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IN HIM WE HAVE REDEMPTION
THROUGH HIS BLOOD: en o echomen (1PPAI) ten apolutrosin dia tou aimatos
autou:
(Job
33:24;
Psalms 130:7;
Daniel 9:24-26;
Zechariah 9:11;
13:1,7;
Matthew 20:28;
26:28;
Mark 14:24;
Acts 20:28;
Romans 3:24;
1 Corinthians 1:30;
Colossians 1:14;
1 Timothy 2:6;
Titus 2:14;
Hebrews 9:12-15,22;
10:4-12;
1 Peter 1:18,19;
2:24;
3:18;
1 John 2:2;
4:10;
Revelation 5:9;
14:4)
In Him - In Christ, or in
union to Christ, we have or more literally "are having" this
blessing. It is not merely in a blessing that exist as a future
possession (it will be that also as discussed below), but it is ours by
virtue of our faith in Christ.
You may want to read that spiritual
blessing again. What is in view with this statement is something which
the reader possesses right now. It had been long expected by the Jews
and has now been accomplished! Think of that! Our guilt is removed, utterly gone!
Forever! No more condemnation for those who are safe in the Beloved. As
discussed more below (click) there are other passages that view redemption as
something that is also yet future.
For example Jesus used "redemption"
in this future sense declaring...
"But when these things begin to
take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your
redemption is drawing near." (Luke 21:28) (Comment:
When all the signs given in the Olivet discourse are just beginning to
be fulfilled, then Christ says His coming is very near. Although we
cannot know the date, we can be sure that He is coming very soon. As
explained below there is a sense in which our salvation is not yet
complete. Glorification describes the culmination of salvation and it
will transpire in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye in connection
with the second coming of Christ. Maranatha!) (See
similar futuristic aspect of redemption in
Romans 8:23
below)
By some accounts there were 60
million slaves in the ancient Roman Empire and they were treated like
chattel, bought and sold like any other commodity. In a similar way all
men are born slaves in Adam, slaves to Statues
(Law),
Sin,
Self (flesh),
Satan and the System (this present evil world system).
Paul explained our former state of
bondage to these cruel masters writing...
Of the Law It was for freedom
that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be
subject again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Behold I, Paul, say to you that if
you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.3 And I
testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under
obligation to keep the whole Law (James comments "For whoever keeps
the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.").
(Galatians 5:1-3) (See also discussion of the
Law as it applies to believers)
Of
Sin-
Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin (literally "the
Sin"),
but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin (literally
"the
Sin")
reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, 13 and do not
go on presenting the members of your body to sin (literally "the
Sin")
as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as
those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of
righteousness to God. 14 For sin (literally "the
Sin")
shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under
grace. (See notes
Romans 6:11;
6:12;
6:13;
6:14)
Of Satan - For He delivered
(rescued - see
rhuomai)
us from the domain (exousia)
of darkness (nothing less than the kingdom of Satan, in which we were
all once captive slaves - see notes
Ephesians 2:1;
2:2;
2:3),
and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son (Literally - the
kingdom of the Son of His love), 14 in Whom we have redemption (apolutrosis),
the forgiveness of sins. (See notes
Colossians 1:13;
1:14)
Of this evil world system -
(Jesus) Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of
this present evil age (world =
aion),
according to the will of our God and Father...6:14 But may it never be
that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through which the world (kosmos) has been crucified to me, and I
to the world. (Galatians 1:4, 6:14)
And yet now in Christ and through the
efficacious working accomplished by His blood shed almost 2000 years
ago, we have truly been set free, for as Jesus triumphantly declared...
"If therefore the Son shall make
you free (see
eleutheroo),
you shall be free (eleutheroo)
indeed." (John 8:36) (Comment: Freedom given by Christ and
in Christ is the only true freedom. Delivered from the shackles and the
bondage of sin, believers now are free to can do what they ought,
what God created them to do [see note
Ephesians 2:10],
and they are no longer in shackles to their evil desires [that come from
the fallen
flesh
that once ruled when we were in Adam].
