Eph 283 5/11/86; Rom 5/11/77; Phil 4/4/76; 1 Tim 4/2/75

DOCTRINE OF REDEMPTION

A. Definition and Description.

1. In the doctrine of soteriology, there are three key concepts: redemption, reconciliation, and propitiation. The phrase “the blood of Christ” applies to all three doctrines.

a. Redemption is toward sin. There are three theological words that actually describe this concept: redemption, expiation, and unlimited atonement. These always deal with sin as a problem in our relationship with God.

b. Reconciliation is always directed toward mankind. Man is reconciled to God by the death of His Son.

c. Propitiation is directed toward God, meaning that the justice of God the Father is satisfied with the work of Christ on the cross.

2. So redemption emphasizes the fact that we are sinners, not only by choice or volition, but long before that we were sinners at the point of birth. For we had to be condemned before we could be saved.

a. When human life was imputed to our human soul at the point of physical birth, it was necessary that God also impute to our genetically formed old sin nature Adam’s original sin. Adam’s original sin is the origin of the old sin nature which we each possess in the cell structure of our body.

b. When Adam’s original sin is imputed to our old sin nature at birth, it is a demonstration of the fantastic grace and wisdom of God. For while we were born physically alive, we were born spiritually dead at the same time, and therefore we came under condemnation from God. Condemnation must precede salvation.

c. This means that for those in the human race who never reach the point of accountability, they are automatically saved since they were condemned at birth. This includes those who die at childbirth, those who die before reaching accountability, and those who never reach accountability because of some sort of mental deficiency (mongoloids, idiots).

3. Redemption is viewed from the standpoint of a ransom paid on the cross for our salvation.

4. Redemption views mankind as born into the slave market of sin through the imputation of Adam’s original sin at birth.

5. Redemption is the saving work of Christ on the cross by which He purchases our freedom or salvation.

6. The coin of the realm for this purchase is called the “blood of Christ,” Eph 1:7; Col 1:14.

B. Jesus Christ is the only qualified redeemer. In order to become our redeemer, Christ had to become a member of the human race. He could not save us as God. Because whoever is the redeemer must be judged for the sins of the world.

1. We are born into the slave market of sin at birth.

a. Adam’s original sin is the origin of the old sin nature in the human race, Rom 5:12. Therefore, there is an affinity between Adam’s original sin and the old sin nature. It is Adam’s original sin that is the antecedence for the old nature, not the woman’s original sin, since Adam’s sin was deliberate; the woman was deceived. Therefore, the old sin nature is transmitted through the twenty-three male chromosomes which fertilize the female ovum in copulation. b. This imputation of Adam’s original sin to the old sin nature is a facsimile of Adam at the point of his fall in the garden. In this real imputation at birth, there are two factors.

(1) Factor 1: Adam’s original sin.

(2) Factor 2: Old sin nature.

c. The imputation of Adam’s sin at birth is the basis for spiritual death. Rom 5:12, “For as by one man sin entered into world and death by sin, so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned.” Rom 6:23, “The wages of sin [the old sin nature] is [spiritual] death.” This verse is based upon the context of Rom 5:12ff. The wages of sin are not your personal sins but Adam’s original sin imputed to you at birth.

d. No one is condemned on the basis of his personal sins, for all personal sins are collected into one prom (free will of man) chip in the computer of divine decrees in eternity past. None of them are ever imputed to us for judgment.

e. So none of us are condemned on the basis of our personal sins. It is Adam’s original sin imputed to the genetically-formed old sin nature that is “the wages of sin.”

f. All our personal sins were held until our Lord Jesus Christ reached the cross in a state of impeccability. They were imputed to His humanity, not His deity. For deity can have nothing to do with sin, cannot sponsor sin, cannot tempt to sin; deity cannot sin. The thought is unthinkable and blasphemous. So it was at the cross when all personal sins, from Adam’s original sin to the last sin committed in the Millennium were imputed to Christ and judged.

g. This was why our Lord said in Ps 22, “I am a worm.” The type of worm mentioned was that type which was collected, put into a bowl, and crushed. The blood of such worms was used to make the crimson dye for the robes of kings in the ancient world. So by analogy, because our sins were imputed to Christ on the cross, we can believe in Him and receive the robe of divine righteousness at the moment of salvation.

