Books › The pursuit of holiness
The pursuit of holiness
First published 1978 · 222 pages
A gentle but uncompromising call to take personal responsibility for spiritual growth.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like sitting across from a wise, uncompromising mentor who refuses to let you settle for spiritual mediocrity. The pace is steady and deliberate, designed to be read with a journal and an open Bible. Its mood is deeply convicting yet ultimately hopeful, creating a contemplative atmosphere where excuses are stripped away and replaced with practical resolve. The prose is remarkably clear, avoiding dense theological jargon in favor of direct, pastoral earnestness. It moves the reader from a sobering awareness of personal compromise to an empowering realization of their own agency in spiritual growth. This is a foundational read for believers who are tired of passive faith and crave a challenging, actionable blueprint for personal discipline and sanctification.
- Mood
- contemplative
- convicting
- hopeful
- serious
- Tone
- earnest
- challenging
- pastoral
- direct
- encouraging
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- personal discipline · spiritual growth · overcoming temptation · the nature of sin · obedience and grace
- The writing
- Clear, accessible, and deeply rooted in scripture, favoring straightforward instruction over theological jargon.
- The arc
- Moves from a sobering confrontation with personal sin to an empowering, hopeful resolve to live a disciplined spiritual life.
- Who it's for
- Christians seeking practical, no-nonsense guidance on spiritual discipline and personal sanctification.
Content notes
- discussions of sin and temptation
About the book
Holiness: the Christian's joint venture with God. God's command is, "Be holy, for I am holy." But as victims of sin's "guerilla warfare," Christians are often prone to give up the fight, or at least to compromise with sin in its more difficult forms. Why do we so rarely experience holy living? The central issue confronting us, says Jerry Bridges in The Pursuit of Holiness, is that Christians fail to understand their own responsibility for holiness. "If we sin," he writes, "it is because we choose to sin -- not because we lack the ability to say no to temptation. We are not defeated; we are simply disobedient." Bridges, longtime Navigator staff member in both field ministries and administration, looks in this book at such topics as: What God has provided to help us live holy lives; What is meant by the scriptural statement that we have "died to sin"; Practical guidelines for determining right from wrong; The struggles we have with physical overindulgence and unloving attitudes; How our reason and emotions influence our will; How habits and personal discipline play a part in holy living. Whether you're continuing a long and serious quest in the practice of holiness, or have never really thought about it, the principles given here will serve as an impelling challenge to obey God's call. - Back cover.
Description from Open Library.
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