Reformation Heritage Books

Mark Dever and Michael Lawrence offer fourteen pastoral expositions on the atonement, demonstrating its importance and rich application for the church and Christian life.The idea of Christ's substitutionary atonement for sinners is central in both the Old and New Testaments—from the Passover to the prophets to the words of Jesus and the apostles. In It Is Well, pastors Mark Dever and Michael Lawrence demonstrate how the atonement is clearly taught throughout Scripture. Starting with Exodus 12 and moving through other key Old Testament passages into the Gospels and the epistles of Paul and Peter, the authors offer careful expositions on fourteen crucial texts. As they speak to important issues such as what happens when there is no substitute for sin, why God forsook Christ, Jesus' perspective on his substitutionary work, and the necessity and benefits of the atonement, they show how much the doctrine applies to the Christian life.It Is Well not only encourages pastors to preach this essential doctrine for the strengthening of the church, but it helps individual believers understand and exult in the richness of God's love in Christ.

Author

Mark Dever is Senior Pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. and Executive Director for 9Marks Ministries. Dr. Dever has contributed to several books on church health and church leadership, and is a visiting professor at both Beeson Divinity School and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.Michael Lawrence is associate pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist and adjunct professor of systematic theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Endorsements

"In many churches, the cross is sung more forcefully than it is preached. Some of the most moving and memory-shaping hymns and songs of the faith are also the bloodiest, those that remind us that we were purchased with blood. Sadly, for many, the power of the atonement seems simply to be lyrics, left unconsidered for most of life. This book, by faithful preachers Mark Dever and Michael Lawrence, calls us to preach and teach and pray the curse-absorbing substitutionary atonement as emphatically as we sing it. As you see the glory of Christ crucified in these sermons, you will want to sing, and to preach, and to praise the Messiah who stood in our place on Skull Hill." - Russell D. Moore, Dean, School of Theology; Senior Vice President for Academic Administration; Associate Professor of Theology and Ethics, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

"Theological and devotional, expositional and inspirational: these are four words that well capture this excellent work on the doctrine of penal substitution. Thank you, Mark and Michael, for this gift to the church of the Lord Jesus. Read it and be instructed. Read it and be blessed." - Daniel L. Akin, President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

"Dever and Lawrence remind us that at the heart of Christianity is Christ, and the heart of Christ's ministry is the cross, and the heart of the cross is penal substitution. Nor is penal substitution limited to part of the canon. Both in the OT and the NT forgiveness of sins comes only through substitution. The OT anticipates the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ, the Gospels relate the story of his sacrifice, and the Epistles explicate what Christ has accomplished for his people. What a joy to have the truth of Christ’s work for us set forth in sermons, for we see clearly that Christ’s atoning work is no abstraction. Dever and Lawrence in these well-crafted sermons both instruct us in God’s Word and apply it powerfully to the lives of both believers and unbelievers." - Thomas R. Schreiner, Professor of New Testament Interpretation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary