Jerry Bridges, the author who challenged more than a million readers to take seriously God’s command for holiness, died Sunday at 86.
The
Bible teacher and speaker served with The Navigators discipleship
ministry for nearly 60 years, and wrote the popular book The
Pursuit of Holiness among
many others.
“There
was nothing flashy about Jerry Bridges. He was a humble and
unassuming man—strong in spirit, if not in voice or frame,” wrote
Crossway’s Justin Taylor soon
after Bridges was taken off life support following cardiac arrest
this past weekend. “Now we can rejoice with him in his full and
final healing as he beholds his beloved Savior face to face.”
In
the 2014 Tabletalk interview,
Bridges shared the
six “most significant lessons” God had taught him:
In
the order that I learned them, the first
would be that God’s Word, both His precepts and promises, is meant
to be applied to specific situations in our lives.
The
second
is the importance of our union with Christ, both as our
representative before God in His life and death, and then as the
source of our spiritual life as Jesus taught us in the
vine-and-branches metaphor of John 15.
The
third
is that the pursuit of holiness involves our most diligent efforts,
but with a dependence on the Holy Spirit to bless those efforts.
The
fourth
is my understanding and acceptance of the doctrine of God’s
sovereign election in our salvation. This is probably the most
life-changing of all the lessons.
The
fifth
is
that the gospel is not just for unbelievers and their coming to
Christ; rather, all of us who are believers need the gospel every day
because we are still practicing sinners.
The
sixth
is an increased understanding of the role of the indwelling Holy
Spirit to apply the work of Christ to us and enable us to grow in the
Christian life.
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