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Biblical truth, Christian doctrine, Christianity, God's grace, God's love, Gospel of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, R. C. Sproul, repentance, salvation, sin, the cross of Christ
The Truth of the Cross — Free Audiobook
by R C Sproul of Ligonier Ministries.
from Nathan W. Bingham
During the month of April, we’re giving away the unabridged audiobook download of The Truth of the Cross by R.C. Sproul and read by Lawrence F. Pritchett.
In The Truth of the Cross, Dr. Sproul surveys the great work accomplished by Jesus Christ through His crucifixion—the redemption of God’s people. He considers the atonement from numerous angles and shows conclusively that the cross was absolutely necessary if anyone was to be saved. The Truth of the Cross is an uncompromising reminder that the atonement of Christ is an absolutely essential doctrine of the Christian faith, one that should be studied and understood by all believers.
“The cross stands at the very center of our Christian lives. Still, many Christians are confused about the heart of the gospel, for many deviant views are in the air. R. C. Sproul blows the fog away in this wonderfully clear, theologically profound, and pastorally rich work. Learn afresh or anew what God has accomplished in the cross, so that you will boast only in the cross of Jesus Christ.”
—Dr. Thomas R. Schreiner
Professor, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Download:
Available in April as a free audiobook download from the Ligonier Store. Please note, your download will be a single ZIP file containing the MP3 audio.
Not sure how to download digital files? See our FAQ section.
Offer expires April 30, 2014.
The Narrowing Path 
“Joy to the world the LORD is come” means that you can know fulness of His joy in YOUR life. Paul does not speak with hyperbole when he says:
“For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”
On this point Dr. Sproul—whom I hold in very high esteem—has missed the boat I think. He is right on the centrality of the cross of course (and we would fully expect that) but then says:
“When the apostle made that statement, he obviously was engaged in the literary art of hyperbole.”
Surely Paul was not so engaged. Perhaps this is the “theologian” in Dr. Sproul as he goes straight for the “Greek,” but it is not Jesus speaking. “THE JOY OF THE LORD IS OUR STRENGTH! It was Paul’s strength, the “WHY” of how he could rejoice in all things even a day and a night in the “deep.” How Stephen “fell asleep” under a hale of stones.
Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep. KJV
Stephen we know died but with such calm, such serenity and peace that it was as if he were falling asleep. THIS, brothers and sisters, is the joy of the Lord that gives strength. Both men had deep personal intimacy with the Lord, an intimacy God desires to have with all His people. It does not matter what happens to me (or to you) it is all about God, to His glory, it is NOT about me!
“Yea, let God be true, but every man a liar…That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
Seek Him with your whole heart. “Fear not. Believe only” the Bible says. Abandon yourself to Jesus.
What Does It Mean to Know Nothing except Christ and Him Crucified?
FROM R.C. Sproul Apr 11, 2014 Category: Articles
One of the most important subdivisions of theology is Christology, which is the study of the person and work of Christ. Within that field of study, when we want to get at the aspect that is most crucial, the aspect that we may call the “crux” of the matter of Jesus’ person and work, we go immediately to the cross. The words crucial and crux both have their root in the Latin word for “cross,” crux, and they have come into the English language with their current meanings because the concept of the cross is at the very center and core of biblical Christianity. In a very real sense, the cross crystallizes the essence of the ministry of Jesus.
This was the view of the apostle Paul. In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul made an astonishing statement about the importance of the cross to the entirety of the Christian faith: “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:1-2). Paul was a man who had the equivalent of two Ph.D.s in theology by the time he was 21 years of age, a man who wrote with great insight on the whole scope of theology. Nevertheless, he said that the focal point of his teaching, preaching, and ministry among the Corinthians was simply “Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
IN A VERY REAL SENSE, THE CROSS CRYSTALLIZES THE ESSENCE OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS
When the apostle made that statement, he obviously was engaged in the literary art of hyperbole. [*UNTRUE*! He was dead on!] The Greek prefix hyper is the source of our word super, and it indicates a degree of emphasis. Hyper takes a root word and makes it emphatic. In this case, the root word comes from the Greek verb “to throw.” So hyperbole is literally a “super throwing”; it is a form of emphasis that uses intentional exaggeration. This is a common device in communication. Sometimes, when a child disobeys, a parent may say in exasperation, “I’ve told you ten thousand times not to do that.” The parent doesn’t mean literally ten thousand times, and no one who overhears the parent understands him or her to mean literally ten thousand times. Everybody understands that a statement like that is an exaggeration—an exaggeration born not out of deceitfulness or falsehood, but out of an intent to bring emphasis.
That’s what Paul was doing when he told the Corinthians he had determined to know nothing except Christ crucified. Clearly Paul was determined to know all kinds of things besides the person and work of Jesus. He wanted to teach the Corinthians about the deep things of the character and nature of God the Father. He planned to instruct them about the person and work of the Holy Spirit, about Christian ethics, and about many other things that go beyond the immediate scope of Christ’s work on the cross. So why, then, did he say this? The answer is obvious. Paul was saying that in all of his teaching, in all of his preaching, in all of his missionary activity, the central point of importance was the cross. In effect, this teacher was saying to his students, “You might forget other things that I teach you, but don’t ever forget the cross, because it was on the cross, through the cross, and by the cross that our Savior performed His work of redemption and gathered His people for eternity.
This excerpt is from R.C. Sproul’s The Truth of the Cross. Download the digital audiobook free through April 30, 2014.
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Christ is the key to understanding all scripture, not hermeneutics, not Greek, Hebrew, et al. Too much Greek (and Hebrew) is a “weariness to the flesh.” Too much intellect, too little faith (faith IS knowledge) will lead us off course in the interpretation of scripture. We get out of focus I believe (“Looking unto JESUS” the Spirit of prophecy). Sometimes a theologian or student of the scriptures goes straight for the Greek which appears to lead them away from Jesus and not nearer.
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Great comments, thanks! 🙂
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