The accomplishment of atonement by the triune God is central to the Bible’s revelation. And yet in our day it remains a murky, confusing topic for most believers. Indeed, centuries of church history passed before the appearance of the first works that focused on this one central aspect of divine truth. Owen Strachan helps to guide us through the rich tapestry of divine revelation to fully understand the substitutionary atonement of Christ on behalf of God’s people, together with the proclamation of Christ as Victor over death itself. This is a great resource for believers no matter how long they have walked with the Lord.
Dr. Owen Strachan has truly given us a fascinating read and a compelling study on the atonement in The Warrior-Savior. This book is a significant contribution to atonement theology, one that begins by laying its groundwork in exegetical theology, building its analysis through the means of biblical theology, and finally arriving at the grand conclusions of systematic theology. In all of this, Strachan maintains an engaging, captivating, challenging, even devotional account as he explores the biblical presentation of God as Warrior. This work builds toward a synthesis of the doctrines of penal substitutionary atonement and Christus Victor—Christ comes as the Lamb who is slain, yet he also comes as the Lion who triumphs in victory. Even if one may differ with certain postulations, there is much in this book to edify and inform, making for a worthy contribution to both the church and academy as a means of deepening our reflection on the atonement—what Strachan describes as the very "hinge of history."
God’s grand redeeming work throughout human history is an exquisite symphony, and Christ’s making atonement for sinners is the melody line that weaves its way throughout. Indeed, we will sing this melody into eternity: worthy is the Lamb that was slain! There is still more to rejoice in. Owen Strachan rotates the gemstone to show us another facet of Christ’s glory and gives us a further motive to worship Jesus Christ. The atonement points to not only the Lamb that was slain but also the Lion of the tribe of Judah who crushed the head of the serpent. Strachan mines the Scriptures to bring these two facets into clear view and to portray to us with striking clarity that Christ the Lord carried not only the cross but also the sword. Jesus of Nazareth was not only the Priest sprinkling the mercy seat but the King who conquered his enemies. Strachan has lovingly labored to help the people of God see afresh the glory of God in the flowing blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb and the Lion.
In The Warrior-Savior, Dr. Strachan walks us through the key biblical texts on the atonement, tracing the theme throughout redemptive history to the culminating glory of Christ’s work on the cross. Both scholarly and practical, this book will be of great service to the church. Christians will grow in their knowledge of how Jesus has paid the penalty for our sins as our Savior and has conquered all his and our enemies as our Warrior-King. I highly recommend it to pastors, reading groups, church small groups, and all other Christians who want to better understand the meaning and power of our redemption in Christ.
The Warrior-Savior is a masterful work on the doctrine of the atonement—one of the most impactful books I have read on the topic. It is a biblical theology of the cross that captures the most epic battle in human history. Christ’s sacrificial and atoning death is the thesis of the biblical narrative. It is the story of the Savior’s coming into this cursed world to rescue his people from their sins and misery. In this momentous work, Owen Strachan unpacks the doctrine of the atonement, with all its many facets, through an in-depth consideration of the biblical narrative from start to finish. This excellent study is how theology is meant to be understood and experienced. I urge you to pick up and read so that you may, with greater appreciation, look up and worship the one who has suffered, bled, and died for you.
Owen Strachan reminds us of the mystery and unfathomability of the cross as a revelation of God’s justice, love, and victory. Strachan rightly reminds us that we have both penal substitution and Christus Victor in the cross. The writing is powerful, punchy, and gripping, reminding us of the greatest gift of all.
The central aim of this life is to know God, as J. I. Packer has articulated well in his book Knowing God. But to know God likewise involves knowing his work and what he has accomplished. Such knowledge is not shallow or generic. Owen Strachan walks through the work of God in saving sinners and demonstrates that this glorious Warrior-Savior is worthy of worship. Our God has waged war against the forces of evil, and they are no match for his power. Our God has won the victory in the salvation of every one of God’s people. This excellent book is accessible by the average church member and is likewise packed with rich theological depth on the atonement of Jesus Christ. Take up and read.
There are many pictures for Christ’s saving us because there are many pictures for our deep sin problem. These pictures portray the reality that Christ saves sinners, and this book exults in the picture that is most central: Jesus paid our penalty (penal) in our place (substitution).
In this book, Owen Strachan has given us an exegetically rich, redemptive-historical look at the atonement. In doing so, he provides a robust articulation of both its penal substitutionary nature and its victorious triumph over the domain of darkness in the cross-work of our Savior. As good doctrine produces good doxology, this book makes known the Father’s love in the Son by the Spirit and compels us as readers to live our lives to the praise of God’s glorious grace.
Owen Strachan has produced an accessible and well-argued biblical theology of Christ’s atonement. The benefit of this work is the comprehensive exegetical approach to the biblical data. Strachan works his way through key texts in both the Old and New Testament with an emphasis on the metanarrative of Scripture and its unfolding picture of God’s plan to redeem fallen sinners. He shows how the best reading of Scripture clearly affirms penal substitutionary atonement as the central motif of what Christ achieved on the cross, but without pitting that truth against the Christus Victor motif that marks the broad narrative of Scripture. Penal substitutionary atonement becomes the central means by which Christ as the Warrior-Savior defeats sin and death along with all satanic powers and the evil brought about by the fall. Strachan does not offer us dry and detached scholarship. He writes with the heart of a pastor-theologian concerned to bring theology to the person in the pew—where theology belongs. The Warrior-Savior is a deeply edifying work of theology for those who want to grow deeper in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, by studying his atoning work on the cross.
