Introduction

This book sets out "to provide a manual of biblical teaching on holiness developed on the basis of extended expositions of foundational passages in the New Testament..."

"If there is a specific design and goal then in Devoted to God it is to fasten into our minds and hearts a number of these central passages that will create the possibility for exponential growth in our understanding of what sanctification is and how it is nurtured."

The book aims to fasten into our minds and hearts the full portrait of holiness as painted in Scripture. "We need to be able to retrace the biblical foundations of holiness for ourselves. Otherwise, to one degree or another, we end up creating our own personal brand of Christianity."

Chapter 1 : The Ground Plan

Two questions are answered in this chapter:

1. What does 'holiness' mean?

2. What hope is there for me to grow in holiness and to make progress in sanctification?

Holiness when described as separate-ness is lacking. The reason is because for holiness to be an attribute of God it must be so apart from His relationship to His creation. "It must be true of God simply as He always existed as the eternal Trinity. But in that case, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit had no 'attribute' that involved separation. This is not to say that God the Trinity cannot be described as 'holy'. But it is to say that holiness cannot be defined as separation" (p.2).

Holiness is better defined as devotion. "We mean the perfectly pure devotion of each of these three persons [of the Trinity] to the other two... absolute, permanent, exclusive, pure, irreversible, and fully expressed devotion" (p.2).

"If this is what holiness means in God, then in us it must also be a corresponding deeply personal, intense, loving devotion to Him - a belonging to Him that is irreversible, unconditional, without any reserve on our part. Simply put, it means being entirely His, so the all we do and possess are His. We come to think all of our thoughts and build our lives on this foundation" (p.4).

This can be just as true of an inanimate object such as the liturgical vessels of the Old Testament. They were reserved, wholly devoted, existing only for service to God.

"To be holy, to be sanctified, therefore, to be a 'saint' is in simple terms to be devoted to God" (p.4).

[To my shame, it is far more often that I feel like an utter failure in my devotion to God. My devotion is directed toward other things - mostly myself and my passions and desires. They seem to grab my affections with greater power. "When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to Your testimonies" (Psalm 119:59). A sober assessment of my ways causes me to turn my devotion to God. All inferior affections are simply distractions. But I am frustrated by how powerful and intoxicating they are. I want to be totally devoted to God. What hope is there fore me?]

Can I hope for holiness? Ferguson turns to the example of Simon Peter. "If anyone in the New Testament can teach us that even we can be devoted to God and make progress in holiness despite our past failings, it is Simon Peter" (p.5).

Peter's first letter presents the truth we need: "Elect exiles of the dispersion... according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with His blood" (1 Peter 1:1-2). His logic is this: Knowing whose you are, who you are, and what you are for, settles basic issues about how you live (p.7).

Ferguson will explore this in the coming pages.

Peter's first letter opens with a doxology that Ferguson says "is so rich and health-giving it merits a book all of its own... Here he [Peter] lays the basic foundations for wholehearted devotion to God" (p.8).

First, understand the distinction between justification and sanctification. They are different, but they cannot be separated in the life of a believer. "Despite these important distinctions, the New Testament also stresses that justification and sanctification are both ours through faith in Jesus Christ. It is therefore not possible to be justified without being sanctified and then growing in holiness" (p.9). In other words, "Our new status is always accompanied by our new condition". This is the meaning of Jesus Christ being both Savior and Lord of your life. Chosen by God, justified by His grace through faith, and set apart unto Him in holiness. Christians who claim one without the other 'rend Christ asunder' as John Calvin said.

Ferguson helps us better understand the meaning of sanctification so that we can see clearly why justification and sanctification are inseparable. Again, knowing whose we are, who we are, and what we are for settles basic issues about how we live. Sanctified simply means devoted to a special purpose. Ferguson uses the illustration of a reserved sign on a table or chair. "This is what 'sanctification' means: God has put His 'reserved' sign on something... someone who thereby becomes a 'saint', a person reserved for the Lord... We belong to Him - and to nobody else, not even to ourselves. We become devoted to God" (p.11).

There is great beauty in holiness as God restores in our lives the image which we were created to reflect (p.12). The character of a person who is sanctified by God is attractive. It is a blessing to others.

Peter's life and his letter provide great encouragement to those chosen by God and on the path of holiness. Ferguson will explore 6 foundations based on the text of 1 Peter on which a life devoted to God can be built and sustained (p.14).

Foundation 1 : The purpose of God the Trinity

"The first foundational principle is this: Our sanctification is the purpose of God the Trinity" (p.14). See in 1 Peter how God the Trinity is the active agent in our salvation and sanctification, from first to last. God the Father elects us according to His loving foreknowledge. "God chose us in order to sanctify us" (p.15).

"To those who are elect exiles... according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with His blood..." (1 Peter 1:1-2).

The work of the Trinity in salvation becomes evident throughout the New Testament. "[E]very aspect of our salvation, not least our transformation into the likeness of Christ, is explained in terms of what the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit all do, always in harmony and unity with one another" (p.16).

Ferguson then presents a "challenging implication" that is a result of this biblical perspective. "If God has committed Himself to changing our lives, to sanctifying us, then wisdom - not to mention amazed gratitude - dictates that we should be committed to that too" (p.17). Let my priority be the same as His priority. If so I find all the resources of God the Trinity available to me in bringing about this ultimate goal.

"Whatever opposition there may be from the world, the flesh, and the devil, God the Trinity has determined to pour His energy into making us like Jesus Christ. It is His settled purpose" (p.17).

Foundation 2 : The commandment of God to be holy

"Holiness is not only the desire of the Trinity; it is a specific command (and therefore a commandment) of God the Father: 'as He who called you is holy, you also must be holy in all your conduct, since it is written 'be holy, for I am holy'... It is as though God were saying... In other words, 'Be like Me!'" (p.18).

"Later we learn that the fulfillment of the commandments is love for God and love for others... [Love and holiness] have a symbiotic relationship. Sanctification is growing in holy-love; love is growing in holiness" (p.18).

"As with much else, this is a biblical principle that God explained progressively and cumulatively to His people." God's determination to make a people holy unto Himself is clearly seen throughout the entire Bible narrative. "The Lord unfolded it at first through liturgical rites and ceremonies prescribed in the law given to and expounded by Moses... [God's people] learned that they were to be separated from the world, different from others, and devoted exclusively to the Lord... It was all meant to express the basic principle that the Lord had claimed them for Himself" (p.18-19).

"As the narrative of the Old Testament progressively unfolded, God explained what being devoted to Him meant at a personal and moral level... Holiness meant knowing God, the Holy One, and reflecting and expressing His character - having fellowship with Him in such a way that, as His bride, His people became like their Husband, the One with whom they lived" (p.19).

Ferguson describes Isaiah's experience In the Throne Room in vivid detail (p.19-21). This is a significant point in Scripture where the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man are starkly contrasted. "[N]ow, in the light of God's beauty, did the nature of true holiness dawn on him... In the presence of holy-love he realized his unholiness, his unloveliness and his unlovingness. But now too, from holy-love came holy-pardon in the form of a coal from the altar of sacrifice..." (p.21).

Holiness creates a paradoxical effect. "On the one hand there will be the irresistible attraction of the beauty of holy-love showing what life in the presence of God really is - life as it was meant to be lived... But on the other hand, this holy-love, so attractive in itself, also involves loving-holiness that will offend those who are repelled by God's holiness and live in rebellion against Him" (p.21-22).

Foundation 3 : Exiles with a Savior

"An exile is someone who is separated from his native geographical and cultural sphere and is now living in another place altogether. That is exactly what the holy Christian is - someone who once belonged to the world but now belongs to a new and 'holy nation'" (p.23).

"Holiness means being reserved for God. Understanding this involves coming to appreciate the price He has paid in order to possess us. But it also means that we realize we have been set apart fro Him; He has claimed us for Himself. We therefore no longer 'belong' to this world. Yet this same realization - that Jesus Christ shed His precious blood for us - is precisely the encouragement we need to cope with the cost of no longer 'belonging'" (p.23-24).

"The magnitude of the cost of our holiness" weighs heavily on the heart of the Christian. In love, the Father gives the Son as a substitutionary sacrifice for wretched sinners. "How could this be?" This love is what sustains the Christian exile. "He is worth living in exile for... If such a Savior suffered such a death in order to make us holy, how else should we respond but by giving ourselves entirely to Him?" (p.24).

Foundation 4 : The ministry of the Holy Spirit

"Peter has now emphasized the choice of the Father and the sacrifice of the Son. But in this discussion of our sanctification he does not neglect the third person of the Trinity... Sanctification is the fruit of the Spirit's ministry. We have been chosen 'according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit'" (p.25).

"We experience not only a change of status (as in adoption) so that we belong to God's family, but also a real transformation of our lives so that we begin to develop the characteristics of our adoptive family... We manifest the family likeness, and this means growing in holiness because He is our 'Holy Father'" (p.25).

The Holy Spirit has remodeled my heart to love the things I once despised. He gives me power to live a holy life.

Foundation 5 : The function of trials

"[P]ersonal holiness is one of the reasons for the trials we experience... we can rejoice in the midst of them because of the purpose God has through them..." (p.26).

"The point that Peter is making is that difficulties, trials, opposition, suffering, together constitute one of the chief instruments that God uses in the process of refining, sanctifying, and strengthening His people... Why does He do this? To build Christian character, making us more like Christ. For it was through affliction that the Father molded His life. If the Son's obedience was developed through suffering, we should not be surprised if He continues to use the same method with us..." (p.26-27).

"A fundamental way in which Christian character is strengthened is by stress. The friction God builds into the Christian life is, therefore, not accidental. It is deliberate, strategic, and intended to produce growth in holiness" (p.27).

Foundation 6 : The glory to come

"Our growth in holiness is intimately related to how we view the future, and to how firm a grip we have on the reality of the world to come and our destiny in it" (p.27).

"...it is the certainty and the reality of the grace and the glory that are yet to be revealed that together transform the way we live here and now" (p.27).

