THROUGH HIS BLOOD
By Elder Mark Green
“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1.7).
Redemption is in Christ. It is in His blood. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin, and unless our sins had been remitted we could not have been redeemed, for if we were still under the penalty of sin, still guilty before the bar of God’s eternal justice, then we would not be free. If we have not been set free, then we have not been redeemed, for redemption certainly contains in it the idea of a setting free from bondage. If we were not set free, then we were not purchased, for if a price had been paid for our freedom we would be free. Unless we were purchased we were not redeemed, for Paul told the Ephesian elders that they should feed those “whom he hath purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20.28).
The pronoun “whom” in our text refers to Jesus Christ. It is in Him and Him alone that we have redemption. If it is by our works, then it is not in Him, but in us. If it is by our faith or our baptism, then it is not in Him. Our merit is excluded by this verse from the great work of redemption. Jesus gave himself for us, to be crucified and slain, “that he might redeem us from all iniquity” (2 Tt. 2.14). All our iniquity – all our sin – was put away by Christ’s sacrifice. Sin is the transgression of the law, and if all iniquity has been put away, then there is no transgression. There is no legal charge of God’s justice against us.
In our text Paul equates redemption with the forgiveness of sins. If we have been redeemed, washed clean by the blood of the Lamb, then the debt of sin has been forgiven. In a human transaction, if a debt is forgiven, then it is done away with. If you owe me one hundred dollars and I forgive the debt, then the debt no longer exists; I am clear of that financial obligation. God has forgiven us all our trespasses. The dread handwriting of condemnation upon the wall, which caused that heathen king to tremble with fear many centuries ago, has been scrubbed clean by the blood of Jesus.
Salvation is not by man’s merit nor is it by his wealth. “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pt. 1.18-19). If it were by wealth, only rich folks could be saved. The idea that material wealth has some connection with salvation will more certainly corrupt religious doctrine and practice than any idea we could conceive. See the Roman Catholic religion as an example.
Money is a corruptible thing. It seemingly defiles everything it touches and the love of it is the source of all manner of evil. Money corrupts, but Christ’s blood has washed us clean – clean from sin and clean from guilt. If wealth is corruptible, then any salvation it might purchase also would be corruptible. Our inheritance, however, is “incorruptible and undefiled” and is reserved in heaven for us. If I did my math correctly, a man who had one hundred billion dollars (and there is at least one man who is reputed to have that much) would have to spend about $2700 per minute to spend it all in his threescore-and-ten – and all that could not buy salvation for him, because we are not redeemed with corruptible things, and wealth is corruptible and corrupting. We were redeemed purely and simply by the blood of Christ. From The Christian Pathway.