What Does It Mean To Be Holy? Is it sitting in an ashram meditating all day and eating vegetarian foods? I once knew a Buddhist who wanted to save up enough money so that he could spend all his time meditating. It was his idea of attaining holiness and enlightenment.
I also spent quite a few years exploring meditation, yoga and various other “spiritual” disciplines. They were said to be holy pursuits by famous people like Wayne Dyer, Richard Bach, Edgar Cayce and prolific writer Yogananda Paramahansa. I did have many very interesting experiences, but when push came to shove I never saw how these disciplines made me any holier.
Then there are Christians who become ascetic monks. They retreat from society in order to avoid sin and dedicate themselves to prayer and menial work. The monks of Mt Athos are a modern example. Is this what it means to be holy?
In his book, Holiness, Anglican Bishop J. C. Ryle (1816-1900) outlined 12 practical ways for Christians to be holy while engaging the world they live in. Here are our summations of Ryle’s 12 points.
1) Holiness is cultivating the habit of agreeing with God’s mind as we understand it in Scripture. We learn to love what He loves and hate what He hates. We measure all standards based on God’s standards.
2) A holy person will endeavor to refrain from every known sin and to keep all known commandments. That person will have a desire (delight) to please God and a fear of displeasing Him.
3) The holy person will strive to imitate Christ’s example. They will faithfully draw their strength and peace in Christ and seek to have His mind.
4) Holy people will be meek, longsuffering, gentle, and patient. They will be kindly tempered and govern their tongues. They will bear much, refrain from much, overlook much and be slow to talk too much of personal rights.
5) They will follow temperance and self-denial, shunning all excesses. They will strive to curb passions and natural desires such as lust, drunkenness and inordinate carnal inclinations.
6) Holy people are charitable and show brotherly kindness. They treat others in action and word as they would like to be treated. They will behave affectionately towards their brothers and sisters in body, property, character, feelings and their souls. They will shun lying slandering, backbiting, cheating and dishonesty in their dealings with others.
7) They will show mercy and benevolence towards others. Rather than remaining idle and doing no harm, they will try to perform good deeds.
8) A holy person will exercise a purity of heart. They will diligently avoid anything which will draw them to filthiness and uncleanness of spirit.
9) Holy people fear God. This is not the fear a disobedient slave would of punishment. Ryle relates this to the fear a child has in not wanting to disappoint a parent it loves.
10) Holy people are humble. They desire to respect all others better than they do themselves. And they recognize the extent of their own natural sin natures.
11) A holy person conducts all duties and relations in life, faithfully and heartily. They don’t just go through the motions; they perform everything that they do as if it was for the Lord. Ryle writes:
They should strive to be good husbands and good wives, good parents and good children, good masters and good servants, good neighbors, good friends, good subjects, good in private and good in public, good in the place of business and good by their firesides.
12) Holy people will follow spiritual mindedness. They will set their affections entirely on heavenly things, while not holding too tightly on earthly matters. While they will not neglect their normal responsibilities, their thoughts will be centered on the life to come. They will pass through life as strangers and pilgrims looking to their treasure in heaven. They will find enjoyment in communing with God in prayer and fellowshipping with His people. They will place proportionate value on anything that draws them nearer to God.
Of course, Ryle had much more to say about holiness and we highly recommend his thoughts on it. We Christians need to re-familiarize ourselves with the great thinkers that have gone before us.
You can read Ryle’s entire book online HERE and in several other places. Or if you prefer (we love books) you can purchase it from Amazon.
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