Called to Be Holy: A Biblical Perspective

This is one of the best books on this subject I've ever read. Every Christian needs to read this book and examine him or her self. If I may quote from the book: "To claim to have received God's forgiving grace while continuing to live a life that is dominated by the desires is a contradiction in terms" And: "Peter understood that God's grace meant not only to deliver us from the guilt of sin, but also it's power. We have lost sight of this truth. We have taught that while Christians should fight against sin, they cannot help but engage in it. Thus we should not be supried when our leaders fall into embezzlement, adultry, substance-abuse, and the like. We expect to live in sin and all our expectations are fulfilled with a vegeance,...We want to enjoy the pleasure of sin while escaping the bitter consequences." Dr. Oswalt hits the nail right on the head with this book IMHO. Every Christian needs to read their New Testament in light of the Tanakh. When you do this you will discover the will of God for your life indeed, the Christian's Halakha or "the way of walking". This is some powerful stuff here.

This book is a much needed for understanding what is meant by holiness. I found this book to be particularly helpful as a biblical guide and resource in any discussion of the holy life. It also links the Old and New Testaments together in a way that I don't see often.

This book is a simple, yet profound book dealing with the often viewed esoteric doctrine of christian holiness. Dr. Oswalt is my advisor in seminary and I have taken several classes from him at Wesley Biblical Seminary (wbs.edu). Reading this book brought me to a point where I decided to seek and enter into a life that is pleasing to God, a holy life. The Bible is clear that this is what God wants, no more no less. But holiness is not some super spiritual belief system or flight of fancy. It is simply living like God intended, fulfilling the Law perfectly. This is done by God filling you with his love, so you can and will love others. Sin's dual nature of internal struggle and external temptations is eliminated and the Christian can live a life of victory over internal sin (the old man, the sinful nature). It is a great book, easy to read, and it will change your life. Highly recommended!!