He then made another significant declaration:
“And the slave [unbeliever] does not remain in the house forever; the son [believer] does remain forever.” (John 8:35)
Slaves are not entitled to reside in their master’s house. We cannot live in the house if we are in the slave market. The “palace” in the diagram above represents eternal life. To reside forever in that house we must become “children of God” (John 1:12).
We are not born as children of God but born in slavery to sin. We cannot escape from slavery any more than we can help being born male or female. A slave has no rights or privileges, no assets or capital; he is helpless to free himself. If he is ever emancipated, someone who is already free must liberate him.
“If therefore the Son shall make you free [a first class conditional clause—and He does], you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36)
The point is elementary: Only a free man can purchase the freedom of someone in the slave market. Since the one person born into this world outside the slave market of sin was the humanity of Jesus Christ, He is the only free man who can redeem us forever. Any purchase, however, carries a price.
“But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed [פָּדָה, padah] you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk.” (Deut. 13:5a)
“I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud, and your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed [גָּאַל, gaal] you.” (Isa. 44:22)
The word “redeem” means “to buy or to purchase.” God redeemed, gaal, in Isaiah 44:22 “by payment of value assessed.”14 God purchased Israel from slavery both physically and spiritually. He ‘ransomed’ the Jews from slavery in Egypt (Deut. 13:5).15 The physical freedom God procured for His ‘chosen people’ in Egypt illustrates the spiritual freedom He would buy through the sacrifice of His Son. At the cross God “wiped out your transgressions.” He provided spiritual redemption not only for Israel but for all of us.
Who gave Himself as a ransom [λυτρόω, lutroo] for all, the testimony borne at the proper time. (1 Tim. 2:6)
Christ redeemed [ἀγοράζω, agorazo] us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us [huper plus the genitive of advantage from ego, our substitute]—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE.” (Gal. 3:13)
These two Greek words in the New Testament, lutroo and agorazo, correspond to the Hebrew words padah and gaal. Lutroo and its compounds emphasize the idea of purchase or ransom by paying a price (Mark 10:45; Titus 2:14). Agorazo and its compounds mean “to redeem or purchase a slave’s freedom.”16 Therefore, the word redeem carries a critical connotation with reference to the slave market of sin.
The Lord and no one else can redeem mankind. The price paid to redeem sinners from the slave market of sin was the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross. God the Father imputed to God the Son “the iniquity [sins] of us all” (Isa. 53:6b). Because Christ was judged for all the sins of mankind, redemption is available to the entire human race. Sins are no longer a barrier to our salvation. Now anyone can receive the benefit of redemption—the forgiveness of all presalvation sins—through faith alone in Christ alone (Heb. 9:22).17
Hebrews 9:11-14, Revelation 1:5, and many other passages explain that Christ has already redeemed us. Job said, “I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25b). In Galations 3:13 “the curse of the Law” refers to the Mosaic Law, the regulations which conclusively prove that every human being is a sinner. No one can keep every statute of the Mosaic code.
In Him [by whom] we have redemption through His blood [the saving work of Christ on the cross], [resulting in] the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace. (Eph. 1:7)
Money Will Not Buy Redemption
The means of your redemption is clarified in 1 Peter.
Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile [empty] way of life inherited from your forefathers. (1 Pet. 1:18)
“Knowing” should become your motto since knowledge of doctrine is the highest priority in the Christian life. God has made provision for every believer to know and understand every doctrine in the Word of God.18 A believer cannot orient to the grace of God or advance to spiritual maturity apart from cognition of Bible doctrine. First Peter 1:18-19 mandates that the believer know the doctrine of redemption.19
First, a negative: We “were not redeemed with perishable things”—commodities that are not eternal. These are defined more specifically as “silver or gold,” legal tender in the ancient world.
Money will buy myriads of things but money will not buy happiness, love, or friends. Above all, money will not buy salvation. Money will not liberate anyone from the slave market of sin, nor will materialistic possessions free us from a worthless, futile life.
Several centuries of legalistic tradition had imposed upon Israel a system of salvation and spirituality by works that was in total conflict with both the Word of God and the grace policy of His plan.20 Israel had a glorious heritage of grace from the Old Testament that had been corrupted by religion and legalism.
Second, a positive: Peter clearly states the ransom price for the purchase of our freedom.
