Top 7 Bible Verses About Redemption With Commentary

Here are my top seven Bible verses about redemption with a personal commentary.

Redemption

Ephesians 1:7 gives us a good idea of what redemption is and it is “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” Our redemption must come from the shed blood of Jesus Christ or there is no possibility of the forgiveness of sins. The price to redeem ourselves is beyond our reach but not so with God; it comes from the riches of His grace which are infinite. It is in Him (Jesus) that we have redemption and it is through His blood by which redemption is achieved.

Psalm 111:9 “He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name.”

The psalmist reveals that redemption is not a human idea but is sent from God to His people. He sent the Word into the world; He had to come in the flesh to live a perfect life that we couldn’t (John 1). Jesus’ perfect holiness in a human body made Him the perfect sacrifice to satisfy the wrath of God that was on sinners.

Luke 21:28 “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

What were “these things” that were to “begin to take place?” These were the end time events leading up to Jesus second coming. He wants them (and us) to know when our redemption is getting close and even though we’ve already been eternally redeemed, our bodies are yet to be redeemed into the perfect state that God intends for them to be in eternity.

Romans 3:23-25 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 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. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”

This is part of the so-called “Roman Road” to salvation. The Book of Romans shows the sinner that they can never be good enough to make it into the kingdom because not even one of us is good and every single one of us falls infinitely short of God’s glory (Rom 3:10-12). Jesus said “No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18b) and that includes you and I. Thankfully, God has passed over our sins due to our applying the blood of the Lamb on the doorposts and lintel’s of our hearts.

Colossians 1:13-14 “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

God makes deliveries. He delivers us out of the kingdom of darkness and then transports us into “the kingdom of His beloved Son” and this is done only by redemption that came through Jesus Christ. This brings the forgiveness of our sins. It took the death of the Son of God to deliver us from the dark domain but the expense of that transference is beyond our reach. It had to be paid by God Himself.

Romans 8:23 “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”

The older I get, the more I look forward to the redemption of my physical body. It is much like the creation; it groans and moans. My body needs deliverance because it is deteriorating as I write this. The statistics on death are impressive. One out of every one people will die. This physical life is a one-way street…it can only go one direction and that is toward death but Job wrote, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:25).

First Corinthians 1:29-31 “so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Why is the “so that” in the beginning of this sentence? The context is that “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are” (1st Cor 1:27-28). That means we can’t boast but only in the Redeemer.

Hebrews 9:12 “He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”

It’s not about a plan of salvation but the Man of Salvation and that is Jesus Christ Who had to shed His blood for us to be eternally redeemed as it was “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2nd Cor 5:21). This shows that the blood of animal sacrifices could only cover sins but Jesus’ death removes sins; it is what redemption is all about.

Conclusion

It is most difficult to select only seven Bible verses about redemption because that’s the context of the entire Bible. It is the redemption of an unredeemable people by an unbelievable mercy granting an awesome eternity. The word “redeem” means to essentially purchase or pay for something and we were bought with a price; by the precious and infinitely costly blood of the Lamb of God. That’s why Paul’s conclusion was “you were bought (redeemed) with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1st Cor 6:20).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.