I have been plodding along on Iain Murray's book about J.C. Ryle, and I've reached chapter 12.
Some of you know who J.C. Ryle was, and some of you may not.
J.C. became a bishop during his lifetime (in England).
He was around in the 1800s, and it wasn't until recent years that I became aware of him at all.
I did a previous post on the earlier chapters from the book, so now I will continue with my thoughts on recent chapters.
J.C. Ryle believed in God's Sovereignty in salvation, and he believed in evangelism and prayer.
He believed in pastors visiting the flock under their care.
Ryle also believed in helping orphans and those in need.
His last wife (the first 2 had died) also was very involved in the distribution of tracts, helping people, and praying.
She preceded him in death, but he was married to her for many years.
Ryle had hopes for unity for the Anglican church (around the truth), but sadly things got worse to the point where he was the odd man out.
He would not give up the truths about baptism not saving people, or about other important doctrines.
He would not cave toward the acceptance of Roman Catholic practices in the church, and when people began to reject parts of Scripture as not being God's inspired Word...he would not cave.
So, he did not believe in unity at all costs.
He had a core set of Biblical beliefs which he would stand on without compromise.
One very sad thing is that his son Herbert turned to wrong liberal views of Scripture like others of his day.
J.C.'s daughter on the other hand was his faithful helper and friend after his wife's death.
I look forward to reading the rest of the book, and I hope that these short summaries will be of interest to some of you. You might even decide to read it yourself (although some of you may already have finished it)!
One thing is clear to me. Unity must always be around the truth of God's Word.
There must be no compromise to the acceptance of Roman Catholicism and its practices.
Catholics need the truth...not our wrongfully calling Catholics "Christians". and we must not be compromising back to pre-Reformation views.
We also cannot accept people as Christians who deny the Scripture as God's Word.
I recently ran across someone online who seemed to only accept Jesus words as Scripture, but they rejected other parts of Scripture as God's inspired Word.
Sometimes it's hard to know how to respond to someone who blatantly and blindly denies the truth while claiming to be a Christian.
Only the Spirit can get through to people and change their minds and bring repentance.
I can state the truth, but I can't make people believe it.
Also, there are some things we can strongly disagree on with actual Christians, but we should remember that not all differences make someone an unbeliever.
We may have doubts, but we may be surprised to see that some people may be in Heaven that we weren't sure about.
There are people who are at different levels in their walk with Christ.
I have been aware of this right along.
That is why when I show concern for some professing Christians and may be unsure about their salvation,
I often don't come out and say for sure they aren't Christians.
If they believe the truth of Scripture and the true Gospel and belong to Christ, He will bring them around one day!
When the world condemns and denies the truth, I want to be someone willing to stand alone on the truth of God's Word.
How about you?
Some of you know who J.C. Ryle was, and some of you may not.
J.C. became a bishop during his lifetime (in England).
He was around in the 1800s, and it wasn't until recent years that I became aware of him at all.
I did a previous post on the earlier chapters from the book, so now I will continue with my thoughts on recent chapters.
J.C. Ryle believed in God's Sovereignty in salvation, and he believed in evangelism and prayer.
He believed in pastors visiting the flock under their care.
Ryle also believed in helping orphans and those in need.
His last wife (the first 2 had died) also was very involved in the distribution of tracts, helping people, and praying.
She preceded him in death, but he was married to her for many years.
Ryle had hopes for unity for the Anglican church (around the truth), but sadly things got worse to the point where he was the odd man out.
He would not give up the truths about baptism not saving people, or about other important doctrines.
He would not cave toward the acceptance of Roman Catholic practices in the church, and when people began to reject parts of Scripture as not being God's inspired Word...he would not cave.
So, he did not believe in unity at all costs.
He had a core set of Biblical beliefs which he would stand on without compromise.
One very sad thing is that his son Herbert turned to wrong liberal views of Scripture like others of his day.
J.C.'s daughter on the other hand was his faithful helper and friend after his wife's death.
I look forward to reading the rest of the book, and I hope that these short summaries will be of interest to some of you. You might even decide to read it yourself (although some of you may already have finished it)!
One thing is clear to me. Unity must always be around the truth of God's Word.
There must be no compromise to the acceptance of Roman Catholicism and its practices.
Catholics need the truth...not our wrongfully calling Catholics "Christians". and we must not be compromising back to pre-Reformation views.
We also cannot accept people as Christians who deny the Scripture as God's Word.
I recently ran across someone online who seemed to only accept Jesus words as Scripture, but they rejected other parts of Scripture as God's inspired Word.
Sometimes it's hard to know how to respond to someone who blatantly and blindly denies the truth while claiming to be a Christian.
Only the Spirit can get through to people and change their minds and bring repentance.
I can state the truth, but I can't make people believe it.
Also, there are some things we can strongly disagree on with actual Christians, but we should remember that not all differences make someone an unbeliever.
We may have doubts, but we may be surprised to see that some people may be in Heaven that we weren't sure about.
There are people who are at different levels in their walk with Christ.
I have been aware of this right along.
That is why when I show concern for some professing Christians and may be unsure about their salvation,
I often don't come out and say for sure they aren't Christians.
If they believe the truth of Scripture and the true Gospel and belong to Christ, He will bring them around one day!
When the world condemns and denies the truth, I want to be someone willing to stand alone on the truth of God's Word.
How about you?
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