But the precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. (1 Pet. 1:19)
Ritual Reveals The Reality Of Redemption
The Jews who received this epistle understood explicitly the analogy Peter made between Jesus Christ and the outwardly perfect sacrificial lamb used in the Levitical offerings. This lamb was innocent and did not deserve to die. Yet, in accordance with Old Testament ritual, die it must.
“And he [the offerer] shall lay his hand on the head [identification] of his offering and slay it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood around on the altar.” (Lev. 3:2)
By placing his hand on the head of the lamb, the one who brought the sacrifice symbolically transferred his sins to the lamb. As the offerer killed the lamb and the priest collected and sprinkled the blood, people observed and learned the doctrine of redemption. The sacrifice foreshadowed and illustrated Christ’s future atonement for sins.21 The blood of the lamb represented the price Christ would pay for our redemption from the slave market of sin.
All things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no [resulting] forgiveness. (Heb. 9:22b)
This ritual reveals an important principle: The work of Christ on the cross is revealed in every age (Titus 2:11).
The sacrifice of the lamb was a significant visual aid. Since the Messiah had not yet come, the lamb represented the Savior. Just as the innocent lamb bore sins symbolically, so the Lamb of God would one day pay the redemption price for all sins by His death (Isa. 53:7-11). The purchase price was not His literal blood, for He did not bleed to death on the cross, nor was it His physical death, since He finished the work of salvation before He died physically (John 19:30).22 The purchase price of salvation was the blood of Jesus Christ—an analogy to His substitutionary spiritual death. Christ was separated from and forsaken by the Father at the cross (Ps. 22:1; Mark 15:34) when He carried our sins (1 Pet. 2:24). His subsequent physical death marked the completion of His salvation work on the cross and was essential to His resurrection.
The lamb had to be “spotless” or perfect because in the analogy it represented Jesus Christ who was sinless. The perfect lamb symbolically bore sins in the Old Testament ritual. In the New Testament, the precious blood of Christ becomes a technical term referring to the sacrifice of Christ for the sins of the entire human race.
“The Lamb of God” has redeemed or purchased freedom from sin (John 1:29). Jesus Christ has opened wide the doors of the slave market. But the volition of each slave must respond to the release. Slaves decide to leave or to remain in the slave market. When any slave chooses to leave by faith alone in Christ alone, he takes “refuge in Him.”
The LORD redeems the soul of His servants; and none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned. (Ps. 34:22)
Salvation is free! Redemption is free! The reason salvation is free is because someone else paid the price. Someone had to pay.
At some time in your life you have relied on a system of perception called faith. You may say, “I am a rationalist; I am an empiricist.”23 But you did not begin discovering the world through reason or experience. You began as a child using faith as your basic system of perception. You were told the sky is blue, the grass is green. A dog was a dog and a cat was a cat because someone identified them for you. Your teacher said, “There is a land called England.” You had neither been there nor seen the country. You believed England existed because you trusted the authority and veracity of your teacher. You could have refused to believe her, but you did not. You accepted facts on faith. This is the way everyone begins the learning process, since faith is the basic system of perception.
By faith we accept or reject what the Bible teaches. By faith we accept or reject that Christ purchased our freedom from the slave market of sin, that the shackles of sin have been broken, and that the door to freedom is now open. We can believe these facts based on the authority and veracity of the infallible Word of God.
Even though Christ has opened the door, we may choose to exist in the slave market forever. Walking away from the slave market of sin takes an act of positive volition on our part: We leave by our own decision. That is why the Scripture says “believe.” Salvation has been freely provided by Jesus Christ, but we must accept it by faith alone.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12)
“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” (John 10:9)
Suppose a man observes a group of people living in a slave market whose shackles have all been removed. He informs them, “You are free. Go!” They answer, “Shackle us again. We do not want to leave!” So they remain in chains, just as so many unbelievers continue to be locked in the chains of negative volition.
Jesus Christ is the door to freedom from the slave market. Once we see that open door, all we do is move out from slavery. Frequently, there is confusion at this point. How many glowing testimonies have we heard by well-meaning but misguided Christians who wish to convey ‘the experience’ of the moment of salvation? The testimony usually includes a dramatic episode. The incident might be as follows: “There I was, bailing out of my aircraft after being shot down by enemy ground fire. As the parachute opened my life flashed before my eyes. I remembered the Scripture my mother often quoted:
“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18)
I said, ‘Oh God, I am believing in Christ.’ As I floated toward earth, I felt saved and knew I would survive the ordeal. I had such great peace of mind. I felt so wonderful!”
Another believer hearing this glorious experience might say, “Now wait just a minute. I trusted Christ, too, but I did not have such a spectacular experience. I did not feel wonderful. I had a hangover at the time and afterward I felt no better. I must not really be saved because I did not feel what he felt.” And yet another believer may think, “When I believed in Christ I never had a rosy glow. I had no exciting experience. I was just sitting in church. Perhaps I am not really a Christian at all!”
Where does the Bible say that you must have a rosy glow, an emotional high, or a sensational experience to be saved? How you feel going through the door is unimportant; what is important is that you go through the door. Thrilling events are optional, never mandatory. Focus on what Christ has done. That is what counts. Christ picked up the tab at the cross. There is nothing left to do but accept His graciousness.
There is only one door, only one way to God (John 14:6). How we arrive at the door may differ, but we must all go through the door. We enter by faith alone in Jesus Christ. How we feel afterward may depend on our health, our personality, our economic status, or any number of factors. Salvation, however, depends on only one fact: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved” (Acts 16:31).
If we must feel wonderful or even different to be saved, then we would all need an emotional experience. But such is not the case. To depend on our emotions ignores the reality of Christ dying to free us. We can do nothing to gain our spiritual freedom. Christ did it all!
If a person were to receive the freedom of eternal life through emotionalism, then salvation would be limited to only those who could generate an emotional experience. However, if salvation is unlimited, open to all—which it is—then receiving salvation is open to all. The key is faith, a possession of every member of the human race. Faith must have an object—Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ is all one needs to go through the door to eternal life.
Let us examine this payment for sin called “unlimited atonement.”24 A theological term, unlimited atonement simply means that Christ died as a substitute for the sins of every person—past, present, and future.
For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died [as a substitute] for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. (2 Cor. 5:14-15)
Namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them. (2 Cor. 5:19a)
That Christ “died for all” is declared twice in verses 14 and 15. In a moment of time all the sins of every person who ever lived were borne by Jesus Christ: He carried them in His own body.
And He Himself bore [carried] our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. (1 Pet. 2:24)
Do not focus on the sins of anyone else at this time. Think only of your own sins. What sins have you committed in the past? How many sins are you committing right now? What sins will you practice in the future? Can you recall your first sin? If you are honest with yourself, you must admit to countless sins with no end in sight. You may reflect, “I have not committed that many sins. I am really a good person.” Perhaps you do not recognize what constitutes sin, but that does not let you off the hook.25 The point is that every sin you will ever commit was borne by Christ as He hung on the cross.
Fixing your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame [of bearing sins]. (Heb. 12:2a)
You are the joy that was set before Christ. He personally paid for your sins. He did the same thing for every member of the human race. Second Peter 2:1 reveals that Christ even died for false teachers. Our Savior left no one out; the payment was complete. That is unlimited atonement.
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)
We have fixed our hope on the living God [Jesus Christ], who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. (1 Tim. 4:10b)
Unlimited atonement has a direct application to the life of all who accept the payment of Jesus Christ. When we walk out the door of the slave market by faith alone in Christ alone, we no longer need to be enslaved to the sin nature. The control of our life by the sin nature is defeated by the filling of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18), the power source for the Christian life. We recover and maintain the filling of the Holy Spirit through naming our sins to God the Father (1 John 1:9).26
In studying the description of this awesome judgment remember one thing: The word sin is never mentioned. Sin is never an issue in either salvation or the Last Judgment. Complete payment has been made for sin; Christ’s substitutionary work removed the sin barrier between God and man. Unlimited atonement gives all mankind access to the benefits of Christ’s redemption. Why, then, do so many refuse to step through the door to freedom from the sin nature and spiritual death? They prefer to rely on their own good deeds rather than the grace of God. The biblical account of the Last Judgment illustrates their foolishness.
His invitation to the entire human race is, “Leave the slave market of sin.” How? By believing in Christ who paid the penalty for our sins and the sins of the entire world. Christ was our substitute; therefore, depend only on His work. Ultimately, every member of the human race faces this issue: Will you depend on the work of Christ—redemption and unlimited atonement—or will you depend upon your own human works, your good deeds?
