Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Redemption Price
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Exodus 12:12-13
The blood was a sign to the death angel to "pass over" their homes when it went through Egypt. Because of it, Israel's firstborn were saved, while Egypt's firstborn died. The yearly ritual of Passover represents the death of Jesus Christ, who was God in the flesh. The innocent lamb had to be without blemish because it represented the only Man who ever lived a perfect, sinless life. Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God who gave His life and shed His blood so that we may be saved from eternal death by paying the penalty for our sins. Through faith in His sacrifice, we receive forgiveness of sin and come into a right relationship with God. Because His life was worth more than all human life combined, His sacrifice paid the price for all sin. He redeemed us from the penalty that the breaking of God's law imposes and freed us to live righteously.
Earl L. Henn
Holy Days: Passover
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Exodus 13:14-16
We can safely conclude that the price of buying the Israelites' freedom was the devastation of Egypt's land, and above all, the killing of Egypt's firstborn. God designed the redemption of Israel's firstborn to remind them of the high cost of their liberty. The Egyptians slain for Israel's release belonged to God just as surely as the Israelites, but God used them to pay for Israel's freedom. That collective sacrifice became a type of Christ. The practical inference is that Israel was obligated to the One who paid the price—God. To us, that God would use virtually an entire nation to pay for another nation's freedom can be a stunning, even shocking concept. However, God is Creator. He owns everything and is certainly free to do as He pleases. God will even things out later, though, as Isaiah 19:18-25 shows. Then, Egypt will once again be a great nation. The redeeming of Israel's firstborn was to serve as a costly and constant reminder that freedom is not free and that they were obligated to God for their redemption from Egypt. Forgetfulness produces ingratitude, which in turn produces disobedience because such people are no longer motivated by a sense of obligation to the One who worked so powerfully in their behalf (Deuteronomy 8:10-20).
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Elements of Motivation (Part Four): Obligation
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Psalm 78:41-42
During the Passover season, our minds are more forcibly focused on the importance of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to our salvation. This time of the year, if properly used, purges the fog of forgetfulness that accumulates throughout the year. Ancient Israel had a major problem with forgetfulness despite the fact that, by giving them manna, God proved every day that He was with them and supplying their needs. As Psalm 78:41-42 relates, "Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember His power: The day when He redeemed them from the enemy." Note the illustration that God uses in verse 42 to draw attention to what they forgot: the day He redeemed them from the enemy. That specific day was Passover, when God slew the firstborn of Egypt as the price of redemption that purchased Israel's freedom from slavery. They forgot the event as well as the purchase price of their liberty. Their liberty was only a physical/political one that also purchased the freedom to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Aaron. However, the real issue we must perceive is that the reality of the event and the price that was paid apparently meant little or nothing to them—or they would have remembered! How about us? Are we any better than the Israelites? Do we hold the sacrifice of Christ freshly in mind throughout the entire year to remind ourselves to honor it each day? One way to do this is to grasp the seriousness of sin and not to fail to ask God's forgiveness every day—not only for what we do that is sinful, but also for what we are—and to seek His help in changing us so that we can be what He wants us to be. Regardless of what the world may say, there is no such thing as a "little" sin! That is how serious sin is. A "little" sin kills just a dead as a "big" sin! God's Word does not say a little sin roughs up a person a bit, but a big sin kills deader than a doornail. Consider our Savior's example: Would God have permitted Jesus to be our Savior if He had committed only a little sin here and there as long as He committed no big ones? Jesus' example, the one we are to follow, is that He lived perfectly. If it was that important to Him, should we not strive to do the same? To respect and honor Christ and what He achieved, should we not avoid carelessly assuming that any old behavior will just have to do? This is exactly what Israel failed to do. It is our responsibility to glorify God. As obedient children, we bring Him honor; as disobedient children, we bring shame on Him and blaspheme His name. Israel was quite good at this latter behavior because they did not highly esteem or value God, despite all that He did for them daily. We witness His value to us by our conduct. We protect what we hold precious. It is Christ's sacrifice that forgives our sins, opens the way into God's presence, and paves the way for us to have a relationship with the Father and Son. How good are we at honoring and protecting the value of what that sacrifice purchased? In reference to the value of Christ's sacrifice, Peter states that gold and silver are perishable (I Peter 1:18). In contrast, he calls Christ's blood "precious" (verse 19). Despite the value and durability of gold and silver to a human, they cannot even begin to pay the redemption price from sin's consequences. Only the sacrificed blood of the perfect Creator God's life can do so. Faith in that blood's value can have everlasting, imperishable consequences. Our daily struggle to come out of sin will keep not only its value in mind—by reminding us of