This, then, is how Jesus made atonement – how He paid it all. The punishment which was due to us He voluntarily received. The death which was the wages of our sin He underwent. The stripes with which we deserved to be beaten fell upon His willing back. The chastisement which was owing us was borne by Him. The price we would have paid by endless suffering He paid by an infinite sacrifice. It should have been I who cried out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” It should have been He who said: “I am persuaded that nothing shall separate me from the love of God.” Because Jesus paid it all, it was He who was forsaken and we who never shall be. Because He drank the full cup of divine wrath, we shall never taste it. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.”
— John Gerstner (1914–1996), Theologe
Related Bible passage: ROM.8.1
Topics: Grace & Redemption, God, Jesus & the Holy Spirit, Guilt & Forgiveness
Occasions: Encouragement
John Gerstner
John Gerstner (1914–1996) war ein US-amerikanischer presbyterianischer Theologe und Kirchenhistoriker, der über mehrere Jahrzehnte in Pittsburgh lehrte. Er wurde als führender Experte für Jonathan Edwards bekannt und verteidigte eine rationale, an der calvinistischen Tradition sowie der biblischen Irrtumslosigkeit ausgerichtete Apologetik. Während seine kompromisslose Kritik am Dispensationalismus und an liberalen Tendenzen scharfe Kontroversen auslöste, bieten seine Schriften bis heute Orientierung für ein historisch-reformiertes Schriftverständnis.
All quotes by John Gerstner (35)
It wasn't the nails that held Jesus to the cross. It was love.
Max Lucado
Grace, like water, flows to the lowest part.
Philip Yancey
In our own woundedness, we can become sources of life for others.
Henri Nouwen
God does not love us because we are lovable, but because his nature is love.
Oswald Chambers
Oswald Chambers
God counts on your failure far more than you do yourself.
Hans Peter Royer
Ultimately mourning means facing what wounds us in the presence of One who can heal.
Henri Nouwen
The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.
Tim Keller