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The Agora
Pictures Of Redemption

"You were bought with a price"

"[Christ] gave himself for us..." (Tit 2:14): Jesus laid down his life, deliberately, willingly (Joh 10:11,15,18; 1Pe 2:23), on our behalf. The preposition "for" is "huper", as also in 1Ti 2:6 ("a ransom on behalf of all men"), which can bear this meaning; Jesus may be seen as a representative -- dying ON BEHALF OF men -- and not as a substitute -- dying INSTEAD OF men.

In a most poignant personal expression Paul testifies to the moral force of the life and sacrifice of Christ when he writes that the Son of God "loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal 2:20). Nothing else can have the spiritual impact of this truth totally believed. Christ did not just die for 'us' as an anonymous group. The real, awe-inspiring wonder is that he died for us as a group of individuals, each of whom he loved personally. He died for each one of us. Had there been only one sinner, Christ would still have been willing to die. When each of us stands before the judgment seat he will be looking into the eyes of a man who surrendered his life, personally and individually, on behalf of him or her.

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"...to redeem us from all wickedness" (Tit 2:14). The original word for "redeem" here is "lutron", which means to release for a price, or -- put plainly -- to buy. It is one of the several words (or word groups) translated "redeem", "redemption", and "ransom" set out in the following table:

(1) LUTRON: the price paid for letting loose, or setting free:

Mat 20:28: "The Son of Man [came] to give his life as a ransom for many."
Mar 10:45: Same as above.

(2) LUTROO: The verb form: to pay the price:

Luk 24:21: "We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel."
Tit 2:14: "[Christ] gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness."
1Pe 1:18,19: "It was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." This plain allusion to the Passover Lamb reminds us that the "redemption" concept has its roots in the deliverance of the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery.

(3) LUTROSIS: The act of setting or being set free:

Luk 1:68: "The Lord, the God of Israel... has come and has redeemed his people."
Luk 2:38: "All who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem."
Heb 9:12: "[Christ] obtained eternal redemption" (the words "for us" are italicized in the KJV, and omitted altogether in various versions, including RV, RSV, and NIV; Jesus obtained redemption for himself AND for others).

(4) ANTILUTRON: The same as #1, with the added preposition "anti" (instead of):

1Ti 2:6: "[Christ] gave himself as a ransom for all men." ("All", of course, meaning not every person ultimately and absolutely -- but "all" prospectively, by invitation and possibility. Or perhaps, some individuals out of "all" peoples and "all" nations, but not every single individual.)

(5) APOLUTROSIS: The same as #3, with the added preposition "apo" (away from):

Luk 21:28: "Stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
Rom 3:24: "The redemption that came by Jesus Christ."
Rom 8:23: "Our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies."
1Co 1:30: "Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God -- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption."
Eph 1:7: "In [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins."
Eph 1:14: "The redemption of those who are God's possession."
Eph 4:30: "The day of redemption."
Col 1:14: Similar to Eph 1:7 above.
Heb 9:15: "Christ... has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant."

(6) AGORAZO: To be in the "agora", the marketplace or forum; hence, to buy or sell there:

1Co 6:20: "You were bought at a price."
1Co 7:23: Same as above.
Rev 5:9: "You were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation."
Rev 14:3,4: "The 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth."

(7) EXAGORAZO: The same as #6, with the added preposition "ek" (out of):

Gal 3:13: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us."
Gal 4:5: Christ has redeemed "those under the law."
Eph 5:16: "Making the most of every opportunity" (NIV) is literally "redeeming the time."
Col 4:5: Same as above.

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The first five words above are derived from the same Greek root, while the last two are included to round out this brief study. In a commercial transaction, as these words all presuppose, there are four parts or parties (Watch out! here comes that technical analysis which we Westerners are so fond of): the buyer, the seller, the price paid, and the item purchased. Having all the relevant Scriptures before us at one time, it is easy to identify the four parties or parts of the "transaction" of salvation:

The buyer: Christ (Mat 20:28; Mar 10:45; Tit 2:14; Heb 9:12; 1Ti 2:6; Gal 3:13; 4:5) AND God Himself (Luk 1:68; 1Co 1:30; Rev 5:9).
The seller: "All wickedness" or "all iniquity" (Tit 2:14). "The sins" or "transgressions" under the first covenant (Heb 9:15). "The earth" and men (Rev 14:3,4). "The curse of the law" (Gal 3:13). And the Law itself (Gal 4:5).
The price paid: Christ (1Co 1:30) himself (1Ti 2:6; Tit 2:14); his life (Mat 20:28; Mar 10;45); his blood (1Pe 1:18,19; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14; Rev 5:9); his death (Heb 9:15). [And from 1Pe 1:18,19 we learn that gold and silver -- i.e., even the most precious commodities, and in whatever abundance -- would not be a sufficient "price": cp Psa 49:7-9.]
The item purchased: "All men" (1Ti 2:6), but at the same time only "many" (Mat 20:28; Mar 10:45). Israel (Luk 24:21), "His people" (Luk 1:68), "us, the ecclesia, our body" (Tit 2:14; 1Pe 1:18; Rom 8:23; 1Co 6:20; 7:23; Rev 5:9; 14:3,4; Gal 3:13; 4:5); "God's possession" (Eph 1:14; cp Tit 2:14: "a peculiar people" or "a people that are His very own"); and even... Christ himself (Heb 9:12; cp Heb 9:7; 13:20)! Finally, and significantly, the purchase itself is equated with forgiveness of sins (Eph 1:7; Col 1:14).

