A Puritan classic on holiness updated to modern English First published in 1692, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification has been recommended by John Wesley and others. Andrew Murray found it so helpful that he republished it in 1884, saying this in the “Let me, in conclusion, urge any believer who longs to discover or to understand better the secret of a holy life, to take time for the study of this little book, especially its Third, Fourth, and Twelfth Chapters.” Here are those chapters, plus two others, in modern English.
Walter Marshall (15 June 1628 – August 1680) was an English, non-conformist Puritan pastor and author best known for his book on the Gospel Mystery of Sanctification, which has been praised as perhaps the single greatest work on sanctification ever composed.
A very concise and direct instruction in understanding the difference between the futile earthly efforts of living in holiness, and the full understanding of the effect of our faith in Christ, and the powers of His presence in our everyday lives.
Joshua Nickel did a great job staying true to Walter Marshall’s words and just replacing words that we would never understand in 2024 without looking them up in a dictionary from Marshall’s time period! I love the whole book Marshall wrote, but it was nice to have just these 5 key chapters that are easier to share. This book will always be applicable for Christians and much needed to here over and over!
To quote the end of this book, “Sanctification in Christ is glorification begun, as glorification is sanctification perfected.” This book gets it right, reminding us that we as believers are holy through Christ’s imputed righteousness and are being sanctified by the Spirit at work in us through faith lrather than through our “good deeds.”