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  THE NATURE OF SANCTIFICATION
  by John C. Ryle
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A theological work identifying the visible marks of genuine sanctification in
believers, including habitual obedience to Christ's precepts and the active
practice of Christian virtues.

  Chapters: 4

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS
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    1. _1 The Nature of Sanctification
    2. _2 The Visible Evidences of Sanctification
    3. _3 Distinguishing Between
    4. _4 Practical Applications

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  CHAPTER 1: _1 THE NATURE OF SANCTIFICATION
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The Nature of Sanctification By John C. Ryle The Doctrine of Sanctification -
Part 1 of 4

John Charles Ryle was born in 1816 in Macclesfield, England. The son of a
wealthy banker, he was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. He was
spiritually awakened in 1838 on hearing Ephesians 2:1-22 read in church. He was
appointed bishop of Liverpool at Disraeli’s recommendation in 1880.C. H.
Spurgeon called him "the best man in the Church of England." He upheld the
Reformation doctrine of grace, as found in the Thirty-Nine Articles of the
Anglican Church, and he recommended the English Reformers, Puritans, and
eighteenth-century evangelicals as models for both doctrine and devotion. More
than 12 million of his tracts were sold in over a dozen languages during his
lifetime. Their influence on popular Christianity, like that of Spurgeon’s
sermons, was incalculable. He died in 1900. This series is adapted from Ryle’s
book entitled simply, Holiness, first published in 1879.

What Does the Bible Mean When It Speaks of a "Sanctified" Man?

