What is sanctification? What does it mean to be holy? Is it something God does for us? Is it something we do for God? Is it both?
Hi, I’m Fred Zaspel, editor here at Books At a Glance, and we’re talking today to Dr. Sinclair Ferguson. He’s a long-time friend and certainly no stranger to our readers, and we’re happy to have him talk to us about his brand new book, Devoted to God: Blueprints for Sanctification. Sinclair, welcome, and thanks for talking to us today.
Ferguson:
Thank you, Fred; very glad to hear your voice, and thank you for having me on your program.
Zaspel:
Okay, first perhaps you could give us broad description of your book. There are countless books related to the subject of holiness – how is your book distinctive?
Sinclair Ferguson:
Well, you know you’re right in saying there are not only many books, but some very good books. I personally owe a good deal to three, probably: Horatius Bonar’s God’s Way of Holiness, which may show ethnic prejudice on my part. He was, himself, someone who pursued holiness. And, you know, obviously J.C. Ryle, which is such a classic on holiness; although in many ways it’s something of a whole variety of topics. And then there’s a little book that came out, I think, when I was a student by Kenneth Prior. And it was a splendid little book on holiness. Actually, one which was much admired by Prof. John Murray.
So obviously, if you’re writing something on the subject where there are many other books, it’s not that you want to have your own thing, but you do ask, why would I do it this way, and is there any difference? This book has kind of been my object for many years of subliminal reflection on a number of things. One is that I didn’t really know a book on sanctification or holiness that actually treated the subject passage by passage. And although this is by no means an exhaustive study of sanctification in the whole of the Bible, this book is on a number of passages. And I tried to draw readers into a serious study of those passages. So that they begin to get hold of the biblical teaching; not, as it were, by an overview of a systematic theological kind, but by digging into Scripture themselves. I’ve done that for a number of reasons. One is because there are one or two books out there on different doctrines that have had this approach. I’m thinking about George Smeaton’s great book on the apostles’ doctrine of the atonement, where he goes through basically every passage. And Leon Morris, things like that. But I didn’t know one on sanctification that did that. And the other conviction that really lies behind the book is that we live today in a very “doing” world. You know, what we accomplish seems to be much more important than the Christian character that’s built into us. We ask people, what do you do? That’s how we find out who they are. Whereas the Bible really reverses that in terms of – it’s who God makes you that determines what you do. I very much try to reflect on Jesus’ prayer in John 17. “Sanctify them through the truth; your word is truth.” So the underlying conviction is that the very process of engaging with the Scriptures is the means by which God’s word, itself, begins to do the work in us. This is not a “let go, and let God have his wonderful way” kind of book. But it is rooted in the conviction that we live in a world where we do, and in a Christian subculture where we want to know what we are supposed to do. My daughter, when she was a young teenager, told me once, “Dad, I can teach you to preach in such a way that people will take notes of your sermons.” And I said, “I’m not all that interested in that; but tell me how you do it.” And she said, “I’ve noticed that anytime you say, ‘there are three things you need to know,’ or ‘two things you need to do,’ the men are looking in their pockets for a pen and the women are in their purses for something to write it down.” So we very much want to do and be in control; and I think we’ve almost entirely lost sight of the fact that it is God alone who sanctifies us; and he does it to the power of his word. So that’s really the basic, undergirding structure of the whole thing, which I am trying to, in a sense, reteach people the basic grammar of the gospel in the basic grammar of sanctification.
Zaspel:
And just what are the major biblical passages you address?
Ferguson:
I think there are 10 of them. I know the book is out, but I haven’t seen it. I’m traveling at the moment, so I haven’t actually seen a copy of it.
It begins with I Peter, chapter 1; and I developed that in a number of different ways. The reason I began there was because I just been very conscious of the way in which I Peter, especially, is almost self-consciously speaking to Christian believers in a pre-Christian world. It has struck me so often that it speaks… You know, Paul’s Scripture is inspired, but there are places and times when a particular burden of one book of Scripture strikes a special note and you know we’re living in what has already become a post-Christian culture. And so we are much nearer today to what does it mean to be a Christian in this world then Christians were 100 years ago. And one of the things that strikes me about what Peter says is – always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you when people ask you. And the evangelism, and the evangelism manuals of the last 100 years have always assumed what we need to do is to get non-Christians to ask questions. That’s almost the reverse of what Peter expects. He expects we won’t need to get non-Christians to ask questions; our lives will be so different that they are bound to ask questions, bound to be seeking explanations.
So that was where I began and then, since the whole notion of union with Christ seems to me to be so central to the New Testament’s teaching, I move on through Romans 12: 1-2 into passages like Romans 6:1-14; Romans 8, mortification; Colossians 3:1ff; and then I bring in a discussion of where does obedience to God’s law fit into this? And how does our response to the gospel in perseverance and holiness fit into this? And then, finally, what is the goal of all this? What is it that God is doing? And there, obviously, I’m talking about transformation of our lives and our fellowships into the likeness of Christ.
Zaspel:
You approach the definition of “holiness” in a way that I think is very helpful, and it is reflected in the title you’ve given your book. Explain your questions regarding the more common ways we go about defining “holiness” and your emphasis on “devotion.”
