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

by J.C. Ryle

Why do I dwell on this? Do I want to apologize for the corruptions of professing Christians and excuse their sins? God forbid! Do I want to lower the standard of sanctification and support anyone in being a lazy, idle soldier of Christ? God forbid! Do I want to wipe out the broad line of distinction between the converted and the unconverted and ignore inconsistencies? Once more I say, God forbid! I hold strongly that there is a great difference between the true Christian and the false, between the believer and the unbeliever, between the children of God and the children of the world. I hold strongly that this difference is not merely one of faith, but of life. It is not just one of profession, but of practice. I hold strongly that the ways of the believer should be as distinct from those of the unbeliever as bitter from sweet, light from darkness, and heat from cold.