Redemption's Price Paid

"Redemption" is a doctrinal word in the Bible that we often take for granted. It means to purchase with a price, and refers to how our Lord Jesus bought us from the judgment by His own bloodshedding at Calvary.

One Greek word, Lutron and its relatives, means the price to set free, or the ransom. Christ said He came to give His life a ransom for many, emphasizing not only His work as Savior, but the dear personal cost to Him - His own life in exchange for ours!

Another Greek word, Agoradzo, means to buy in the market. It is the common word for trading at market. It is used in five places to describe the Lord's purchase of His people.

In two of those places, the price paid is implied or stated explicitly. In Revelation 14, the Lamb's special people who have rejected the Beast and who stand with Him on Mount Zion are said to be redeemed from the world.

The reference to redemption and the Lamb points back to the clearest use of agoradzo, in Revelation 5, where the Saints sing a new song of praise and worship to the Lord Jesus as "the Lamb Who was slain, and has redeemed us to God by His Blood."

This text most clearly denominates Christ as the sacrifice slain to save sinners. The blood of the Lamb is the price paid by Jesus to buy us from judgment.

Thus, the substitution of the life and blood of Jesus for His people is explicitly taught here. The Lamb's blood is the purchase price paid to rescue us from eternal judgment.

It is appropriate that it should be the Apostle John who states this precious truth so clearly. He alone records the declaration about the Savior when His ministry began:

Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!