Holiness by J C Ryle, Part 6
I decided to do one more chapter before I ended this series on Ryle’s book to provide a glimpse at his biblical account of the reasons all Christians need to count the cost of following Christ; his words will also specify how that is done.
The church today is full of unbiblical preachers and many trendy, popular heretical teachers that only continue to teach because so many are biblically illiterate. For example, millions of professed Christians follow Joel Osteen and other word of faith, prosperity preachers. Such preachers teach New Age and eastern, unbiblical, ideas as though they were approved by the God of the Bible, they are not – those who read the Bible see that problem clearly. Unfortunately, if you do not read the Bible, then you are vulnerable to being led into error and false teaching.
God raises up such false prophets to meet the perceived needs of those who do not love His truth, so you will discover if you read 2 Thessalonians, and elsewhere.
This blog critiques many such heretical false teachers, see CATEGORIES, Prosperity Preachers; Beth Moore; Brian McLaren; Mysticism; Man-Centered teaching; Unbiblical teachers….
This blog also provides examples of biblical preachers and teachers, Ryle is in that category.
The Bible was given by God to guide His children through the wilderness of this world; however, it seems that around 85-90% of the contemporary Christian church doesn’t read it or if they do, they don’t believe it; the great success of so many false preachers and false ministries, indicates that truth.
With that in mind, read below, the words of a man who was practicing his faith and depending upon what God had written to guide him through his earthly pilgrimage. If his ideas are foreign to you, then what path are you on? The path Ryle described is prescribed by God’s word; not man’s.
Begin Ryle’s words on the cost of being a Christian:
The Cost
Which of you intending to build a tower does not sit down first and count the cost? (Luke 14:28)
The text above is one of great importance. Few are the people who are not compelled to ask themselves, “What does it cost?” In buying property, building houses, furnishing rooms, forming plans, changing dwellings, or educating children, it is wise and prudent to look forward and consider the cost. Many people would save themselves much sorrow and trouble if they would only remember the question, “What does it cost?” But there is one subject on which it is especially important to count the cost. That subject is the salvation of our souls. What does it cost to be a true Christian? What does it cost to be a truly holy person? This, after all, is the great question. For lack of thought about this, thousands of people, after seeming to begin well, turn away from the road to heaven and are lost forever in hell.
Let me try to say a few words that might throw light on the subject. First, I will show what it costs to be a true Christian. Secondly, I will explain why it is so important to count the cost. Lastly, I will give some hints that will help people to properly count the cost.
We are living in strange times. Events are hurrying on remarkably quickly. We never know what a day may bring forth (Proverbs 27:1); how much less do we know what may happen in a year!
We live in a day when many people profess to be Christians. Professing Christians in every part of the land are expressing a desire for more holiness and a higher degree of spiritual life, yet it is very common to see these people receiving the Word with joy, and then after two or three years falling away and going back to their sins. They had not considered what it costs to be a really consistent believer and holy Christian. Certainly these are times when we should sit down and count the cost and consider the condition of our souls. We must pay attention to how we are. If we desire to truly be holy, it is a good sign. We may thank God for putting the desire into our hearts, but still, the cost should be counted. No doubt Christ’s way to eternal life is a way of pleasantness, but it is foolish to shut our eyes to the fact that His way is narrow and the cross comes before the crown.
I will show what it costs to be a true Christian.
…The point I want to consider is another one entirely. I want to consider what a person must be ready to give up if he wants to be saved. It is the amount of sacrifice a person must submit to if he intends to serve Christ. It is in this sense that I raise the question, “What does it cost?” I firmly believe that this is a most important question.
I freely admit that it costs little to be a mere outward Christian. A person only has to attend a church on Sunday and to be fairly moral during the week, and he has gone as far as thousands around him ever go in religion. All this is cheap and easy work; it involves no self-denial or self-sacrifice. If this is saving Christianity and this is what will take us to heaven when we die, we must change the description of the way of life and write, “Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to heaven!”
According to the standard of the Bible, it does cost something to be a real Christian. There are enemies to be overcome, battles to be fought, sacrifices to be made, Egypt to be forsaken, a wilderness to be passed through, a cross to be carried, and a race to be run.
Conversion is not putting a man in an armchair and taking him easily to heaven. It is the beginning of a mighty conflict in which it costs much to win the victory. Therefore arises the unspeakable importance of counting the cost….
It will cost him his self-righteousness. He must cast away all pride and prideful thoughts and any conceit of his own goodness. He must be content to go to heaven as a poor sinner saved only by free grace, owing all to the merit and righteousness of another. He must really feel the words of the prayer book that he has “erred and gone astray like a lost sheep,” that he has “left undone the things he ought to have done, and done the things he ought not to have done, and that there is no health in him.” He must be willing to give up all trust in his own morality, respectability, praying, Bible reading, church-going, and sacraments, and he must trust in nothing but Jesus Christ.
