Bible Thesaurus: Redemption

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Thesaurus

Redemption (46 Occurrences)
... The Greek word so rendered is apolutrosis, a word occurring nine times in Scripture,
and always with the idea of a ransom or price paid, ie, redemption by a ...
/r/redemption.htm - 48k

Redemption-money (3 Occurrences)
Redemption-money. Redemption, Redemption-money. Redemption-price .
Multi-Version Concordance Redemption-money (3 Occurrences). Numbers ...
/r/redemption-money.htm - 7k

Redemption-price (2 Occurrences)
Redemption-price. Redemption-money, Redemption-price. Red-haired .
Multi-Version Concordance Redemption-price (2 Occurrences). ...
/r/redemption-price.htm - 7k

Access (9 Occurrences)
... The goal of redemption is life in God, "unto the Father." The means of redemption
is the cross of Christ, "in whom we have our redemption through his blood ...
/a/access.htm - 11k

Firstling (8 Occurrences)
... On the 30th day after birth the firstborn was brought to the priest by the father,
who paid five shekels for the child's redemption from service in the temple ...
/f/firstling.htm - 15k

Laws (184 Occurrences)
... containing the land laws gives effect to this view by enacting that when an Israelite
was compelled to part with his land there was to be a "redemption" of land ...
/l/laws.htm - 47k

Agrarian
... containing the land laws gives effect to this view by enacting that when an Israelite
was compelled to part with his land there was to be a "redemption" of land ...
/a/agrarian.htm - 17k

Redeemable (1 Occurrence)
... 1. (a.) Capable of being redeemed; subject to repurchase; held under conditions
permitting redemption; as, a pledge securing the payment of money is redeemable ...
/r/redeemable.htm - 7k

Acquired (32 Occurrences)
... our Father!" (WEY). Ephesians 1:14 who is the earnest of our inheritance to the
redemption of the acquired possession to the praise of his glory. (DBY YLT). ...
/a/acquired.htm - 16k

Primogeniture
... usage in the New Testament: Romans 8:29 Hebrews 12:23; Hebrews 1:6 Revelation
1:5). 4. The Firstborn in Ancient Society; Sacrifice and Redemption: Light is ...
/p/primogeniture.htm - 13k

Bible Concordance

Redemption (46 Occurrences)

Luke 1:68 "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and worked redemption for his people;
(WEB WEY ASV DBY YLT NAS)

Luke 2:38 Coming up at that very hour, she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of him to all those who were looking for redemption in Jerusalem.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Luke 21:28 But when these things begin to happen, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near."
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Romans 3:24 being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Romans 8:23 Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

1 Corinthians 1:30 But of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption:
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Ephesians 1:7 in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Ephesians 1:14 who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of his glory.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Ephesians 4:30 Don't grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Colossians 1:14 in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins;
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

1 Timothy 2:6 who gave Himself as the redemption price for all--a fact testified to at its own appointed time,
(WEY)

Hebrews 9:12 nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Hebrews 9:15 For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, since a death has occurred for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, that those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Hebrews 11:35 Women received by a rising again their dead, and others were tortured, not accepting the redemption, that a better rising again they might receive,
(YLT)

Exodus 21:30 If a ransom is laid on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is laid on him.
(WEB JPS ASV NAS RSV)

Leviticus 25:24 In all the land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the land.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Leviticus 25:26 And if the man have no one having right of redemption, and his hand have acquired and found what sufficeth for its redemption,
(DBY YLT NAS)

Leviticus 25:29 "'If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it has been sold. For a full year he shall have the right of redemption.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Leviticus 25:31 and a house of the villages which have no wall round about, on the field of the country is reckoned; redemption is to it, and in the jubilee it goeth out.
(YLT NAS)

Leviticus 25:32 Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time.
(See JPS DBY YLT NAS)

Leviticus 25:33 as to him who redeemeth from the Levites, both the sale of a house and the city of his possession have gone out in the jubilee, for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession in the midst of the sons of Israel.
(See RSV)

Leviticus 25:48 after that he is sold there shall be right of redemption for him; one of his brethren may redeem him.
(DBY YLT NAS NIV)

Leviticus 25:51 If there are yet many years, according to them he shall give back the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Leviticus 25:52 If there remain but a few years to the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according to his years of service he shall give back the price of his redemption.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 3:46 For the redemption of the two hundred seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, who exceed the number of the Levites,
(WEB JPS ASV RSV)

