Devoted to God

In a series of chapters full of Biblical teaching and then espe-cially the teaching of the New Testament Sinclair B. Ferguson, former professor of systematic theology at Westminster Theo-logical Seminary and former minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, unfolds what he calls blueprints for sanc-tification. He emphasizes the primary meaning of to be holy is to be devoted to God.

United to Christ in a living faith we are both justified and sanctified. We must not confuse these two blessing, but neither are we allowed to separate them. Sanctification is God setting us apart for Himself. Ferguson shows that the sanctification of a Christian is inseparably connected to the reality that the living God is the triune God. The Father had commanded us to pursue. The Son had died to effect is and the Holy Spirit works in us to bring forth the fruit of it. The ultimate goal of complete conformity to the image of Christ is realized in the new Jerusalem. There God is all in all.

A Christian lives by the faith in the Son of God who gave Himself for him. United to Christ in faith we are crucified with Him and walk in newness of life. Baptism is a sign and seal of our union with Christ. We are named for the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Baptism is not in the first place about faith but to faith. Reminding our baptism we are encouraged the realize that we belong to Christ and share in the fruits of his death, resurrection and ascension. That must shape our whole life.

Ferguson points to John Owen. According to Owen the first task of a pastor is persuading those who are under the power of sin that this is the truth about them in order that they ask go for grace and come to Christ to be accepted in Him. The second task of a pastor is to persuade those who are no longer under the dominion of sin, that this is there real status.

Important is the insight that ‘Flesh’ and ‘Spirit’ are not only two aspects of the Christian’s being, they are also the two epochs in which he lives. A Christian lives in the old realm of the flesh a someone who already belongs to the new realm of the Spirit. The life of a Christian is a battle between flesh and Spirit. In this battle we must continually look to Christ.

Loving Christ who redeemed us to the curse of the law, we keep his command­ments. These are essentially the same of as the Ten Commandments now seen under the perspective of serving God in thankfulness. Ferguson quotes in this context a Gospel Sonnet of Ralph Erskine:

When I the gospel-truth believe

Obedience to the law I give.

And when I don’t the law observe,

I from the gospel-method swerve.

Ferguson has given a fresh approach full of biblical teaching and relevant quotations of Scripture on a essential aspect of the Christian life. I can heartily recommend this book. It refre-shed and encouraged me. I hope that other readers have the same experience.

Sinclair B. Ferguson, Devoted to God. Blueprints for Sancti-fication (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth, 2016) paperback 277 pp. £8,-- (ISBN 9781848716902 )

From the Mouth of God

Why should we believe that – as Jesus our Lord and Savior – that the Bible is the mouth of God. In From the Mouth of God Sinclair Ferguson, a former minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Colombia, South Carolina and a former professor of systematic theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, answers this question. His book is highly relevant especially in a day when a growing number of people, although calling them-selves Evangelicals, question whether the Bible is the infallible and inerrant Word of God.

With regards to the fact the books of the Bible were written by human authors Ferguson point to the fact undoubtedly the human writers of Scripture were conscious that they were expressing their own words as they wrote. Btu at the same time they were under the sovereign direction of the Spirit. God prepared the human writes of the Bible with regards of all aspects of their lives to express his Word in their words.

Both the Old Testaments prophets and New Testament apostles were aware they what they preached and what was written by them was not merely an expression of their witness to the God of Israel and Jesus Christ. They believed that what they said and wrote was to be heard and read as God’s Word.

We can trust the Bible as God mouth. But how must we apply the Bible in our lives. Ferguson gives several keys for reading and applying the Bible in the right way. We should read passages and text of the Bible in their context and understand how to read different kinds of genre. All important is to realize that both the Old Testament and the New Testament point us to Jesus Christ.

The Bible is given that we as fallen creatures may be reconciled with our Creator through Him. Ferguson rightly urges that is im-portant to read the whole Bible. He advises to read every year the entire Bible. He also says it can be very helpful to read just a whole book of the Bible in one of two sittings. I heartily agree. How can the Bible shape our lives when we do not know its content?!

The book of Ferguson is well written and easily to follow also for them who do not have English as their native language. I heartily recommend it. May the Lord use it to teach is to honor and obey Him.

Sinclair Ferguson, From the Mouth of God: Trusting, Reading, and Apply­ing the Bible, The Banner of Truth, Edinburgh 2014; ISBN 978-1-84871-242-3; pb. 209 pp., price £7,50.