Best Christian Books on the Cross: 11 Classics on Calvary
If you want one short book on the cross, read J. C. Ryle's The Cross. It takes under an hour and asks a plain question: what do you think of the cross of Christ? Then read Horatius Bonar's The Blood of the Cross, about two hours, which asks what God thinks of it. If you want to stand at Calvary and watch the last day of Jesus unfold, read James Stalker's The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ.
The old writers agreed that the cross is not one subject among many. It is the center. On it Jesus died in the place of sinners and bore what they deserved. There God showed how serious sin is and how great His love is, both at once. From it come pardon, peace with God and the power to live a new life. And the cross is also a way of life: the believer is crucified with Christ and takes up his own cross daily. These books hold all of that together.
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
Galatians 6:14
Here are eleven of the best in TheWay Library, all free to read, from short tracts to longer studies.
Start here
1. The Cross, by J. C. Ryle
Ryle's tract on Galatians 6:14. He explains the different ways the New Testament speaks of the cross, then why Paul gloried in it: it shows the sinfulness of sin, the love and wisdom of God, the way of peace and the only ground of hope. He closes with a word to the careless, the anxious and the believer.
Depend upon it, the cross of Christ, — the death of Christ on the cross to make atonement for sinners, — is the centre truth in the whole Bible.
The Cross
More by this author: J. C. Ryle's books. Read The Cross.
2. The Blood of the Cross, by Horatius Bonar
Bonar asks how far each of us is implicated in the death of Christ, then shows what God thinks of that blood: the price of the church, the ground of pardon, the way into His presence. The middle chapters set four people side by side, the careless sinner, the awakened sinner, the saint and the lost soul, and show how each regards the blood.
He has seen sin in the light in which God sees it; but he has also seen the blood in that same light also.
The Blood of the Cross, chapter 9
3. The Bible and the Cross, by G. Campbell Morgan
A short, clear book built on Peter's words at Pentecost. As the death of Jesus, the cross was unnatural, since a sinless man had no reason to die. As the death of the Christ, it was supernatural, since He laid down His life Himself. As the death of the Lord, it was reconciling. Morgan then applies it to the sinner, the saint and the ages to come.
If you can persuade me to believe that God will excuse sin in any life, or under any circumstances, in that moment you persuade me that God is not love.
The Bible and the Cross, chapter 3
Walk through the Passion
4. The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ, by James Stalker
Stalker follows the last hours of Jesus step by step: Gethsemane, the trial before the high priest, Peter's denial, Pilate's "shipwreck," the end of Judas, the road to Calvary, the seven sayings from the cross and the burial. He keeps turning the story on the reader's own conscience. For Holy Week there is no better companion in the library.
The true sufferings of Christ were not physical, but internal.
The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ, chapter 12
See also our guide to James Stalker's books. Read The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ.
5. Love to the Uttermost, by F. B. Meyer
The first half of this book covers the upper room. The second half walks through the Passion: the cup in Gethsemane, Annas and Caiaphas, the two trials before Pilate, the seven sayings of the cross and the burial. Meyer writes as a pastor, warm and practical, one short chapter at a time. Read Love to the Uttermost.
6. The Three Hours of Darkness, by C. H. Spurgeon
Spurgeon preached many sermons on Calvary. A good one to start with is "The Three Hours of Darkness," on the darkness that covered the land while Christ hung on the cross. It is in Series 17 of his sermons, which also has a fine sermon on Romans 8:1, "In Christ no condemnation."
To becloud the cross is the grand object of the enemy of souls.
Sermons of the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, Series 17, The Three Hours of Darkness
Go deeper
7. The Attraction of the Cross, by Gardiner Spring
A New York pastor's full-length book on Christ's words, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." Spring argues that the cross is a real propitiation for sin and the only one, that it is open to all, and that the greatness of your sin is no barrier. Then he shows the cross as the source of holiness, the test of true religion and the ground of full assurance.
It is not what he has done, but what Christ has done.
The Attraction of the Cross, chapter 7
Read The Attraction of the Cross.
8. Christ's Musts, by Alexander Maclaren
Thirty sermons, opening with the divine "must" that drew Jesus to the cross. Read "What the Historic Christ Taught About His Death," where Maclaren shows that Jesus Himself spoke of His death as the purpose of His coming, so that the Christ of the Gospels is the Christ of the Epistles. Read Christ's Musts.
9. Sacramental Discourses, by James W. Alexander
Sermons a Presbyterian pastor preached to his people at the Lord's Supper. Because the occasion always called for Christ crucified, nearly every sermon circles the cross: the crucifixion, the water and the blood, Christ bearing our sins, and Christ's death as the cardinal doctrine. A good book to read before communion.
The honor done to God's justice, by Christ's death, is the cause of jubilee in heaven.
Sacramental Discourses, chapter 13
Living under the cross
10. Sharing His Sufferings, by J. H. Jowett
The cross is not only something Christ did for us. It is also a road we walk with Him. Jowett's short book, first called The School of Calvary, is about that road: losing life to find it, the cup believers share, and going through Gethsemane to Olivet.
The quality of our fellowship with the Lord is best revealed, not by our capacity for joy, but by our capacity for suffering.
Sharing His Sufferings, chapter 4
11. Hymns and Spiritual Songs, by Isaac Watts
Watts gave the church its best-loved hymn on the cross, and it is here in his own collection. Read it slowly after any of the books above.
When I survey the wondrous cross On which the Prince of Glory dy'd, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.
Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book 3
See our guide to Isaac Watts' books. Read Hymns and Spiritual Songs.
Where to go next
If you read only three, read Ryle, Bonar and Stalker, in that order. That gives you the meaning of the cross, God's view of it and the story of the day itself.
For the doctrine behind the cross, why Christ had to die and what His death accomplished, see our guide to the best books on the atonement. For what came after the tomb, see the best books on the resurrection. And if the cross has raised the question of your own standing with God, our guide to books on assurance will help.
You can find more by these authors on their pages: J. C. Ryle, Horatius Bonar, James Stalker and C. H. Spurgeon.