Numbers 3:48 And thou shalt give the money wherewith they that remain over of them are redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons.'
(See NIV)

Numbers 3:49 Moses took the redemption money from those who exceeded the number of those who were redeemed by the Levites;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS RSV NIV)

Numbers 3:51 and Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of Yahweh, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
(WEB JPS ASV RSV NIV)

Numbers 18:16 And those that are to be redeemed of them from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary (the same is twenty gerahs).
(See JPS NAS RSV NIV)

Ruth 2:20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of Jehovah, who has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead! And Naomi said to her, The man is near of kin to us, one of those who have the right of our redemption.
(DBY)

Ruth 3:9 And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth, thy handmaid: spread thy skirt over thy handmaid; for thou hast the right of redemption.
(DBY)

Ruth 3:12 And now, truly I am one that has the right of redemption, yet there is one that has the right of redemption who is nearer than I.
(DBY)

Ruth 4:1 And Boaz went up to the gate, and sat down there. And behold, he that had the right of redemption, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. And he said, Thou, such a one, turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down.
(DBY)

Ruth 4:3 And he said to him that had the right of redemption: Naomi, who is come back out of the country of Moab, sells the allotment that was our brother Elimelech's.
(DBY)

Ruth 4:6 The near kinsman said, "I can't redeem it for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption for yourself; for I can't redeem it."
(WEB JPS ASV DBY YLT NAS RSV)

Ruth 4:7 Now this was the custom in former time in Israel concerning redemption and concerning exchange, to confirm the whole matter: a man drew off his sandal, and gave it to his neighbour, and this was the mode of attestation in Israel.
(DBY YLT NAS NIV)

Ruth 4:8 And he that had the right of redemption said to Boaz, Buy for thyself; and he drew off his sandal.
(DBY)

Ruth 4:14 And the women said to Naomi, Blessed be Jehovah who hath not left thee this day without one that has the right of redemption, and may his name be famous in Israel!
(DBY)

Psalms 49:8 For the redemption of their life is costly, no payment is ever enough,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Psalms 111:9 He has sent redemption to his people. He has ordained his covenant forever. His name is holy and awesome!
(WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 130:7 Israel, hope in Yahweh, for with Yahweh there is loving kindness. With him is abundant redemption.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Proverbs 13:8 A man will give his wealth in exchange for his life; but the poor will not give ear to sharp words.
(See RSV)

Isaiah 50:2 Wherefore have I come, and there is no one? I called, and there is none answering, Hath My hand been at all short of redemption? And is there not in me power to deliver? Lo, by My rebuke I dry up a sea, I make rivers a wilderness, Their fish stinketh, for there is no water, And dieth with thirst.
(YLT)

Isaiah 63:4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.
(See JPS NAS RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 32:7 Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle shall come to you, saying, Buy my field that is in Anathoth; for the right of redemption is yours to buy it.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Jeremiah 32:8 So Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of Yahweh, and said to me, Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself. Then I knew that this was the word of Yahweh.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Easton's Bible Dictionary

The purchase back of something that had been lost, by the payment of a ransom. The Greek word so rendered is apolutrosis, a word occurring nine times in Scripture, and always with the idea of a ransom or price paid, i.e., redemption by a lutron (see Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45). There are instances in the LXX. Version of the Old Testament of the use of lutron in man's relation to man (Leviticus 19:20; 25:51; Exodus 21:30; Numbers 35:31, 32; Isaiah 45:13; Proverbs 6:35), and in the same sense of man's relation to God (Numbers 3:49; 18:15).

There are many passages in the New Testament which represent Christ's sufferings under the idea of a ransom or price, and the result thereby secured is a purchase or redemption (Comp. Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20; Galatians 3:13; 4:4, 5; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; 1 Timothy 2:5, 6; Titus 2:14; Hebrews 9:12; 1 Peter 1:18, 19; Revelation 5:9). The idea running through all these texts, however various their reference, is that of payment made for our redemption. The debt against us is not viewed as simply cancelled, but is fully paid. Christ's blood or life, which he surrendered for them, is the "ransom" by which the deliverance of his people from the servitude of sin and from its penal consequences is secured. It is the plain doctrine of Scripture that "Christ saves us neither by the mere exercise of power, nor by his doctrine, nor by his example, nor by the moral influence which he exerted, nor by any subjective influence on his people, whether natural or mystical, but as a satisfaction to divine justice, as an expiation for sin, and as a ransom from the curse and authority of the law, thus reconciling us to God by making it consistent with his perfection to exercise mercy toward sinners" (Hodge's Systematic Theology).

