What do you think?
Rate this book
Free to be Holy: The Liberating Grace of Walking by Faith
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 plan biblical language of faith, humility, and obedience, many are turning inward and measuring genuine love and obedience by their emotional experiences.
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.
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).
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.
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).
242 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2019
12 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 23, 2022
Free to Be Holy is, hands down, THE best modern day book on sanctification, in my opinion. The authors’ emphasis on faith as the instrument God uses to produce true holiness in believers is thorough and compelling. The appendices teaching on emotions are incredibly helpful.
This volume thoroughly articulates unfortunately rare biblical truth about the way to see genuine, lasting change. I am thankful for their clarity, simplicity, and depth. Every Christian’s should read this if he can.
This volume thoroughly articulates unfortunately rare biblical truth about the way to see genuine, lasting change. I am thankful for their clarity, simplicity, and depth. Every Christian’s should read this if he can.
April 25, 2020
I've marked this book up quite a bit, there is much to chew on. The title, though accurate, was a little misleading for me. This book discusses the imperatives of scripture, the commands to seek holiness, and how to walk by faith, according to scripture.
February 9, 2021
This is such a good book!
March 28, 2021
We read this book for our most recent men's study. It is excellent, comprehensive, and truthful. I found the descriptions of sanctification and sections to be very helpful and encouraging!
I think Wragg does a great job of "walking the line" between personal responsibility and God's sovereignty in sanctification. A few times he was a bit unclear in regards to whether our motivation was partly assurance from the gospel, or partly duty. Specifically, I think Wragg was so focused on rebutting the Young, Restless and Reformed movement that he shied away or down-played grace and the gospel as the driving force behind sanctification. I certainly agree with him and there are dangers in excused any personal responsibility from holiness. However, I think we see clearly in scripture that true sheep will desire to follow and conform to Christ. Believers need the gospel every day and this should be our central being/focus behind our sanctification. To say this is not to say that we are waiting for a "feeling" of gratitude but quite simply to willingly put our focus on what Paul does in all his writings. We are never to graduate from the gospel, but we are to use it to fuel us and equip us to serve Christ, love His law, obey out of love and duty at the same time. I think Wragg would affirm this, but he seemed scared to come right out and say it for fear that some would abuse this grace... True sheep will not willingly abuse Christ's grace with no regard to His law. Preach and focus on the gospel!
I think Wragg does a great job of "walking the line" between personal responsibility and God's sovereignty in sanctification. A few times he was a bit unclear in regards to whether our motivation was partly assurance from the gospel, or partly duty. Specifically, I think Wragg was so focused on rebutting the Young, Restless and Reformed movement that he shied away or down-played grace and the gospel as the driving force behind sanctification. I certainly agree with him and there are dangers in excused any personal responsibility from holiness. However, I think we see clearly in scripture that true sheep will desire to follow and conform to Christ. Believers need the gospel every day and this should be our central being/focus behind our sanctification. To say this is not to say that we are waiting for a "feeling" of gratitude but quite simply to willingly put our focus on what Paul does in all his writings. We are never to graduate from the gospel, but we are to use it to fuel us and equip us to serve Christ, love His law, obey out of love and duty at the same time. I think Wragg would affirm this, but he seemed scared to come right out and say it for fear that some would abuse this grace... True sheep will not willingly abuse Christ's grace with no regard to His law. Preach and focus on the gospel!
June 17, 2021
2021 reads: #20
Rating: 4.5 Stars
This is an important book on sanctification and calls us to obedience and faith even if we do not feel like it.
This work can do with a more extended treatment of how the affections are distinct from passions and emotions. Also, some discussion on how to identify when the Paul speaks of the law as binding standard and when he speaks of the Mosaic Law in its sense of shadows that will pass away, will be of benefit to the Bible reader.
These are but very minor items that would enhance the teaching of this book. More fundamental is what the authors have got right with great clarity. They present a biblical balance between God's necessary grace for our sanctification, and our responsibility to submit our wills to God in holy living. We cannot grow in Christlikeness without either, and this is liberating.
