Latest / Reformed Thinking / Charity: The Mark of a True Christian | J. C. Ryle

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Charity: The Mark of a True Christian | J. C. Ryle · Reformed Thinking

• 0:00
  You know, usually when we talk about getting a medical
• 0:03
  diagnosis, there is a very clear expectation of precision, right?
• 0:08
  Yeah, it feels almost like engineering that.
• 0:10
  Way. Yeah.
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  I mean, you fall off a ladder, you break your arm and the X-ray
• 0:14
  prints out and it shows that unmistakable jagged white line
• 0:17
  right across the bone. The doctor just points at the
• 0:20
  screen and says, well, there's the problem.
• 0:22
  It is a fracture. It is a totally binary
• 0:25
  situation. You have a broken bone or you
• 0:27
  have a healthy bone. The visual evidence is just, you
• 0:30
  know, right there in front of you.
• 0:31
  And there's something very comforting about that, honestly.
• 0:34
  We like things to be visible. Oh, absolutely.
• 0:36
  We like things that can be categorized and sorted into neat
• 0:39
  little boxes. But then you step out of the
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  emergency room and into the world of, say, neurodevelopment
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  or psychological trauma or chronic autoimmune fatigue.
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  Right, and suddenly that crisp X-ray machine is pretty much
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  useless. Spot on.
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  We are looking at a diagnostic landscape that is incredibly
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  murky. Symptoms overlap, the root
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  causes are hidden, and I think that same principle applies when
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  we shift our gaze from the physical body to certain
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  concepts in our faith. Oh.
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  For sure. So welcome to reform thinking.
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  Today we are taking a deep dive into a topic that everyone
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  thinks they can diagnose clearly in themselves, but you know
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  almost no one actually understands.
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  Yeah, it is a massive blind spot.
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  It really is. We are opening up the ratings of
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  JC Ryle, drawing specifically from his book Practical Religion
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  to examine the topic of charity. And what is so fascinating about
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  this specific virtue is how adversely admired it is across
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  every culture and era. Yeah, everybody loves the idea.
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  Of it, right? Everybody loves it.
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  Yet how incredibly rare it is to find the genuine biblical
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  article out in the wild. That's true.
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  So the mission for our discussion today is to unpack
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  this specific term. We are going to define what true
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  biblical charity actually is. We really have to tear down the
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  popular Duluth and surrounding it too.
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  Yes, and locate its true source in the human heart and figure
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  out why the Apostle Paul ranks it above both faith and hope.
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  So you know whether you are brushing up on theological
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  concepts or trying to figure out how to practically apply your
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  beliefs in everyday life, this conversation is going to clarify
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  the high standard of true Christian love.
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  And it is also going to aggressively challenge the
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  modern assumptions we have all absorbed about what it means to
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  just be nice. Oh man, being nice.
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  That is the big one. OK, let's unpack this.
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  Ryle starts off by calling Charity the Queen of Christian
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  Graces. That is quite the title.
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  It is, but he immediately points out a massive irony.
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  Charity is the one grace everybody flatters themselves
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  into thinking they possess. Right, it is the easy one to
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  claim. Exact.
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  Well, spot on, he says. Thousands of people would not be
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  ashamed to admit they know absolutely nothing about
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  justification, nothing about regeneration or the work of the
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  Holy Spirit. But nobody wants to admit they
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  lack charity. That is a staggering observation
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  of human nature, and honestly, it is just as true today as it
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  was when Ryall wrote it back in the 19th century.
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  Oh, 100%. People who possess absolutely
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  nothing else in their religion will confidently boast that they
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  are charitable. Yeah, they view it as a very
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  plain, practical thing that does not require any rigorous thought
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  or theological grounding. Right, they separated entirely
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  from doctrine. To them, doctrine is just a
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  collection of troublesome points that theologians argue about in
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  ivory towers. Like it is just academic noise.
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  Yeah, while charity is the universal good, they think you
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  can just bypass all the heavy lifting of faith and go straight
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  to being a good person. Which is so common.
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  It is, but this reveals a massive misunderstanding of what
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  the Bible actually teaches about the human condition.
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  Let's pause there and define some of those terms, actually,
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  because Ryle throws them out knowing his Victorian audience
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  might have had some familiarity, but today they sound like a
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  foreign language to a lot of people.
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  That is a good idea. He says people boast about not
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  knowing justification. In theological terms,
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  justification is the legal declaration where God pronounces
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  A Sinner righteous. Right, a courtroom verdict.
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  Yes, a verdict of not guilty. And it is not because the Sinner
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  did enough good deeds, but because the perfect
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  righteousness of Jesus Christ is credited to their account by
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  faith. It is entirely by faith.
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  Right. And then regeneration, that is
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  the new birth. It is the Holy Spirit taking a
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  heart of stone and turning it into a heart of flesh.
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  Precisely. Those are the massive tectonic
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  shifts that happen in a person's soul when they are saved.