This sounds difficult to some. I do not wonder why. “Sir,” said a godly farmer to the well-known James Hervey,[1] “it is harder to deny proud self than sinful self, but it is absolutely necessary.” Let us remember this first and foremost. It will cost us our self-righteousness to be a true Christian.
It will cost him his sins. He must be willing to give up every habit and practice that is wrong in God’s sight. He must set his face against it, quarrel with it, break off from it, fight with it, crucify it, and labor to keep it under subjection, no matter what the world around him may say or think. He must do this honestly and fairly. There must be no separate truce with any special sin that he loves. He must consider all sins to be his deadly enemies, and he must hate every false way. Whether little or great, whether open or secret, all his sins must be thoroughly renounced. They may struggle hard with him every day and may sometimes almost get the mastery over him, but he must never give in to them. He must keep up a perpetual war with his sins. It is written, Cast away from you all your iniquities (Ezekiel 18:31), Redeem thy sins . . . and thine iniquities (Daniel 4:27), and Cease to do evil (Isaiah 1:16).
This also seems difficult. Our sins are often as dear to us 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. The parting must come. If wickedness was sweet in [the sinner’s] mouth, if he hid it under his tongue, if it seemed good unto him, and he did not forsake it, yet it must be given up if he wants to be saved (Job 20:12-13). He and sin must quarrel if he and God are to be friends. Christ is willing to receive any sinners, but He will not receive them if they will cling to their sins. To be a Christian will cost us our sins.
It will cost him his love of ease. He must take pains and trouble if he intends to run a successful race toward heaven. He must daily watch and be on his guard, like a soldier on the enemy’s ground. He must take heed to his behavior every hour of the day, in every company and in every place, in public as well as in private, among strangers as well as at home. He must be careful with his time, his tongue, his temper, his thoughts, his imagination, his motives, and his conduct in every relation of life. He must be diligent about his prayers, his Bible reading, and his use of Sundays, with all their means of grace. In attending to these things, he may come far short of perfection, but he cannot safely neglect any of them. The soul of the sluggard desires, and attains nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat (Proverbs 13:4).
This also sounds difficult. There is nothing we naturally dislike as much as trouble in living our religion. We hate trouble. We secretly wish we could have a vicarious Christianity and could be good by having someone else be good for us, having everything done for us. Anything that requires exertion and labor is entirely against the grain of our hearts, but the soul can have no gains without pains. To be a Christian will cost us our love of ease.
It will cost him the favor of the world. He must be content to be thought poorly of by others if he pleases God. He must not think it is a strange thing to be mocked, ridiculed, slandered, persecuted, and even hated. He must not be surprised to find his beliefs and Christian lifestyle despised and held up to scorn. He must accept that many people will consider him to be foolish, fanatical, and overzealous. He must understand that his words will be twisted and his actions misrepresented. In fact, he must not be surprised if some call him crazy. The Master says, Remember the word that I said unto you, The slave is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my word, they will keep yours also (John 15:20).
I must say that this also sounds difficult. We naturally dislike unjust dealing and false accusations, and we find it very difficult to be accused without cause. We would not be flesh and blood if we did not want to have the good opinion of our neighbors. It is always unpleasant to be spoken against, forsaken, lied about, and left standing alone, but there is no help for it. The cup that our Master drank must be drunk by His disciples. They must be despised and rejected among men (Isaiah 53:3). To be a Christian will cost us the favor of the world.
This is the account of what it costs to be a true Christian. I admit that the list is a heavy one, but what item could be removed? Bold indeed must that person be who would dare to say that we may keep our self-righteousness, our sins, our laziness, and our love of the world and yet be saved!
I admit that it costs much to be a true Christian, but who in his right mind can doubt that it is worth any cost to have one’s soul saved? When the ship is in danger of sinking, the crew thinks nothing of casting overboard the precious cargo. When an arm or leg is affected by gangrene, one will submit to any severe operation, even to amputation, to save one’s life. Surely a Christian should be willing to give up anything that stands between him and heaven. A Christianity that costs nothing is worth nothing! A cheap Christianity without a cross will prove in the end to be a useless Christianity without a crown.
Ryle, J. C.. Holiness [Annotated, Updated]: For the Will of God Is Your Sanctification – Hebrews 6:1 . Aneko Press. Kindle Edition.
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***For the other 5 parts of this series, see Categories, Holiness. Attached to some of those posts, are links to relevant material in this blog.