Christ's Life, Sanctification, and the Fruits of the Spirit

God the Son Incarnate: The Doctrine of Christ (Foundations of Evangelical Theology) By Stephen J. Wellum

Wellum is not one of the high profile Evangelical leaders but, for my money, he is one of their best systematicians and deserves to be widely read and listened to.   If one of the key weaknesses with contemporary Evangelicalism is its detachment of biblical theology from dogmatic history, and notions of orthodoxy from church history, then Wellum’s approach is a welcome and necessary corrective.   - Carl Trueman

 God the Son Incarnate: The Doctrine of Christ (Foundations of Evangelical Theology) 

By Stephen J. Wellum

Stephen J. Wellum (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is professor of Christian theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and editor of the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology. Stephen lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with his wife, Karen, and their five children.


This work is Carl Trueman's book of the year. What's yours?

Book Review: The Whole Christ by Sinclair Ferguson

Have you ever heard of the Marrow Controversy? If so, have you studied it, worked out its implications? I had heard of it, wondered about it, but never took the time to dig into it. Now, with the publication of The Whole Christ by Sinclair Ferguson we all have the means to comprehend and take hold of its significance. More importantly, to grasp its ramifications for the modern church. Sinclair Ferguson is well suited with the knowledge and expertise to write such a work.

To put it briefly, the issue at the heart of the controversy was how was the gospel to be offered and Thomas Boston was the key figure in this debate in the early 18th century.

To reduce the issue to simple terms: what do you say when you call people to come to Christ? On what grounds are they entitled to come? Several statements in The Marrow of Modern Divinity gave rise to this question.

And further

...Boston was in agreement with the intention of the Auchterarder Creed, that it is not sound to say that a man must first quit sin in order to be qualified for the offer of Christ. The offer of the gospel is to be made not to the righteous or even the repentant, but to all. There are no conditions that need to be met in order for the gospel offer to be made.

However

Boston felt the sheer graciousness of the Christ of the gospel was being stifled by a Calvinism that had developed a preaching logic of its own and had become insensitive to the style and atmosphere of the New Testament. In his view God’s particular election had too easily been distorted into preaching a doctrine of conditional and conditioned grace. That often goes hand in glove with a form of gospel preaching that is in danger of severing the elements in the ordo salutis from “Jesus Christ and him crucified” — that is, from Christ himself. 

The fallacy here? The subtle movement from seeing forsaking sin as the fruit of grace that is rooted in election, to making the forsaking of sin the necessary precursor for experiencing that grace. Repentance, which is the fruit of grace, thus becomes a qualification for grace. Sinclair B. Ferguson. The Whole Christ (Kindle Locations 591-653). Crossway.

And so began a lengthy debate involving Boston and his "Marrow Men" with their presbytery. But make no mistake, this is far more than a dusty run through of some old theological fine point. The same issues Boston was dealing with then are the same issues of grace the church today faces. They must be dealt with head on and Ferguson gives us the theological ammo. This is quite a fascinating and enlightening journey through the dispute which clarifies the position we should hold today.

Chapter titles reveal much about the level of detail.

1 How a Marrow Grew
2 Grace in the Gospel
3 Preparation, Distortion, Poison
4 Danger! Legalism
5 The Order of Grace
6 Suspicious Symptoms
7 Faces of Antinomianism
8 Causes and Cures
9 The Marrow of Assurance
10 How Assurance of Christ Becomes Assurance of Salvation
11 “Hindrances Strew All the Way”

Two points of special interest to me

Of particular importance and interest to me was Ferguson's clear explication of antinomianism and legalism and their relation to the proper offer of the gospel. Both would seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum and in one sense they are. Yet rather like brothers, they are similar, both errors in theology with more likenesses than one would think.

The errors in gospel presentation continue today and these are brought to the forefront.  Much of these past conflicts have direct bearing on our views and understanding of assurance today. Ferguson's writing on this subject exposes why so many believers don't have assurance, what it means to acquire it and indeed, enjoy it.

I enjoyed this book. It instructed me in both head and heart. It will be one I refer back to. It reminded me that "there is nothing new under the sun." We will always have theological error with us on this side of heaven. What may seem like simple semantics can and will have a great impact on Biblical theology and the gospel in particular. We need godly men like Boston and Ferguson to delve into these matters, expose them, and guide us to Biblical truth. Sinclair Ferguson has accomplished this in The Whole Christ.

Crossway has provided a complimentary copy of this book through Beyond the Page.

Weakness is the Way: Life With Christ is our Strength by J.I. Packer

Weakness is the Way: Life With Christ is our Strength 

by J.I. Packer

This comparatively short book with its strange title delivers a powerful blow to the rampant triumphalism that has infected much of the Bible-believing world. Using Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthians as his principal resource, J. I. Packer has once again provided us with both the theological depth and practical wisdom necessary to live in a way that pleases and honors Christ. - Sam Storms

Product Description

For Christians, weakness should be a way of life. Yet most of us try desperately to be sufficient on our own, and we resent our limitations and our needs.
Renowned theologian and Bible teacher J. I. Packer reflects on his experience of weakness—having been hit by a bread truck at a young age and now facing the realities of aging—in order to teach us the importance of embracing our own frailty, and also to help us look to Christ for strength, affirmation, and contentment. Find here a path from discouragement to freedom in light of our all-sufficient God.

I just purchased and I'm anxiously looking forward to consuming it soon. Any thoughts?

To read the entire review by Sam Storms at TGC click here.

The Five Solas part 3

Moving into our third study of the "solas" we come to solus Christus. If justification comes to us by faith alone and from God’s grace alone it cannot be forgotten that it is all through the work of Christ alone. Here we see it all come together through the finished work of Christ on the cross. It is the gospel story, plain and simple.

Adam, being the first man was required to keep the law but he did not and fell into sin. He and all of his descendants came under the curse of God’s wrath (Genesis 2:15-17; Romans 5:12-21). God intervened with a covenant of grace with the people of his choosing. God reckons these as righteous based on the work of Christ who came and lived a perfect, sinless life, died on the cross and rose again in three days and ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of God. God made him to be sin who knew no sin (Corinthians 5:21). His righteousness is imputed to his children and they are reckoned as sinless. God did not, of course have to provide this covenant and yet he did so because of his great love for his people.

In the closing of his sermon, The Sufficiency of Christ Alone, John MacArthur stated, You come to Christ, you receive the forgiveness of sins. You come to Christ, you receive a new nature, a new disposition, a new heart that loves righteousness. You come to Christ and you die to the past and you rise to new life. You come to Christ and you’re delivered from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son. You come to Christ and you literally come to the truth that transcends, the truth you’ll never find anywhere except in the Word of God and even this truth you’ll never understand until the Spirit of God takes up residence and becomes your teacher, and then you know the deep things of God. It’s all in Christ. All truth, all wisdom, all knowledge, all understanding, all peace, all joy, all value, all fulfillment, all satisfaction, all purpose, all deliverance, all strength, all comfort, and all eternal hope is in Christ. To have Him is to have everything. Not to have Him is to have nothing. What a powerful proclamation. Read the whole sermon here.