04.3. Man Redeemed
MAN REDEEMED
Loved When God purposed to redeem a people from the mass of fallen humanity, the sole and inexhaustible source of this surprising and undeserved grace was God’s free, unconditional love. We were not lovable in any way; but God, who is love itself, chose to show his amazing love in the vessels which he had formed to showcase his mercy. God’s love for his people is eternal, determined before the foundation of the earth. And it is special and individual. His redemptive love is not given to every person alike, but is prepared only for those whom he has chosen, not for any good in them, but to demonstrate the freeness of his favor.
1. Eternally
Ephesians 2:4-7 1 Thessalonians 1:2-5 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
1 John 4:19 2.Specially Deuteronomy 4:35-38 Deuteronomy 7:7-8 Deuteronomy 10:14-15 Deuteronomy 23:3-6 Deuteronomy 33:1-3
Elected
God’s eternal love for his people flows naturally into his eternal choice to redeem them. This unconditional, sovereign election is the product and proof of his eternal love. Although fallen men like to cling to the idea of some vestige of remaining good in themselves, and are ready to suppose that God saved them, and not others, because they were more willing to believe or more ready to seek, the bible is clear that election is all about God’s glory: he saw nothing good in us, not even the slightest modicum of desire to return to him, but he chose us anyway, to glorify the freeness of his mercy and lovingkindness.
1. The fact of election
Deuteronomy 7:6 Deuteronomy 10:14-15
Ephesians 1:3-6 Ephesians 1:11-12 1 Thessalonians 1:4 1 Thessalonians 5:9 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17. The motivation of election oHis own good pleasure
2 Timothy 1:9 oThe display of his glory
Ephesians 2:4-7 1 Corinthians 1:27-31 oHis special love Deuteronomy 7:6-8 2 Thessalonians 2:13 oHis foreknowledge
1 Peter 1:1-2 oWhich means his relational love or causative purpose
Matthew 7:22-23 1 Corinthians 8:3
1 Peter 1:20 oBut not any good [nobility, wisdom, power, choice, seeking] he foresees in anyone
Romans 10:20 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 1 Corinthians 4:7
Called In eternity, God loved us and chose to redeem us; and then, in time, he brought that eternal will to fruition, and called us into his kingdom. God calls sinners in two ways: outwardly, he proclaims the truth of his free grace to all alike, through his gospel messengers; free pardon is offered without exception, and all who desire to embrace it are invited to do so. However, no man in his natural, fallen condition is willing to accept so gracious a call, because his deeds are evil. Therefore, in those whom he has chosen, God joins the outward call of the gospel with an inward, effectual call of his Spirit, who overcomes native resistance, so that the one thus called will respond indeed.
1. Outwardly
Colossians 1:23 Revelation 22:17 2.
Effectually
Romans 9:23-26 1 Corinthians 1:1-2 1 Corinthians 1:9 1 Corinthians 1:23-24 1 Corinthians 7:20-24 2 Corinthians 4:4-6
Galatians 1:6 Galatians 1:15-16
Ephesians 1:18 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14
Regenerated When God first gave his commandment to man in the Garden, he warned him that disobedience would result in death. That promise in fact came true when Adam disobeyed; and since that first sin, all men have been born into a state of spiritual death. If they would regain what was lost, therefore, their first need is that they be given true life again. This is what regeneration is all about: it is a new birth, God’s implantation of a spiritual life into a heart that had been dead, thereby causing it to beat again with love, obedience, faith, and repentance, realities to which it had before been insensible.
1. Its origin: divine choice
John 1:12-13 John 3:7-36. Its result: oA new nature
1 John 5:18 oA new heart Deuteronomy 30:6 Ezekiel 11:19-20 Ezekiel 36:25-27 oFaith
Acts 18:27 Ephesians 2:8-10 oRepentance
Acts 11:18 2 Timothy 2:25-26 1 Corinthians 4:7
Baptized
Ever since God established his gracious covenant with mankind, he was pleased to seal and signify his promise of favor with visible signs of confirmation. In the Abrahamic covenant, the sign and seal was circumcision, which looked ahead to when Christ would be cut off for the sins of the people, and signified the removal of the sinful flesh and the new life to which believers in him would be raised. But when Christ came and was actually cut off, the covenant sign changed to baptism, through which a believer symbolically passes through the waters of judgment and is sprinkled clean from all sin, and preserved safe in Christ. The reality to which this sign points is the baptism with the Spirit, by which believers receive true, spiritual life indeed, by means of the Spirit of God poured out upon them.