The unsaved man or woman indulges in sin [see note
Ephesians 2:3]
and has no power over it.
Sin
like a cruel "king" rules and
controls his mind and body.
Sin
binds him in "spiritual
shackles" much worse than shackles of iron. Christ's offer is freedom
from such bondage, and a life that the indwelling Spirit enables and
wills the redeemed one live in a way that pleases God [2Cor 5:9 =
Therefore also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be
pleasing to Him.] )
So as we come this verse we move in
this great passage from the choosing and predestining work
of the Father, to the redemptive work of the Son in
salvation. We see how the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity,
moves to accomplish what the Father decided upon. The act of deciding
was the Father's the accomplishment of which is the Son's.
Have (2192)
(echo) means to have or possess objects or property. The
present tense
in this verse indicates
durative action and thus could be paraphrased “in Whom we are continually
having redemption” or "we have and are still having it". In Christ now redemption is our present and our continual possession. Redemption is an abiding fact, past, present
and into future as explained below. Note that the blessings are all "in
Christ" as being not only their source but their sphere.
In the Greek text
the definite article (ten apolutrosin = the redemption) states
emphatically that is not just any redemption but "the" great redemption,
"the" real redemption, as compared to all other redemptions which were
but shadows.
Redemption
(629)
(apolutrosis
from apo =
marker of dissociation or separation + lutroo = to redeem <> from
lútron = ransom <> from lúo = loosen what is bound, loose
any person tied or fastened) (Click
word study on
apolutrosis) is the
payment of a price to ransom (lutron = money for a ransom
= ransom or price paid for a slave who is then set free), to release
(of someone from the power of someone else), to buy back or to
deliver one from a situation from which one is powerless to
liberate themselves from or for which the penalty was so costly that
they could never hope to pay the ransom price. In other words, the idea
of redemption is deliverance or release by payment of a ransom.
Have you ever
pawned anything? If so how useful was the item you pawned. Obviously it
was no longer of any use. But when you paid the money to redeem the item
back, it was restored to its usefulness. Every man born is sold into
slavery to Sin and in this natural state (in Adam) was useless to God
for the purposes He designed us to fulfill. Jesus' blood paid the
necessary redemption price to restore us to usefulness. There is no way
by which sinners in Adam can achieve the sense of fulfillment that they
long to experience. Sure, non-believers can achieve a lot of things, but
they don't satisfy the deepest inner needs of man. There is no sense of
usefulness and there is within such a one a kind of subtle, haunting
reminder of the truth that this is all going to disappear some day.
Redemption means to set
a prisoner free, figuratively referring to the release of sinners from power of
Sin
or our old Adamic
nature by the payment of the only ransom price acceptable to God, the
precious Blood of His dearly Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus was
qualified to be our Redeemer according to the Old Testament law of the
Kinsman-Redeemer (see related discussion of
Kinsman Redeemer - the Goel;
see also
discussion of Goel)
because He met all three qualifications of the Goel...
(1) He had to be related to
the one needing the redemption (see Hebrews 2:14-15 - "Since
then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself 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) He had to be able to
pay the price (1Peter
1:18;
1:19"knowing that
you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from
your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with
precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of
Christ. (see
note)
(3) He had to be willing to
pay the ransom price (Mark 10:45 "For even the Son of Man did
not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for
many.")
O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise
--Charles Wesley
Our Daily Bread
has a devotional on the Old Testament story of Ruth's redemption by
Boaz which is a picture of the NT believer's redemption by their
"greater Boaz", Christ Jesus...
During the American Revolution, the
British Crown offered General Joseph Reed a bribe. He replied at an
August 11, 1778, meeting of the Continental Congress by saying,
"I am not worth purchasing, but such
as I am, the King of Great Britain is not rich enough to do it."
Boaz was rich enough to take Ruth as
his wife. As a close relative of Naomi, Ruth's mother-in-law, Boaz paid
the price out of duty, but apparently he also loved Ruth. The Old
Testament redeemer had to be a near relative, be willing, and be able to
pay the price. Although love for the redeemed was not a requirement, it
sometimes motivated the redeemer. More important, God Himself redeemed
Israel because He loved the people.
