Walter Marshall "The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification" Sermon by John Fonville. Part 1
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Transcript:
Guilt, grace, gratitude a topic we've been looking at, and I want to expand it. For the next several weeks, we'll see. It won't be two years I promise that, but for the next couple of weeks maybe a month or so. I want to expand on this guilt, grace, gratitude paradigm that I've been teaching you here. And I want to talk to you about the gospel mystery of sanctification.
The Gospel mystery of sanctification. So what we're gonna do is we're gonna be looking, not primarily, but I take this from a 17th century Scottish, or excuse me, English minister. His name was Walter Marshall and he wrote a book called The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification.
So let me give you some background about this and what we're going to look at in 1662, 1662 is a significant date for our church now that we are committed to the Anglican church because as you know what happened in 1662? Well, you're gonna learn because when you come to catechism class in a couple of weeks. You're going to learn. The Book of Common Prayer, which is what we use the Elizabethan Book of Common Prayer was passed in, and finalized for the worship of the Reformed Church in England. But in 1662, there was also Walter Marshall. He was an English non-conformist pastor who couldn't go along with some of what happened in the established church, he's about the only nonconformance pastor that I like. That's an inside joke. So you didn't laugh, but anyway. He preached he preached a series of messages.
He preached a series of messages about growing in holiness, and he based these messages on 14 directions about the Christian life. And so listen to what he said was the goal of these messages, he preached to his church. He says to his church he says quote
"I want to teach you how you can live out the way of life that the Bible calls holiness, righteousness, godliness, obedience and true religion. This is what God requires of you in his moral law. Which he has summarized in the 10 commandments and particularly in the two great commandments of love to God and love to your neighbor."
So his goal was to teach you how to be a law keeper. His goal was to teach his church how to keep the great commandment to love God and love your neighbor.
And so Marshall's goal, is my goal for you, is to teach you how to grow in obedience. It is to teach you in this series how to keep God's moral will. But how to keep it in such a way that it is pleasant and joyful not oppressive and exasperating. So let me give you some background on Walter Marshall, because it's helpful.
The origin of Walter Marshall messages flowed out of his own personal experience and struggles to live a holy life. His early life of faith was not a source of joy and comfort to him. It was a source of discouragement and heartache. He experienced a great deal of mourning, because his conscience was always feeling so guilty. In his struggles and in his failings to grow in holiness.
Has anybody ever felt like that? Marshall was always going around thinking that God was displeased and angry with him. And so he set out to try to get help. So he first went to his friend Richard Baxter. Richard Baxter wrote this famous book that a lot of people talk about called "The Reformed Pastor". And let me just say that title is not a reflection of what his book is about the reformed confession of the Christian faith it is far from it. It is not about the Reformed faith, The Reformed Pastor. Marshall went to Richard Baxter to get relief for his suffering. He felt no relief from Richard Baxter, and if you know what Richard Baxter taught it would be a good reason he found no relief, because Richard Baxter was not even an evangelical.
Next, after leaving Richard Baxter behind he consulted with a man called Thomas Goodwin, and so Thomas Goodwin he was a very. He was a very well known Christian theologian in his day, and Marshall when he went to his friend Thomas Goodwin, he confessed several sins to Goodwin, that were weighing heavily upon his conscience. And when he had finished making his confession…
... and let me just say by the way that the practice of confession. Outside of the general public confession of the church is a very good thing to do in the church. It is a very good practice. In fact Calvin commends that in his Institute is a practice of the church. So if you ever want to come and confess your sins to the pastor I will absolve you of those, and it's a healthy thing to do that.
So he went and he confessed his sins to Thomas Goodwin, and when he finished his confession. Thomas Goodwin replied. He says, "You have forgotten to mention the greatest sin of all, the sin of unbelief. You do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive your sins, and to sanctify your nature." end quote.
So Goodwin's reply to Marshall was a major turning point in Marshall's life. Marshall came to see that at the root of his fears and his lack of comfort, and his exasperations and his depression and struggles. At the root of that was an evil unbelieving heart, and lack of faith in Christ. He came to see that he was not trusting in Christ to sanctify him.
