Review: The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges
The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges
Book info
P. #: This short 158 is an absolute nugget of gold. This is an old edition, so some of the information in this review may be outdated, but I’ll link down below to a copy of a modern printing.
Author: Jerry Bridges (1929-2016)
Life: He received his undergrad degree in engineering from University of Oklahoma. Though he never received any Bible degree, he studied the Scriptures thoroughly. He was twice married and twice widowed, served as an officer in the Vietnam War, and joined The Navigators, a Christian discipleship organization.
General info about author: Jerry Bridges was a theologian, author, and the administrative assistant, vice president, and office manager for the Navigators.
Overall Summary/review:
This is one of the sweetest books on Holiness I’ve ever read. It’s short; it reads very easily; it conveys very powerful information about Holiness in a doctrinal and practical way, but very simply.
This was one of those books where I wanted to mark every sentence (I was very close to doing that anyway). Bridges had something of great value in phrase. His use of metaphors and his mastery of the English language is very clear throughout. For instance (p. 13).
Bridges exhorts us to live in holiness by finding said holiness in Christ and His Holy Spirit. Throughout the book he talks about all the different ways in which we simply “let sin slide” and ignore what God has commanded.
These chapters read very similarly to short sermons, as they are all based on individual texts of Scripture. That said, however, each chapter is only about 8 pages long, making it very readable.
The preface of the book was written by Herbert Lockyer who wrote the All Series.
This would make a great book for any new Christian trying to understand what holiness and sanctification look like, but it’s also great for the old Christian who is searching for a reminder of what holiness and sanctification are (p. 20).
Quotes: p. 26, 32, 39, 62, 72, 84, 117, 118, 158