Justification, Sanctification, and Union with Christ
Fresh Insights from Calvin, Westminster, and Walter Marshall
Foreword by Joel R. Beeke
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
The opposition against legalism and Antinomianism is one fight that Calvin, the Westminster Divines, and Walter Marshall were involved in. Both errors are strongly connected, and we are prone to swing between these two errors. Each of them leads to the other. When we think that being forgiven in Christ means that we are not bound to the law, we fall into Antinomianism. As a reaction against Antinomianism, we can go to the other extreme, which is legalism. In legalism, we try to secure obedience by making it the condition for our salvation, and hence it becomes a heavy burden. The final result of this swinging is despair, which leads to hatred of the law and subsequently of God. The swinging between these two errors can only be broken by the gospel.
Sherif A. Fahim is a lecturer at Alexandria School of Theology, Egypt. He is a graduate of Alexandria School of Theology, Moore Theological College, and Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and is a PhD candidate in biblical studies at Puritan. He is the general director of El-Soora Ministries and an elder in the Presbyterian Church in Egypt.
“The work of Walter Marshall is not well known to most, and Sherif Fahim helpfully shines a spotlight on his scholarship, showing us that Marshall explicated clearly the meaning of justification and sanctification. . . . Historically, Marshall’s work has had a significant impact, and we can be thankful to Fahim or pointing us to this important source for living the Christian life.”
—Thomas R. Schreiner, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
“How do you live a Christian life that is both free and holy? How do you understand the relationship between justification and sanctification? These are questions that have roiled the church for centuries and that disquiet our hearts even today. . . . In this wonderful, stirring book, Fahim introduces us to Marshall and, in so doing, brings us into a life-changing realization of the Christian’s standing before God. . . . Read this book and be blessed.”
—Stephen G. Myers, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary
“Everyday Christians and theologians alike have struggled to properly understand the relationship between grace and law in the believer’s sanctification, often bouncing between the errors of legalism and antinomianism. Fahim does them both a great service here with his careful examination of Walter Marshall’s masterful The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification. . . . Everyone who desires to understand sanctification more clearly would benefit from this important new work.”
—Thomas D. Hawkes, author of Pious Pastors: John Calvin’s Theology of Sanctification and the Genevan Academy
“It is of the utmost importance that we have clear and correct views of the relationship between justification and sanctification. . . . Fahim’s work is especially helpful in that it traces the development of this discussion through many of its stalwart proponents. . . . Fahim has done a great service to the church in mining the gold from these works and presenting it to us in such a clear and edifying manner. I would heartily commend this treatment to all those who desire clarity and correct views on this great theme.”
—Ian Macleod, Minister, Free Reformed Church of Grand Rapids
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