In today’s podcast, we are looking at a big Bible word — the word redemption. What is redemption? You’ve heard people say in church circles that they thank God that they are redeemed. Redemption implies a ransom paid to secure the desired object. God paid a ransom for you. Do you think you are worth the price that God paid to ransom you? The Bible says that you did not come cheap. For example: Suppose you are standing outside of a great auction room, and you hear a clerk say, “He paid $25.00 for a picture, another man paid $600,000.00 for one.” You know quite a lot about the two pictures: The twenty-five-dollar picture may be any one of 10,000 little dogs done by amateur artists who paint hoping to get paid for them. The six hundred thousand dollar picture—was it a Gainsborough, Rembrandt, Rubens? You can judge the painting by the price that is paid for it. We can judge ourselves by the price Christ paid for us – when I form conclusions that are justified from other portions of the scripture—how great was my sinfulness, the depths of my nature, and the height of His love.¹ Why Redemption through the Precious Blood of Jesus is God’s Way, that’s our focus on this week’s Light On Life.

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How the Spirit Energizes By the Principle of Saturation

[Tweet “When you redeem someone, you have to pay a price which results in some kind of freedom or liberty.”]

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You can view a ‘no frills’ transcript of this podcast at the bottom of this section.

Accept the Challenge

Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.

This weeks’ Call to Action’ is: 

You were thought of and redeemed before the earth was ever created. Embrace your calling in Christ Jesus. Remember the gifts and callings of God are without repentance. God has not changed His mind concerning you./callout]

Join the Conversation

Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
This week’s question is:

Question of the Day: How does the fact that you were redeemed make you feel about how special you are in God’s eyes? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below./callout]

Episode Resources

You can find more information on the book of Ephesians by clicking on the links below.

1. #S8-038: How Predestination and God’s Foreknowledge Elevates Your Everyday Life [Podcast]
2. #S8-037: Walking Worthy of the Lord: What It Means for Your Everyday Life [Podcast]
3. #S8-035: Why Your Holy Spirit Preparation Is Part of Your God Story [Podcast]
4. #S8-033: How God Grows A Courageous Church and Why It Matters [Podcast]
5. #S8-032: The Powerful Authority Resident in Being Seated with Christ [Podcast]
6. #S8-030: Why God Wants You to Have Spiritual Revelation Flowing In Your Life [Podcast]

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 42 years ago. He has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 38 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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If you enjoyed the podcast, please rate it on Stitcher Radio and leave a review. If you have a suggestion for a Bible topic you would like to see taught, or if you have a question, please e-mail me at emery@emeryhorvath.com.

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Podcast Notes

Redemption: What It Means

Ephesians 1:7–9 (ESV) — 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ

• Colossians is a sister letter to Ephesians.
• Paul wrote both of them while in prison.

Colossians 1:12–14 (ESV) — giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

• There are four, what I call, Big Bible words for salvation:
• They are redemption, propitiation, justification, and reconciliation.
• In today’s podcast, we take up redemption.
• The reason these are big words is that these are words that we usually don’t use in everyday life, and so they come off as theological – scholarly-type concepts.
• And so, we end up not paying attention to them at all — or we kind of fake it and act like we know what it means.
• It’s much better to study and know the Word for yourself.
• So, let’s see what we can mine out of God’s Word together.
• We need to start with definitions – we need to break down this big Bible word ‘redemption,’ and so with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.

Redemption: The Definition of the Day

• The Greek word ‘redemption’ means to buy back. It’s used of ‘buying back’ a slave or captive, i.e. ‘making free’ by payment of a ransom. ²
• Back in that day, prisoners of war could ordinarily face slavery, so they would need to be redeemed.
• A price would need to be paid to procure their freedom.
• Another Greek lexicon, Thayers, defines ‘redemption “to redeem one by paying the price, to let one go free on receiving the price” — that’s the verb. The noun form means the “releasing effected by payment of ransom, deliverance, liberation procured by the payment of a ransom.” ³
• The Greek word redemption is a noun here in Ephesians one.
• There are other Greek words that Paul uses that speak of the process of redemption – they are like synonyms of redemption, but they highlight a different side of redemption.
• There is the act of purchasing – someone had to go and use their funds to make a transaction.
• The purchase is the focus.
• Then, there is a Greek that focuses on the situation one is redeemed out of.
• When you redeem someone, you have to pay something, a set price – and the result of that transaction is some kind of freedom or liberty.
• The first word we are going to look at is over in Corinthians.