h. The non-imputation of personal sins to the individual reserves those sins for imputation to Christ on the cross. Therefore, personal sins are not the basis for our spiritual death.

i. However, personal sins are one of three manifestations of our possession of an old sin nature. The other two manifestations are human good and evil.

j. So we are born simultaneously physically alive and spiritually dead. All the cells in your body are contaminated by the old sin nature. (Cancer is a good illustration of the old sin nature).

k. Through meiosis and polar body, twenty-three chromosomes are thrown off the female ovum, leaving twenty-three uncontaminated chromosomes in the female ovum prior to fertilization. All the other cells in the female body are contaminated by the old sin nature. The ovum prior to fertilization is the only exception.

l. Although both the man and the woman in the garden were equally guilty, the woman’s sin of ignorance was the reason she became the bearer of the embryo, 1 Tim 2:13-15. While both man and woman are carriers of the old sin nature, only the man can transmit the old sin nature through the fertilization of the female ovum.

2. Our Lord’s virgin birth began His qualification as our redeemer.

a. Since it is only the male’s twenty-three chromosomes that carry the old sin nature and not the female’s, this means that if a woman could have a virgin pregnancy, i.e., if her ovum could be fertilized apart from male copulation, the progeny could be born into the world without an old sin nature. Being born without an old sin nature, Adam’s original sin could not be imputed to that person, there being no affinity required for this real imputation.

b. This was the case in the birth of the humanity of Christ, originating from Mary’s virgin pregnancy and virgin birth. Being born without an old sin nature meant there was no imputation of Adam’s original sin to our Lord.

c. This was how our Lord was born as the last Adam. The first Adam was created perfect; the last Adam, Jesus Christ, was born perfect. So Jesus Christ was the facsimile of Adam before the fall.

d. Mary, with an old sin nature, was still a virgin when she became pregnant for the first time with our Lord. In Mt 13:55 and Mk 6:3, Mary’s other children are mentioned, so we know she eventually copulated with Joseph. She had at least two daughters and four sons, at least six children by Joseph. So there is no such thing as the perpetual virginity of Mary.

e. Mary’s virgin pregnancy was caused by God the Holy Spirit fertilizing the female ovum. He provided twenty-three perfect chromosomes to fertilize her twenty-three perfect chromosomes which were uncontaminated by the old sin nature. In this way, Mary had a virgin pregnancy, PARTHENOGENESIS, which was the origin of our Lord’s humanity into the world. So the virgin pregnancy resulted in the virgin birth, thus excluding the old sin nature from the humanity of Christ.

f. Remember that while Mary was a virgin, she was not perfect or impeccable. Only the virgin-born Son, Jesus, was absolutely perfect at birth.

g. Mary received at birth the imputation of human life to her soul and the imputation of Adam’s original sin to her old sin nature; so she was not perfect. But in the case of her Son, Jesus, God the Father imputed human life to his human soul, but divine justice could not impute Adam’s original sin since there was no target, no home, no antecedence, no affinity, there being no genetically-formed old sin nature.

h. No old sin nature means no imputation of Adam’s original sin. For a real imputation cannot occur without a home or a target, without affinity or antecedence.

i. So the virgin birth is the basis for redemption, because it provided the world with a perfect human being, the only One qualified to be judged for the sins of the world.

3. The Contrast Between Our Birth and Our Lord’s Birth.

a. Human life is, in each case, created by God and imputed to each person at birth. There is no life in the womb. There is only life when God imputes it to the human soul

. b. Simultaneously, Adam’s original sin is imputed to the old sin nature, genetically-formed by the twenty-three male chromosomes. Our personal sins are never imputed to us. They were all collected into one prom chip for a one-time only printout and judgment to Christ on the cross.

c. At the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, God the Father created human life and imputed it to His human soul. But because our Lord was born without an old sin nature, there could be no imputation of Adam’s original sin. So our Lord was born physically alive and spiritually alive.

d. Instead of an old sin nature, our Lord was born with a human spirit, born as Adam was created. And instead of receiving the imputation of Adam’s original sin, our Lord received the imputation of the prototype divine dynasphere imputed to His human spirit. So in His humanity, our Lord was born filled with the Holy Spirit. He was born trichotomous with a body, soul and spirit.

