Atonement Centered
Mark Dever explains how he is atonement centered (I.e. Cross-centered) in a CT article. Have you ever noticed that many sermons do not even mention the Cross today? Listen this weekend to your pastor preach–will he preach the Cross? I am keenly aware of the necessity of preaching the Cross in my journey with God at this time. But it is easy to forget the most assumed part of the Christian faith, and thereby to forget that the Cross is so important and worthy to be mentioned often (another reason why I think that Jesus gave the sacrament of Communion to be observed each Lord’s Day). For the reformed, the Cross is the centerpiece of their theology, believing in a definite design in the atonement accomplished by Jesus Christ, securing everything necessary for the salvation of those chosen in Him, including their faith. The atonement secures the faith that justifies the sinner, and reconciles that person to God. The atonement is a word that speaks of the Cross. If one is truly reformed, one is truly Cross-centered, and the message that bleeds off of the lips of such persons, is the message of the Cross.
The truth is that we are not as reformed or as Christian as we think we are, if we are neglecting, setting aside, failing to mention, let alone to exult and exalt the glory of Christ and His Cross. Here is an excerpt of Dever’s article below. I hope that many pastors and lay persons will make the Cross their central contemplation and conversation this Lord’s Day and always. Does the Cross not give hope to sinners!?
“I‘ve just been told that I’m too Atonement-centered.”
My sister in Christ was serious, humble, and a little confused. I said, “What do you mean ‘too Atonement-centered’?” I had never heard the charge.
A Christian friend told her that she talked too much about Christ’s death, which dealt with our guilt due to sin. I responded that knowing and accepting this truth was the only way to a relationship with God, and that I didn’t think it was possible to be “too Atonement-centered.”
Few other doctrines go to the heart of the Christian faith like the Atonement. Congregations sing at the top of their lungs: “My sin, not in part but the whole, has been nailed to the cross, so I bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!” (“It Is Well with My Soul”). The priestly work of Christ separates Christianity from Judaism and Islam. Not surprisingly, the Cross has become the symbol for our faith.
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