Rating: 4.5 Stars
This is an important book on sanctification and calls us to obedience and faith even if we do not feel like it.
This work can do with a more extended treatment of how the affections are distinct from passions and emotions. Also, some discussion on how to identify when the Paul speaks of the law as binding standard and when he speaks of the Mosaic Law in its sense of shadows that will pass away, will be of benefit to the Bible reader.
These are but very minor items that would enhance the teaching of this book. More fundamental is what the authors have got right with great clarity. They present a biblical balance between God's necessary grace for our sanctification, and our responsibility to submit our wills to God in holy living. We cannot grow in Christlikeness without either, and this is liberating.
April 14, 2022
Nothing evidences unbelief as much as disobedience, so it should come as no surprise that the true believer in Christ must be obedient to His Word. Wragg and Shirley systematically demonstrate that the teaching of Scripture proves this point. In order to live a sanctified life, the believer must pursue active obedience by faith. A passive faith does not exhibit sanctification; it reveals either spiritual death or stagnation. The church todays needs the message of this volume. Read. Meditate on the Bible’s teaching. Obey the Word.
May 20, 2020
A very Biblically written book. The authors quote scripture constantly throughout this book. Their knowledge and passion on the topic is evident. A wonderful book where I learned a lot. I took a lot of notes and underlined throughout! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone!
May 13, 2020
This is a must read for all believers! Wragg and Shirley discuss the church’s misconceptions about the essential role dutiful obedience plays in the life of faith (today called legalism by those who would pit duty against grace without distinction), as well as the heartbreaking and dangerous pitfalls of emotion-reliant vs truth-reliant obedience in our subjective and pragmatic modern day.
October 10, 2021
Is this free
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 12, 2024
Must-read.
January 28, 2025
Simple definition of discipleship, “Discipleship is helping a person conform their convictions and life patterns to the commands of Christ” (page 153).
May 7, 2020
Since the Garden of Eden, God's Word has been under attack. Since the beginning of the church in Acts 2, there has been a perpetual attack upon the Word of God and more specifically, upon the gospel of Jesus Christ. The attacks are not so much from outside the church, although that certainly happens. Instead, the attacks upon the glorious gospel of Christ have often been within the walls of what is commonly called, "the church." It is such an oddity that people who would say that they believe in Christ would simultaneously attack His Word and His precious gospel message. When one attacks God's Word, he attacks the gospel. When he attacks the gospel, he attacks grace and all that comes with true salvation. The walls of history are replete with example after example of attacks upon the gospel and upon the grace of God. In more recent years, we've seen the debates rage over the nature of saving faith, over inerrancy, and over the issue of grace, faith, and human effort. After the turn of the century, the hyper-grace movement caught steam and infiltrated churches, Bible colleges, and seminaries all over the land. It kicked off a debate about the issues related to grace, gospel, discipline, faith, etc. in the Christian life. Battle lines were drawn. People left churches. Friendships ended as those who oppposed the hyper-grace movement were branded as legalists, yes, even promoters of heresy. This issue had to be researched. When one thinks about it, grace is precious (It's one of my favorite topics). What believer wants to speak out against grace? I know no truly saved person who would want to stand opposed to grace and the role of grace in living the Christian life. Yet, there were so many misunderstandings about grace, faith, and a believer's role in his sanctification. Into that environment comes one of those books that I believe every true believer ought to read.
