The Meaning of Redemption

"...by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.  7In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him." (Ephesians 1:6b-10)

Some years ago trading stamps were popular. For each dollar amount purchased a given number of trading stamps was given as a bonus. When sufficient stamps were saved up, they were taken to a redemption center and exchanged for merchandise.

Redemption is one of the central themes of Scripture and of the book of Ephesians, but it carries much more than the idea simply of exchanging one thing for another of equal value.

The word Redemption comes from one of six terms taken from the field of law and used in the New Testament in relation to salvation. This word and related terms referred to legal acquittal of a charge and are used theologically to speak of a sinner’s being vindicated, justified, and declared righteous before God (see, for example, Rom. 3:4; 4:25; 5:18; 1 Tim. 3:16). The word for forgiveness basically means to send away and was used to indicate the legal repayment or cancellation of a debt or the granting of a pardon. It is used in Scripture to refer to God’s forgiveness of sin (see Matt. 9:2; Rom. 4:7; Eph. 1:7; 4:32; etc.). The Greek word for sonship referred to the legal process of adopting a child and is used by Paul to represent the believer’s adoption into God’s family (see Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5). The word for gather together meant to legally reconcile two disputing parties in court and in the New Testament is used of a believer’s reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:18-20).

The two Greek legal terms related to redemption refer to buying or purchasing. The source of the terms is the Greek word agora, which means marketplace, and the root idea of the derived verbs and nouns referred to buying and trading in the marketplace. In the New Testament they are used to denote spiritual purchase or redemption (see Gal. 3:13; Rev. 5:9; 14:3-4; etc.).

The other term for redemption  meant to release from captivity. It carried an even stronger meaning than agorazo  and is behind the noun rendered here as redemption. This word was used to refer to paying a ransom in order to release a person from bondage, especially that of slavery.

During New Testament times the Roman Empire had as many as six million slaves, and the buying and selling of them was a major business. If a person wanted to free a loved one or friend who was a slave, he would buy that slave for himself and then grant him freedom, testifying to the deliverance by a written certificate. Lutroo (the Greek word in view here) was used to designate the freeing of a slave in that way.

That is precisely the idea carried in the New Testament use of the term to represent Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross. He paid the redemption price to buy for Himself fallen mankind and to set them free from their sin.

Every human being born since the Fall has come into the world enslaved to sin, under total bondage to a nature that is corrupt, evil, and separated from its Creator. No person is spiritually free. No human being is free of sin or free of its consequences, the ultimate consequence, or penalty, for which is death (Rom. 6:23). “The soul who sins will die” (Ezek. 18:4).

Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin” (John 8:34), and Paul points out that every person has committed sin: “There is none righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:10; cf. Ps. 14:1). In the same letter the apostle says that we are all “sold into bondage to sin” (7:14) and that, in fact, the whole of creation is enslaved to the corruption of sin (8:21).

Sin is man’s captor and slave owner, and it demands a price for his release. Death is the price that had to be paid for man’s redemption from sin. Biblical redemption therefore refers to the act of God by which He Himself paid as a ransom the price for sin.

In Romans Paul speaks of redemption as “our having been freed from sin” and become “slaves of righteousness” (6:18). In Galatians He describes redemption in saying that Jesus Christ “gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father” (1:3-4); that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law having become a curse for us” (3:13); and that “it was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (5:1). In Colossians the apostle says that “He 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” (1:13-14).

The writer of Hebrews explains redemption in these words: “Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself [Christ] likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives” (2:14-15).