Sanctification is that inward spiritual work which the Lord Jesus Christ works
in a man by the Holy Spirit, when He calls him to be a true believer. He not
only washes him from his sins in His own blood but He also separates him from
his natural love of sin and the world. The instrument by which the Spirit
effects this work is generally the Word of God, though He sometimes uses
afflictions and providential visitations "without the Word" (1 Peter 3:1). The
subject of this work of Christ by His Spirit is called in Scripture a
"sanctified" man. The subject of sanctification is of such vast importance that
it requires marking out on every side. To clear away the confusion between
doctrines and doctrines, I shall therefore not hesitate to lay before my readers
a series of connected propositions or statements, drawn from Scripture, which I
think will be found useful in defining the exact nature of sanctification. 1.
Sanctification is the invariable result of that vital union with Christ which
true faith gives to a Christian. "He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same
bringeth forth much fruit" (John 15:5). The union with Christ which produces no
effect on heart and life is a mere formal union, which is worthless before God.
The faith which has not a sanctifying influence on the character is no better
than the faith of devils (James 2:19). True faith works by love. It constrains a
man to live unto the Lord from a deep sense of gratitude for redemption. 2.
Sanctification is the outcome and inseparable consequence of regeneration. He
that is born again and made a new creature receives a new nature and a new
principle, and always lives a new life. In a word, where there is no
sanctification there is no regeneration, and where there is no holy life there
is no new birth. It is written plainly that he who is born of God is one whose
"seed remaineth in him…." (1 John 3:9). 3. Sanctification is the only certain
evidence of that indwelling of the Holy Spirit which is essential to salvation.
"If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Romans 8:9). The
Spirit never lies dormant and idle within the soul. He always make His presence
known by the fruit He causes to be borne in heart, character, and life. "The
fruit of the Spirit," says Paul, "is love, joy, peace, long suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, and such like" (Galatians
5:22). The Spirit cannot be seen by our bodily eyes, but just as we know there
is a wind by the effect it produces on waves and trees and smoke, so we may know
the Spirit is in a man by the effects He produces in the man’s conduct. It is
nonsense to suppose that we have the Spirit if we do not also "walk in the
Spirit" (Galatians 5:25). 4. Sanctification, again, is the only sure mark of
God’s election. The names and number of the elect are a secret thing, which God,
no doubt wisely, has not revealed to man. It is not given to us in this world to
study the pages of the Book of Life and see if our names are there. But if there
is one thing clearly and plainly laid down about election it is this: that elect
men and women may be distinguished by holy lives. It is expressly written that
they are "elect…through sanctification" (1 Peter 1:2), "chosen…to salvation
through sanctification"(2 Thessalonians 2:13), "predestinate[d] to be conformed
to the image of God’s Son" (Romans 8:29), and "chosen in [Christ] before the
foundation of the world that they should be holy" (Ephesians 1:4). He that
boasts of being one of God’s elect, while he is willfully and habitually living
in sin, is only deceiving himself. 5. Sanctification is a thing that will always
be seen. Like the great Head of the church, from whom it springs, it cannot be
hid. "Every tree is known by his own fruit" (Luke 6:44). A truly sanctified
person may be so clothed with humility that he can see in himself nothing but
infirmity and defects. Like the righteous in the parable of the sheep and the
goats, he may not see that he has done anything worthy of his Master’s notice
and commendation (cf. Matthew 25:37). But whether he sees it himself or not,
others will always see in him a tone and taste and habit of life unlike that of
other men. Life may be very feeble, but if the pulse only beats a little, it
will be felt. 6. Sanctification is a thing for which every believer is
responsible. I maintain that believers are eminently and peculiarly responsible,
and under a special obligation to live holy lives. They are not as others, dead
and blind and unrenewed; they are alive unto God, and have light and knowledge,
and a new principle within them. If the Savior of sinners gives us renewing
grace and calls us by His Spirit, we may be sure that He expects us to use our
grace and not to go to sleep. It is forgetfulness of this which causes many
believers to "grieve the Holy Spirit," and makes them very useless and
uncomfortable Christians. 7. Sanctification, again, admits of growth and
degrees. A man may climb from one step to another in holiness. More pardoned and
more justified than he is when he first believes he cannot be. But more
sanctified he certainly may be. If there is any point on which God’s holiest
saints agree it is this: they see more and know more and feel more and do more
and repent more and believe more as they get on in spiritual life, and in
proportion to the closeness of their walk with God. In short, they "grow in
grace," as Peter exhorts believers to do (2 Peter 3:18). 8. Sanctification is
also a thing which depends greatly on a diligent use of scriptural means: Bible
reading, private prayer, regular attendance on public worship, regular hearing
of God’s Word, and regular reception of the Lord’s Supper. They are appointed
channels through which the Holy Spirit conveys fresh supplies of grace to the
soul, and strengthens the work which He has begun in the inward man. Our God is
a God who works by means, and He will never bless the soul of that man who
pretends to be so high and spiritual that he can get on without them. 9.
Sanctification, again, does not prevent a man from having a great deal of inward
spiritual conflict. By conflict I mean a struggle within the heart between the
old nature and the new, the flesh and the spirit, which are to be found together
in every believer (Galatians 5:17). A deep sense of that struggle, and a vast
amount of mental discomfort from it, does not prove that a man is not
sanctified. Nay, rather, I believe they are healthy symptoms of our condition,
and prove that we are not dead, but alive. A true Christian is one who has not
only peace of conscience but war within. The heart of the best Christian, even
at his best, is a field occupied by two rival camps. 10. Sanctification,
further, cannot justify a man, yet it pleases God. The holiest actions of the
holiest saint that ever lived are all more or less full of defects and
imperfections. To suppose that such actions can stand the severity of God’s
judgment, atone for sin, and merit heaven is simply absurd. "We conclude that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law" (Romans 3:20-28).
Nevertheless, the Bible distinctly teaches that the holy actions of a sanctified
man, although imperfect, are pleasing in the sight of God. "With such sacrifices
God is well pleased" (Hebrews 13:16). "We…do those things that are pleasing in
His sight" (1 John 3;22). 11. Sanctification, again, will be found absolutely
necessary as a witness to our character in the great Day of Judgment. It will be
utterly useless to plead that we believed in Christ, unless our faith has had
some sanctifying effect in our lives. Without some evidence that our faith in
Christ was real and genuine, we shall only rise again to be condemned. The
question will not be how we talked and what we professed, but how we lived and
what we did. If anything is certain about judgment, it is certain that men’s
works and doings will be considered and examined (John 5:29; 2 Corinthians 5:10;
Revelation 20:13). 12. Sanctification, finally, is absolutely necessary to train
and prepare us for heaven. Heaven is essentially a holy place; its inhabitants
are all holy; its occupations are all holy. To be really happy in heaven, it is
clear that we must be somewhat trained and made ready for heaven while we are on
earth. What could an unsanctified man do in heaven, if by chance he got there?
No man can possibly be happy where he is not in his element.


