Our Already-Blessings by the Son (1:7-12)
Paul moves the emphasis of his doxological outpouring to the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. This connection is evident from the end of v.6, recognizing Jesus as the “Beloved” with the use of “in” at the end of v.6 and the beginning of v.7 remaining steadfast on the identity of the believers’ glorious location. While we see the phrases “in Christ,” “in Him,” or “in the Beloved” scattered throughout these 11 verses, the glorious blessings of being “holy and blameless before Him in love” (1:4) and the “adoption as sons” (1:5) has progressed forward to the redemption that is found in Christ Jesus alone. This third point of blessing may be the reason for Paul’s rare used of designating Christ as the “Beloved,” signifying His sacrifice. Everything that we have as “already blessings” are things that were not given to us until we were “in Christ.” Only “in Him” do we have “every spiritual blessing” (1:3b). In like manner, this redemption is also found in Christ Jesus, for apart from Him there is no forgiveness of sin (Heb 7:27; 9:12, 22; 10:10-12).
What is bound up in the great package that is “redemption?” The word for “redemption” here has two definitions, with both hammering home the same point. First, we have “the act of freeing and liberating from something that confines, release.” Second is “the act of freeing from an obligation, guilt, or punishment, pardon, cancellation.” Baugh writes, “The heart of Christ’s mediation is expressed in v. 7 with ‘redemption’ (ἀπολύτρωσις, apolytrōsis), which was most commonly used in the Ephesians’ world either for redemption of kidnapped people or of slaves into the status of freedmen through payment of a λύτρον (lytron) (or pl. λύτρα, lytra), ‘ransom.’”
When reading that “redemption” has the idea of “ransom” attached to it, it is important to guard against thinking “that Jesus’ death on the cross was a payment to Satan to release people from Satan’s bondage.” This is the view that is portrayed in the C.S. Lewis classic The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe.
Then, just before she gave the final blow, she stooped down and said in a quivering voice, “And now, who has won? Fool, did you think that by all this you would save the human traitor? Now I will kill you instead of him as our pact was and so the Deep Magic will be appeased. But when you are dead what will prevent me from killing him as well?
While masterfully capturing the deceitful ways of Satan, and even noting that such a sacrifice is substitutionary in nature, the “pact” made is off-putting, being heinous theology. To whom does God Almighty owe anything? Does the Creator of all things negotiate with His enemies as a means of accomplishing victory? Absolutely not. The Lord has bought the sinner out of the bondage and condemnation that comes with being in sin (1 Cor 6:20) and the means of that purchase was certainly that of His own blood (Mark 10:45; Acts 20:28). But Satan is not the one in need of appeasement in regard to sin; God is. It is because of sin that wrath comes upon mankind (Rom 1:18). Being wholly just, God cannot be static. Being merciful, He will not leave man without hope. Geisler provides a healthy view here:
Without Christ, the God-man, paying the price for our sins, God could not be just and yet also be the Justifier of the unjust, as Paul declared Him to be (Rom 3:21–25). Without the Just dying for the unjust, God’s justice would not be satisfied, and without justice being appeased, God’s mercy could not be released to declare the otherwise unjust sinners to be justified in His eyes and, hence, qualified for heaven.
The nature of redemption must fall in line with the character and attributes of YHWH Elohim, the Creator of all things. He alone sets the standards for what is good and evil, right and wrong, just and unjust. He alone has the final say and seeing that He requires blood for the forgiveness of sins (Heb 9:22) and that He has modeled such means in His first interaction with man’s sin (Gen 3:21), we should maintain the pattern revealed in Scripture seeing that it points to God’s final answer in the Lord Jesus Christ (Heb 9:11-14).
Paul writes of redemption, while including the same elements in Romans 3:24-25a.
“…and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith.”
Do you see the power that is wrapped up in a word like “redemption?” In Christ, we are set free by His blood from the solitary confinement of guilt and condemnation from our multiple offenses against God. Without the redemption of Christ, we are slaves to sin in the domain of darkness (Col 1:13). We were helplessly drowning in sin, serving our flesh, thinking according to the philosophies of Satan’s fantasyland that he has fashioned this present world system to be, and passing through Hell at break-neck speed on our way to the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:11-15).
Such a condition is why we see the subject of redemption constantly shrouded in grace. Our undeserving lot is of the worst kind. So, we praise the Lord for His life given for sinners, but this is not the end as some would suppose.
