Forgiveness is powerful—it releases us from our debts towards God and it enables us to forgive others. Forgiveness brings freedom of heart and peace of mind! Another key issue related to God’s grace and His forgiveness is redemption. It is a powerful word and means buying someone’s freedom from slavery. Sin enslaves us; Christ paid the price for our freedom.
‘In Him [Christ] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace’ (Ephesians 1:7).
The redemption Christ provided for us on the cross comes to us through the forgiveness of sin. It’s the expression of God’s love and grace. God is ‘rich in mercy’ and has by ‘His great love’ (Ephesians 2:4) given His Son to pay the price for our redemption—and with it, our freedom! His blood paid the price for our freedom—we were ‘bought with a price’ (1 Corinthians 6:20). There’s a curse on sin, but Christ redeems us from it and opens the blessings of God for our lives (Galatians 3:13–14). Redemption is a gift by God’s grace (Romans 3:24–25).
The Truth that Sets Free
Here’s the truth of the Gospel when you believe in Christ as Lord and Saviour and have your sins forgiven:
‘For He [God] rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin’ (Colossians 1:13–14).
The word redemption, as stated above, comes from buying slaves out of slavery and into freedom. Living in sin makes people slaves of sin. Jesus came to set people free (Luke 4:18–19). His redemption frees us from the domain of darkness, where sin enslaves people, and transfers us into the glorious kingdom of love and light in Christ Jesus! Christ brings freedom. We can then learn to live responsibly as free people the way God intended. This is a life of righteousness and makes us truly free human beings. Consider the following.
‘As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him. So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed in Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaves to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does nor remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son [Christ] makes you free, you will be free indeed”.’ (John 8:30–36)
Some people were offended at the notion of being slaves to sin. Indeed, being confronted with the reality of sin and its enslaving power isn’t pleasant at first, but if it leads us to humble confession and genuine repentance, the Good News of salvation will be ours by faith in Christ. Those who took offence also missed the good news in these words of Christ: the Son came to set people free! This is good news and we should not allow offence to hinder the blessing God has prepared for us through salvation and redemption. God gives grace to the humble. Humility is beautiful and opens the door to God’s blessings.
Living in sin makes one a slave to sin, yet Christ, the Son, came to set us free. And the truth that sets us free is in His Word—the Gospel of the Kingdom! Admitting to the slavery of sin requires humility. We need to be honest to ourselves and honest towards God. The good news is that God forgives when we confess our sin. And remember, He knew all about your sin, yet still loved you =;-) He’s gracious. God is good. Some of us might have some bad childhood memories when we were punished for admitting a mistake. It should not have been that way. Honesty should be rewarded, not punished. True, bad deeds have consequences and we must be responsible, yet honesty and humility before God will be rewarded with forgiveness and blessing.
The Gospel is ‘the message of truth’ that, once heard and believed, brings us redemption, salvation and freedom (Ephesians 1:13–14). The Gospel is the Good News about the King of Heaven who humbled Himself and became a Man (incarnation) and even died on the cross to save the humanity He loves—the humanity lost in the slavery of sin (Philippians 2:5–11). God wouldn’t leave us in sin; He provided a solution. He is ‘God with us,’ the Saviour who comes to save us from our sin (Matthew 1:21–23). He is faithful and true to forgive (1 John 1:9) because He provided the sacrifice for salvation and the ransom for redemption (1 John 2:2).
Ransom and Redemption
There is no redemption without a ransom: the price for freedom must be paid. So the Gospel of redemption is simply this: the King of the Universe came to serve humanity and, ultimately, to ‘give His life a ransom for many’ (Mark 10:41–45). These powerful words of self-sacrifice and servant-leadership came in the face of an ambitious dispute over power: who is the greatest and who can sit next to King Jesus on Judgment Day (vv 35–37). The King’s response was swift: ‘You do not know what you are asking’ (v 38). Figuratively speaking, Jesus then asked whether they are able to ‘drink the cup that I drink’ and go through the ‘baptism with which I am baptised.’ This referred to the death on the cross He was about to undergo: drinking a cup and baptism (from Greek, immersion) were symbolic of what He had to go through in order to achieve redemption for humanity. As for the disciples, only a sacrifice of such great humility would give them the right to even consider a position of power. Jesus paid that price. He was the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53, the One who would lay down His life for His friends—to show the greatest kind of love, divine love (John 15:13).