Bought with a Price: The Buying Side of Redemption

1 Corinthians 6:20 (ESV) — for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

• The first Greek word that we want to look at is agorazō .
• It’s the word ‘bought’ in the phrase ‘bought with a price.’
• This word emphasizes the buying aspect of redemption.
• And, with that thought, here’s the Illustration of the Day.

Lou Johnson, a 1965 World Series hero for the Los Angeles Dodgers, tried for 30 years to recover the championship ring he lost to drug dealers in 1971. Drug and alcohol abuse cost him everything from that magical season, including his uniform, glove, and the bat he used to hit the winning home run in the deciding game. When Dodger president Bob Graziano learned that Johnson’s World Series ring was about to be auctioned on the Internet, he immediately wrote a check for $3,457. He bought the ring before any bids were posted. He did for Johnson what the former Dodger outfielder had been unable to do for himself. Johnson, 66, drug-free for years and a Dodger community relations employee, wept when given the gold ring. He said, “It felt like a piece of me had been reborn.” Countless Christians can testify to spiritual rebirth due to the price that Jesus paid on the cross in their place. He did for them what they could not do for themselves.⁴

• In this illustration, the buying aspect is the owner of this baseball team who took the time, who had the compassion to buy something back for a former player.
• ‘You were bought with a price’ — God the Father wrote a check for you.
• The exact phrase is repeated in chapter seven, verse twenty-three.

1 Corinthians 7:23 (ESV) — You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men.

• The Greek word ‘bought’ means acquiring things or services in exchange for money, buying, purchasing ⁵
• So, you see, this Greek word is different than the word used for redemption but, in context, means the same thing.
• Since the word emphasizes the buying aspect, the focus is on the person who has the money.
• It highlights the resources of the individual in question.
• To make a purchase, you have to have the funds in the bank to cover the exchange.
• No one on planet earth had the means to make the payment.
• Not one human soul had the resources to pay for the sins of man.
• Fort Knox doesn’t have enough gold.
• Take all the banks and add up all the cash, take the value of all the stocks in the world — total up the sum and it’s not enough.

1 Peter 1:18–19 (ESV) — knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

• What is precious blood?
• The Greek word ‘precious’ pertains to being of exceptional value — to being of considerable cost.⁶
• The blood of Christ is of considerable cost because it is His own blood.
• That’s Acts 20:28.

Acts 20:28 (ESV) — Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

*Revelation five has this same word that highlights the resources of God the Father.

Revelation 5:9 ESV) — And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,

• Did you hear the word ‘ransomed’ here — it’s the same word that we’ve been looking at – ‘bought with a price.’

‘You were slain and by your blood you bought people for God’ is how this verse reads.

• The idea of payment – paying to get you out of the mess you were in, is a prominent part of the word ‘redemption.’

Redeemed: What We’ve Been Redeemed From

Galatians 3:13 (ESV) — Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

• Christ redeemed us from the curse.
• What curse is this?
• This is the curse of the law.
• There are two curses at work.
• First, there is the curse of the Law, and then, there is the curse of the Fall.
• The curse of the Law, Jesus redeemed us from that — He bought us out of that.
• But, the curse of the Fall we have not been redeemed — we, the inhabitants of planet earth, have to deal with that.
• That curse will not set right until Jesus comes and there is a new heaven and new earth put in place.
• The word ‘redeemed here, in Galatians 3:13, is another Greek word – it means “to buy out of the slave market, to buy off, to buy for one’s self” to secure deliverance of, deliver, or liberate.⁷
• I like the following translation from the Jewish New Testament.

Restoring the Jewishness of the Gospel: A Message for Christians c. Galatians 3:10–13—Redeemed from the Curse of the Law? For everyone who depends on legalistic observance of Torah commands [erga nomou] lives under a curse, since it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the Scroll of the Torah.” [Deuteronomy 27:26] [11] Now it is evident that no one comes to be declared righteous by God through legalism [nomos], since “The person who is righteous will attain life by trusting and being faithful.” [Habakkuk 2:4] [12] Furthermore, legalism [nomos] is not based on trusting and being faithful, but on a misuse of the text that says, “Anyone who does these things will attain life through them.” [Leviticus 18:5] [13] The Messiah redeemed us from the curse pronounced in the Torah [nomos] by becoming cursed on our behalf; for the Tanakh says, “Everyone who hangs from a stake comes under a curse.” [Deuteronomy 21:22–23]

• That, again, is the Jewish New Testament.
• So the word ‘redeemed here,’ yet another Greek word, carries this same connotation of buying or purchasing to secure someone’s release out of a super bad situation.
• Hear it now in another verse.

