Walter Marshall, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification

The late Dr. John Murray once said that the most important book on sanctification that he ever read was Walter Marshall's, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification. I can see why John Murray said that. I'm just 4 chapters into Bruce McRae's newly released, updated version of Marshall's masterpiece on gospel-driven sanctification (which was first published in 1692) and this is already the best book I've read on the topic.315 years after its original publication, I believe that Marshall's thesis is as important and urgent as ever--that Christians grow in obedience to Christ by the power of the gospel, not by their own strength. I've found that most all Christians agree on justification by faith, but that very few Christians realize that our sanctification is also by faith. Marshall's book is a clear, winsome, and persuasive articulation of the gospel-centered nature of sanctification.Perhaps the best way that I could persuade you to get your hands on this book is by listing the chapter descriptions found in this book. One great feature of the book is that the table of contents lists, not chapter titles, but a brief description of the subject of each chapter. Reading these descriptions should hopefully grip your interest and show you why this is an important book for the church today. Here's a list of the chapter descriptions:CHAPTER 1: God in his law calls you to live a holy and righteouslife. In order to do this, you first have to learn the only possibleway you can live a holy life.CHAPTER 2: You have to receive certain qualifications to keep thelaw of God. There are four qualifications for living a godly life whichyou must receive from God: 1) Your heart has to be freely willing tolive a godly life, 2) You have to be assured that you are forgiven andreconciled to God, 3) You have to be sure of a happy, eternal futurewith the Lord, and 4) You have to have sufficient strength both to willand to do what God calls you to do.CHAPTER 3: You receive the qualifications to enable you to keep thelaw of God out of the fullness of Christ, through fellowship with him.In order to have this fellowship, you must be in union with him. Youmust be in Christ, and Christ himself must be in you.CHAPTER 4: The Gospel is the way the Holy Spirit brings you intounion with Christ, and into fellowship with him and his holiness.Through the gospel, Christ enters your heart and gives you faith. Faithis the way you actually receive Christ himself, and all his fullness,into your heart. Even this faith is a grace of the Holy Spirit. Whenyou have faith, you believe the gospel with all your heart. When youhave faith, you believe in Christ, as he is revealed and freelypromised to you in the gospel, for all his salvation.CHAPTER 5: You cannot live a holy life, no matter how hard you try,if you still have your old nature. In order to live a holy life, youhave to receive, by faith, a new heart and a new nature, through yourunion and fellowship with Christ.CHAPTER 6: If you try to obey the commands of Christ in order toearn your salvation, and to gain assurance of your salvation, you areseeking salvation by the works of the law. You are not seeking yoursalvation through faith in Christ, as he is revealed in the gospel. Ifyou try to earn your salvation by your true obedience, you will neversucceed.CHAPTER 7: Do not think that your heart and life have to be changedfrom sin to holiness in any measure before you are allowed to trust inChrist for salvation.CHAPTER 8: Make sure that you seek holiness of heart and life in itsproper time. You can only live a holy life after you have come intounion with Christ, have been justified, and have received the HolySpirit. Once you have received these blessings, seek holiness by faithwith all your might. It is a crucial part of your salvation.CHAPTER 9: In order to sincerely keep the law of God, you must first receive the comfort of the Gospel.CHAPTER 10: If you are going to obey the law out of the comfort ofthe Gospel, you must have complete assurance of your salvation. Youobtain this assurance by believing and receiving Christ into yourheart. Therefore, confidently believe in Christ without delay. Beassured that when you believe in Christ, God will freely give you apersonal relationship with Christ, just as he has promised.CHAPTER 11: Believe in Christ without delay! Then, continue to buildup your faith. When you do this, you will build up your relationshipwith Christ more and more. You will also be empowered to live a holylife.CHAPTER 12: In order to obey the law of God, earnestly live by yourmost holy faith. Do not walk according to your old nature, and do notput into practice anything that belongs to your old nature. Walk onlyaccording to the new nature you received by faith, and live thelifestyle of your new nature. This is the only way to live a holy andrighteous life--as much as is possible in this present life.CHAPTER 13: Now that the Holy Spirit has renewed you, God calls youto live a holy life. To live this obedient life, you must continue tobelieve in Christ and walk in him by faith. To live this life of faith,God calls you to diligently use all of the means of grace he has givenyou in his Word.CHAPTER 14: I have been telling you up to this point that you mustseek to live a holy life by believing in Christ, and by walking in himby faith. If you are going to do this, you must understand why livingby faith in Christ is so important and beneficial to your soul.