What is Redemption

Introduction

Before our vacation, I began a series unpacking some of the words we use to describe what happens at salvation. We covered justification last time. I am limiting the words we cover to those found in the passage we are looking at. Our next word is redemption which is found in Romans 3:24 “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:” According to this verse, the reason God can justify us is because we have been redeemed by Jesus Christ.

The message is going to be primarily a word study on the word redemption. When we think of redemption maybe we think of an old lady redeeming a coupon. So we think of claiming the value of that coupon for ourselves and there is probably some overlap in meaning here, but when the bible speaks of redeeming us; we shouldn’t have the picture of an old woman turning in coupons. (Robin Ramirez Queenpins story 40 million in coupons 2 million in assets like guns, boats, vehicles and cash, savvyshoppersite.com They were charged with fraud, forgery and counterfeiting, each had to pay 1.2 million to Proctor and Gamble)

We are going to look at the doctrine of redemption by looking at the words used for redemption. We have one English word, but there are actually three Greek word’s translated redeem. Each has its own distinct meaning. If we are to understand what it means to be redeemed, we must understand what the words mean. Each also has its own unique picture of what God does for us at salvation.

To buy or purchase

The first word we are going to look at is the Greek word αγοραζω which means to purchase.

This word is used of buying something in the markets. Imagine a woman goes into the open air market for the day to buy a load of bread. She walks up to the bread merchant and picks out the loaf she would like. She then gives him some money for the bread. She has agorazod the bread. She purchased it.

When we lived in India we did almost all of our shopping in an open air market in the center of town down the mountain from our house. As you walked along there would be tent like boothes set up selling various things. In one booth, you might have shoes and sandals for sale, in another booth, dishes and silverware, in another vegetables, and another just to sell all the various seasonings that make up Indian food. When we would go down to the market, we would purchase curry seasonings for our meals. Now once it was purchased we did not have to give them back: they were ours.

This is the word that is used in

Revelation 5:9 “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;”

Revelation 14:3–4 “And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.”

A key component of purchasing anything is paying a price. If you go in to Walmart to go buy a 4K TV, you go and you pay money. Back in olden days, you might be able to barter for something by paying with wheat or corn. But a price has to be paid.

According to Ephesians 1:7 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;” the price that was paid was the blood of Jesus. This is one aspect of our salvation that was accomplished by the death of Christ on the cross. Sin creates a debt between two people and someone has to pay that debt.

If I steal from you, I owe you what I stole.

If I slander you, I owe you to try to restore your reputation.

If I murder you legally according to the bible, I must be put to death.

Sin creates a debt that must be paid. And the price of purchasing our redemption was the blood of Jesus Christ.

Application

This word is used in two other passages that shows us how this truth applies to our lives.

1. Sexual purity- Paul uses this concept to challenge us not to live sexually immoral lives. There were some in the church in 1 Cor 6, that believed they could have sex with whoever they wanted because it was a natural appetite. They were committing fornication. Paul says Flee fornication because your bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost and 1 Corinthians 6:20 “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” We do not have the right to use our bodies however we want to because God is the owner of them. He has purchased us with his blood.

If I go and buy a brand new bike, does my neighbor have a right to come and take my bike and go for a ride. No, it is my bike. I purchased it. Likewise, God has purchased our lives, we do not have the right to live them however we want to. If God says live pure, we must live pure.

2. Here Paul uses it to say if you can avoid being a slave to someone else, do it. Rather we should be slaves to God because he has bought us. 1 Corinthians 7:23 “Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.” Paul is saying don’t put yourself back into bondage to men. Paul’s application was literal: if you can be free be free, but he uses this same concept of bondage throughout his writtings to refer to other types of bondage. In what ways can we be in bondage to men?

a. People pleasing- the bible’s word for this is the fear of man. When we allow our wills to be subjected to others because of a fear of disappointing them more than disappointing God, we have put ourselves back into bondage. Christ has bought us with a price; therefore, we should fight against those things that would seek to bring us back into bondage. Really, I am his servant. His will ought to be my main concern in life.

b. Legalism- Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Legalism takes multiple forms in Galatians, but Paul’s concern was that there consciences had been brought under bondage to these false teachers who taught as commandments of God the commandments of men. They bound the consciences of the Galatians with extra non-biblical requirements for being right with God.

To set free

The second word we are going to look is λυτρυω which means to release on receipt of a ransom. It deals with setting free by paying a price. It speaks of deliverance.

In Luke 24:21 “But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.” the disciples expected that Jesus as the Messiah would have set Israel free from Rome. This is what is meant by saying he should have redeemed Israel.

Prior to your salvation, you were a slave to sin. Romans 6:16 “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Jesus told the Pharisees, John 8:34 “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.”

When Jesus died on the cross, he paid the penalty and we were set free from sins bondage. Paul will later develop this truth in so much more detail in chapter 6. You remember those times before you got saved that you felt stuck in a certain sinful destructive behavior. Maybe you can’t empathize with this, but we were all stuck some knowingly other unknowingly.

Application

1. We are set free from sin Titus 2:14 “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”

Jesus came to bring freedom. John 8:32 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” and just in case we didn’t get it the first time John 8:36 “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” In Christ, we do not have to live in bondage to sin.

There is freedom from:

alcohol addiction

pornography

anger

worry

bitterness

The chains that these sins have over us can be broken. At salvation, they truly are broken; but Romans 6 will delve into more detail on how we can live in that freedom that is our right. Sometimes, we choose to go back to those chains because we are used to them. We are comfortable with them, but we don’t have to. We aren’t their slave any longer. We have a choice.

2. We are free from living a worthless life- 1 Peter 1:18 “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;” A life lived without God is meaningless. We live, we amass a fortune, make a reputation for ourselves, get influence and power; only to die and lose it all. But only whats done for Christ will last. We were set free from a worthless, empty life so we can live a truly fulfilled life in Christ. I am not saying every Christian avails themselves of these privileges, but they are our right, our inheritance in Christ.

To buy out of

The third word for redeem is εχαγοραζω which means to buy out of. This is probably one of my favorite words for redemption because the picture is so strong. It is used of purchasing a slave out of the slave markets to set them free. This word combines the previous two concepts into one.

Imagine a young girl, sold in slavery (and by the way slavery still exists even in America in the form of human trafficking). She is shivering, cold waiting for some pervert to come and pay money for some of her time. A Christian missionary sees her and knows what will happen. He doesn’t have an army, he doesn’t have any guns; so he does what he can. He goes to her owner and pays for her to be set free.

This would be enough. To buy her out of the slave market and then release her. But he sets her free, brings her to a missionary hostel to get food, counseling, clothes. She stays there and is educated. She never has to worry again about going back. This is the kind of work that Operation Underground Railroad does around the world.

She is purchased out of the slave market of sin, never to return again.

That little girl is a picture of you and me. We were bound, we were slaves, we had no other choices in life; but Christ came and redeemed us from that cursed life.

Galatians 3:13 “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:”

but he didn’t just buy us, he made sure we were never going back again. We aren’t just homeless waifs on the side of the street who could get taken and trafficked again. We are adopted sons and daughters of God.

Galatians 4:5 “To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”

Application

There are atleast two applications for this word:

The fact that I am removed from the slave market speaks of eternal security. I do not have to worry about being in that slave market ever again. John 10:28 “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” and it doesn’t come down to me to stay saved. If I had to keep my self saved I would lose it. Just like that girl. If she had to run and hide and work to keep herself free; she would end up back in the slave markets again because her master would steel her again. She doesn’t have the power to resist. She would get hungry and need food. According to 1 Peter 1:5 “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” I am kept by the power of God unto salvation. It is not dependent on me to keep it. To stay free.

My redemption means I have an inheritance. I am adopted as a son of God. All the blessings of being saved are ours. We may not enjoy them to the full today, but we will when we get to heaven. Do a study of Eph 1 and ask yourself what spiritual blessings has God given me? These are my inheritance as his child.

Conclusion

Hopefully the message this morning has helped you to appreciate what God has done for you in redeeming you. But it isn’t just some dead theological word. Redemption has many applications to our lives. Knowing that we have been purchased, set free and bought out of the slave markets of sin should motivate us to live differently than the rest of the world.

Maybe you are a Christian, but no one would ever know it by the way you live. Do you realize how much Jesus paid to redeem you? Seeing what he did to purchase us and set us free, shouldn’t we live in love for him? The real application today is to appreciate what God did and then let it change our lives. As the piano plays, maybe you should spend some time just thanking God for his redemption.

Let’s close with a song. There is a Redeemer pg 190