In My Place Condemned He Stood: Celebrating the Glory of the Atonement

This book was really a love/hate relationship. I also knew that this would probably be the case heading into me reading it though as well. It is really 4 essays about the atonement of Christ. I found 3 of 4 to be very good and the one I figured I would find lacking is exactly the one that was lacking.Here are the four different essays:The Heart of the Gospel (J.I. Packer; taken from chapter 18 of Knowing God; 1973)This is really a longer intro to the book as a whole. It speaks of the different aspects of the cross, such as propitiation, God's love, expiation, substitution and God's glory.What Did the Cross Achieve? The Logic of Penal Substitution (J.I. Packer; first appeared in Tyndale Bulletin; 1974)This is really a defense of understanding both words used here, penal and substitution. Packer does a very good job in rendering that logic can only take someone so far before they have to bow the knee to the omnipotent and omniscient God. He does a good job in the defense of the use of the term, "Penal Substitution." I very much liked this chapter even though it was a very tough read to get through.Nothing But the Blood (Mark Dever; Reprint from Christianity Today; 2006)This was very short and really marked a way for the modern reader to try and understand why we still need to make sure we speak of the bloody atonement. Why it was necessary and why it still is necessary as far as our focus within God's love. I liked this short article, although I found some of it to be repetitive to Packer's What did the Cross Achieve.Saved by His Precious Blood: An Introduction to John Owen's The Death of Death in the Death of Christ. (J.I. Packer; 1958)This chapter I really didn't like. I found that the work of Owen was really put up on a pedestal and said many times that there was no way for it to be refuted. This seems like words that should only be held up to the light of Scripture, not to a man's work with no inspiration of the Holy Spirit. J.I. Packer defends the understanding of a strict view of limited atonement in this article and says that those who don't believe in this view are not preaching the gospel. He says that preaching limited atonement is the biblical gospel, that if you preach otherwise you are preaching self esteem, that those who don't preach a strict view of the atonement are just trying to helpful to man and not concerned with the glory of God.I still can't believe that he says some of this stuff. So, if I don't hold to a strict view of the atonement I don't preach the biblical gospel, I preach self esteem and are little concerned with the glory of God?What I find interesting is that this comes after a quote in this very book by Martin Luther where Luther preaches an atonement that is more than limited, or particular. This is found on page 85 in the footnotes:All the prophets did foresee in spirit, that Christ should become the greatest transgressor, murderer, adulterer, thief, rebel, blasphemer, etc. that ever was....for he being made a sacrifice, for the sins of the whole world, is not now an innocent person and without sins....Our most merciful Father...sent his only Son into the world and laid upon him the sins of all men, saying: Be thou Peter that denier; Paul that persecutor, blashphemer and cruel oppressor; David that adulterer; that sinner which did eat the apple in Paradise; that thief which hanged on the cross; and, briefly, be thou person which hath committed the sins of all men; see therefore that thou pay and satisfy for them. Here now cometh the law and saith: I find him a sinner...therefore let him die upon the cross.Martin Luther(found at Galatians, ed. Philip S. Watson (London: James Clarke, 1953), 269-271; on Gal 3:13)Notice there is not the particular in view here. But the understanding of the sins being laid on the Messiah and not of just some, but of the whole world. And Luther continues and says that Christ be thou person which hath committed the sins of all men.I just really found this work to be lacking and very over the top with such arrogance in the understanding of the atonement. Although, I do believe that Christ did die for the whole world, he also died specifically, or especially, for the elect. So, it is a both/and statement in regard to the atonement, not an either/or.I just find it funny that Packer has his arrogant statements in this book right after he quotes Luther saying just the opposite of what Packer would like him to say.So, this book is a quandary for me. The first three-fourths of the book was very well done, but the last chapter on the Death of Death by Owen was just terrible. So, I am not sure what I would do with this book besides tell others to read it with caution, but shouldn't we do that with every book we read? Recommended (with caution)

Several Christian Scholars got together and were talking about how to write a book on the Gospel that would be a good primer for the laity of the church. As they discussed how to go about writing the work they realized that the material had actually already been written and presented in several other places.Each of the men realized that J.I. Packer had done a great defense of the Gospel in several articles and lectures that he had given at other times. Also Mark Dever had an article he had presented that fit well with the flow of what they felt should be presented.So they contacted J.I. Packer and asked him to submit his articles and do any revamping that he felt necessary. He agreed and those three articles appear in this work along with an article from Mark Dever.The main emphasis for this work is to "offer an aid and encouragement to Christians who want more deeply to understand the nature and accomplishments of Jesus' death and thus to be lost in wonder, love, and praise to the gracious Father who gave and delivered up his only begotten Son on our behalf, and to the Son who loved us and gave himself for us, by the Holy Spirit, who alone enables us to say truly, "Jesus is Lord."Through these articles you will learn the difference between expiation and propitiation. You will discover excellent discussions on why "Penal Substitution" is a necessary issue for the Christian to understand and believe in.Further there is a wonderful article that will deal with the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism an why it is important for you to understand those differences and see how each of them relates to the Gospel message of the Bible.Finally, the Gospel message will be expressed in the most Biblical of manners so that there is no equivocation on what The Gospel Is!Then at the end of the book there are two chapters presented by Ligon Duncan on, "Books on the Cross of Christ," and an "Annotated Bibliography." These two chapters give you a very exhaustive listing of books that will further solidify your thoughts on the Gospel Message and help you to develop your defense of your faith.This book is a must read for all of us who proclaim that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and our Lord and Savior.Enjoy!

In my Place is a brief and short gem that I would recommend to any layperson wanting time dig deeper into the subject of the atonement. It would be a nice asset to any pastor or biblical scholar. Though they may have been able to read parts of it before. Aside from the annotated bibliography at the end of the book, it is a collection of essays that may have been read elsewhere. In particular is packers introduction to the death of death by John Owen. Get this gold!

The doctrine of Substitutionary Penal Atonement, Christ becoming sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) and receiving all of God's judgment and wrath INSTEAD of His elect, is truly a display of the love of Christ, and the divine purpose of God. This is a great collection of essays, and the truths are a comfort to the Christian.

I thank J.I Packer for his timely , cogent & relentless defense & presentation of the substitutionary & propitiatory death of Christ on the cross. It is refreshing to know that there are scholars that are committed to Christ on the highest levels of scholarship. Thank The Lord that they don't simply keep it to themselves but share it with the [email protected]

What a wonderful title. It is so true that God took my place for all my Sins. I would recommend this book to everyone.

This is a good book

great book on penal substitution. even came a day early

This book contains three outstanding essays on the atonement by Jim Packer and Mark Dever. If you haven't read them, then I recommend this book to you most enthusiastically. If you have, don't bother buying this book. The essays are:1. Packer, 'The Heart of the Gospel' from Knowing God2. Packer, 'What Did the Cross Achieve' Tyndale Theological Lecture (1973)3. Dever, 'Nothing but the Blood' from Christianity Today (2006)4. Packer 'Saved by His Precious Blood' from the Introduction to Owen's Death of DeathThe essays would receive 5 stars but I was expecting original work (the Amazon page did not suggest that this was a collection of previously published essays) and for that reason I have given it 3 stars.

got it, good price, very happy. Last paper is basically just a super-calvinist rant, very annoying with very little Biblical proofs