by Dr. Sinclair B. Ferguson
The Marrow Controversy took place in 16th century Scotland, and it’s implications to the gospel are critical. It asks the question: “Is it sound or orthodox to teach that we forsake sin in order to our coming to Christ?” The answers examine the difference between cheap grace, free grace, and the errors of Legalism and Antinomianism.
On the one hand, the Marrow Men were being accused of Antinomianism. On the other hand, the condemners of the Marrow doctrine and the Auchterarder Creed were guilty of legalism. And at the root of the matter — as the Marrow Men themselves recognized — at the root of the matter lay neither legalism nor Antinomianism, but the question of the nature of the grace of God in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Marrow Controversy opens up to us the question of the nature of the grace of God and the offer of the gospel. Secondly, it opens up to us the relationship between saving faith and the assurance of salvation. Thirdly , it opens up the answer of the grace of the gospel to legalism. And fourthly, it answers up the grace of God to Antinomianism. In these lectures Ferguson considers the question of the nature of the grace of God in the offer of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
These three lectures by Dr. Sinclair B. Ferguson have been made into a manuscript you can download in .pdf format or you can listen to the original lectures from which the manuscripts came:
The Marrow Controversy (.pdf)
Pastoral Lessons from the Marrow Controversy (1 of 3) Historical Details (MP3)
Pastoral Lessons from the Marrow Controversy (3 of 3) Danger of Antinomianism (MP3)
Related Resources
An Introduction to The Marrow of Modern Divinity by Phil Ryken
The Marrow of Modern Divinity (eBook) by Edward Fisher
The Marrow Controversy—Lessons in Free Grace