He came to see that the key error that so many believers make when it comes to pursuing holiness obedience is this, this is a key error. He writes this, he says, "People think that even though they have been justified by a righteousness produced totally by Christ. They must be sanctified by a holiness produced totally by themselves."
I want you to listen carefully, sanctification, like justification, is the work of God's free grace.
I want you to listen to question 35 in the Westminster Shorter Catechism which is now our cousins, because our cousins are the Westminster people. But listen to what they wrote in the Westminster Confession or Westminster Shorter Catechism and question 35.
What is sanctification? Listen to this answer.
Sanctification is the work of God's free grace.
Everybody say that with me, because I want you to get this, sanctification is the work of God's free grace. Whose work is not included there? Yours. And what does this work of God's free grace begin to do in our life, whereby we are renewed in the whole man, the whole being. Our whole being. God wants you to be a healthy, whole person is what God's free grace works in you, renews the whole man after the image of God which was lost in the fall.
Listen, and God's free grace, enables us more and more to die unto sin, and to live unto righteousness. Sanctification is the work of God's free grace.
Listen, we no more sanctify ourselves than we justify or glorify ourselves. Sanctification like justification and glorification. In other words, the whole package of salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone. And so what Marshall came to understand is this wonderful life giving freedom releasing truth that the gospel is sufficient both for our justification and for our sanctification.
This is what the Apostle Paul clearly teaches in the book of Titus which I have spent two and a half years, expositing for you in this church. You can sum up the book of Titus which is this in chapter one verse one. It is the gospel, which is according to godliness. Godliness is a God centered life that manifests itself in godly living, which godliness comes from the book of Proverbs. God fearing, God's centeredness is what the gospel produces.
Listen to what the Apostle Paul says how the gospel empowers God's people to live a godly life. He says in Titus chapter two beginning verse 11 "For the grace of God, to bring salvation, has appeared to all men." So immediately that tells us it is grace. What is the grace of God? This free work of God's grace? It is a person. It is the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Grace is a person. The grace of God has appeared teaching us. Teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust, and to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present age. Teaching us to be looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself, his own special people who are zealous for good work. That's what the grace of God teaches us. You might call this passage in Titus, "with Christ in the School of grace". And he brings us into His grace teaching us to deny ungodly living and to pursue righteousness and holiness and to be looking eagerly for the second coming of Christ to be zealous. He died, to redeem us from lawlessness, from antinomianism, and breaking God's law, he died, to redeem us from that. And he died to purify us, sanctify us, to be zealous for good works. That's why Christ died.
And so the Gospel Paul teaches us, it brings a double blessing. It brings the forgiveness of sin which is justification, and it brings us a power of holiness, which is sanctification.
This is what Augustus Toplady, who was an Anglican pastor and hymn writer, captured in his famous hymn Rock of Ages. Listen to what he wrote.
He says
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee, let the water and the blood, from thy wounded side which flowed, be of sin, the double cure, save from wrath and make me pure.
Save me from it's (sin's) guilt and power.
In salvation we don't receive a half Christ. We don't receive a half Christ who saves us from the guilt of our sin, but then leaves us to save, that is sanctify, ourselves from the power of sin. Christ is not divided. You cannot have a half of Christ. In salvation we receive a whole Christ, who saves us from the guilt and power of sin, who justifies us, and who sanctifies us, and we trust him to do both. Forgive me of my guilt, and he washes me from my filth and impurity.
And so what we must learn to do, and what we're going to learn in this series to do, is to learn to trust Christ to save you not only from sins guilt, but from sins power. Trust him to save you from the dominion of Satan.
Paul writes in Colossians 1:13. He has delivered us from the power of darkness, he has done this. We must trust him for this. And he has conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Trust Christ to give you this new spiritual frame of mind to do these things. And when you trust Christ for the salvation of the Guilt, and the power of your sin. This is what begins to happen in your heart, the love of Christ in the Gospel will begin to compel you to live for Christ and to die to your sin.
