576
December1929
T h e
K i n o ' s ' ■B u s i n e s s
Redemption—It’s Meaning and Scope B y D r . J ohn C. P age (Address delivered at the Summer School o f the Bible Institute of Los Angeles.)
iyttj) URING the. commencement exercises at Princeton Seminary, the speaker of the occasion, in refer- ring to certain perils confronting the Church, said: “It is not the peril of the world’s hate and jgggggjP' persecution; it is not the peril even of corrupt JjjjL anc} immoral living; it is not the peril of furious bigotry and the rage of conflicting opinions; it is not the peril of current theories as to the nature of man and the order of the world. It is the peril of abandoning Jesus Christ as the Redeemer from sin !” Confronted with such at peril we may well consider what redemption is so as to better understand what its loss would involve. W hat R edemption M eans Redemption is defined in the dictionary as “deliver ance or release from captivity by the payment of a price.” This definition coincides exactly with Scripture teaching. According to 1 Peter 1 :18, 19,- we are redeemed or deliv ered 'from an empty manner of life by the precious blood of Christ. Then, according to Paul, in Galatians 3:13, Christ redeemed or delivered us from the condemnation of the law by taking the place of condemnation for us. With the teaching of these two Scriptures, the whole Bible is in perfect accord. Redemption is indeed a release or: deliverance' from captivity by the payment of a price. An empty manner of life and the condemnation of broken law hold us in captivity. The only possible release is through the redemptive work of Christ, the deliverance effected by the price paid on Calvary’s cross. “’Twas there the debt was paid, hallelujah; Our sins on Jesus laid, hallelujah.” While walking through a cemetery recently, I saw a large cross of wood. On the upright piece were the words, “The Sign of our Faith in Life,”, and on the cross piece, "The Sign of our Hope 'in Death.” To that inscription we say “Ametjtr^sp shall it be.” We glory in the cross as the power of Goa to deliver us from the slavery of an empty manner of life and from the condemnation of the law of God that we have broken. Consider these two fac tors for a moment. They do not cornprise all the gracious results of our redemption, but they do briefly summarize those results. An empty life is a life devoid of holy pur pose. It is like an empty house. The house may be richly furnished, but it was not built for that purpose. It was made to be inhabited, or indwelt.. So with a life—the fur nishings of culture and education are insufficient. “Thou hast made us for Thyself,” to be indwelt, by the Spirit. Apart from this, the highest purpose of life can never be realized. To be condemned by the law is to be living under judgment. It is like a man being brought into court, found guilty and held for punishment. Over against this empti ness and condemnation we place the words of Scripture in their interpretation of the cross. We are redeemed from an empty manner of life ;by the precious blood of Christ. And again, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse ,for us. He died in our stead, He died for our sins. From the heavenward
side He met every requirement of righteousness, and from the earthward side He met every need involved in our sinning. T h e S cope of R edemption This can be understood only in the light of Scripture teaching concerning the extent of moral evil. If redemp tion is deliverance from captivity, what is the extent of that captivity ? The answer to this question will give us the scope of redemption. When our first parents fell from fellowship with God, four things took place. Sin came into our world, and death with it. The dominion given to man was lost and creation, or the cosmos, fell into disorder. From these four adverse conditions we must be fully delivered before redemption can be re garded as complete. And it is precisely this fourfold de liverance that Christ, as our Redeemer, undertook for us; —complete deliverance from sin and from death; the restoration of the lost dominion, and the recovery of the cosmos from the disorder into which it has fallen, More than this we do not need. Less than this would fall short of a complete redemption.. At this point an interesting question emerges: Where are we now in the process of redemption? Are w.e delivered from sin? Yes and no. We are delivered from sin’s guilt and the condemnation resulting from it. That fact must never be ignored or overlooked. It is the dominant note in the music of the Gospel. Listen to the parts of Scripture that enter into the harmony of this Gospel music: “We have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness o f sins.” “Your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.” “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” When faith re ceives these promises and the truth is realized in expe rience, the joy bells begin to ring in the city of Mansoul. “There remainth no more offering for sin.” That one offering was so sufficient that nothing can be added to it. In the words of another, “the eternal issues of sin were called into question at the cross and a suffering Saviour stood in the sinner’s place until every righteous judgment of God was fully met and all grounds of condemnation were forever passed.” “There is therefore now no con demnation for them that are in Christ Jesus.” All such are forever delivered from the guilt and. condemnation of sin. Sin involves not only guilt, but slavery. “He that com m itted sin is the bond slave o f sin.” Deliverance from this bondage is imperative. Is such deliverance provided? Yes, it is. For it is written, “Sin shall not have dominion over you.” And again, “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” To know the truth concerning our Lord’s death and resurrection is to be made free from the dominion of sin. In that death, we are identified. “Our old man was crucified with him.” “I have been crucified with Christ.” Oneness with Christ involves un ion with Him in death and resurrection so that we may “walk in newness o f life.” Between the old and the new, there is much more than a human resolution or the turn ing over of a new leaf. There is a cross and a grave and
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