Reading 1:7, Beal and Radmacher have noted that “have” is “the only main verb in the present tense in the whole sentence. It has the sense of ‘continue having.’” This should not surprise us since we have been kept aware of the fact that Paul is expounding upon the saints’ “already blessings” in Christ, meaning that such blessings are post-justification. “To continue having redemption means that the benefits of God’s grace continue to apply, even if God’s child should fall into sin—as at times any of us may do!” Wuest notes this as well:
The verb is present in tense, and durative in action, thus, “in whom we are having redemption.” The redemption is an abiding fact from the past, through the present, and into the future. The fact of redemption is always a present reality with the believing reader of this passage whether he reads it today or ten years from now.
This redemption is something that we have, not just in the past as a one-time event, but it is something that carries on with the believer both presently and in permanence. Though Wuest understands Paul to speaking solely of our redemption from condemnation and guilt (justification), he also notes that “the redeemed are set free from the guilt and power of sin now, to be finally set free from the presence of sin at the Rapture.” This may also be what Wescott is seeing when he refers to the present tense verb as “to have and enjoy.”
The glorious truth of redemption deserves a front seat in our minds and in the verbiage of the church, which should be preached in the regular observance of the Lord’s Table. Without the redemption that Christ provides, we would have no grounds for holding our heads up. All other ground truly is sinking sand! Without His precious blood, there is nothing in this life; no impartation of eternal life (justification), no abundant life (sanctification), and no life to come (glorification), all of which stand within the singular event of Christ at Calvary.
This greater sense of redemption in is explained by Chafer:
Redemption, then, may also be considered in these two aspects: that which has been already accomplished through the blood of the cross, and that which may yet be done for the one who believes, through the immediate power of God. The ransom price has been paid for all; yet for the one who believes there is a further work of redemption which is manifested in the transforming and sanctifying power of the Spirit. Happy is the individual who believes what God has written, and rests in the redeeming work of Christ as his only deliverance from the hopeless estate of the lost.
We can see from Chafer’s assessment that the circle of influence in regard to our redemption stretches past the initial moment of our conversion into the very life of the believer. Its effects are lasting and are purposed to reassure us and change us!
When considering a verse like 1 John 1:9, we catch a glimpse of this present tense, abiding power of redemption.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we have already been forgiven our sins at the moment of salvation, why would the believer be cleansed after confessing their sins? Our situation at the moment of salvation is judicial in nature, of which the word “justification” is used in declaring us righteous in the eyes of the Father. But when we speak of those who are already in a relationship with the Father through the Son, we are speaking of personal, family matters that disrupt the fellowship between the parties who are already in a relationship with one another. Confession of sin calls upon the blood to do its abiding work, removing the disruption and restoring the harmony of all involved. This is the both the need and the power of the blood.
Because of the great scope of the doctrine of redemption, the natures of propitiation and expiation must be considered.
In the Bible both expiation and propitiation are part of God’s atoning work. Christ’s sacrifice both propitiates (turns away) the wrath of God and expiates (covers) human sin. God’s redemptive work is both personal, or relational, and objective. When a biblical context concentrates on God’s wrath, propitiation is involved; when human sin is the focus, then redemption provides expiation.
Propitiation is “that which… appeases (or satisfies) the divine justice and conciliates (or wins over) the divine favor.” The debt of sins is paid by the blood of Jesus and with the demands upon man having now been met in His perfect Son, God is now satisfied in this respect. Knowing that His justice must remain uncompromised (Rom 3:19-20), and yearning with love for the people of this world (1 Tim 2:4-6; 1 John 4:10), God gave of Himself, from His own, in order to secure our salvation and to satisfy His righteous demands (Rom 3:26).
It must be stated that propitiation is universal in nature. Reading 1 John 2:2 in reference to Jesus Christ, we read “and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” The issue of sins has been paid by Jesus for every person who has ever lived at any time. This is why we see no “payment for sins” mentioned at the Great White Throne Judgment in Revelation 20:11-15. We find that the works of the unredeemed are considered and weighed, and we find that the Book of Life is consulted which renders the final verdict for the Lake of Fire. But we never read that sins are under consideration, nor are those who are without eternal life sent to the Lake of Fire to “pay for their own sins” as some have taught. Jesus is the satisfaction needed to turn away the wrath of God. Someone will quickly reply, “Well, isn’t this universalism and therefore everyone is going to Heaven?” Far from it. Just because a debt has been paid does not mean that the one in need of relief has appropriated it. One’s sins may have been forgiven of them but if they have never believed, they are still under condemnation (John 3:16-18). This is not because the overwhelming debt of their sin remains, but it is because they do not possess God’s life since they have not believed in the Son of God.
