Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Thoughts on "Substitution"

Here is a quote from John Stott in his book The Cross of Christ. It is one of my favorites that I've come across and I hope that it will encourage all of you as you remember Christ during this "Passion Week."

“The just, loving, compassionate Father humbled Himself to become in and through His only Son’s flesh, sin and a curse for us, in order to redeem us without compromising His own character. The Biblical gospel of atonement is of God satisfying Himself by substituting Himself for us…The concept of substitution may be said, then, to lie at the heart of both sin and salvation. For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting Himself for man, Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices Himself for man and puts Himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives which belong to God alone; God accepts penalties which belong to man alone.”

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