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

by J.C. Ryle

For one thing, if you ever want to be saved, you must make the choice that Moses made. You must choose God instead of the world. Pay careful attention to what I say. Do not overlook this, though all the rest be forgotten. I do not say that the statesman must give up his office or that the rich man must forsake his possessions. Let no one think that I mean this. I am saying that if a person desires to be saved, no matter what his position in life is, he must be prepared for tribulation. He must make up his mind to choose much that seems troublesome and to give up and refuse much that seems good and beneficial. This probably sounds strange to some who read these pages. I know that you might have a certain form of religion and are content in your way. There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity today that many have and think is enough; it is a cheap Christianity that offends no one and is worth nothing. I am not speaking of religion of this kind. However, if you really are sincere about your soul, if your Christianity is something more than a mere fashionable Sunday coat, if you are determined to live by the Bible, and if you are resolved to be a New Testament Christian, then you will soon learn that you must carry a cross. You must endure difficult things. You must suffer on behalf of your soul, as Moses did, or you cannot be saved. The world in this century is what it always was. The hearts of people are still the same. The offense of the cross has not ceased. God’s tru...