Dwelling upon propitiation should give great joy to the believer in Christ. If God is satisfied with the blood of Christ on our behalf, should we not be satisfied also? The requirement has been met in full, and for this we rejoice in God’s profound grace.
When we speak of our sins being expiated, we are stating that even the guilt and shame that accompany one’s offenses are removed from the individual and they need not be remembered again. God certainly doesn’t! The blood does not only appease, but it also covers and cleanses completely.
Guilt is said to be expiated when it is visited with punishment falling on a substitute. Expiation is made for our sins when they are punished not in ourselves but in another who consents to stand in our room. It is that by which reconciliation is effected. Sin is thus said to be ‘covered’ by vicarious satisfaction.
Being covered completely, the evidence against us has been expelled from the discussion. As the author of Hebrews puts it, “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Heb 10:14). Again, the believer must ask: If this is God’s means of dealing with the issue of our sins, and He is pleased with the results offered by the Great High Priest Jesus Christ, should we not also rest in His approval and glory in the riches of His grace?
These words may be new to you, but they are worth knowing, understanding, and using, if for no other reason than to remind ourselves, and our brothers and sisters, of the great depths and lengths of the sacrificial work of Christ on the cross. All that He has done, He has done on our behalf, seeing as how we are all inadequate to pay for our own sins. The blessings that pour forth from the death of Christ are poured upon a bankrupt civilization through personal faith in the Christ, the Son of God (Matt. 16:16; John 20:31). Redemption stands as the third of the “already blessings” that every saint in Christ has.
This great redemption that the believer has in Christ Jesus comes about in only one way, through His blood. Rather than singling out “Jesus Christ” as he did in verse 5, Paul narrows the focus even more to emphasize the blood. There is not enough room in all of the books of the world to write about the value and magnitude of the blood of Christ. When we speak of the blood of Christ, we are speaking of the outpouring of His life for the world.
Through His blood the Son of God has taken us out of the condition in which we are. He paid the price and has set us free. The redemption we have in Him is a settled thing. We know it belongs to us. But it means more than the forgiveness of our sins. The riches of His Grace revealed in redemption through His blood includes all our needs as sinners. The blood has redeemed us, set us free, from all things in which we are by nature. All we have, all we are, all we shall have and shall be are the blessed results of redemption by blood.
With the blood of Jesus, we are addressing a commodity that is far more valuable than gold, silver, platinum, rubies, or diamonds. We are looking to a precious means that is wholly apart from ourselves. We are pardoned, acquitted, set free, but also exalted (Eph 2:6), blessed (1:3-14), united (2:13-16), and endowed with the Spirit of God (4:4; 5:18).
The need for blood in relation to one’s sins did not begin with the New Testament. The animals that were sacrificed in the Old Testament were a type (a physical, historical reality used in foreshadowing a spiritual truth which would later come into play) of the One who was to come and redeem the world. We see that Genesis 9 draws great attention to the significance of blood. When Noah comes out of the ark, he sacrifices to the Lord and worships. The Lord God ushers in the Dispensation of Human Governance at this time seeing that the Dispensation of Conscience had ended in the judgment of His creation because “the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen 6:5). The Dispensation of Human Governance called upon mankind, who are completely aware and discerning between right and wrong (Gen. 3:7; 4:2-7; 6:5, 12), to govern themselves. This responsibility carried the penalty of capital punishment into history, demonstrating the seriousness of murder due to man being made in the image and likeness of YHWH Elohim (Imago Dei- Gen 1:27; 5:1; 9:6). But before the institution of capital punishment, God gives a lesson on the nature of blood.
In Genesis 9:3-4, God says, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave the green plants, I give you everything. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.” God establishes the blood of a creature (man or animal) as being the very essence of their life. Before the flood, both humans and animals were herbivores. With this new dispensation in which the eating flesh for the purpose of sustenance was now promoted, the blood was to be removed and not consumed. This would necessitate a process in which the preparation of the animal would take some time and while preparing it, the consumer would become acutely aware of the blood involved. An animal had lost its very life to sustain the one who would consume it. Even today, this is a sobering thought.