"[B]oth Peter and Paul relate these two things - suffering and glory - not only chronologically but causally. Afflictions produce glory. They are the raw materials our of which god will shape us for eternity. And therefore knowing what we are destined to be in the future determines, transforms, and energizes the way we live now" (p.28).

The future glory, or "This final salvation will be holiness completed. This is simply the consummation of the sanctification that God has already begun." (p.28).

Ultimate holiness and ultimate happiness is the final destination. This shapes how I live 'on the way'. "How strange it is that people think (as many seem to do) that they will be happy pursuing holiness there and then in heaven, if they are singularly unhappy about the calling to pursue it here and now on earth! No, there is continuity. Love holiness now, because we love the Holy One and we will love it all the more then, in the presence of the Holy One when we see Him face to face" (p.28-29).

"With these different building blocks then Simon Peter lays down the foundations on which sanctification is built. We need to fix them into the foundations of our own thinking and living, and make holiness a priority... With these foundations built into our lives we have every encouragement we need to be devoted to God" (p.29).

Chapter 2 : All of Me

Transformation

"We must now turn to consider this sanctification in terms of the transformation it produces in us" (p.31). In this chapter, Ferguson will focus on a passage from Romans 12, which reads:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:1-2).

"This is not a lecture on self-improvement. Rather Paul brings to the surface four important gospel-centered principles" (p.32).

Principle 1 : Sanctification flows from the gospel

"What we saw in Peter could be summarized like this. When God urges us to be holy He is not throwing us back on our own resources to pull ourselves up by our boot strings and to do better. Rather he encourages us to swim into the sea of God's love, to immerse our lives in His grace, and to live on the basis of the resources He has provided for us in Christ. To change the metaphor, growing in holiness and sanctification requires that we put down deep roots into the soil of the gospel" (p.32).

We need to learn "gospel grammar" in order to live out and articulate the gospel. "The gospel grammar... always operates according to a basic rule:

Divine indicatives (statements about what God has done, is doing, or will do) logically precede and ground Divine imperatives (statements about what we are to do in response)... Thus:

Who God is, what God has done, is doing and will do for us (indicative) provides the foundation for our response of faith and obedience (imperative)...

This is the logic that explains the power of the gospel" (p.33).

Reversing the grammar

Unfortunatley, it is all to common that people ("Christians" and non-Christians) get the grammar reversed. "This is the way many people think about salvation... Because they have lived in a satisfactory (but not perfect) way, God will be gracious, make up the deficit, and they will be safe. But this stands the gospel on it head" (p.33-34).

"Christians often seem to fall back into bad spiritual grammar."

"If we are to understand the nature of sanctification and successfully pursue it, we must immerse ourselves in appreciating the grace of God expressed to us in Jesus Christ and applied in us by the Holy Spirit... Justification, forgiveness, acceptance, and union with Christ are the logical and actual grounds for sanctification and obedience - not the other way around" (p.35).

"It is because we understand the significance of His death and resurrection that we are devoted to Him... This the motivation, energy and drive for holiness are all found in the reality and power of God's grace in Christ. And so if I am to make any progress in sanctification, the place where I must always begin is the gospel of the mercy of God to me in Jesus Christ" (p.36).

The Pharisees were those who "became fixated on the details of the law itself rather than on the gracious God who gave it" (p.37). This mentality did not go away with the Pharisees. It is just as common today and it is what Ferguson describes as the "second law of spiritual dynamics". The concepts of energy and entropy can be applied to a "spiritual system" and help us think about our natural decline toward spiritual messiness. "Gradually our eyes will become fixed on our performance and we will begin to lose sight of our relationship to God in Christ" (p.37).

The indicative medicine

"There is a prescription readily available to help us here" (p.38). Dive in to the indicatives of Scripture. For example, of the 315 verses in Romans 1 through 11, only seven of them are imperatives. Clearly, "the rigorous nature of [Paul's] imperatives is rooted in his profound exposition of God's grace" (p.39). "This is the principle that destroys both legalism and antinomianism" (p.40).

Principle 2 : Sanctification is expressed physically

"If you were asked: 'Where does Christian holiness express itself?' how would you answer? Paul's answer? The body. His over-arching exhortation is, 'present your bodies as a living sacrifice'" (p.40).

"Since this is so any real sanctification by necessity takes place in and through the body. There is no such thing as sanctification that does not involve us physically" (p.41).

"There is, of course, another reason Paul insists on this. It is in our bodies that sin, and sinful tendencies, addictions, and habits have exercised their spiritually destructive influence on us. The effect of sin is felt in bodily ways, and manifests itself in what we do with our bodies... They are the instruments of either sin or holiness. Through them we express what is in our heart" (p.41).

"You can see immediately why this is key to living the Christian life..." (p.42). Sin and Satan will wage their warfare on my eyes, my ears, my hands, my feet, my mouth... I must guard them constantly. They are devoted to Christ, because I am devoted to Christ.

Sacrifice

Paul's language is one of sacrifice. "Our bodies are to be living sacrifices" (p.42). "Jesus Himself employed similarly graphic language to describe what is involved in consecration to Him: 'take up the cross', 'pluck out', 'cut off', 'die'" (p.42). Living a holy life is deliberate and costly.

This involves imitating Christ. "Since the Son of God took a body in which to do the will of God, believers also yield their bodies to do the will of God in Christ's strength and by imitating His example" (p.43).

"The gospel stands in stark contrast to [the common cultural exaltation of the body]. It calls us to the thankful and joyful worship of the Lord in which we give our whole lives to Him, including our bodies. In such worship we discover self-forgetfulness and Christ-glorifying consecration. This is why, even although it is true that who we really are as Christians is not visible to non-Christians, holiness cannot remain hidden. It shows itself in how we use our bodies" (p.45).

Principle 3 : Mind renewal

"If you were to ask Paul, 'Explain the hey to the way the gospel transforms and sanctifies us', his answer might surprise us. 'It is what happens in your mind!' He says: 'Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your minds from within'" (p.45).

Christians are members of a new Kingdom, a new order. Christians are new creations, rescued from the present evil age. It is critical to life that Christians know this. "Knowing who we are will shape how we live. Conversely, not knowing who we are as Christians will leave us muddled and confused in our lifestyle. So we need to learn this new way of thinking about both the gospel and ourselves if we are to be transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ by the renewing of our mind...

But learning a new way of thinking is never easy. It always involved repentance in the mind (indeed the New Testament's word for repentance, metanoia, means 'change of mind'). And this is precisely what the gospel produces in us" (p.47).

Another grammar lesson

The verb used by Paul, 'be transformed', is specific and intentional. "[I]t is worth paying attention to the way Paul's use of grammar expresses the inner structure of God's sanctifying work in us..."

"Verbs have tenses (various forms of past, present, and future), moods (indicative and imperative) and also voices (active and passive)" (p.47).

'Be transformed' is:

• Tense: the present continuous tense (go on being transformed). It refers to an ongoing reality.

• Mood: the imperative mood. It is a command.

• Voice: the passive voice. It refers to something that happens to us.

How can it be that we are commanded to engage in an ongoing activity in which we are passive?

The role of the ministry of the word

"This, incidentally, is why it is so important for Christians to place their lives under the preaching of God's word. For in receiving it we are actively passive. It is expounded to us, not by us; and yet it appeals to our minds, reshapes our thinking, penetrates our consciences, and at this level engages us in intense activity" (p.49).

The proclamation of God's word is of central and critical importance in ministry. Unfortunately, it has been forsaken in place of gimmicks and tricks thought to be attractive to the general public.

"We have become such an activist generation of Christians that we can scarcely grasp that our first and greatest need is to be in this sense passive - being fed the good food of the word of God so that we may 'be being transformed' (p.50).

Principle 4 : The effect

"The effect of the process Paul describes is remarkable: by testing we learn to discern and approve the will of God, and see it as 'good and acceptable and perfect'" (p.51).

What does this mean?

Certain things are clear. "As we respond to the gospel we put it to the test. Faith in Christ involves an experiment" (p.51). We trust Him without fully knowing what the consequences will be in our lives. "We learn to discover what God's will is in each situation only as we find ourselves in it and as His providence slowly unfolds His purposes" (p.51). While we do not know exactly what He has in store, we can be confident about His character and His ways and that He is sovereign over all things.

"More than that, God's will is 'perfect' because His wisdom is flawless... He leads us by ways we could not have guessed, into situations we never expected, to fulfill purposes we never could have imagined...

When we thus yield our lives to the Lord, and our thinking is renewed by His word, we also begin to find God's will is acceptable - it becomes a delight to us" (p.52).

Chapter 3 : Prepositions of Grace

prep·o·si·tion : a word governing, and usually preceding, a noun or pronoun and expressing a relation to another word or element in the clause, as in “the man on the platform,” “she arrived after dinner,” “what did you do it for ?”.

"We must now take a deep breath and plunge into one of the most important, thrilling, and challenging areas of the New Testament's teaching: the Christian's union and communion with Jesus Christ..."

"Paul's most succinct statement of this is found in Galatians..."

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. - Galatians 2:20

"These words harmonize well with some of the notes we have already sounded" (p.56)

• All the resources for our Christian life are found in Jesus Christ and not in ourselves.

• Our sanctification only takes place in union with Him and never apart from Him.

• The sphere in which our sanctification is to be worked out is in our bodies - 'the flesh' [sarx, physical body].

The Gospel changes the way we live life in the body. Paul's summary of the Gospel here in Galatians uses a set of prepositional phrases that reveal the heart of his whole theology, and are the subject of this chapter:

1. The Son of God... loved me and gave Himself for me.

2. The life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God.

3. I have been crucified with Christ.

4. Christ lives in me.

Preposition 1 : The Son of God... gave Himself FOR me

"The Lord Jesus Christ has given Himself for me. This is the foundation of my union with Him" (p.57).

"If there is to be both justification and transformation for the sinful human nature, then the resources for both must come from one who has shared that nature, and in it lived obediently for us, and then, in further obedience to His Father, died in our place for our sins and broken the power of death in His resurrection. Only a Savior who accomplishes this double obedience for us can resource a full and real salvation in which we are not only forgiven but also counted righteous, and then are transformed into His likeness by the Spirit" (p.58).

