“The blessings of redemption ought not to be viewed as merely having Christ as their ultimate causal source but as being ours only by direct participation in Christ, in union with Him through the Spirit. This approach better represents the biblical perspective on how the Spirit works.
The blessings of salvation become ours through the Spirit, exclusively, immediately, simultaneously and eschatologically in Christ. In Pauline terms, it is only ‘in Him’ that the blessings of redemption become ours; and it is only by the Spirit that we are ‘in Christ.’
But in Christ all spiritual blessings are ours here and now (Eph. 1:3ff), albeit each blessing is capable of its own distinctive consummation.”
–Sinclair Ferguson, The Holy Spirit: Contours of Christian Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1996), 102.