Ferguson:
There’s a mixture of two things. One is a mixture of how I’ve come to understand what an attribute of God is. We often speak about attributes of God that are actually activities of attributes of God. An attribute of God is an aspect of his character that must’ve been true of him before all worlds and irrespective of creation. So when we speak about the holiness of God we have had a tendency to define that holiness relationally with respect to ourselves as sinners. So we speak about God’s holiness as his separation from sin; and then we speak about our holiness and separation from sin. All that is true; but in God, in a way, that’s a result of his holiness, that’s not a definition of his holiness. So what then is the holiness of God? When holy Seraphim have to veil their faces, Seraphim who have never sinned, have to veil their faces in the presence of God… Why are they doing that? What do they mean when they cry this triple holiness? My own conclusion to reading the Scriptures is that holiness in God, yes, manifests itself in his separation from sin, but it’s root is really, if I could put it this way, the absolute separation of each of the persons of the Trinity to each of the other persons of the Trinity. Or – separation is not a good word there because of the unity of the Trinity – or the total intense devotion of Father to Son and Spirit; Son to Father and Spirit; Spirit to Father and Son. And I think when you grasp that begin to see how that holiness works out in the story of redemptive history in the ministry of Jesus; but what holiness for us would be is being – this is what we were created for – we were created to be caught up into the Fellowship of that inner Trinitarian devotion; to admire it: in a sense, to be welcomed as image bearers who bore that likeness; to be welcomed into that life, that cosmos of God’s love and grace. And that what is taking place, pictorially, especially in the Mosaic administration, is what I sometimes call a kind of pop up picture book version. Everything around you reminds you that you’re not fit for that; but it’s there to remind you that you’re not fit for that because that’s what God wants to draw you into. And so, and this obviously comes out, especially in John’s Gospel, but the mutual devotion of Father to Son in the love of the Spirit and the way in which it’s into this that we are being drawn. This is why, then, union with Christ is such an important reality in the New Testament’s teaching on sanctification. And this is actually the reason why I then delve into – well, this is part of the significance of the exhortation in Romans 12:1-2, to give ourselves wholly to the Lord. This is what holiness means.
Zaspel:
Except I think in a brief mention in a footnote you never discuss what John Murray famously described as “definitive” sanctification, yet the concept is evident in so much of your book, and I think it will be very helpful if you could give us just a taste of it here. Can we do this just briefly – is there a 60-second version?
Ferguson:
Sure. You know, we need another program on my relationship to John Murray. But the essence of Prof. Murray’s thought was – most of the language of sanctification in the New Testament is in the past tense. It focuses on what God has already done for us in Christ and to us in union with Christ and, in a sense, however tough the ongoing sanctification is, it’s mopping-up operations. So the really important thing for us is to grasp the magnitude of what God has already done in Christ through the Spirit. And this obviously comes out in this stupendous statement made by Paul in Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:1ff, and Colossians 3:1-4. So this is what he means by definitive sanctification which is the groundwork of ongoing sanctification; but we will not make much headway in ongoing sanctification until we really grasp the magnitude of the definitive sanctification that’s already ours in Christ. So that’s it in 140 characters or less.
Zaspel:
It will be difficult to choose just one, but select for us just one more of the “foundational passages” you expound in the book, and just introduce it for us. Give us a taste of what lies ahead for those who get the book.
Ferguson:
In a sense, I think that almost like – I don’t know if it’s the central chapter, it’s almost the central chapter, but the chapter in Colossians 3:1ff, in a sense encapsulates the whole thing. And I think I called it the new rhythm. I’m talking about how the rhythm of our lives is transformed by the gospel. And it’s central – actually, I’ve often used that passage with people who are struggling in the Christian life to say, look here, at the beginning Paul is setting out, here in the context where people are very confused about sanctification and how we are sanctified, he is saying that here is the foundation in our union with Christ and the new identity that gives us. Then notice the rhythm that flows from that – that there’s a constant putting off and a constant putting on. And you never put on without putting off. And you’ll make a mess of your Christian life if all you’re thinking about doing is mortifying sin without realizing that what the Lord wants to do is to begin to build into your Christian character the graces of the Lord Jesus Christ. In some ways, in terms of pastoral practical use from this, if somebody would say, I have the time to read only one and tear out one chapter, I think probably it would be that chapter on the new rhythm.
Zaspel:
I expected you to say that Romans 6 is the central chapter.
Ferguson:
In a way, I would say that’s the big chapter. And certainly, for me personally, it was the big chapter. When I was a teenager I must’ve spent hours and hours poring over that, because I’d read so many strange things about it. Trying to grasp what is Paul saying here when he talks about us having died to sin and being raised into newness of life in Christ. So you’re spot on in saying you felt that would be the big chapter. But in terms of introducing people, there’s an ease in Colossians 3:1ff, an ease of interpretation, and less challenge in exegesis, and complexity of argument than there is in Romans 6. However, I think I deal with Romans 6 before I deal with Colossians 3.
Zaspel:
We’re talking to Sinclair Ferguson, author of the new book, Devoted to God: Blueprints for Sanctification. It’s a really wonderful read, framing out the Christian life in its gospel light. You’ll love it. Get three copies. Read one and hand the other two out.
Sinclair, thanks for talking to us today.
Ferguson:
Thank you, Fred, lovely to speak to you again.
Editor’s Note: You might enjoy seeing our brief review of Dr. Ferguson’s new book here.
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Devoted to God: Blueprints for Sanctification