“We need to brace ourselves up and to realize that we are responsible for thoughts, attitudes, and actions. We need to reckon on the fact that we died to sin’s reign, that it no longer has any dominion over us, that God has united us with the risen Christ in all His power and has given us the Holy Spirit to work in us. Only as we accept our responsibility and appropriate God’s provisions will we make any progress in our pursuit of holiness.”1
“As we grow in holiness, we grow in hatred of sin; and God, being infinitely holy, has an infinite hatred of sin.”
“Holiness begins in our minds and works out to our actions. This being true, what we allow to enter our minds is critically important. The television programs we watch, the movies we may attend, the books and magazines we read, the music we listen to, and the conversations we have all affect our minds.”
“God wants us to walk in obedience—not victory. Obedience is oriented toward God; victory is oriented toward self.”
“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, His government that is set at naught…Pharaoh and Balaam, Saul and Judas each said, ‘I have sinned’; but the returning prodigal said, ‘I have sinned against heaven and before thee’; and David said, ‘Against Thee, Thee only have I sinned.”
“But God has not called us to be like those around us. He has called us to be like Himself. Holiness is nothing less than conformity to the character of God.”
“We are 100 percent responsible for the pursuit of holiness, but at the same time we are 100 percent dependent upon the Holy Spirit to enable us in that pursuit. The pursuit of holiness is not a pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps approach to the Christian life.”
“Trials always change our relationship with God. Either they drive us to Him, or they drive us away from Him. The extent of our fear of Him and our awareness of His love for us determine in which direction we will move.”
“Only those who walk in holiness experience true joy.”
“God’s guidance is almost always step-by-step; He does not show us our life’s plan all at once. Sometimes our anxiousness to know the will of God comes from a desire to peer over God’s shoulder to see what His plan is. What we need to do is learn to trust Him to guide us.”
“Don’t believe everything you think. You cannot be trusted to tell yourself the truth. Stay in The Word.”
“God in His love always wills what is best for us. In His wisdom He always knows what is best, and in His sovereignty He has the power to bring it about.”
“We must allow the Bible to say what is says, not what we think it ought to say.”
“God’s Word must be so strongly fixed in our minds that it becomes the dominant influence in our thoughts, our attitudes, and our actions. One of the most effective ways of influencing our minds is through memorizing Scripture. David said, ‘I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You’ (Psm. 119:11).”
“There is no point in praying for victory over temptation if we are not willing to make a commitment to say no to it.”
“God does not delight in our sufferings. He brings only that which is necessary, but He does not shrink from that which will help us grow.”
“Regardless of how helpful an item or body of knowledge may be to society, if it does not have as its final purpose the glory of God, it remains defective.”
“If you read about the experiences of Christians who progressed in their relationship with the Lord Jesus beyond the norm, you will note the combination of a deep sense of sin and failure together with a deep appreciation for what God accomplished in Christ Jesus.”
“The cure for the sin of envy and jealousy is to find our contentment in God.”
“Jesus did not die just to give us peace and a purpose in life; he died to save us from the wrath of God.”
“Patience is the ability to suffer a long time under the mistreatment of others without growing resentful or bitter.”
“As we search the Scriptures, we must allow them to search us, to sit in judgment upon our character and conduct.”
1 All of the following quotes are from the websites below:
The Pursuit of Holiness Quotes by Jerry Bridges (goodreads.com)
Jerry Bridges – We are 100 percent responsible for the… (brainyquote.com)
Jerry Bridges: Trials always change our relationship with God. Either they… | QuoteTab
Jerry Bridges: Only those who walk in holiness experience true joy. | QuoteTab
TOP 25 QUOTES BY JERRY BRIDGES (of 178) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)
The Joy of Fearing God Quotes by Jerry Bridges (goodreads.com)
70 Jerry Bridges Quotes from Evangelical Christian Author (internetpillar.com)