Roman law added an obligation to the rules of redemption: The redeemed
had to repay the ransom price. Redeemed people were in debt to their
redeemer until they cleared the liability. Like Joseph Reed, we were not
worthy of being purchased, but God loved us so deeply that He bought us
with His Son's life. And we can only repay the Redeemer by offering our
own lives in return. (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
The redemption
of a sinner is only possible by payment of the ransom price, the
blood of Christ. Peter writes that believers
"were not redeemed (lutroo)
with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile (a lifestyle
that is without purpose, unfruitful, and useless) way of life inherited
(contrast with our inheritance in ) from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished
and spotless, the blood of Christ." (see note
1 Peter 1:18-19, cf
1Cor 6:20;
Rev 5:9)
Jesus explained to
His disciples that
"even the Son of Man did not come to
be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom (lutron =
the ransom price) for many." (Mk
10:45 cf
Mt 20:28)
Paul gives
us an interesting "definition" if you will of "redemption"
writing that in Christ
"we have redemption
(apolutrosis), the forgiveness of sins." (see note
Colossians 1:14)
Christ's Blood
shed for me for the forgiveness of sins. His death for my life.
Redemption results in the forgiveness of sins.
Christ was lifted up on the cross that we might be lifted out of our
sin.
Apolutrosis
was used was used in secular Greek as a technical term for money paid to
buy back and set free prisoners of war or to emancipate (= to
liberate a person from subjection or domination, to free from restraint,
control, or the power of another) slaves from their masters. In
the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus, apolutrosis was
used of for the release of prisoners by the payment of a price
(Josephus, Antiquities, 12:27).
Apolutrosis
would have been a very meaningful term to the first century reader as
there were by some accounts up to 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire!
Many of these slaves became Christians and fellowshipped in the local
assemblies. A slave could purchase his own freedom, if he could collect
sufficient funds or his master could sell him to someone who would pay
the price and set him free. Redemption was a precious thing in Paul's
day.
Jesus answering
the unbelieving Jews who claimed never to have been enslaved to anyone
(which of course was incorrect historically)
"answered them" declaring "Truly,
truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin."
(Jn
8:34)
Believers have
been ransomed, bought out of slavery to sin, like the redemption of a
bondservant by a kinsman-redeemer (Lev
25:49).
And Can It Be That I Should Gain?
Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth and followed thee
-- Charles Wesley ( play)
Before redemption
we were held captive by Satan to do his will and were enslaved to our
old sin nature inherited from Adam. As noted above a Roman or Grecian
slave could be freed with the payment of money, but no
amount of money can set an enslaved sinner free.
Barclay
writes that apolutrosis conveys
"In every case the conception (of)
the delivering of a man from a situation from which he was powerless to
liberate himself or from a penalty which he himself could never have
paid." He goes on to relate that the Roman philosopher Seneca who
tutored and advised Nero was "full of this kind of feeling of helpless
frustration. Men, he said, were overwhelmingly conscious of their
inefficiency in necessary things. He said of himself that he was a
homo non tolerabilis, a man not to be tolerated. Men, he said with a
kind of despair, love their vices and hate them at the same time. What
men need, he cried, is a hand let down to lift them up. The highest
thinkers in the pagan world knew that they were in the grip of something
from which they were helpless to deliver themselves. They needed
liberation. It was just that liberation which Jesus Christ brought. It
is still true that he can liberate men from helpless slavery to the
things which attract and disgust them at one and the same time." (Barclay,
W: The Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster
Press)
Paul
explains that in regard to our salvation we can never boast about
anything but the Lord for
"by His doing you are in Christ
Jesus, Who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and
sanctification, and
redemption (apolutrosis)"
(1Cor
1:30)
Paul
explains that the Holy Spirit
"is given as a pledge of our
inheritance, with a view to the
redemption
(apolutrosis) of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory." (Eph
1:14) (Comment:
This is a reference to the "future" redemption of our bodies)
Later in
the same letter he makes another reference to our future redemption,
admonishing the saints not to
"grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by
whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption
(apolutrosis)" (Eph
4:30) (Comment:
Here Paul refers to that future day when our bodies are glorified, that
day when final redemption is realized. It is worth noting therefore that
Christ's death on the cross has purchased not only present but
final liberation. This is good news beloved)
In
Romans 8:23 (see note)
Paul again refers to our future redemption writing
And not only this, but also we
ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit (in other words, the
first fruits is the presence of the indwelling Spirit, technically being
the genitive of apposition), even we ourselves groan within ourselves,
waiting eagerly (see word study on
apekdechomai =
present tense
pictures us
continually, as our lifestyle, awaiting the return of Jesus with a sense
of great expectation and anticipation - used 3 times in Romans 8! See
notes
Romans 8:19,
8:25)
for the redemption (apolutrosis)
of our body.
