Readability: 1
Length: 146 pp
Author: Kevin DeYoung
The free grace of Jesus frees us. Fruitless salvation makes as much sense as cold lava. It is a legit fear that in the midst of recovering the gospel against legalism we may fall into antinomianism. We must not forget that the law is good and that holiness is necessary. Our consciences are numb and desensitized. Kevin DeYoung gives sensitizing Biblical truth in The Hole in Our Holiness. Why read this book? Because it will encourage you with God’s Word to pursue holiness. If that does not persuade you, I leave you with the words of John Owen, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.”
The hole in our holiness is that we don’t really care much about it. The hole in our holiness is that we don’t really care much about it. Passionate exhortation to pursue gospel-driven holiness is barely heard in most of our churches. It’s not that we don’t talk about sin or encourage decent behavior. Too many sermons are basically self-help seminars on becoming a better you. That’s moralism, and it’s not helpful. Any gospel which says only what you must do and never announces what Christ has done is no gospel at all. So I’m not talking about getting beat up every Sunday for watching SportsCenter and driving an SUV. I’m talking about the failure of Christians, especially younger generations and especially those most disdainful of “religion” and “legalism,” to take seriously one of the great aims of our redemption and one of the required evidences for eternal life—our holiness.
J. C. Ryle, a nineteenth-century Bishop of Liverpool, was right: “We must be holy, because this is one grand end and purpose for which Christ came into the world. …Jesus is a complete Saviour. He does not merely take away the guilt of a believer’s sin, he does more—he breaks its power (1 Pet. 1:2; Rom. 8:29; Eph. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9; Heb. 12:10).” My fear is that as we rightly celebrate, and in some quarters rediscover, all that Christ has saved us from, we are giving little thought and making little effort concerning all that Christ has saved us to. Shouldn’t those most passionate about the gospel and God’s glory also be those most dedicated to the pursuit of godliness? I worry that there is an enthusiasm gap and no one seems to mind.
No Other Boast 