Holiness (26)
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The great concern of the New Testament is not about the size of the Church, it is about the purity of the Church.
No man can expect to be an heir of heaven that is not first a saint on earth.
The Wells of Salvation Opened
As we know a tree by its fruit; so we may know justification by sanctification.
Holiness is nothing but the implanting, writing and living out the gospel in our souls
The way of holiness that leads to happiness is a narrow way; but there is just enough room for a holy God and a holy soul to walk together.
We forget that God's primary goal ia not changing our situations or relationships so that we can be happy, but changing us through our situations and relationships so that we will be holy.
Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture. It is the habit of agreeing in God's judgment, hating what He hates, loving what He loves, and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word.
Death reminds us that we are creatures. Yet as fearsome as death is, it is nothing compared with meeting a holy God. When we encounter him, the totality of our creatureliness breaks upon us and shatters the myth that we have believed about ourselves, the myth that we are demigods, junior-grade deities who will try to live forever.
The problem we face is that the word holy is foreign to all languages. No dictionary is adequate to the task.
The life of true holiness is rooted in the soil of awed adoration.
The beauty of holiness is that which the grave, that consumes all other beauty, cannot touch, or do any damage to.
A thousand praises and doxologies do not honour God so much as the mortifying of one lust.The Ten Commandments, 37
The Psalmist testifies that the Divine Law was his school-master and guide in leading a holy life. He thus by his own example, prescribes the same rule to us all; and it is highly necessary to observe this rule; for while each of us follows what seems good in his own estimation, we become entangled in inextricable and frightening mazes...the word of God is set in opposition to all human counsels. What the world judges right is often crooked and perverse in the judgment of God, who approves of no other manner of living, than that which is framed according to the rule of his law.
God's holiness means that he is separated from sin and devoted to seeking his own honor."Systematic Theology, 202
I plead that a movement in favor of holiness cannot be advanced by new-coined phraseology, or by disproportioned and one-sided statements--or by
overstraining and isolating particular texts--or by exalting one truth at
the expense of another--or by allegorizing and accommodating texts, and
squeezing out of them meanings which the Holy Spirit never put in them-
-or by speaking contemptuously and bitterly of those who do not entirely
see things with our eyes, and do not work exactly in our ways. These
things do not make for peace: they rather repel many and keep them at a
distance. The cause of true sanctification is not helped, but hindered, by
such weapons as theseHoliness, Introduction
When a professing Christian coolly tells me that he
has got beyond such hymns as "Just as I am," and that they are below his
present experience, though they suited him when he first took up
religion, I must think his soul is in a very unhealthy state! When a man
can talk coolly of the possibility of "living without sin" while in the body,
and can actually say that he has "never had an evil thought for three
months," I can only say that in my opinion he is a very ignorant
Christian! I protest against such teaching as this. It not only does no
good, but does immense harm.Holiness, Introduction
True holiness, we surely ought to remember, does not consist merely of inward sensations and impressions. It is much more then tears, and sighs, and bodily excitement, and a quickened pulse, and a passionate feeling of
attachment to our favorite preachers and our own religious party, and a
readiness to quarrel with everyone who does not agree with us. It is
something of "the image of Christ." which can be seen and observed by
others in our private life, and habits, and character, and doings. ( Romans
8:29.)Holiness, Introduction
converted Christians regularly experience deeper conviction of sin after their conversion than they knew before, and why one dimension of spiritual growth, as we shall shortly see, is growth downward into a more thorough humility and more radical repentance. Though not much is said about this nowadays, a deepening sense of one's sinfulness remains a touchstone of the genuine Christian life.Rediscovering Holiness: Know the Fullness of Life with God (Kindle Locations 667-669). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
If we want to be fruitful in evangelism, we must cultivate holiness of life.Rediscovering Holiness: Know the Fullness of Life with God (Kindle Location 456). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Holiness is actually the true health of the person. Anything else is ugliness and deformity at character level; a malfunctioning of the individual; a crippled state of soul. The various forms of bodily sickness and impairment that Jesus healed are so many illustrations of this deeper, inward deformity.Rediscovering Holiness: Know the Fullness of Life with God (Kindle Locations 444-446). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
whatever further reasons there may be why God exposes us to the joys and sorrows, fulfillments and frustrations, delights and disappointments, happinesses and hurts, that make up the emotional reality of our lives, all these experiences are part of His curriculum for us in the school of holiness, which is His spiritual gymnasium for our reshaping and rebuilding in the moral likeness of Jesus Christ.Rediscovering Holiness: Know the Fullness of Life with God (Kindle Locations 138-141). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
But the shift of Christian interest away from the pursuit of holiness to focus on fun and fulfillment, ego massage and techniques for present success, and public issues that carry no challenge to one's personal morals, is a fact. To my mind it is a sad and scandalous fact, and one that needs to be reversed.Rediscovering Holiness: Know the Fullness of Life with God (Kindle Locations 44-46). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
This ethical holiness of God may be defined as that perfection of God, in virtue of which He eternally wills and maintains His own moral excellence, abhors sin, and demands purity in his moral creatures.Systematic Theology, 74
[the Father] would have the most excellent person, one next in order to himself, and equal to him in all the glorious perfections of his nature, die on a disgraceful cross, and be exposed to the flames of Divine wrath, rather than sin should live, and his holiness remain for ever disparaged by the violations of his law - God seems to lay aside the bowels of a father, and put on the garb of an irreconcilable enemy
People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated. For the Love of God Vol 2
Top Authors
1. Charles Spurgeon (107)
2. J.C. Ryle (103)
3. Thomas Watson (87)
4. John Piper (80)
5. John Calvin (76)
6. J.I. Packer (72)
7. Louis Berkhof (62)
8. C.S. Lewis (49)
9. George Swinnock (49)
10. A.W. Pink (47)
11. Francis Schaeffer (47)
12. Gerald Bray (46)
13. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (43)
14. Tim Keller (42)
15. Abraham Kuyper (40)
16. B.B. Warfield (37)
17. Thomas Brooks (36)
18. John Flavel (36)
19. Martin Luther (33)
20. John Owen (33)
2. J.C. Ryle (103)
3. Thomas Watson (87)
4. John Piper (80)
5. John Calvin (76)
6. J.I. Packer (72)
7. Louis Berkhof (62)
8. C.S. Lewis (49)
9. George Swinnock (49)
10. A.W. Pink (47)
11. Francis Schaeffer (47)
12. Gerald Bray (46)
13. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (43)
14. Tim Keller (42)
15. Abraham Kuyper (40)
16. B.B. Warfield (37)
17. Thomas Brooks (36)
18. John Flavel (36)
19. Martin Luther (33)
20. John Owen (33)
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1. Sin (138)2. Prayer (106)
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6. Gospel (71)
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8. Law (45)
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12. Salvation (36)
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14. Fear (30)
15. Grace (29)
16. Love (28)
17. Worship (27)
18. Creation (26)
19. Pride (26)
20. Sanctification (26)
21. Unbelief (25)
22. Evolution (24)
23. Heaven (23)
24. Holiness (23)
25. Missions (23)
26. Theology (23)