This is what Paul writes in Second Corinthians chapter five verses 14 through 15. He says, For the love of Christ compels us, a powerful image, the love of Christ compels us because we judge that if one died for all then all died and, and he died for all that those who live should live no longer for themselves. He died for you to purchase you so that you wouldn't no longer live for yourself. Remember love of neighbor, a great commandment, we're loving our neighbor and to love our neighbor we're learning to look outside of ourselves, to our neighbor. Jesus died so that you should live no longer for yourself, but rather live for Him, who died for you, and rose again. So only the gospel can empower obedience. Only the gospel is essential for growth and holiness.
So the great theme of Walter Marshall's messages that came into his book which is the theme scripture. Is this, Christians grow in obedience by the power of the gospel. You grow in obedience by the power of the gospel. You don't grow in obedience by your own strength. Listen, listen it is by means of the gospel and faith that the Holy Spirit brings you and me into union with Christ and His Spirit then begins to work in us both to will and to do for his good pleasure. And so our Christian growth, our sanctification, our obedience, our pursuit of holiness. It flows from this union with Christ, it is not flowing from our own efforts to just gin it up, and do it.
I pointed out last week, when it comes to sanctification that people tend to fall into two errors. I said that one of these errors that people fall into is legalism. And what they do when it comes to sanctification is they place their own efforts, their work, their obedience at the center of their sanctification, and they usurp the work of Christ in the Holy Spirit. And they think that by doing something they're sanctifying themselves but they're not. Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about, to make this real for you, because this is helpful to you.
John Piper, in his book Future Grace, he writes this quote. It says, "I'm hard pressed to imagine something more important for our lives than fulfilling the covenant that God has made with us for our final salvation."
If You think you can do that, you're toast.
I want you to listen very carefully, good works, The pursuit of holiness, your covenant keeping, your obedience to God's moral will, however you want to label it, is never instrumental in your salvation. What you DO is not instrumental in your salvation.
I want you to listen to Walter Marshall as he explains this from his book, he says, "Holiness is not a means to an end, holiness is not the instrumental means by which you achieve salvation" that's what he's saying. Holiness is not a means to an end. Your good words do not save you. Rather holiness is part of the end itself, you are saved in order to do good works which God prepared in advance that you should walk in them. Ephesians two verse 10 good works do not achieve salvation, good words are the fruits and results of saving faith.
The only thing instrumental in your salvation is your faith which is a gift given by the Holy Spirit on the basis of grace alone. Faith is the instrumental means of our salvation. That is the means by which we come into union with Christ, and all of his saving benefits justification and sanctification. So that's the first error that is common that people fall into. Second. The other error is license. People fall into license they think that since grace and forgiveness are free, it doesn't matter how they live. There's no need to keep this law so they deny what's called the third use of the law.
We see this rampant also in particular types of celebrity pastors who fall, and then bring themselves back and appoint themselves to plant a new church, and then go and deny the third use of God's law. But you see in our pursuit of holiness, we have to avoid both errors. Because both errors misunderstand the Gospel. The Gospel of Grace is the power for holiness. And through faith in Christ you are forgiven, you are justified, through faith in Christ you are being made holy, you're being sanctified, and you're trusting Christ for both. The gospel gives us Jesus who saves us from the guilt of our sin and from the power of our sin, and as Augustus Toplady said in his hymn. These are the double benefits. These are the double blessings.
This is what Jesus says in John chapter 15 verse five he says "I'm the vine you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him bears much fruit for without me you can do nothing." That's not like, "Okay, so now give me 10 ways to abide in Christ, so I can bear fruit", that's not what Jesus is saying. He's just making a statement of fact, if you don't abide in me you can't bear fruit, you can't do anything. Just a statement of fact. It's not like, abide in me, "Okay, give me 15 practical tips for abiding this week so I can bear fruit." That's not what Jesus is saying here.