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

(n.) The recovery of what is promised; as, the redemption of a bond.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

REDEEMER; REDEMPTION

re-dem'-er, re-demp'-shun (paraq, "to tear loose," "to rescue," padhah, ga'al; agorazo, referring to purchase, lutroumai, from lutron, "a ransom"):

1. Gradual Moralizing of Idea of Redemption

2. Redemption as Life in Individual

3. Redemption as Social

4. Redemption as Process

5. Moral Implications in Scriptural Idea of Redeemer

6. Uniqueness of Son of God as Redeemer

LITERATURE

The idea of redemption in the Old Testament takes its start from the thought of property (Leviticus 25:26 Ruth 4:4). Money is paid according to law to buy back something which must be delivered or rescued (Numbers 3:51 Nehemiah 5:8). From this start the word "redemption" throughout the Old Testament is used in the general sense of deliverance. God is the Redeemer of Israel in the sense that He is the Deliverer of Israel (Deuteronomy 9:26 2 Samuel 7:23 1 Chronicles 17:21 Isaiah 52:3). The idea of deliverance includes deliverance from all forms of evil lot, from national misfortune (Isaiah 52:9; Isaiah 63:9; compare Luke 2:38), or from plague (Psalm 78:35, 52), or from calamity of any sort (Genesis 48:16 Numbers 25:4, 9). Of course, the general thought of the relation of Israel to God was that God had both a claim upon Israel (Deuteronomy 15:15) and an obligation toward Israel (1 Chronicles 17:21 Psalm 25:22). Israel belonged to Him, and it was by His own right that He could move into the life of Israel so as to redeem Israel. On the other hand, obligation was upon Him to redeem Israel.

In the New Testament the idea of redemption has more a suggestion of ransom. Men are held under the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13), or of sin itself (Romans 7:23 f). The Redeemer purchases their deliverance by offering Himself as payment for their redemption (Ephesians 1:7 1 Peter 1:18).

1. Gradual Moralizing of Idea of Redemption:

Throughout both the Old Testament and the New Testament there is to be observed a gradual moralizing of the meaning of redemption. The same process of moralizing has continued throughout all the Christian ages. Starting with the idea of redemption price, conceived almost in material terms, religious thought has advanced to conceptions entirely moral and spiritual. Through the Scriptures, too, the idea of redemption becomes more specffic with the progress of Christian revelation. In the beginning God is the Redeemer from distresses of all kinds. He redeems from calamity and from sorrows. This general idea, of course, persists throughout the revelation and enters largely into our thinking of today, but the growing moral discernment of the Biblical writers comes to attach more and more importance to sin as the chief disturber of man's welfare. We would not minimize the force of the Scriptural idea that God is the Deliverer from all misfortune to which man falls heir, but the Scriptural emphasis moves more and more to deliverance from sin. Paul states this deliverance as a deliverance from the law which brings sin out into expression, but we must not conceive his idea in any artificial fashion. He would have men delivered not only from the law, but also from the consequences of evil doing and from the spirit of evil itself (Romans 8:2).