Jesus, the founder of our salvation (Hebrews 2:10) is the One "whose actions lead others to share in the reality or consequences of His individual accomplishments" (p.58). All that Jesus accomplished in His life, death and resurrection is a reality now shared with those who believe in Him as a result of the Spirit's work of uniting us to Him. His justification is my justification. His sanctification is my sanctification.

Preposition 2 : I live by faith IN the Son of God

"Paul now goes on to speak about the instrument or means by which we are united to Christ: through the Spirit we are brought into living union with Him by faith: the life that I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who love me and gave Himself for me" (p.59).

Faith: "Faith means responding to Christ's invitation, 'Come to me... and I will give you rest.' With all the burden of my sin and guilt, in my weakness and failure, I rest on Jesus Christ and receive His gracious pardon and power..."

"In the Old Testament 'to have faith' meant resting your weight, and the burden of you sin and need upon the Lord as your Savior. On one occasion the language of 'roll on' to Him is used..."

New language?

Paul appears to employ new language to capture the 'new wine' of the revelation of the Gospel. "One particular expression Paul uses seems to be without parallel in ancient Greek literature. He speaks not only about believing in Christ (en Christo) but also about believing into Christ (eis Christon). Faith in the Son of God means believing into Jesus Christ..."

"[T]his is in fact what faith effects. When we believe on or in Christ, we actually believe into Him..."

"This perspective was so central to Paul's thinking that (in contrast with ourselves) we never find him describing believers as 'Christians'. In fact the expression is used very rarely in the New Testament. Instead because we believe into Christ believers are most frequently described as those who are 'in Christ'" (p.61).

Larger than we first thought?

What is the full extent of all that we gain when we believe into Christ? "All the resources that God deployed in His Son - in His death, resurrection, ascension, and heavenly reign - we now inherit. If this is true then every resource stored up for us in Jesus Christ is now available to us through faith, to enable us to live for His glory" (p.62).

"Sadly we often live the Christian life setting our hearts on lesser treasures and pleasures than those that are our inheritance because we are in Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge'. It is hardly surprising therefore if our lives express so little of 'the praise of His glorious grace' and 'the praise of His glory'. Only a new appreciation of what it means to believe in Christ - to believe into all the He is for us - will introduce or recover the deep melody of grace" (p.63).

Preposition 3 : I have been crucified WITH Christ

"The heart of union with Christ, Paul emphasizes, is this: when we trusted into Him who was crucified for us there is a sense in which we also came to share in His crucifixion. Paul does not mean that we died physically but rather that united to Christ all the implications of His being crucified for us become our possession. Thus in Christ we 'died' out of the old family to which we belonged by nature - the family of Adam..."

So it is with His resurrection as well. "[T]he crucified Christ to whom I am now united is also the risen Christ... I died to the old life and now I have been raised into a new life altogether" (p.64).

Yet more grammar

The form and tense of Paul's statement "is not describing something he has done, but what has been done for him and to him, what has happened to him through being united to Christ in His death. He has been co-crucified with Christ" (p.64).

Because of my union with Christ by faith, what God has done for me through Christ's death and resurrection is always true of me whether I feel it or not. These are the Gospel lenses through which I now view myself.

Preposition 4 : I no longer live, but Christ lives IN me

"Now Paul leads us into one further dimension of our new identity in Christ... Christ now comes to dwell in us through the Holy Spirit" (p.65-66).

Ferguson quotes multiple verses that scratch the surface of the indwelling of Christ in believers:

• John 14:20

• John 15:4, 5

• John 17:23, 26

• Ephesians 3:20

• Colossians 1:27

"We need to try to grasp the enormity of what is being said..."

Like married couples who become more like one another because they live together in union and devotion, so it is for the believer who lives in union and devotion with Christ. "When we come to faith we put on Christ. But in another sense Christ also puts us on - He dwells in our hearts through faith" (p.67).

The implications for my understanding of my personal identity are massive. "Now I knew who I was - someone in whom the Lord Jesus had come to dwell. Yes, it takes a lifetime for this truth... to penetrate to every element of one's life. But it will never do that until we have begun to grasp its reality..."

It can be true of slaves or prisoners that, when they are set free they fail to understand and experience the fullness of their freedom because they are so used to being bound. "In some ways, sadly, the same can be true for Christians. We have been set free; we have received a new identity in Christ; we have been crucified with Him who died for us; we have been raised into the new life we live by faith in Him who dwells in us.

But is it too much for us to take in?

If it is, make it a priority to reflect on these gospel principles:

• The Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me.

• I have been crucified with Christ.

• I live by faith in the Son of God.

• Christ dwells in me.

And then go and begin to live in the light of it" (p.69).

Chapter 4 : A Different Kind of Death

"We have already noted a surprising statistic in Paul's letters. He never describes believers as 'Christians'" (p.71). The emphasis that Paul makes is an emphasis on believers being 'in Christ'. This is the chief description, and it is multi-dimensional. "It has an eternal dimension, since God 'chose us in Him before the foundation of the world'. It has a covenantal and incarnational dimension, since in His incarnation Christ was obedient as the second man and last Adam. It also has an existential dimension, since the Holy Spirit brings us into a real spiritual bonding with the risen and ascended Lord" (p.71).

"Christ is our life: we died, were buried, raised, have ascended, and will appear in glory with Him. This is union with Christ viewed through a wide-angle lens. But Paul also wants us to view this same union under a microscope..." (p.71-72). In this chapter, Ferguson will place the microscope on Romans 6:1-14.

A major key to Christian life

"The fundamental significance of Paul's teaching here is highlighted by the question he asks:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

He appeals to both the fact of baptism and to its meaning" (p.74).

"There is a further aspect of baptism we need to grasp. Christ has given it to us as a naming ceremony" (p.75). In being named "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19) we receive an identity, a code, an allegiance. "Baptism therefore does not so much speak about faith but to faith and says:

You are being named for the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father has sent His Spirit to unite us to Jesus Christ. In Him we are given the rich inheritance of all the gracious resources we will ever need to be brought from sin to salvation, form death to life, and from earth to heaven" (p.75-76).

The background

Paul's message in Romans 6 is a response to "muddle-headed thinking". "Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!" (6:1). "Those who speak like that (and most of us have heard some version of these words), understand neither God's grace nor their baptism. In fact, at bottom, they do not really understand what it means to be a Christian; certainly they do not grasp what it means to be 'in Christ'" (p.76).

Paul responds to this wrong thinking with a positive exposition. Ferguson breaks it down like this:

1. Emotion

2. Explanation

3. Exposition

4. Implication

Emotion

"We are often (and rightly) advised not to live the Christian life on the basis of our emotions. But it would be a mistake to think that the gospel leaves our emotions in the same condition in which it found them. In fact it both informs and transforms them" (p.77).

Paul's outburst in Romans 6:2 - "May it never be!" - is full of emotion. Paul demonstrates that a deep understanding of what it means to be in Christ will express itself in our emotions as we respond to things outside of us. Paul's reaction "is actually a striking illustration of an important aspect of sanctification: thinking through the logic of the gospel corrects, cleanses, recalibrates, transforms, and sanctifies us emotionally as well as intellectually. It leads to us responding as whole people to the situations in which we find ourselves. Instead of being captivated emotionally, our emotions are mastered by the gospel and begin to express its truth and power. We thus develop an integrated and healthy emotional life" (p.77).

Explanation

What is it about the Gospel that causes Paul to respond the way that he does? "Paul's answer is that if we understood our baptism we would see that it is inconceivable, a self-contradiction, to think a Christian can simply continue in the old way of life" (p.78). Baptism is a declaration that "[t]he believer no longer has the same relationship to sin he or she used to have; you are no longer under its dominion as you once were; you have been raised into new life with Christ - that is why it is inconceivable that you would continue in sin" (p.78).

Paul uses the law of non-contradiction in his explanation: "How can we who died to sin still live in it?" The Christian belongs to a different category of person. "[T]hey are 'those-who-have-died-to-sin' people. They cannot still belong to the opposite category of 'those-who-continue-to-live-in-sin' people" (p.78).

"This is gospel logic... [and] we need to remember that in any discipline... we need to apply our minds to thinking clearly. In the case of this particular teaching the effort to grasp what Paul is saying and to work out its implications is vital" (p.79).

Exposition

"We are 'those who have died to sin'... Paul helps us grasp its implications by spelling out in detail what 'we know' about ourselves:

1. The fact is that 'our old self was crucified with Him [Christ]'.

2. The end in view is that 'the body of sin might be brought to nothing'.

3. The result is that 'we would no longer be enslaved to sin'.

4. The reason for our new freedom is: 'one who has died has been set free from sin'.

...So what do these statements mean, and what do they imply?" (p.80-81).

"[T]here is an important reason for giving patient consideration to this passage: these words are of major importance in determining the way we think about ourselves as Christians" (p.81). They establish the Christian's 'self-image', which is the only truly lasting and liberating self-image because it "delivers us from seeing 'self' as the central project of our lives" (p.81).

1. We know that our old self was crucified with Him. Literally 'the old man' was put to death. This is more than just a former manner of life. It is the former identity and dominion under Adam. "When I was united to Jesus Christ... I died our of an entire world order - the Adamic order - and was thus delivered from a fallen and condemned race under sin's reign, through union with the Christ who died to sin and was raised to new life" (p.82).

2. In order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing. "Brought to nothing' "expresses the idea of rendering something inoperable, or barren, of no effect, no longer able to exercise the authority it once had... It suggests not annihilation but disabling" (p.82). "The body of sin' should be understood as the physical body or the 'flesh'. This does not mean that Christians desire or experience a non-bodily existence, but rather that the body of sin was the vehicle of sin's dominion in which we all once lived in Adam. That body of sin, the flesh, has been neutralized in our union with Christ.

