Tag Archives: Cross

Shall I Live in That for Which Christ Died?

Posted on by under F. B. Meyer

Shall I be a friend to that which was [Christ’s] deadly enemy?  Shall sin be sweet to me, which was so bitter to Him; and that for my sake?  Shall I ever lend it a good look, or entertain a favourable thought of that which shed my Lord’s blood?  Shall I live in that for which He died, and died to kill me?

F. B. Meyer, Tried by Fire: Expositions of the First Epistle of Peter, p. 151.

Glimpsing the Blinding Glory of the Holiness of God

Posted on by under John R. W. Stott

All inadequate doctrines of the atonement are due to inadequate doctrines of God and humanity. If we bring got down to our level and raise ourselves to his, then of course we see no need for a radical salvation, let alone for a radical atonement to secure it. When, on the other hand, we have glimpsed the blinding glory of the holiness of God and have been so convicted of our sin by the Holy Spirit that we trouble before God and acknowledge what we are, namely “hell-deserving sinners,” then and only then does the necessity of the Cross appear so obvious that we are astonished we never saw it before.

John R. W. Stott, The Cross of Christ (Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 111.

Our Only Hope of Life in the Presence of a Holy and Loving God

Posted on by under D. A. Carson

Truly to grasp that the eternal God, our Maker and Judge, has out of inexpressible grace sent his Son to die the odious death of an abominated criminal in order that we might be forgiven and reconciled to him; that this wise plan was effected by sinful leaders who thought they were controlling events and who were operating out of selfish expediency, while in fact God was bringing about his own good, redemptive purposes; that our only hope of life in the presence of this holy and loving God lies in casting ourselves without reserve on his mercy, receiving in faith the gift of forgiveness purchased at inestimable cost — none of this is possible apart from the work of the Spirit.

D. A. Carson, The Cross and Christian Ministry (Grand Rapids, Mi.: Baker Books, 2003), 66.

HT: Of First Importance

The Cost of Forgiveness

Posted on by under Timothy Keller

The Cross is not simply a lovely example of sacrificial love. Throwing your life away needlessly is not admirable — it is wrong. Jesus’ death was only a good example if it was more than an example, if it was something absolutely necessary to rescue us. And it was. Why did Jesus have to die in order to forgive us? There was a debt to be paid — God himself paid it. There was a penalty to be born — God himself bore it. Forgiveness is always a form of costly suffering.

Tim Keller, The Reason for God (New York, NY: Dutton, 2007), 193.

HT: Of First Importance

Jesus Christ Bore the Sins of the World

Posted on by under Alexander Maclaren

When Christ went to the Cross there was in His heart, in His purposes, in His desires, a separate place for every soul of man whom He embraced, not with the dim vision of some philanthropist, who looks upon the masses of unborn generations as possibly beneficially affected by some of his far reaching plans, but with the individualising and separating knowledge of a divine eye, and the love of a divine heart. Jesus Christ bore the sins of the world because He bore in His sympathies and His purposes the sins of each single soul. Yours and mine and all our fellows’ were there.

FREE E-BOOK DOWNLOAD — Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture: Second Corinthians, Galatians and Philippians Chapters 1 to End, Colossians, Thessalonians, and First Timothy (New York: George H. Doran Co.). from comments on 1 Thessalonians 5.10.