The Bookends of the Christian Life

by Jerry Bridges, Bob Bevington

The authors use an extended metaphor to serve up a little book with a big message about two essentials of the Christian life. What do bookends have to do with the Christian life? They are a metaphor that Jerry Bridges has developed over the years, and which he and coauthor Bob Bevington flesh out in this small volume. The two "bookends" explain not only how we as sinners can be made acceptable to a holy God but also we can find the power to change. They are thus essential for the Christian life. In a unique book that should garner the attention of a wide range of readers, the authors use their extended metaphor to help readers answer questions So what are the bookends of the Christian life? Christ's righteousness as it is transferred to dependent believers, and the Holy Spirit's power as it enables their transformation. In continuing their goal to re-center the church at large onto the historic gospel of Jesus Christ, Bridges and Bevington have served up this little book with a big message so that believers and seekers alike can understand these two keys to a genuine Christian life.

Genres: Christian, Christian Living, Theology, Christianity, Nonfiction, Christian Non Fiction, Faith

160 pages, Hardcover

First published March 9, 2009

About the author

JERRY BRIDGES was an author and conference speaker. His most popular book, The Pursuit of Holiness, has sold over one million copies. Jerry was on the staff of The Navigators for over fifty years, and currently served in the Collegiate Mission where he was involved primarily in staff development, but also served as a speaker resource to the campus ministries.

Reviews

[Shannon Evanko · Rating 5 out of 5]

We read through this with students this summer for summer project and it has been so impactful! I think every Christian should read this book! So encouraging and helpful. So simple and yet insightful.

[Carissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a GREAT book for any believer (my only tiny gripe was the outline being asymmetrical). I hope to read this again. Not sure why this book isn't more popular, because it should be.

“When we become united to Christ by faith, God places a set of bookends on the bookshelves of our lives. One bookend is the righteousness of Christ; the other is the power of the Holy Spirit.”

[Ethan Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid.

[Bill Forgeard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: Being a Christian is about accepting Christ's righteousness (via admission that my own righteousness is inadequate), and living in the power of the Holy Spirit (via admission that my own strength is inadequate).

A helpful, encouraging short book which applies foundational Christian theology to real life in a very practical way. Bridges takes the doctrines of justification and sanctification (that is, the righteousness of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit) and attacks the issues of self-righteousness, persistent guilt and self-reliance which most Christians struggle with.

I like that because Jerry Bridges has been thinking and writing about the Christian life for such a long time, he's comfortable explaining things in his own way without using some of the overly familiar expressions & arguments many of the current authors I'm reading tend to rely on.

[Taylor Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an incredible book that was easy to read and spiritually rich. The focus of the Righteousness of Christ and the Holy Spirit as the bookends that hold our life/faith together was inspiringly simple. It gave me plenty of scripture and perspectives to chew on. The pervasiveness of gospel enemies self-righteousness, persistent guilt, and self-reliance was sobering as I reflect on my own faith and the cultures in our churches and faith circles. Overall, I would recommend to anyone wanting a refresh of the foundations that hold Christian faith together.

[Matthew Cazee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, simple read!

[Andrew Cowart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a refreshing reminder of the simple gospel. The bookends, the righteousness of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, offer a perspective of security in the gospel that is comforting and realistic. I take issue with some of the theology in this book, but overall worth reading.

[Ryan Pelton · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the better books on how to live the christian life in a dependent and gospel driven way. No fluff, just solid application of biblical truth for everyday living. Highly recommend!

[Deborah-Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little book describes the Christian experience in two parts: The Righteousness of Christ and the Power of the Holy Spirit. In the first section - the Righteousness of Christ, Bridges and Bevington introduce us to the purpose of the Gospel and introduce two enemies that threaten to challenge us on our spiritual walk: self-righteousness (pride) and persistent guilt. In the second section - The Power of the Holy Spirit - we are taught to rely on God and not be self-reliant (enemy #3). The authors make the case that self-reliance is actually the worst of the enemies because we forget that we must lean on God (and this we do many times a day without even consciously thinking about it). This book was a good lay introduction to theology and the Christian experience and was packed with Scripture and other real-life examples. It's a short book and also an easy read. I haven't read anything else by the authors, but I'd say this was a good starting point.

