Monday, February 26, 2007

The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all...

Click here for details of a new and important book (released next month by IVP) on the cross. The book has been written by a couple of Oak Hill students (Steve Jeffrey and Andrew Sach) and the Oak Hill Principal-Elect (Mike Ovey) in the wake of current confusion, error and division amongst evangelicals over the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement (PSA).

Some readers of this blog might not be familiar with the terminology, but you will probably have come across the idea - PSA is found all over the scriptures in various ways and has filled sermons, been explained in tracts, and inspired Christian song-writers for centuries.

J. I. Packer says it with style when he says

The notion which the phrase ‘penal substitution’ expresses is that Jesus Christ our Lord, moved by a love that was determined to do everything necessary to save us, endured and exhausted the destructive divine judgment for which we were otherwise inescapably destined, and so won us forgiveness, adoption and glory (source here, emphasis and italics mine).

As a sinner, I am really glad about this doctrine. As a sinner training to be a minister I don't want the Church to lose, neglect, or muddle this doctrine.

7 comments:

Big Pete said...

Preferred the orange theme, blue is a bit dull. If you could go pink at the top with a cream colour on the bottom i think you would be displaying your conservative evangelical convictions to the full. (not that you display the pink shirt - chino look very often!)

Re the book, everyone who reads this blog go and buy it, then get people you meet to go and buy it. Unless you are at oak hill then go and nick one of Jeffers or Sachy's free copies!

Pete said...

I'd like to be absolutely clear that I never display the pink shirt & chino look.

Ros said...

I liked the one before the orange theme, but after your original dull blue. I think it was only up for a few hours at most. Should we arrange a vote?

Pink and flowery is good too.

Pete said...

Can u remember what it looked like (in my flurry of changes I can't really remember)

I shall organise a poll.

Daniel Newman said...

What about the blue shirt - chino look. That's what I've always gone for. Or is that a particular subset of conservative evangelicalism - the Proc. Trust types, for example?

Pete said...

Surely blue is for Conservative (Party-supporting) evangelicals?

Daniel Newman said...

That's certainly consistent...