Review: "The Cross of Jesus" by Leon Morris

What I Learned From the Book

“The Cross of Jesus” by Leon Morris

As the author points out, in the modern world there is a tendency to consider any thing other than the cross as the essence of Christianity: for example, people tend to associate Christian faith with doing charity activities or decent living. Even Christians seem to put emphasis on God’s universal love, or Jesus’ ethical teaching at the Sermon on the Mount, or regeneration (new birth), or even Jesus’ incarnation, other than the cross. Don't get me wrong. They are all important tenets of Christianity. But without the cross, the foundation of our salvation crumbles. (For the centrality of the cross in Christianity please see the first chapter of "The Cross of Christ" by John Stott) The centrality of the cross in our Christian faith is assumed but its relevance to our practical lives is lost except in a few areas of our lives. However, the author methodically shows that the cross is indeed the focal point of Christian faith, and that its effects permeate into every shade of life.

As I read the book, I come to the conclusion that one of the reasons why the importance of the cross has been lost in the modern Christians’ minds is because they do not have a clear Biblical understanding of sin and its consequences, and God’s law. Increasingly Christian people in general have an idea that men are basically good in spite of the plain demonstration of men’s wickedness and evil manifested in war, genocide, concentration camps, or violent crime. Another reason is, I believe, as the author mentions, that they are losing the concept that we are responsible people and in due course must give account of ourselves to God (Rom. 14:12). As a result, people are not particularly interested in the rightness of a procedure. The notion that “the end justifies the means” is popular even among Christians.

            Effected by these reasons, the modern Christians do not have a firm grasp of the truth that their only hope for salvation is only in the atonement happened on the cross, and the truth that God’s forgiveness is only based on what Christ’s death has accomplished. God could not simply forgive sinners by declaring, “I forgive you,” or by their repentance (“Father, I sinned against you.”). The nature of God and his law cannot allow this to happen. Even modern people who live in the age of tolerance and incrimination decry light sentences by some rogue judges upon heinous crimes (such as child molest, or school shooting, or mass killing). The sense of justice written in human heart calls out against such horrible crimes, crying, “The perpetrators deserves to be executed!” The author, therefore, argues that God does not forgive sin in the ways that might be understood to mean that sin and its consequences do not matter much, but that he forgave our sin and removed its curse only through the righteous and just but very costly way of the cross.

            He also points out that that’s the way of God as the way of forgiveness that the New Testament writers constantly hold out. The fact alone, that the theme of the atonement dominates the scene of the New Testament in volume and frequency and emphasis and application, convincingly shows how the New Testament writers understood all aspects of our lives were closely related to the cross. However, it is our tendency that we try to understand the world without the cross. We analyze our problems without the cross and try to find their solutions without the cross. Unless we accept the truth that the cross is the only way of salvation, we will never understand human predicaments and cannot find their true remedies. 

However, throughout ages those who understood the importance of the cross have tried to understand what the cross did for us. The author introduces the three main understandings of the church: the penal theory, the theory of a demonstration of love, and the theory of victory. The author shows that each of them brings out its own understanding of the atonement, even though one theory alone cannot be viewed as a satisfying one. He points out that the reason why a certain theory was accepted widely in a certain period is because it was suited to the time it appeared. And he challenges us: “Is there any possibility that the modern church could find some aspects of New Testament teaching that link the atonement with ideas congenial to us?”

His challenge made me think about the following two things. First, we are still left to add our own understanding to what we know of the atonement. If we believe the cross is central to our own lives, its message is still relevant to our particular settings. As the author explored, the world is becoming a complex one. People are bitterly disillusioned by the frustration and disappointments of life. As we witnessed, our political system and judicial system always are not on the side of the weak and the powerless. Young people are frustrated because they see entrenched corruption and blatant injustice in the society, which they are going to enter. What’s the point of living righteous, they may ask. People are increasingly not interested in our duty to God and our fellows. They have no idea that they were created to live for God and to others. They are concerned about themselves. As a result, people are experiencing loneliness and disconnection and insecurity. The author does not ignore these problems but tackles with them through the message of the atonement. If we are Christians, I think we have to emulate his mental efforts to apply the truth of the atonement to the situations in which we are living, because we are called to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have (1 Peter 3:15).

As I read this book, I ask to myself, “Does the cross influence my decision and will and give me guidance for my practical life? Or do I write it off just as a theory but live according to my fixed idea?” I found myself that when a young member of our church raises an opposite opinion against my idea, I am almost tempted to speak such words, "How dare you, inexperienced kid!" We people have desire for power. But how can I use my power as a church leader in the view of the cross? Do I really accept that I am called not to be served but to serve, in the view of Christ’s death on the cross? Do I accept that that’s my new position in God?

As the author excellently points out, God could have blotted us from the face of the earth, but instead he made us a new people, a people of God cleansed from our sins through the cross. We now have a great responsibility to live as people under the shadow of the cross. If we want to do that, I realize that we should not conform to our prejudice, fixed idea, culture, tradition, or temperament any more, but to be transformed by renewing of our mind (Romans 12:2). That means we have to constantly meditate on the meaning of Jesus’ death on the cross and apply it to our practical lives at home, at work, or in church.

Second, the author demonstrated throughout his book that how masterfully he was well-versed with the Scriptures, especially the New Testament. His numerous quotations of the Bible verses reveal that his ideas are sorely based on the Bible. The fact that his footnotes quote many commentaries indicates that his approach to the Bible is exegetical. He demonstrates that we can still be faithful to the Bible while we tackle with our contemporary issues, and that we can still make cogent arguments on them through the Bible. In this era of theological flux he shows that we can continuously draw enlightenment and encouragement from historical and Biblical understanding of the atonement.

Once Dr. Lloyd-Jones confessed that sometimes he foolishly felt that he exhausted teaching and preaching about the cross. But the more he surveyed the wondrous cross, the more he could constantly find the new meanings of the atonement.  Leon Morris’s “The Cross of Jesus” convinced me that Lloyd-Jones’ saying is indeed true. May I find the constant source of encouragement, insight, motivation, direction, and raison d'être from the cross!