Round the Sphere Again: More Gospel

What Does It Mean?
Why the  “mystical” explanation of “in Christ” and “with Christ” can’t be right. (From Herman Ridderbos in Paul: An Outline of His Theology—a book that is a struggle to read but worth the effort if you can manage it—quoted at The Gospel-Driven Church.)

Where Is It?
An interview with Dane Ortlund in which he answers a few questions about the gospel, like “Where is the gospel in Leviticus?”

Leviticus is an elaborate accounting of the sacrificial system that God mercifully instituted for Israel, to atone for their sins. It is virtually impossible to plunk down into a random place in Leviticus and not see God’s gracious provision of a way out for filthy people.

And Jesus himself brought that entire sacrificial system to fulfillment. The New Testament tells us Jesus was not only the priest who offered the sacrifice, he was also the sacrifice itself, the lamb—and he was even the temple in which the priest offered the sacrifice. As we read Leviticus as Christians, then, we can be ever mindful of what all those bloody sacrifices were anticipating.

Read the whole thing.

What Were They Thinking?
What were Old Testament believers thinking when they offered animal sacrifices? (Head Heart Hand)