“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18 (ESV)
“From time to time I’ve been asked, “Where is the cross in your church?” People look around our 1911 meeting house and find no cross there. You won’t find it in gold, silver, or wood. You won’t find it embroidered on a banner or carved in the paneling. It’s nowhere on the pulpit or on the table. Where is it? It’s there. It’s there at the heart of our church. It’s in the Bible. It’s in the sermons. It’s in the songs and the prayers. And it’s in the hearts of the people.” — Mark Dever
The preceding quotation is from the preface of It Is Well: Expositions on Substitutionary Atonement. The book is co-authored by Pastor Mark Dever, senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D. C., and the President of 9Marks, and Pastor Michael Lawrence, senior pastor of Hinson Baptist Church in Portland, Oregon.
Together, these men seek to explain the purpose and meaning of the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross. The book is a collection of meditations concerning God’s sacrifice for sinners in Christ. Their desire is for believers in Christ to re-center their life on the cross.
It Is Well, published in 2010 by Crossway, contains fourteen chapters examining various biblical truths, from both the Old and New Testaments, on the vocabulary and significance of the crucifixion of Christ. Topics include The Passover, The Day of Atonement, the meaning of Ransom, Propitiation, Justification, and the Curse of handing on a tree.
“Theological and devotional, expositional and inspirational: these are four words that will capture this excellent work on the doctrine of penal substitution,” explains Daniel L. Akin, president, Southeastern Baptist Theological
“Dever and Lawrence remind us that at the heart of Christianity is Christ, and the heart of Christ’s ministry is the cross, and the heart of the cross is penal substitution,” states Thomas R. Schreiner, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
“The theological glue that holds the gospel facts together is the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ. Yet no concept is more unique and audacious to the Christian faith than that of a crucified Messiah and Savior. Dever and Lawrence have provided an extensive, simple, and practical guide to grasping this subject without compromising its complexity,” comments Rick Holland, Pastor, Mission Road Bible Church, Prairie Village, KS.
Have a blessed day. Read well!
Soli deo Gloria!
His Word Today 