© F.O’Donoghue 2007
Redemption means recovery by expenditure; liberation through payment. In the New Testament, redemption refers to the payment made by Christ’s death on the cross for our sin. Our redemption results from the payment of a great price, which scripture reveals in the Old Testament was paid from ‘of old’ ;
Exodus 6:6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:
Exodus 15:13 Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.
Psalm 74:2 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.
Psalm 78:35 And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.
Redemption, alongside reconcilliation & propitiation is another key aspect of the overall work of salvation. It deals specifically with the curse of sin and with the fact that man is viewed in Scripture as imprisoned or enslaved because of sin
Gal 4:3-5 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Gal 3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Redemption concepts in the Greek; lytroō; Exagurazo; Agorazo; Apolutrosis.
The Greek word lytroō comes from lutron which means a ‘ransom price.’ Lutron comes from luo, a verb meaning ‘to release/set free.’ So lutrao carries the meaning of ‘releasing by paying a price’, emphasizing both the price paid, and the resultant freedom gained. The price paid was the shed blood and death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
1 Pet 1:18,19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed [lytroō ] with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
Heb 9:15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption [lytroō ] of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
The compound verb Exagurazo is derived from the preposition ek meaning ‘out of’ and agorazo meaning to ‘purchase out/buy out’ or ‘ransom out.’ The word is intensive and adds the idea of ‘deliverance and freedom through the price paid’ Exagurazo places emphasis on the deliverance and freedom. Believers have been set free from the slave master; the law and its condemnation of man as a sinner;
Gal. 3:13 Christ hath redeemed [Exagurazo] 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:
Gal 4:5 To redeem [Exagurazo] them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
The word Agorazo comes from agora meaning ‘market place.’ It literally means ‘to purchase/buy from the market place.’ In ancient times slaves were brought to the market place, put on the slave block, and then traded or sold to the highest bidder. Agorazo stresses Christ’s sovereign worth, value, and thus His ability to redeem us from the slave block of sin by paying the price of our redemption;
1 Cor 6:20 For ye are bought [Agorazo] with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
1 Cor 7:23 Ye are bought [Agorazo] with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
2 Peter 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought [Agorazo] them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
The word Apolutrosis comes from the preposition apo meaning ‘from’ and lutrosis, the noun form of lutrao mentioned above. This word with the preposition is intensive and means ‘to permanently set free’;
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption [Apolutrosis] through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption [Apolutrosis] through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
The object of Redemption is man’s sin and slavery to sin;
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Gal 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:
The agent of Redemption is the Lord Jesus Christ who, in His sinless person and by His death on the cross, purchased our redemption;
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Rom. 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
The instrument and purpose of Redemption, are the blood and the cross of Jesus Christ; the lamb of God who died sacrificially as the substitute for sinners.
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
1 Pet 1:18,19 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; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
The results of Redemption are forgiveness of sin;
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Repentance provides deliverance from our bondage to sin and the Law;
Gal 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:
Repentance provides the basis for imputation and justification;
Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Repentance provides the basis for our adoption as sons of God;
Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Repentance provides the basis for our eternal inheritance;
Heb 9:15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Repentance provides the basis for our capacity to glorify God;
1 Cor 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Jesus Christ died for the sins of all the world, and this is known as Unlimited Atonement. It does not mean universal salvation (that everyone is saved), but that Christ’s death paid the penalty for the sin of all the world and for all time. For the Savior’s death to be an effective reality within an individual, that person must personally believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior of mankind.
1 Tim 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
There is one sin for which Christ did not die, and that is the rejection of His person and work, as judgment is already on those who reject salvation by definition. This is regardless of the love of God that desires that all men will come unto Him.
John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