"Future"
redemption is that day when all believers receive their
resurrected glorified body and enter into the joy of that final
deliverance from the "ills that the flesh is heir to". In short, this
sure hope refers to the final and complete deliverance of our earthly
bodies not just from the power of sin (explained in Romans) but from the
presence of sin and even the pleasure of sin and the resultant tension
(flesh warring against the Spirit) which we constantly feel as long as
we are in these mortal bodies. In sum, believers have redemption through
His blood as our present possession but we eagerly await the final
culmination of this redemption of our bodies, when Jesus returns and
resurrects all believers changing them in a moment, in the twinkling of
an eye.
Note also in this
great passage in Every believer has the first fruit (The first
portion of the harvest was regarded both as a first installment and as a
pledge of the final delivery of the greater harvest!) which is the
indwelling Holy Spirit (compare to the Spirit as the "pledge" of
our inheritance - see note
Ephesians 1:14).
When we as believers experience the Holy Spirit enabling or empowering
us to turn from darkness to light, from iniquity to obedience, love,
worship, and service to the most High God, we have a foretaste of the
future completed and perfected renewal He will work in us at the
resurrection. Every time we see Him working His righteousness in and
through us, we yearn all the more to be freed of our remaining sin and
spiritual weakness. Because of our divinely-bestowed sensitivity to sin,
we ourselves groan within ourselves over the dreadful curse of sin that
is still manifested by our remaining humanness, and the many times we
stumble in our thoughts, words or deeds. But glory to God, this
condition won't last for long!
The writer of Hebrews explained Jesus
"is the mediator of a new covenant, in
order that since a death has taken place for the redemption (apolutrosis)
of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant,
those who have been called may
receive the promise of the eternal
inheritance." (Heb
9:15)
One of the effects
of the apolutrosis procured by the death of Christ was to redeem
all those who had believed in God under the Old Covenant. After Christ
died, they saw what had only before been a promise - it was a certain
promise, a guaranteed promise, but until the Messiah’s atoning death, it
was an unfulfilled promise. The point is that Christ’s atoning death was
retroactive. Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) also pictured
symbolically what Christ’s atonement did actually, for Yom Kippur was
"retroactive". When the high priest sprinkled the blood on the mercy
seat, the unintentional sins of the people were covered for the previous
year.
I Gave My Life
for Thee
Play Hymn
Frances Ridley Havergal
(Her first hymn!)
I gave My life for
thee,
My precious blood I shed;
That thou might ransomed be,
And quickened from the dead.
I gave, I gave, My life for thee,
What hast thou given for Me?
Through (1223)
(dia) is a marker of
instrument by which something is accomplished. In other words it was by means of Christ's blood
ransom that He bought for Himself fallen man to set him free from his
sin, his guilt and his condemnation.
