This is my final post on Ryle’s book, Holiness. My purpose of this series was to introduce readers to Ryle’s book because it is so useful in understanding what must be done to fight the good fight, as all true Christians must do.
This final post follows the post about Christ’s intercession, which contained a Jeff Mayfield video. They go together in that they each talk about different aspects of the true believer dealing with his sin as he grows in sanctification and moves towards glorification.
Because the aforementioned is a necessary part of the Christian pilgrimage through this life, I linked John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress at the bottom of this post. It describes many of the side-tracks that seduce believers off the narrow way. If you have read through the Bible and are struggling against sin, then you will recognize the reality that Bunyan’s wonderful book portrays about the Christian struggle of faith.
The Fight
Fight the good fight of faith. (1 Timothy 6:12)
It is an interesting fact that “fighting” is a topic about which most people have a deep interest. Young men and women, old men and little children, high and low, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, all seem to have a deep interest in learning about wars, battles, and fighting.
This is a simple fact, no matter how we may try to explain it. We would call that Englishman a boring person who did not care about the story of Waterloo, Inkermann, Balaclava, or Lucknow. We would think an American was cold and dull who was not moved by the struggles at Bunker Hill, Lexington and Concord, Yorktown, Trenton, or Gettysburg.
There is another warfare, though, of far greater importance than any war that was ever waged by man. It is a warfare that concerns not just two or three nations, but every Christian man and woman born into the world. The warfare I speak of is spiritual warfare. It is the fight that everyone who would be saved must fight about his soul.
I am aware that this warfare is something about which many know nothing. Talk to them about it, and they are ready to regard you as a madman, an enthusiast, or a fool; yet it is as real and true as any war the world has ever seen. It has its hand-to-hand conflicts and its wounds. It has its times of weariness and of fighting through the night. It has its sieges and assaults. It has its victories and its defeats. Above all, it has consequences that are serious, monumental, and most remarkable. In earthly warfare, the consequences to nations are often temporary and reparable. In spiritual warfare, it is very different. Of that warfare, the consequences, when the fight is over, are unchangeable and eternal.
It is in regard to this warfare that Paul spoke to Timothy, when he wrote those burning words, Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life (1 Timothy 6:12). It is about this warfare that I will write. I hold the subject to be closely connected with that of sanctification and holiness. He who desires to understand the nature of true holiness must know that the Christian is a man of war. If we want to be holy, we must fight.
True Christianity Is a Fight
True Christianity! Let us keep in mind that word “true.” There is a whole lot of that which is called Christianity today that is not true, genuine Christianity. It is adequate to most people. It satisfies sleepy consciences, but it is not the true thing. It is not the real thing that was called Christianity two thousand years ago. There are hundreds of thousands of men and women who go to church every Sunday and call themselves Christians. Their names are in the baptismal register. They are considered to be Christians while they live. They are married with a Christian marriage service. They intend to be buried as Christians when they die; but you never see any “fight” about their religion!
Of spiritual strife, exertion, conflict, self-denial, keeping watch, and battle, they know literally nothing at all. Such Christianity may satisfy people, and those who say anything against it may be considered to be very harsh and uncharitable, but it certainly is not the Christianity of the Bible. It is not the religion that the Lord Jesus founded and His apostles preached. It is not the religion that produces real holiness. True Christianity is a “fight.”
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, inactivity, and comfort. He must never imagine for a moment that he can sleep and rest along the way to heaven, like one travelling in luxury. If he takes his standard of Christianity from the children of this world, he may be content with such foolish ideas, but he will find no support for them in the Word of God. If the Bible is the rule of his faith and practice, he will find his course laid down very plainly in this matter. He must “fight.”
With whom is the Christian soldier meant to fight? Not with other Christians. Sad indeed is that person’s idea of religion who thinks that it consists in perpetual controversy! He who is never satisfied unless he is engaged in some strife between church and church, sect and sect, faction and faction, denomination and denomination, knows nothing nothing yet as he ought to know. No doubt it may be absolutely needful sometimes to engage in controversy or dispute, but as a general rule, the cause of sin is never helped as much as when Christians waste their strength in quarrelling with one another and spend their time in meaningless arguments.
