I’ve been thinking about this book lately, and last night, I was so knackered that I couldn’t writ anything, so, I figured that it’d be nice to revisit this. Maybe someone else might want to think about it a bit.
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In Christ Alone: Living the Gospel Centered Life by Sinclair B. Ferguson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
There’s not a lot of in-depth theology here, you won’t come away from this with a deep understanding of any one subject, or a few related ones. This is a compilation of fifty articles, grouped together by topic, which will enable you to gain a refresher on a spectrum of topics, or an introduction to ideas, concepts and texts that you want to come back to and study in the future. As such, it’s a really strong compilation and one that I’m glad I spent an afternoon with.
Don’t get me wrong — it’s not that I didn’t learn anything, or gain a deeper understanding of anything. But compared, say, to his The Holy Spirit or Pundits Folly, it’s (by design) not as in-depth. I thought his framing the book of Romans as a series of exchanges (e.g., man exchanging the truth of God for a lie; the gospel exchange of righteousness and justification instead of unrighteousness and condemnation) was very handy and something I’m trying to internalize. The chapters that followed it were a series of glimpses at the letter to the Hebrews, and now I want an entire book on that epistle by Ferguson.
In the section on “The Spirit of Christ,” he has a chapter called “When the Spirit Comes,” which is an examination of John 16:8-11.
And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
His thesis is that while, yes, there is a continuing relevance of these verses,
we miss their rich significance of we interpret them in a way that bypasses their historical context. In their original setting, these words constitute a prophecy of the Spirit’s work on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1 ff).
When we recognize this, we are able to fill out the content of the promise. But when we fail to recognize it, we are in danger of interpreting (and thus remolding and distorting) Scripture in the light of our own experience.
I’ve got to say, I’ve been guilty of this remolding and distorting until today, and will have to set to work on correcting my thinking.
On the whole, the book doesn’t feel too much like a collection if unrelated articles, rather than a book he set forth to write; and as such it doesn’t really suffer from being a compilation — though Part IV, “The Privileges of Grace,” is the weakest and most scattered. That said, the chapters from Part IV, “The Life of Faith” (on “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”) and “‘The Greatest of All Protestant Heresies’?” (on the doctrine of assurance) were very helpful and thought-provoking. So even at its weakest, this book rewards the reader.
Part V, “A Life of Wisdom,” is really a section on sanctification. But instead of the approach that is usually employed here, Ferguson focuses on the more internal sanctification that needs to happen to result in the external fruit. All of which could use some extended treatment by this author. Particularly, I found the chapter on discernment rich and one that I need to return to for further meditation. His extended look at Psalm 131 to show how to cultivate contentment is, naturally, valuable — Ferguson’s always at his best when discussing the Psalter.
The final chapters center on the idea of spiritual warfare — not the flashy, type that characterize so much evangelical writing on the topic. But the quieter, more difficult, and (dare I say) more Biblical approach — focusing on our sin, our need for mortification, or own worldliness.
The closing chapter on Sabbath rest is far too brief, but excellent. He reminds us that the Sabbath in creation was a “time for Adam to listen to all the Father had to show and tell about the wonders of His creating work,” — a “Father’s Day” every week. Which, of course, was ruined by the Fall, redeemed by Christ and will be fully enjoyed every day in Glory. Practically,
this view of the Sabbath helps us regulate the whole week. Sunday is “Father’s Day,” and we have an appointment to meet Him. The child who asks, “How short can the meting be?” has a dysfunctional relationship problem — not an intellectual, theological problem. Something is amiss in his fellowship with God.
There’s a lot to be mined here for devotional use, as well as a spring-board for future study.