3. We are no longer enslaved to sin. The result, sin no longer has dominion over us. It no longer has executive power in our lives. Yes, sin continues to indwell in and influence us, but "[i]t no longer has a legitimate or legal claim on us, for in Christ we have died to the realm in which sin reigned" (p.83).

4. The one who has died is freed from sin. Specifically, Paul is saying, as the greater context notes, that we are freed from the reign of sin. We are indeed freed from the guilt and condemnation of sin in our justification, but the thrust of the passage is given to the reign of sin. Ferguson describes how, in this passage, "Paul regularly uses the definite article before the word 'sin' throughout this whole section of Romans. The term proliferates as if to impress on the reader that sin is being personified here and viewed in terms of its dominion and not, as elsewhere as 'sins' in terms of guilt" (p.85).

"When we realize this we know that life can never be the same again. The old has passed away; the new has come. Now grace, not sin reigns!" (p.86).

Implication - back to baptism

"Paul began by asking the Romans, in essence, whether they understood their baptism. Were they living the baptized life? Had they really 'heard' what their baptism was telling them? Perhaps we have the same problem today?" (p.87).

It is a problem when Christians cannot explain what their baptism actually means. And it is too common that Christians describe their baptism as a sign of something in ourselves "rather than understanding that it is a sign of what Christ has done and if for us" (p.87).

To the extent that we fail to understand the meaning of our baptism "we have lost hold of baptism's power and usefulness in our lives... And so our baptism fails to accomplish its purpose of defining our daily life in Christ" (p.87).

My baptism tells me (p.88):

• I am no longer the person I was in Adam; I am a new person in Jesus Christ.

• In Christ I am someone who has died to the dominion of sin and been raised to new life.

• In Christ I am someone who has been delivered from the dominion of sin and has been transferred into the kingdom of God.

My response to these imperatives include (p.88):

• Reckon on it. It is true. So think about yourself as someone who has died to sin and been raised to new life in Christ.

• Reject the efforts of 'King Sin' to reign again.

• Refuse to give yourself to 'King Sin's' control; but give yourself to righteousness.

• Realize that if the dominion of sin is broken, it has lost its right to exercise dominion over you again.

"This, then, is the rhythm of the baptized life of faith" (p.88).

What's in a name?

"Paul is saying here: 'Christians, do you know your real name?' Do you know who you really are in Christ? Do you understand what it means to be renamed in Christ? Do you think of yourself each day as someone who has died to sin and been raised into newness of life and therefore cannot go on living in sin?" (p.89).

Immediate, but also long term

"Union with Christ in His death and resurrection is ours the moment we trust in Him. But... understanding what has happened to us takes longer... there is a long process of rehabilitation. We will need to repeat the same exercises again, and again, and... again" (p.90).

Like addiction recovery:

• It takes time for the addict to understand and establish their new identity and perception of themselves.

• Breaking the addiction is not the same as destroying the substance to which we have been addicted. We have also created a weakness, a tendency, and developed an appetite for the subject of our addiction. "Therefore we need to exercise lifelong vigilance against it" (p.90).

"We need to keep coming back to the teaching of the New Testament, and remind ourselves of the truth about our lives in Christ. We need to keep recalibrating our lives in terms of Paul's exhortation not to let sin reign" (p.91).

Chapter 5 : Conflict Zone

"The... new reality in our lives is that the presence of the Spirit brings us into a conflict zone - we are now involved in a Spirit-against-flesh war" (p.94).

The exhortation to live by the Spirit is found in Galatians 5:16-17:

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do."

"[Paul] explains that only if we live by the Spirit can we avoid gratifying the desires of the flesh. It is important to underline that we cannot do this simply by trying to avoid sin. We can do it only by refusing the desires of the flesh and simultaneously living in the power of the Spirit" (p.94).

Ferguson invites us to notice two features in Paul's teaching (p.95):

• "When he speaks about the 'flesh' and its desires he includes what goes on in our minds and hearts as well as what we do with our bodies."

• "When he employs his basic gospel structure of indicatives leading to imperatives he tends to join to this a further structural element. We might call it 'The simultaneity of negative and positive'."

Positivity and negativity

Living the Christian life requires "both negativity and positivity at a very profound level" (p.95). This is far more than good feelings or bad feelings, which is the notion that positivity and negativity have been reduced to these days. "For Paul teaches us that to live well requires being both negative and positive - denying the flesh with its desires, and living under the lordship of the Holy Spirit" (p.95-96).

Ferguson gives three principles to help us understand Paul's reasoning:

1. 'Flesh' and 'Spirit' are not only two aspects of a Christian's being; they are characteristics of the two ages or epochs in which the Christian lives.

The use of the words "flesh" and "spirit" in Scripture describe multiple realities (p.96-97):

• The skin, or more generally our physical framework, as in the phrase 'flesh and blood'.

• Human beings in their weakness and frailty. Humanity contrasted with deity.

• Human nature not only weakened but twisted and enslaved to the power of sin, alienated from God and in the grip of the evil one.

"In this last sense, 'flesh' in human nature under the dominion of sin, corrupted by it, and powerless to reverse its effects... Flesh is another way of describing the domination and impact on our lives of 'the present evil age'... we are all by nature 'in Adam', deeply implicated in his fall, sharing in the subsequent alienation from God" (p.97).

But God... The glorious truth and goodness of the Gospel is that by God's saving grace through faith in Christ we are no longer in Adam. "Therefore we are no longer 'in the flesh'" (p.97). We are now 'in Christ'.

"Yet, at the same time we remain in the same old world which is infected by Adam's fall, as well as the power of sin" (p.98). Believers in this world live in the 'already and not yet'. We have been rescued from the dominion of the flesh, but not yet freed from its presence. "We live in an atmosphere of flesh, in a social order under the influence of the devil... So long as this is true we will find ourselves under threat from the old order. And like recovering addicts we will need to make daily decisions and commitments to live out the new life. This involves conflict and requires resolute resistance" (p.98). We live in a conflict zone, requiring a constant wartime readiness.

2. Being 'in the flesh' and being 'in the Spirit' also denote two different periods in the life of someone who has become a believer.

"Being in the Spirit and no longer in the flesh therefore represents a larger and more significant reality than that we merely experience competing desire, good and bad. The reality is that (the world of) the flesh once dragged me down into sin and death in Adam; but now I live in (the world of) the Spirit and have been lifted up into righteousness and life" (p.99).

"The implication is clear. Because we have been brought out of the dominion of the flesh into the dominion of the Spirit, we are responsible to live according to the principles of this new kingdom. So, says Paul: Walk by the Spirit, in such holy power that you will not yield or give way to the lingering influences of the flesh" (p.100).

Life in the flesh is characterized by a few traits:

• Living out of a center in myself, absorbed in myself and with my own perspective, devoted to this world and its values and standards, viewing temporal as more significant than eternal.

• The self hides from and defends itself against God fearing that the glory of God will destroy the glory of the flesh.

• Subtle forms of self-protection clothed in religious garb. The self is constantly insisting on weighing in the scales the good things it has done to balance its sin. "Although such good works profess to be spiritual, they are in fact further evidence of being under the dominion of the flesh, whose chief form of pride is believing that we can make ourselves acceptable to God" (p.100).

3. Paul's exhortation not to walk or live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit underlines the fact that these powers remain competitors for our lifestyle as Christians.

The New Testament teaching provides us with three 'pictures' of the flesh/Spirit conflict:

• Large scale picture : flesh and Spirit as aspects of two cosmic ages.

• Personal picture : flesh and Spirit as aspects of our personal history.

• Immediate picture : flesh and Spirit as daily choices in our lifestyle.

It is the immediate picture that Ferguson describes in this section. "The Christian life involves us in an ongoing, lifelong conflict." The Christian lives "under the reign of the Spirit in a world order dominated by the flesh. We do so as former 'addicts' to the flesh..."

"There will be many battles. Hence the urgency of Paul's exhortation..."

"But how can we do this?" ...

The how to question

Ferguson breaks down the passage into what he calls sanctification's "Five R's". They are the "how-to" of walking by the Spirit:

1. Recognize the enmity there is between the flesh and the Spirit. "The more sensitive we are to the fact that we are living in a warfare context, the more successful we are going to be in living in the Spirit. The Christian who succeeds here is the one who recognizes the reality, the urgency, and also the magnitude of the conflict...Only those who are on their guard will be protected against temptation" (p.104).

2. Remember the new status you have been given in Christ. "We belong to the new creation; we are in the Spirit, and we are indwelt by Him! If the Spirit of Christ dwells in us... we have all the resources of the victorious Son of God to enable us to conquer in the battle" (p.105).

3. Realize the calling you have been given - to live by the Spirit and not to gratify the flesh. "'No provision for the flesh' is an essential motto for the growing Christian. And we are enabled to make it ours when we take hold of Christ and all that He is for us and to us" (p.106).

4. Respond sensitively to the Spirit. "As His sons we know we belong to His family. We learn to put out of our lives everything that is not in keeping with the family lifestyle. This is what it means to be 'led by the Spirit'. We begin to be sensitive to Him... We avoid anything that would bring shame on the family name" (p.107).

5. Reap what you sow. "The more we offer ourselves to the Spirit as seed to be fructified (made fruitful) by Him, and the more we ask 'what will please Him?', the more we will produce the fruit of the Spirit... Paul's agricultural metaphor reminds us of the importance of thinking long term. This means we will always be asking the question 'What will be the final harvest, the ultimate fruit of this thought, act, or pattern of behavior?'" (p.108).

"So keep your focus on Christ. Make sure you are familiar with the provisions for victory God has given you in Him... Of course we each apply them individually to our own lives. But sanctification was never intended to be an individualistic project. We are in this battle together...

This is the only way to live the Christian life. It is, by definition, the pathway to holiness. This is part of what it means to be devoted to God" (p.109).

Chapter 6 : The New Rhythm

The next passage Ferguson explores is Colossians 3:1-17:

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

This passage, along with the other key New Testament passages that are basic for our understanding of sanctification "are related to each other like a set of Russian dolls, all with the same characteristics but coming in different sizes and fitting into each other... Each passage has its own context, emphasis, and level of exposition. But the underlying patterns are the same: indicative and imperative, objective and subjective, negative and positive. They all have their foundation in the undergirding reality of union with Christ" (p.111).

