Convicting, Yet Encouraging Book

I just finished Respectable Sins. I included a quote from this book a few days ago while I was in the process of reading it. It was a thoroughly good book to the end. Over the past few years, I have found a few authors that I resonate with--who seem understandable, knowledgeable, and biblical in their counsel. I find myself at peace when I read their books because I know I can take it to the Word and not find that the Word contradicts what they have written. And I know that what they have written is grounded in the Word. I also have found myself more and more drawn to authors who rely more on translations than paraphrased versions of the Bible for the scriptures they site and talk about in their books. Paraphrased versions already have been interpreted by the authors who wrote them. I appreciate Paraphrases at times, but when I am looking to do a Bible Study, encouragement, or counsel, I prefer that to come from a Translation. Before this summer, I had never read a book by Jerry Bridges. The pastor of a church we used to attend had recommended his books, though.

I think that Jerry Bridges has quite possibly become one of my very favorite authors. His books are straightforward, coherant, and both thoughtful and thought-provoking. In Respectable Sins, he quotes scripture primarily from the ESV and secondarily from the NIV.

The premise of Respectable Sins is to talk about 1) what sins we tolerate in the church and in our own lives and 2) how to tackle and address those sins in a practical way. His answers for #2 are not pat answers. They are to keep perspective of the gospel and God's grace, to repent, to pray, to go to the Word, and to seek accountability. He urges the reader to seek God in humility and lay our hearts before Him. For God knows what is in our hearts.

Bridges addresses Anger, Pride, Impatience and Irritability, Worldliness and Idolatry, and Ungodliness among the respectable sins that he talks about. I appreciated his definitions of what each of these are. So often we use words and take for granted what they mean instead of really knowing what they mean and defining them. Here is an example:

"Ungodliness may be defined as living one's everyday life with little or no thought of God, or of God's will, or of God's glory, of one's dependence on God."

But, there were several other quotes that I especially enjoyed and this is one of them...

"Our spiritual life may be compared to the motor of an electric appliance. The
motor does the actual work, but it is constantly dependent upon the external power source of the electricity to enable it to work. Therefore, we should cultivate an attitude of continual dependence on the Holy Spirit."

I love that picture of the motor and electricity. The motor doesn't run by itself, but it doesn't just wait for the electricity to make everything happen. It needs the electricity--it can't run without it.

This book is very good and I would highly recommend it--it is convicting, yet encouraging at the very same time. Bridges is not condemning in what he says. He is gracious in his tone as he writes--and I think that is one of the thingsthat makes his books so easy for me to read--He speaks the truth in love.