2. Redemption as Life in the Individual:

In trying to discern the meaning of redemption from sin, toward which the entire progress of Biblical and Christian thought points, we may well keep in mind the Master's words that He came that men might have life and might have it more abundantly (John 10:10). The word "life" seems to be the final New Testament word as a statement of the purpose of Christ. God sent His Son to bring men to life. The word "life," however, is indefinite. Life means more at one period of the world's history than at another. It has the advantage, nevertheless, of always being entirely intelligible in its essential significance. Our aim must be to keep this essential significance in mind and at the same time to provide for an increasing fullness and enlargement of human capacity and endeavor. The aim of redemption can only be to bring men to the fullest use and enjoyment of their powers. This is really the conception implicit even in the earliest statements of redemption. The man redeemed by money payment comes out of the prison to the light of day, or he comes out of slavery into freedom, or he is restored to his home and friends. The man under the law is redeemed from the burden and curse of the law. Paul speaks of his experience under the law as the experience of one chained to a dead body (Romans 7:24). Of course, relief from such bondage would mean life. In the more spiritual passages of the New Testament, the evil in men's hearts is like a blight which paralyzes their higher activities (John 8:33-51). In all redemption, as conceived of in Christian terms, there is a double element. There is first the deliverance as from a curse. Something binds a man or weights him down: redemption relieves him from this load. On the other hand, there is the positive movement of the soul thus relieved toward larger and fuller life. We have said that the Biblical emphasis is always upon deliverance from sin as the essential in redemption, but this deliverance is so essential that the life cannot progress in any of its normal activities until it is redeemed from evil. Accordingly in the Scriptural thought all manner of blessings follow deliverance. The man who seeks first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness finds all other things added unto him (Matthew 6:33). Material, intellectual and social blessings follow as matters of course from the redemption of the inner spirit from evil. The aim of redemption, to beget in men's hearts the will to do right, once fulfilled, leads men to seek successfully along all possible avenues for life. This, of course, does not mean that the redeemed life gives itself up to the cultivation of itself toward higher excellencies. It means that the redeemed life is delivered from every form of selfishness. In the unselfish seeking of life for others the redeemed life finds its own greatest achievement and happiness (Matthew 16:25).

3. Redemption as Social:

Just as the idea of redemption concerned itself chiefly with the inner spirit; so also it concerns itself with the individual as the object of redemption. But as the redemption of the inner spirit leads to freedom in all realms of life, so also the redemption of the individual leads to large social transformations. It is impossible to strike out of the Scriptures the idea of a redeemed humanity. But humanity is not conceived of in general or class terms. The object of redemption is not humanity, or mankind, or the masses. The object of redemption is rather men set in relation to each other as members of a family. But it would do violence to the Scriptural conception to conceive of the individual's relations in any narrow or restricted fashion (1 Corinthians 12:12-27).

An important enlargement of the idea of redemption in our own time has come as men have conceived of the redemption of individuals in their social relationships. Very often men have thought of redemption as a snatching of individuals from the perils of a world in itself absolutely wicked. Even the material environment of men has at times been regarded as containing something inherently evil. The thought of redemption which seems most in line with Scriptural interpretation would seem to be that which brings the material and social forces within reach of individual wills. Paul speaks of the whole creation groaning and travailing in pain waiting for the revelation of the sons of God (Romans 8:22). This graphic figure sets before us the essentially Christian conception of the redemption of the forces in the midst of which men are placed. Those redeemed for the largest life, by the very force of their life, will seize all powers of this world to make them the servants of divine purposes. The seer saw a great multitude which no man could number, of every kindred and nation and tongue, shouting the joys of salvation (Revelation 7:9), yet the implication nowhere appears that these were redeemed in any other fashion than by surrendering themselves to the forces of righteousness.

4. Redemption as Process:

We have said that the aim of redemption is to bring men to the largest and fullest life. We have also said that "life" is a general term. To keep close to the Scriptural conceptions we would best say that the aim of redemption is to make men like Christ (Romans 8:9). Otherwise, it might be possible to use the word "life" so as to imply that the riotous exercise of the faculties is what we mean by redemption. The idea of redemption, as a matter of fact, has been thus interpreted in various times in the history of Christian thinking. Life has been looked upon as sheer quantitative exuberance-the lower pleasures of sense being reckoned as about on the same plane with the higher. We can see the moral and spiritual anarchy which would thus be brought about. In Christ's words to His disciples He once used the expression, "Ye are clean because of the word which I have spoken unto you" (John 15:3). In this particular context the idea does not seem to be that of an external washing. Christ seems rather to mean that His disciples are cleansed as a vineyard is cleansed by pruning away some of the branches that others may bear fruit. In other words, the redemption of life is to be interpreted so that stress is laid upon the qualitative rather than the quantitative. Christ indeed found place in His instructions and in His own life for the normal and healthy activities of human existence. He was not an ascetic; He went to feasts and to weddings, but His emphasis was always upon life conceived of in the highest terms. We can say then that the aim of redemption is to beget in men life like that in Christ.