why we are doing as we do—but will also bring honor to the name of God by giving a good witness to the world. Now is as good a time as any to get started on a program of overcoming sin. Does God have any good reason to respond to a prayer asking Him not to lead us into temptation, when we never do anything to avoid temptation? Proverbs 22:3 says, "A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished." As soon as Joseph clearly perceived Potiphar's wife's evil intentions, did he not flee so fast as to leave behind his cloak? He did not even want to be "with her." This is a good reason why so many worldly entertainments should be avoided, even though it may be difficult to prove scripturally that they are of themselves sinful. They eventually lead a person into a sensual frame of mind. They war against a life of faith in Christ because they promote unhealthy spiritual thinking by promoting sinful cravings. They feed the lust of the flesh and of the eyes by giving a false color to the value of certain carnal desires. Avoiding sin is why idleness should be avoided. An old saying runs, "An idle mind is the Devil's workshop." It is not that doing nothing is so wicked of itself; it is the opportunity it affords to evil and empty thoughts. It leaves the door wide open for Satan to throw in the seeds of bad behavior. Interestingly, David appears to have been just walking about on the roof of his home with nothing to do, and it led to his adultery with Bathsheba. When we strive to avoid sin, we keep in mind the perfect, sinless example of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we truly desire to be in His image, it cannot but help us to emulate His sinless behavior as closely as possible. He is always the example we hold before us. When doing this, as we make our pilgrimage to the Kingdom of God, we will never be guilty of forgetting our redemption because we are walking right behind Him watching everything that He does.
John W. Ritenbaugh
In Honor of Jesus Christ
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Matthew 13:44
Acts 20:28 and John 3:16-17 show that the pruchase price for the field, the world, was His own blood—His all. So what is the lesson in the Parable of the Hidden Treasure? Our Lord and Savior, finding the treasure of His elect in the world, conceals and protects them against all the depredations of the enemy. Our being hidden is the protection part. He, with His own life's blood, redeemed us with joy. This should give us great confidence in our spiritual battles. The greatest battle has already been won, and that is not all. Since we are His treasure, and since He hides and protects us, sanctifying us through His truth—and do not forget that He prayed for our protection from the evil one—we have it better than it seems. We have more going for us than we might think, despite the spiritual battles we still have to fight.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Parables of Matthew 13 (Part 3): Hidden Treasure
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1 Corinthians 6:19-20
The picture here is of a slave being purchased from the horrible system of slavery. Redemption implies the buying back of something or the paying of a ransom. Paul's illustration is that we have been bought from slavery to sin. Up to the point of redemption, our lives have been the lives of slaves. What we have received is the most expensive gift that has ever been given to purchase mere slaves. We have been bought with a price—the very life of the Creator. Paul is undoubtedly using this illustration to emphasize to us that, because we have been purchased, we are under obligation to the One who purchased us. As he writes, "Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." In other words, he is imploring us to become holy. This is our moral responsibility as purchased slaves.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Awesome Cost of Salvation
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Ephesians 1:6-7
"Redemption" implies the payment of a ransom. We have been redeemed or bought back. "Through His blood" reminds us that making the New Covenant cost Him His life (I Corinthians 11:25). Forgiveness here suggests "to be loosened from bondage." The Greek word-picture is of somebody who is tied up by cords or ropes. Have we, as Christians, been loosened from a political entity, as the Israelites were redeemed from Egypt? No. Were we in bondage to another human being? No. Have we been freed from sin? Yes, that is what held us in bondage. The word translated "sins" is paráptoma, which indicates deviations from the right path. We have been held in bondage by our deviations from the right path, but now we have been loosed or freed from that bondage according to His grace.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Awesome Cost of Salvation
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Ephesians 1:8
This gives us a picture of what is happening on earth. We can see what God is doing in a great, large scope, considering it over perhaps billions of years of time because verse 4 says that He did this before the foundation of the world. Some translations say "before the foundation of the creation." If we take the word to mean "creation," how old is the earth? Scientists say several billions of years—time beyond most people's thinking. Nevertheless, when He began to plan these things, God took into account that mankind might sin, and there would have to be something to redeem him, to buy him back, from his character flaws, his bondage to sin. God has been planning this a long time. If the whole human lifetime is nothing but the blink of an eye compared to a thousand years, how much has God invested in terms of time? This is part of the cost we need to consider regarding Passover. This is no little thing that God is working out. We are so important to God that we are beyond value! We cannot compute it! He has billions of years invested in us! He has been thinking, planning, working things out so He can bring us into His Kingdom! It is awesome to consider!
