O Death, Where is Your Victory?

I recently finished John Murray's classic Redemption Accomplished and Applied, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan (1955). Frankly, I found the first part of the book, regarding the atonement, to be slow going. Nevertheless, I am glad that I continued to plow through it. I don't know if it would be the best book for a new believer, but it would be a good book for every believer to read at some point. I would not say that I learned a lot of new theological concepts, but Murray did help me to better understand, and thus reinforce, some major points of Christian doctrine. For that, I am grateful. If you are interested, here are a few highlights from his work I found especially interesting:

The Necessity of Atonement

"[H]ypothetical necessity maintains that God could have forgiven sin and saved his elect without atonement or satisfaction - other means were open to God to whom all things are possible." (p. 11) Conversely, "Consequent absolute necessity" holds that "while it was not inherently necessary for God to save, yet, since salvation had been purposed, it was necessary to secure this salvation through a satisfaction that could be rendered only through substitutionary sacrifice and blood-bought redemption." (p. 12) Apparently, the former view was held by early church father such as Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. The latter was favored by the protestant reformers. (p. 11)

Passive and Active Obedience of Christ

"He perfectly met both the penal and the perceptive requirements of God's law. The passive obedience refers to the former and the active to the latter." (p. 22)

Faith

"It is to be remembered that the efficacy of faith does not reside in itself. Faith is not something that merits the favour of God. All the efficacy unto salvation resides in the Saviour. As one has aptly and truly stated the case, it is not faith that saves but faith in Jesus Christ; strictly speaking, it is not even faith in Christ that saves but Christ that saves through faith." (p. 112)

"But faith, we must remember, is an act or exercise on the part of men. It is not God who believes in Jesus Christ, but the sinner who is being justified. Therefore faith is an indispensable instrumentality in connection with justification." (p. 129)

"Faith stands in antithesis to works; there can be no amalgam of these two." (p. 130)

"Justification is by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone. . .Faith works itself out through love. And faith without works is dead." (p. 131)

Justification - The Faith of Abraham

"[I]t might appear that it was the faith of Abraham which was reckoned as the righteousness on the basis of which he has justified, that faith itself was accepted by God as fulfilling the requirements necessary for a full and perfect justification. If this were the case then Abraham was justified and all other believers also are justified on the ground of faith because of faith. It is important to observe in this connection that the Scripture never uses such terms. It speaks always of being justified by faith, through faith, or upon faith, but never speaks of our being justified on account of faith or because of faith." (p. 125)

Sanctification

"It is necessary to be reminded that in the last analysis we do not sanctify ourselves. It is God who sanctifies. . .We must not forget, of course, that our activity is enlisted to the fullest extent in the process of sanctification. But we must not rely upon our own strength of resolution or purpose ["our complete dependence is upon the Holy Spirit"]. . .Self-confident moralism promotes pride, and sanctification promotes humility and contrition. (p. 146-47)