We also find a reiteration of this concept in Leviticus 17:10-11. It says,
If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.
God takes the blood seriously. He understands that it is precious because He is the One who created it. He knows the design, depths, and intricacies of the circulatory system. And He fully understands what it can accomplish when brought forth. In this passage, we see that blood was given to make atonement for people. Sin requires blood. This is not a small issue that can be played down as many have over the centuries. Our “little white lies” are deserving of death. Every one of our wrong doings must be brought to justice because we are all under the authority of a Creator. He is holy, meaning that He is completely set apart from the things of this world because all of the things in this world have been tainted and retrained by sin. Apart from YHWH Elohim, there is nothing good, righteous, holy, or worthy, nor is there the ability to recognize these things as such, for He alone declares what is “good” (Gen 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). All things are defined by Him because all things belong to Him (Num 3:13; Psa 89:11; Ezek 18:4; John 16:15; 17:10).
All things being tainted by sin certainly includes the human race. Blood is necessary to reconcile us to our original, God-intended place. Through sin we have wandered when Home was at the Father’s side. Blood brings us Home. M.R. DeHaan writes,
Every drop of blood which flowed in Jesus’ body is still in existence, and is just as fresh as it was when it flowed from His wounded brow and hands and feet and side. The blood that flowed from His unbroken skin in Gethsemane, the blood that was smeared about His back when the cruel, weighted thongs cut through His flesh as the flagellator scourged Him, the blood that oozed out under the thorny crown and flowed from His hands, His head, His feet was never destroyed for it was incorruptible blood.
Blood runs throughout the pages of Scripture, and for this we say “Amen.” We will not apologize for the blood. We will not shy away from the blood. We must never compromise the blood. For it is by His blood, and only by His blood, that we are justified in the presence of God Almighty. Jesus’ blood is the most valuable commodity to ever touch the earth. It is in His blood that we stand.
What does this precious blood accomplish? It brings about the “forgiveness of our trespasses.” Our redemption has been paid for by Jesus’ blood. We have been bought with a price (1 Cor 6:20). We are a paid-for people. This understanding of the “forgiveness of our trespasses” contains more than what we readily understand in the English language. The word translated “forgiveness” here is aphesis, to which Lenski understands it as “remission.” He notes that “redemption” and “remission” are not to be confused as being one act and are never stated as such in the Scriptures. He writes, “The remission rests on the ransoming.” He goes on to state that “forgiveness” is not an accurate translation of aphesis because the word means “to send away.” The sending away of our sin brings to mind the concept of the “scapegoat” in Leviticus 16. In dealing with an atonement for sin, there were two goats that were brought forth, one to die for the sin (propitiation- Lev. 16:9), and one to symbolize the removal of sin (expiation- Lev. 16:10). Tony Evans writes,
The high priest laid his hands on the head of the goat and confessed the nation’s sins over the goat, and then it was released in the wilderness. This ritual signified the removal of sin, thus averting the judgment of God against sin for the next year. Now the only problem was that this goat sometimes wandered back into the Israelites’ camp, which nobody wanted to see because it was like having their sins come back on them. So according to some sources, the person who led the goat into the wilderness often took the goat to a cliff and pushed it off. That’s a picture of complete redemption- the removal of sin in such a way that it will never show up again.
This is what took place on the Day of Atonement, and the Day of Atonement occurred every year. This stands in stark contrast to the all-sufficient payment of Jesus Christ in redeeming the saints in Christ, because His sacrifice is an everlasting sacrifice that is eternal in nature. Hebrews 9:22-28 states this contrast between the requirements of the Law and the perfect sacrifice of Christ in this way:
Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him (emphasis added).
Christ’s death accomplishes all that the Levitical Code commanded, yet He does it completely, sufficiently, without need of aid, nor without anything additional. His death is a totality that acquits the believer and frees the believer.
The Greek word for “trespasses” used here is paraptoma and means “in imagery of one making a false step so as to lose footing.” Lenski adds insight:
the result of falling to a side. The idea in our English equivalent “transgression” is that of crossing the line of right. The difference is formal; the one language conceives the sinner as having fatally fallen by plunging off the road of right, the other as having run counter to the line of right. To divide the sin and the guilt is abstraction, the guilt hugs the sin like its shadow, and it is impossible to send the one away without sending away also the other.