Free to Be Holy, is excellent. Jerry Wragg and Paul Shirley present an indepth look at the subject of sanctification and the role that we as believers play in being transformed. They address many critical issues throughout. Their first section is titled: Saved For Holiness. Wragg/Shirley address the critical topics of how we are not only saved to be holy, we are likewise saved to trust, obey, walk by faith, etc. Under this topic, the author speaks to Sin's tyranny, an absolutely critical element to an indepth look at the role of grace in salvation and in living the Christian life. Another topic in this section that is so helpful is the idea of how we are saved to love God's law. No true believer is repulsed by God's law. God's law is critical. It's a tutor that leads us to Christ. No author in Scripture ever said that God's law is a terrible thing. So we are saved to love what God loves. He loves His law. To love God's law does not mean that such a person is simply a legalist. It simply means that he loves what God loves and he has to know how to handle God's law in a way that God Himself intended. This leads naturally to the idea that we are also saved to live life in the Spirit. Wragg/Shirley do an excellent job of explaining each of these topics in this first section. This first section sets the stage for what follows.
In section two, the authors direct their attention towards an absolutely critical topic: Grace For Holiness. They start out the section talking about being enslaved by Grace. This is where the rub comes in, I'm sure, because being enslaved and grace often don't seem to go together, yet the authors do a masterful job of showing the Biblical understanding of true grace, a grace that doesn't fit either the hyper-grace movement or the legalism of religiosity movement. Critical to the discussion at this point is the Means of Grace, a topic much bantered about within Christendom today. The authors unpack this concept and take two chapters to spell out specific "means of grace" that are found within the pages of Scripture.
In the final section the authors speak to the topic of Discernment for Holiness. They do an excellent job of helping the reader understand the many "players" in the attack upon the true gospel of Christ and the role that grace and effort play within living the Christian life. They address the topic of assurance of salvation and security of salvation and the distinction between the two. And then they wrap up this section with talking about how to move forward.
I believe this book is a phenomenal book and one that should be read by every true believer. For some, it will challenge---Dare I say, irritate. For others, it will bring clarity. For others it will bring comfort and great encouragement. For others still, it will exhort them to not distort the grace of God. It is an excellent book indeed and I highly recommend it.
Free to Be Holy, is excellent. Jerry Wragg and Paul Shirley present an indepth look at the subject of sanctification and the role that we as believers play in being transformed. They address many critical issues throughout. Their first section is titled: Saved For Holiness. Wragg/Shirley address the critical topics of how we are not only saved to be holy, we are likewise saved to trust, obey, walk by faith, etc. Under this topic, the author speaks to Sin's tyranny, an absolutely critical element to an indepth look at the role of grace in salvation and in living the Christian life. Another topic in this section that is so helpful is the idea of how we are saved to love God's law. No true believer is repulsed by God's law. God's law is critical. It's a tutor that leads us to Christ. No author in Scripture ever said that God's law is a terrible thing. So we are saved to love what God loves. He loves His law. To love God's law does not mean that such a person is simply a legalist. It simply means that he loves what God loves and he has to know how to handle God's law in a way that God Himself intended. This leads naturally to the idea that we are also saved to live life in the Spirit. Wragg/Shirley do an excellent job of explaining each of these topics in this first section. This first section sets the stage for what follows.
In section two, the authors direct their attention towards an absolutely critical topic: Grace For Holiness. They start out the section talking about being enslaved by Grace. This is where the rub comes in, I'm sure, because being enslaved and grace often don't seem to go together, yet the authors do a masterful job of showing the Biblical understanding of true grace, a grace that doesn't fit either the hyper-grace movement or the legalism of religiosity movement. Critical to the discussion at this point is the Means of Grace, a topic much bantered about within Christendom today. The authors unpack this concept and take two chapters to spell out specific "means of grace" that are found within the pages of Scripture.
In the final section the authors speak to the topic of Discernment for Holiness. They do an excellent job of helping the reader understand the many "players" in the attack upon the true gospel of Christ and the role that grace and effort play within living the Christian life. They address the topic of assurance of salvation and security of salvation and the distinction between the two. And then they wrap up this section with talking about how to move forward.
I believe this book is a phenomenal book and one that should be read by every true believer. For some, it will challenge---Dare I say, irritate. For others, it will bring clarity. For others it will bring comfort and great encouragement. For others still, it will exhort them to not distort the grace of God. It is an excellent book indeed and I highly recommend it.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews