Quotes from Jerry Bridges

But the guarding of our desires is more than fighting a rear-guard defensive action against temptations from the world, the flesh, and the devil. We must take the offensive. Paul directs us to set our hearts on things above, that is, on spiritual values (Colossians 3:1).

The realization that my daily relationship with God is based on the infinite merit of Christ instead of on my own performance is a very freeing and joyous experience. But it is not meant to be a one-time experience; the truth needs to be reaffirmed daily.

God never pursues His glory at the expense of the good of His people, nor does He ever seek our good t the expense of His glory. He has designed His eternal purpose so that His glory and our good are inextricably bound together. What comfort and encouragement this should be to us.

If we are to trust God, we must learn to see that He is continuously at work in every aspect and every moment of our lives.

A willingness to share our possessions with one another is a very important aspect of true biblical community.

Holiness has to do with more than mere acts. Our motives must be holy, that is, arising from a desire to do something simply because it is the will of God. Our thoughts should be holy, since they are known to God even before they are formed in our minds.

We are to humble ourselves under God's mighty hand, approaching every relationship and every circumstance in reference to Him.

Godly fear," wrote John Bunyan, flows from a sense of the love and kindness of God to the soul. Where there is no sense of hope of the kindness and mercy of God by Jesus Christ, there can be none of this fear, but rather wrath and despair, which produces a fear that is Ã¢â'¬Â¦ devilish; Ã¢â'¬Â¦ but godly fear flows from a sense of hope of mercy from God by Jesus Christ.2

Micah 7:19 ... "You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." The picture is of God vigorously disposing of our sins by hurling them overboard. He doesn't just drop them over the side; He hurls them ...

The pursuit of holiness requires sustained and vigorous effort. It allows for no indolence, no lethargy, no halfhearted commitment, and no laissez faire attitude toward even the smallest sins. In short, it demands the highest priority in the life of a Christian, because to be holy is to be like Christ — God's goal for every Christian.

Holiness requires continual effort on our part and continual nourishing and strengthening by the Spirit.

No one can act outside of God's sovereign will or against it. Centuries ago, Augustine said, "Nothing, therefore, happens unless the Omnipotent wills it to happen: he either permits it to happen, or he brings it about himself."5

All my labors are marred by sin and imperfection. As I think of every act I have ever done for God, I can only cry out, 'Oh, God, forgive the iniquity of my holy things.'"5

It is clear from our Lord's prayer that He does not intend for us to withdraw from contact with the world of non-Christians (John 17:15). Instead, He said we are to be 'the salt of the earth' and 'the light of the world' (Matthew 5:13-14).

Inner conflict and turmoil often result in conflict with others, so we must achieve inner peace to effectively pursue peace with others.

This is fellowship: sharing with one another what God is teaching through the Scriptures, and this is an important part of true community.

We need to ask God daily to search our hearts for sin that we cannot or will not see.

If we are going to persevere as committed disciples of Jesus Christ over the course of our lives, we must always keep the gospel of God's forgiveness through Christ before us.

It is not the fact that we are united in common goals or purposes that makes us a community. Rather, it is the fact that we share a common life in Christ.

We cannot separate trust in God from the fear of God. We will trust Him only to the extent that we genuinely stand in awe of Him.

We honor God by choosing to trust Him when we don't understand what He is doing or why He has allowed some adverse circumstance to occur.

But the holiness of Jesus was more than simply the absence of actual sin. It was also a perfect conformity to the will of His Father.

Christ's death was the result of God's grace; grace is not the result of Christ's death.

God does not believe for us, but through His Spirit He creates spiritual life in us so that we can believe. Faith is the gift of God. It's part of the whole salvation package that God gives to us through the work of Christ for us and the work of the Holy Spirit in us. It's not our contribution, so to speak, to God's great plan of salvation. God does it all. It's part of the unsearchable riches of Christ.