learning to see and savor the glory of Christ.

These clips are interviews of Sinclair Ferguson from the upcoming Desiring God 2008 National Conference. He shares about two ideas that are critical in understanding the gospel and have really helped me to better understand the depth and glory of the cross: penal substitution and imputed righteousness.

Penal Substitution: That Christ died in my place, as the believer’s substitute. He bore the full weight of justice demanded by my sin. I should have taken the full, furious wrath of God for the for the sin that’s in my head, heart, and life against God, but he bore it in my place, paying for my legal debt in full. God made him who knew no sin to be sin so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Imputed Righteousness: Not only is our punishment paid for, we’ve been given a righteousness that isn’t our own. It’s put on, applied to us. For the person that has trusted in Christ alone for salvation and submitted to his Lordship, his righteousness is counted as ours. It’s like an exchange of unimaginable proportions: our sins for his righteousness. We can do nothing, but Christ has done it all.