Holiness
Book Reviews aim to provide succinct, thoughtful summaries of books I have read. They contain quotes from the book, thoughts from others, and also some thoughts of my own. Typically they will be structured in the following order: author, introduction, message and purpose, remarkable chapter, and conclusion. This review will cover Holiness, a book about the holiness of God and what it means to grow in sanctification.
Author
J. C. Ryle
Introduction
Holiness is a deep and thoughtful response to the questions, "Are we holy? Shall we see the Lord?" Ryle, in his trademark direct yet winsome way, takes the reader through a journey starting with sin and ending in Christ. It's a wonderful overview of justification, sanctification, and what it truly means to be holy.
Message and Purpose
Holiness is a necessary plunge into the depths of true Christianity. Its message and purpose lies solely in Christ; that humans are sinning sinners desperately in need of a saving Savior. Ryle's nine chapters of the book are absolutely brimming with brilliance and incredible insight:
Chapter One: Sin
Chapter Two: Sanctification
Chapter Three: Holiness
Chapter Four: The Fight
Chapter Five: The Cost
Chapter Six: Growth
Chapter Seven: The Ruler of the Waves
Chapter Eight: "Lovest Thou Me?"
Chapter Nine: "Christ Is All"
Holiness, as MacArthur notes in his foreword, "deserves a place near the top of any list of must-read books."
Remarkable Chapter
Possibly the most enjoyable and enlightening non-Bible book I've ever consumed, my copy's pages of Holiness are marked up and down with notes, highlights, and lots of underlined sentences. That said, selecting one from the crowd that stood out from the rest is an arduous task. However, in keeping consistent with the theme of these reviews, I'll highlight chapter five (The Cost) from the rest. Ryle opens this chapter with a weighty proposition:
"In buying property, in building houses, in furnishing rooms, in forming plans, in changing dwellings, in educating children, it is wise and prudent to look forward and consider. Many 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 specially 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 really holy man? This, after all, is the grand question. For want of thought about this, thousands, after seeming to begin well, turn away from the road to heaven, and are lost forever in hell."
Ryle continues:
"Surely a Christian should be willing to give up anything that stands between him and heaven. A religion that costs nothing is worth nothing! A cheap Christianity, without a cross, will prove in the end a useless Christianity, without a crown."
Summarizing the crux of the matter, Ryle describes what it means to count the cost:
"A single day in hell will be worse than a whole life spent in carrying the cross."
Conclusion
According to revered defender of the faith John MacArthur, Holiness is "one of the finest theological works you will ever read." After moving slowly through this book for many months I, too, can confidently say that besides Scripture itself, Holiness is perhaps the most transformational and profound books I've ever completed. I am so much better for having soaked up its words, and you—Christian or non-Christian—would be as well.