Andrew Bonar

It is not by Incarnation, but by blood-shedding, that we are saved. The Christ of God is no mere expounder of wisdom; no mere deliverer or gracious benefactor; and they who think that they have told the whole gospel when they have spoken of Jesus revealing the love of God, do greatly err.

If Christ be not the substitute, He is nothing to the sinner. If He did not die as the sin-bearer, He has died in vain. Let us not be deceived on this point, nor misled by those who when they announce Christ as the deliverer, think they have preached the gospel. If I throw a rope to a drowning man, and risk my life to save another, I am a deliverer. But is Christ no more than that? If I cast myself into the sea and risk my life to save another, I am a deliverer. But is Christ not more? Did He but risk His life? The very essence of Christ’s deliverance is the substitution of Himself for us; His life for ours. He did not come to risk His life: He came to die; He did not
redeem us by a little loss, a little sacrifice, a little labour, a little suffering: “He redeemed us to God by His blood” – “the precious blood of Christ.” He gave all He had, even His life for us. This is the kind of deliverance that awakens, “To Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.”.

Used with permission from Wicket Gate Magazine.