Galatians 4:5 (ESV)— to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

• So, we have been redeemed out of the Law or from under the Law.
• The Child of God can rest assured that there that he has been redeemed from the Law.
• No one could fulfill the Law – not even on their best day on Planet Earth.
• The only law that the child of God is under is the law of love.

Romans 13:8 (ESV) — Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

• So, now we have two concepts: the fact that we were bought with a price and that we have been bought out of or up from having to live the Law.
• You must be pretty special for God to go through all of this for you.
• Think about this.
• When you go shopping, do you pay a high price for something that’s of low value?
• Would you pay $2000 for a toothpick?
• Of course, you wouldn’t.
• Why not?
• A single ordinary toothpick from the grocery store is not worth $2000.
• Jesus redeemed you: by the sacrifice of His Son; He purchased you.
• Yes, you are worth the price God paid for you, the precious Blood of Jesus, in His eyes.
• Now, that’s a high truth that must be kept in balance.
• One gentleman said it this way.

A man should carry two stones in his pocket. On one should be inscribed, “I am but dust and ashes.” On the other, “For my sake was the world created.” And he should refer to each stone as he needs it.⁸

• That’s balance – yes, you are worth a high price to God, but so is the person sitting next to you.
• You are not more valuable than they are, and they are not more valuable than you.
• So, I know that you are getting this – redemption must occur before we are in a position to receive anything from God.
• Your receiving from God only comes via payment that clears out the charges that were made against you.
• You remember the previous illustration where the Dodger President wrote a check for the entire amount.
• He did what this World Series hero could not do for himself.
• He paid the price in full, and then he turned around and gave the items back to the original owner.
• Satan stole eternity life, the life of God, right out from underneath your nose, but Jesus paid the price in full and returned to you what you lost in the Garden — glory be to God.

Redemption: What You’ve Been Redeemed Into

• Titus two contains yet another Greek word.

Titus 2:14 (ESV) — who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

• The word ‘redeem’ here means to liberate, conceived of as redeeming a captured person by paying the price demanded for his return.
• So the emphasis of this word is liberation, freedom, no longer bound by chains.
• The word derives, directly, from the verb lyō, “to loose, destroy, dissolve,” because they almost always refer to an emancipation, a liberation.⁹
• It is usually used of liberating or emancipating a slave.
• It is closely associated with the Greek word, which means to save, deliver, set free, or heal.

1 Peter 1:18–19 (ESV) — knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

• We’ve already quoted this verse.
• ‘You were ransomed’ is what the translation says but liberated is the better translation.
• Liberated from what?
• Your futile ways.
• I know we have looked at many Greek words here, but it was done to bring clarity to a big Bible word.
• The word ‘futile’ means being of no use, idle, empty, fruitless, useless, powerless, lacking truth.¹⁰
• You were delivered out of futility, redeemed into a life of fruitfulness instead of fruitfulness.
• Powerless? You are no more.
• Lacking truth? Oh no, not you – you have the Great teacher, the Great revealer of truth inside of you.
• That’s what your redemption is all about.
• So, in this passage that we started, our main text, the Spirit of God by the Apostle Paul, let us know several facts: first, that WE have been redeemed.

Ephesians 1:7 (ESV) — In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

• Who is the ‘we?’
• You have to back up to verses 4–5.

Ephesians 1:4–5 (ESV) — even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

• The ‘we’ are those chosen in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world.
• These ‘chosen’ were redeemed – a price was paid for them but not only for them.

1 John 2:2 ESV) — He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

• So, we have the redemption — we have the great buy-back.

Why the Need for Redemption

• Redemption is all about fulfilling the righteous requirements of God’s Law.
• It’s about balancing the books — it’s entirely a legal matter before the great courts of the universe.
• Payment must be made for sin.
• The book of Romans lays out the matter in great detail.

Romans 3:10 (ESV) — as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;

• That’s you. That’s me.

Romans 3:23 (ESV) — for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

• That’s you. That’s me.