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  Yeah. And Ryle is saying that the
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  average person on the street will say I do not care about
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  your courtroom verdicts. I do not care about this
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  mystical idea of a new heart. I give $5 to the bell ringer at
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  Christmas and I do not kick my dog.
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  Therefore I have charity. Oh wow, I do not kick my dog so
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  I'm good. Right.
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  They are taking the crown jewel of the Christian life and
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  reducing it to basic civic decency.
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  They flatter themselves because the standard they have created
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  is so low that anyone can trip over it.
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  That is a great way to put it, tripping over a low bar.
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  But you know, Ryle does not just go after the secular world here
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  or the nominal churchgoer. He has a very sharp critique of
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  what he calls high flying Christians.
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  Oh, the high Flyers. Yeah, these are the people who
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  only care about two or three favorite doctrines while totally
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  ignoring Christian practice. I'm sure we all know someone
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  like this. Oh, definitely.
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  They want to argue theology all day.
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  They want to debate the distinct sequence of events in the end
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  times or the nuances of predestination, but they have 0
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  interest in the practical application of love.
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  Yeah, they will eviscerate someone in a theological debate
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  and feel entirely justified doing it.
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  Which? Raises a serious question about
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  how we are reading the new custom it right.
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  It does. Ryle points out that the Bible
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  contains vast amounts of instruction on practice, not
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  just doctrine. Yeah, the epistles are full of
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  it. The epistles of Paul are almost
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  always structured this way. The first half is heavy,
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  glorious doctrine. The second-half is the practical
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  outworking of that doctrine in the local church and in the
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  home. Ryle brings massive scriptural
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  weight to prove his point against these high flying
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  Christians. He really does.
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  He uses texts as weapons. He brings in the apostle Paul,
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  writing to the Corinthians. Paul says that even if you have
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  the gift of prophecy, even if you understand all mysteries and
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  possess all knowledge, and even if you have faith that can move
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  mountains, well, if you lack charity, you are nothing.
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  You're a sounding brass. A tinkling symbol.
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  It is such a vivid image, it really is.
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  Picture someone aggressively banging a gong right next to
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  your ear while you're trying to have a conversation.
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  That sounds awful. Right.
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  It does not matter how shiny the gong is or how much theological
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  knowledge the person banging it has, it is just noise.
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  It is obnoxious and exhausting. Yeah, absolutely.
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  He also brings in Colossians 3 where Paul says to put on
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  charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
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  And then there's John 13 where Christ himself says that love is
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  the distinguishing mark of a disciple.
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  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples.
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  So it is inescapable in the text.
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  It is. To give you an analogy, having
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  doctrine without charity is like possessing the most accurate,
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  detailed architectural blueprints in the world, but
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  refusing to pour the concrete. Oh, that is a fantastic
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  comparison. It is all theory and no
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  structure. You can have the blueprints
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  memorized. You can argue with other
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  architects about the distinct dimensions of the rooms, the
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  load bearing walls and the slope of the roof.
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  But you cannot actually live inside a blueprint spot.
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  On it provides no shelter. Yeah, it is a highly accurate
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  way to look at it. Doctrine is the foundation and
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  the framing, but charity is the actual lived experience of the
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  house. And if we connect this back to
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  Ryle's central thesis, he believes the scarcity of real
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  charity highlights the fallen condition of mankind more than
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  any other missing virtue. More than anything else.
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  Yes, he notes that there's little faith on earth, little
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  hope and little knowledge of divine things.
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  We expect that, but nothing is as universally scarce as real
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  biblical charity, and that exposes the absolute corruption
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  of the human heart. Wait, unpack that for a second.
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  Why does the lack of charity specifically expose human
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  corruption more than a lack of faith?
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  Because we are naturally inclined to be entirely
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  self-centered from the moment we are born.
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  Our primary concern is our own comfort, our own reputation, our
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  own desires. So true faith and hope, while
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  they are supernatural gifts, still have a personal benefit
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  attached to them. Oh, I see, right.
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  I believe so that I am justified.
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  I hope so that I have peace. There's a payoff for me.
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  Precisely. But charity in its truest
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  biblical form is entirely outgoing.
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  It is the active denial of the self for the sake of another.
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  That is so rare. The fact that this kind of self
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  denying love is so incredibly rare in the world is the loudest
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  proof that we are fundamentally broken creatures.
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  Our default setting is selfishness.
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  So we have a situation where everyone thinks they possess
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  this virtue, but Ryle says it is actually the rarest thing on
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  Earth. There is obviously a massive
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  disconnect in how we define the word.
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  Yeah, we have to dismantle the delusions surrounding charity
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  because if you have the wrong definition of a disease, you are
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  going to prescribe the wrong cure.
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  Let's look at the first massive delusion material handouts.
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  It is so incredibly easy to equate charity with
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  philanthropy. Oh, totally.