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  CHAPTER 2: _2 THE VISIBLE EVIDENCES OF SANCTIFICATION
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The Visible Evidences of Sanctification By J. C. Ryle The Doctrine of
Sanctification-Part 2 of 4 What Are the Visible Marks of a Sanctified Man?

1. True sanctification does not consist in talk about religion. People have
heard so much of gospel truth that they contract an unholy familiarity with its
words and phrases and sometimes talk so fluently about its doctrines that you
might think them true Christians. In fact, it is sickening and disgusting to
hear the cool and flippant language which many pour out about "conversion," "the
Savior," "the gospel," "free grace" and the like, while they are notoriously
serving sin or living for the world. Can we doubt that such talk is abominable
in God’s sight? 2. True sanctification does not consist in temporary religious
feelings. Wherever wheat is sown, the devil is sure to sow tares. Many appear
moved and touched and roused under the preaching of the gospel, while in reality
their hearts are not changed at all. Their wounds are only skin deep, and the
peace they profess to feel is skin deep also. Like the stony-ground hearers,
they receive the Word with joy (Matthew 13:20), but after a little they fall
away, go back to the world, and are harder and worse than before. Let us beware
of healing wounds slightly, and crying, "Peace, peace," when there is no peace.
Let us urge on everyone who exhibits new interest in religion to be content with
nothing short of the deep, solid, sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. 3. True
sanctification does not consist in outward formalism and external devoutness.
This is an enormous delusion, but unhappily a very common one. Thousands appear
to imagine that true holiness is to be seen in constant attendance on church
services, reception of the Lord’s Supper, etc. I am afraid that in many cases
this external religiousness is made a substitute for inward holiness. 4.
Sanctification does not consist in retirement from our place in life and the
renunciation of our social duties. In every age it has been a snare with many to
take up this line in the pursuit of holiness. Hundreds of hermits have buried
themselves in some wilderness, and thousands of men and women have shut
themselves up within the walls of monasteries and convents, under the vain idea
that by so doing they would escape sin and become eminently holy. They have
forgotten that no bolts and bars can keep out the devil and that, wherever we
go, we carry that root of great evil, our own hearts. True holiness does not
make a Christian evade difficulties, but face and overcome them. 5.
Sanctification does not consist in the occasional performance of right actions.
It is the habitual working of a new heavenly principle within, which runs
through all a man’s daily conduct, both in great things and in small. Its seat
is in the heart and, like the heart in the body, it has a regular influence on
every part of the character. It is like a perpetual fountain, from which a
stream is ever flowing spontaneously and naturally. (Even Herod, when he heard
John the Baptist, "did many things," while his heart was utterly wrong in the
sight of God (Mark 6:20). A true saint, like Hezekiah, will be whole-hearted. He
will count God’s commandments concerning all things to be right, and "hate every
false way" (2 Chronicles 31:21; Psalms 119:104). 6. Genuine sanctification will
show itself in habitual respect to God’s law, and habitual effort to live in
obedience to it as the rule of life. There is no greater mistake than to suppose
that a Christian has nothing to do with the law and the Ten Commandments,
because he cannot be justified by keeping them. The same Holy Spirit who
convinces the believer of sin by the law, and leads him to Christ for
justification, will always lead him to a spiritual use of the law, as a friendly
guide, in the pursuit of sanctification. As Paul said in Romans 7:22: "I delight
in the law of God after the inward man." 7. Genuine sanctification will show
itself in a habitual endeavor to do Christ’s will, and to live by His practical
precepts. These precepts are to be found scattered everywhere throughout the
four Gospels, and especially in the Sermon on the Mount. He that supposes they
were spoken without the intention of promoting holiness, and that a Christian
need not attend to them in daily life, is really little better than a lunatic.
To hear some men talk, and read some men’s writings, one might imagine that our
blessed Lord, when He was on earth, never taught anything but doctrine, and left
practical duties to be taught by others! This is a complete mistake. 8. Genuine
sanctification will show itself in a habitual desire to live up to the standard
which St. Paul sets before the churches in his writings. That standard is to be
found in the closing chapters of nearly all his epistles. These directions were
written down by inspiration of God for the perpetual guidance of professing
Christians. He who does not attend to them may possibly pass muster as a member
of a church, but he certainly is not what the Bible calls a "sanctified man." 9.
Genuine sanctification will show itself in habitual attention to the active
graces which our Lord so beautifully exemplified, and especially to the grace of
charity (John 13:34-35). A sanctified man will try to do good in the world and
to lessen the sorrow and increase the happiness of all around him. He will aim
to be like his Master. Saving faith and real converting grace will always
produce some conformity to the image of Jesus (Colossians 3:10). 10. Genuine
sanctification, finally, will show itself in habitual attention to the passive
graces-those graces which are especially shown in submission to the will of God,
and in bearing and forbearing one another. Few people, perhaps, unless they have
examined the point, have an idea how much is said about these graces in the New
Testament. For example, this is the special point Peter dwells upon in
commending our Lord Jesus Christ’s example: "Christ also suffered for us,
leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps…who, when He was reviled,
reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not…." (1 Peter 2:21-23).
Such are the visible marks of a sanctified man. I will never shrink from saying
that genuine sanctification is a thing that can be seen, and that the marks I
have endeavored to sketch out are more or less the marks of a sanctified man.


