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What the Bible Says About Redemption

Let’s talk Redemption

Let us consider a special transaction involving three elements – a business man, a customer, and a mutually beneficial deal between them. The business man has an item that the customer wants. He is eager to provide this item in satisfaction of his customer’s desire. The customer wants to obtain the item but cannot pay the price it demands. Fortunately, the customer secures a coupon for the desired object – something he can exchange for the item and thus obtain it at an affordable price. The customer will trade the coupon in exchange for the item from the business man.

The Transaction Process

  1. The customer cannot obtain the item on his own – he must have something to barter for it because he cannot pay the full price.
  2. The coupon – the thing that is exchanged – is an intermediary between the customer and the business man. Without it, the customer may have never met the business man nor been able to negotiate a fair deal.
  3. The item must obviously be something the customer wants.
  4. The business man really wants to deliver the item to the customer – he is anxious to satisfy the customer’s need.
  5. The transaction involves two parties who are entirely willing, and one thing in between them that is the vehicle for the whole transaction.
  6. The deal is closed when the customer exchanges the coupon with the business man for the item.

How Christ Redeems us Through Transaction

  1. The sinner cannot obtain righteousness with God on his own – the price or penalty for his sin is too great. He must have intervention and help from JESUS [Eph. 2:8‐9; 1 Cor. 6:20, 7:23].
  2. Jesus offers Himself as the exchange between the sinner and God – He puts Himself in the position to act as the redemption agent, because He is uniquely qualified as the completion of payment for the sin of mankind [Romans 3:25‐26, Psalm 111:9, Eph. 1:7].
  3. The sinner has to want to be freed from slavery to his sin. He has to recognize his need to be saved from the spiritual death that sin requires as its payment [Eccl. 7:20, Rom. 3:23, Rom. 6:23, Eph. 2:1‐3].
  4. God wants the sinner to accept his offer of redemption – cash in Jesus in exchange for being right with God and having everlasting life – more than anything in the world [Ezekiel 11:19‐20].
  5. God is always willing to declare a person as saved, justified, and redeemed. When the person is willing to repent of his sin and enter into relationship with God, he then only needs to believe with all his heart that Jesus died for the very purpose of being the vehicle connecting him to God the Father [Romans 10:9‐10, John 3:16].
  6. Once a person is saved from sin, freed, redeemed, and alive in Christ, he is accepted as a child of God and becomes a part of the larger family of believers. This is the start of a new life – and he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come [2 Cor. 5:17].

We’ve been Bought Back

Now it is easy to see why Jesus is called our “Redeemer” and we are called the “Redeemed”. It is because Christ was willing to pay the price that we are unable to pay for our sin nature – so that we can resume the relationship with God that was broken in Eden. Our Lord stands in the middle of the transaction, vouching for us before God and declaring us ‘saved’ or ‘atoned for’ because we have believed in the purpose and power of His sacrifice. God sees that our heart is truly sincere about our desire to be ‘bought back’ and He accepts the exchange of Christ’s life for our life. In this heavenly business deal, we get the amazing return of salvation for the simple investment of believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior!

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Korie Carter

Korie Carter is a Structural Engineer by trade, holding a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida in Gainesville. For the past decade, however, she has been increasingly focused on writing and teaching about scripture, which is her passion. She has completed several topical Bible Studies being taught at her home church, many insightful articles for personal devotion, and is working on a Christian fiction novel. Korie lives on Florida’s Space Coast at a suburban farm which she shares with her husband and three daughters, and she enjoys the beach, animals, music, and gardening.