Redemption (xiii)

In the immediate preceding chapters we have been presenting the biblical description of the state of bondage that sinners know. They are slaves of their own depraved natures, serving "various lusts and pleasures" (Titus 3:3), "fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind" (Eph. 2:3), "whose god is their belly" (Phil. 3:19), etc. They are also prisoners in shackles, as Paul said - "But the Scripture has imprisoned everything under sin's power" (Romans 11:32). As previously cited, Meyer's commentary said, sin has "brought all into ward under sin...sin has them, as it were, under lock and key." Sinful man is shackled and possessed by a wicked spirit, just like the Gadarene demoniac that was referred to earlier.

Wrote the great John Gill in his "Of Redemption by Christ" (Body of Doctrinal Divinity):

"...redemption stands in the first place and is a principal and most important blessing and doctrine of grace..." (see here)

I trust that those who have followed me in this series can give a hearty amen to this affirmation of the great doctor of theology.

Emancipation Of Sin's Prisoners

"I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house." (Isa. 42: 6-7)

"Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places." (Isa. 49: 8-9)

Remember that this deliverance from prison is a case of redemption. This fact in seen in the popular movie "Shawshank Redemption," involving several elements of "redemption" as it involves prisoners.

First, there was deliverance, or an "escaping" (it hardly can be called a "release"); Although in this case the one redeemed effected his own deliverance or redemption by his own wit, will, and perseverance (unlike redemption by Christ). Second, there was "vindication" of the prisoner, a setting things right as regards justice, against a tyrannical warden. Third, there was "restoration" of lost fortunes via his deliverance and redemption. Thus, in these ways, Andy Dufresne, the escaped prisoner in the movie, experienced "redemption."

This deliverance from the bondage of sin or "bondage of corruption/depravity" to freedom in Christ occurs first in conversion, when a soul is "set free" from both the penalty of the law (justification) and from the tyrannical governing power of sin (transformation begun). Through the preaching of the gospel the Spirit brings sinners to faith and repentance and thus "breaks the power of canceled sin." In the gospel sinners imprisoned by their moral depravity are called to "go forth." Some who are called to this freedom reject the call, however, to their own loss.

As we have shown in previous postings, originally, "redemption" often denoted the payment of a price to secure the release of a prisoner of war. The word also came to be used of the release of a slave and sometimes of a person under sentence of death (Exod. 21:28-30). Redemption always means the payment of a price to secure release as well as the actual release of the prisoner or slave.

Commenting upon Isaiah 42:7, one of the passages cited at the head of this chapter, Dr. Gill wrote the following in his commentary:

To open the blind eyes - Of the idolatrous Gentiles, who were spiritually blind, and knew not the wretchedness of their case; the exceeding sinfulness of sin; their need of a Saviour, and who he was; as they did, when their eyes were opened by means of the Gospel sent among them, through the energy of the divine Spirit; for this is a work of almighty power and efficacious grace: to bring out the prisoners from the prison;

who were concluded in sin, shut up in unbelief, and under the law, the captives of Satan, and held fast prisoners by him and their own lusts, under the dominion of which they were: and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house: of sin, Satan, and the law; being under which, they were in a state of darkness and ignorance as to things divine and spiritual. The allusion is to prisons, which are commonly dark places.

Commenting upon Isaiah 49: 9 he wrote:

That thou mayest say to the prisoners, go forth - God's covenant people, while unconverted, are prisoners; they are in the prison of sin, under the power and dominion of it, and under the guilt of it, and obligation to punishment for it; and they are in the prison of the law, they are transgressors of it, and are accused and convicted by it, and are condemned, and put in prison, and held there; and they are also Satan's prisoners, and are held and led captive by him at his will; and by virtue of the covenant, and the blood of it, these prisoners are set free; and Christ in the Gospel speaks unto them, and proclaims liberty to them; and by the knowledge of the truth they are made free, and are brought into the liberty of the children of God; and are bid to go forth, and they are brought forth from their prison houses; and bid to go to the house of God, and walk at liberty, enjoying all the privileges and ordinances of the Gospel: to them that are in darkness...in a state of nature and unregeneracy, which is a state of infidelity and ignorance; when men are in the dark, and know not themselves, nor their lost state and condition; nor the exceeding sinfulness of sin; nor Christ, and the way of salvation by him; nor the Spirit, and the operations of his grace; nor the Scriptures, and the doctrines of them..."

The experience of redemption occurs first in conversion and is continuously experienced in greater length as the believer is progressively transformed into the image of Christ in sanctification.

Debtor's Prisons

Wrote Gill:

"The buying again of an Israelite, waxen poor, and sold to another, by any near akin to him; is a lively representation of the purchase and redemption of the Lord's poor people, #Le 25:47-49 who, in a state of nature, are poor, and wretched, and miserable; even so as to be like beggars on the dunghill; when such was the grace of Christ, who, though rich, for their sakes became poor, that they, through his poverty might be made rich; and to such a degree, as to be raised from the dunghill and sit among princes, and inherit the throne of glory. Though some may not sell themselves to work wickedness, as Ahab did, yet all are sold under sin; for if this was the case of the apostle Paul, though regenerate, much more must it be the case of an unregenerate man; who, through sin, is brought into subjection to it, a servant of it, and a slave to it; as the poor Israelite, sold to a stranger, was a bondman to him: and such an one cannot redeem himself, being without strength, unable to fulfil the law, and to make atonement for sin; nor can any of his friends, though ever so rich, redeem him, or give to God a ransom for him; such may redeem a poor relation, or friend from a prison, by paying his pecuniary debts for him; but cannot redeem his soul from hell and destruction; may give a ransom price to man for one in slavery and bondage; but cannot give to God a ransom to deliver from wrath to come: only Christ, the near Kinsman of his people, can do this, and has done it; he that is their "Gaol", their near "Kinsman", partaker of the same flesh and blood with them, is their Redeemer, who has given himself a ransom for them."

