Redemption

Redemption I. Definitions. A. redemption: Deliverance from sin and its consequences by the atonement of Jesus Christ. B. redeem: To buy back (a thing formerly possessed); to make payment for (a thing held or claimed by another); to ransom, liberate, free (a person) from bondage, captivity, or punishment; to save (one's life) by paying a ransom. II. The gospel is the good news of what Christ HAS done for sinners. 1CO 15:1-4. A. In preaching the gospel we publish (make publicly or generally known, declare, announce) salvation. ROM 10:15 c/w ISA 52:7; 1CO 1:23-24. B. JOH 3:14-16 is a declaration of what God HAS done by His Son. 1. This is not a proposition of something man must do to get eternal life. 2. The same Lord that uttered these words said that “...he that believeth on me HATH everlasting life” in JOH 6:47. 3. JOH 3:14-16 explains that the means whereby believers came by this life is the gift and sacrifice of God's Son. C. This gospel glorifies God rather than man. 1CO 1:17-31. 1. God does not save sinners because of any worth in them, but because of what is in Himself, because of His own purpose. 2TI 1:9. 2. God saves sinners in such a manner that they cannot boast. EPH 2:8-9; ROM 3:27. III. The gospel proclaims an accomplished redemption through the blood of Christ. HEB 9:12. A. Consider the concept of redemption in Scripture. 1. EXO 6:6 emphasizes redemption as it pertains to deliverance from bondage. 2. EXO 13:11-13 teaches that a price must be paid if the firstborn ass or man is to be redeemed. Note JOB 11:12. 3. LEV 25:25-27 shows redemption to be a buying back of something formerly possessed. 4. PSA 74:2 connects redemption with purchase. B. The statements about Christ having redeemed His people are as definite and historical as the statements that He died. JOH 19:30-35; GAL 3:13; HEB 9:12; 1PE 1:18-19. C. Christ came TO save sinners (1TI 1:15), TO redeem men (GAL 4:4-5), and TO take away their sins. 1JO 3:5. 1. According to His words in JOH 17:4, He finished the work God gave Him TO do. 2. According to men, He did not finish that work, but left it up to others to finish. 3. Who is right: Christ or men? 4. “Christ did not win a hypothetical salvation for hypothetical believers, a mere possibility of salvation for any who might possibly believe, but a real salvation for His own chosen people.” (J. I. Packer) IV. Man is powerless to effect redemption. PSA 49:7-9, 15; ROM 5:6-8. A. God's people can hope because He has ample resources to purchase their freedom. PSA 130:7. B. We do not help God redeem us. Rather, He Who IS our Redeemer, helps us. ISA 41:14; 63:5. C. Ours is the plight of the poor man who could not redeem his property or himself, but Redemption 9-8-24 Page 1 of 2  needed a near kinsman to redeem. LEV 25:25, 47-49. 1. Christ took our nature thus becoming our brother, our near kinsman, that He might redeem us. HEB 2:10-17. 2. Christ is our Boaz, our kinsman, a mighty man of wealth able to redeem our inheritance. RUTH 2:1; 3:12-13; 4:1-10. D. God's redemption is wrought freely. ROM 3:24. 1. freely: Of one's own accord, spontaneously; without constraint or reluctance; unreservedly, without stipulation; readily, willingly. 2. There is no stipulation that man must meet in order to be justified through Christ's redemption. It is done, accomplished by God's freewill! V. Christ has redeemed God's elect from sin TO God. PSA 111:9; TIT 2:14; REV 5:9-10. A. God's redemption covers all of the sins of His elect. PSA 130:8. B. Christ redeemed a peculiar people. 1. peculiar: That is one's own private property; that belongs or pertains to, or characterizes, an individual person, place, or thing, or group of persons or things, as distinct from others. 2. Christ gave Himself for a group of persons distinct from others and the private property of God. 3. God's peculiar people are His elect/chosen. DEU 14:2. C. The redeemed are OUT OF every kindred, tongue, people, and nation. 1. Christ's redemption extends only to God's elect OUT OF the mass of mankind. JOH 15:19; ACT 15:14; EPH 1:4-7. 2. Whether men be grouped by families, languages, cultures, or political unions, God has His elect in all groups. D. The elect have been redeemed TO GOD. EPH 1:5; 1PE 3:18; 2SAM 7:23. E. The redeemed from sin and ruin are made kings and priests TO God and shall reign in life. PSA 103:3-5; ROM 5:17; 1PE 2:5, 9; REV 1:5-6; 22:5. VI. Christ bought us out of bondage by paying His blood to God's justice which demanded our death because of our sin. REV 5:9. A. The sword of God's justice, that will be bathed in the blood of the wicked, was thrust into God's Son that He might deliver us from the wrath to come. ZEC 13:7 c/w MAT 26:31; ROM 5:9; 1TH 1:10. B. Christ did not suffer for us because we were worth the price, but because God and His justice were worth the price. C. Because the price has been paid, sin is forgiven. COL 1:14. D. Because sin is forgiven, we are freed from death. COL 2:13; ROM 8:23. E. Christ, not man, gets the praise for this redemption. VII. Our response of repentance and faith is the token that redemption has already been wrought upon us. Our response is a proof of purchase. ROM 3:22-24; ACT 13:39. A. We are called upon to return to God because He has redeemed us. c/w ISA 44:22. B. It is God's to redeem us and ours to return with rejoicing proclaiming what He hath done. ISA 51:11; PSA 107:1-2. Redemption 9-8-24 Page 2 of 2