PH Ch 2: The Holiness of God

"But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.' " - 1 Peter 1:15-16

Has your holiness become water-down or relevant? Related to culture or what other Christians are doing? Jerry Bridges uses this chapter to reshape and refocus what our view of holiness is, and what our views of God's holiness should be. The 1 Peter verses are such great verses to set the tone for the chapter, but he also helps unpack it and explain what the magnitude of the verses mean for us.

God knows what is right, does what is right, is free from evil, AND always consistent with this nature. 1 John 1:5 - "God is light; in Him there is no darkness." Knowing these truths is for our good, it can give us comfort to know we have a just God, who will always be fair.

What do these truths means to us? First, adoration and praise. Exodus 15:11. Secondly, we need to carry out the command in 1 Peter 1:15-16, being holy because God expects our character to be as such.

A good point that the author makes in the second half of the chapter is that God hates sin. He makes this relevant to us by saying the more we grow in holiness, the more we should hate sin also. "We may trifle with our sins or excuse them, but God hates them." He really cuts to the heart, with what might be one of the key sentences in the chapter: "Hatred of sin as sin, not just as something disquieting or defeating to ourselves, but as displeasing to God, lies at the root of all true holiness."

One note, is that I wished he developed the role of Christ in this chapter a little more. He notes "Granted, the love of God to us through Jesus Christ should be our primary motivation to holiness. But a motivation prompted by God's hatred of sin and His consequent judgment on it is no less biblical." I agree with this chapter and quote, and that it plays a part as a facet of the gospel and the Christians walk, but standing alone, it is tinged with works-based faith. I believe further chapters will help explain the role of grace and Christ, so it probably will be cleared up then.

All to often we take the freedom and grace of Christ, and turn it into a warrant to overlook attributes in our character and excuse some of our sins. This chapter helps refocus the holiness of God and His hatred of sin.

PH Ch. 1: Holiness Is For You

In this chapter, the author states the basic importance and necessity of being holy. He diagnoses a few reasons as to why we don't notice this holiness or our struggles with being holy in our lives.

Here's the authors definition for holiness:"To be holy is to be morally blameless. It is to be seperated from sin and, therefore, consecrated to God." A great Scripture reference for the idea is Ephesians 4:22-24.

As Christians, we are expected to live a holy life. "Sin shall not be our master," says Romans 6:14a.

Next, the author states 3 problem areas in our struggles with sin:

1) "Our attitude toward sin is more self-centered than God-centered."

"We are more concerned about our own 'victory' over sin than we are about the fact that our sins grieve the heart of God. We cannot tolerate failure in our struggle with sin chiefly because we are success-oriented, not because we know it is offensive to God."
"W.S. Plumer said, 'We never see sin aright until we see it as against God. . . All sin is against God in this sense: that it is His law that is broken, His authority that is despised' "

2) "We have misunderstood 'living by faith' to mean that no effort at holiness is required on our part."

J.C. Ryles says: "Is it wise to proclaim in so bald, naked, and unqualified a way as many do, that the holiness of converted people is by faith only, and not at all by personal exertion? . . . Faith in Christ is the root of all holiness . . . no well-instructed Christian will ever think of denying. But surely the Scriptures teach us that in following holiness the true Christian needs personal exertion and work as well as faith."

We have responsibility in our walk in faithfulness towards holiness.

3) "We do not take sin seriously."

In this chapter, the author has diagnosed that we are willing to categorize sins into ones that are unacceptable and ones that we tolerate a bit. We think of some sin as wrong but still ok to do. They become more tolerated & allowable, rather than offensive to God.

Very challenging points to what holiness and sin mean in our lives. The next chapter will look into the holiness of God, where our basis of holiness is established.

** UPDATE **

Summary - In this chapter, the author describes holiness as being expected, essential, and a basic element in a Christian's walk with God, but the focus of the chapter is why holiness is not currently experienced as well as it should. So in essence, after giving a brief overview and definition of holiness, he focuses on the obstacles of holiness, or the problems in our incorrect thoughts regarding holiness in the first chapter. In the second chapter, he gives further detail to the definition of and what holiness should be.

Book Reading Now: The Pursuit of Holiness

Over the past 2 weeks, I have started reading "The Pursuit of Holiness" by Jerry Bridges. It has been a challenging book, show the need of the Christians exert themselves to be holy. We have our strength in Christ, but often do not invest our own lifestyle and choices in things that are Christ-like, b/c we think it's already been handled.

I am going to attempt to journal the chapters and what insight I have received from them. Lots of quotes, but I will also challenge myself to summarize so that I know the material I am journalling.

The Pursuit of Holiness - Jerry Bridges

Preface

The author starts with an example of a farmer. The farmer plows, sows seed, fertilizes the field, all trying to grow a crop for harvest. But he is utterly dependent on forces outside himself. God is the one who provides rain & sunshine, causes the seed to grow, along with much more to allow the seed to grow to crops ready for harvest. He relates this example to the similarity of the joint venture of God and man in our holiness.

"No one can attain any degree of holiness without God working in his life, but just as surely no one will attain it without effort on his own part."

We must think about our responsiblity in holiness. 1) "We are simply reluctant to face up to our responsibility." We like to 'leave in God's hand's'. 2) "We do not understand the proper distinction between God's provision and our own responsibility for holiness."

This does an excellent job setting the tone for the book. He tries to relate these points more specifically, I've already noticed in the next few chapters I have already read. I know this is one of the reasons I choose this book, I don't take holiness as MY responsibility also as often as I should.

He closes drawing 2 observations about the word pursuit. 1) It will require dilligence and effort. 2) It will be a continual task, in this case a lifelong task.