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Awesome Cost of Salvation
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Hebrews 10:1-4
Hebrews 10:1 reflects upon the place the Old Testament offerings have in giving understanding of Jesus Christ. The sacrificial laws only portrayed reality; they were enacted to depict something greater to come. What Leviticus 1-5 describes is the shadow of the good things; Christ is the reality. Why could they not make a person perfect who believed in them and offered them? Why did One so great have to die so that we might live? An illustration from a dollars-and-cents perspective may help us understand. Can something of lesser value, an animal, equal the cost of something of greater value, a man? Is a bull, lamb, goat, or turtledove worth as much as a human being? What if a person went into a store to purchase - redeem, compensate for, propitiate, expiate - an item costing a hundred dollars, but he offered to pay only fifty dollars? What would the owner say? Would he not say, "You don't have enough here to pay for this, so you cannot have it." So, he leaves and returns with a twenty-dollar bill. The owner says, "That still is not enough." Leaving again, he returns with a ten-dollar bill. It is still not enough. In the analogy, he must repeat this process continually, always attempting to use something of lesser value to receive something of greater value. Consider, however, what God did. We are the item being purchased, and our redemption price - our cost to Him - is the expiation of our sins. God laid down a multi-trillion dollar note to redeem us: Christ. God gave the life of the Creator to pay the penalty for sin. He did not offer a lesser being for us - an animal is not sufficient to redeem even one human. God came through with a payment that is not merely adequate to meet the cost of one person's redemption, but is so great it satisfies the cost for all the sins of the whole of mankind for all time! God met the total indebtedness of all mankind with one payment. The last phrase of Hebrews 10:1 says that the animal sacrifices did not make those who followed them perfect. In verse 2, the writer follows this with the question, "For then would they not have ceased to be offered?" He is providing evidence that no animal, no matter how unblemished, can pay the price of a man's sins because a human is worth too much. In verse 3, he proclaims that the sacrifices only reminded the people of how sinful they were and that their sins had yet to be paid for. In verse 4, he concludes that it is just not possible for any animal to pay for the sins of any man. God simply will not accept the blood of an animal for the life of a man. The sacrificial law was a schoolmaster (Galatians 3:24), intended by God to instruct by putting people through the exercise of making the sacrifice. How much those making the actual offerings learned is unknown, but they are very effective teachers for those of us under the New Covenant, if we incline our minds to them and seek God's help in understanding. Above all, they teach us the value of Christ's sacrifice.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Offerings of Leviticus (Part Six): The Sin Offering
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Hebrews 12:2
Our Savior was joyful that He could do this for us, that He could buy or redeem us to be His purchased possession. Obviously, there was not a whole lot of joy in dying on the cross in the way He was crucified—none at all. It was excruciating and terrible, but there was joy in what it produced—that He had qualified to become King of kings and Lord of lords and our High Priest—the Savior of all mankind, of all those who would believe in Him. There was joy that this step in the process of bringing the Kingdom of God to this earth had been fulfilled. There was joy in heaven that the plan of God was moving forward, and God would then have more sons and daughters. The creative process of refurbishing the entire universe had taken a great leap forward. The King had succeeded. The Savior had saved. What joy there must have been in those in the spirit realm who understood that a great milestone had been passed, making it possible for all men and women who believed to be saved.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Parables of Matthew 13 (Part 3): Hidden Treasure
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1 Peter 1:17-19
Redeem means "to buy back." The essential purpose of biblical redemption is to deliver a person or thing from captivity or loss, and as such, it becomes an almost-perfect image for God's saving actions in behalf of sinning mankind. How much would we be willing to pay for the life of someone we love dearly? Kidnappers take perfidious advantage of this desire for the safety of a loved one. They steal a person precious to another—usually a child but sometimes a mate—and hold them for ransom to extort a grand sum of money they think will put them on easy street. God the Father was willing to pay the ransom price for us by giving up the life of the One He loved most, His own Son, the only other being in all of creation that lived life on the same level as He did. He freely made this sacrifice in exchange for our liberty from our bondage to Satan and our debt to death at the same time. Likewise, the Son willingly volunteered to be the payment in full. Now, let us turn this reality around and examine it from the perspective of the one released. As one released, how great a sense of loyalty and obligation born out of gratitude do we feel toward the One who came to our rescue by paying such a huge price for our freedom? Plainly and simply stated, this is the issue in regard to our spiritual obligation. This aspect of our salvation is one of the major themes