The Ransom of Mankind from the power of sin, death and Satan, by the mighty deliverance accomplished by Christ on the Cross of Calvary, is the main theme of this section. Man is lost in sin, alienated from God, without God and without hope in the world. Jesus is the ‘lamb of God’ whose life was given in sacrifice to redeem us. His blood redeems us, and justifies us and separates us from our sin, cleansing us from all unrighteousness.
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Here are some biblical words in relation to redemption and their meanings.
Salvation:This word is used of the deliverance of the Israelites from the Egyptians (Exo_14:13), and of deliverance generally from evil or danger. In the New Testament it is specially used with reference to the great deliverance from the guilt and the pollution of sin wrought out by Jesus Christ, “the great salvation” (Heb_2:3).Easton’s Bible dictionary
Grace: a. This common grace is the operation of the Holy Spirit he, exercises such a moral influence upon the man that sin is restrained, order is maintained in social life, and civil righteousness is promoted, or,
b. Those general blessings which God imparts to all men without any distinction as he sees fit. Berkhof P. 121
Redemption: The purchase back of something that had been lost, by the payment of a ransom. The Greek word so rendered is apolutrosis, a word occurring nine times in Scripture, and always with the idea of a ransom or price paid, i.e., redemption by a lutron (see Mat_20:28; Mar_10:45). Eastons Bible Dictionary.
Atonement: This word does not occur in the Authorized Version of the New Testament except in Rom_5:11, where in the Revised Version the word “reconciliation” is used. In the Old Testament it is of frequent occurrence.
The meaning of the word is simply at-one-ment, i.e., the state of being at one or being reconciled, so that atonement is reconciliation. Thus it is used to denote the effect which flows from the death of Christ.
Propitiation: PROPITIATION, n. propisia'shon.
1. The act of appeasing wrath and conciliating the favor of an offended person; the act of making propitious.
2. In theology, the atonement or atoning sacrifice offered to God to assuage his wrath and render him propitious to sinners. Christ is the propitiation for the sins of men. Rom 3. 1 John 2.
Webster’s Dictionary
Fausset says “In Rom_3:25, hilastrion, "the propitiatory" or mercy seat, the bloodsprinkled lid of the ark, the meeting place between God and His people represented by the priest (1Jo_2:2; 1Jo_4:10).HIlasmos, abstract for concrete noun. He, Christ, is all that is needed for propitiation in behalf of our sins, the propitiatory sacrifice provided by the Father's love removing the estrangement, appearing God's righteous wrath against the sinner. A father may be offended with a son, yet all the while love him. It answers in Septuagint to Hebrew kaphar, kippurim to effect an atonement or reconciliation with God (Num_5:8; Heb_2:17), "to make reconciliation for ... sins," literally, to expiate the sins, eeilaskesteeai. Psa_32:1, "blessed is he whose sin is covered."
Substitution: SUBSTITU'TION, n. The act of putting one person or thing in the place of another to supply its place; as the substitution of an agent, attorney or representative to act for one in his absence; the substitution of banknotes for gold and silver, as a circulating medium. Webster’s
He died in our place. See Isaiah 53. He was wounded for our transgressions…….
Reconciliation: A change from enmity to friendship. It is mutual, i.e., it is a change wrought in both parties who have been at enmity.
(1.) In Col_1:21, Col_1:22, the word there used refers to a change wrought in the personal character of the sinner who ceases to be an enemy to God by wicked works, and yields up to him his full confidence and love. In 2Co_5:20 the apostle beseeches the Corinthians to be “reconciled to God”, i.e., to lay aside their enmity.
Pardon: The forgiveness of sins granted freely (Isa_43:25), readily (Neh_9:17; Psa_86:5), abundantly (Isa_55:7; Rom_5:20). Pardon is an act of a sovereign, in pure sovereignty, granting simply a remission of the penalty due to sin, but securing neither honour nor reward to the pardoned. Justification (q.v.), on the other hand, is the act of a judge, and not of a sovereign, and includes pardon and, at the same time, a title to all the rewards and blessings promised in the covenant of life.
Justification: A forensic term, opposed to condemnation.
As regards its nature, it is the judicial act of God, by which he pardons all the sins of those who believe in Christ, and accounts, accepts, and treats them as righteous in the eye of the law, i.e., as conformed to all its demands. In addition to the pardon (q.v.) of sin, justification declares that all the claims of the law are satisfied in respect of the justified. It is the act of a judge and not of a sovereign. The law is not relaxed or set aside, but is declared to be fulfilled in the strictest sense; and so the person justified is declared to be entitled to all the advantages and rewards arising from perfect obedience to the law (Rom_5:1-10).
It proceeds on the imputing or crediting to the believer by God himself of the perfect righteousness, active and passive, of his Representative and Surety, Jesus Christ (Rom_10:3-9). Justification is not the forgiveness of a man without righteousness, but a declaration that he possesses a righteousness which perfectly and for ever satisfies the law, namely, Christ's righteousness (2Co_5:21; Rom_4:6-8). Easton’’s
Regeneration: Only found in Mat_19:28 and Tit_3:5. This word literally means a “new birth.” The Greek word so rendered (palingenesia) is used by classical writers with reference to the changes produced by the return of spring. In Mat_19:28 the word is equivalent to the “restitution of all things” (Act_3:21). In Tit_3:5 it denotes that change of heart elsewhere spoken of as a passing from death to life (1Jo_3:14); becoming a new creature in Christ Jesus (2Co_5:17); being born again (Joh_3:5); a renewal of the mind (Rom_12:2); a resurrection from the dead (Eph_2:6); a being quickened (Eph_2:1, Eph_2:5).
This change is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. It originates not with man but with God (Joh_1:12, Joh_1:13; 1Jo_2:29; 1Jo_5:1, 1Jo_5:4).
As to the nature of the change, it consists in the implanting of a new principle or disposition in the soul; the impartation of spiritual life to those who are by nature “dead in trespasses and sins.”
The necessity of such a change is emphatically affirmed in Scripture (Joh_3:3; Rom_7:18; Rom_8:7-9; 1Co_2:14; Eph_2:1; Eph_4:21-24). Easton’s
Sanctification: Involves more than a mere moral reformation of character, brought about by the power of the truth: it is the work of the Holy Spirit bringing the whole nature more and more under the influences of the new gracious principles implanted in the soul in regeneration. In other words, sanctification is the carrying on to perfection the work begun in regeneration, and it extends to the whole man (Rom_6:13; 2Co_4:6; Col_3:10; 1Jo_4:7; 1Co_6:19). It is the special office of the Holy Spirit in the plan of redemption to carry on this work (1Co_6:11; 2Th_2:13).
Faith is instrumental in securing sanctification, inasmuch as it
(1.) secures union to Christ (Gal_2:20), and
(2.) brings the believer into living contact with the truth, whereby he is led to yield obedience “to the commands, trembling at the threatenings, and embracing the promises of God for this life and that which is to come.”
Perfect sanctification is not attainable in this life (1Ki_8:46; Pro_20:9; Ecc_7:20; Jam_3:2; 1Jo_1:8). See Paul's account of himself in Rom_7:14-25; Phi_3:12-14; and 1Ti_1:15; also the confessions of David (Psa_19:12, Psa_19:13; 51), of Moses (Psa_90:8), of Job (Job_42:5, Job_42:6), and of Daniel (Dan. 9:3-20). “The more holy a man is, the more humble, self-renouncing, self-abhorring, and the more sensitive to every sin he becomes, and the more closely he clings to Christ.