1.The significance of circumcision Deuteronomy 10:16 Deuteronomy 30:6
Jeremiah 4:4 Romans 4:11-25. The correlation of circumcision and baptism Colossians 2:11-23.
Old Testament examples of baptism
Exodus 14:23-31 1 Corinthians 10:1-24.
Baptism with water Matthew 28:18-20
Ephesians 5:26 5.Baptism with the Spirit
Acts 11:15-17 1 Corinthians 12:13
Justified
There is no more precious term in the believer’s vocabulary than “justification,” nor is there any other single word which conveys more of the truth of the gospel than this. The heart of the gospel is that man’s fundamental problem is sin, and if the sickness, death, punishment, wrath, and despair which are its fruits will ever be overcome, then his sin problem must first be taken care of. If man would ever be happy again, ever enjoy the presence of the holy God, ever regain what he lost in the Garden, and so pass into the joy of eternal life, his sin must be traded for a spotless righteousness. Justification is the unalterable verdict of the righteous Judge that this has indeed happened: the sinner who had been stained by transgression is legally declared to be wholly righteous, by faith alone. Of course, the God who cannot lie would not pass a verdict that is not true; and so the principle by which justification thrives is that of imputation. Jesus was pleased to give (or impute) to me his flawless righteousness, and to take in its place my putrid mass of stinking iniquity. The Father then treated him, on the cross, as justice demanded that I be treated; but when he raised him from the dead, he confirmed before all that his wrath had been satisfied, and that the substitutionary sacrifice of his Son had been acceptable. In this way, God was able to be just in his verdict and still declare me just, although my past had been stained with immense sin, and his court demands impeccable righteousness.
1. Righteousness imputed
Romans 9:30-32 [or, “received”]
Romans 10:3-4 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 2 Corinthians 5:21 Php 3:8-21.
Righteousness declared
Romans 8:29-34 Galatians 2:15-16 Galatians 3:5-14 Galatians 3:21-24
Forgiven Our basic problem consists of this, first, that by our sin we have become indebted to the one we have wronged; and second, that since the one we have wronged is our Creator, the Almighty God of the universe, our sin debt is therefore infinite, and can never adequately be repaid. We are as dishonest employees who have embezzled and wasted millions of dollars from our employers; and now, although we have not the wherewithal to pay them back, we are still under the obligation of justice to do so. Being so helplessly burdened with a debt we could never repay, how sweet must the sound of our Savior’s words fall upon our ears, “Your sins are forgiven; go in peace”?
Exodus 34:6-7 Leviticus 4:25-26
Matthew 9:2-7 Matthew 18:21-35 Matthew 26:27-28
Colossians 3:13 Hebrews 10:11-18
Redeemed
Before we could have been brought back to God, there was a price that had to be paid. The righteous law of God was hanging over our heads, with all its unfulfilled demands and broken regulations; and the payment that it required stood in the way of our pardon. So infinite was our debt and obligation, that the only redemption price that could ever have been valuable enough was the precious blood of Christ, the Lamb without spot and without blemish.
1. Types of Redemption
Numbers 3:40-51 Numbers 18:15-17
Ruth 4:1-2 2.The True Redemption of Christ Psalms 49:7-8, Psalms 49:15
Acts 20:28 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Galatians 3:13-14
1 Peter 1:17-19 Revelation 5:9-10
Sanctified The work of Christ in overturning the effects of sin and the curse was manifold: through Adam’s fall we became legally guilty, and therefore needed both acquittal and a positive righteousness; this Christ gave us in justification. But we also became impure and defiled, and hence needed washing and sanctification, which he also bestowed upon us. The wound in Christ’s side thus flowed with blood, for our absolution from guilt, and water, for our purification from sin - and the purification is just as necessary as the absolution, if we are ever to come before the righteous and holy God. Our sanctification is therefore as necessary as our justification. It is not just a means to an end, but an end in itself. This sanctification may be viewed in different ways: positionally, we have been perfectly and fully sanctified already, and endowed with a perfect holiness; progressively, we are being more sanctified every day - the holiness we have been given is being worked into our lives by the agency of the Triune persons, through the means of the Word of God, by which we are being conformed to the image of Christ; and finally, our practical sanctification will be fully accomplished in glory, when we see the Son of God as he truly Isaiah 1:1-3 1.Old Testament Examples
Exodus 13:2 Hebrews 12:22-23 Hebrews 12:22-23
Exodus 19:10-11 Revelation 19:7-8 Revelation 19:7-8
Exodus 40:9-11 Leviticus 10:10-11 Leviticus 21:17-24.