5. Moral Implications in the Scriptural Idea of Redeemer:

Moreover, redemption must not be conceived of in such fashion as to do away with the need of response upon the part of the individual will. The literal suggestion of ransom has to do with paying a price for a man's deliverance, whether the man is willing to be delivered or not. Of course, the assumption in the mind of the Biblical writers was that any man in prison or in slavery or in sickness would be overjoyed at being redeemed; but in dealing with men whose lives are set toward sin we cannot always make this assumption. The dreadfulness of sin is largely in the love of sinning which sinning begets. Some thinkers have interpreted redemption to mean almost a seizing of men without regard to their own will. It is very easy to see how this conception arises. A man who himself hates sin may not stop to realize that some other men love sin. Redemption, to mean anything, must touch this inner attitude of will. We cannot then hold to any idea of redemption which brings men under a cleansing process without the assent of their own wills. If we keep ourselves alive to the growing moral discernment which moves through the Scriptures, we must lay stress always upon redemption as a moral process. Not only must we say that the aim of redemption is to make men like Christ, but we must say also that the method of redemption must be the method of Christ, the method of appealing to the moral will. There is no Scriptural warrant for the idea that men are redeemed by fiat. The most we can get from the words of Christ is a statement of the persistence of God in His search for the lost: `(He goeth) after that which is lost, until he finds it' (Luke 15:4). Some would interpret these words to mean that the process of redemption continues until every man is brought into the kingdom. We cannot, in the light of the New Testament, limit the redeeming love of God; but we cannot, on the other hand, take passages from figurative expressions in such sense as to limit the freedom of men. The redemption must be conceived of as respecting the moral choices of men. In our thought of the divine search for the control of inner human motive we must not stop short of the idea of men redeemed to the love of righteousness on its own account. This would do away with the plan of redeeming men by merely relieving them of the consequences of their sins. Out of a changed life, of course, there must come changed consequences. But the Scriptural teaching is that the emphasis in redemption is always moral, the turning to life because of what life is.

Having thus attempted to determine, at least in outline, the content of the Christian idea of redemption, it remains for us to point out some implications as to the work of the Redeemer. Throughout the entire teaching on redemption in the Scriptures, redemption is set before us primarily as God's own affair (John 3:16). God redeems His people; He redeems them out of love for them. But the love of God is not to be conceived of as mere indulgence, partiality, or good-humored affection. The love of God rests down upon moral foundations. Throughout the Scriptures, therefore, we find implied often, if not always clearly stated, the idea that God is under obligations to redeem His people. The progress of later thinking has expanded this implication with sureness of moral discernment. We have come to see the obligations of power. The more powerful the man the heavier his obligations in the discharge of this power. This is a genuinely Christian conception, and this Christian conception we apply to the character of God, feeling confident that we are in line with Scriptural teaching. Hence, we may put the obligations of God somewhat as follows: God is the most obligated being in the universe. If a man is under heavy obligations to use aright the power of controlling the forces already at work in the world, how much heavier must be the obligations on the Creator who started these forces! The obligation becomes appalling to our human thought when we think that creation includes the calling of human beings into existence and endowing them with the unsolicited boon of freedom. Men are not in the world of their own choice. Vast masses of them seem to be here as the outworking of impulses almost blind. The surroundings of men make it very easy for them to sin. The tendencies which at least seem to be innate are too often tragically inclined toward evil. Men seem, of themselves, utterly inadequate for their own redemption. If there is to be redemption it must come from God, and the Christian thought of a moral God would seem to include the obligation on the part of God to redeem those whom He has sent into the world. Christ has made clear forever the absolutely binding nature of moral considerations. If the obligation to redeem men meant everything to Christ, it must also mean everything to the God of Christ. So we feel in line with true Christian thinking in the doctrine that redemption comes first as a discharge of the obligations on the part of God Himself.

If we look for the common thought in all the Christian statements of God's part in redemption we find it in this: that in all these statements God is conceived of as doing all that He can do for the redemption of man. If in earlier times men conceived of the human race as under the dominion of Satan, and of Satan as robbed of his due by the deliverance of man and therefore entitled to some compensation, they also conceived of God Himself as paying the ransom to Satan. If they thought of God as a feudal lord whose dignity had been offended by sin, they thought of God as Himself paying the cost due to offended dignity. If their idea was that a substitute for sinners must be furnished, the idea included the thought of God as Himself providing a substitute. If they conceived of the universe as a vast system of moral laws-broken by sin-whose dignity must be upheld, they thought of God Himself as providing the means for maintaining the dignity of the laws. If they conceived of men as saved by a vast moral influence set at work, they thought of this influence as proceeding, not from man, but from God. The common thought in theories of redemption then, so far as concerns God's part, is that God Himself takes the initiative and does all He can in the discharge of the obligation upon Himself. Each phrasing of the doctrine of redemption is the attempt of an age of Christian thinking to say in its own way that God has done all that He can do for men.

