Jay Adams once said that, “What we do to another man and how we do it is tightly bound up in what we believe about that man.”[1] Indeed this is true in general, and it is certainly true in the process of discipleship. The first step in understanding how to disciple a person is to understand what that person is, and the process God has designed for that person to grow. A grace-based (or free-grace) approach views the process of sanctification very differently than does a non-free-grace approach, and there are significant practical implications that arise from the differences between the two. This presentation examines the Biblical descriptions and prescriptions for sanctification, in order (1) to help us discern whether the free-grace or non-free-grace model – if either – accurately reflects the Biblical perspective, and (2) to help us think through a soundly Biblical discipleship model.
[1] Jay Adams, The Christian Counselor’s Manual (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1973), 71-72.