4. The impeccability of our Lord retained His redeemer qualification.

a. All the doctrines that teach how our Lord was sustained on earth in His humanity all relate to the fact that He was born into the prototype divine dynasphere, the place of the filling of the Spirit.

b. His humanity advanced very rapidly. Jesus “grew in wisdom [Bible doctrine], stature, and in favor with God and man,” Lk 2:52. He quickly reached gate #5 and spiritual self-esteem from personal love for God; then gate #6 with spiritual autonomy and impersonal love for all mankind, and eventually reached gate #8, spiritual maturity. This was evident by the unique temptations of His evidence testing found in Mt 4.

c. So after being born perfect, our Jesus Christ continued to live perfectly for thirty-three years in the prototype divine dynasphere. Not once did He ever sin. He was tempted far beyond anything we will ever understand, yet totally apart from sin. He resisted temptations that we will never even experience. As a result, He reached the cross in a state of impeccability. Isa 53:9; Jn 8:46, 19:4; 2 Cor 5:21; Heb 1:3; Heb 4:15, 7:26,28; 1 Tim 3:16; 1 Pet 1:18-19. 5. The Hypostatic Union of the God-Man.

a. This Doctrine of Redemption cannot be taught without an understanding of the doctrine of the Hypostatic Union.

b. Jesus Christ is God, and as God He is coequal and coeternal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. All three members of the Trinity have identical essence. When speaking of the attributes of God, God is said to be one. But there are actually three persons in the Godhead, all having identical attributes. Each One has coequal, coeternal, and coinfinite sovereignty, holiness, justice, righteousness, love, eternal life, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, immutability and veracity. So God is one in essence but three in persons.

c. But Jesus Christ became different from the Father and the Holy Spirit at the point of the virgin birth, becoming true humanity and hence the God-man. This is the doctrine of the Hypostatic Union.

d. In the person of the incarnate Christ are two natures, inseparably united, without mixture or loss of separate identity, without loss or transfer of properties or attributes, the union being both personal and eternal.

e. In other words, since the incarnation, our Lord Jesus Christ is both true humanity and undiminished deity in one person forever. So Jesus Christ is different from the Father and the Spirit in that He is true humanity. He is different from true humanity in that He is God.

f. But note: whoever is the mediator between God and man must be equal with both parties. Jesus Christ is both God and true humanity. Therefore, as God He is equal with party of the first part, God the Father. As true humanity, He is equal and superior to all members of the human race. So as the God-man, He becomes the mediator between God and man.

g. The preincarnate person of Christ was deity. But once His First Advent occurred at the point of the virgin birth, Jesus Christ became the unique person forever, the God-man.

6. The true doctrine of kenosis relates to redemption.

a. Jn 1:1-3 is a description of the deity of Christ. Jn 1:14 teaches the humanity of Christ, “The LOGOS [deity] became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we beheld His glory as the uniquely-born from the Father, full of grace and doctrine.” So the Hypostatic Union is taught in Phil 2:5-6, Jn 1:1-3 and 14.

b. Rom 1:3-5, “Concerning His Son who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, who has been demonstrated the Son of God by means of power according to the Holy Spirit because of the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship.” Again we see mentioned both His deity and His humanity. This also occurs in 1 Tim 3:16; Heb 2:14.

c. Phil 2:5-11 gives the entire story. Verses 5-9, “Keep on thinking this doctrine within you which was also in Christ Jesus, who though He existed in the essence of God, He did not think equality with God a gain to be seized and held, but He deprived Himself [kenosis] of the proper function of deity when He had received the form of a servant, although He had been born in the likeness of mankind. In fact, although having been discovered in outward appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death, even the death of the cross. Therefore also, God the Father has exalted Him and given Him a title which is above every title and every rank [third royal patent].”

d. The incarnate person of Christ is both deity and true humanity, both united in one person without any transfer of attributes. The attributes always adhere to their corresponding natures.

e. The essence of His deity cannot be changed. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever,” Heb 13:8. The infinite cannot be transferred to the finite. To take from God a single attribute of His deity would destroy His deity. To take from the humanity of Jesus a single attribute of His humanity would destroy His true humanity. So no attribute of divine essence was changed by the incarnation.

f. But in fulfilling the Father’s plan for the First Advent, certain attributes of our Lord’s deity were not used. However, this does not imply that they were either surrendered or destroyed (as alleged in the false doctrine of kenosis).

g. In the true doctrine of kenosis, Christ voluntarily took upon himself the form of mankind to redeem man from sin, to reconcile man to God, and to propitiate God the Father.

h. In completing the mission of the First Advent, Christ did not exercise His divine attributes to either benefit Himself or to provide for Himself or to glorify Himself.

i. Therefore, the union of the divine essence and the human nature in the incarnate Christ must be considered hypostatic and personal.

