Christ-centered Means Cross-centered

In My Place Condemned He Stood: Celebrating the Glory of the Atonement by JI Packer and Mark Dever is a great compilation of articles. This is a book to become familiar with and to return to again and again.

• Article 1 is called "The Heart of the Gospel" and is a discussion of the Biblical concept of propitiation (wrath-quenching sacrifice).

• Article 2 is called, "What did The Cross Achieve? The Logic of Penal Substitution." This is a difficult article to navigate but extremely helpful in thinking through the essence of the atonement.

• Article 3 is called, "Nothing but the Blood" and deals with some of the more modern attacks on penal substitution. Dever explains why it is impossible to be too "atonement-centered."

• Article 4 is Packer's famous introduction to John Owen's The Death of Death in the Death of Christ. This is a powerfully bold defense of Calvinism as the Biblical gospel. A must read!

• Lig Duncan has served us well by providing an annotated bibliography of books on the cross. This bibliography is worth the price of this book. I've already ordered a handful of books based on Lig's comments. Build a library of books on the atonement!