I have been saved from the penalty of sin. That's justification—the work of the Spirit whereby we are placed in right standing with God by faith in Christ. What an incredible hope we have experienced in having our sins blotted out, the stain and shame of our guilt removed, and the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, so that we need have no fear of condemnation.
There are three great Gospel words in our text: "grace" and "salvation" in verse 11 and "redeem" in verse 14. Grace means that I have freely received the gift of eternal life that I could never deserve, solely because of the merits of Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. This is salvation. Salvation means that I was hopeless and helpless myself to better my situation. I was drowning in an ocean of iniquity when His love lifted me! The word redemption means to be set free by payment of a price. We have been purchased.
When Paul wrote these words, men and women were sold in the marketplace like commodities. Spiritually, we were in the slave market, held fast in the shackles of sin. Christ paid the price to free us—and the price He paid was His own blood! He "gave Himself for us" and the great exchange took place—Christ took my sins and gave me His righteousness—all that He is for all that I am.
That sealed the deal! Nothing can ever alter that. My everlasting hope is secured because the debt was marked, “Paid in Full!”
How thankful we should be!
No comments:
Post a Comment