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Living or Dead?: A Plea for Wholehearted, Genuine Christianity [Updated and Annotated]
Are you indeed alive unto God? Can you say with truth, “I was dead and am alive again; I was blind, but now I see”? Then accept this word of exhortation and lean your heart toward wisdom.
Are you alive? Then see that you prove it by your actions. Be a consistent witness. Let your words, works, ways, and attitudes all tell the same story. Do not let your life be a poor, sluggish life, like that of a tortoise or a sloth. Instead, let it be an energetic and passionate life, like that of a deer or a bird. Let your grace shine out from all the windows of your conversation so that those who live near you may see that the Spirit is abiding in your heart. Do not let your light be a dim, flickering, uncertain flame, but let it burn steadily like the eternal fire on the altar and never become low. Let the savor of your religion, like Mary’s precious ointment, fill all the houses where you live. Be a letter of Christ so clearly written and penned in such large, bold characters that those who run may read it (2 Corinthians 3:2).
Let your Christianity be so unmistakable, your eye so clear, your heart so whole, and your walk so straightforward that all who see you may have no doubt about whose you are and whom you serve. If we are made alive by the Spirit, no one ought to be able to doubt it. Our conversation should declare plainly that we seek a better country – a heavenly one. It ought not to be necessary to tell people, as in the case of a badly painted picture, “This is a Christian.” We ought not to be so sluggish and still that people will be forced to come close, look hard, and say, “Is he dead or alive?”
About the Author
John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle’s understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father’s debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.
Are you alive? Then see that you prove it by your actions. Be a consistent witness. Let your words, works, ways, and attitudes all tell the same story. Do not let your life be a poor, sluggish life, like that of a tortoise or a sloth. Instead, let it be an energetic and passionate life, like that of a deer or a bird. Let your grace shine out from all the windows of your conversation so that those who live near you may see that the Spirit is abiding in your heart. Do not let your light be a dim, flickering, uncertain flame, but let it burn steadily like the eternal fire on the altar and never become low. Let the savor of your religion, like Mary’s precious ointment, fill all the houses where you live. Be a letter of Christ so clearly written and penned in such large, bold characters that those who run may read it (2 Corinthians 3:2).
Let your Christianity be so unmistakable, your eye so clear, your heart so whole, and your walk so straightforward that all who see you may have no doubt about whose you are and whom you serve. If we are made alive by the Spirit, no one ought to be able to doubt it. Our conversation should declare plainly that we seek a better country – a heavenly one. It ought not to be necessary to tell people, as in the case of a badly painted picture, “This is a Christian.” We ought not to be so sluggish and still that people will be forced to come close, look hard, and say, “Is he dead or alive?”
About the Author
John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle’s understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father’s debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.
- GenresChristian
193 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 10, 2023
175 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
About the author
J.C. Ryle
823 books490 followers(John Charles Ryle) Ryle started his ministry as curate at the Chapel of Ease in Exbury, Hampshire, moving on to become rector of St Thomas's, Winchester in 1843 and then rector of Helmingham, Suffolk the following year. While at Helmingham he married and was widowed twice. He began publishing popular tracts, and Matthew, Mark and Luke of his series of Expository Thoughts on the Gospels were published in successive years (1856-1858). His final parish was Stradbroke, also in Suffolk, where he moved in 1861, and it was as vicar of All Saints that he became known nationally for his straightforward preaching and firm defence of evangelical principles. He wrote several well-known and still-in-print books, often addressing issues of contemporary relevance for the Church from a biblical standpoint. He completed his Expository Thoughts on the Gospels while at Stradbroke, with his work on the Gospel of John (1869). His third marriage, to Henrietta Amelia Clowes in 1861, lasted until her death in 1889.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 21, 2022
Es un libro muy cortito pero que confronta con una realidad que muchas veces olvidamos: sin Cristo nuestra condición es de “cadaver”.
July 29, 2020
Naturally we are all dead, and we must be born anew in Christ Jesus. There will be massive change by the Spirit.
“The life you talk of is nothing if it cannot be seen.”
We must be sure we are ALIVE not dead, and should always be improving and adding to our faith day by day.
“The life you talk of is nothing if it cannot be seen.”
We must be sure we are ALIVE not dead, and should always be improving and adding to our faith day by day.
December 23, 2022
Una joya
El leído muchas predicaciones de diferentes autores y todas muy excelentes y eficaces en su propósito. Pero siempre hay la que resalta un poco más que otra y ese es el caso en esta de Ryle. Es una de esas preguntas retóricas que no deberíamos dejar pasar, tanto el creyente como el no creyente. Un auto análisis con todos los recursos para tener nuestra respuesta. Excelente lectura, la recomiendo grandemente. Bendiciones!!!!…sin Cristo no se puede!!!!
