Holiness: For the Will of God Is Your Sanctification – 1 Thessalonians 4:3 [Annotated, Updated]

by J.C. Ryle

Growth in grace is the best evidence of spiritual health and prosperity. In a child or a flower or a tree, we are all aware that when there is no growth, there is something wrong. Healthy life in an animal or plant will always show itself by progress and increase. It is the same with our souls. If they are progressing and doing well, they will grow. Growth in grace is one way to be happy in our Christianity. God has wisely linked together our comfort and our increase in holiness. He has graciously made it in our interest to press on and aim high in our Christianity. There is a vast difference between the amount of sensible enjoyment that one believer has in his Christianity compared to another. You can be sure that ordinarily the person who feels the most joy and peace in believing (Romans 15:13) and has the clearest witness of the Spirit in his heart is the person who grows. Growth in grace is one secret of usefulness to others. Our influence on others for good depends greatly on what they see in us. The children of the world measure Christianity quite as much by their eyes as by their ears. The Christian who is always at a standstill, who to all appearances remains the same, with the same little faults, weaknesses, troubling sins, and little weaknesses, is seldom the Christian who does much good. The person who shakes and stirs minds and sets the world thinking is the believer who is continually improving and going forward. People think there is life and reality when the...