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  CHAPTER 3: _3 DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN
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Distinguishing Between Justification and Sanctification By J. C. Ryle The
Doctrine of Sanctification-Part 3 In What Are Justification and Sanctification
Alike?

1 Both proceed originally from the free grace of God. It is of His gift alone
that believers are justified or sanctified at all. 2. Both are part of that
great work of salvation which Christ, in the eternal covenant, has undertaken on
behalf of His people. Christ is the fountain of life, from which pardon
(justification) and holiness (sanctification) both flow. The root of each is
Christ. 3. Both are to be found in the same persons. Those who are justified are
always sanctified, and those who are sanctified are always justified. God has
joined them together, and they cannot be put asunder. 4. Both begin at the same
time. The moment a person begins to be a justified person, he also begins to be
a sanctified person. He may not feel it, but it is a fact. 5. Both are alike
necessary to salvation. No one ever reached heaven without a renewed heart as
well as forgiveness, without the Spirit’s grace as well as the blood of Christ,
without a fitness for eternal glory as well as a title. The one is just as
necessary as the other is.

Now Let Us See Wherein They Differ:

1. Justification is the reckoning and counting a man to be righteous for the
sake of another, even Jesus Christ the Lord. Sanctification is the actual making
a man inwardly righteous, though it may be in a very feeble degree. 2. The
righteousness we have by our justification is not our own, but the everlasting
perfect righteousness of our great Mediator Christ, imputed to us and made our
own by faith. The righteousness we have by sanctification is our own
righteousness, imparted, inherent, and wrought in us by the Holy Spirit, but
mingled with much infirmity and imperfection. 3. In justification, our own works
have no place at all; simple faith in Christ is the one thing needful. In
sanctification, our own works are of vast importance, and God bids us fight and
watch and pray and strive and take pains and labor. 4. Justification is a
finished and complete work, and a man is perfectly justified the moment he
believes. Sanctification is an imperfect (unfinished) work, comparatively, and
will never be perfected until we reach heaven. 5. Justification admits of no
growth or increase: a man is as much justified the hour he first comes to Christ
by faith, as he will be to all eternity. Sanctification is eminently a
progressive work, and admits of continual growth and enlargement, so long as a
man lives. 6. Justification has special reference to our persons, our standing
in God’s sight, and our deliverance from guilt. Sanctification has special
reference to our natures and the moral renewal of our hearts. 7. Justification
gives us our title to heaven, and boldness to enter in. Sanctification gives us
our fitness for heaven and prepares us to enjoy it when we dwell there. 8.
Justification is the act of God about us, and is not easily discerned by others.
Sanctification is the work of God within us, and cannot be hid in its outward
manifestation from the eyes of men. I commend these distinctions to the
attention of all my readers, and I ask them to ponder them well. I am persuaded
that one great cause of the darkness and uncomfortable feelings of many
well-meaning people is their habit of confounding justification and
sanctification. It can never be too strongly impressed on our minds that they
are two separate things. Never should the distinction between them be forgotten.