"It is not easy to take in all that Paul is saying here at first reading... Yet this perspective is clearly vital to the Christian's 'self-image'. For unless we are processing this new paradigm we are not yet thinking clearly about who we now are 'in Christ' and what that implies for the way we live" (p.113).

Who are you?

"How do you describe yourself when someone asks you about your faith?" (p.114). Our answer to this question reveals what we understand about who we have become if we are in Christ. We have already seen that the label "Christian" is not the New Testament's description of choice. "And since we tend to think by means of words and categories, in a perfectly innocent way our thinking about ourselves may deviate from the New Testament norm" (p.114).

The clear New Testament and apostolic norm is the description 'in Christ' or 'in the Lord' or 'in Him'. "It is the basic way Christians in the Pauline churches were taught to think about themselves... [In Colossians] Paul is spelling out the dimensions and implications of this union at length ... This makes it perhaps the most comprehensive passage in the entire New Testament to help us align our self-understanding to the apostolic norm" (p.114).

Ferguson lists out the theme. "Thus:

Faith brings us into union with Christ. Therefore:

• We died with Christ,

• and were buried with Him.

• We have been raised with Christ into new life.

• When Christ appears in glory, we will appear with Him.

This is the message that baptism proclaims. This is what baptism 'says' to us; it is an expression of powerful gospel logic:

• All the privileges of union with Christ are made over to us in Christ.

• Our new identity is determined by what Christ has done for us.

• Through faith we become new men and women in Christ, people with a totally new identity.

Since this is so,

• We must get rid of everything that is inconsistent with that new identity - all that belonged to the old life in Adam.

And in addition,

• We must grow in the graces that are the hallmarks of our new life in Christ" (p.115).

Ferguson will spend the rest of this chapter examining this "basic pattern for spiritual growth".

1. Putting off the old

"Paul first deals with putting off the characteristics of the old life. He sees them virtually as three layers of clothing: under garments, basic garments, and outer clothing" (p.116).

Begin with the first layer - "the secret and private life of the mind".

i. Private life

The root of our sin is covetousness and idolatry. "When we have rejected or denied our basic created desire for God (we were, after all, made for Him), we do not destroy our need; we only distort it. In its place we deify something that God has made... The gospel reverses this" (p.117-118).

Relevant today?

The letter to the Colossians is "perennially relevant... Perhaps - as some still do - they [the Colossians] had identified their dramatic deliverance from the dominion of sin with freedom from the presence of sin. But the two should never be confused... True, sin no longer reigns over us; but it has not ceased to dwell in us. It will plague us until the end of our lives" (p.118).

Immature Christians who are dissatisfied with or disheartened by the ongoing corruption of sin might be tempted to turn to more extreme external rigors and a false sense of piety. "We need to remember Paul's warning: these disciplines may seem to be spiritual precisely because they are so rigorous. Indeed the more rigorous they are the more spiritual they may seem to be. They will offer much, but they can never deliver from indwelling sin; 'they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh'" (p.119).

ii. Everyday life

"Paul now expands his teaching beyond the hidden life of the mind and our private life behind closed doors. He turns to the everyday life of the believer" (p.120).

"But now you must put them all away..." (:8). Ferguson describes the depth and subtlety of these sins. 'Anger', for example could be understood as 'exasperation'. Anger expressed in rage and hatred is more rare for most, but exasperation in more familiar. Paul is not addressing only 'big sins', but any hint of ungodliness. "So in fact 'exasperation' spells spiritual danger. Yet most of us do not think of it as serious sin... But if so we have become deaf to what we are really saying. For such exasperation is an expression of the warped and distorted old way of life in Adam. It is un-Christlike and needs to be put off. At its heart is a self-exaltation over others, and a dissatisfaction with the way God is ordering and orchestrating the events of our lives" (p.121-122).

We must recognize the subtle and destructive nature of these 'everyday life' sins.

Providing motivation

Paul provides two statements that help us see sin for what it really is. This provides us with motivation to throw them off.

1. Sin brings divine wrath

2. This "clothing" belongs to your former life

iii. Church life

"What would be the first on the list of shortcoming that you think need to be put off in the Christian fellowship to which you belong?" (p.123).

"Top of Paul's list is, 'Do not lie to one another.'"

"Paul's exhortation probably extends beyond 'Do not lie to one another' to 'Don't play "Let's pretend"' in church; let us have honest and real relationships with each other... Those who know who they are in Christ no longer need to pretend and to hide themselves behind a mask" (p.123-124).

Ferguson gives a helpful word of caution here. There is a line to draw. "Living in the truth with one another is not the same as telling people everything about ourselves."

"Yet the relationships between and among those who are in Christ should be marked by reality rather than pretense... Pretending to be something other than what we are is destructive of true fellowship... if we have been accepted by the One who knows our darkest secret, we should also be increasingly delivered from the fear of other's opinions about us" (p.125).

In Christ we not only become new individuals, but part of a new humanity. A new community. "Remember who you really are!" (p.126).

2. Dress the part (Putting on the new)

"Since you are now a new person in Christ - dress accordingly" (p.130).

The Christlike characteristics that Paul mentions - compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience - are characteristics "appropriate for the Colossians because they are 'God's chosen ones'" (p.131).

Election is the motivation for sanctification. "How does election bear such fruit? What is the gospel's logic here?"

• "His choice of us preceded our choice of Him. He loved us before we loved Him. He had compassion on us before we showed any interest in trusting in Him. He has been kind to us. He has been gentle with us. He has shown us divine meekness in Christ. He has been patient with us. No wonder then that God's chosen people should react to others in exactly the same way" (p.131).

• "Over and over again the Scriptures make clear that the knowledge of our election in Christ provides us with a powerful motivation to live godly lives. For God, 'chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy...'" (p.131).

Ferguson goes on with some additional applications:

• This clothing is attractive; but it is not 'showy' (p.132).

• We are to 'wear' Christlike responses to one another... specifically in forgiveness (p.134).

• We are to wear the love of Christ as our belt (p.134).

• We are to have Christ's peace ruling over us (p.135).

• We are to have Christ's word indwelling us (p.136).

• We are to live in fellowship with one another making Christ's glory pre-eminent (p.137).

"How different this is from the individualism, self-interest, and narcissism that so many social commentators see as dominant features of modern society. In sharp contrast, success in the Christian life never means that we live for ourselves or see ourselves as superior to others. No, the real success the gospel effects releases us from our self-obsession and self-interest, so that at least we are free in Christ to love and serve others. When this is true our fellowship becomes a powerful expression of the gospel. It becomes wonderfully attractive and compelling to some - even although others may hate or despise the gospel that produces such grace" (p.138).

Chapter 7 : In for the Kill

In this chapter Ferguson focuses on Romans 8:12-13 and answers the question, How do we put sin to death?

"So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live."

"How then do you, in the power of the Holy Spirit, 'Put to death therefore what is earthly in you'? How do you 'by the Spirit... put to death the deeds of the body'? If we succeed in doing this, Paul says, we will live. But the opposite is also true: fail to do so, live instead 'according to the flesh', and we will die" (p.140).

There are three central principles in the context of Romans 8:

1. Mindset

• • I need to

  • I am responsible to

  • I am able to

  • I want to

"There are no spiritual gains without pains. So we must be willing to act with spiritual violence against our sin. It is enmity against God and it distorts His purposes for our lives. It offends Him and it destroys us. Only when we grasp this will we begin to develop the mindset which the Holy Spirit seeks to produce in us. Spirit-led believers are willing to break the neck of sin, or to stab it in the heart, or to pull out the weeds it sows, in the knowledge that what we are doing may feel like death" (p.146).

2. Motives

• Think of the future harvest. We always reap what we sow.

• Be sensitive to the Spirit and so prove you are a child of God. "So there is quadruple motivation here: love for the Father, knowing that Christ is our Elder Brother, learning to be sensitive to the Spirit's holiness, and also our responsibility for the family honor. Taken together these realities produce the impetus we need to turn our backs on sin in any and all of its forms" (p.151).

• God's two most precious gifts. "The Father, in His love for us, has given us His Son; He has also given us His Holy Spirit - His two most precious gifts, indeed everything He possessed before His first act of creation - His own love, His beloved Son, and His Holy Spirit!" (p.151).

"Why then would we say to our Father, 'Despite Your best gifts I will retain my love of sin'?" (p.152).

3. Methods

• Deal with the root. "...only when we name our sins, confess them for what they really are, and seek forgiveness and deliverance, will we make headway against them" (p.155).

• Guard your mind. Consciously refuse to "let my mind focus on, or drift towards, the things of the flesh" (p.156).

• Fill your mind. Expel the things of the flesh with the things of the Spirit. "What fills our minds will shape our lives" (p.157).

• Live in fellowship. "But if we are able to share our failure, our sense of guilt and bondage with a fellow Christian whom we can trust absolutely, and to whom we can open our heart - then we break the power of the blackmail, the truth is out in the presence of God, we are able to pray together honestly, and forgiveness once again flows into our hearts" (p.160).

Chapter 8 : The Law Goes Deep

"Why then the law?" (Galatians 3:19)

"If our salvation is by grace, and our sanctification takes place through union with Christ in the power of the Spirit, what role - if any - is left for God's law? Does the gospel abolish it? ... This is a profound question. Our answer to it involves our understanding of the narrative thread of the entire Bible as well as its specific discussions of the nature and role of the law. And it is bound to have a significant impact on how we think about the Christian life" (p.162).

Law and love

[This whole section is excellent and needed.]

"A moment's reflection should make clear that the role of the law in the sanctification of the Christian cannot be quite as simplistic as a radical love or law antithesis might suggest. For one thing, the law is fulfilled by love, it is not replaced by love. This fulfillment means that law is love-shaped and that love is law-shaped..."