The word is sometimes translated as “transgressions.” In either case, the point of this great purchase is that a high price was paid (Jesus’ blood) for the release, pardon, and cancellation of any and all debt that was owed by the sinner due to their internal constitution and constant tendency to walk in the wrong direction. This release has issued absolute freedom to the saint and has established them before God so as to be seen in perfection! All of this encapsulates the power of the blood and is only possible by God’s glorious grace!
When we speak of something being “according to the riches of his grace,” we are walking into a world of incredible privileges and astronomical heights! Trying to measure something of God leaves us in awe with answers that we cannot verbalize. The word for “riches” here carries a world of overwhelming grace by itself. Louw and Nida defines the word “riches” as “a high point on any scale and having the implication of value as well as abundance—‘great, abundant, abundantly, greatly, extremely.’ The grace of God towards the saints in the redeeming act of Christ, in which He pays the debt of the world with His precious blood, is the high point of the scale. You cannot get any higher than this great precipice of grace! Mackintosh rejoices:
Oh! the blessedness; transgression forgiven; sin covered." This truly is blessedness, and without this, blessedness must be unknown. To have the full assurance that my sins are all forgiven, is the only foundation of true happiness. To be happy without this, is to be happy on the brink of a yawning gulf into which I may, at any moment, be dashed for ever. It is utterly impossible that any one can enjoy solid happiness until he is possessed of the divine assurance that all his guilt has been cancelled by the blood of the cross. Uncertainty as to this must be the fruitful source of mental anguish to any soul who has ever been led to feel the burden of sin. To be in doubt as to whether my guilt was all borne by Jesus or is yet on my conscience, is to be miserable.
The “forgiveness of our trespasses” is “according to” the riches of His grace. As seen in 1:5b, the phrase “according to” speaks of a measurement of sorts, but being of a sort that we are unable to manage or calculate. His grace has a “value and abundance” that is equal to the redemption that we have been blessed with in Christ. The forgiveness of our trespasses is not a partial or conditional occurrence. This is a total and unequivocal occasion that fully acquits the saints from their great debt of sin, absolving entirely the guilt that comes with it. What riches we find in Christ! We have been forgiven according to the riches of His grace, which are so abundant that they stand beyond any earthly measurement. This is an inexhaustible well that satisfies our spiritual thirst completely.
We will notice in verse 8 that Paul expands upon the riches of God’s grace in stating that He has “lavished” it upon us. The escalator just keeps going up! Even though this word is used in the New Testament by Paul twenty-six times (thirty-nine times total in the NT), this is the only time that this word is used in Ephesians. The word “lavish” is something that immediately catches the eye of the saint. Grace has been lavished upon us; it has been given to us in abundance with plenty left over. There is no shortage of grace in Christ! McCalley has summed it up in this way, “The Lord’s forgiveness is as rich as its procurement was costly. The infinite cost of salvation brought equally infinite results. God’s unspeakable gift responds to our bankrupt state with wealth that knows no limits.” If we ponder this Truth, we find that we actually have so much grace encompassing us that we might not be too sure what to do with it! Oh, how this shines beyond our attempts to assert self.
I approach God through His merit alone, and never on the basis of my attainment; never, for example, on the ground that I have been extra kind or patient today, or that I have done something for the Lord this morning. I have to come by way of the Blood every time. The temptation to so many of us when we try to approach God is to think that because God has been dealing with us—because He has been taking steps to bring us into something more of Himself and has been teaching us deeper lessons of the Cross—He has thereby set before us new standards, and that only by attaining to these can we have a clear conscience before Him. No! A clear conscience is never based upon our attainment; it can only be based on the work of the Lord Jesus in the shedding of His Blood.
It is all of grace!
The appropriate response would be to humble ourselves in praise to the power of God demonstrated through the death of Jesus Christ. This is why we never outgrow the cross. We never get past grace. We never move on from redemption. We never “get over” the blood. For some of us, the salvation message gets old over time. This is not a cause for rejection in favor of “better things” (as if there were better things for us than a full and free redemption), but a cause for revival in solemn appreciation of the greatest thing that has already been done: Jesus Christ, on the cross, for our sins effectually cleansing us until our catching up into Glory. Our whimsical wants and short attention spans will discredit the significance of the cross if we are not humbling ourselves before the Savior. Grace has been lavished upon us. This thought alone holds the glory of God before us!