The Hole in Our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung (Review)
I primarily read Kevin DeYoung’s writing through his work with the Gospel Coalition. I appreciate his succinct and accessible style, which prompted me to buy his book. Like DeYoung’s shorter writings with the Coalition, his book is similarly accessible. He is a joy to read, and he unpacks complex ideas in a cogent and thoughtful manner. His writing is well organized and flows naturally from start to finish. This assessment may not be the most thrilling review, but when it comes to theology, it is a rare gift to find a philosopher who manages heft in ideas without obfuscation. For those interested in theology, I fully recommend The Hole in Our Holiness. Here are my notes and saved quotations from the book that I found interesting. Please note that—unlike most of my reviews—my notes have far more quotations than summations. This shift reflects DeYoung’s succinctness in writing.
“It sounds really spiritual to say God is interested in a relationship, not in rules. But it’s not biblical. From top to bottom, the Bible is full of commands. They aren’t meant to stifle a relationship with God, but to protect it, seal it, and define it.”
“We usually think of the law leading us to gospel. And this is true—we see God‘s standards, we see our sin, and then see our need for a Savior. But it’s just as true that gospel leads to law.”
[The Bible] has no problem with the word “therefore.” Grace, grace, grace, therefore, stop doing this, start doing that, and obey the commands of God. Good works should always be rooted and the good news of Christ’s death and resurrection...” This idea connects back to DeYoung’s earlier observation: “Let’s not be afraid to land on law—never as the means of meriting justification, but as the proper expression of having received it.”
“The law can, and should, be urged upon true believers—not to condemn, but to correct and to promote Christlikeness.”
DeYoung gives an important example from his interaction with potential elders in which they protest that they do not meet qualifications for eldership. He observes that there are people we might think of as holy, but we would never dare use the label on ourselves. The result is the “unbiblical conclusion that godliness is not actually possible, that we cannot keep the law in any respect. It’s one thing to be humble about our piety. It’s another to think piety is impossible.”
“It is a dangerous thing to ignore the Bible’s assumption and expectation, that righteousness is possible. Of course, our righteousness can never appease God‘s wrath. We need the imputed righteousness of Christ...But as born-again believers, it is possible to please God by His grace.”
“When we can no longer see the different gradations among sins and sinners and sinful nations, we have not succeeded in respecting our own badness; we’ve cheapened God‘s goodness. If our own legal system does not treat all infractions in the same way, surely God knows that some sins are more heinous than others. If we can spot the difference, we’ll be especially eager to put to death those sins which are most offensive to God.”
It is helpful to distinguish “definitive sanctification” (cleansed by Jesus’ sacrifice—set apart in Christ) and “progressive sanctification” (the Holy Spirit working in us to grow more and more like Christ—the pursuit of holiness).
We should not think of our good works as a debtor’s obligation, as if there is a way to repay what God has done for us through Jesus. Instead, our understanding of what Jesus did should make us happy and devoted to serving Him. “When we are grateful, we are not only eager to please God, we are less likely to get bogged down in ungodliness.” Our position with God also shapes our perspective. Why be tempted by the sins of the flesh when knowing how much more we have awaiting us in eternity?
There is a misperception that Christians are to put their faith in God and passively become more like Him. This idea is not biblical. Paul notes that he worked harder than anyone—not to justify or save himself but to pursue holiness.
There are over 200 times in the Bible with references to being “in Christ.“ Some examples include: “found in Christ,” sanctified in Christ,” “walk in Christ,” “labor in Christ,” and “conquer in Christ.” We don’t think much about the preposition “in,” but DeYoung describes our union in Christ as a three-part theological concept: (1) solidarity (Christ as the second Adam is our representative before God), (2) transformation (Christ by the Holy Spirit changes us from the inside out), and (3) communion (Christ abides with as our God). “Union with Christ is like wedlock.”
“The pursuit of holiness is not a quixotic effort to do just what Jesus did. It’s the fight to live out the life that has already been made alive in Christ.”
When DeYoung discusses “be who you are,” he means who you are by grace. He does not mean be who you were as you were born but be who you were reborn by grace.
In 1 Corinthians 6:12, Paul explores Christian liberty. The Corinthians made much of their freedom in Christ that all things are lawful. Yet Paul explained that free things are not free if they enslave you. Is the action helpful in our efforts to glorify God.
As Christians, we belong to Christ. But this ownership is not bondage. Our union with Christ empowers us for holiness.
In John 14:5, Jesus informs that we are to “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” Abiding and obeying are synonymous; “we obey as we abide and abide as we obey.”
DeYoung quotes J.I. Packer when describing the importance of abiding with God: “[Communion between God and man] is the end to which both creation and redemption are the means; it is the goal to which both theology and preaching must ever point; it is the essence of true religion; it is, indeed, the definition of Christianity.”
It is helpful to distinguish between repentance and regret. “Regret looks to our own circumstances. Repentance looks to God.”
One part of college that I regularly miss is the rampant free time to discuss ideas. Irrespective of a person’s belief of position, the content in DeYoung’s book begs for good discussion. I enjoyed The Hole in Our Holiness, but I would have enjoyed it even more to have read it with other people to hear their response to the ideas. But even if you don’t have a forum to discuss these ideas, DeYoung has written a thoughtful book that is worth your time if you have an interest in philosophy.