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  Ryle points out that a person can give away fortunes in soup,
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  wine, bread, coals, blankets and clothing and still lack biblical
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  charity entirely. We see this constantly in our
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  culture. Society equates writing a large
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  check with possessing A charitable heart.
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  Oh yeah, the media loves that. We see billionaires setting up
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  massive foundations and the media immediately crowns them as
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  the ultimate examples of charity.
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  They are the heroes of the modern age, right?
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  But Ryle points right back to the Apostle Paul.
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  In First Corinthians chapter 13. Paul explicitly states though I
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  bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body
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  to be burned and have not charity, it profiteth me
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  nothing. Think about the weight of that
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  statement. It is staggering giving your
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  body to be burned. That is the ultimate sacrifice.
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  Yeah, you can empty your bank account to relieve the burdens
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  of others. You can fund orphanages and
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  build hospitals. And yes, let's be clear, a truly
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  charitable person will remember the poor.
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  That is a given in the Christian life.
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  Of course. But the outward act of giving
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  things away does not automatically equal the inward
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  grace of charity. You can give out of a desire for
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  public recognition. To get your name on a building.
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  Yeah, you can give out of a crippling sense of guilt.
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  You can even give out of a sense of superiority, wanting to feel
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  like a savior to those beneath you.
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  Wow. And in all of those scenarios,
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  your heart remains completely cold toward God and genuinely
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  disconnected from the people you are supposedly helping.
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  You can give away a warehouse full of blankets and still be a
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  fundamentally bitter, resentful and prideful person.
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  It is a harsh reality check. It really is.
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  We have outsourced charity to our wallets.
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  We think if we set up a recurring monthly donation, we
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  have fulfilled the law of Christ, even if we scream at the
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  person driving too slowly in front of us on the way to
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  church. Ohio.
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  That hits close to home, and that leads right into the next
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  delusion, which is arguably even more prevalent to today than the
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  delusion of philanthropy. What is that one?
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  Raul says people think charity means never disapproving of
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  anybody's conduct. Yes, the tolerance delusion.
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  He says thousands pride themselves on never condemning
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  others or calling them wrong, whatever they may do.
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  They look at someone living a blatantly wicked life, a
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  drunkard, a liar, someone who is destroying their family, and
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  they throw a veil over the sin. And what do they say?
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  They claim the person has a good heart at bottom.
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  Man, the good heart at bottom defense.
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  We hear that all the time. All.
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  The time. Sure, he embezzled money from
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  the company and lied to his wife, but deep down he is a
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  really good guy. It is this bizarre cultural
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  compulsion to gloss over actual destructive behavior.
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  What is fascinating here is how society actively perverts the
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  teachings of Christ to justify this behavior.
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  Oh, they love quoting the Bible when it suits them.
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  Right. They take the command from the
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  Sermon on the Mount. Judge not.
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  And they twisted into an excuse for having no unfavorable
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  opinion of anyone at all. They just strip it of all
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  context. They stripped the verse entirely
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  out of its context. In that same passage, Jesus
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  talks about throwing pearls before swine and recognizing
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  false prophets by their fruits. You cannot do either of those
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  things without exercising judgment.
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  Precisely. Yeah, But people turn a
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  prohibition against rash, hypocritical judgment into a
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  total prohibition of all moral discernment whatsoever.
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  They want the judge. Not without the rest of the
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  chapter. Ryle argues that refusing to
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  call things by their right names, shutting our eyes against
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  wickedness, and saying smooth things about immorality is full
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  of mischief. Really is.
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  It does not help anyone. It is a complete distortion of
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  what the Bible commands. It is worse than a distortion.
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  It is a form of spiritual negligence.
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  Negligence. How so?
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  Well, if you see a blind man walking toward an open manhole
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  and you say nothing because you do not want to judge his sense
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  of direction, you're not being charitable.
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  Oh wow, you are being cruel. True charity requires a baseline
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  of truth. When we refuse to acknowledge
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  sin for what it is, we are abandoning people to the
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  consequences of that sin. That is so true, and the third
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  delusion takes this reluctance to judge right into the realm of
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  theology. We can call it theological
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  relativism. Another huge issue.
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  This is the modern idea that true charity means validating
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  everyone's religious opinions. Ryle lists various historical
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  groups to make his point. He mentions Aryans, Susinians,
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  deists, skeptics and formalists. Yeah, quite a lineup.
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  He argues that pretending everyone is equally correct is a
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  monstrous caricature of love. Let's define who Ryle is talking
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  about there, actually, because it helps us understand the
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  severity of his point. Yeah, please do.
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  Aryans were a group that emerged in the early church who denied
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  the eternal deity of Jesus Christ.
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  They believe Jesus was a created being, highly exalted, but not
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  God. So a fundamental denial of the
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  Trinity. Right.
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  So Sinians came later during the Reformation era, and they denied
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  the Trinity and the substitutionary atonement of
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  Christ. They saw Jesus merely, well,
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  just as an example of moral living.
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  No sacrifice for sin. Correct.