C. The Mental Attitude of Christ as Redeemer.

1. The mental attitude of Christ as redeemer is very important. It is one thing to be qualified to be our redeemer, being impeccable. It is another thing to be willing to be our redeemer! Yet Jesus Christ was willing to redeem mankind. The redemptive act of Christ was an act of His own free will.

2. Our Lord’s mental attitude is taught in Phil 2:5-8. “Keep on thinking this doctrine within you which was also resident in Christ Jesus, who though He existed in the essence of God [deity], He did not think equality with God a gain to be seized and held, . . . but He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

3. From His own sovereignty, our Lord’s deity was willing to submit to the incarnation in eternity past, Heb 9:14. 4. In time, our Lord’s humanity was willing to go to the cross every day of His thirty-three years on earth. He was obedient to the Father’s plan, Rom 5:19. Lk 22:42 was spoken from His humanity as He anticipated the intensity of the agony of bearing our sins and being judged for all of them. So in time, His human volition had to coincide with His divine sovereignty.

D. The Significance of Redemption in the Angelic Conflict.

1. While Jesus Christ was the Angel of Jehovah in the Old Testament, He never really became an angel; He simply appeared as an angel. (See the Doctrine of Theophanies.)

2. Note that Jesus Christ bypassed the angelic creation by His human birth. He became true humanity. Jesus Christ was never a true angel.

3. Once the Lord came in the flesh in the incarnation, there were no more manifestations of the Angel of Jehovah.

4. In bypassing the angelic creation, God did a remarkable thing. He prepared the way in eternity for every believer in Jesus Christ to be superior to angels in his resurrection body. Angels are superior to us now during history, but we will be superior to them for all eternity. This is the subject of Heb 1 and 2.

E. The Necessity for Christ Becoming a Member of the Human Race.

1. To be our Savior. As God, Jesus Christ could have nothing to do with sin. To provide redemption, the sins of the world had to be imputed to Christ on the cross. Then from His justice, God the Father judged every one of those sins. That’s the basis for our so-great salvation. Without becoming true humanity, Jesus could not have been judged for sin.

2. To be our Mediator, 1 Tim 2:5-6; Heb 9:14-15.

3. To be our High Priest. Now seated at the right hand of the Father in His humanity, Jesus Christ as our great high priest now makes intercession for us. He is not a Levitical priest as the Jews had in the Old Testament, but with His third royal patent He became a royal priest. Now, being His royal family in the Church Age and sharing all He has by positional sanctification, each Church Age believer is a royal priest. A priest is defined as a member of the human race representing himself or humanity in general before God. We, the royal family in the Church Age, are a “kingdom of priests,” 1 Pet 2:9.

4. To become the Son of David, 2 Sam 7:8-16; Ps 89:20-37. Over 3000 years ago, God promised David that he would have a son who would reign forever, 2 Sam 7; Ps 89. This promise was made in the form of an unconditional covenant. Being unconditional it must be fulfilled. So at the First Advent of the virgin birth, our Lord receives His second royal title, “Son of David.” In order to become the Son of David, Jesus Christ had to become true humanity. In His Second Advent our Lord will fulfill that promise to David. The humanity of Christ, riding a white horse, will come back and reign on earth, not only for the 1000 years of the Millennium, but for all eternity in the new earth.

5. So the promise was offered in the First Advent; it is fulfilled in the Second Advent. When the apostles dealt with the Jews after the Day of Pentecost in the early part of Acts, they always brought up the question: how can Jesus Christ be the Son of David and at the same time God? Of course, the answer is found in the Hypostatic Union, which in turn leads to the concept of redemption.

F. Redemption was taught in the Old Testament.

1. The doctrine of Redemption was taught by means of animal blood in the Old Testament. Heb 9:22, “And according to the standard of the law, nearly all things were cleansed with animal blood, and without the pouring out of blood there is no forgiveness.”

