One of my favorite modern hymns is In Christ Alone by Keith Getty. I started reading Sinclair Ferguson’s book by the same title and it opens with his translation of a passage in Calvin’s Institutes that ministered to me. I would encourage you to read both the song and the passage slowly and several times, meditate on Christ – look nowhere else.
(21st Century Version)
In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev’ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow’r of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.
– Keith Getty and Stuart Townend
(16th Century Version)
When we see salvation whole,
its every single part
is found in Christ,
And so we must beware
lest we derive the smallest drop
from somewhere else.For if 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;
and purity–in his conception;
and tenderness–expressed in his nativity,
in which in all respects like us he was,
that he might learn to feel our pain:Redemption when we seek it, is in his passion found;
acquiital–in his condemnation lies;
and freedom from the curse–in his own cross is given.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,
To overcome our sins we need to know
that in his tomb they’re laid.
Then newness of our life–his resurrection brings
and immortality as well comes also with that gift.And if we also long to find
inheritance in heaven’s reign,
his entry there secures it now
with our protection, safety, too, and blessings that abound
–all flowing from his royal throne.The sum of all this:
For those who seek
this treasure-trove of blessings of all kinds,
in no one else can they be found
than him,
for all are given
in Christ alone.
– John Calvin (Translated by Sinclair Ferguson in In Christ Alone)
No Other Boast 