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  Deists believe in a clockmaker God who wound up the universe
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  and stepped back, abandoning any personal interaction with
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  humanity. And formalists.
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  Formalists are people who go through the outward motions of
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  religion but have no internal spiritual life.
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  OK, so Ryle is looking at this massive spectrum of belief.
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  People who deny who Jesus is, people who deny what Jesus did,
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  and people who deny that God even cares about us.
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  And he is saying that modern society wants us to look at all
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  of them and say, you know what? We are all climbing the same
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  mountain. We are all going to the same
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  place. Yes, and Ryle is incredibly
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  blunt about this. To say all opinions are equally
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  right when they flatly contradict one another pours
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  absolute contempt on the Bible. It really does.
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  It treats the Scripture as if God has not given us a written
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  objective test of truth. If the Aryan says Jesus is not
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  God and the Orthodox Christian says Jesus is God, they cannot
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  both be right. No, it is a logical
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  impossibility. To smile and say well that is
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  your truth is intellectual and spiritual power to us says if
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  everyone goes to heaven regardless of what they believe,
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  then the apostles were completely foolish to preach to
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  the Gentiles. And missions are entirely
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  useless. Yes, missions are entirely
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  useless. We might as well shut up our
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  churches and go home. True Charity does not think
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  everybody is right in doctrine. True charity cries out with the
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  apostle John to try the spirits, whether they be of God.
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  But I have to push back on this on behalf of anyone listening
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  who feels the weight of our current cultural moment.
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  OK, weigh in on me. If the cultural definition of
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  charity is universal acceptance, how do we actually reconcile
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  Ryle's firm boundaries with the genuine call to love our
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  neighbor? That is the $1,000,000 question.
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  Doesn't calling out bad conduct or false doctrine feel
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  inherently uncharitable to modern ears?
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  It feels mean. It feels abrasive.
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  When you tell someone they are wrong about who God is, they
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  interpret that has a personal attack on their identity.
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  You are hitting on the core tension of our age.
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  We have equated love with total affirmation.
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  Yes, 100%. We have decided that to love
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  someone means to validate every choice they make and every
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  thought they have. But Ryle distinguishes between a
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  harsh, hyper critical spirit that loves to find faults and
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  the necessary loving action of testing spirits and warning
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  people of danger. So it is about the posture of
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  the heart. It is.
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  There is a massive difference between a Pharisee who points
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  out your flaws to elevate himself and a brother who points
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  out a flaw to save your life. Right, the motive is entirely
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  different. Think of it this way, True love
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  cannot be divorced from truth. The 2 are inextricably linked.
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  You need both. If you see someone walking
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  toward the edge of a Cliff, the least loving thing you can do is
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  validate their choice of direction.
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  Warning them, even if it upsets them, even if it ruins their
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  day, is the genuine act of charity.
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  Refusing to warn someone of spiritual or moral danger
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  because you want to be perceived as nice is actually a severe
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  lack of love. It means you are prioritizing
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  your own social comfort, your own reputation as a tolerant
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  person over their eternal well-being.
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  You are protecting yourself at their expense.
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  Precisely. That is the piercing indictment.
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  When we stay silent about truth to avoid awkwardness, we are
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  just loving ourselves. We are not loving them.
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  It is a bitter pill to swallow, but it is true.
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  That brings us perfectly to the positive definition.
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  We have cleared away the brush. We know charity is not just
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  handing out soup, it is not glossing over destructive
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  behavior, and it is not universally affirming everyone's
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  contradictory doctrines. So what is it?
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  Exactly. Well, what is it?
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  Ryle outlines A2 pronged definition.
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  First, it is wholehearted love to God, the kind Adam had before
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  the fall, a complete and unhindered affection for the
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  Creator. Second, it is love to man.
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  Yes, when Ryle speaks of a believer having charity in the
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  context of this specific chapter, he's focusing heavily
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  on that second feature, Love to Man.
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  Because that is the part we can see.
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  Right, because love to God is invisible to the human eye, but
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  love to man is the visible proof of it.
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  He insists this love shows up in action, not just words.
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  It makes a person ready to do kind acts to everyone within
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  reach. Caring for both their bodies and
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  their souls. It is not content with soft
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  words, kind wishes and sending thoughts and prayers.
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  It gets His hands. Dirty It is about being willing
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  to spend and be spent for others.
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  And here is the kicker, the part that cuts against our natural
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  instincts without expecting wages.
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  That is the hard part. True charity prefers ministering
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  over being ministered to. It does the work, and the work
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  itself is the reward, even if the people you are helping repay
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  you with hatred instead of gratitude.
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  That is the crucial test. It is easy to be kind to someone
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  who profusely thanks you and tells everyone else how
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  wonderful you are. Yeah, we all love that.
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  But what happens when your kindness is met with suspicion
• 19:17
  or ingratitude or outright hostility which leads directly
• 19:21
  into the defensive posture of charity?
• 19:23
  Defensive posture. Yeah, Ryle says charity shows
• 19:26
  itself in a believers readiness to bear evil.
