As we draw near to Good Friday and Easter, it's a good time to be thinking about what was accomplished by our Lord and savior Jesus Christ through his crucifixion, death and resurrection. Isaiah 53:1-12 makes it clear that Christ died in our place, in order to make atonement for our sins. His suffering and death were a penal, substitutionary atonement for us, so that by his work, the wrath and righteousness of God was satisfied. However, these biblical truths are denied by some today, as can be seen in this article: http://bit.ly/2nyPST1 However, as Owen Strachan points out,
"The atoning work of Christ is not an optional add-on to our doctrine of God. The cross displays the very heart of the divine. It shows us the burning center of God’s character, what David Wells calls his 'holy-love.' Our Lord is revealed in the cross, uniquely, as a warrior-savior, the God who solves the terrible problem of his justice by the depths of his love."
Amen to that!
Scandalized by the Substitute: A Response to Young and Gungor
To lose our sight of God’s righteous justice is to lose our grasp of his fathomless love. To promote the cross but not the atonement is to not promote the cross at all.
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