2. Old Testament believers like Job applied the doctrines of Redemption and Resurrection to their circumstances. Job 19:25, “I know that My Redeemer lives, and that He shall stand in the latter day upon the earth.” In recalling redemption, he was looking at the spiritual death of Christ on the cross; in recalling resurrection, he was looking at the somatic or physical death of Christ on the cross which anticipated his resurrection.

3. David said in Ps 34:22, “The Lord redeems the soul of His servants.” It is the soul of the believer which is redeemed at salvation, not the body; otherwise we would never die physically.

G. The blood of Christ is the ransom or price for redemption.

1. The blood of Christ is the coin of the realm. Eph 1:7, “By whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace.”

2. Col 1:14, “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” 3. 1 Pet 1:18-19, “We have not been redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver and gold, from our empty manner of life, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, a lamb without spot and without blemish.”

4. The blood of Christ depicts, by analogy, the saving work of Christ on the cross, 2 Cor 5:21; 1 Pet 2:24. It also depicts unlimited atonement and reconciliation.

H. Redemption removes the condemnation of the Mosaic Law.

1. Gal 3:13, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it stands written [Deut 21:23], `Cursed is everyone who hangs on the wood.’”

2. In Gal 4:5-6, redemption from the condemnation of the law results in the Biblical doctrine of adoption.

I. Redemption is related to mediatorship.

1. Heb 9:14-15, “How much more shall the blood of Christ who, through the instrumentality of His eternal spirit, offered Himself without blemish to God, to purify by an expiatory offering our conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And because of this, by means of a new covenant, He is a mediator, a death having occurred for the purpose of redemption of the transgressions against the first covenant. He is a mediator in order that they [royal family], having been called, may take into their possession the promise of eternal inheritance.”

2. 1 Tim 2:5-6, “For there is one God [in essence], and one mediator between God and man, the unique man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a redemptive ransom for all . . .”

3. A mediator must be equal with both parties. Party of the first part is God with perfect divine essence. Party of the second part is mankind. Jesus Christ as the mediator is equal with both parties. Jesus Christ is God; therefore He is coequal, coeternal, and coinfinite with God the Father. Jesus Christ is also true humanity. Not only is He equal with man, but is far superior because, as the last Adam, He was born perfect and remained impeccable.

J. The Results of Redemption.

1. We are delivered from the curse of the law, Gal 3:13, 4:4-6.

2. We have the forgiveness of all sin, Isa 44:22; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14; Heb 9:15.

3. Redemption is the basis for our justification, Rom 3:24.

4. Redemption is the basis for our sanctification, Eph 5:25-27.

5. Redemption is the basis for eternal inheritance of believers, Heb 9:15.

6. Redemption is the basis for the strategic victory of Jesus Christ in the angelic conflict, Col 2:14-15; Heb 2:14-15 (the passage for bumping demons).

7. Redemption of the soul in salvation results in redemption of the body in resurrection, Eph 1:14; Rom 8:23; Eph 4:30.

8. Redemption views salvation from the standpoint of the complete payment of our sins, the option to believe in Christ for eternal life.

K. Etymology.

1. Greek.

a. ANTILUTRON = substituting money; the payment for the freedom of a slave or prisoner. It is usually translated “ransomed,” meaning “instead of slavery - freedom.” In 1 Tim 2:6, with the preposition HUPER, it means “ransom paid.”

b. APOLUTROSIS = deliverance procured by the payment of a ransom; to release a slave upon receipt of a ransom.

c. Noun LUTRON = the payment of a ransom; the price paid for letting loose.

d. Verb LUTROO = to pay the ransom; to deliver by ransom; to liberate. In the middle voice it means to redeem.

e. Noun LUTROSIS = redemption; deliverance; freedom.

f. Noun LUTROTES = redeemer; deliverer; one who pays for the freedom. In Acts 7:35, it refers to Moses as the redeemer of Israel.

g. Verb AGORAZO = to buy; to purchase in the market. (AGORA = slave marketplace.)

h. Verb EXZAGORAZO = to purchase from the slave market; to completely and totally liberate a slave from the slave market.

2. Hebrew.

a. Verb GAAL = to redeem; to purchase the freedom of a slave; to buy back.

b. Verb PADAH = to redeem; to loose by a paying ransom; to set free.

c. Noun GELLUAH = redemption.

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