Free to Be Holy

Book excerpt: Reformed theology has made a welcome return to the church. With its resurgent emphasis on justification, unfortunately, has come confusion over the biblical pattern of sanctification. Rather than turning to the plain biblical language of faith, humility, and obedience, many are turning inward and measuring genuine love and obedience by their emotional experiences. Affection for God-submissive love rooted in humble faith-is being defined almost exclusively as emotional sensations of joy. In a culture driven by feelings, obeying out of duty is derided as legalism, and striving to be holy is considered a work of the Law. Many in the church are wondering, "Am I really obeying if I don't feel like it?" None of us desire to become the hypocrites Jesus warned of in Matthew 15:8, "This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me." Influential leaders in the church today aren't helping when they challenge believers to cease all striving and simply reflect on the fact of their justification. In this book, Jerry Wragg and Paul Shirley call us back to Scripture's manifest blueprint for becoming conformed to the image of Christ. With balance and warm-hearted clarity, they demonstrate that God's grace empowers us for every good deed. They show us that our justification doesn't liberate us from being diligent in our efforts to trust and obey, but rather it gives us power to withstand temptation and walk with the Lord in victory. Because of grace, we are under obligation to the Word of God and now have resurrection power flowing through our spiritual veins, strengthening every discipline of grace and growing fruit that remains forever. Through faith-filled submission of our will to the Word of God, we "work out [our] salvation," knowing "it is God who is at work in [us], both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Phil 2:13).