Debtor's prisons were outlawed in this country in 1833 and for good reason. (Note: sadly, they are making a comeback in this country! But, that is another story) But, throughout the history of the world there has been many a person who spent much, if not all, of their lives in prison for not being able to pay a debt. This certainly was true in Jesus' day. (See for instance Matt. 18: 23-33)

When a sinner turns to the Lord in repentance and faith, his sins are immediately discharged or forgiven. This is what the apostles preached everywhere to every man. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts 3: 19 KJV).

Gill continued:

"The delivery of a debtor from prison, by paying his debts for him, is an emblem of deliverance and redemption by Christ: a man that is in debt, is liable to be arrested, and cast into prison, as is often the case; where he must lie till the debt his discharged, by himself or another: sins are debts; and a sinner owes more than ten thousand talents, and has nothing to pay; he cannot answer to the justice of God for one debt of a thousand; nor can he, by paying a debt of obedience he owes to God, pay off one debt of sin, or obligation to punishment; and so is liable to a prison, and is in one; is concluded under sin, under the guilt of it, which exposes him to punishment; and he is held with the cords and fetters of it; which he cannot loose himself from; and he is shut up under the law, in which he is held, until delivered and released by Christ; who, as he has engaged to pay the debts of his people, has paid them, cleared the whole score, and blotted out the hand writing that was against them; in consequence of which is proclaimed, in the gospel, liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; and in the effectual calling Christ says "to the prisoners", "Go forth", opening the prison doors for them; and to them that sit in darkness, in the gloomy cells of the prison, "show yourselves"; all which is done in virtue of the redemption price paid by Christ for his people."

Deliverance from debtor prison is a case of redemption.

Gill continued:

"...redemption by Christ is nothing more nor less than buying his people out of the hands of justice, in which they are held for sin; and that is with the price of his blood and in virtue of this they are delivered from the dominion of sin; for though this is done in the effectual calling, by the power of divine grace, it is in virtue of redemption by Christ, by whom sin is crucified, and the body of it destroyed; so that it shall not reign in them, or have dominion over them: one branch of redemption lies in being delivered from a vain conversation; and, ere long, the redeemed shall be delivered from the very being of sin; when their redemption, as to the application of it, will be complete; as it will be in the resurrection; when the soul will not only be among the spirits of just men made perfect; but the body will be clear of sin, mortality, and death; which is called redemption that draws near, the redemption of the body waited for, and the day of redemption, #Lu 21:28 Ro 8:23 Eph 1:14 4:30."

Notice that Gill says that deliverance from a vain conversation is "one branch of redemption." This is the very point I have been stressing in the past few chapters in this series.

Prisoners Of Hope

"As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee; When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man." (Zech. 9:11-13)

In preaching upon these verses the venerable C.H. Spurgeon said:

"Do all of you, dear friends, know anything about the pit wherein is no water? Were you ever conscious of being in it? Regarding it as a state of spiritual distress, do you understand what it means to be in such a comfortless condition? It was a common custom, in the past, to put prisoners into deep pits which had been dug in the earth. The sides were usually steep and perpendicular—and the prisoner who was dropped down into such a pit must remain there without any hope of escape. According to our text, there was no water there, and, apparently, no food of any kind. The objective of the captors was to leave the prisoner there to be forgotten as a dead man out of mind. Have you ever, in your experience, realized anything like that? There was a time, with some of us, when we suddenly woke up to find that all our fancied goodness had vanished, that all our hopes had perished, and that we, ourselves, were in the comfortless condition of men in a pit without even a single drop of water to mitigate our burning thirst!...If I sought after water in my comfortless condition, I only found myself to be more intensely eaten up with thirst! Do you know what all this means? You need to know it, for this is the condition into which God usually brings His children before He reveals Himself to them!"

Spurgeon continued:

"The condition of being shut up in a pit wherein is no water is not only comfortless, but it is also hopeless. How can such a prisoner escape? He looks up out of the pit, and sees, far above him, a little circle of light, but he knows that it is impossible for him to climb up there. Perhaps he attempts it, but, if so, he falls back and injures himself—and there must he lie, out of sight, and out of hearing, at the bottom of that deep pit—with none to help him, and quite unable to help himself. Such is the condition into which an awakened conscience brings a man. He sees himself to be lost through his sin, and he discovers that the law of God is so intensely severe—though not unduly so—and the justice of God is so stern, though not too stern—that he cannot possibly hope for any help from them in his efforts to escape out of the pit in which he lies fallen as a helpless, hopeless prisoner!"

Spurgeon, like his predecessor, believed that it is in being converted that a sinner experiences his coming out of the prison of sin. Spurgeon also said - "But concerning those who have believed in Jesus, our text is true, and God can say, “I have sent forth your prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.”

Spurgeon said further:

"There is this further comfort that if He has set us free, we are free indeed. It is only God who can deliver a conscience in bondage—and when it is delivered by Him, it need not be afraid of being dragged back to prison anymore. If a criminal breaks out of his cell, and is found at any time by the officers of the law, he may be arrested, and taken back to prison. But if the sovereign of the realm has set him free, he is not afraid of all the policemen in the world! He walks about the streets as a man who has a right to his liberty because of the authority which has granted it to him. Now, believer, God has brought you up out of all your trouble because of your sin. He has delivered you from all sense of guilt concerning it, and as He has done it, you are not afraid that it has been done unjustly, and you are, therefore, not afraid that you will be re-committed to prison..."

In our next entry we will continue looking at present redemption via conversion and sanctification.