‘For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” II Corinthians 5:21
If I were asked to give a young preacher some good advice on his preaching it would be to always preach what the scripture teaches concerning the blessed doctrine of the substitution of Christ life and death. Preach it as a dying man to dying men, that He died for sinners and atoned for all their failures to honor the Law. Tell them that this will be all their hope and righteousness, that besides this they have no other. “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth (charges) righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD imputeth not sin” (Romans 4:6-8). Preach substitution as the heart of the Gospel. C.H. Spurgeon does an excellent job on SUBSTITUTION as he writes -- “The sum and substance of the Gospel lies in that word SUBSTITUTION — Christ standing in the stead of man. If I understand the gospel it is this: I deserve to be lost forever, the only reason I should not be damned is that Christ was punished in my stead and there is no need to execute a sentence twice for sin. On the other hand, I know I cannot enter heaven unless I have a perfect righteousness. I am absolutely certain I shall never have one of my own, for I find I sin everyday; but then Christ had a perfect righteousness and He said, “There, poor sinner, take MY garment and put it on, you shall stand before God as if you were Christ and I will suffer in the sinner’s stead, and you shall be rewarded for works which you did not do but which I did for you. “I find it very convenient everyday to come to Christ as a sinner, as I came at the first. ‘You are no saint,’ says the devil. Well, if I am not I am a sinner, and Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. Sink or swim I go to Him, other hope I have none. By looking to Him I received all the faith which inspired me with confidence in His grace. The word that first drew my soul, “Look unto Me,” still rings its clarion note in my ears. There I once found conversion, and there I shall ever find refreshing and renewal. “Let me bear my personal testimony of what I have seen, what my own ears have heard, and what my own heart has tasted. First, Christ is the only begotten of the Father. He is Divine to me, if He be human to all the world besides. He has done that for me which none but God could do. He has subdued my stubborn will, melted a heart of adamant, broken a chain of steel, opened the gates of brass, and snapped the bars of iron. He has turned for me my mourning into laughter and my desolation into joy; He has led my captivity captive and made my heart rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Let others think as they will of Him; to me He must ever be the only begotten of the Father; blessed be His holy name!”
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