The Pursuit of Holiness - Part 6
Well, this is my final post related to The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges. Please click the book title in the previous sentence for my review on braddena.com. I should have that completed within the next week.
Bridges moves along to talk about holiness and our wills. Our wills drive our decisions and our character.
Satan tends to appeal to our wills through our desires. Knowing this, we should continually be on guard for this and keep the Word of God closely in mind.
Bridges says, “There is absolutely no shortcut to holiness that bypasses or gives little priority to a consistent intake of the Bible.”
Bridges then talks about habits. In our fallen state, we make a “habit” of sinning. Pursuing holiness requires forming habits. They will not come naturally. We must work to make them habits. The more we say no to sin, the more we will be inclined to say no.
Bridges wraps up by giving us practical advice on how to pursue holiness in a fallen world. He summarizes by saying that “Above all, we must look to Jesus who, though He ate with tax collectors and sinners, was Himself, ‘holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens’ (Hebrews 7:26).”
We should remember that Bridges emphasized throughout his book that a holy life is an obedient life.
Bridges closes out the last couple of pages with this. “God has provided all we need for our pursuit of holiness. He has delivered us from the reign of sin and given us His indwelling Holy Spirit. He has revealed His will for holy living in His Word, and He works in us to will and to act according to His good purpose. He has sent pastors and teachers to exhort and encourage us in the path of holiness; and He answers our prayers when we cry to Him for strength against temptation.”
What a great God we serve!