From the above list and summary, several conclusions emerge:

(a)	God and Christ were acting in concert in the great "transaction" of human redemption -- for the "buyer" may be either God or His Son! In the New Testament both are referred to as "Savior". "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ" (2Co 5:19). There was no difference between the motives of the One and the motives of the other; they were together. The old man Abraham and his son Isaac, who "went together" to the altar on Moriah (Gen 22:6,8), are the express pattern of the Heavenly Father and His Son who, together, go to the cross! (Notice how Paul in Rom 8:31,32 quotes Gen 22:12; and how, incidentally, Abraham -- a man -- actually typifies the Almighty!)

(b)	The "all" that are redeemed are in fact not "all" in the absolute sense. The element of freewill, or choice, or faith, must be taken into account: a man must want to be redeemed before God and Christ will redeem him!

(c)	Whereas popular or "orthodox" theology would say, unequivocally, that men are redeemed by Christ from the "devil", the passages above tell us that -- Biblically speaking -- man is redeemed from... iniquity, wickedness, transgressions, the earth, and all men and nations. The interesting point here is that these things are -- in point of fact -- the perfect Biblical definition, broadly and generally, of the "devil"!

(d)	Man was also redeemed from the Law of Moses, and from the "curse" of that Law -- not because the Law itself was evil (it was certainly not: Rom 7:12-14), but because the Law brought into focus and highlighted man's sin.

(e)	In this context, the "blood", the "life", and the "death" of Christ are in some sense synonymous terms; each is the "price" paid to "buy" us from sin and the world. The combination and repetition of these terms in this study suggest that no single term should stand alone -- but each ought to be modified, and defined, by the others: (1)We are not redeemed by Christ's blood alone. Christ's blood was not meaningful as blood alone: there was nothing magical or potent in his blood above that of any other man's. However, his blood was required -- and not that of any animal, or any other man for that matter -- because of the sinless life that he lived. (2) Even Christ's perfect life, the absolute giving of himself to the Father's will day by day, would not have been a sufficient "redemption" price: the wisdom and purpose of God required that His Son die -- willingly and obediently -- in the prescribed manner. (3) Similarly, had Christ died a different kind of death, it would not have been acceptable as a sacrifice for sins.

(f)	Thus the death required was a sacrificial death, requiring bloodshed, on the pattern of the Passover Lamb (1Pe 1:18,19).

(g)	And finally, and most remarkably, an overview of the four "parts" of the "transaction" demonstrates that... Christ gave himself for himself: he was at the same time three of the four "parties": he was the buyer, the price paid, and that which was purchased! In this he was the first and preeminent example of his own words:

	"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul [or life, the same word]? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul [or life]?" (Mat 16:24-26).

	He redeemed, or bought, himself from the power of sin and the world because he gave himself up, utterly and wholeheartedly, to do the will of his Father. He lost his life to save his life, and -- not incidentally -- to save the lives of all who in faith follow his example.

This last conclusion leads to other interesting ideas. When a ransom, or price, is paid for the purchase or release of something, no one expects the return of the purchase price as well as the transfer of the item purchased. If I go to the store for a loaf of bread, I pay my dollar to the cashier and take my bread home -- I don't expect to return home with the dollar AND the bread! But this is precisely what happened in the "transaction" of redemption: Christ gave himself as the purchase price, and was at the same time freed by that ransom!

The figure of ransom, or redemption, is beautiful and beautifully appropriate in its proper place. But what we might call Western (and, in this case, illogical) logic can make -- in fact, HAS MADE -- too much of this figure of speech:

The doctrine that Christ died as a substitute for all men, regardless of the actions and/or beliefs of those men; and that his merit is an adequate substitute for their wickedness; or that absolutely nothing else may be required of men but somehow touching the magical blood of the "Savior"... these erroneous ideas are derived from a too literal, and too absolute, reliance upon the "redemption" parable of the atonement. In short, a good thing is carried to an unwarranted extreme, and it becomes illogical.
The degree to which this "substitution" theory is inadequate in and of itself may be shown by the doctrine -- of Jehovah's Witnesses, for example -- that the literal body of Christ must needs be preserved and retained by God in heaven (think of the Kremlin's grotesque preservation and display of the body of Lenin!) -- separate and apart from Jesus himself -- as the ongoing purchase price of mankind!
Carried to the extreme, the "substitution" theory of redemption invalidates the obvious Scriptural teaching about forgiveness of sins. If the full price of our redemption has already been paid, absolutely, by Christ in his life and death and resurrection, then we ought to be able to demand salvation as our right; after all, it was "paid for" already! And there would be no place for forgiveness; why should one's debt be forgiven when it has already been paid? And why should we ever pray, "Forgive us our sins"?

The "redemption" parable is just that, a parable -- useful to convey certain important lessons and principles... but a "sandy soil" on which to build a logical or legal basis for defining our salvation.

Despite all the above analysis of "redemption" in the New Testament, the simple truth of the transaction is contained in the key passages that equate redemption with the forgiveness of sins (Eph 1:7; Col 1:14). What has been forgiven cannot also be paid for. The sacrifice of Christ, the culmination of a life of perfect obedience and dedication, was the price paid for our salvation. That is to say, it was necessary that Christ give himself as a suitable basis for the declaring of God's righteousness in offering mercy to sinners. But God's offer requires a corresponding "payment" on the part of those who would accept it. Since they are to be redeemed out of death they must repudiate that which brought death, which is the world and sin (Rom 6:1-7, for example). They must live sober and godly lives, repudiating all iniquity, as a special people belonging exclusively to God (Tit 2:14).