"The explanation for this is clear enough: love provides motivation for obedience, while law provides direction for love. This is why the new covenant promise envisaged the law being written on our hearts..."

"So we need to take a closer look at the law of God and its role in our sanctification" (p.162-163).

Paul, Stephen and even Jesus were accused of speaking against the law. Yet Paul asks himself the question in Romans 3, "Do we then overthrow the law by this faith?... By no means! On the contrary we uphold the law."

Jesus and the law

Does Jesus teach that the Law no longer has any role to play in our lives? How does the Law of God fit into Jesus' teaching about the gospel?

"This is a tremendously important topic" (p.165).

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:17-20)

"Here Jesus brings to the surface three principles that help us to understand the relationship between the law of God and the kingdom of God, and therefore its role in the sanctification of believers" (p.166).

1. Permanent significance (p.166-171)

2. Present fulfillment (p.171-181)

3. The New Covenant difference (p.182-183)

Permanent significance

"First, Jesus underlines the permanent significance of God's law... Now why did Jesus emphasize this? The answer lies in large measure in the nature of the law itself and the reasons for which it was originally given" (p.166-167).

"The law of God - in the sense of the Ten Commandments - was an expression of the will of God for the people He had delivered from bondage in Egypt. But in a deeper sense it gave expression to His original design for the lifestyle of men and women made in His image... So, from one point of view the commandments expressed God's original will for His image... The Ten Commandments therefore expressed, largely in negative terms (because addressed now to sinners), what God originally willed in a positive way for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In a sense their failure was a breach of the inner significance of all the commandments God would later give at Mount Sinai" (p.167).

"This pattern is enshrined in each of the Ten Commandments. Every one of them reflects God's original purpose for man in his unfallen condition, and applies it now to his fallen condition. The law therefore has permanent validity since its substance predated the Mosaic covenant. The correlative of this is that if the will of God after the exodus reflects the will of God before the fall, then it remains in place following our redemption. It is contextualized differently at Sinai than in Eden. It naturally therefore takes on a new context and shape after Pentecost - Jesus is now the model of obedience. Yet it is, in essence, one and the same law of God. For He does not change, nor does even fallen man cease to bear His image" (p.168).

"Thus in one sense God's law had been His first word, written into man's creation. But now that it lay broken it would not be His last word. There must be something more to come. This is what Jesus meant when He said, 'Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them'" (p.171).

Present fulfillment

"'Fulfill' means to bring out the fullness already inherent in principle in something else, to show its full significance. Already Matthew had shown how Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecies... But what does Jesus mean by saying that He came to fulfill the law?" (p.171). Ferguson explains 5 ways in which Jesus fulfills the Law:

1. Jesus fulfilled the law by His obedience to it. (This entire section is worth capturing as a whole because of the way it address is issues of obedience, legalism and antinomianism...) "In Christ we catch a glimpse of the blessedness that accompanies living in wholehearted and unreserved devotion to the heavenly Father. In Him we see God's law in human form. We see that obedience to it is the pathway to glorify and enjoy Him. At no point did Jesus find the law irritating; nor did it diminish His joy. He is the ultimate illustration of a person who says, 'O how I love Your law.' In that sense He is the perfect psalmist... Now we frequently hear that God loves us the way we are. Any element of divine demand is seen as a return to the bad old ways and days - in a word to legalism. But this viewpoint requires revision... the truth is that since the fall of Adam God has loved only one person the way He is. We have lost sight of the fact that it is the way we are by nature that put Christ on the cross. The biblical perspective is quite different: God loves us despite the way we are... So there are strong biblical and theological arguments against our contemporary indifference to God's law. Perhaps the simplest is also the most persuasive: Jesus loved and obeyed God's law. He was no legalist... But, because He loved His Father, His Father's expressed will was important to Him. Nor did Jesus find obeying the law an irritating restriction, a dampener on His spiritual joy. Indeed, every Christian acknowledges that if you want to see what life is really meant to be, you look at Jesus - but there is only one Jesus: Jesus the law-keeper" (p.172-173).

2. Jesus fulfilled the law by expounding its inner significance. "While our Lord's life shows us the beauty of the law, His teaching further explains its spirituality and its penetration... He shows the spiritual significance of the law. It deals with the inward thoughts and not simply outward actions... The full meaning of the lay penetrates to the heart, and to the motives... Jesus thus fulfilled the law by His deeds and also by His doctrine" (p.174-175).

3. Jesus fulfilled the law by making clear its three dimensions. The Law is 'three-dimensional' in that is has a civil, ceremonial, and moral dimension. As God's revelation progressed over the course of history, so did the extent of His three-dimensional Law, ultimately finding its fulfillment in the Messiah, Jesus Christ. "The final sacrifice would be made, the new international kingdom of God would emerge, and the law would be fulfilled in the hearts of God's people through the indwelling of the Spirit" (p.178).

4. Jesus fulfilled the law by taking the penalty for our breach of it. In seeing the three-dimensional nature of the Law, we see that Jesus Christ fulfills each dimension. "Jesus fulfilled the moral dimensions of the law by living in perfect obedience to it, by revealing its depths, but also by paying the penalty for our breach of it... By His death and resurrection Christ also fulfilled the ceremonial dimension of the law. He became our High Priest, offering Himself as the real sacrifice that would take away sins once for all. His resurrection was the divine proof that the sacrifice had been accepted... By His death, resurrection, ascension, and the giving of the Spirit at Pentecost Jesus also fulfilled the civil dimensions of the law. His kingdom is not limited by either geography or a distinct ethnicity... The church He builds is an international community" (p.179-180).

5. Jesus fulfills the law in us through the Spirit. Jesus gives us the power to obey God's Law by giving us the Holy Spirit. "I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts... (Jeremiah 31:31-34)... These words help us understand the role of the law of God in our sanctification. For while it is the new covenant that is being described here, at its heart still stands the writing of God's law. But this time it is not written by the finger of God on stone but by the Spirit of God on our hearts" (p.181).

The New Covenant Difference

The Gospel of the New Covenant makes all the difference. "For now we receive the law from the hands of the one who fulfilled it for us and has given us His Spirit to fulfill it in us" (p.182). Upon experiencing faith and new life in Christ the law seems transformed. What was formerly a burden is now a delight. "Has the law changed, or perhaps been diluted to make it possible for them [us] to keep it? Not at all. Rather Christ has some down to us in the power of the Spirit and written the law in our hearts... Jesus makes all the difference to everything, including our love for the law!" (p.183).

A litmus test

"Jesus says that our reaction to the law is an indication of our response to His kingdom - and also the measure of how we will be regarded in it... How are our reaction to God's law and our reaction to God's Son so intimately related to each other? The Spirit of Jesus writes the law in the hearts of those who belong to Him. The Spirit of Christ in us and the word of God to us exist in total harmony. Thus our response to the commandments of God reveals the nature of our response to the Son of God... So the work of the Spirit conforms us to Jesus Christ by writing the law of God in our hearts, and giving us energy to obey it. Herein lies the beautiful harmony between God's law and our love" (p.184, emphasis added).

Loving your in-law

Followers of Christ have a new relationship to God's law. "The Christian is not under the law. Yet the Christian is not an outlaw with respect to the law - a lawbreaker. Rather the Christian becomes an 'in-law' of the law. How does someone become your 'in-law'? Not by your marriage to the person directly, but by your marriage to their relation. In the same way the Christian's relationship to the law is not direct - we are no longer married to the law but to Christ" (p.185).

Empowered by the Spirit to track with the law

Grasp the relationship of a locomotive engine and the train track. "The relationship between the Spirit of God and the law of God in the life of the believe is like that. Without the power of the Spirit we would lack the love for God that energizes us to keep His law. But without the law of God our love for Him would lack direction. Thus we discover that the way of Christ leads us more and more into obedience to God's law" (p.187).

"We trust and love Him who said 'If you love Me, you will keep My commandments'... the biblical application of the commandments of God provides a guide for the whole of life and produces in us deep instincts that cause us to live as those who are devoted to God and seek His glory" (p.188).

Chapter 9 : Keep Going

Perseverance - Hebrews 12:1-14

1. Put off all hindrances; put on Christ.

2. Uncover the deep-natured entanglement of sin.

3. Encouragements : a great cloud of witnesses, Jesus the Author and Perfecter.

4. Important decisions...

5. Specific Directions.

The letter from the writer of Hebrews reaches a climax with the theme of "keep going". It is one of the hallmarks of genuine faith. "Hebrews is all about persevering in sanctification" (p.191).

"The battle to be holy is fierce, the conflict is long, the opposition is strong, and the obstacles are many. Even those who have won great victories in the past can become weary. Spiritual lethargy can set in, and we begin to drift. We constantly need to be encouraged to keep going" (p.191).

The key theme of the letter can be seen in Hebrews 10:35-36,39. "True believers do not shrink back. They believe and persevere. They press on into the future and arrive at the fullness of salvation... A central element in the faith of these men and women was its future orientation. They looked forward to possessing what they had not yet fully experienced. Real faith always has this characteristic. And since we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses to this kind of faith, the author urges us to keep running. He places emphasis on three elements in the perseverance in holiness..." (p.193).

1. 'Hindrances strew all the way.'

2. Entangled?

3. Encouragements for the race.

Hindrances strew all the way

How do we overcome obstacles and hindrances in the "race" of the Christian faith? "We are to 'lay aside every weight, and the sin which clings so closely'" (p.193).

"Military life is not the same as civilian life. Likewise, the Christian life is different. If we are going to persevere we need to have a spirit of athletic and military self-discipline, and self-denial. What is essential and central must be given priority. Not only the bad, but even the good needs to be subordinated to the best. Everything is subordinate to the goal of winning and the fulfillment of the mission" (p.195).

Ferguson provides some useful diagnostic questions:

• Is this going to build up?

• Is this going to strengthen the fellowship of God's people?

• Is this going to advance my goal of running towards Jesus Christ and glory?

• Is this something that laying to one side will better enable me to serve Christ?

• Will this bring most glory to God?

• Is this wise?

