I recently wrote two blogs in which I suggested that Jesus did not pay the penalty for our sins. See here and here.
My point was that we still reap what we sow. If we rebel against the Lord, we find ourselves, like the prodigal son, in famine and in want.
However, Barbara, who understood and agreed with what I wrote, emailed me wondering about redemption. Isn’t redemption in some sense paying for our sins?
There are two primary Greek words for redemption: agorazō and exagorazō. Here are some NT examples of agorazō being used to refer to the redemption of humans by Christ’s blood:
- “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor 6:20).
- “You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men” (1 Cor 7:23).
- “…there will be false teachers…even denying the Lord who bought them” (2 Pet 2:1).
- “You…have redeemed us to God by Your blood” (Rev 5:9).
- “the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth” (Rev 14:3).
First, what is it that Jesus has redeemed us from?
Second, what is the condition for experiencing this redemption?
Jesus’ redemption refers to being set free from slavery to sin in our position. That is clear in 1 Cor 6:20 and 7:23.
The condition for this redemption is believing in Jesus for everlasting life. All who believe in Jesus have been set free from slavery to sin in our position (Rom 6:17-18). But to experience that freedom, we must meet a second condition; we must abide in Christ’s teachings (John 8:30-32).
Note 2 Pet 2:1. The Lord bought even unbelieving false teachers who are bound for the lake of fire (2 Pet 2:17). That refers to the unlimited nature of His atoning work. What Dr. Ryrie said in my DTS class about reconciliation in 2 Cor 5:12-21 applies to redemption as well. He explained that Paul was saying that reconciled people need to experience reconciliation. Redeemed people, likewise, need to experience redemption. Reconciliation and redemption occur when we believe in Christ.
Slavery to sin is one of the results of Adam sinning (Rom 5:12-21). Though it is never called a penalty for sin in Scripture, we might think of it that way, at least if we are talking about Adam’s sin. Slavery to sin is not a penalty for our sins. If it is a penalty, it is for his sin. We are born with a sin nature and even before we sin, we are in bondage to it. Until we believe in Christ, we are not set free from that bondage (John 8:24, 30-32; Rom 6:16-18).
Christ’s shed blood redeems the believer from sin’s slave market. Of course, we still reap what we sow. And we are not guaranteed freedom from sin’s bondage in our experience. Christ’s redemption makes it possible for us to live free from that slavery. Unbelievers remain slaves of sin (John 8:24). But believers who are abiding in Christ experience the freedom from sin’s bondage that God desires for us, and that we desire as well.
Keep grace in focus and you will experience the freedom from sin’s bondage that the Lord’s blood purchased for us.