Positionally 1 Corinthians 1:2 1 Corinthians 1:30 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 1 Corinthians 6:11 Ephesians 5:25-7 Colossians 1:21-22
1 John 2:29 3.Progressively
Romans 12:1-2 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 2 Timothy 2:21-22
1 John 3:3 oBy the Father
Exodus 31:13 Leviticus 20:7-8 Ezekiel 37:27-28
Hebrews 12:10 oBy the Son
Hebrews 13:12 oBy the Holy Spirit
Romans 15:16 2 Thessalonians 2:13
1 Peter 1:2 oThrough the Word of God
James 1:21-25 oToward the image of Christ
Romans 8:29 2 Corinthians 3:15-18 Ephesians 4:20-24
1 John 3:2 1 Corinthians 15:49
Spirit-indwelt Of all the promised blessings connected with the coming of the Messiah, some of the greatest involved the pouring out of the Spirit upon all God’s people, who would dwell within them, teach them God’s law in their inner beings, intercede for them with unspeakable groanings, and guarantee their final salvation. What greater and more astonishing privilege could be imagined than that the very God of creation would dwell in our hearts through faith, in spite of all our remaining corruption?
Romans 8:8-9 Ephesians 3:14-21. Our Guarantee Ephesians 1:13-14
Ephesians 4:30 2.Our Teacher
John 16:7-14 2 Corinthians 3:15-18 1 John 2:20-29. Our Empowerer
Romans 8:10-14 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 Galatians 5:16-26. Our Intercessor
Reconciled The first and great consequence of man’s sin was that he was separated from his God; the last and great accomplishment of Jesus’ work was to bring us back to God. The final goal of the mighty work of redemption, therefore, is reconciliation, the calling out of a people who would dwell in the very presence of God, with a restored and blessed relationship with him.
Romans 5:10-11 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 Ephesians 2:13-18 Colossians 1:19-23
1 Peter 3:18 Revelation 21:1-4
Adopted The great goal of Christ’s work of redemption is our reconciliation to the God from whom our sins had separated us; but we can only glimpse to what unspeakable degree of intimate love and fellowship with him we have now been brought in the doctrine of adoption. God is not just our God in a distant or unemotional way; he is our Father, and loves us as he loves his own eternal Son, Jesus Christ. The fullness of every blessing we have received flows from this personal relationship into which we have been brought. Oh, what unspeakable love this is, that we, who were alienated sinners, should be called the sons of God! But so we are indeed, thanks to the unfathomable depths of Christ’s work of love.
Romans 8:29-30 Galatians 3:25-26
Ephesians 1:2-6 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
1 John 3:1-2 Revelation 21:6-7
Saved The fact that Christ came to save us implies that we were in some desperate plight, and needed deliverance. Of course this is true: we were in a manifold and inescapable sin-caused calamity, and helpless to rescue ourselves. We needed to be saved first of all from our sins, and from the wrath of God which those sins were about to bring down upon our heads; but even after that, we remain hard-pressed by many ferocious enemies, such as the world system, the devil and his angels, and our own sinful nature; and we need a constant salvation from their snares, as we press on to our eternal reward. Ultimately, our salvation will come when Christ our Lord returns in glory to judge the world and bring us into his eternal kingdom.
Romans 10:9-13 1 Corinthians 1:18
Ephesians 2:4-9 Titus 3:4-15. From sin
Luke 7:44-50 1 Corinthians 15:1-42. From God’s wrath
Isaiah 12:1-2 Romans 5:9-21. From our enemies
Luke 1:68-75 2 Corinthians 2:14-16
1 Peter 4:16-19 Revelation 12:10-17.
Unto the eternal kingdom Matthew 10:21-22 Matthew 19:21-26
Romans 8:22-24 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10
[The work of redemption is spoken of in other terms as well, which have not been included because of space. For example, the sins of redeemed man are atoned for, that is, covered by the blood of Christ; and they are propitiated, that is, God’s wrath against them has been appeased.] Summative description: man redeemed is able to sin and able not to sin, but with the guarantee of final victory.