Virtual Book Club: The Whole Christ (Part 3 of 11)

I apologize for the delay in this next installment of our virtual book club. Extenuating circumstances, namely the birth of my son have delayed my writing on here--and perhaps reasonably so! I will continue to provide a short chapter by chapter summary--trying to get the highpoints from Sinclair Ferguson's book The Whole Christ.

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Tincture. A word derived from the Latin Tinctura, which refers to the process of dyeing--in which a piece of cloth is recolored by dipping it into liquid dye. "Both to himself and others, Boston's reaching 'felt' like that. Extending the metaphor, one might say that now the garment of the gospel in which Christ was dressed in Boston's preaching was dyed a shade of 'Christ-in-whom-every-spiritual-blessing-is-found' rather than merely 'I am offering you Spiritual blessings.'" (1106)

Once Thomas Boston had understood the truly free nature of the gospel offer, and the centrality of Christ in the Christian life (in whom is obtained all Spiritual blessings)—you could say he was a changed man.

Chapter 3 in Ferguson's Whole Christ was essentially about Conditionalism: the idea that you have to meet some prior condition before becoming saved. There must be first repentance. There must firsts be resolve to follow Christ. There must first be "fill in the blank" present in your life in order for you to believe the gospel message and be saved. But as discussed in the previous chapter--the gospel offer is for all without price. While were still weak, the Scripture's say, Christ died for the ungodly. And this should never imply that God loves us because Christ died for us. No, there is no conflict in the Godhead. God loved us eternally and sent Christ willingly as a ransom for our sins.

Ferguson then goes on to make some big claims about the legalistic heart of all sinners. Starting at the garden he reminds us that Adam and Eve were given one positive rule: "To show their love for their Father by refusing to eat the fruit of only one tree, on the basis that their loving Father said so." For whatever such a Father would command, must be good, for He is good. That was the underlying assumption of obedience. God is good, therefore his singular command must also be good. Notice how then the Serpent uses a lie to deceive Eve into believing that God is not as loving as He puts on.

The suggestion is firstly: "This Father was in fact restrictive, self-absorbed, and selfish since he would not let them eat from any of the trees" and secondly "his promise of death if they were disobedient was simply false." Ferguson notes that this is an assault on both God's generosity and integrity (1165). His character and his words are both not to be trusted.

This same "theology of the serpent" is something that the Pharisees embodied in Jesus's day: "The Pharisees were men who believed in the holiness of God, and in his law, in supernatural reality, and in predestination and election. 'Grace' was a big idea to them. But the Pharisees believed in conditional crace (it was at the end of the day because of something in them that God was gracious to them). Their God was a conditional God. Here there was no 'Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." No, for such unconditional grace can come only from a Father whose love is conditioned by nothing outside of his own heart." (1178)

We can easily fall prey to the same temptations in our own day. We can pride ourselves in truth, doctrine, zeal, fervency, and a precise understanding of the Scriptures--and no different than the Pharisees--fall into believing a lie about God. That lie being: God loves us not because of His goodness and grace, but because of something we have done to earn it. We can honor God with our lips and our heads, while our hearts remain far from Him.

The challenge for us is to reject the lie--understand the full gracious nature of God--and rejoice in His goodness. Ferguson reminds us in this chapter that "the gospel is designed to deliver us from the lie, for it reveals that behind and manifested in the coming of Christ and His death for us is the love of a Father who gives us everything he has: first his Son to die for us and then his Spirit to come live within us." (1178)