The Redeemer

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of the entire human race.

He is mankind’s Kinsman-Redeemer.

The Lord is the Redeemer of Israel (Ps. 78:35; Isa. 43:14; 44:24; 49:7; 54:5, 8; 60:16).

He is redeemer of the Church (1 Cor. 1:30; Gal. 3:13; Eph. 1:7, 14; Col. 1:14; Titus 2:14).

A Kinsman-Redeemer must be related to the one who is being redeemed and must be able to afford the ransom price and thus fulfill its righteous demands.

Our Lord fulfilled this in His incarnation by becoming true humanity.

As our Kinsman-Redeemer, our Lord had to be like us.

The second Person of the Trinity became a man (John 1:14; 1 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 1:1).

The Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only Redeemer of mankind and the only sacrifice that God will accept (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45; 1 Tim. 2:6).

He is the only one qualified to be mankind’s Redeemer due to the fact that He is impeccable (1 Pet. 1:19).

The doctrine of the Kinsman-Redeemer originates in the Old Testament.

The Hebrew word in the Old Testament for Redeemer is goel.

Kinsman redemption was of persons, estates, and inheritance (Lev. 25:25, 48; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:7, 11, 14).

The Lord Jesus Christ is a type of Kinsman-Redeemer in that He became like one of us-human.

He was able to afford and pay the ransom price, which was His substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths, and was also willing to pay the ransom price.

Christ as the Kinsman-Redeemer fulfills the type of being willing to redeem.

The Kinsman-Redeemer type states that the Redeemer: (1) Must be a kinsman or related by blood (Lev. 25:48-49; Ruth 3:12-13; Heb. 2:14-15) (2) Must be able to pay the redemption price (Ruth 4:4-6; cf. Jer. 50:34; John 10:11, 18) (3) Must be able to pay the righteous demands (Lev. 25:27; Gal. 3:13; 1 Pet. 1:18-19) (4) Must be “willing” to pay the redemption price (John 10:18).

Romans 3:24 teaches that justification is a gift of God’s grace and is made possible by the work of redemption that Jesus Christ accomplished with His voluntary, substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross.

Romans 3:24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. (NASB95)

“Through the redemption” is composed of the preposition dia), “through” and the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun apolutrosis, “the redemption.”

The noun apolutrosis, which means, “to buy back a slave thus making him free by payment of a ransom, the act of release or state of being resulting in release or redemption” (Luke 21:28; Rom. 3:24; 8:23; 1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 1:7; 1:14; 4:30; Col. 1:14; Heb. 9:15; 11:35).

Apolutrosis appears ten times in the Greek New Testament where its usage can be divided into three categories: (1) Soteriological: The study of salvation (Romans 3:24, 1 Corinthians 1:30, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:14, and Hebrews 9:15) (2) Eschatological: The study of future things (Luke 21:28; Romans 8:23; Ephesians 1:14; 4:30). (3) Release of a prisoner (Hebrews 11:35-36).

So, in Romans 3:24, Paul employs the word in a soteriological sense.

In Romans 3:24, the preposition dia, “through” is employed with the genitive form of the noun apolutrosis, “redemption” as a marker of the means by which makes another event possible.

Therefore, it indicates that redemption is the means which makes possible the justification of the sinner who exercises faith in Jesus Christ.

The noun apolutrosis functions as a “genitive of means” indicating the “instrumentality” or “means” by which God declares a sinner justified.

Therefore, as a “genitive of means” the noun apolutrosis indicates that the redemption is “the means,” which makes possible for God to declare the sinner justified.

Where the instrumental of means charis, “grace” answers the question as to “why” or on “what basis” God can declare the sinner justified, the genitive of means apolutrosis, “redemption” answers the question as to “how” God can justify the sinner.

Where the instrumental of means charis, “grace” indicates that God’s grace is the “basis” in which He can declare the sinner justified, the genitive of means apolutrosis, “redemption” indicates the “means” by which He can do so.

“In Christ Jesus” is composed of the preposition en, “in” and the dative masculine singular form of the proper name Christos, “Christ,” which is followed by the dative masculine singular form of the proper name Iesous, “Jesus.”

The proper name Christos is a technical word designating the humanity of our Lord as the promised Savior for all mankind who is unique as the incarnate Son of God and totally and completely guided and empowered by the Spirit as the Servant of the Father.

The word denotes the Messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth; thus, He is the Deliverer of the human race in three areas through His death, resurrection, ascension and session: (1) Satan (2) Cosmic System (3) Old Sin Nature.

The Lord’s Messiahship has a four-fold significance: (1) Separation unto God. (2) Authorization from God. (3) Divine enablement. (4) The coming Deliverer.

Christos signifies that Jesus of Nazareth served God the Father exclusively and this was manifested by His execution of the Father’s salvation plan which was accomplished by His voluntary substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross.

The word signifies that Jesus of Nazareth has been given authority by God the Father to forgive sins, give eternal life, and authority over all creation and every creature as a result of His execution of the Father’s salvation plan.

It signifies that Jesus of Nazareth was perpetually guided and empowered by God the Holy Spirit during His first Advent.

Lastly, Christos signifies that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised deliverer of the human race from the bondage of Satan, his cosmic system and the old Adamic sin nature.

This word contains the figure of “metonymy of the cause” where the Person of Jesus Christ is put for His substitutionary spiritual and physical death on the cross, which redeemed mankind out of the slave market of sin.

The preposition en is a marker of means indicating that the Lord Jesus Christ and His substitutionary spiritual and physical death on the cross were the “instruments” or “means” that God the Father employed to redeem mankind out of the slave market of sin.

Therefore, the proper name Christos functions as a “dative instrumental of means” indicating that substitutionary spiritual and physical death of Jesus Christ on the cross were the “instruments” or “the means” that God the Father used to redeem mankind out of the slave market of sin.

1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. (NASB95)

“Who gave Himself as a ransom for all” is composed of the articular nominative masculine singular aorist active participle form of the verb didomi (δίδωμι), “given” and the dative third person masculine singular form of the reflexive pronoun heautou (ἑαυτοῦ), “Himself” and the accusative neuter singular form of the noun antilutron (ἀντίλυτρον), “as a ransom” and the preposition huper(ὑπέρ), “on behalf of” and the genitive masculine plural form of the adjective pas (πᾶς), “of all.”

The verb didomi means “to give” in the sense of dedicating oneself for a specific purpose of canceling a debt on someone’s behalf.

Here it is used of the Lord Jesus Christ dedicating Himself to the specific purpose of canceling the sin debt of the entire human race.

The reflexive pronoun heautou emphasizes the action of Jesus Christ giving Himself in the sense of dedicating Himself for the specific purpose of solving the human race’s problem of the sin nature and personal sins.

The word denotes that the Lord dedicated Himself to the Father’s will in order to provide the offer of salvation for the entire human race.

It also indicates that the Lord dedicated Himself to deliver the human race from the sin nature, personal sins, spiritual and physical death, condemnation from the Law, Satan and his cosmic system and eternal condemnation.

The word emphasizes the voluntary nature of Christ’s spiritual and physical deaths on the cross.

Our Lord’s spiritual and physical deaths on the cross were “voluntary” in that He “chose” to suffer these deaths in order to solve the human race’s problem with sin.

He also chose to suffer in order to accomplish the Father’s will and provide salvation for the entire human race.

In 1 Timothy 2:6, the noun antilutron means “substitute-ransom” and like Mark 10:45 and Matthew 20:28, it describes Jesus Christ’s spiritual and physical deaths on the cross as a substitutionary ransom for the benefit of each and every member of the human race.

These unique substitutionary deaths redeemed the entire human race out from the slave market of sin in which they were born physically alive but spiritually dead.