What does being redeemed mean?
“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 Peter 1:18-19 ) How glibly we use the terms redeemed, redemption, and ransom. But what do they mean, and more importantly, what did Christ’s act of redemption mean? Three Greek words and their derivations are used in the New Testament to denote various aspects of this truth. In our text, “redeemed” comes from lutroo, which means to set free, buy back, or ransom. Christ’s innocent blood, sacrificed for us, bought us back. “By his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” ( Hebrews 9:12 ). Redeemed from what? From slavery to sin. Jesus taught, “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin” ( John 8:34 ). Thankfully, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law” ( Galatians 3:...