“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:21
J.C. Ryle (1816-1900), an evangelical minister of the Church of England, was a prolific writer, faithful pastor, and loving husband (widowed three times). He wrote these words in a sermon titled “Are You Looking?”:
[We see] the eternal Son of God suffering, bleeding, agonizing, dying, to pay your soul’s debt and make satisfaction for your sins. … Nothing but Christ’s atonement on the cross can ever clear up these things. … Your own … repentance and amendment, your own morality and regularity, your own church-going and sacrament-receiving, your own Bible-reading and your prayers, your own almsgiving and your charities—what are they all but a huge mass of imperfection? … As grounds of acceptance with God, they are worthless rubbish … and cannot bear the weight of your sins. … Rest on nothing but Christ crucified, and the atonement He made for you on Calvary.
The story of Jesus’ crucifixion was a hard thing for my tender heart to grasp when I was a child. It still grieves me, but the triumph on Easter morning redeems it all.
[We see] the eternal Son of God suffering, bleeding, agonizing, dying, to pay your soul’s debt and make satisfaction for your sins. … Nothing but Christ’s atonement on the cross can ever clear up these things. … Your own … repentance and amendment, your own morality and regularity, your own church-going and sacrament-receiving, your own Bible-reading and your prayers, your own almsgiving and your charities—what are they all but a huge mass of imperfection? … As grounds of acceptance with God, they are worthless rubbish … and cannot bear the weight of your sins. … Rest on nothing but Christ crucified, and the atonement He made for you on Calvary.
The story of Jesus’ crucifixion was a hard thing for my tender heart to grasp when I was a child. It still grieves me, but the triumph on Easter morning redeems it all.
Scripture Focus
John 19:31-37
Insight
“Jesus paid it all,/ All to Him I owe;/ Sin had left a crimson stain,/ He washed it white as snow.” (Elvina M. Hall, 1865)
Bible In A Year
- Joshua 21-22
- Psalm 107
- Romans 7-8