Book Club Questions for The Pursuit of Holiness

1.Bridges opens by observing that Christians often tolerate in themselves sins they would be appalled to see in others. Does that ring true in your own experience? What sins do you tend to minimize or excuse in yourself?

2.The book's central command — 'Be holy, because I am holy' — appears repeatedly in both Testaments. What strikes you about the fact that God grounds the command in his own character rather than in our benefit or moral obligation?

3.Bridges distinguishes between holiness as a positional reality (what God declares us to be in Christ) and holiness as a practical pursuit (how we actually live). How would you explain that distinction in your own words, and why does it matter?

1.Bridges grounds the call to human holiness in the holiness of God himself. Why is it essential to start there rather than starting with rules, disciplines, or human effort?

2.Isaiah's vision in chapter 6 — the seraphim crying 'Holy, holy, holy' — is one of the Bible's most dramatic portraits of God's holiness. What aspect of that scene strikes you most forcefully, and what does it reveal about the nature of holiness?

3.Bridges points out that holiness is not merely one attribute of God among many but the attribute that colors all the others — his love is holy love, his wrath is holy wrath, his mercy is holy mercy. How does thinking about God's holiness in this integrated way change how you relate to him?

1.Bridges titles this chapter 'Holiness Is for You' — emphasizing the personal, ordinary nature of the call. Who did you grow up thinking holiness was really for? How has that assumption shaped your own pursuit of it?

2.Paul tells the Thessalonians plainly: 'It is God's will for you to be sanctified.' Bridges points out that we often agonize over finding God's will for our career or relationships while ignoring his clearly stated will for our holiness. How does that observation land on you?

3.Bridges makes clear that holiness is not a second-tier spiritual experience reserved for especially consecrated believers. What wrong ideas about holiness — 'It's for people with more time,' 'I'm not wired that way,' or others — have you personally used as an escape hatch?

1.Bridges argues that the Christian life involves a genuine moral requirement — that we are obligated to live holy lives. How does that sit with you? Does 'obligation' feel like a threat to grace, or is it something else?

2.Paul writes in Romans 8 that we are 'debtors' — not to the flesh, but to the Spirit. Bridges unpacks this 'debt' language. What does it mean to owe holiness to God, and how does the cross create that debt?

3.The chapter draws a sharp distinction between sins that 'break out' despite our resistance and sins we willfully entertain or return to. How would you describe the difference, and why does that distinction matter morally and spiritually?

1.Bridges makes the straightforward claim that obedience is the path to holiness — not feelings, not experiences, not intensity of devotion, but actual compliance with what God commands. Does that feel reductive to you, or clarifying? Why?

2.Jesus says, 'If you love me, you will keep my commandments.' Bridges takes this as a diagnostic tool: love for Christ produces obedience, and genuine obedience reveals love for Christ. How does your pattern of obedience (or disobedience) reveal the actual state of your love for Jesus?

3.Bridges distinguishes between 'selective obedience' — obeying commands we find natural or convenient — and whole-hearted obedience. In what areas of your life are you most tempted toward selective obedience?

1.The chapter title comes from Romans 8:13 — 'put to death the deeds of the body.' That is violent language. Why do you think Paul (and Bridges) insist on that kind of language rather than softer alternatives like 'manage' or 'resist' or 'reduce'?

2.Bridges draws on John Owen's famous maxim: 'Be killing sin or it will be killing you.' How have you seen that dynamic play out — either the progressive weakening of a sin that is being actively mortified, or the progressive strengthening of a sin that is being tolerated?

3.Bridges identifies several ways we make peace with sin rather than putting it to death — rationalizing, comparing ourselves to others, minimizing its seriousness. Which of these tendencies do you recognize most in yourself?

1.Paul uses the athletic metaphors of running a race and boxing — disciplines requiring rigorous training and self-denial. How seriously do you take spiritual training compared to other forms of training or self-improvement in your life?

2.Bridges argues that spiritual disciplines are not a means of earning God's favor but of positioning ourselves to receive his grace. How does that framing change how you approach practices like prayer, Bible reading, and fasting?

3.What spiritual disciplines are currently most alive and fruitful in your life? What disciplines are most neglected, and what does their neglect cost you?

1.Bridges pushes back against any tendency to separate 'spiritual' holiness from bodily behavior. Why is it important that holiness encompasses what we do with our bodies, not just our minds or hearts?

2.Paul describes the body as a 'temple of the Holy Spirit' — a claim that should transform how we treat our physical selves. How does that image land on you? Does it feel abstract or does it actually change anything in how you live?

3.Bridges addresses sexual purity as a major arena of bodily holiness, especially given that Paul specifically singles out sexual sin as uniquely damaging ('all other sins a person commits are outside the body,' 1 Cor. 6:18). Why does Paul give sexual sin a special category, and do you think that distinction still applies in the same way today?

1.Bridges cites Philippians 2:12–13 as the key passage: 'Work out your salvation... for it is God who works in you.' How do you hold together the 'work out' of verse 12 and the 'God who works' of verse 13? Where does your thinking tend to overemphasize one at the expense of the other?

2.Bridges rejects both 'Let go and let God' passivism and proud self-reliance. Why are both errors dangerous? What does the Spirit-empowered middle ground actually look like in practice?

3.The chapter argues that God works through our wills rather than around them — he is not a puppet-master overriding our choices but a transforming presence changing our desires and inclinations. How does that understanding change how you pray about sin and holiness?

1.Jesus prayed not that the Father would take his disciples out of the world, but that he would protect them from the evil one and sanctify them through the truth. How does that prayer shape the way you think about your engagement with the surrounding culture?

2.Bridges identifies the world — not as the physical creation but as the system of values, priorities, and pleasures organized around human autonomy and against God — as one of the Christian's most subtle enemies. How do you recognize 'the world' in that sense in your own environment?

3.Paul commands, 'Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world.' Bridges points out that conformity often happens gradually and unconsciously — not through dramatic rebellion but through slow drift. Where in your life have you drifted toward conformity without noticing?

1.Bridges argues that faith is not just the entry point of the Christian life but its ongoing engine — we pursue holiness by faith, just as we were justified by faith. How does that connect to your actual daily experience of pursuing holiness?

2.Paul says, 'I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.' Bridges points to this as the motivational core of holiness: a personal, vivid awareness that Christ died for *me*. How fresh and real is that awareness for you right now — is it a burning conviction or something that has grown dim?

3.Bridges distinguishes between pursuing holiness out of fear of punishment and pursuing it out of faith in the One who has already paid the punishment. How does that distinction change the emotional texture of the pursuit — the way it actually feels from the inside?

1.Looking back over the whole book, which chapter or concept had the single greatest impact on you? Why did that particular idea land so hard? Had you encountered it before, or was it genuinely new?

2.Bridges opens by saying most Christians tolerate sin too easily and closes by rooting the solution in faith in Christ. How has your understanding of the relationship between grace and holiness shifted — or deepened — over the course of this study?

3.At the beginning of the study, you may have described your posture toward holiness as pursuing, drifting, or somewhere in between. How would you describe it now? What has actually changed — in your thinking, your habits, your desires?