"And the litmus test of all things is whether they draw us beyond themselves to more love for Christ, or whether like weights, they hold us back" (p.196).

"Holiness... is unreserved devotion to the Lord. It means belonging entirely to Him. This inevitably produces a certain detachment from the world... We are brought back here to the foundational gospel principle: putting off must never be separated from putting on Christ... And... since we are involved in an ongoing struggle to grow in holiness we will also be resolutely avoiding anything that will weigh us down and hold us back in the race - even if there is 'nothing wrong with them'" (p.197).

Entangled?

This passage speaks not of sin in general terms, but in specific and personal terms. This passage speaks "to the specific ways in which sin fold itself around and manifests itself in our individual lives... It becomes my distinctive sin. Indwelling corruption has the potential to express itself in any and every form of sin... as Augustine argued, sin is... the distortion of our persons. Sin it not 'it' but 'I'! ... We will not run far in the Christian race before we realize this and discover the ways in which sin trips us up - or, more precisely, trips us down" (p.198).

I think it would be extremely valuable at this point, and continuously, to seek deep and thorough, and prayerful evaluation of your heart and your behavior to see by God's grace the entangled sin in your life. How does sin corrupt and distort me? How does sin manifest itself in my own life according to my tendencies? No area of my life is immune or untouched.

"At the same time there is another dimension to our self-knowledge. We have already seen it in different connections. It is 'know thy Christian self!' - be conscious not only of what you are by nature, but of who and what you have become in Christ. For we must never lose sight of what we are in Christ when we are reflecting on what we are in ourselves" (p.199).

"Sin may have lost its dominion over us, but it retains its power in us. It is sin still. The price of victory is constant vigilance. Yes, there is grace to cover all our sin; but that grace leads us to mortify it, not to tolerate it.

Evangelical teaching today stresses God's grace. But true grace is nothing more or less than Jesus Christ come to save us - not only to forgive us but to save us - that is to set us free from sin, and to transform our lives and make us holy. 'This is the will of God,' says Paul, 'your sanctification.' He spells this out:

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from the lawlessness and to purify to Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11-14)

...This, in summary form, is what Hebrews tells us to do. We are to bring to bear on indwelling sin all the force of the word of God; we are to let affectionate love for the Lord expel affection for sin" (p.202).

Encouragements for the race

To go along with the two obstacles, the author of Hebrews provides us with two encouragements. It follows a pattern like this: "Since A is true, make B true too:"

• Since A is true : we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

• Therefore make B true: let us lay aside every weight and sin... and let us run.

"The author is simply drawing on the basic login of the gospel, and indeed of the whole of Scripture: know your sin, but know also the power of God's grace" (p.203).

The great cloud of witnesses

All around us is the testimony of people who have gone before us who are witnesses to the power of persevering faith. "They believed God's promises, they kept running towards Christ, and they sought to deal with their sin. They were witnesses to the reality and nature of persevering faith... They kept running. Their witness to the nature of persevering faith should be a major encouragement to us. But our eyes are not fixed on [them]. We are surrounded by them, but not focused on them. No, our eyes are to be fixed on Jesus..." (p.204).

Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith

"The word 'founder' is used on only four occasions in the New Testament, and always of Jesus Himself... it denotes a person whose actions create a new situation for those who belong to Him" (p.205). Jesus alone accomplished what all those who are in Him now enjoy. Jesus is the object of our faith and He is also the example of persevering faith. "He is both pioneer and perfecter... [Jesus] has gone through all the struggles and overcome all the obstacles that faith can every meet. Never lose sight of Him. He is well able to keep you going" (p.205).

Important decisions

"Are we ready for such a race?" Jesus stressed the importance of counting the cost of following Him in discipleship. "The author of Hebrews learned from Jesus... He wants us to have a clear understanding of what sanctification involves over the long haul. These issues are key - and we need to think seriously about them before we go any further. We can narrow them down to three crucial questions" (p.206).

1. Am I willing to resist sin to the point of shedding my blood?

2. Am I remembering the encouragements Scripture gives me?

3. Am I convinced that without holiness I will never see the Lord?

First, how far am I prepared to go in resisting sin? The readers of Hebrews "seem to have been on the brink of throwing in the towel. Opposition has a way of wearing us down and exhausting our resistance. 'Look,' the author writes, 'you need to develop a simple resolution: be willing to resist sin to the point where you would shed your blood rather than sin'" (p.206). Jesus Himself is the example. And to follow Him is indeed this serious. Stop trifling with sin. Are you willing to resist sin the point of shedding your blood?

Second, am I remembering the encouragements of Scripture that reveal the unchanging character of God? When I face the pain and difficulty of the race, I am reminded of this truth, "Do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives" (Hebrews 12:5-6). "Everything that takes place in the life of the Christian is an element in the heavenly Father's program of child-training [The word translated 'discipline' in Hebrews 12:7-11 is paideia, child-training]. Every moment of pain has a purpose. Every hurt is employed by Him to draw me closer to Christ and to make me more like Him. Every hardship is therefore an evidence of my spiritual legitimacy" (p.209). Do I trust my Father?

Third, am I aware of the "long-term project" of holiness that God is working out in my life using every means possible? "What is God doing in His long-term project in our lives? We need to remind ourselves frequently of this, and to learn to see the short term in the light of it. The answer? He is disciplining us, training us for our good so that we may 'share His holiness'... He is absolutely determined to make me holy... And if the all-wise and all-loving One has set His heart on this, why would I want anything different for myself?" (p.209).

Specific directions

"Along the route of its teaching on our perseverance in holiness, Hebrews positions a variety of signposts to help us. In drawing this chapter to a close we should pause beside five of them..." (p.210).

1. Guard your heart against the deceitfulness of sin - Hebrews 3:1, 13-14; 4:2; 12:14-17. "This summons us to... a well-developed sensitivity to the subtle ways in which sin entangles us" (p.210).

2. Never lose sight of the important role that fellowship plays in encouraging perseverance - Hebrews 3:13; 10:24; 12:14-15. "Conversion therefore entails that those who are growing in genuine holiness want others to walk the way of holiness with them. Holiness in this respect has a dynamic that is the antithesis of sinfulness which seeks to drag others down with it" (p.210).

3. Be strengthened by a strong memory of God's persevering grace - Hebrews 10:32. "The growing Christian will therefore work hard at developing a well-stored memory... our powers of memory are being weakened by lack of exercise" (p.211).

4. Fix our minds on Jesus Christ as the Author and Finisher of our faith, "and as the One who endured - as the Model, Pioneer, and Author of all persevering faith, both His and ours" (p.211-212) - Hebrews 2:17; 4:14; 12:2.

5. Receive the ministry of our shepherds (pastors) - Hebrews 13:17. "Independent-mindedness and isolationist tendencies are inappropriate for the Christian who is conscious of the continuing influence of indwelling sin. Growth in holiness... is set within the community life of the church family" (p.212).

Chapter 10 : The Ultimate Goal

The question that this chapter seeks to answer is, "What is the Spirit's purpose as He works salvation in, and our goal as we work it out into our lives? Yes, we are being transformed - but into what?" (p.214). In other words, What is the ultimate goal of our salvation?

"From beginning to end being a Christian and being holy are virtually synonymous" (p.213). Ferguson describes the work of the Christian and the work of the Spirit in the sanctification process. "...We are to commit ourselves to being acted upon by God." There is an imperative and a passive voice here. But that does not indicate "that we divide the field of sanctification up into sections and say, 'This here is my part, and that over there is God's part'" (p.213).

It should be understood that the ultimate goal in the Spirit's purpose as He works salvation in us, and our ultimate goal as we work it out into our lives is the same. We have the same ultimate goal. Paul spells it out clearly and simply: "For those who He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers" (Romans 8:29).

"The marvelous ultimate truth of the gospel is that God and man are to share the same goal, or end... God does everything for His own glory. That is both His desire and His delight. Amazingly He has created us to do the same... But how can this be accomplished so that His happiness and ours coincide? And how can this still be possible since we are fallen creatures and by nature hostile to His will and glory?" (p.214).

Sanctification and Christlikeness

What is "the big picture of our redemption"? The journey and the destination are seen in sanctification and Christlikeness. "We were created to be God's sons mirroring Him in miniature form, living out the family likeness."

"God means to do this first of all by taking us again fully into His possession and then by a progressive process of sanctification in which we become de-conformed to this age and also transformed with a view to being finally re-conformed to the image of Jesus Christ - God's Son in our flesh" (p.215).

"The goal therefore has a personal quality." Sanctification is not merely intellectual or cerebral. Sanctification is personal. "It involves our persons and characters. It means knowing and becoming like the One who said, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life... He does not show us a way that is separable from His person...'" (p.215).

Family likeness

The common thread of sanctification shared by all the members of the family of God is the thread of Christlikeness. "Within this context sanctification, seen as the reproduction in us of the family likeness of Christ, means that every believer within his or her own personality and character becomes a 'reminiscence of Jesus'. While the various New Testament writers employ their own distinct concepts and language to explain what holiness is, they share this feature in common. The image of God that has been marred is being restored" (p.216).

In an example from the letter to the Philippians, Ferguson points out how Paul describes the character of Christ, then the same character demonstrated in Timothy and Epaphroditus. The point is that the fruit of sanctification is the fruit of Christlike character.

Ultimate destiny

"Everything that happens in the Christian life takes place under the sovereign superintendence of our heavenly Father" (p.218). I am so grateful for the truth of this statement. I am so grateful to know that God 'works all things according to the counsel of His will' (Ephesians 1:11). But what is it that God is ultimately accomplishing in me and through me?

"...Paul goes on to say that the ultimate 'good' towards which all things work together is our conformity to Christ" and "From beginning to end the Spirit is the agent in this transformation" (p.218).

Knowing this changes everything. It shapes everything. Especially suffering and trial. The Christian "sees time in the light of eternity and therefore views affliction through lenses tinted with glory... So we learn to live our lives, and to see the sometimes painful process of being make holy, in the light of the final glory we will share with Christ. For this is there the whole process is heading" (p.219).