• 19:28
  It makes a person patient under provocation.
• 19:31
  They're forgiving when injured, meek when unjustly attacked, and
• 19:35
  quiet when slandered. He uses the specific phrase
• 19:37
  putting a strong bid on the temper and a strong bridle on
• 19:40
  the tongue. Such a powerful image.
• 19:42
  It is such a visceral image. If you have ever seen a large,
• 19:46
  powerful horse, the only way a rider controls that massive
• 19:49
  animal is with a metal bit in its mouth and a bridle over its
• 19:53
  head. Right, because the animal is
• 19:55
  vastly stronger than the rider. Yes, the tongue and the temper
• 19:59
  are like that wild horse. They want a bolt.
• 20:01
  When we are provoked, our natural instinct, our wild
• 20:04
  nature, is to ask. Am I treated as I deserve?
• 20:09
  What are my rights? How dare they speak to me like
• 20:11
  that? We immediately want to defend
• 20:13
  our territory. We do.
• 20:14
  But Ryles says True Charity puts the bit in the mouth.
• 20:17
  It asks a completely different question.
• 20:20
  It asks how can I best promote peace?
• 20:23
  How can I do that which is most edifying to others?
• 20:26
  It completely flips the script on human interaction.
• 20:29
  Almost all human conflict is driven by ego defense.
• 20:31
  Oh, absolutely. Someone insults me, so I must
• 20:33
  retaliate to restore my honor. But charity absorbs the blow for
• 20:37
  the sake of peace. It refuses to escalate.
• 20:39
  It takes the hit. It is kind, unselfish,
• 20:42
  good-natured and considerate. It never envies others when they
• 20:44
  prosper. If your neighbor gets the
• 20:46
  promotion you wanted, Charity genuinely rejoices with them.
• 20:49
  That takes supernatural grace. It does, and it never rejoices
• 20:53
  when others face calamity. If your worst enemy falls into
• 20:57
  ruin, Charity does not gloat. It always tries to put a good
• 21:01
  construction on the actions of others, giving them the benefit
• 21:04
  of the doubt instead of assuming the worst motives.
• 21:06
  And if we want to see the flawless pattern for this, the
• 21:09
  ultimate blueprint poured into concrete while point straight to
• 21:13
  Jesus, the. Perfect example.
• 21:14
  He says charity shone forth in all his doings.
• 21:18
  He went about doing good constantly.
• 21:20
  He did not isolate himself in a monastery.
• 21:22
  No, he was out among the people. He was out in the dirt, the
• 21:25
  dust, and the crowds. He endured intense slander.
• 21:29
  They called him a glutton, A drunkard and demon possessed.
• 21:32
  Yet he endured hatred and persecution without reviling
• 21:35
  back. As Peter wrote, when he was
• 21:38
  reviled, he reviled not again. Yet we have to hold that gentle,
• 21:42
  patient posture alongside the rest of Christ's character, or
• 21:46
  we end up with a caricature of Jesus.
• 21:48
  That is a very valid point. He demonstrated the law of
• 21:51
  kindness to the sick, the sorrowful, the tax collectors,
• 21:54
  and the blatant sinners. He touched the lepers when no
• 21:57
  one else would. But he never flattered them.
• 22:01
  No, he did not. He never connived its sin.
• 22:03
  He did not tell the woman caught in adultery that her lifestyle
• 22:06
  was fine. He saved her life and then told
• 22:08
  her to go and sin no more. He was direct.
• 22:11
  Very He showed fierce opposition to hypocrisy.
• 22:14
  He denounced the false doctrine of the Pharisees without a
• 22:17
  moment's hesitation, calling them whitewashed tombs, And he
• 22:21
  spoke very freely and frequently about the reality of hell.
• 22:26
  Here is where I think a medical analogy is so helpful.
• 22:30
  A truly charitable Dr. does not look at your X-ray, see a
• 22:33
  massive life threatening tumor, and then tell you that you are
• 22:36
  perfectly healthy just to spare your feelings.
• 22:38
  Oh, that would be malpractice. Well, absolutely.
• 22:41
  They do not look at a fatal illness and say, well, you have
• 22:44
  a good body at bottom, do not worry about it.
• 22:46
  No, they tell you the hard, painful truth.
• 22:50
  They tell you that you are sick and the treatment is going to be
• 22:52
  brutal, but they do it in order to heal you.
• 22:55
  The truth hurts, but it's the only path to a cure.
• 22:58
  That is spot on. Christ proved that perfect love
• 23:02
  and strict truth coexist seamlessly.
• 23:04
  We tend to separate them. We really do.
• 23:06
  We think we can either be loving and compromising or truthful and
• 23:10
  abrasive. But Jesus exposed wickedness and
• 23:12
  its true colors because he loved people enough to point them away
• 23:16
  from destruction. It shows us that you can condemn
• 23:19
  false, false doctrine, you can point out wicked practice, and
• 23:22
  you can still be completely full of love at the exact same time.
