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

by J.C. Ryle

The text above is one of great importance. Few are the people who are not compelled to ask themselves, “What does it cost?” In buying property, building houses, furnishing rooms, forming plans, changing dwellings, or educating children, it is wise and prudent to look forward and consider the cost. Many people would save themselves much sorrow and trouble if they would only remember the question, “What does it cost?” But there is one subject on which it is especially important to count the cost. That subject is the salvation of our souls. What does it cost to be a true Christian? What does it cost to be a truly holy person? This, after all, is the great question. For lack of thought about this, thousands of people, after seeming to begin well, turn away from the road to heaven and are lost forever in hell.