No, indeed! The main fight of the Christian is with the world, the flesh, and the devil. These are his never-dying foes. These are the three main enemies against whom he must wage war. Unless he gets the victory over these three, all other victories are useless and vain. If he had a nature like an angel and were not a fallen creature, the warfare would not be so essential; but with a corrupt heart, a busy devil, and an ensnaring world, he must either fight or be lost.
He must fight the flesh. Even after conversion, he carries within him a nature inclined to evil and a heart as weak and unstable as water. That heart will never be free from imperfection in this world, and it is a miserable delusion to expect it to be so. To keep that heart from going astray, the Lord Jesus tells us to watch and pray. He says that the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). There is need of a daily struggle and daily wrestling in prayer. I keep my body under, Paul says, and bring it into subjection (1 Corinthians 9:27). I see another law in my members which rebels against the law of my mind, bringing captive unto the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (Romans 7:23-24). For those that are of the Christ have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts (Galatians 5:24). Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth (Colossians 3:5).
He must fight the world. The cunning influence of that mighty enemy must be resisted daily, and without a daily battle can never be overcome. The love of the world’s good things, the fear of the world’s laughter or condemnation, the secret desire to remain in the world, the secret desire to do as others in the world do, and not wanting to be extreme in following God are all spiritual foes that assail the Christian continually on his way to heaven, and they must be conquered. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore that desires to be a friend of the world, makes himself the enemy of God (James 4:4). If anyone loves the world, the charity of the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15). The world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world (Galatians 6:14). Whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world (1 John 5:4). Be not conformed to this age (Romans 12:2).
He must fight the devil. That old enemy of mankind is not dead. Ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, he has been going to and fro in the earth and from walking up and down in it (Job 1:7), striving to reach one main goal – the ruin of man‘s soul. Never slumbering and never sleeping, he is always going about as a lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). An unseen enemy, he is always near us, close by our path, nearby our bed, and spying out all our ways. A murderer and a liar from the beginning (John 8:44), he labors night and day to cast us down to hell. Sometimes by deceiving us, sometimes by suggesting unbelief or unfaithfulness to God, sometimes by one kind of tactic and sometimes by another, he is always carrying on a campaign against our souls. Satan has desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat (Luke 22:31). This mighty adversary must be resisted daily if we want to be saved. But this lineage of demons does not go out (Matthew 17:21) except by watching, praying, fighting, and putting on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:11). The strong man armed will never be kept out of our hearts without a daily battle.
Some people might think these statements are too strong. You think that I am going too far and saying too much about this. You are secretly saying to yourself that men and women in this land can certainly get to heaven without all this trouble and warfare and fighting. Listen to me for a few minutes and I will show you that I have something to say on God‘s behalf. Remember the proverb of the wisest general who ever lived in England: “In time of war, it is the worst mistake to underrate your enemy and try to make a little war.” This Christian warfare is no light matter.
Ryle, J. C.. Holiness [Annotated, Updated]: For the Will of God Is Your Sanctification – Hebrews 6:1 . Aneko Press. Kindle Edition.
The following link is to a reading of John Bunyan’s book, The Pilgrim’s Progress. Bunyan’s book is about a dream he had about a man, Christian, who began to read the Bible and was given understanding about his burden of sin and the problem of having such a burden; Christian’s journey to get rid of his burden and to find the city of God are pictured:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36mSsYUAGoE&list=PL2S4V2bcQE8J_XCAOhk9Td3HjtXRfxpPA&index=1
The following link is to a pdf download on a commentary of 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; it is the best commentary I have found on fighting the good fight.
The following link is to a post which provides a glimpse into the spiritual life of Jonathan Edwards via journal entries of his dealings with sin; there are 3 posts on that topic, the first is below:
https://sheeplywolves.com/jonathan-edwards-a-glimpse-into-his-spiritual-journey/