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short book uses the metaphor of bookends to describe our lives as Christians, with one bookend being the righteousness of Christ and the other being the power of the Holy Spirit. The authors identify 3 enemies to a correct understanding of the Gospel—self-righteousness, persistent guilt, and self-reliance.

Overall, I enjoyed this book—there were several good insights such as this one that I walked away with:

“We trust in our own performance when we believe we’ve earned God’s acceptance by our good works. But we also trust in our own performance when we believe we’ve lost God’s acceptance by our bad works—by our sin. So we must renounce any consideration of either our bad works or our good works as the means of relating to God.”

[Connor McGonagle · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's exactly the book you expect it to be. A good reminder of two Christian fundamentals, but it lacks a degree of novelty and thought-provoking ideas.

The issues of pride and self reliance, I could easily relate to, especially following my reading of Screwtape Letters where C.S. Lewis discusses people's false sense of ownership over time and really anything we regard as possessions. Other than that, Bookends was a standard compilation of biblical ideas.

I'd recommend this as the focus of a Bible study session or as an opportunity to refocus on Christian basics.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent little book about the absolute necessity of the righteousness of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit in the Christian's life. I found myself underlining a lot. Will update with takeaways.

[Matthew Burst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very refreshing reminder of the gospel and concise, healthy, biblical worldview

[Jesse Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may not be a well-known classic, but the points it drives home are essential to any believer.

[Bobby Bonser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful little gem of a book here by Bridges and Evington. Written in a "down to earth" style that's easy to understand and yet Theologically rich. They aren't writing a "self help" message or quick fix, but a map of the Christian's daily battlefield with sin and how to identify and battle sin with the two bookends of the Christian life: The Gospel & The Spirit. This book makes much of Christ, and leads us back to Calvary where we must go every day as a reminder of our sin and our Savior.

[Christian Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This an important reminder about the significance of the gospel in the daily life of the Christian. For those that are down trodden, read this. For those who are full of zeal, read this. An important reminder all need.

[Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good lesson on "How to Preach the Gospel to Yourself"

1st Bookend: "The Righteousness of Christ"

- He paid the penalty we should have paid, by enduring the wrath of God we should have endured, by His perfect obedience. And it required Him to give up HIS relationship with the Father so that WE could have one.

- FAITH involves my Renunciation of any trust in my own performance as a basis for acceptance by God and a Reliance entirely on the perfect obedience and sin-bearing death of Christ for my standing before God

-Lk 7 the sinful woman, Isa 6 the prophet, Acts 9 the Pharisee -- all had 1) a deep conviction of their sin 2)a deep conviction of their forgiveness which prompted 3)a deep love,gratitude, and surrender leading to action, on their part.

Enemies to this Gospel:
#1 Self-Righteousness - when we feel our righteousness merits any good standing before God and others; it's anti-Gospel and self-justification. Christ's righteousness met God's requirements of holiness and wrath against sin: "The wrath of God against the sin of saints was completely exhausted on the cross." John Owen

#2 Persistent Guilt - comes from depending on our our righteousness for right standing with God and knowing how inadequate this is. Only the life and death of Christ offers a legitimate path to freedom from a guilty conscience.

#3 Self-Reliance - on our own power, not the Holy Spirit's. "Apart from Me you can do nothing." Jn 15:5


"Let sin break our hearts but not our hope in the gospel." Thomas Wilcox, 17th century Puritan

Focal Points:
1. I am a desperately lost sinner
2. The righteousness of Christ is all-sufficient for me every day
3. I want to see and reject my 'functional saviors' (idols) each day

2nd Bookend: "The Power of the Holy Spirit"
Just as we must look outside ourselves to Christ's righteousness for our standing before God, we must look outside to the power of the Holy Spirit for strength to live the Christian life.

Faith: Renounce all confidence in our own power and Rely entirely on the power of the Holy Spirit for His enablement - we cannot fight sin, grow in character, nor minister effectively without it.

Work of the Spirit: our guilt, His grace, our gratitude

Dependent Responsibility: "For this I toil (labor to the point of exhaustion), struggling (agonizing) with all His energy that He so powerfully works within me (divine enablement).

Philippians 2:12–13 (ESV)
12Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,
13for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Means of Grace that the Holy Spirit uses:
- daily communion with God
- preaching the gospel to ourselves (the primary instrument of transformation)
- the Bible
- daily circumstances

Four Ways the Holy Spirit Encourages us:
1 - gratitude: our gratitude for the grace He purchased gradually overcomes the vise-grip of our self-centeredness, and we 'no longer live for ourselves'.
2 - power of new affections (God becomes more satisfying, our all-surpassing greatest Treasure; idols - less)
3 - joy in the Relationship; experiencing same kind of love in abiding in Christ, that the Trinity experiences
4 - the promises of God, to equip us to fight! and to walk through trials and GLORIFY God in the process

Focal Points:
1. our desperate weakness
2. the reliable power of the Holy Spirit
3. rejecting self-reliance

Replace self-reliance with humility and godliness.
Humility: "honestly assessing ourselves in light of God's holiness and our sinfulness" - C.J. Mahaney

Godliness: "the attitude of regarding God in everything we do, all the time."

Preaching the Gospel to ourselves: "Jesus lived the life I should have lived and died the death I should have died."

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this book isn't particularly well written or brilliant, it did strike a few deep chords which were particularly helpful to me. I needed some reminders.

[Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb study of the two Biblical pillars of the Christian life, the righteousness of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

First sentence: Most of us have experienced the difficulty of putting books on a bookshelf without having a set of bookends to keep them in place. You know what happens.

The Bookends of the Christian Life is one of my favorite books. I've read it three times now: once in 2010, once in 2013, and once in 2024. The bookends of the Christian life are justification and sanctification. These two fundamental, essential doctrines are incredibly helpful when understanding and applying the gospel. One can understand these doctrines without knowing the doctrine's name. It's not the fancy theological terms that make the doctrine wonderful. Some may be unfamiliar with these essential doctrines, however. Sometimes gospel presentations are more on the shallow end. Sometimes one thinks, well, I've heard the gospel once...I'm saved...I don't need to spend any more time thinking or studying the gospel. But the gospel is something that we need to live in, grow in, saturate ourselves with. The gospel is relevant and timely every single day of our lives. The authors encourage readers to preach the gospel to themselves daily. The book is in some ways a thorough going over the gospel--in all its wonderful glory, both simple and complex.

From my previous review(s):

The Bookends of the Christian Life is a) short b) straightforward c) relevant. It is written to be understood and applied. Though the subject is theological in nature, it is PRACTICAL theology. It introduces a way of thinking about your life by introducing the notion of bookends. If you don't want your faith to be a complete mess, you need bookends for your faith. One of the bookends is the righteousness of Christ; the second bookend is the power of the Holy Spirit. The book never assumes that readers know what "the righteousness of Christ" is. Or that readers understand what "the power of the Holy Spirit" is. It does not assume that readers have a working understanding of the doctrines of justification, imputation, or sanctification. It explains essential doctrines in a friendly non-condescending way. It is very refreshing.

The book is ALL about the gospel. But it also spends some time addressing three serious gospel enemies: self-righteousness, persistent guilt, and self-reliance. How can believers fight against these three enemies? By preaching the gospel to themselves every day. By leaning on the bookends of the faith. By relying on Christ's righteousness and the POWER of the Holy Spirit. This book is all about TRUSTING the promises of God.

Favorite quotes:
What is the righteousness of Christ, and why do we need it as the first bookend? The word righteous in the Bible basically means perfect obedience; a righteous person is one who always does what is right. This statement assumes that there's an external, objective standard of right and wrong. That standard is the universal moral will of God as given to us throughout the Bible. It's the law of God written on every human heart. It's the standard by which each person will ultimately be judged. Our problem is that we're not righteous. (19)
We know we need a Savior, so we trust in Christ to redeem us from the curse of God's law. But though we believe we're saved as far as our eternal destiny is concerned, we may not be sure about our day-to-day standing with God. Many of us embrace a vague but very real notion that God's approval has to be earned by our conduct. We know we're saved by grace, but we believe God blesses us according to our level of perfect obedience. Consequently, our confidence that we abide in God's favor ebbs and flows according to how we gauge our performance. And since we sin every single day, this approach is ultimately discouraging and even devastating. This is exactly why we need the first bookend. (21-2)
At the cross, Jesus paid the penalty we should have paid, by enduring the wrath of God we should have endured. And this required him to do something unprecedented. It required him to provide the ultimate level of obedience--one that we'll never be asked to emulate. It required him to give up his relationship with the Father so that we could have one instead. The very thought of being torn away from the Father caused him to sweat great drops of blood. (Luke 22:44). And at the crescendo of his obedience, he screamed: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34). The physical pain he endured was nothing compared to the agony of being separated from the Father. In all of history, Jesus is the only human being who was truly righteous in every way; and he was righteous in ways that are truly beyond our comprehension. (23-4)
Even though in ourselves we're completely unrighteous, God counts us as righteous because he has appointed Christ to be our representative and substitute. Therefore when Christ lived a perfect life, in God's sight we lived a perfect life. When Christ died on the cross to pay for our sins, we died on the cross. All that Christ did in his sinless life and his sin-bearing death, he did as our representative, so that we receive the credit for it. It's in this representative union with Christ that he presents us before the Father, "holy and blameless and above reproach." (Colossians 1:22) There's an old play on the word justified: "just-as-if-I'd never sinned." But here's another way of saying it: "just-as-if-I'd always obeyed". Both are true. The first refers to the transfer of our moral debt to Christ so we're left with a "clean" ledger, just as if we'd never sinned. The second tells us our ledger is now filled with the perfect righteousness of Christ, so it's just as if we'd always obeyed.... The news of this righteousness IS the gospel. (26)
Faith involves both a renunciation and a reliance. First, we must renounce any trust in our own performance as the basis of our acceptance before God. We trust in our own performance when we believe we've earned God's acceptance by our good works. But we also trust in our own performance when we believe we've lost God's acceptance by our bad works--by our sin. So we must renounce any consideration of either our bad works or our good works as the means of our relating to God. Second, we must place our reliance entirely on the perfect obedience and sin-bearing death of Christ as the sole basis of our standing before God--on our best days as well as our worst. (28)
Every day we must re-acknowledge the fact that there's nothing we can do to make ourselves either more acceptable to God or less acceptable. Regardless of how much we grow in our Christian lives, we're accepted for Christ's sake or not accepted at all. (29)
There's an important lesson here for all of us. Genuine love for Christ comes through 1) an ever-growing consciousness of our own sinfulness and unworthiness, coupled with 2) the assurance that our sins, however great, have been forgiven through his death on the cross. Only love that's founded on both of these foundations can be authentic and permanent. (34)
We need to intentionally bathe our minds and hearts in the gospel every day. (40)
Self-righteousness turns grace on its head because it views the sinner as deserving God's blessings rather than as undeserving. (43)
To the very end John Newton remembered both his sin and the gospel. On his deathbed at age eighty-two, he said, "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Savior." (59)
Thomas Wilcox put it like this: "The gospel is for sinners, and only for sinners." (68)
But it's not enough to merely see the righteousness of Christ as all-sufficient; we must see it as all-sufficient for us. Jesus was perfectly obedient in our place, as our substitute. Have we lacked purity? Jesus was pure in our place. Have we lacked patience? Jesus was patient in our place. In every area we see failure and sin, Jesus was successful at providing a perfect obedience that's credited to us. Whenever we see Christ's righteousness as all-sufficient for us, shifting our dependence to it should be almost irresistible. (70)
Although all of God's blessings are in Christ, they're distributed and applied to us by the Holy Spirit. (83)
As we look to the Spirit to work in us and enable us to work, we should realize that he uses various spiritual instruments, often called the "means of grace." They're the means by which we're "strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus."... We have a responsibility to respond to each means of grace the Spirit provides. We're to participate in using them to our spiritual advantage. The term spiritual disciplines is used to describe this process and to emphasize our responsibility. Through practicing the spiritual disciplines, we avail ourselves of the means of grace.... the disciplines themselves are not the source of spiritual power. Only the Holy Spirit is. The disciplines are his instruments to transmit his power. (99)
The Holy Spirit uses our growing appetite for enjoying our relationship with God as a powerful encouragement in our battle against sin... When we enjoy God more than sin, we give him an even deeper level of glorifying love, a level he alone deserves. (117)
Just as by nature we assume we earn our salvation by our good works, so by nature we assume we grow spiritually by our own effort and willpower. What's wrong with this kind of self-reliance? Everything. (125)
John Stott described the best place to find the basis for such humility: "Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves...until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there at the foot of the cross that we shrink to our true size. (143)

[Ryan Hawkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great! One of the best simple gospel presentation books I’ve ever read. I expected it to be redundant or overly simply, but it wasn’t. Instead, it truly stirred my heart, making me more thankful for the righteousness of Christ and making me want to live more dependent on the Holy Spirit.

Speaking of, it’s that latter point that makes this book unique. The two bookends are 1) the righteousness of Christ, and 2) the power of the Holy Spirit. Often in gospel-centered circles, the first is emphasized (rightly so), while the second is downplayed a bit. While often in unhelpful charismatic circles, the second is emphasized (often in an unbiblical way) while the former is downplayed. But here, they probably emphasize both, and the power of the Holy Spirit is explained in both his synergistic (he works through our workings) and monergistic (how powerfully accomplishes his own will in us) work, all while still maintaining a gospel focus.

Overall, an excellent book. It was surprising how much I enjoyed it and how much it stirred my heart. I recommend fully.

[Rachel Menke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book several times and every time I find it to be chock full of valuable truth! It is definitely in my top 3 Christian books (besides the Bible) as far as how influential it has been in helping me better understand the Gospel and how to live in light of the Gospel. It is a tiny book and easily readable but because it is so packed with great truth it is best read just one chapter at a time with plenty of time to pause and reflect between chapters. The premise is that the Christian must fully lean all aspects of her life on two bookends: 1) the righteousness of Christ and 2) the power of the Holy Spirit. Doing this fights the top three Gospel enemies: self-righteousness, persistent guilt, and self-reliance. The book is convicting yet encouraging, jam-packed with Scripture, and a reoccurring helpful word picture that makes it easy to apply! I’d recommend it for new Christians and for mature Christians and everyone in between!

[Linore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had this on my bookshelf but hadn’t read it until my pastor’s wife recommended it. I’m glad she did. It’s a powerful little book. I read each chapter slowly over a few days to let it all soak in. Nothing here was new to me, precisely, but worded in a fresh and effective way to make the concepts highly accessible. I find myself applying what I’ve read in my thoughts and life. That’s growth. That’s what the best books help us do. This one can help you abandon false (“functional saviors”) and rest utterly in our one Savior, Jesus Christ. If you’ve lost your joy in the Lord, try this little book. We lose joy when we try to earn favor with God rather than accept the favor He bestows on us freely in His Son. When that truth—that we aren’t required to earn brownie points with God—stays before us, like a bookend of life, we can enjoy God (and glorify Him forever!).

[Liezel Loyola · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has helped me in accordance in my way of living as a Christian. The author pointed out one of the important pillars of Christian living and how our humane abilities which are deeply rooted in our being could blind us and steal our joy as daughters and sons of our Living God.

I highly recommend this book if you want to learn more and to refresh your knowledge about the fundamentals of Christian living and to see how weak we are as a human being that we need a Savior in the Name of Jesus.

[Pink · Rating 5 out of 5]

No Christian, no matter how much we think we know or how long we've walked with God, is above wandering off the straight and narrow path. This simple book lays out the easily forgotten Truths of what leads us astray and what keeps us walking towards Christ. I'm grateful for the reminders that console me and encourage me to take hold of God's hand and follow Him on His path for me, not my own.

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Praise God for men who seek him first and point others in the same direction. God used these authors to encourage my faith and convict my heart. I'm super thankful for the clear presentation and explanation of God's word in these pages.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very solid, short book to ground the reader in what it means to be a follower of Christ. It provides a way of framing the Christian life between the righteousness of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit with practical insights for your life in between these bookends.

[Danielle Cohen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
There were some points of contention theologically during the second bookend, describing our role in sanctification, but otherwise, this book was beautifully gospel-centered and had great descriptions of our reliance upon Christ. I enjoyed this book!

[Abigail Lloyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

The content of this book is great, it’s a bit dry though overall. I do enjoy using it along with the leaders guide for discipleship contexts- been super helpful to use with multiple of my college student groups!

[Rachelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good