A New Creation in Christ
Walter Marshall’s Theology of Sanctification
Foreword by Mark A. Garcia
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
What is the most important book on sanctification? For John Murray, it was Walter Marshal's The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification. William Cowper praised Marshall: "I think Marshall one of the best and most spiritual expositors of Scripture." The Marrow men also commended Marshall. Even Andrew Murray believed Gospel Mystery to be "the one book . . . admitted by all to be the standard on sanctification." Marshall's enduring value is well established, yet scarcely any resources explain Marshall's theology. T. Michael Christ's A New Creation in Christ fills this void by exploring Marshall's theology in the context of the antinomian and neonomian controversies of Marshall's day. At a time when interlocutors where pushing one another to further extremes, Marshall achieves balance because he grounds sanctification in the believer's union with Christ and deploys two limiting concepts that discourage using one error to refute the other. He insists both that some measure of assurance of salvation must precede actual works of holiness (refuting neonomianims) and that holiness is a necessary part of salvation (countering antinomianism). A New Creation in Christ explores how these limiting concepts translate into practical help for those who, as Marshall says, pursue holiness "under the guilt and power of indwelling sin."
T. Michael Christ (PhD, University of Chester/Union School of Theology) is the director of the Nairobi Institute of Reformed Theology, a division of Ekklesia Afrika in Nairobi, Kenya. He also teaches for Central Africa Baptist University in Kitwe, Zambia.
“Walter Marshall’s important treatise addressed a crucial conflict between antinomianism and a form of legalism at a decisive time in English history. T. Michael Christ, in this book, is the first to consider Marshall’s contribution in both context and depth, and he does so with keen acumen and fine judgment. It is an indispensable source for any serious consideration of the question.”
—Robert Letham, senior research fellow, Union School of Theology
“This work from T. Michael Christ is an illuminating key in understanding Walter Marshall and his Christian classic. Michael writes with comprehension, clarity, and persuasion as he centralizes the gospel imperative of union with Christ in Marshall. The work is a significant contribution to historical doctrine, demonstrating Marshall’s biblical perpendicular in sanctification in an era of extremes.”
—Natalie Brand, author of Complementarian Spirituality: Reformed Women and Union with Christ
“Paul describes his ministry’s focus as ‘making known the riches of the mystery,’ namely ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory.’ The modern church’s neglect of union with Christ has led to a departure from a distinctly Christian approach to sanctification. T. Michael Christ serves the church today by retrieving the work of Walter Marshall on this important topic. Take and read and have your heart and mind filled with the riches of the gospel, which as Walter Marshall argues is ‘the only means of producing real righteousness.’”
—Ken Mbugua, pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church
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