“When we see that our salvation, in every single part, is found in Christ,
we must beware, lest we derive the smallest drop from somewhere else.
If then we seek salvation,
the very name of Jesus teaches us that He possesses it.
If other Spirit-given gifts are sought— in His anointing they are found:
strength— in His reign, purity— in His conception,
and tenderness— in His nativity—
thus made like us in all respects, He learned to feel our pain.
Redemption when we seek it is in His passion found;
acquittal in His condemnation lies;
and freedom from the curse is in His cross made known.
If satisfaction for our sins we seek, we’ll find it in His sacrifice;
and cleansing in His blood.
If reconciliation now we need, for this He entered Hades.
If mortification of our flesh, then in His tomb it’s laid.
And newness of our life- which resurrection brings—
and immortality as well come also with that gift.
And if we also long to find heaven’s kingdom our inheritance,
His entry there secures it now, with our protection, safety too
and blessings that abound- all flowing from His kingly reign.
The sum of all for those who seek
this treasure-trove of blessings of all kinds
is this:
from nowhere else can they be drawn than Him;
they’re found in Christ alone.”
–Sinclair B. Ferguson, Union with Christ: The Blessings of Being in Him (Sanford, FL: Ligonier, 2025), 149. Based upon John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1960), 2.16.19. Author’s translation and arrangement.
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