Holiness isn’t a topic we talk about a lot. Maybe that’s because we’re afraid of being labelled as legalists or of focusing too much on externals. Maybe it’s because the word conjures up obscure images of chastity or up-tight morality. But the Bible’s pretty big on the Christian’s life being marked by holiness: ‘be holy for I am holy’ just for starters (Lev 20:26; 1 Peter 1:16).

That’s why I’m looking forward to reading this new book from Kevin DeYoung, The Hole in our Holiness. Kevin seeks to be faithful to Scripture, he writes practically, unashamedly and very well, and his style also makes for a pretty entertaining read. There’s a free pdf sample of the book here, and here’s a quote from the book courtesy of Tony Reinke:

“It’s all too easy to turn the fight of faith into sanctification-by-checklist. Take care of a few bad habits, develop a couple good ones, and you’re set. But a moral checklist doesn’t take into consideration the idols of the hearts. It may not even have the gospel as part of the equation. And inevitably, checklist spirituality is highly selective. So you end up feeling successful at sanctification because you stayed away from drugs, lost weight, served at the soup kitchen, and renounced Styrofoam. But you’ve ignored gentleness, humility, joy, and sexual purity.” (p.34)

You can get hold of the book in the UK here.

HT: Andy Naselli