall?

9.       A holy man will follow-after the fear of God. I do not mean the fear of a slave – who works only because he is afraid of punishment and who would be idle if he did not dread discovery. I mean rather the fear of a child – who wishes to live and move as if he was always before his father’s face, because he loves him.

10.   A holy man will follow-after humility. He will desire, in lowliness of mind, to esteem others as better than himself. He will see more evil in his own heart than in any other in the world.

a.       He will understand something of Abraham’s feeling when he said “I am dust and ashes!”

b.       Jacobs feeling when he says, “I am unworthy of the least of all your mercies!”

c.       Job’s feeling, when he says, ‘behold, I am vile!’

d.       And Paul’s feeling when he says, ‘I am the chief of sinners!’

11.   A holy man will follow-after faithfulness in all the duties and relations of life. Holy people should aim at doing everything well and should be ashamed of allowing themselves to do anything poorly, if they can help it. They should strive to be…

a.       Good husband and wives

b.       Good parents, and good children

c.       Good masters and good servants

d.       Good neighbors

e.       Good friends

f.        Good subjects

g.       Good in private and good in public

h.       Good in the place of business and good by their fireside. Holiness is worth little indeed if it does not bear this kind of fruit.

12.   A holy man will follow-after spiritual-mindedness. He will endeavor to set his affections on things above, and to hold things on earth with a very loose hand. He will not neglect the business of this present life, but the first place in his mind and thoughts will be given to eternal realities. He will aim to live like one whose treasure is in heaven, and to pass through this world like a stranger and a pilgrim traveling to his home.

To commune with God in prayer and in the bible and in the assembly of His people – these things will be the holy man’s chief enjoyments. He will value every thing and place and company – just in proportion as it draws him nearer to God. He will enter into something of David’s feelings when he says, ‘I cling to you’ and ‘you are my portion’ (Ps. 63:8, 119:57).

Sanctification in the very holiest man is an imperfect work. The history of the brightest saints that ever lived will contain many a ‘but’ and ‘however’ and ‘notwithstanding’ before you reach the end. The gold will never come without some dross, the light will never shine without some clouds, until we reach the heavenly Jerusalem. The holiest of men have many a blemish and defect when weighed in the balance of the sanctuary. Their life is a continual warfare with sin, the world, and the devil, and sometimes you will see them not overcoming – but overcome! The flesh is ever lusting against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. In many things we all stumble.

But still, for all of this, I am sure that to have such a character as I have faintly drawn is the heart’s desire and prayer of all true Christians. They press towards it – even if they do not reach it. They may not attain to it – but they always aim at it. It is what they strive and labor to be – if it is not what they are.