Blood (129)
(haima) refers to blood as the basis of life or what constitutes
the life of an individual. (Lev 17:11). Blood is the basic component of
a living organism. The shedding of Christ's blood (death) was the
penalty price for sin. What was foreshadowed in the Levitical system was
realized at the Cross when the Son of God laid down his life in death
and ransomed men from sin. His precious blood paid the ransom price for our redemption (Cf
notes on
1Peter 1:18,
1:19;
Rev 5:9,
Romans 3:24;
Romans 3:25)
Note that "the
blood" of Christ means more that just the death of Christ. It refers
to a particular aspect of that death, as a sacrifice, a death having a
definite efficacy. The Old Testament foreshadowed this sacrifice in the
blood of the victims offered under the OT Law, not for redemption but
for purposes of purification and as a temporary covering of sins
committed (looking forward toward and awaiting the full atonement made
possible by the shedding of the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God, Who
takes away completely the sin of the world, a truth that becomes
efficacious only for those who believe upon Him). In Christ's own
words...
this is My blood of the covenant
(the new covenant, prophesied in the OT in Jer 31:31-33), which is
poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. (Mt 26:28)
Thus Christ's
blood denotes the ratification of a brand new relationship between God
and man (see studies on covenant -
New Covenant in the Old Testament,
Why the New is Better,
Abrahamic vs Old vs New)
Paul also makes
reference to Christ's blood in reference to the church as
he warns the Ephesian elders to...
"Be
on guard (present
imperative -
continually being cautious, attentive, in a state of readiness to learn
of future danger, need, or error, and to respond appropriately. Paul
repeated this call to self-examination to Timothy when his young son in
the faith served as pastor of the Ephesian congregation.) for yourselves
(look after your own spiritual health first!) and for all the flock,
among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the
church of God which He purchased with His own blood." (Acts
20:28)
In this letter to
the Ephesian Gentiles Paul writes of the efficacy of Christ's blood
to restore unity between Jew and Gentile explaining that...
But now in Christ Jesus you who
formerly were far off (Gentiles) have been brought near by the blood
of Christ. (see note
Ephesians 2:13)
In Hebrews
we see the efficacy of Christ's blood in opening access to the very
throne of God...
Since therefore, brethren, we have
confidence to enter the holy place (God's throne room in heaven!)
by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated
for us through the veil, that is, His flesh (Hebrews 10:19-20)
In Colossians
Paul explains the efficacy of Christ's blood in reconciliation writing
that...
it was the Father's good pleasure for
all the fulness to dwell in Him, and through Him (Christ) to reconcile
all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His
cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in
heaven. (See notes
Colossians 1:19;
1:20)
Expositor's
Greek Testament goes on to add that
"in the NT the "blood" of Christ is
used with reference to the ethical power of Christ's death in purifying
or in overcoming (1Peter 1:19, 1John 1:7, Rev 12:11). But its special
use ins with reference to justification (Rev 5:9), the position of
non-condemnation (Hebrews 12:24), the cleansing of the conscience (Heb
9:14), the making of peace between God and the world (Col 1:20), the
manifestation of the righteousness of God in the passing over of sins
(Ro 3;25), the remission of sins (Heb 9:22).
Matthew
records Jesus' declaration that...
"the Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Mt
20:28, cf parallel verse in Mark 10:45) (Comment: Observe
that the word "for" means "in the place of", Christ clearly interpreting
the meaning of His sacrifice as a substitution for sinners. Service and
salvation, not power and prestige, were His goals.)
Paul
affirms that...
there is one God, and one mediator
also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a
ransom for (again this preposition speaks of and equates with
substitution, on behalf of, in our place) all, the testimony borne at
the proper time. (1Timothy 2:5-6)
The writer of
Hebrews adds that Christ functioned as mankind's High Priest but
unlike the Jewish high priests of the OT, Christ entered through perfect
tabernacle not made with hands, not of this creation...
and not through the blood of goats
and calves (like the Jewish high priest, when he entered the Holy of
holies, to sprinkle blood on the Mercy Seat covering the Ark of the
Covenant), but through His own blood, He entered the holy place
(equates with the Holy of holies) once for all (for all time), having
obtained eternal redemption. (in marked contrast to the Jewish
high priest who entered the Holy of holies only once per year on the Day
of Atonement). For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a
heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the
cleansing of the flesh (there was a specified role for the OT shadows
that prefigured and were fulfilled in Christ, the perfect Lamb of God),
how much more will the blood of Christ, Who through the eternal
Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:12-14)
When was this
price of blood that effected our redemption paid? On the Cross when
Jesus declared "It is finished" (John 19:30) which is the Greek verb "Tetelestai"
which translated means "Paid in Full!"