• 23:25
  There are not mutually exclusive.
• 23:27
  In fact, they are entirely dependent on one another.
• 23:29
  You cannot have biblical charity without biblical truth.
• 23:32
  So if this is the standard, this incredible balance of selfless
• 23:36
  service, patience under attack, the complete control of the
• 23:39
  temper, and a steady devotion to the truth, where does it come
• 23:42
  from? That is the big question.
• 23:43
  Because Ryle asserts very strongly that this kind of
• 23:46
  charity is entirely unnatural to humanity.
• 23:49
  He completely breaks down the myth of natural goodness.
• 23:52
  The idea that humans are inherently good and just
• 23:56
  corrupted by society is a total lie.
• 23:58
  Yeah, left to ourselves, we are selfish, envious and spiteful.
• 24:02
  And he uses the most relatable, undeniable proof possible
• 24:07
  children. Oh yes, the toddler.
• 24:10
  He says if you want to see raw human nature, if you want to see
• 24:12
  what we are really made of before societal norms train us
• 24:16
  to hide it, just observe children when they are left to
• 24:19
  themselves, you will not see a single one of them naturally
• 24:22
  possessing Christian charity. Anyone who has spent 5 minutes
• 24:25
  in a room full of toddlers knows this is the absolute truth.
• 24:28
  It is undeniable. You do not have to teach a 2
• 24:31
  year old how to lie. You do not have to teach them
• 24:33
  how to hit their sibling to get a toy.
• 24:35
  A playroom left unmanaged is just a chorus of mine.
• 24:38
  Mine. Mine is pure chaos.
• 24:40
  They think entirely of their own comfort and their own advantage.
• 24:43
  Precisely that is original sin on full display.
• 24:46
  The natural heart knows nothing of true charity argues that this
• 24:49
  specific type of love is a tender plant that only grows in
• 24:51
  one specific soil, a heart renewed and transformed by the
• 24:55
  Holy Ghost. It is entirely supernatural.
• 24:58
  You cannot. Manufacture it by sheer
• 25:00
  willpower, he says. It sprouts.
• 25:02
  From a massive conviction of sin and an overwhelming gratitude to
• 25:06
  Jesus Christ for the cross. This is the mechanism.
• 25:09
  It starts with a cross. When a person realizes.
• 25:12
  The mighty debt they owe to the Redeemer when they truly grasp
• 25:15
  that they deserve the wrath of God, but received mercy and said
• 25:18
  they are broken. They ask what can I render to
• 25:22
  him for all his benefits and the answer is to.
• 25:24
  Strive to be like him, to walk in his footsteps.
• 25:28
  The love they receive produces the love they give.
• 25:31
  Love produces love. This brings up Ryle's.
• 25:33
  Critical distinction between roots and fruits, which is a
• 25:37
  massive issue in the modern church.
• 25:38
  What do you mean by that? He issues a very stark.
• 25:41
  Warning to those who want the pleasant results of
• 25:43
  Christianity, like good tempers, kind children, peaceful homes
• 25:47
  and honest employees, but hate the core doctrines that produce
• 25:51
  them. They want the benefits without.
• 25:52
  The beliefs right People want the fruit of the.
• 25:54
  Tree. But they despise the root
• 25:56
  system. They hate hearing about human
• 25:59
  corruption, the blood of Christ and the inward supernatural work
• 26:02
  of the Holy Spirit. They find those topics
• 26:04
  offensive. Yes, he says.
• 26:05
  Parents. Want their kids to grow up
• 26:07
  unselfish and good tempered but they get offended if conversion,
• 26:11
  repentance and faith are pressed upon them.
• 26:14
  It is ridiculous. You cannot separate.
• 26:16
  Holy practice from sound doctrine.
• 26:18
  You cannot just mandate good behavior without the heart
• 26:21
  change. It is like tying apples to a
• 26:24
  dead branch and expecting it to become a living apple tree.
• 26:27
  What is fascinating here? Is his critique of fiction which
• 26:31
  ties right into this desire for fruit without roots.
• 26:35
  I found this part SO. Interesting.
• 26:37
  Ryle points out how. Novels and romances create these
• 26:40
  massive delusions about human nature.
• 26:43
  Keep in mind he was reading Victorian literature.
• 26:46
  But the principle totally applies to our media today 100%.
• 26:50
  These stories present. Heroes and heroines who are
• 26:52
  absolute patterns of perfection. They always say the right thing.
• 26:55
  They show the perfect temper under pressure.
• 26:58
  They are totally unselfish. They sacrifice themselves for
• 27:00
  others. But there is a catch.
• 27:01
  Yeah. Yet they possess no.
• 27:03
  Religion at all. They have no relationship with
• 27:05
  God. The authors give them the fruits
• 27:07
  of the Spirit without the grace of the Spirit.