The body of holiness

"We saw earlier that the Spirit's transforming work already has an impact on our physical or bodily existence... The Scriptures know nothing of a sanctification that is 'spiritual' but makes no impact on us physically" (p.221, 222). The Ultimate Goal described in this chapter includes the resurrection of the body in perfect righteousness and holiness. Ferguson declares this principle to be "ground zero in our sanctification". It is the principle that 'you are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body' (1 Corinthians 6:20). "The issue is not only 'Who am I?' but 'Whose am I?'... we have yielded up our insistence on self-determination; we are entirely the Lord's. That includes our bodies; indeed it applies especially to our bodies because we are our bodies!" (p.222).

"Notice once again the internal gospel logic at work here. If God's determined desire and purpose for us is the final sanctifying of our bodies in resurrection, it follows that this shapes His work in us and should determine our living for Him... Because this gospel perspective - the hope of the resurrection of the body... alone makes sense of the long, sometimes hard process of sanctification. And if we want to be wholly the Lord's then, we will want to be wholly His now as well as then" (p.222,223).

Who does the working together?

"The Spirit's role is always that of the executive of the Trinity. His task is to employ every instrument to transform Christ's younger brothers into His family likeness" (p.225). Romans 8:28 encourages us that all things are working together for our good. It is the Spirit of God that does the working. "[W]e are all being changed through the Spirit's multi-faceted ministry; we are all undergoing a divine metamorphosis into the likeness of Jesus Christ, from one degree of glory to another. The question, then, is this: How is this to be accomplished in us? What happens in our lives that produces such likeness to Jesus?" (p.225). There are two further elements:

1. Imitation of the example of Christ.

2. Participation in the sufferings of Christ.

Imitation

"The Spirit transforms us into the likeness of Jesus Christ... This includes His ministry of stimulating in us a desire to imitate Jesus Christ" (p.225-226). We see this in the command to humble-minded service. In Romans 15 for example, we see this principle: "You must not act simply to please yourself... Jesus never acted simply to please Himself. Jesus Himself is the litmus test for all of our attitudes. His example is to be the driving force in our devotion" (p.227). It is the ministry of the Spirit of God that reveals Christ to us and then indwells us to empower us to live like Him.

Participation

We share inwardly and invisibly a union and participation with Christ in resurrection life (evidence of change can indeed be visible). But we also share outwardly and visibly a union and participation with Christ in suffering. "In fact, [Paul] argues, the demeaning he experienced, the suffering to which he had been exposed, were the marks of a true apostle because they were the evidence of his deep union with and participation in the death and resurrection of Christ" (p.229).

Consider three passages:

1. 2 Corinthians 13:4 - For He was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, but in dealing with you we will live with Him by the power of God. Paul says we are weak in Him. Not that we are weak in ourselves and strong in Him, which is also true. But we are weak in Him as He was weak in His human form. "Union with Christ means that we come to participate not only in His death but also in His weakness. This weakness is not something from which union with Christ delivers us, but into which union with Christ brings us. Union with Christ does not protect us from suffering but commits us to suffering. Because of the closeness of our fellowship with the Lord we find ourselves sharing in weakness, suffering, persecution, trials, and shame like that experienced by Jesus Himself" (p.230).

2. 2 Corinthians 4:10-12 - [We are] always carrying in the body the death of Jesus [literally, the dying of Jesus], so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our mortal flesh [body]. So death is at work in us, but life in you. "It was through death and weakness that Jesus entered into strength and glory; it will also be thus for us in union with Him" (p.231). "[T]he suffering itself was intended to create in him a reflection of the Lord Jesus for others to see. The result? He tells us: So death is at work in us, but life in you" (p.232). Stephen's death worked in a way to bring life to Paul. "The life of Jesus was never more clearly manifested in Stephen that when he 'carried in his body the dying of Jesus', with the result that the life of Jesus was revealed to Saul of Tarsus" (p.232).

3. 2 Corinthians 1:5 - For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. The anointing of the priest with oil in the Old Testament ceremonial practice (see Psalm 133) flowed down symbolically to the people. "Paul seems to envisage that anointing how flowing from the head of Christ to the members of His body. So we come to share in the overflow of His death, His sorrow, His suffering, and His shame. Thankfully we also share in the power of His resurrection, His joy, His victory and His glory... Since this is what the Spirit did in Jesus' humanity in bringing Him through suffering to glory, it is the model He employs permanently in bringing us to glory too" (p.234).

"It is in this comprehensive sense that God the Father has destined us to be conformed to the image of His Son that He might be the firstborn of many brothers. This is our final destiny. It is both individual and corporate. It is the climactic ingredient in the blueprints Scripture has drawn for our ongoing Christian experience. It is the epicenter of all God's work in us. It belongs to the essence of the process of sanctification and the holiness which is its end product..."

Appendix I : The Trinity In the New Testament

"The purpose of this appendix is not to provide an exposition or defense of the classical doctrine of the Trinity but the more modest one of underlining the extent to which the joint work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit undergirds and permeates the teaching of the New Testament. What follows then simply collates a number of New Testament passages under various headings to demonstrate how deeply into the warp and woof of the gospel the presence of the Trinity is woven... [I]t is tremendously important for our growth in sanctification that we learn to live, serve, and worship in a Trinity-conscious way" (p.237-238).

1. Statements reflecting on the relationship of the Father and the Son.

2. Statements reflecting on the Father's and the Son's relationship with the Spirit.

3. Statements reflecting the foundational and pervasive nature of God in His trinitarian interaction with His creation.

4. The Trinity is seen as essential to the accomplishing of redemption and to its application.

Appendix II : 'We died to sin... He died to sin'

What does it mean, 'died to sin'? Christians and Christ are both described as having 'died to sin' in Romans 6. "The meaning of the expression 'died to sin' is clearly an important key to interpreting this entire chapter. But what that meaning is has been much disputed throughout the history of the church" (p.241). Ferguson will try to illuminate.

"The expression 'died to sin' (6:2,10) and 'dead to sin' (6:11) are found in Paul's writings only in Romans 6... Three things... should be noted:

1. Paul uses the same expression of both Christ and believers. Christ 'died to sin (:10); and we also 'died to sin' (:2). In light of this, we must consider ourselves now to be 'dead to sin' (:11).

2. It is a general principle for interpreting Scripture that the same expression used in the same context ordinarily carries the same meaning, or at least a clearly analogous meaning.

3. There are contextual reasons for applying this principle in Romans 6:1-14. The driving logic of Paul's teaching here is: Whatever is said of believers is true of them because of their union with Christ in what He has done. To express this the other way round, what was first true of Christ ('He died to sin, once for all' 6:10) will also be true of those united to Him ('we... died to sin' 6:2). The identity resides in the fact the the only death to sin we have died is the death to sin we died in Christ's death to sin" (p.242-243).

"The integration of Christ's death and ours indicates that 'died to sin' has one basic meaning in both cases. Indeed, the only death to sin we have died is the one we have died in union with Christ in His death do sin" (p.243).

"Only what has been accomplished in Christ is available to us. If Christ did not die to the dominion of sin then He cannot have provided resources to free us from its dominion, only from its guilt. This would provide motivation but not in deliverance. But if indeed Christ died to the reign or dominion of sin, then so have those who are in Christ. They are no longer under sin's dominion - a point Paul makes explicitly (Rom. 6:14). Yes, we are no longer under the guilt of our sins because He died for them and rose for our justification. But we are also no longer under the bondage of sin because He died to it and rose again for our liberation" (p.250).

Appendix III : The Conversion of Saul of Tarsus

See the life of Stephen as a powerful tool used by God in Paul's conversion and be encouraged that your life could be used similarly.

"Saul of Tarsus was the outstanding young Jew in his circle of Pharisees in Jerusalem... The picture we are given here is of a young man who with respect to religious and spiritual development had no peer whose ability and giftedness he felt any need to covet. That is until he encountered Stephen... Here was a man whose gifts and graces might evoke a deep, implacable envy in the young Pharisee! Despite being 'on the opposite side' Stephen was a man who had something Saul lacked but was worth coveting: grace, faith, wisdom, and the presence and power of the Spirit of the ancient prophets (Acts 6:5, 8, 10)... Here then is a clue to 'the goads' against which Saul kicked (Acts 26:14)... God still uses a variety of 'goads' in order to awaken and then subdue. Quiet, faithful, humble, gracious Christian lives are among those 'goads'. What happened on the road to Damascus, and in the house in Straight Street, Damascus, had a significant pre-narrative" (p.258-259).

Appendix IV : The Fourth Commandment

The Fourth Commandment to honor the Sabbath and keep it holy has been a point of debate as to whether or not it has moral bearing on Christians today. "Here more than anywhere else, any suggestions that there might be a moral commandment related to the way we use Sunday as a Christian Sabbath is likely to be described as 'legalism'" (p.261). Ferguson provides the biblical considerations appealed to in favor of dismantling the fourth commandment, and responses to those appeals, then finally provides an application.

"If the fourth commandment continues to be God's word for our blessing and for the shape of the Christian life, how is this relevant to our ongoing sanctification?"

"I can still sense the transformation that took place in my experience of Sunday when I became a Christian. It was now no more of a burden than a bird's wings. Rather than crush me it seemed to sustain me. Boredom was gone. It became the best day of the week. But the sense of duty in going to the church services which I had attended and the Bible reading which I had been doing for several years, believing that doing these things might make me a Christian - these seemed overnight to be transformed into a delight.

What was the explanation? Simple: we need to come to Christ to find true Sabbath rest. For then God writes His law into our hearts by the Holy Spirit... Then we can 'call the Sabbath a delight' (Isaiah 58:13)" (p.269-270).

Appendix V : The Blueprint Passages

In this final appendix Ferguson provides at length each of the passages he references in the chapters.

• 1 Peter 1:1-25

• Romans 12:1-2

• Galatians 2:20

• Romans 6:1-14

• Galatians 5:16-17

• Colossians 3:1-17

• Romans 8:13

• Matthew 5:17-20

• Hebrews 12:1-14

• Romans 8:29