Habits of Holiness

          Highlights from chapter fourteen of The Pursuit of Holiness, by
     Jerry Bridges.


                                          "Just as you used to offer the parts of your
                                           body in slavery to impurity and to ever-
                                           increasing wickedness, so now offer them
                                           in slavery to righteousness leading to hol-
                                           ness."
                                                                        Romans 6:19


          The more we sin, the more we are inclined to sin.  Every sin we commit
     reinforces the habit of sinning and makes it easier to sin.

          Habit is defined as the "prevailing disposition or character of a person's
     thoughts and feelings."  Habits are the thought and emotional patterns en-
     graved on our minds.

          As unbelievers, we formerly gave ourselves to developing habits of un-
     holiness -- what Paul called "ever-increasing wickedness" (Romans 6:19).
     Repeated acts of unrighteousness became habits that made us in fact, slaves
     to sin.

          But now, Paul declared, just as we formerly gave ourselves to these
     wicked habits, so we are to give ourselves to developing habits of holiness
     (Romans 6:19).  We are to put off our old self -- our sinful disposition and
     its habits -- and put on the new self -- with its character and habits of holi-
     ness.

          To train ourselves in godliness is to discipline and structure our lives so
     that we develop godly habits.

                                   "Have nothing to do with godless myths and
                                    old wives' tales;  rather train yourselves to be
                                    godly."
                                                                       1 Timothy 4:7


          Putting off these sinful habits is what Paul calls mortifying or putting to
     death the deeds of the body.

                                  "For if you live according to the sinful nature, you
                                   will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the
                                   misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those
                                   who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."
                                                                     Romans 8:13-14


          Though we are to deal with these habits of unholiness, we must not try to
     do it in our own strength.  Breaking sinful habits must be done in cooperation
     with the Holy Spirit and in dependence upon Him.

          There are practical principles which we can follow to train ourselves in
     godliness.  The first principle is that habits are developed and reinforced by
     frequent repetition.  This is the principle underlying the fact that the more we
     sin the more we are inclined to sin.  But the converse is also true.  The more
     we say no to sin, the more we are inclined to say no.

          The more we succeed in saying no to our sinful desires, the easier it be-
     comes to say no.  In the same manner we can develop positive habits of
     holiness.  We can develop the habits of thinking thoughts that are pure, true,
     and good.  We can develop the habits of prayer and meditating on the Scrip-
     tures.  But these habits will only be developed through frequent repetition.

          The second principle in breaking sinful habits and acquiring new ones is
     to never let an exception occur.  When we allow exceptions we are reinforc-
     ing old habits or else failing to reinforce the new one.  We must watch the
     "just this once" type of thinking, which is a subtle, dangerous trap.

          Because we are unwilling to pay the price of saying no to our desires, we
     tell ourselves we will indulge only once more and tomorrow will be different.
     Deep inside we know that tomorrow it will be even more difficult to say no,
     but we don't dwell on this fact.

          The third principle is that diligence in all areas is required to ensure suc-
     cess in one area.  John Owen said, "Without a sincere and diligent effort in
     every area of obedience, there will be no successful mortification of any one
     besetting sin."  It is important for us to develop habits of self-control over
     our physical appetites.  We may think indulging these appetites isn't so bad,
     but such indulgences weaken our wills in every other respect of our lives.

          Last, don't be discouraged by failure.  There is a vast difference between
     failing and becoming a failure.  We become a failure when we give up --
     when we stop trying.  But as long as we are working on those sinful habits,
     regardless of how often we fail, we have not become a failure, and we can
     expect to see progress.

                                                             **********


          It is vain to guard our minds and emotions against that which comes from
     without if we do not at the same time deal with habits of sin which are within.
     The battle for holiness must be fought on two fronts -- without and within.
     Only then will we see progress toward holiness.