Beginning from this lesson we shall cover the different aspects of our redemption.
Redemption means to repurchase what once belonged to you but was lost. Man once belonged to God and was His possession. However, man became fallen and was lost, sinking in sins and in many things that were contrary to God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory, thus falling under the threefold demand of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory. Since man was unable to pay the price, God paid it for man through Christ’s death on the cross, which accomplished an eternal redemption for man (Gal. 3:13; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 10:12; 9:28). Since the blood of Christ has accomplished an eternal redemption for man (Heb. 9:12, 14; 1 Pet. 1:18-19), it is used by God as a great price to recover man, that all who believe in Christ may be redeemed, that is, forgiven, freed, washed, sanctified, justified, and reconciled to God.
Forgiveness of sins is the first part of God’s redemption, and it is received by us immediately upon our believing (Acts 10:43; 26:18). Our first problem before God is that there is a charge against us because of our sins. Only when this charge is resolved can the righteousness of God let us go. Unless our sins before Him are removed, the righteous God cannot grant us the other parts of His redemption. We therefore first need to have God’s forgiveness of our sins.
First, forgiveness of sins means the removal of the charges of sin against us before God that we may be delivered from the penalty of God’s righteousness (John 3:18; 5:24). Because a charge had been made against us before God so that we were condemned by God, it was necessary for us to suffer God’s righteous punishment. But when God forgave us, He delivered us from the penalty of His righteousness and condemned us no longer. This is because the Lord Jesus shed His blood and died on the cross according to God’s righteousness to suffer God’s righteous punishment in our place (Heb. 9:22), thus satisfying God’s righteous requirement. Hence, according to His righteousness, God can, and will, forgive the sins of those who believe in Christ, canceling the charges of sin against them and delivering them from the penalty.
In the New Testament the Greek word for forgiveness means “causing (it) to leave” and “sending away” (Matt. 12:31; Rom. 4:7; Acts 5:31; 13:38). When God forgives us of our sins, He not only cancels the charges of sin against us before Him and delivers us from the penalty of His righteousness, but also causes the sins which we have committed to depart from us. This is because when He made the Lord Jesus an offering for sin on the cross, He laid all our sins on Him that He might carry them up in His body for us (John 1:29; Isa. 53:6; 1 Pet. 2:24). Furthermore, when God caused the Lord Jesus to carry up our sins on the cross to suffer God’s judgment and punishment in our place, He also caused all our sins to be laid on Satan that he should bear them forever. This is revealed in type in the atonement recorded in Leviticus 16. When the high priest made atonement for the children of Israel, he took two goats and presented them before God. One was for God and was to be killed to make atonement for the children of Israel; whereas the other was “for Azazel,” that is, for Satan, to bear the sins of the children of Israel (Lev. 16:7-10, 15-22 ASV). Because Azazel is in contrast to Jehovah, it is a type of Satan who is in opposition to God.
Sin came from Satan. Having been deceived by Satan, man allowed sin to come upon him, resulting in a charge being brought against him before God. God put all our sins on the Lord Jesus that He might bear them all to suffer God’s punishment for us and cancel the charge against us before Him. Then He gave all our sins back to Satan that he might carry them himself. Thus, God can forgive us of our sins and cause our sins to leave us (Psa. 103:12).
Therefore, on the one hand, God forgives us of our sins because the Lord’s blood has removed the charges of sin against us before Him; on the other hand, through the Lord’s offering of Himself as the sin offering, He causes our sins to depart from us forever.