The flesh hates everything about God. Since it resists everything about God, it resists every way we try to taste Him and know Him and love Him. And the more something enables us to find God and feast on Him, the more violently the flesh fights against it. It takes its battle to every quarter [...]
Personal Holiness
Self-righteous Calvinism
And I am afraid there are Calvinists, who, while they account it a proof of their humility that they are willing in words to debase the creature, and to give all the glory of salvation to the Lord, yet know not what manner of spirit they are of. Whatever it be that makes us trust [...]
Sexual Sin Never Begins by Accident.
“Sexual sin never begins by accident. People do not suddenly fall into an illicit sexual act simply by having an opportunity confront them. There is always some specific preparation. This preparation we call “pre-sexual” experience. Pre-sexual experiences are those experiences of mind and action which excite, train, or develop our sexual drives.” ~ Jerry White [...]
Getting to the Heart of Legalism
I was reading today in Pleasures Evermore: The Life-Changing Power of Enjoying God and came across some excellent thoughts on legalism from Sam Storms who wrote, “I’m baffled continually at how easily Christian people treat as moral law those things that God has neither forbidden nor required. Some feel an irresistible urge to speak loudly [...]
Godly Character Requires Spiritual Discipline
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 [...]
Benefits of Being Filled with the Holy Spirit
Being filled with the Spirit means to be filled with the immediate presence of God to the extent that you are feeling what God Himself feels, desiring what God desires, doing what God wants, speaking by God’s power, praying and ministering in God’s strength, and knowing with the knowledge that God Himself gives. ~ Prof. [...]
Cultivating a Passion for Sexual Purity
Have you ever in the first five seconds of temptation, demanded of your mind that it look steadfastly at the crucified form of Jesus Christ? Picture this. You have just seen a peek-a-boo blouse inviting further fantasy. You have five seconds. “No! Get out of my mind! God help me!” Now, immediately, demand of your [...]
The Cost of Being a True Christian by J.C. Ryle
The following is an excerpt from J.C. Ryle’s book, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots, one of the most profound books I have ever read. Let there be no mistake about my meaning. I am not examining what it costs to save a Christian’s soul. I know well that it costs nothing less than [...]
Nature and Means of Growth in Grace by Archibald Alexander
THE word ‘grace’ is of frequent occurrence, and high and interesting import, in the sacred Scriptures. In the great concern of man’s salvation, no other word has a richer meaning. But while the general idea of the term is every where retained, there are several shades of difference in the signification, as it is used [...]
The Carnal Christian by Ernest C Reisinger
Introduction Many who regularly occupy church pews, fill church rolls, and are intellectually acquainted with the facts of the gospel never strike one blow for Christ. They seem to be at peace with his enemies. They have no quarrel with sin and, apart from a few sentimental expressions about Christ, there is no biblical evidence [...]
Practical Godliness by Arthur W. Pink
“Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” (James 1:22) It is much, very much to be thankful for when the Holy Spirit has illumined a man’s understanding, dispersed the mists of error, and established him in the Truth. Yet that is only the beginning. The Holy Scriptures are [...]
Personal Holiness by Arthur W. Pink
‘That opinion that personal holiness is unnecessary to final glorification is in direct opposition to every dictate of reason; to every declaration of Scripture.’ -Augustus Toplady By our fall in Adam we not only lost the favor of God but also the purity of our nature, and therefore we need to be both reconciled to [...]
Holy Living by Charles Hodge
‘This is true religion, to approve what God approves, to hate what he hates, and to delight in what delights him’ (C. Hodge). It is natural for those who have experienced the agitations which frequently attend upon conversion, and have felt the peace which flows from a hope of acceptance with God, to imagine that [...]
Holiness – Introduction by J.C. Ryle
THE twenty papers contained in this volume are a humble contribution to a cause which is exciting much interest in the present day, -I mean the cause of Scriptural holiness. It is a cause which everyone who loves Christ, and desires to advance His kingdom in the world, should endeavour to help forward. Everyone can [...]