When someone had a
debt in ancient times and it was paid off, they would write "Tetelestai"
on that certificate which means 'Paid in Full', the exact words Jesus
declared in His moment of ultimate triumph over Satan and Sin!
Tetelestai was used by various people in everyday life in those days.
Receipts for taxes found in the the secular Greek writings have written
across them this single Greek word "Tetelestai"! (A good document
to have when the auditor comes!) When a Roman citizen was
convicted of a crime, the law of that day slammed him in prison,
prepared a "Certificate of Debt" that listed all the crimes he was
convicted of on it and nailed the certificate to his cell door for all
to see. It remained nailed there so all would be assured that he served
his full sentence, and "paid in full" the penalty for his crimes.
When Jesus, dying for us on that awful Cross, announced His great
victory cry with the Greek word "Tetelestai", it would have resonated
with many watching this spectacle for it was a very familiar phrase.
Tetelestai was the same word that the authorities stamped across the
Certificate of Debt after a criminal had completed his prison term. It
literally meant that he had "Paid in Full" for all his crimes. Then the
criminal was given the certificate which he could produce to show that
his debts and obligations had been "paid in full." He could never be a
victim of "double jeopardy" or paying for the same crime twice.
In a similar way,
when an artist completed a picture or a writer finished his manuscript,
he might say “It is finished!” The death of Jesus on the Cross
“completes the picture” (cf the truth in
Ephesians 1:9;
1:10 - notes) that God had
been painting since before the foundation of the world, the story that
He had written from all eternity. It had been predestined, predetermined
in the mind and heart of the Father. Because of the Cross, now we can
look back and begin to understand all of the Old Testament rituals and
ceremonies which pointed to this one day in time and eternity when the
price of redemption for lost, helpless, hopeless and enslaved mankind
was "Paid in Full"! Glory to God! Hallelujah!
Nor Silver Nor
Gold
by James Gray
Click to play
Nor silver nor gold
hath obtained my redemption,
Nor riches of earth could have saved my poor soul;
The blood of the cross is my only foundation,
The death of my Savior now maketh me whole.
Refrain
I am redeemed, but not with silver,
I am bought, but not with gold;
Bought with a price, the blood of Jesus,
Precious price of love untold.
Nor silver nor gold hath obtained my
redemption,
The guilt on my conscience too heavy had grown;
The blood of the cross is my only foundation,
The death of my Savior could only atone.
Since Christ
paid for us what is our relationship to Him? Scripture makes it
quite clear not only "who" we are in Christ but because of our
position "in Christ" it emphasizes "whose" we are...
Or do you not know that your body is
a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and
that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price:
therefore glorify God in your body. (1Corinthians 6:19-20)
You were bought with a price; do not
become slaves of men. (1Corinthians 7:23)
Who (Christ) gave Himself for (=
substitution) us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and
purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for
good deeds. (see note
Titus 2:14) (Comment:
Observe our present purpose)
But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal
PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION,
that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of
darkness into His marvelous light. (see note
1 Peter 2:9)
(Comment: Observe our present purpose as "light in the Lord" as
Paul describes us in
Ephesians 5:8 - note)
THE FORGIVENESS OF OUR
TRESPASSES: ten aphesin ton paraptomaton:
(Exodus
34:7;
Psalms 32:1,2;
86:5;
130:4;
Isaiah 43:25;
55:6,7;
Jeremiah 31:34;
Daniel 9:9,19;
Jonah 4:2;
Micah 7:18;
Luke 1:77;
7:40-42,47-50;
24:47;
John 20:23 | 