of the book of Ruth. At one point in the narrative, Ruth prostrates herself at her redeemer's feet (Ruth 3:7-14), illustrating her recognition of her obligation. The book of Philemon relates an interesting event in Paul's life in which he calls upon Philemon's sense of gratitude and obligation to him. In verse 8, Paul says he could use his authority to order Philemon to accept the slave Onesimus back, charging any debt he owed Philemon to Paul. However, he appeals to him through other means. In verse 19, he delivers a double-barreled proposition. First, Paul himself writes in his own hand that he will repay any of Onesimus' indebtedness, putting Philemon in greater-than-normal obligation. Then, Paul reminds him that he owes Paul his very life spiritually. He implies that Philemon's spiritual indebtedness to him should more than cover any material debt Onesimus owed to Philemon. Therefore, Paul suggests that Philemon charge it to his account. What Paul did for Onesimus reflects in a small way what Christ did for us. As Paul laid himself out for Onesimus, Christ did for us in a much greater way to pay our spiritual indebtedness and set us free. As Paul claims Philemon's indebtedness to him, so Christ claims our indebtedness to Him.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Elements of Motivation (Part Four): Obligation
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1 Peter 1:17-19
Redemption involves buying back something that has been taken away. Herbert Armstrong spoke metaphorically of our being kidnapped by Satan. Because the Devil has forcibly held us from the liberty God wants us to experience, we must be redeemed. We are in this humanly inescapable predicament because we have sinned in following the same manner of living as everybody else. We are released from this by means of the payment of the sinless life of Jesus Christ in a vicarious death in our place and by our repentance. Because He was sinless, our sinful imperfections can be overcome and paid for. Would imperfection in an animal disqualify it from being offered on the altar? Yes, very much so, even if the imperfection was internal and invisible to the eye. If it had a lame leg, or if its hide was marred by scarring or was ragged and mangy in appearance, it was not acceptable. If one of its eyes had been gouged out or was infected, or if its ear had been torn by a predator, it was disqualified. If it had a disease, even an internal cancer or tumor, it was unfit, even though it might have looked reasonably healthy to casual, external observation so that only the owner knew of its imperfection. Each of these physical flaws represents spiritual imperfections that could have been in Christ except that He was perfect in all His ways. For 33 ½ years, He never once had even a single, tiny, solitary moral or spiritual imperfection. He never did anything unethical, immoral, or unspiritual. Not one instance of any kind of carnality marred His life. Even if the thought of sin arose in Him, He quickly put it out of His mind. Always, in every instance, He used the mind of God. Thus, sin never desecrated or blemished Him in any way, internally or externally. He did not carry around any envy, bitterness, or gall—there was nothing in Him that would disqualify Him in any way from being a fit sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sins. It is astounding that anyone could live this way for even a day or two, let alone 33 ½ years! Christ qualified in every way to be the sacrifice for our sins. Consider, however, that the literal sin offering He made at His crucifixion took only a few hours to unfold. By comparison, His efforts to qualify to be the sin offering by being a perfect burnt, meal, and peace offering required 33½ years of sinless living! Reflecting upon what Christ accomplished is sobering to anyone of a mature mind who has attempted to duplicate even a small portion of what He did. It should certainly lead us to the deepest gratitude we can offer. Isaiah 53:9-10 gives us an insight into God's attitude toward His Son's sacrifice: And they made His grave with the wicked—but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. Not even one time did Christ's heart rise up in an attempt to deceive or to strike out in violent anger. He was childlike in attitude yet mature in His wisdom, but it pleased God to bruise and put Him to grief as the offering for our sins.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Offerings of Leviticus (Part Six): The Sin Offering
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1 Peter 1:18-21
Jesus lay dead and buried three days and three nights. His resurrection is the foundation of our faith, and His glorification is God's pledge to us that there is hope for our future. I Peter 1:20 emphasizes that "He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world" to be that sacrifice. That is not merely foresight, that is planning! God's plan included redemption from the very beginning. Verse 19 stresses the value of His sacrifice by using the word "precious," translated "honor" three times in chapters 2 and 3. The Greek word means "to place a value upon," and this is exactly what we are to do in preparation for Passover! We are to assess the value of His sacrifice to us personally. What would you be willing to pay for His sacrifice? Verse 18 emphasizes "knowing." The Christian lives his life knowing the redemption Christ accomplished. The price of our redemption is the value we place on the Life given for our forgiveness. Our former lives were "aimless" because of the value we placed on possessions and our own satisfaction. Now our lives have direction because we count Christ's sacrifice as priceless!
John W. Ritenbaugh
Christ, Our Passover
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