Family Resemblance: Sanctification and Holiness

“If men have no likeness to the Father in heaven, it is vain to talk of their being His “sons.” If we know nothing of holiness we may flatter ourselves as we please, but we have not got the Holy Spirit dwelling in us: we are dead, and must be brought to life again–we are lost, and must be found. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they,” and they only, “are the sons of God.” (Rom. viii. 14.) We must show by our lives the family we belong to.–We must let men see by our good conversation that we are indeed the children of the Holy One, or our son-ship is but an empty name” (J. C. Ryle, Holiness, 42).