• 27:09
  See this constantly. Today this critique feels
• 27:12
  incredibly relevant. With the rise of secular self
• 27:15
  help literature, there is this massive industry trying to
• 27:18
  cultivate empathy as a standalone secular lifehack like
• 27:23
  it is a productivity. Tool.
• 27:24
  Yeah, like you can just read a top. 10 List Practice some
• 27:26
  mindfulness exercises and suddenly override your entire
• 27:29
  selfish nature. Books and movies still paint
• 27:32
  these model humans as they ought to be, not as they really are.
• 27:36
  It sets an impossible. Standard we watch a movie where.
• 27:39
  The secular protagonist forgives his enemy with perfect grace,
• 27:43
  and it fills readers and viewers with wildly incorrect
• 27:46
  conceptions of reality. We start thinking, why can't I
• 27:49
  just be like that? Without realizing the character
• 27:52
  is a fictional impossibility, It creates a visionary.
• 27:55
  Unreal expectation of the world and of ourselves.
• 27:59
  Ryle is explaining the strip theological necessity of grace
• 28:02
  for true unselfish love. Now he does concede a.
• 28:05
  Little bit, right? He does.
• 28:06
  He concedes that. You might see natural amiability
• 28:09
  in someone who has no vital religion.
• 28:10
  Some people are just naturally more easygoing, courteous, or
• 28:14
  conflict avoidant based on their personality or upbringing.
• 28:17
  Just a role of the. Genetic or environmental dice,
• 28:20
  right? But that natural good.
• 28:21
  Nature collapses under extreme pressure.
• 28:24
  It is a house built on sand. It fails when it is truly
• 28:28
  slandered, violently persecuted or severely provoked.
• 28:31
  It cannot take the heat. True biblical charity.
• 28:34
  Which endures and forgives under fire requires a supernatural
• 28:38
  foundation. You cannot learn it anywhere
• 28:41
  except in the school of Christ. OK, let's look closer at the.
• 28:44
  Final major point Ryle makes, which is really the climax of
• 28:47
  his entire discussion. Why does Paul call charity the
• 28:50
  greatest of the graces? In First Corinthians 13, Paul
• 28:54
  brings his massive argument to a close and says now abide us
• 28:57
  faith, hope, charity these three but the greatest of these is
• 29:01
  charity before explaining why it is the.
• 29:03
  Greatest Rile is very careful to establish what charity cannot
• 29:06
  do, he says. Clear theological boundaries so
• 29:09
  we do not fall into works righteousness, which is the
• 29:11
  belief that our good deeds earn our salvation.
• 29:14
  Very critical point. Charity cannot atone.
• 29:16
  For our sins, it cannot make our peace with God.
• 29:19
  If you spend your entire life serving the poor, that charity
• 29:22
  does not wash away a single sin, not one.
• 29:24
  Only the blood of Christ does that, and we only.
• 29:26
  They gain an interest in Christ's blood through faith.
• 29:29
  The office of justifying the soul belongs to faith alone, he
• 29:33
  says, Even with. Perfect charity.
• 29:35
  We remain unprofitable servants. Our charity is always flawed,
• 29:39
  always mixed with some selfish motive, and could never stand
• 29:42
  the severity of God's holy judgement.
• 29:44
  Never. So Paul is not setting up a
• 29:46
  rivalry saying charity saves you better than faith.
• 29:49
  The three are inseparably joined.
• 29:51
  Where there is true faith, there will be true love, right?
• 29:54
  They are like Sun and. Light or fire and heat, they
• 29:57
  cannot be separated in the life of a true believer.
• 29:59
  OK, so then why is it? The greatest Ryle gives 3.
• 30:02
  Distinct reasons why charity takes the crown among the
• 30:05
  graces. Reason #1 likeness to God.
• 30:08
  Think about the nature of God himself.
• 30:10
  God has no need of faith because He depends on no one.
• 30:14
  That makes sense. There is.
• 30:15
  No one superior. To him, for him to trust him.
• 30:18
  Faith is the posture of a creature looking up to a
• 30:20
  creator, and God has no. Need of hope because to him all
• 30:24
  things are absolutely certain. Past, present, future, it is all
• 30:27
  secure. Hope implies a desire for
• 30:30
  something not yet fully realized.
• 30:32
  But God dwells in eternity. He already possesses all things.
• 30:36
  But the Scripture says. God is love, that is His very
• 30:40
  nature. Therefore, the more love His
• 30:42
  people have, the more they resemble their Father in heaven.
• 30:46
  Faith and hope make us dependent on God, but charity makes the
• 30:49
  believer most like God. Oh, that is beautiful.
• 30:52
  Reason #2 is supreme usefulness. Contrast the private benefits of
• 30:57
  faith and hope with the public utility of charity.
• 30:59
  Yeah, this is so practical faith.
• 31:01
  Is absolutely. Vital.
• 31:02
  It unites the soul to Christ and brings personal peace with God.
• 31:06
  Hope fills the soul with cheerful expectation and
• 31:08
  personal comfort in the midst of suffering.
