Book Review: The Pursuit of Holiness

            My edition of this book is dated 1983, and that’s about when I first read it. But recent events in my own life, in my own church’s life, and in the wider experience of the Church in the world, have brought my attention back to the need to “live godly in Christ Jesus”—to live for Christ and resist all the pressures from a corrupt and sinful world. In other words, to “Be holy, for He is holy.”

        Jerry Bridges has assembled a huge stock of commentary on holiness, both from Scripture and from Christian thinkers. In fact, the supply is almost overwhelming. In seventeen brief chapters, Bridges has covered subjects like, “Holiness is for You,” “The Holiness of God,” “Holiness is Not an Option,” “The Holiness of Christ,” “The Place of Personal Discipline,” “Holiness in Body,” “Holiness in Spirit,” and “The Joy of Holiness.”

The Pursuit of Holiness

Jerry Bridges

NavPress, Colorado Springs,

1978,

158 pp

        My own personal concern is that young people become Christians but then make few distinctions between Christianity and the “clueless” lifestyle of the world. The verse that Bridges used for his title may come to us as a bit of a shocker: “Pursue holiness, for without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Heb.12:14. There’s motivation!

        We learn that “the pursuit of holiness is a joint venture between God and the Christian”—we have the responsibility to walk in holiness. In Chapter One, Bridges wonders, “Why do we not experience holiness more in our daily living?” He then proceeds to answer his own question: 1. Our attitude toward sin is more self-centered than God-centered; 2. We have misunderstood “living by faith”; and 3. We do not take some sin seriously. “Are we willing to call sin “sin” not because it is big or little, but because God’s law forbids it?”

        In Chapter Three, Bridges gets into reasons why holiness is required: 1. for fellowship with God; 2. for our own well-being; 3. for effective service to God; and 4. for our assurance of salvation.

        There are still fourteen more chapters, some of them with some beautiful writing. Let’s skip ahead to Chapter 16, Holiness in an Unholy World. Bridges suggests, “One helpful reinforcement to living according to our convictions is to identify ourselves with Christ openly”—a student might leave a Bible out for anyone to see. Old preachers used to call this, “nailing your colours to the mast,” meaning that once your flag was nailed in place, nobody could bring it down.

        Finally, Chapter 17, The Joy of Holiness: “God intends the Christian life to be a life of joy…A life of disobedience cannot be a life of joy…to experience this joy, we must make some choices.”

        There really is joy to be had for the Christian in the schoolroom, in the shop, in the home, in the office,  or in the factory. The pursuit of holiness leads us well along that path.

        In my teenage years, I was an idealist—there was black and there was white, but there was very little gray. Jerry Bridges has once again encouraged me to see that where God is concerned (and of course that is everywhere) true holiness allows for no gray.