El leído muchas predicaciones de diferentes autores y todas muy excelentes y eficaces en su propósito. Pero siempre hay la que resalta un poco más que otra y ese es el caso en esta de Ryle. Es una de esas preguntas retóricas que no deberíamos dejar pasar, tanto el creyente como el no creyente. Un auto análisis con todos los recursos para tener nuestra respuesta. Excelente lectura, la recomiendo grandemente. Bendiciones!!!!…sin Cristo no se puede!!!!
February 25, 2022
Útil y necesario
Me ha gustado mucho las figuras que utiliza para aclarar un concepto y sobre todo las preguntas que te llevan a para u reflexionar. Es el primer libro que leo de él y definitivamente buscaré más.
Me ha gustado mucho las figuras que utiliza para aclarar un concepto y sobre todo las preguntas que te llevan a para u reflexionar. Es el primer libro que leo de él y definitivamente buscaré más.
January 17, 2024
Ryle lays down the challenge here about living the Christian life - are you alive or dead?
Put aside all that holds you back and live - be alive to Christ and dead to self.
A needed challenge for all generations.
Put aside all that holds you back and live - be alive to Christ and dead to self.
A needed challenge for all generations.
November 20, 2016
Confronta tu vida. Excelente recurso
Excelente recurso. Este libro nos confronta para evaluar si realmente somos cristianos o no. El titulo del libro lo dice todo.
Excelente recurso. Este libro nos confronta para evaluar si realmente somos cristianos o no. El titulo del libro lo dice todo.
October 16, 2019
Un urgente llamado al alma
Cualquier escrito de J.C. Rule es recomendado y está no es la excepción. Breve y directo. Una confrontación a evaluar el estado de nuestra alma.
Cualquier escrito de J.C. Rule es recomendado y está no es la excepción. Breve y directo. Una confrontación a evaluar el estado de nuestra alma.
December 5, 2020
Vale la pena leerlo
es un libro que te ayuda abrir los ojos, aunque a veces los términos sean un poco difícil entender. Pero con perlas muy favorables.
es un libro que te ayuda abrir los ojos, aunque a veces los términos sean un poco difícil entender. Pero con perlas muy favorables.
April 16, 2022
Excelente
Una valiosa enseñanza que debe ser leída por todos. Ciertamente estoy confrontada, ¿estoy viva o muerta?
Una reflexión que debemos pregonar.
Una valiosa enseñanza que debe ser leída por todos. Ciertamente estoy confrontada, ¿estoy viva o muerta?
Una reflexión que debemos pregonar.
July 31, 2025
A book about living wholehearted for God. Each chapter is on its own. Feels like a collection och preachings around the same theme. The message in the book is still relevant today.
February 16, 2016
This is a short book on the difference between people who are spiritually dead and those who are spiritually alive, based on Ephesians 2:1. Ryle makes those differences clear and shows that it is Christ who gives spiritual life. He also urges everyone to consider whether or not they are dead in sins or alive in Christ and urges those without Christ to come to Him for salvation and those who are sprititually alive to live accordingly.
April 27, 2017
Dead or Alive. J.C. Ryle shows how man is always one or the other in regards to his spiritual state.
Nothing in the book is new or shocking as far as Reformed writings go. Alive or Dead could be a helpful book when introducing someone to Reformed thought on the fallen nature of man and the new nature in Jesus. If you are a seasoned reader of theology, this book may not be worth the time in your reading schedule.
Nothing in the book is new or shocking as far as Reformed writings go. Alive or Dead could be a helpful book when introducing someone to Reformed thought on the fallen nature of man and the new nature in Jesus. If you are a seasoned reader of theology, this book may not be worth the time in your reading schedule.
April 28, 2016
olleto de profundo contenido espiritual
Muy directo y al punto: la necesidad de los muertos de una vida que sólo Dios puede regalar y así poder descubrir la vida prevista para mí por quien la creó. Este es un folleto de pocas páginas mas de gran contenido espiritual
Muy directo y al punto: la necesidad de los muertos de una vida que sólo Dios puede regalar y así poder descubrir la vida prevista para mí por quien la creó. Este es un folleto de pocas páginas mas de gran contenido espiritual
Want to read
March 22, 2024DNF @ 61%
últimamente como que quiero darle el beneficio de la duda a la religión, como que quiero explorar la fe y, quizá, desarrollar la mía, pero supongo que no estoy escogiendo muy bien que digamos las lecturas con las cuales emprender este camino.
últimamente como que quiero darle el beneficio de la duda a la religión, como que quiero explorar la fe y, quizá, desarrollar la mía, pero supongo que no estoy escogiendo muy bien que digamos las lecturas con las cuales emprender este camino.
August 9, 2016
Bune libro.
Claro y preciso. Explica perfectamente los conceptos de la vida y la muerte. Vale la pena leer y recomendarlo. Excelente
Claro y preciso. Explica perfectamente los conceptos de la vida y la muerte. Vale la pena leer y recomendarlo. Excelente
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews