"Train yourself for godliness," wrote the Apostle Paul to Timothy (1 Tim. 4:7). But what does that mean? And how does it work? In this final installment of our recordings together, I asked author and teacher Jerry Bridges to explain this passage and he did so by describing how conduct produces character.

To listen to our 10-minute conversation, right-click to download, or listen here:

Note: For more on how conduct produces character see Bridges' book The Fruitful Life, chapter 1.

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Author and speaker Jerry Bridges is 81 years old, and he's been walking with the Lord for 63 of those years. So what advice does he have for a young whippersnapper* like me? I asked him recently in the Sovereign Grace Ministries studio and he boiled down his answer to five life truths he's discovered during his 63 years in the faith.

To listen to our 8-minute conversation, right-click to download, or listen here:

* At 34, the accuracy of this term for me is debatable.

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While recently in the recording studio with author and speaker Jerry Bridges, I asked him about this hypothetical situation:

Someone comes up to you who is a believer and is struggling. This person sees his sin clearly, but he sees little personal growth in holiness. He seems to be doing the spiritual disciplines, or at least he's trying. But he is deeply discouraged by his own lack of progress. And he wants your help. What would you say?

To listen to Bridges's 6-minute answer, right-click to download or listen here:

Note: The book mentioned in this interview is Respectable Sins.

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The doctrine of union with Christ "lies at the heart of the Christian life," wrote Sinclair Ferguson.* And yet it's also a somewhat bizarre idea to modern sensibilities. So I asked author and teacher Jerry Bridges to explain this prominent theological concept in as simple terms as possible. What is union with Christ? And does this have any bearing on our pursuit of personal holiness?

To listen to our 7-minute conversation, right-click to download, or listen here:

Note: For more detail on union with Christ, see Bridges's books The Gospel for Real Life (chapter 3) and The Discipline of Grace (chapters 3 and 4).

* The Christian Life: A Doctrinal Introduction (Banner of Truth, 1989), 104.

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Author Jerry Bridges recently joined us in the studio to record a series of brief interviews about his life, the pursuit of holiness, and the ongoing importance of the gospel in the Christian life. He was in town teaching a course in our Pastors College.

Bridges is now 82 years old. He became a believer in 1948, 63 years ago. And for nearly 50 of those years he has been regularly "preaching the gospel to himself." He has written that in the pursuit of holiness, nothing is more important than learning to preach the gospel to yourself every day.

So what exactly does that mean, I asked him. And why, after 50 years, must he continue?

To listen to our 8-minute conversation, right-click to download, or listen here:

Notes: To further study the topic of preaching the gospel to yourself, consult Jerry Bridges's book The Discipline of Grace, chapter 3. You'll find our November 2008 interview with him here.

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