{"id":120338,"date":"2023-04-17T16:29:57","date_gmt":"2023-04-17T20:29:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=120338"},"modified":"2023-04-17T19:05:41","modified_gmt":"2023-04-17T23:05:41","slug":"john-stott-of-the-relationship-between-good-friday-and-easter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=120338","title":{"rendered":"John Stott on the relationship between Good Friday and Easter"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe need to be clear about the nature of the relation between the death and resurrection of Jesus, and careful not to ascribe saving efficacy to both equally\u2026It is by the blood of Jesus that God\u2019s wrath against sin was propitiated, and by the same blood of Jesus that we have been redeemed, justified, and reconciled. For it was by his death, and not his resurrection that our sins were dealt with\u2026Nowhere in the New Testament is it written that \u2018Christ rose for our sins\u2019\u2026Of course, the resurrection is essential to confirm the efficacy of his death\u2026But we must insist that Christ\u2019s work of sin-bearing was finished on the cross, that the victory over the devil, sin and death was won there, and that what the resurrection did was to vindicate the Jesus whom men had rejected, to declare with power that he is the Son of God, and publicly to confirm that his sin-bearing death had been effective for the forgiveness of sins. If he had not been raised, our faith and our preaching would be futile, since his person and work would not have received the divine endorsement. This is the implication of Romans 4:25, which at first sight seems to teach that Christ\u2019s resurrection is the means of our justification: \u2018He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.\u2019 Charles Cranfield explains: \u2018What was necessitated by our sins was, in the first place, Christ\u2019s atoning death, and yet, had his death not been followed by his resurrection, it would not have been God\u2019s mighty deed for our justification.\u2019 In addition, because of the resurrection it is a living Christ who bestows on us the salvation he has won for us on the cross, who enables us by his Spirit not only to share in the merit of his death but also to live in the power of his resurrection, and who promises us that on the last day we too will have resurrection bodies.<\/p>\n

\u201cJames Denney expresses the relation between Jesus\u2019 death and resurrection this way: \u2018There can be no salvation from sin unless there is a living Saviour: this explains the emphasis laid by the apostle on the resurrection. But the living One can be a Saviour only because he has died: this explains the emphasis laid on the cross. The Christian believes in a living Lord, or he could not believe at all; but he believes in a living Lord who dies an atoning death, for no other can hold the faith of a soul under the doom of sin.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

–John R W Stott, The Cross of Christ<\/b> (Downer’s Grove, InterVaristy Press, 2006), pp,237-238<\/p>\n

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Worship for Easter Day<\/p>\n

Join us online for the live stream of our Easter Day Eucharist from 10am, or catch up later today on our website.<\/p>\n

You can watch the service here >> https:\/\/t.co\/qxjpLWgFGv<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/6Ek389CvFd<\/a><\/p>\n

— Hereford Cathedral (@HFDCathedral) April 4, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n