Dever on Justification

"Christ's giving of himself satisfied the demands of the Father's justice against us. He did it alone; we played no part in it whatsoever. Justification, however, includes us and our faith in a way propitiation did not. We must believe in order to be justified...Justification is something God does for us, and yet he does it through the instrumentality of our faith-not in any way because of our faith, but it is by faith that we take hold of and appropriate the gift of justification. The great application of this study, therefore, is that you believe. Believe that Jesus was so raised, and believe that he was so raised so that you would be justified before God. Friend, if you would be saved, you must believe this message to be the truth, and you must trust God...you are only justified when you believe. The nature of this saving, justifying faith is not merely a historical faith-'Oh yes, I think that happened.' No, justifying faith is trust in Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, reliance on him as your only substitutionary Savior."

Mark Dever, It Is Well

Carson on Penal Substitution

"The way that Jesus propitiates his Father is in the Father's wise plan. All of God's justice is worked out in Christ, who takes our curse and penalty in his own body on the tree. That is why Christians speak of satisfying the wrath of God. This expression does not mean that God is up in heaven smirking, 'This really satisfies me.' It means that the demands of his holiness are met in the sacrifice of his own Son. His justice is satisfied in Jesus' propitiatory sacrifice so that all may see that sin deserves the punishment he himself imposed, and the punishment has been meted out. This vindicates God so that he himself is seen to be just, as well as the one who justifies the ungodly (Romans 4:5). Justification is first and foremost about the vindication of God. God simultaneously preserves his justice while justifying the ungodly. That is the heart of the gospel...Do you want to see the greatest evidence of the love of God? Go to the cross. Do you want to see the greatest evidence of the justice of God? Go to the cross."

D.A. Carson, Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus

Thoughts on Worship

"Although there are several Greek words in the New Testament that we translate 'worship', none of them mean 'singing'. Kind of odd, don't you think? Even in the Old Testament, God never intended that his people confine worship to sacrifices at the temple. Worship that pleased God couldn't be restricted to certain actions, forms, or rituals...In the New Testament there's an even stronger move away from identifying meetings and rituals as essential to our worship. Jesus made it possible for all of life to be experienced as worship in spirit and truth...Evangelism is worship...Serving others is worship...Giving is worship. Romans 12:1 is one of the most familiar passages that connect worship to all of life...So what does it look like to worship God all the time? It's doing everything to draw attention to his greatness and goodness...Biblically speaking, there's no sacred/secular distinction in our lives."

Bob Kauflin, Worship Matters