You come into union with Christ, through the gospel and faith that the Holy Spirit works this in you and unites you to Christ by the instrument of faith alone, not by your good works. And growth in holiness then flows from our union with Christ, and this is what Walter Marshall calls the gospel mystery of sanctification. Listen to what he says is this gospel mystery of sanctification, and he's going to tell us.
He says, "Now that you are in union with Christ. Christ begins to impart his godly nature to you." He says in other words you do not produce a godly nature yourself out of yourself. Rather you take this godly nature to yourself by receiving it from Christ. Through fellowship with Christ, you begin to receive this holy frame of mind which is in Christ Himself. This is such a great mystery it is difficult to understand, and it is. Listen. Our union with Christ is a great mystery, the apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter five verse 22. He calls our union with Christ a great mystery, he says quote he says, "This is a great mystery. But I'm speaking concerning Christ and the church." The Scriptures are filled with mysteries.
Let me give you a couple. The mystery of the Holy Trinity. You have the union of three persons in one Godhead. Jesus is the great mystery, you have in Jesus, listen, you have the union of the Divine and human nature's in one person. Jesus is the great mystery. Paul says in First Timothy chapter three verse 16 he says by common confession, great is the mystery of godliness. He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. Jesus is the great mystery of godliness in Jesus all the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell bodily within the person of Jesus. That's astounding. Think about it like this: you have the fertilized egg by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He was an embryo. He was an infant that was born and was laid in an animal feeding trough, he was a little boy that grew up into manhood. He was the one who bore all of our sins upon the cross, he was buried. He was raised again on the third day for our justification Paul says in Romans four. He has ascended bodily to the father's right hand where he lives and reigns with all authority for all eternity forevermore. That is the great mystery, this great mystery that God had acted through physical means to accomplish spiritual wonders. And listen very carefully God still does accomplish spiritual wonders through physical means today.
It's through the preaching of the gospel, and the administration of the sacraments of water, bread, and wine in the church.
Through the preaching of the gospel, the Holy Spirit, Paul says, and you've heard this a million times in our church in Second Corinthians four the Holy Spirit through the preaching the gospel affects ex nihilo creation, he creates faith out of nothing. He creates faith in you as a gift and, and through this gift of faith he brings you into union with Christ, and all of Christ's saving benefits which is justification and sanctification. And then through the administration of the sacraments week after week. through baptism and through the Lord's Supper Holy Eucharist, the Holy Spirit confirms and strengthens your faith by bringing you through this table, and through that water into a closer, strengthened union with Christ. And so then the source of holy living is the gospel mystery of union with Christ. I'm going to show you in weeks ahead how this works out, and how this fleshes out, but let me give you a preview in First Corinthians chapter six where the Corinthians were run amuck in sexual immorality and sin in the church. Do you know what Paul does to clean up their sexual immorality? He points them to the gospel mystery of their union with Christ, to produce holiness, in their life. We'll come back to that.
But growth in holiness flowing from our union with Christ is a mystery. Why is this a mystery? Because we commonly think like Marshall says that we have to get a holy state by producing it ourselves. Again, as John Piper says, Do you want to get a holy state and have final salvation? Keep the covenant. You're doomed if you think that is the way you're going to get there. No hope, no hope. The natural man's way of thinking is that I have to produce this holy state myself, and I have to work it out in my own heart. But if you're a Christian you are in Christ, and Christ is in you by the Holy Spirit, and in Romans chapter six when this accusation of license arises because, oh you're justified by grace through faith in Christ alone and you sin a lot and God freely forgives your sin. Romans chapter six Paul being dogged by these judaizers accusing him of preaching license, how does Paul respond to this accusation of license? He responds by saying timeout. You've misunderstood the gospel. So let's back up to first principles. And let me tell you the gospel again this way, and he points believers in Romans six to refute license to the truth of union with Christ.
Listen to what he says. "What shall we say then. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound. God forbid." Certainly not. In other words, no way. "How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it, or do you not know that as many of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus that's union with Christ right there were baptized into his death." Therefore, remember last week was the sermon therefore so here's the therefore, we have been brought into union with Christ. Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. Even so, we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death which he's referring to the cross of Christ. Certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, a new creation. And so again we have to remind ourselves that sanctification is the work of God's free grace.
And by God's work of free grace in our lives he is renewing us in our whole being. So that we can be brought into the conformity of the image of God once again that we lost in the fall, that he is enabling us, day after day to die to our sin and day after day to learn to live more and more unto righteousness. And so this whole process of renewal is not because of our work but because of the work of God's free grace, we are enabled to die to sin, not because we're working, but because he's working. Listen, we are enabled to live unto righteousness Paul in Titus two because the grace of God is teaching and empower me to live after holiness, and Philippians chapter two verses 12 through 13 Paul says this, he says we work chapter two verse 12. We work, because it is God who works in us both to will and to do for his good pleasure. You see that we work. Why, because God's work of free Grace is working in me through the power of the Holy Spirit. Listen to both are willing to do for his good pleasure.
And so what is our obedience, what is our pursuit of holiness, what is our law keeping?
it isn't the means for final salvation. What it is is this, it is the fruit of our sanctification. And sanctification, which is the work of God's free grace. My good works are simply the fruit of my sanctification. It is not my sanctification. Do you understand that? You have to get that. Your good works is not your sanctification. It is the fruit of your sanctification, which is the work of God's free grace in you to produce that. Do you see the difference?
So as we reflect this morning on the gospel mystery of sanctification I'm going to leave you with two words of encouragement as we finish from Marshall.
First of all, listen to this carefully. Don't think that you're unworthy to have such a great gift as union with Christ, because of your failures. Do you know what shame does to people? It makes them hide. It makes them avoid church, and cripples them in the pursuit of obedience and holiness in their life. It isolates. If your life is filled with crippling shame you know where you need to flee to? The visible church. That's what it's for.
And if the enemy can get you to hide in your shame you're toast. Listen to what Walter Marshall says he says you might think that you're unworthy to have such a great gift as union with Christ. Remember, however Christ shared his precious blood to redeem you that precious blood will enable you to miraculously advance in holiness through your union with Christ, union with Christ is not a privilege you earn by your sincere obedience, or by your attempts of holiness. Union with Christ is not a reward of your own good works, rather union with Christ is a privilege that God gives to every Christian when they first become a Christian. Right when you enter into the kingdom of God. You also enter into union with Christ. This union with Christ is the foundation for all of your obedience to God. All good works as a Christian flowing out of your union with Christ, all of your sincere obedience to the law is the fruit of your union with Christ. That's why you must come to the visible church where you receive Christ sacraments which confirm and strengthen your faith, so that fruit will flow from that faith. So that's the first.
Second, here's the second word of encouragement, you will never be made perfect in holiness in this life, but don't despair because of it. You will never stop sinning till Jesus comes back, or you take your last breath and go see Jesus first. You are going to sin as a justified, being sanctified, spirit indwelt, regenerated believer for the rest of your life. But do not despair about that. Marshall said to his church. He says you're more sinful than you can imagine. So today. If you think, I mean I've really blown it. I've got some deep seated sin and I've really blown it.
You are worse than that. You are more sinful than you can imagine. The doctrine of original sin is true. You cannot reform your flesh. You cannot become a better person by your own strength no matter how hard you try. He says but cheer up. If you're a Christian. You have come into union with Christ, and through faith in Jesus Christ you are forgiven, through faith in Jesus Christ you are sanctified and made holy through Christ you are a new creation, the Holy Spirit lives in you. Therefore, because of the indicatives of the gospel. Therefore, pursue the life of faith in Christ, with all diligence.
Let's pray. Father, thank you. Thank you for this word of comfort that you give to us. Thank you that through union with Christ. This holy life that is required of us flows out of us by him imparting his nature in us and through us. Thank you, that you do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. So I pray that you would encourage our hearts by grace today. And through this grace make us zealous for good works. We pray this the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
