I finally finished reading The Hole in our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung and enjoyed every bit of it. I have been reading this book for awhile now due to 3 little ones that make it challenging to have any leisure time :) There were so many wonderfully convicting things in this book and I am still going over much of it in my head.
Some highlights:
-In Christ every believer has a once-for-all positional holiness, and from this new identity every Christian is commanded to grow in the ongoing-for-your-whole-life process of holiness (Phil 2:12-13).
-The world's holiness is not found in being true to God; it's found in being true to yourself... The world stands for everything that opposes the will of God. In it's simplest form, this means "the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions" (1John 2:16). Or to put it another way, worldliness is whatever makes sin look normal and righteousness look strange.
-The Bible is full of commands. They aren't meant to stifle a relationship with God, but to protect it, seal it, and define it. First God delivered the Israelites from Egypt,
then he game them the law. God's people were not redeemed
by observing the law, but they were redeemed
so they might obey the law.
-So, there is no abiding in Christ's love apart from keeping Christ's commandments (John 15:10). Which means there is no fullness of joy apart from the pursuit of holiness (v 11).
-Preachers must preach the law without embarrassment. Parents must insist on obedience without shame. The law can, and should, be urged upon true believers-not to condemn, but to correct and to promote Christlikeness.
-When we sin, our union with Christ is not in jeopardy. But our communion is.
-One of the main motivations for obedience is the pleasure of God....If we are his true children we will also love to please him. It will be our delight to delight in him and know that he is delighting in us.
-God doesn't ask us to get familiar with sexual immorality on the big screen, TV screen, or smart phone screen so that we can engage the culture. He commands us to get away.
-First, the main goal in all relationships is to glorify God, not to get as close to sinning as possible. (regarding sexual sin)
- Sexual sin is terribly serious because it is a sin against your own body
and a sin against the body of Christ of which you are a member. If you can't picture Christ with a prostitute or Christ in front of porn or Christ sleeping around, then you shouldn't picture yourself in those circumstances either. Your belong to Christ. More than that, you are
joined to Christ. If his body is pure, yours should be too.
I really like this quote from his book:
Second, the gospel aids our pursuit of holiness by telling us the truth about who we are. Certain sins become more difficult when we understand our new position in Christ. If we are heirs to the whole world, why should we envy? If we are God's treasured possession, why be jealous? If God is our Father, why be afraid? If we are dead to sin, why live in it? If we've been raised with Christ, why continue in our old sinful ways? If we are seated in the heavenly places, why act like the devil of hell? If we are loved with an everlasting love, why are we trying to prove our worth to the world? If Christ is all in all, why am I so preoccupied with myself?
Finally, DeYoung lays out 4 practices for oneness with Christ or for better communion with Christ. Communion or fellowship with Christ is essential for holiness and even though Christ is the one who draws us closer to himself we still have a role to play. The four practices are:
1. We pursue communion with Christ through prayer
2. We pursue communion with Christ through the word of truth
3. We pursue communion with Christ through fellowship with other Christians
4. We pursue communion with Christ through partaking of the Lord's Supper.
