The primary signification of the word redeem is “to purchase back.” Theologically, redemption means the restitution of that which was lost in the ruin of the fall. When all was lost in Adam, a complete redemption was proposed through Jesus Christ. And that we may better understand the nature, and the extent of redemption through Christ, we shall do well to first consider what was lost in Adam.
1. Innocence, and purity of character were lost in the transgression of the representatives of the race, and their offspring became the lawful prey of the author of sin. Their lost condition is expressed by the apostle in these words: “I am carnal, sold under sin.” Rom. 7:14.
2. Our first parents lost their hold on immortal life, for which they were put on probation. In obedience they would soon have developed a righteous character, been placed beyond the reach of sin, and would have secured endless life in favor with God. In disobedience they and their offspring passed under the sentence and dominion of death. “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Gen. 3:19. “Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Rom. 5:12. Death, and to return to dust, are the rule with the fallen race, while translation to Heaven, without passing under the dominion of death and the grave, as in the cases of Enoch, Elijah, and those who shall stand complete in the will of God, and be alive at the second coming of the Son of Man, are exceptions.
3. In the disgrace of the fall, the race lost position in the eyes of all the holy intelligences in the universe as the exalted sons and daughters of the Almighty, and are without power in themselves to regain it. The Eden home of our first parents was lost, the earth is groaning under the curse, and Satan holds life possession of it.
But Heaven’s great plan of redemption is as broad and as complete as the ruin of the fall has been. It proposes to redeem man from sin, from the grave to immortal life at the resurrection of the just, and from the disgrace of the fall, and place the redeemed, in the future life, on higher ground, in some respects, than that of Adam and Eve in holy Eden.
1. The plan of redemption proposes to save men from the condemnation and practice of sin in this life. The announcement of the angel to Joseph respecting the infant Redeemer was that he should “call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.” Matt. 1:21. And Paul, writing to the church at Colosse respecting Christ, says: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” Col. 1:14. The first stage, then, in redemption is freedom from sin. And the accomplishment of this deliverance demands action on the part of the sinner, as verily as on the part of the Redeemer.
The great rule of moral action is the moral code. In just so many words Paul says: “I had not known sin but by the law.” Rom. 7:7. And the beloved disciple says, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4. And the apostle James speaks of the moral code as God’s great mirror into which the sinner may look and see the stains of sin upon his soul. Chap. 2:22–25. It is evident then, that before the sinner can be redeemed from sin he must have a knowledge of the extent and the sinfulness of his sins by the moral code.
The Author of this code demands repentance on the part of every transgressor, and obedience to all its holy precepts. But even this, however pungent the repentance for past transgressions, and however earnest the effort to render perfect obedience, cannot remove a single stain from the sinner without faith in the cleansing blood of the Redeemer. True repentance, which includes a knowledge of, a sorrow for, and turning from our sins, is but the first act on the part of the sinner to prepare the way for his redemption from the condemnation and the power of sin. He is then only in a condition of mind and heart to come to the great Redeemer in faith, and fall into his arms, all sinful, unworthy, and helpless.
It is here that the repenting sinner finds pardon, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, as he shows his faith in the death, burial and resurrection of the Redeemer, in being buried with him in baptism, and in seeking for that fulness of grace that there is in Christ. His life is now in joyous harmony with the exhortation of the apostle: “And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” Rom. 12:2.
And as he travels on in the Christian life, and reaches out by faith for complete deliverance from the power of Satan and redemption from the dominion of sin, he reads in the following burning words of Paul the triumphs of his own experience. “That ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.
“Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son; in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.”
2. The plan of redemption in its second stage proposes to redeem the just from the grave and the dominion of death. Says Christ: “The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5:28, 29. And in Paul’s confession of faith before Felix he declared the “resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.” Acts 24:15. See also 1 Cor. 15:51, 55; 1 Thess. 4:13, 18.
The moral fitness for the next life must be obtained in this. The change to immortality is not a moral change. It is simply an exchange of the corruptible body for one that will be incorruptible. This second stage in the Redeemer’s stupendous achievement of the work of man’s redemption is expressed by the apostle thus: “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.” And the Redeemer will not complete his work of redemption in a manner to leave man invisible and immaterial. When redeemed, the just will stand in all the tangible perfection of Adam’s unfallen manhood, with the exceeding glory that their bodies will be fashioned like unto Christ’s glorious, resurrected body.
3. The redemption of the just from the disgrace of transgression and the fall, completes the work of the Redeemer, and places the redeemed on higher and safer ground than that on which Adam stood. And in the estimation of Jehovah, Jesus, angels, and all created intelligences in the universe, they will be regarded the same as if our first parents had not disgraced themselves and their children, in recklessly yielding to the power of appetite. The Redeemer has borne their sins and shame, and has accepted the punishment due to them, in his own sinless person. Man’s failure to form a righteous character was complete. Jesus took man’s place, stood the test, and his success in working out a righteous character in man’s behalf, is as complete as was Adam’s failure. And by a life of self-denial, self-control, and following by faith their triumphant Head, the righteousness of Christ is imputed to the just, and the redeemed lose all their shame and disgrace in their Redeemer. The redeemed will then stand complete, not only in the purity of their own robes of character, which they had washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb, but they will shine with a brighter luster from the divine righteousness and eternal glory imputed to them from their adorable Redeemer.