Best Christian Books on the Atonement: 11 Classics to Read Free
If you want a short, clear start on the atonement, read Arno C. Gaebelein's The Work of Christ, about an hour. It shows what Christ did on the cross, what He is doing now and what He will do. If you want the doctrine laid out with care, step by step, read A. A. Hodge's The Atonement. In between, Spurgeon's sermon on the Day of Atonement will warm your heart.
The word atonement means making things right between God and sinners. The classic writers taught it plainly. God is holy, and sin deserves His judgment. He did not wave sin away. In love He sent His Son, who lived the life we should have lived and died the death we deserved, in our place. His blood answers for our sin, satisfies God's justice and opens the way into God's presence. The Old Testament sacrifices pointed to this all along. That is why so many of these books start in Leviticus.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5
Here are eleven of the best books on the atonement in TheWay Library, all free to read.
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1. The Work of Christ, by Arno C. Gaebelein
A small book that takes Christ's work in three tenses. The past: the incarnation, Christ made sin for us, and "It is finished." The present: His priesthood and advocacy in heaven. The future: His coming kingdom. Gaebelein writes from a premillennial view in the last part, but the chapters on the cross are for every reader.
All, ALL we have and are, all we shall have and shall be as His own, has its blessed source in the cross of Christ.
The Work of Christ, It is Finished
See also Arno C. Gaebelein's books. Read The Work of Christ.
2. Six Sermons, by C. H. Spurgeon
Six early sermons by the young Spurgeon. The one to read is "The Day of Atonement," which walks through the high priest's work in Leviticus 16, the two goats, the blood carried behind the veil, the sins sent away, as a picture of Christ's sacrifice.
Christian, thy Saviour dying for thee made the great atonement for thy sins, and thou may'st go free.
Six Sermons, The Day of Atonement
3. Wondrous Love, by D. L. Moody
Gospel addresses, each aimed at bringing a hearer to Christ that night. Two of them, on the blood, trace the theme from Abel's lamb to the song of Revelation. Plain, full of stories, and a good book to give someone who has never thought about why Jesus died. Read Wondrous Love.
Pictures of the atonement in the Old Testament
4. Christ in the Tabernacle, by A. B. Simpson
A two-hour walk through the tabernacle, from the brazen altar and the blood to the mercy seat behind the veil. Simpson shows Christ's sacrifice in each piece and what it means for the believer's daily walk with God. Read Christ in the Tabernacle.
5. Notes on the Book of Leviticus, by C. H. Mackintosh
The best guide in the library to the offerings. Mackintosh shows how each one presents a side of Christ's work: the burnt offering is His death as God sees it, the sin and trespass offerings are His death meeting the sinner's need. His chapter on the great Day of Atonement is a classic.
The Lord Jesus suffered for righteousness during His life: He suffered for sin in His death.
Notes on the Book of Leviticus, Chapter II
See our guide to C. H. Mackintosh's books. Read Notes on Leviticus.
6. Christ in Isaiah, by F. B. Meyer
Devotional chapters on Isaiah 40 to 55. The heart of the book is a run of chapters on Isaiah 52 and 53: the Servant's soul made an offering for sin, His satisfaction, and the greatness of the Sin-Bearer.
With all other men, death is the close of their life; with Christ it was the object.
Christ in Isaiah, chapter 15
The doctrine, carefully explained
7. The Atonement, by A. A. Hodge
The Princeton theologian's full treatment, written first as newspaper articles, so the chapters are short. Hodge argues that God's own holiness demands the punishment of sin, that the sacrifices were types of Christ, and that Christ's sufferings were truly in our place. He answers the moral influence and governmental theories and closes with the design of the atonement. This is the book to read if you want to understand substitution.
A substitute is not a different man in a different place, but a different man in the same place.
The Atonement, Christ's Sufferings Were Strictly and Definitely Vicarious
8. The Priesthood of Christ, by Joseph Parker
The London preacher writes to an honest doubter who asks what Jesus did for us that we could not do ourselves. Parker shows why mediation is needed, dwells on Christ's loneliness in Gethsemane and at Calvary, and gathers what the Epistles say about His death. He weighs the theories of the atonement and rests on what Christ actually does for the soul.
The purpose of Jesus Christ was not to set an example, but to give life.
The Priesthood of Christ, Conclusion
Read The Priesthood of Christ.
9. The Glories of Christ, by Thomas Goodwin
Puritan treatises on Romans 8:34, "It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again." Goodwin wrote for believers who trusted Christ for pardon but still looked too much at themselves. He sets Christ before them in His death, resurrection, ascension and intercession, then shows His triumph over Satan on the cross and the tenderness of His heart now in heaven.
God is love, as John says, and Christ is love covered over with flesh, yea, our flesh.
The Glories of Christ, The Tenderness of Christ, Book II
See also the best Puritan books. Read The Glories of Christ.
10. The Martyr Lamb, by F. W. Krummacher
Sermons by the German preacher, published because he found few books that set forth Christ as our representative. The title sermon dwells on Christ spat upon and struck, and "The Great Exchange" warns against trying to become holy before being justified.
The holy and just God must put it into execution, or how otherwise can he remain just and holy?
The Martyr Lamb, The Martyr Lamb
What the atonement opens to us
11. Let Us Draw Nigh, by Andrew Murray
The atonement is not only about sins taken away. It is about the way into God's presence thrown open. Murray's twelve short chapters on Hebrews 10:19-25 cover the entrance into the Holiest, boldness through the blood, the new and living way, and our great High Priest, then call us to come near.
The Father would have His children with Him in His holy home of love and fellowship, abiding continually all the time.
Let Us Draw Nigh, chapter 2
More by Murray: Andrew Murray's books. Read Let Us Draw Nigh.
Also in the library
John Owen's The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, the great Puritan work on the design of the atonement, is in the library, though the scanned text has errors. Spurgeon's Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 30 has a spring series on Leviticus, on laying the hand on the sacrifice, slaying it and sprinkling its blood.
Where to start
New to the subject? Read Gaebelein, then Spurgeon's sermon, then Mackintosh on Leviticus. Ready for more? Read Hodge, and keep Murray beside you so the doctrine turns into prayer.
For the story of Calvary itself, see our guide to the best books on the cross. For who Christ is, the One who made the atonement, see the best books on the person of Christ. And for what His death means for you personally, see the best books on salvation.
More by these authors: A. A. Hodge, C. H. Spurgeon and Andrew Murray.