• 31:10
  But charity is what reaches. Outward, it is preeminently the
• 31:13
  grace that makes a man useful to the world around him.
• 31:15
  It really is charity. Builds the hospitals.
• 31:18
  Charity funds the missions. Charity raises up workers to go
• 31:22
  into the slums, smooths over quarrels in the local church,
• 31:25
  and stops strife in the community.
• 31:27
  A man's faith might be entirely invisible to the person standing
• 31:31
  next to him in line, but his charity is entirely visible.
• 31:34
  It acts as an advertisement. For the Gospel it adorns the
• 31:37
  doctrine of. God, it recommends the Christian
• 31:39
  faith to a watching skeptical world and reason #3.
• 31:43
  Is eternal longevity endurance. Faith will eventually become
• 31:48
  sight. We will not need to believe in
• 31:50
  what we cannot see once we are standing in glory looking right
• 31:53
  at it right. And hope will become certainty
• 31:56
  once we possess the very thing we were hoping for.
• 31:59
  Think of it this way. Faith and hope are like the
• 32:01
  massive rocket boosters that get a satellite into orbit.
• 32:04
  OK, I like where this is going. They are absolutely crucial.
• 32:06
  For the launch, you cannot get off the ground without them.
• 32:09
  If you do not have faith, you do not get to heaven.
• 32:11
  But eventually their job is done.
• 32:12
  They detach and fall away. Charity is the satellite itself
• 32:16
  that remains up there forever. That is an excellent visual.
• 32:19
  Rile uses the metaphor of old almanacs.
• 32:22
  In the morning of the resurrection, the specific
• 32:24
  functions of faith and hope will be complete.
• 32:27
  They'll be laid aside like last year's calendar.
• 32:29
  You don't need a calendar for 20. 23 Anymore you do not throw
• 32:33
  out the. Calendar because it was bad.
• 32:35
  You set it aside because it's time has passed, but love will
• 32:39
  live on through the endless ages of eternity.
• 32:42
  Heaven will be a place entirely sustained by a common feeling of
• 32:46
  unselfish love, which brings us right.
• 32:48
  Down from the clouds and into our own homes, because theology
• 32:52
  is useless if it stays abstract. Ryle challenges the reader
• 32:55
  directly, and we have to bring that challenge to ourselves.
• 32:58
  We really do look at your. Daily life.
• 33:00
  Look at your temper during seasons of vexation.
• 33:02
  Where is your good nature, your courtesy, your patience when
• 33:05
  dealing with your own family? He specifically points.
• 33:08
  To the smallest details of life. How do we behave with near
• 33:11
  relatives, with our children, with people who see us when our
• 33:15
  guard is down? That is the real proving.
• 33:17
  Ground it is very easy. To project charity in public, To
• 33:21
  smile at the greeter at church. But the real test is in the
• 33:25
  private sphere. How do you respond when you are
• 33:28
  exhausted and your spouse asks you to do a chore you forgot
• 33:31
  about? He shares the striking.
• 33:33
  Anecdote about a little boy. To illustrate this, the boy was
• 33:37
  asked by someone about heaven and the boy said he did not want
• 33:41
  to go there if his cranky grandfather was going to be
• 33:43
  there. Out of the mouths of babes,
• 33:44
  right? Why did he say that?
• 33:46
  Because the grandfather was always yelling at the kids,
• 33:48
  saying what are these boys doing here?
• 33:50
  Let them get out of the way. The boy figured if the
• 33:53
  grandfather did not like sing them on earth, he would not like
• 33:56
  sing them in heaven. The grandfather's lack of daily
• 33:59
  practical charity completely distorted the child's view of
• 34:03
  eternal life. It is a sobering thought.
• 34:05
  And Ryle gives a final exhortation regarding children
• 34:08
  based on that idea. Teaching them religion is worth
• 34:11
  very little if it only consists of memorizing texts, catechisms,
• 34:15
  and hymns without actually learning to be kind, patient,
• 34:19
  and forgiving. They can recite all the.
• 34:20
  Answers but fail the actual test of life.
• 34:23
  They might forget the texts as. They grow older, but they most
• 34:26
  understand love. They must see it modeled.
• 34:29
  So as we wrap up. This deep dive into Rails
• 34:31
  thoughts, I want to leave you with a lingering question of
• 34:34
  ponder. We started by talking about the
• 34:36
  murky diagnostic landscape of human behavior and how
• 34:39
  incredibly easy it is to claim we are spiritually healthy when
• 34:42
  we are not. It is the easiest delusion.
• 34:44
  To fall into we like to think we possess.
• 34:46
  This Queen of Graces. But if heaven is a realm
• 34:49
  entirely defined by absolute selfless love, a place where all
• 34:52
  selfishness, ego, and I'll nature are completely shut out
• 34:56
  forever, ask yourself this. How uncomfortable would your
• 35:00
  current daily disposition make you feel if you were placed
• 35:03
  there right now?