Spurgeon: Life from a Dying Savior

"Nothing puts life into men like a dying Savior. All other topics in Holy Scripture are important, and none of them are to be cast into the shade. But the death of the Son of God is the central sun of all these other minor luminaries. May this house be utterly consumed with fire before the day should come here when there should be given an uncertain sound about the atonement. This is not merely a doctrine of the church; it is the doctrine of the church. Leave this out, and you have no truth, you have no Savior, and you have no church."--Charles Spurgeon

Comments (6)

Wow, That is such a great quote!!!! I am going to be using that on my blog. I was just at this evangelistic event for teens last night and it was so sad because it lacked the cross. The cross was never mentioned. The fact we were sinners and need a savior and the only way to heaven is through the blood shed on the cross was missing. The gospel without the cross is just a bunch of worthless words and there is truly no gospel without the cross. This post came at a perfect time for me!

Posted by Olivia | October 28, 2008 3:20 PM

I love it. "You have no Savior, and you have no church." Churches have to be Gospel-centered. It saddens my heart to see many churches side-tracked from the centrality of the Gospel. Lord, have mercy on us.

Posted by Joe Lee | October 28, 2008 6:15 PM

Sure shoots straight to the point, doesn't it? I always feel re-focused after reading here. Once again, I have a great thought to chew on all evening.

Thanks.

Posted by Heather | October 28, 2008 8:13 PM

Josh,

that is a great quote and I love the prince of preachers. I guess I am wondering why the resurrection is not emphasized along with the cross. I understand that to many the resurrection is necessarily implied but Im not sure that is helpful in terms of teaching people the centrality of the gospel. After all Paul said that what was "protos" was that Jesus died and was buried and was raised. I know that you would agree that there is no gospel if there is no resurrection but why doesn't the movement of gospel centrality always include that in its nomenclature? Just wondering what your thoughts were.

Will

Posted by Will Pavone | October 30, 2008 8:54 PM

Will,

Good to hear from you, buddy. Hope you're doing well.

In answer to your question, in most cases I try to speak of Christ's "death and resurrection" whenever possible. I think that's something that could be emphasized more by some. I think the absence of emphasis is more an oversight than anything else. So I'd chalk it up to another area where people can grow more well-rounded in their theology.

Joshua

Posted by Joshua Harris | October 30, 2008 10:29 PM

Thanks for your helpful answer Josh. I am truly indebted to sovereign grace for helping me to treasure the gospel more fully.

Posted by will pavone | October 31, 2008 10:31 AM

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