Sinclair Ferguson has provided the church with a valuable resource. His book, The Whole Christ: Legalism, Antinomianism, & Gospel Assurance--Why the Marrow Controversy Still Matters, is a necessary book for those in churches. It is especially necessary for those that have come out of legal and authoritarian churches.

The Scriptures call believers to strive for holiness (Eph. 4:24, 1 Thess. 4:7, Heb. 12:14). It is my belief that any true believer is consistently engaged in a battle with sin. The 2nd London Baptist Confession of Faith has a lot to say about sin, and rightly so (6.5, 15.2, 17.3, 18.4), but if you understand the writers of the Confession they lean on the Scriptures to provide the true believer assurance.

Here is the rub for the legalist, and an area that Ferguson clarifies through his study of the Marrow Controversy. The legalist will always be driving his sheep to be more holy as if the Holy Spirit plays no role in this work.

Chapter 3 is helpful in seeing the danger;

There was an additional danger in the paradigm that separated Christ and his benefits and tended to make the subjective work of the Spirit in the elect the condition of the offer of the gospel. It encouraged a preparationism that in effect became an obstacle to the free offer of the gospel:

You may know these benefits--if you are among the elect.

You may receive forgiveness--if you have sufficiently forsaken sin.

You may know the message of grace--if you have experienced a sufficient degree of conviction of sin.

But this was to put the cart before the horse and turn the message of the gospel on its head. Again it tended (and tends) to happen subtly and imperceptibly. For whenever we make the warrant to believe in Christ to any degree dependent upon our subjective condition, we distort it. Repentance, turning from sin, and degrees of conviction of sin do not constitute the grounds on which Christ is offered to us. They may constitute ways in which the Spirit works as the gospel makes its impact on us. But they never form the warrant for repentance and faith (pages 57-58).

Do you see how a legalist can manipulate a congregation by consistent badgering, and diving into a congregant's sin life? If said, "pastor" can use and control a person by casting doubt about his or her salvation because they haven't fully conquered sin then what role does the Spirit play? I don't need the Spirit, I only need pastor So and So to guide me along the path. It is an insidious plan.

"They (The Marrow Men) saw that to make the offer of grace dependent upon anything, not least upon graces, was to distort the true nature of grace...[f]or it is possible to see that no conditions for grace can be met by us yet still hold to a subtle conditionality in God's grace in itself" (pages64-65).

What is the end game for Pastor Legalist? Perhaps he believes he is properly shepherding his flock? Perhaps he thinks he is guiding his sheep down a path of holiness? The biggest question is, does he do it because he believes it, or does he really do it to control people? God only knows, but here is one thing to consider in the question. Suppose Pastor Legalist has been told countless times by more experienced and more grace-filled ministers that he is overbearing and flat-out wrong. And suppose he has countless people that have left under duress.

Would a true shepherd, a man that seeks God's will for his life and for that of his congregation continue to beat his sheep, or would he eventually realize he is wrong and repent? Herein lies the answer. This site is dedicated to exposing the latter, and Mike Reid has been told time and time again he is wrong, but he continues to hurt and devastate people. Some have walked away from the faith, but most have found rest in Biblical churches, and for that, we praise the Lord for His unending grace.

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