6. Uniqueness of the Son of God as Redeemer:

It is from this standpoint that we must approach the part played by Christ in redemption. This is not the place for an attempt at formal statement, but some elements of Christian teaching are, at least in outline, at once clear. The question is, first, to provide some relation between God and Christ which will make the redemptive work of Christ really effective. Some have thought to find such a statement in the conception that Christ is a prophet. They would empty the expression, "Son of God," of any unique meaning; they would make Christ the Son of God in the same sense that any great prophet could be conceived of as a son of God. Of course, we would not minimize the teaching of the Scripture as to the full humanity of Christ, and yet we may be permitted to voice our belief that the representation of Christ as the Redeemer merely in the same sense in which a prophet is a redeemer does not do justice to the Scripture teaching; and we feel, too, that such a solution of the problem of Christ would be inadequate for the practical task of redemption. If Christ is just a prophet giving us His teaching we rejoice in the teaching, but we are confronted with the problem as to how to make the teaching effective. If it be urged that Christ is a prophet who in Himself realized the moral ideal, we feel constrained to reply that this really puts Christ at a vast distance from us. Such a doctrine of Christ's person would make Him the supreme religious genius, but the human genius stands apart from the ordinary mass of men. He may gather up into Himself and realize the ideals of men; He may voice the aspirations of men and realize those aspirations; but He may not be able to make men like unto Himself. Shakespeare is a consummate literary genius. He has said once and for all many things which the common man thinks or half thinks. When the common man comes upon a phrase of Shakespeare he feels that Shakespeare has said for all time the things which he would himself have said if he had been able. But the appreciation of Shakespeare does not make the ordinary man like Shakespeare; the appreciation of Christ has not proved successful in itself in making men like unto Christ.

If, on the contrary, without attempting formal theological construction, we put some real meaning into the idea of Christ as the Son of God and hold fast to a unique relationship between Christ and God which makes Christ the greatest gift that God can give us, we find indeed that Christ is lifted up to essentially divine existence; but we find also that this divinity does not estrange Him from us. Redemption becomes feasible, not merely when we have a revelation of how far up man can go, but when we have also a revelation of how far down God can come. If we can think of God as having in some real way come into the world through His Son Jesus Christ, that revelation makes Christ the Lord who can lead us to redemption.

Such a conception furnishes the dynamic which we must have in any real process of redemption. We need not only the ideal, but we need power by which to reach the ideal. If we can feel that the universe is under the sway of a moral God, a God who is under obligations to bear the burdens of men, and who willingly assumes these obligations, we really feel that moral life at its fullest and best is the greatest fact in the universe. Moreover, we must be true to the Scriptures and lift the entire conception of redemption beyond the realm of conscience to the realm of the heart. What the conscience of God calls for, the love of God willingly discharges. The Cross of Christ becomes at once the revelation of the righteousness of God and the love of God. Power is thus put back of human conscience and human love to move forward toward redemption (Romans 8:35-39).

The aim of the redemption in Christ then is to lift men out of death toward life. The mind is to be quickened by the revelation of the true ideals of human life. The conscience is to be reenforced by the revelation of the moral God who carries on all things in the interests of righteousness. The heart is to be stirred and won by the revelation of the love which sends an only begotten Son to the cross for our redemption. And we must take the work of Christ, not as a solitary incident or a mere historic event, but as a manifestation of the spirit which has been at work from the beginning and works forever. The Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8); the spirit of God revealed in the cross of Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. We have in the cross a revelation of holy love which, in a sense, overpowers and at the same time encourages. The cross is the revelation of the length to which God is willing to go in redemption rather than set aside one jot or tittle of His moral law. He will not redeem men except on terms which leave them men. He will not overwhelm them in any such manner as to do away with their power of free choice. He will show men His own feeling of holiness and love. In the name of a holy love which they can forever aspire after, but which they can never fully reach, men call to Him for forgiveness and that forgiveness men find forever available.