Christ died for sinners while still in sin—this is the love of God (Romans 5:6–8). Just as the forgiveness of sin requires the shedding of blood, for life is in the blood, so redemption requires a ransom to free a slave. Ransom is the required price that needs to be paid. Jesus shed His blood for the forgiveness of sin and gave His life as a ransom for redemption—to free sinners from the power and punishment of sin. He is the Redeemer and Deliverer—King Jesus, Messiah and Saviour!
Redemption and Responsibility
Paul, himself a former slave to sin, would proclaim the glorious freedom of God’s children in the Gospel of Jesus Christ—the power of God unto salvation!
‘It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery’ (Galatians 5:1).
Christ came to set the captives free. The Saviour brought God’s salvation. The Son and Messiah would ‘save His people from their sins’ (Matthew 1:21). The believers were ‘called to freedom’ and were to treasure and guard it: no return to slavery of any kind, be it sin or false teachings. The Gospel is the message of freedom and freedom is precious!
‘For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh [i.e., sin], but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”.’ (Galatians 5:13–14)
Paul advocated for freedom with responsibility. The redemption that brought freedom was to be appreciated with responsibility. No more enslavement, nor to sin or heresy, and neither was grace to be used as ‘a licence to sin.’ It was redemption from sin, not freedom to sin! The very enslavement of sin they came out of is not what they should return back to. Redemption was given by love—God’s love for us—and should be expressed in love—God’s love for others by and through us.
Paul goes on to contrast the life of sinful, fleshly desires and self-centred indulgence—and warned of its negative consequences (Galatians 5:15–21, 26)—with a life lived according to God’s will by the power of God’s Spirit (5:16, 22–23). Christ’s crucifixion was not only the way to achieve redemption for sinners, but also a symbol of crucifying our own fleshly desires and sinful passions (v 24) and live a life pleasing to God (vv 16, 25). Only those who live for the will of God will live forever; all the things of this world will fade away and perish (1 John 2:15–17). We are to serve one another in love!
Love and Service
Paul advocated for ‘faith working through love’ (Galatians 5:6). The whole Law is fulfilled in loving one’s neighbour (v 14). Jesus had already stated the same thing when asked about the greatest commandments in Scripture: love God and love people—it sums up the whole of the Torah (Matthew 22:34–40). Treating others, the way you wished to be treated by them (Matthew 7:12), was another way of explaing the ‘Love Commandments.’ Love is the fulfilment of the Law; it’s the sum total of all commandments (Romans 13:8–10). This understanding was generally accepted by most Jews at the time. Once Jesus asked an eager, knowledgeable and law-abiding Jew about ‘What is written in the Law?’ when asked about what do to do inherit ‘eternal life’; his answer was in quoting the same verses Jesus quoted when asked about the greatest commandment (Luke 10:25–27). It was the correct answer (v 28). Jesus then went on to the share the famous parable known as ‘The Good Samaritan’ (vv 29–37) to show that ‘a neighbour’ is not limited to geography or ethnicity—God’s love is universal, and is, sometimes, expressed by the most unlikely of people! Grace is given to the undeserving; love is an expression of doing good to those who can’t do anything in return.
John Newton—Amazing Grace!
Such an unlikely person was John Newton. He was a slave trader during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Around 13 million African slaves were shipped in horrific conditions across the Atlantic Ocean, and around 10.7 million made the terrifying journey alive. Sick slaves were thrown overboard. John Newton was part of the crew of slave traders and later became one himself. But his conscience troubled him. His late mother used to read God’s commandments to him. Newton struggled with guilt and a lack of peace in his soul, and eventually found what he would call ‘Amazing Grace.’ The song that came from his poem about God’s amazing grace would become one of the most popular Christian hymns of all times. Newton dedicated his life in service of the amazing God who saved a ‘wretch’ like him by His amazing grace. Grace is given to the undeserving who are humble (1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6).
Newton also became a mentor to William Wilberforce, the British MP and philanthropist who was a great leader in the movement to abolish the slave trade (1807) and later slavery (1834) altogether. Britain was the first Empire to abolish the evil practice of slavery. Newton and Wilberforce, both driven by their Christian faith, were instrumental in abolishing the slave trade and slavery. Newton used his past sins and the forgiveness God had given him to fight slavery and proclaim the Gospel of God’s Amazing Grace! He was the unlikely person to speak of God’s Commandments, yet the right person to speak of God’s amazing grace.
Grace is unmerited favour—God loving and forgiving repenting sinners because of who He is, not because of what we have done. We are saved ‘by grace through faith,’ not by our own works or goodness (Ephesians 2:8–9; 2 Timothy 1:8–10). The riches of His grace provide redemption and set the sinners free.
God loves us and His grace is His gift of salvation, forgiveness and redemption for us!
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