Many people believe good deeds are the basis of salvation. This Satan-inspired lie has been perpetrated by all manner of confused people and religious organizations, including so-called evangelicals. You may have heard an evangelist preach about the Last Judgment, dramatically condemning a few conspicuous sins. He thunders, “You remember those wicked sins you have committed! God’s going to call you to account!” There are grimaces and groans among the listeners and with a collective sigh they think, “I have had it!”
Nothing could be further from the truth! God will not mention the unbeliever’s sins at the Last Judgment. The law of double jeopardy must be applied—you cannot be tried twice for the same crime. Since every sin has already been judged at the cross (1 Pet. 2:24), and since Christ will be the judge at the Last Judgment (John 5:22), He cannot mention that which has already been judged.
And I saw a great white throne and Him [Jesus Christ] who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. (Rev. 20:11)
In the Scripture white represents righteousness. In His first advent Christ, who never sinned personally, was judged for our sins. But at the great white throne He is the righteous Judge. The only people trying to escape from this judgment are unbelievers—people who never believed in Christ as Savior during their lifetime.27 They will be resurrected to stand before Him in judgment.
And I saw the dead [spiritually dead unbelievers], the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book [of a different kind] was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds [ἔργα, erga, “works”]. (Rev. 20:12)
At the judgment scene there will be two sets of books. One is the book of life which includes the name of every person who has believed in Christ. The unique aspect of the book of life is that originally all members of the human race were listed. However, when anyone dies without believing in Christ as Savior, his name is blotted out (Ps. 69:28; Rev. 3:5; cf. 1 John 5:5). The second set of books is the book of works, volumes and volumes listing all the “deeds” or “works” of the unbelieving members of the human race.
Notice that the unbelievers who have been resurrected, called the “dead,” are judged according to their works, not according to their sins. In this context works does not connote personal sin because the sins of all humanity were imputed to Christ at the cross and have already been judged. Therefore, sins are never the basis for indictment at the Last Judgment. Condemnation of the unbeliever is based solely on human works, the only ‘good’ deeds left open for examination and judgment. Why? When an unbeliever rejects the work of Christ, he has only his good works to rely on as a substitute. These works can never measure up to God’s perfect righteousness.
For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment. (Isa. 64:6a)
The Case Of Charlie Brown
Brown, C., is standing before the judge in heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ. The angelic clerk turns to the B’s in the book of life but finds that Charlie’s name has been blotted out; he died without believing in Christ as Savior. However, an impressive number of good works are recorded for Charlie in the book of works.
Charlie Brown was regarded as a successful businessman. Through hard work and shrewd management he had accumulated a fortune. He was good-hearted and philanthropic, giving large sums of money to numerous charities, as well as supporting many other worthy causes. He never forgot the poor and needy. He joined a church and financed a new building. Charlie had been an outstanding leader of his community and succeeded in many benevolent endeavors. From the human viewpoint he was truly wonderful. His list of good works was long and remarkable.
One million two hundred seventy-five thousand three hundred and twenty-four good works are recorded in the book of works under the name of Charlie Brown. What an enviable account! Charlie had really worked hard! He had been a phenomenal do-gooder. In Charlie’s thinking this tremendous accumulation of good deeds far outweighed any failures. Surely heaven will open wide and Charlie will be received with ruffles and flourishes.
Tragically for Charlie, all the good deeds in the world will not open the door to heaven.
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit [spiritual birth]. (Titus 3:5)
His ledger of 1,275,324 deeds all add up to man’s relative righteousness, minus-R. His hard work had not canceled his debt with God; he still fell short of God’s perfect righteousness, plus-R. If Charlie were to qualify to spend eternity with God, he must possess plus-R. Mankind can receive God’s righteousness in only one way: by imputation at the moment he believes in Christ as Savior (1 Cor. 1:30).
For what does the Scripture say? “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED [imputed or credited] TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Rom. 4:3)
But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness. (Rom. 4:5)
For Charlie and every unbeliever at the Last Judgment of Christ it is too late. The transaction from slavery to freedom should have been handled during his lifetime.
This is the way Charlie’s balance sheet looks in the book of works compared to that of Joe Brown, a believer whose balance sheet remains in the book of life.
