Proclaimer Blog
@thecross
@thecross is a new book by John Benton published by EP. It grew out of sermons that John preached at Chertesy Street Baptist Church in Guildford. From the start it's obvious that this book is pastoral. John's got a big brain and he's a well known newspaper editor, but he is first and foremost a pastor and in this book, it shows. That makes the book both accessible and warmly applied, two necessary ingredients that can't always be taken for granted.
The burden of the book is not revolutionary nor that of novelty, but one of reminder:
The central burden of this book is to back to some passages of Scripture and rediscover, restate and rejoice in the breaktaking reality of what the cross of Christ achieved, which is the gospel preached by the apostle (p12)
I think it's fair to say that aim is neatly and carefully achieved. Pastors or mature Christians are unlikely to find theological stretch here, but that's hardly the point of the book. There is, however, warmth and vitality. Six chapters cover six essential ingredients: faith alone; penal substitution; justification; imputed righteousness; Christ's obedience and sanctification.
I was particularly struck by four and five. Much has been written on penal substitution in recent years and I wonder if that has meant we have neglected some other key doctrines. Therefore a chapter explaining imputation simply but profoundly is extraordinarily welcome, as is the chapter on the active obedience of Christ (which I posted on a few days ago) – forgiveness is not enough!
Even after the forgiveness of sins, there would still be an obligation to obey God perfectly. If the original promise of life to Adam was based on a probationary period of obedience, it seems strange to think that God would proceed to grant eternal life simply on the basis of man being forgiven for his sins and so returned to Adam's state of guiltlessness. Something more is required (p93)
Each chapter ends with a little story of a real person and an illustration of how the truth of the chapter has changed the life of that person. They are very helpful in terms of applying warmly what to some might seem rather cold doctrines. Bang on the money!
I did like this book:
- it warmed my heart even though it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know
- it stirred my imagination to think about a similar little series
- it made me think of people that I could pass the book onto – even perhaps serious seekers struggling with the cross? Certainly thinking church members who, like me, need to be constantly stirred by the truth that "Jesus died for sins."