Holiness (and others)

Holiness (and others)

"You ought to live holy and godly lives" (2 Peter 3:11).

Holiness is a very comprehensive word, and expresses a state of mind and conduct that includes many things.

Holiness is the work of the Holy Spirit in our sanctification.

Holiness is the fruit of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Holiness is the operation of the new nature, which we receive in regeneration.

Holiness may be viewed in various aspects, according to the different objects to which it relates.

Toward God, holiness is supreme love; delight in His moral character; submission to His will; obedience to His commands; zeal for His cause; seeking of His glory.

Toward Christ, holiness is a conformity to His example, imbibing His spirit.

Toward man, holiness is charity, integrity, truth, mercy.

Toward sin, holiness is a hatred of all iniquity, a tender conscience easily wounded by little sins, and scrupulously avoiding them; together with a laborious, painful, self-denying, mortification of all the known corruptions of our heart.

Toward self, holiness is the control of our fleshly appetites; the eradication of our pride; the mortification of our selfishness.

Toward divine things in general, holiness is spirituality of mind, the habitual current of godly thought, godly affections flowing through the soul.

And, toward the objects of the unseen world, holiness is heavenly-mindedness, a turning away from things seen and temporal, to things unseen and eternal.

Oh, what a word is holiness! How much does it comprehend! How little is it understood, and how much less is it practiced!

~John Angell James~
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This Precious Anointing!

This holy anointing of the Spirit will impart cleanness to your mind, so that you shall have a right judgment of all things.

It will impart sweetness to your temper; gentleness to your spirit, and will give you a lowly, loving, self-condemning heart.

It will make your behavior towards others more Christlike. It will fill you with charity and love; the grace of kindness will be in your heart, and the law of kindness on your lip.

This precious anointing is so soul transforming, so 'Christ assimilating' in its influence, that it is impossible to partake of it in any degree and not be like Jesus.

When you see a religious professor who is proud of heart, lofty in spirit, covetous in his aims, condemning others, justifying himself, unsympathizing, or harsh; you see one who is lacking this anointing.

He is not sitting at the feet of Jesus!

~Octavius Winslow~
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The Road By Which the Spirit Leads God's Children

"As many as are led by the Spirit of God - they are the sons of God" (Romans 8:14).

All true Christians are under the leading and teaching of a power which is Almighty, though unseen - even the power of the Holy Spirit. They no longer turn to their own ways, and walk in the light of their own eyes, and follow their own natural heart's desire. The Spirit leads them. The Spirit guides them. There is a movement in their hearts, lives, and affections, which they feel - though they may not be able to explain; and a movement which is always more or less in the same direction.

They are all led away from sin, away from self-righteousness, away from the world!

This is the road by which the Spirit leads God's children. Those whom God adopts as His children - He teaches and trains. He shows them their own hearts. He makes them weary of their own ways.

They are all led to Christ.
They are all led to the Bible.
They are all led to prayer.
They are all led to holiness.
This is the beaten path along which the Spirit makes them to travel.
He makes sin very bitter to them.
He makes holiness very sweet.

When they are taken into the wilderness, and taught to see their own emptiness - it is the leading of the Spirit.

It is He who leads them to Sinai, and first shows them the law - that their hearts may be broken.

It is He who leads them to Calvary, and shows them the Cross - that their hearts may be bound up and healed.

It is He who leads them to Pisgah, and gives them distinct views of the promised land - that their hearts may be cheered.

Each and all of God's children is the subject of these leadings. And each and all is led by the right way, to bring him to a city of habitation.

Settle this down in your heart, and do not let it go: the children of God are a people "led by the Spirit of God," and always led more or less in the same way. Their experience will tally wonderfully when they compare notes in Heaven.

~J. C. Ryle~