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  CHAPTER 4: _4 PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
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Practical Applications of the Doctrine of Sanctification By J. C. Ryle The
Doctrine of Sanctification - Part 4, conclusion

1. First of all, let us all awake to a sense of the perilous state of many
professing Christians. “Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews
12:14). Then what an enormous amount of so-called religion there is which is
perfectly useless! What an immense proportion of church-goers are in the broad
road that leads to destruction! The thought is awful, overwhelming. Oh, that
preachers and teachers would open their eyes and realize the condition of souls
around them! Oh, that men could be persuaded to “flee from the wrath to come”!
If unsanctified souls can be saved and go to heaven, the Bible is not true. Yet
the Bible is true, and cannot lie! What must the end be! 2. Let us make sure
work of our own condition, and never rest till we feel and know that we are
sanctified ourselves. What are our tastes and choices and likings and
inclinations? This is the great testing question. It matters little what we
wish, and what we hope, and what we desire to be before we die. What are we now?
What are we doing? Are we sanctified or not? If not, the fault is all our own.
3. If we would be sanctified, our course is clear and plain: we must begin with
Christ. We must go to Him as sinners, with no plea but that of utter need, and
cast our souls on Him by faith, for peace and reconciliation with God. We must
place ourselves in His hands, as in the hands of a good physician, and cry to
Him for mercy and grace. We must wait for nothing to bring with us as a
recommendation. The very first step towards sanctification, no less than
justification, is to come with faith to Christ. We must first live, and then
work. 4. If we would grow in holiness and become more sanctified, we must
continually go on as we began, and be ever making fresh applications to Christ.
He is the Head from which every member must be supplied (Ephesians 4:16). To
live the life of daily faith in the Son of God, and to be daily drawing out of
His fullness the promised grace and strength which he has laid up for His
people—this is the grand secret of progressive sanctification. Believers who
seem at a standstill are generally neglecting close communion with Jesus, and so
grieving the Spirit. He that prayed, “Sanctify them,” the last night before His
crucifixion, is infinitely willing to help everyone who by faith applies to Him
for help and desires to be made more holy. 5. Let us not expect too much from
our own hearts here below. At our best, we shall find in ourselves daily cause
for humiliation, and discover that we are needy debtors to mercy and grace every
hour. The more light we have, the more we shall see our own imperfection.
Sinners we were when we began, and sinners we shall find ourselves as we go on:
renewed, pardoned, justified, yet sinners to the very last. Our absolute
perfection is yet to come, and the expectation of it is one reason why we should
long for heaven. 6. Finally, let us never be ashamed of making much of
sanctification, and contending for a high standard of holiness. While some are
satisfied with a miserably low degree of attainment, and others are not ashamed
to live on without any holiness at all, let us stand fast in the old paths,
follow after eminent holiness ourselves, and recommend it boldly to others. This
is the only way to be really happy. As a general rule, in the long run of life,
it will be found true that “sanctified” people are the happiest people on earth.
They have solid comforts which the world can neither give nor take away. It is
written, “Great peace have they that love thy law” (Psalms 119:165); and again:
“My yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). But it is also
written, “There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked” (Is. 48:22).


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Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/the-nature-of-sanctification/
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