The Glory of Penal Substitution

If you are looking for a book on Christ’s substitutionary death that is not too technical, yet rich and deep enough for lay people, pastors, and seminary students, and one highly endorsed by the likes of D.A. Carson, Mark Dever, Sinclair B. Ferguson, John Frame, R. Kent Hughes, C.J. Mahaney, J.I. Packer, Thomas Schreiner, and a whole lot more conservative Christians, then Pierced for Our Transgressions (Crossway Books, 2007) is the book for you. Its authors (a bunch of Ph.D. dudes ministering or teaching in London) do a magnificent job in making the case for penal substitution from the biblical text, answering modern challengers and contrarians to the doctrine (which are nothing but rehashes of older forms), historical lineage of the doctrine, and even practical ramifications of the doctrine. You’ll also appreciate its brilliant format due to its simplicity. More importantly, it will positively further your understanding of what Christ accomplished on the cross, which carries with it the potential to further your appreciation and love for Him who declared, “It is finished!” on the cross, provided that you not approach, read, and study the material merely with an academic intention. It is for this reason and its potential spiritual benefits that this book is highly recommended! Here is an excerpt concerning the importance of the doctrine of justification:

"If our sin cannot be imputed to Christ, then by the same reasoning his righteousness cannot be imputed to us. We must then abandon the doctrine of justification by faith, the teaching that we are counted righteous in God’s sight on the basis of Christ’s righteousness, imputed to us by faith. Without justification by faith, the only basis upon which we could stand before God on the Last Day would be our own righteousness. This inevitably leads either to despair (‘I could never be good enough for God’) or to pride (‘I am good enough for God – well done me!’). Both of these outcomes are at a variance with the Bible’s teaching. The apostle Paul can assure believers that ‘there is … now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Rom. 8:1), while at the same time insisting that ‘boasting … is excluded’ (Rom. 3:27). Yet this is only possible because Christ’s people are united to him, share in his benefits, and are therefore justified by faith in him" (p.249).