John Angell James, 1837
"So that you may be blameless and pure, children of
God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted
generation, among whom you shine like stars in
the world." (Philippians 2:15)
Saving religion is not merely an occasional act--but
a permanent habit, resulting from an internal principle.
Saving religion is a principle so fixed as to constitute
a new moral nature; and so steadily operative, as to
form an unchanging character.
A real Christian is a Christian always, everywhere,
and in all companies. He carries his piety with him
wherever he goes, as an integral part of himself. It is
not like his clothes which may be continually altered, or
varied to suit his situation, occupation, and company.
He needs his piety everywhere, he loves it everywhere,
and is commanded to let it be seen everywhere.
But among most professors of Christianity, there is
too much of a chameleon kind of religion, which
takes its hue from surrounding objects. This is seen
most conspicuously in the conduct of those who have
a flexible, yielding, easy-going kind of piety--which
accommodates itself to changing circumstances, by
little sacrifices of principle and consistency.
