Sanctification

So much from this chapter is worth repeating, but I’ll share one bit that is encouraging me to press forward with the Scriptural means God has given for sanctification. Ryle explains early in this chapter that Jesus’ death and resurrection guarantees that I will be sanctified. “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:28). At the same time, this process of sanctification includes responsibilities on my part.

Point #8: Sanctification, again, is a thing which depends greatly on a diligent use of Scriptural means. When I speak of “means,” I have in view Bible-reading, private prayer, regular attendance on public worship, regular hearing of God’s Word, and regular reception of the Lord’s Supper. I lay it down as a simple matter of fact, that no one who is careless about such things must ever expect to make much progress in sanctification. I can find no record of any eminent saint who ever neglected them. 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. Let men call this legal doctrine if they please, but I will never shrink from declaring my belief that there are no “spiritual gains without pains.” I should as soon expect a farmer to prosper in business who contented himself with sowing his fields and never looking at them till harvest, as expect a believer to attain much holiness who was not diligent about his Bible-reading, his prayers, and the use of his Sundays. 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.

So, I’m evaluating myself this week to see where I have become lazy, where I need to be more diligent, so that I do not neglect God’s means for my sanctification.