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The author died on Sunday, March 6th. He was 86 years old. “Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace.”
Jerry Bridges talking at the Desiring God conference in 2014. 7 DG
Respected theologian and author Jerry Bridges died on Sunday, March 6th. He was 86 years old.
“He suffered cardiac arrest on Saturday morning en route to the emergency room at Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs”, The Gospel Coalition website informed.
Bridges was born in Texas, in a context of Christian legalism, theologian José de Segovia explains. “He discovered grace in university, and later fought in the Korean war. Being in Japan, he contacted the Navigators, a ministry in which he served for many years. He also was in the leadership of a Presbyterian church”.
He helped many discover the profound meaning of biblical grace. Justin Taylor (author), wrote: “One of the great legacies of Jerry Bridges is that he combined—to borrow some titles from his books—the pursuit of holiness and godliness with an emphasis on transforming grace. He believed that trusting God not only involved believing what he had done for us in the past, but that the gospel empowers daily faith and is transformative for all of life.”
One of Bridges' books.“GOSPEL IS NOT JUST FOR UNBELIEVERS”
Bridges wrote more than 20 books and was an international speaker. In his memories “God took me by the hand” (2014), the author explained several lessons he learned:
- The Bible is meant to be applied to specific life situations.
- All who trust in Christ as Savior are united to Him in a loving way just as the branches are united to the vine.
- The pursuit of holiness and godly character is neither by self-effort nor simply letting Christ “live His life through you.”
- The sudden understanding of the doctrine of election was a watershed event for me that significantly affected my entire Christian life.
- The representative union of Christ and the believer means that all that Christ did in both His perfect obedience and His death for our sins is credited to us.
- The gospel is not just for unbelievers in their coming to Christ.
- We are dependent on the Holy Spirit to apply the life of Christ to our lives.
One of Bridges’ most repeated quotes is:
"Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace".
The Discipline of Grace: God’s Role and Our Role in the Pursuit of Holiness (2006)
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