The Curse Removed

The atonement is the central doctrine of our Christian faith. Today's most popular model--penal substitution--presumes Jesus took on the guilt of sins to pay for them with his death. But that courtroom scenario, lacking justice and open-armed forgiveness, is riddled with questions of how guilt is transferred and why punishing another for a crime is just. The recent revival of Christus Victor and mimetic atonement theories may properly deny the Father-to-Son wrath of penal substitution, but they, too, fall short in explaining the transference of the victory of Jesus's atonement to the sinner who needs rescue. Addressing these problems, Dan Salter's biblically faithful recast of a redemptive atonement highlights both our human physical essence and our spiritual identity as the beneficiaries of God's restoration. True justice and forgiveness can occur only with The Curse Removed.

The atonement is the central doctrine of our Christian faith. Today's most popular model-penal substitution-presumes Jesus took on the guilt of sins to pay for them with his death. But that courtroom scenario, lacking justice and open-armed forgiveness, is riddled with questions of how guilt is transferred and why punishing another for a crime is just.The recent revival of Christus Victor and mimetic atonement theories may properly deny the Father-to-Son wrath of penal substitution, but they, too, fall short in explaining the transference of the victory of Jesus's atonement to the sinner who needs rescue.The Curse Removed pursues the details of the atonement story, explaining the Redeemer qualifications from the Old Testament, demonstrating the crucifixion's link to the Day of Atonement sacrifice, and revealing meaning in the restoration life of this age and that which is to come when Christ returns to redeem.The difficulty of the atonement has always been in attempting to merge seemingly opposing concepts. How can we have both a required redemption and the open-armed embrace of forgiveness? How can justice and mercy both remain absolute? How does God's infinite love match up with the estrangement of death? By recognizing the dual make-up (the image bearing) of humanity in shared physical essence yet individual spirits, we have the answers resolving the seeming conflicts. Through the revelation of God embraced by the heart of faith, we image bearers can be both forgiven and redeemed to enjoy everlasting love relationship with our God.

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True faith is hard. More than mere sentimentalism, faith often calls for a deep and resilient trust in God—especially when the going gets tough and the road is dark. In Things Not Seen, author Jon Bloom encourages readers with 35 imaginative retellings of stories from the Bible that illustrate the importance of living by faith. A follow-up to the author's previous book, Not by Sight: A Fresh Look at Old Stories of Walking by Faith, this inspiring volume explores the lives of Abraham, Moses, Saul, John the Baptist, and more—helping readers remember God's promises, rely on his grace, and follow his leading regardless of the circumstances. The book includes a foreword by popular author and blogger Ann Voskamp.

Trusting Jesus is hard. It requires following the unseen into an unknown, and believing Jesus's words over and against the threats we see or the fears we feel. Through the imaginative retelling of 35 Bible stories, Not by Sight gives us glimpses of what it means to walk by faith and counsel for how to trust God's promises more than our perceptions and to find rest in the faithfulness of God.

If "Who am I?" is the question you're asking, Rachel Jankovic doesn't want you to "find yourself" or "follow your heart." Those lies are nothing to the confidence, freedom, and clarity of purpose that come with knowing what is actually essential about you. And the answer to that question is at once less and more than what you are hoping for. Christians love the idea that self-expression is the essence of a beautiful person, but that's a lie, too. With trademark humor and no nonsense practicality, Rachel Jankovic explains the fake story of the Self, starting with the inventions of a supremely ugly man named Sartre (rhymes with "blart"). And we--men and women, young and old--have bought his lie of the Best Self, with terrible results. Thankfully, that's not the end of our story, You Who: Why You Matter and How to Deal with It takes the identity question into the nitty gritty details of everyday life. Here's the first clue: Stop looking inside, and start planting flags of everyday faithfulness. In Christianity, the self is always a tool and never a destination.