That's Christianity.

The benefactor is God.

It's all his plan.

It comes out of his love.

The substitute is Jesus Christ who took your place, the perfect God man.

The beneficiaries, all of us for whom he died, those who will believe.

And the benefit, you receive the righteousness of God imputed to you as if you were equal to Jesus Christ.

Welcome to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. You can read the Bible from cover to cover, all 66 books, and you should do that and keep reading through it. But, you know, there are some verses that say so much in just a few

words that they really should stop you cold. And perhaps none covers more profound truth in a

shorter space than the verse John MacArthur shows you today on Grace to You.

Fifteen words of hope. That's John's lesson. It's one of the most important messages in Grace to

You's 56 years. The title of our current study, John MacArthur's most memorable sermon,

and it's a best-of collection of John's sermons as chosen by members of the

Grace to You staff. And here's John now to continue his message called 15 words of hope.

The verse that we're going to look at is 2 Corinthians 521. 2 Corinthians 521. It says this,

he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Now as you look at this verse together, I want to point your attention to four elements, four features of the text

that unfold its significance, the benefactor, the substitute, the beneficiaries, and the benefits.

That really sums up how God can reconcile sinners. Let's start at the beginning, the benefactor.

The verse begins, He made. Stop there. Now, if you're

a Bible student, the first question you're going to ask is to whom does he refer? The answer comes

quickly. Look one word back at the end of verse 20, God. So if there was to be reconciliation,

...