J.C. Ryle Quotes

“Election is a truth which should call forth praise and thanksgiving from all true Christians. Except God had chosen and called them, they would never have chosen and called on Him. Except He had chosen them of His own good pleasure, without respect to any goodness of theirs, there would never have been anything in them to make them worthy of His choice.

“The worldly and the carnal-minded may rail at the doctrine of election; the false professor may abuse it and turn ‘the grace of God into lasciviousness’ (Jude 4); but the believer who knows his own heart will ever bless God for election. He will confess that without election there would be no salvation.”

~ J.C. Ryle

Day by Day with J.C. Ryle, “Election”, [Ross-shire, UK: Christian Focus, 2004], 87.

“Cling to Christ, and make much of the old foundational truths concerning salvation by His blood. These are the old friends to which our souls will turn at last in the hour of our departure. These are the ancient doctrines on which we shall lean back our aching heads, when life is ebbing away and death is in sight. Nothing will do us good then but the blood of Christ.  Nothing will support us then but the witness of the Spirit, that in the blood of Jesus we have washed, and by that blood have been made clean.”

~ J.C. Ryle

Old Paths, “Our Sins”, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1999], 178.

“There are three things which, according to the Bible, are absolutely necessary to the salvation of every man and woman in Christendom. These three are: justification, regeneration, and sanctification. All three meet in every child of God: he is both born again, justified and sanctified.

“He that lacks any one of these things is not a true Christian in the sight of God, and dying in that condition will not be found in heaven and glorified in the last day.”

~ J.C. Ryle

Faithfulness and Holiness: The Witness of J.C. Ryle,

“Sanctification”, 119.

“Learn to know what you mean when you talk of believing the doctrines of Christianity. Be able to give a reason of your hope. Be able to say what you think true, and what you think false in religion. And never, never forget that the only foundation of soundness of faith, is a thorough textual knowledge of the Bible.”

~ J.C. Ryle

Tract: Never Perish

“Doctrine is useless if it is not accompanied by a holy life. It is worse than useless; it does positive harm. Something of ‘the image of Christ’ must be seen and observed by others in our private life, and habits, and character, and doings.”

~ J.C. Ryle

Faithfulness and Holiness: The Witness of J.C. Ryle,

“Introduction”, 93, 96.