Romans 6:23 (ESV) — For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

• Again, that’s you. That’s me.
• The penalty of sin is death.
• The great question that God had to answer in eternity past, before the foundations of the world, was ‘How does the penalty get paid?’
• Satan stole the authority that God had given to man.
• Man died twice — he is now locked in a prison.
• The name of the prison? – The Sin Nature.
• The Sin Nature is the Alcatraz of the human experience.
• You can’t escape it — you can’t get out of it on your own.
• No amount of human ingenuity can free you from spiritual Alcatraz.
• As the scripture says, you are lost, without hope, and without God in the world.

Ephesians 2:1–4 (ESV) — And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,

• So, here you are — you get dragged into court, and you sit before Jesus — the Righteous Judge of the Universe.
• The charges are read against you.
• Someone has to pay the price, so the books get balanced.
• The list is long and profuse — so many charges are read — it seems like it takes forever to read.
• Sin is a crime in the legal courts of the universe, and if you do the crime, you have to do the time.
• The verdict comes down – you have no defense — all have sinned and fallen short — Romans 3:23 — there is none righteous no not one — Romans 3:10.
• The Judge hands down the sentence – guilty as charged.
• The penalty is death for the wages of sin is death.
• The bailiff turns to take you away, but something unusual takes.
• The Judge puts down His gavel, steps down from the bench, takes off His robe, and changes places with the accused.
• Instead of you having to pay the price, the Judge pays the penalty in full.
• That’s one picture of redemption.
• There are many ways to illustrate the concept.
• But, it always ends up with “a releasing effected by payment of ransom, deliverance, liberation procured by the payment of a ransom.”

A wealthy English merchant who lived on the European continent was satisfied with nothing but the best. This attitude extended even as far as the cars he owned. His pride and joy was a Rolls-Royce coupe that he had owned for years and that he had given excellent service all that time. One day, while driving down a bumpy road, his car hit a deep pothole, resulting in a broken rear axle. The owner had the car shipped back to the Rolls plant in England and was surprised by the quick repair performed. He received no bill for the work and, knowing his warranty had run out; he had expected one. He waited for months, and still, no bill came. So he finally communicated with the company about the bill for his car repairs. Again the response from the factory was immediate. The reply said, “We have thoroughly searched our files and find no record of a Rolls-Royce axle ever breaking.” This is a case where the integrity and excellence of that company would not permit a flaw in workmanship or materials to be made known. [Likewise,] the excellence of Christ does not permit our flaws to be made known to the Father. He accomplishes [carries out, finishes] our forgiveness.¹¹

• Throughout the Bible, the Lord hinted at the theme of redemption.
• He gave us picture after picture — it’s almost like the Bible is a photo album full of these redemptive-type pictures.

The Exodus

• In Exodus 6:6, we have God redeeming Israel from underneath the hand of Pharoah.

Exodus 6:6 (ESV) — Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.

• Again, Deuteronomy 9:26 declares the same.

Deuteronomy 9:26 (ESV) — And I prayed to the LORD, ‘O Lord GOD, do not destroy your people and your heritage, whom you have redeemed through your greatness, whom you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

• God redeemed or ransomed Israel out of Egyptian bondage.
• What was the ransomed price? — 10 plagues against an entire nation of people.
• Think about how many Egyptian people died in exchange for Israel’s freedom — I’m talking about redemption here.
• There’s always a price to pay.
• Psalm 77:15 declares.

Psalm 77:15 (ESV) — You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

• So, it’s not just as simple as, ‘Oh, God deliver me.’
• There’s more to it than a yes-no answer to prayer — there’s a redemption price and a process of obtaining it.
• Without the shedding of blood – there is no remission of sin.

Isaiah 43:3–5 (ESV) — For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you.

• In some cases, God even gave to other nations in exchange for His people.
• How could God do that to other nations?
• Isn’t God some kind of a bully?
• No, listen to this verse in Proverbs twenty-one.

Proverbs 21:18 (ESV) — The wicked is a ransom for the righteous, and the traitor for the upright.

• The Lord considers it righteous to use the wicked — the haters of God – as a ransom for the righteous.
• Egypt was a ransom for Israel.
• That’s what we see in the Exodus.
• That’s what we see in the Epistles.
• And, it’s all because of Jesus.
• You guys have a great God-week in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

What Is The Glorious Liberty Creation Is Looking For?

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