The Hole in Our Holiness: Filling the Gap between Gospel Passion and the Pursuit of Godliness by Kevin DeYoung

The Hole in Our Holiness: Filling the Gap between Gospel Passion and the Pursuit of Godliness by Kevin DeYoung, Crossway, $17.99 list price, hardcover.

Holiness is often evasive for the Christian.  Sometimes we just don't understand it.  For some of us it seems legalistic.  For others it is one more thing to add to a growing list of things we should or shouldn't do.  Sometimes it just simply seems too hard to maintain a life of holiness.  But mostly the problem is that too few care about it and that is the main focus of this book.  It is a call to pursue holiness and become transformed into the image of Christ while living in the grace that can only come from God's power.

The book addresses what holiness isn't, what it is, and answers the question of what exactly is it that we should try to become.  According to DeYoung holiness looks like the renewal of God's image in us, it looks like a life marked by virtue instead of vice, it looks like a clean conscience, it looks like obedience to God's commands, and it looks like Christlikeness. 

As is typical of DeYoung's writing, there is lots of biblical doctrine balanced by personal antecdotes and touches of humor that make the topic easy to digest.  One doesn't have to have seminary training to understand this otherwise deep subject and by the end of the book, I had a better understanding what holiness wrapped in grace looks like in my own life.  Chapter six was especially helpful as it focuses on the fact that it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we can experience holiness in daily life, not by our own resolve. 

This is a small book that will not overwhelm the reader but completely covers the topic of holiness.  I recommend it for anyone who is ready to take holiness seriously and experience what it is to be more like Christ.