The Pursuit of Holiness - Part 5
I am still reading Bridges The Pursuit of Holiness.
I am just really liking this book. It is interesting that the book has less to do with holiness and more to do with sin. I really like his approach. Holiness is such an abstract term to us. Sin on the other hand is very concrete. We can deal with sin. As we deal with sin, we grow in holiness. That last paragraph quote that I used in my last post really hits the nail on the head hard.
Bridges next discusses areas of Christian liberty. He discusses how an activity in and of itself may not be sinful but our response to that activity may be sinful. This gets at the heart of the matter. What is driving us? What do we put as first place in our lives? If God is not first place, we can not be growing in holiness.
Bridges puts a high view on God’s Word and its place to develop holiness in our lives. God’s Word is the primary avenue by which the Holy Spirit works in our lives. If we want to grow in holiness, then we must be spending time in the Bible.
Bridges also emphasizes that holiness is not an overnight event. It is a process. A big ingredient is perseverance.
Bridges moves on to talk about holiness in our bodies. He does not use easy things. He picks hard things like gluttony, laziness, materialism. Bridges says, “Gluttony and laziness, for example, were regarded by earlier Christians as sin. Today we may look on these as weaknesses of the will but certainly not sin.”
He talks about how we act according to our feelings, and our feelings rarely encourage us to act rightly.
Bridges then moves on to talk about holiness in our spirit and thought life. He uses an example that he has heard before. “If I could flash on a screen before us tonight all of your thoughts of this past week, you would have to leave town.”
Bridges lists some of our biggest struggles in our spirits and thought lives. He lists these as envy and jealousy, bitterness, unforgiving spirit, spirit of retaliation, and finally a critical spirit.
I plan to wrap up this book in my next post.