Holiness: It is Real...

And this I do boldly and confidently say, that true holiness is a great reality. It is something in a person that can be seen, and known, and marked, and felt by all around them. It is light: if it exists, it will show itself. It is salt: if it exists, its savor will be perceived. It is a precious ointment: if it exists, its presence cannot be hid.

I am sure we should all be ready to make allowance for much backsliding, for much occasional deadness in professing Christians. I know a road may lead from one point to another, and yet have many a winding turn; and a person may be truly holy, and yet be drawn aside by many an infirmity. Gold is not the less gold because mingled with alloy, nor light the less light because faint and dim, nor grace the less grace because young and weak. But after every allowance, I cannot see how any person deserves to be called "holy," who wilfully allows themselves in sins, and is not humbled and ashamed because of them. I dare not call anyone "holy" who makes a habit of wilfully neglecting known duties, and wilfully doing what they know God has commanded them not to do. Well says Owen, "I do not understand how a person can be a true believer unto whom sin is not the greatest burden, sorrow, and trouble."

--R.C. Ryle