It remains to add one further item of Scriptural teaching, namely that redemption is a continuous process. If we may again use the word "life," which has been the key to this discussion, we may say that the aim of redemption is to make men progressively alive. There are not limits to the development of human powers touched by the redemptive processes of God. The cross is a revelation of divine willingness to bear with men who are forever being redeemed. Of course, we speak of the redeemed man as redeemed once and for all. By this we mean that he is redeemed once and for all in being faced about and started in a right direction, but the progress toward full life may be faster or slower according to the man and the circumstances in the midst of which he is placed. Still the chief fact is the direction in which the man is moving. The revelation of God who aids in redemption is of the God who takes the direction as the chief fact rather than the length of the stride or the rate of the movement. Every man is expected to do his best. If he stumbles he is supposed to find his way to his feet; if he is moving slowly, he must attempt to move faster; if he is moving at a slower rate than he can attain, he must strive after the higher rate, but always the dynamic force is the revelation of the holy love of God.

The Scriptures honor the prophets in whatever land or time they appear. The Scriptures welcome goodness under any and all circumstances. They have a place for a "light that lighteneth every man that cometh into the world," but they still make it clear that the chief force in the redemption of men is the revelation of holy love in Jesus Christ. The redemption, we repeat, is never conceived of in artificial or mechanical terms. If any man hath not the spirit of Christ he does not belong to Christ (Romans 8:9). The aim of redemption is to beget this spirit, and this spirit is life.

LITERATURE.

H. C. Sheldon, Systematic Theology; Clarke, Outline of Christian Theology; Brown, Christian Theology in Outline; Mackintosh, Doctrine of Person of Christ; Bowne, Studies in Christianity; Tymms, The Christian Atonement.

Francis J. McConnell

Greek

3085. lutrosis -- a ransoming, a redemption
... a ransoming, a redemption. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: lutrosis
Phonetic Spelling: (loo'-tro-sis) Short Definition: liberation, deliverance ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3085.htm - 7k

629. apolutrosis -- a release effected by payment of ransom
... ransom. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: apolutrosis Phonetic Spelling:
(ap-ol-oo'-tro-sis) Short Definition: redemption, deliverance Definition ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/629.htm - 7k

487. antilutron -- a ransom
... Word Origin from anti and lutron Definition a ransom NASB Word Usage ransom (1).
ransom. From anti and lutron; a redemption-price -- ransom. see GREEK anti. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/487.htm - 7k

3083. lutron -- a ransom
... ransom. From luo; something to loosen with, ie A redemption price (figuratively,
atonement) -- ransom. see GREEK luo. (lutron) -- 2 Occurrences. 3082, 3083. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3083.htm - 7k

2673. katargeo -- to render inoperative, abolish
... ["2673 () means 'to make completely inoperative' or 'to put out of use,' according
to (1.453)" (J. Rodman Williams, "God, the World & Redemption," 389).]. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2673.htm - 9k

553. apekdechomai -- to await eagerly
... The prefix () intensifies the root () to emphasize the idea of . 553 () therefore
is used of looking this world -- and the upcoming redemption of our . ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/553.htm - 8k

288. ampelos -- vine
... Only is Vine, in whom the are formed into the mystical of Christ. This is the
of His love (redemption). Compare Jn 15:1,4,5 with 1 Cor 12:13. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/288.htm - 7k

Topical Bible Verses

Hebrews 9:15
And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Topicalbible.org

Titus 2:14
Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Topicalbible.org

Colossians 1:14
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Topicalbible.org

Ephesians 1:7
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Topicalbible.org

Galatians 4:5
To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Topicalbible.org

Romans 3:24-26
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Topicalbible.org

Strong's Hebrew

1353. geullah -- redemption, perhaps kin
... geullah. 1354 . redemption, perhaps kin. Transliteration: geullah Phonetic Spelling:
(gheh-ool-law') Short Definition: redemption. Word Origin pass. part. ...
/hebrew/1353.htm - 6k

1347a. geulim -- redemption
... geulim. 1347b . redemption. Transliteration: geulim Short Definition: redemption.
Word Origin from gaal Definition redemption NASB Word Usage redemption (1). ...
/hebrew/1347a.htm - 5k

6306. pidyowm -- ransom, that were redeemed, redemption
... ransom, that were redeemed, redemption. Transliteration: pidyowm Phonetic Spelling:
(pid-yome') Short Definition: ransom. ransom, that were redeemed, redemption ...
/hebrew/6306.htm - 5k

6306a. pidyom -- ransom, that were redeemed, redemption
... 6306, 6306a. pidyom. 6306b . ransom, that were redeemed, redemption.
Transliteration: pidyom Short Definition: ransom. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/6306a.htm - 5k

1347. ga'own -- redemption
... ga'own. 1347a . redemption. Transliteration: ga'own Phonetic Spelling: (gaw-ohn')
Short Definition: arrogancy. majesty, pomp, pride, proud, swelling ...
/hebrew/1347.htm - 5k

6304. peduth -- ransom
... 6303, 6304. peduth. 6305 . ransom. Transliteration: peduth Phonetic Spelling:
(ped-ooth') Short Definition: redemption. ... division, redeem, redemption. ...
/hebrew/6304.htm - 6k

6306b. pidyon -- a ransom
... a ransom. Transliteration: pidyon Short Definition: redemption. Word Origin from
padah Definition a ransom NASB Word Usage redemption (2). 6306a, 6306b. ...
/hebrew/6306b.htm - 5k

3724. kopher -- the price of a life, ransom
... a village (as covered in); (specifically) bitumen (as used for coating), and the
henna plant (as used for dyeing); figuratively, a redemption-price -- bribe ...
/hebrew/3724.htm - 5k

6299. padah -- to ransom
... root Definition to ransom NASB Word Usage any means redeem (1), ransom (4), ransomed
(7), redeem (24), redeemed (18), redeems (1), redemption price (1 ...
/hebrew/6299.htm - 6k

Library

The Redemption of the Body
... ROMANS THE REDEMPTION OF THE BODY. 'The adoption, to wit, the redemption
of our body.'"Romans 8:23. In a previous verse Paul has ...
/.../romans corinthians to ii corinthians chap v/the redemption of the body.htm

Plenteous Redemption
... Plenteous Redemption. A Sermon (No.351). Delivered at Exeter Hall, Strand, by the.
REV. CH SPURGEON. "With him is plenteous redemption.""Psalm 103:7. ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 7 1861/plenteous redemption.htm

Redemption
... GLORIA CRUCIS VI REDEMPTION. "Ye shall therefore be perfect, as your Father
in Heaven is perfect.""Matthew 5:48. "Wretched man that I am! ...
//christianbookshelf.org/beibitz/gloria crucis/vi redemption.htm

Full Redemption
... Full Redemption. A Sermon (No.309). Delivered on Sabbath Morning, April 22nd, 1860,
by the. ... The redemption shall be complete; "not a hoof shall be left behind.". ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 6 1860/full redemption.htm

Particular Redemption
... Particular Redemption. A Sermon (No.181). ... I begin this morning with the doctrine
of Redemption. "He gave his life a ransom for many.". ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 4 1858/particular redemption.htm

On the Incarnation and Redemption
... Lesson 7 ON THE INCARNATION AND REDEMPTION. "Incarnation" means to take flesh, as
a body. ... "Redemption" means to buy back. Let us take an example. ...
/.../kinkead/baltimore catechism no 4/lesson 7 on the incarnation.htm

Redemption (Continued)
... GLORIA CRUCIS VII REDEMPTION (CONTINUED). "He that eateth My flesh, and
drinketh My blood, hath life eternal.""John 6:54. We were ...
//christianbookshelf.org/beibitz/gloria crucis/vii redemption continued.htm

Fifth Day. Holiness and Redemption.
... Holiness and Redemption. ... In the passover we have the first manifestation of what
Redemption is; and here the more frequent use of the word holy begins. ...
/.../murray/holy in christ/fifth day holiness and redemption.htm

On the Effects of the Redemption
... Lesson 10 ON THE EFFECTS OF THE REDEMPTION. 102 Q. Which are the chief effects
of the redemption? A. The chief effects of the redemption ...
/.../kinkead/baltimore catechism no 4/lesson 10 on the effects.htm

Christ as Wisdom and Sanctification and Redemption.
... Book I. 39. Christ as Wisdom and Sanctification and Redemption. ... Each of us is sanctified
with that sanctification, and redeemed with that redemption. ...
/.../origen/origens commentary on the gospel of john/39 christ as wisdom and.htm

Subtopics

Redemption

Redemption is by Christ

Redemption is by the Blood of Christ

Redemption is From: All Evil

Redemption is From: All Iniquity

Redemption is From: All Troubles

Redemption is From: Death

Redemption is From: Destruction

Redemption is From: Enemies

Redemption is From: The Bondage of the Law

Redemption is From: The Curse of the Law