Forgiven and redeemed!

For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All. Each of us is marred with sin and defeat–yet God did not want to leave us in a heap of sin, He desires purity, righteousness, and holiness. In episode 14, we dive into Paul’s statement in Ephesians 1:7-8 where he declares that God has given us forgiveness and redemption by the riches of God’s grace. You have been forgiven! You are redeemed! Now we are called to live in this “new creation” reality. Discover what it means to be set free from sin so that you can, in fact, live as God has called you to live—IN Christ Jesus.
Passage: Ephesians 1:7-8

You are Forgiven and Redeemed!

Ephesians 1:7-8 – “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, …”

• Romans 3:10 – “As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one…”
• Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, …”
• Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, …”
• Galatians 5:19-21 – “Now the works of the flesh are revealed [obvious], which are these: adultery, sexual immorality, impurity, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousy, rage, selfishness, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I previously warned you, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
• Leviticus 17:11 – “life is in the blood”
• Hebrews 10:1-3 – “For the law is a shadow of the good things to come,and not the very image of those things. It could never by the same sacrifices, which they offer continually year after year, perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshippers, once purified, would no longer be conscious of sins? But in those sacrifices there is an annual reminder of sins. For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
• Hebrews 9:11-12, 22, 28 – “But Christ, when He came as a High Priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. … [for] without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. … so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many …”
• Forgiveness of sins/trespasses – idea of being pardoned of sin … letting them go and removing the records of them as if they had never been committed. It is the cancelation of the debt and penalty.
  • Psalm 103:12 – “as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
  • Isaiah 38:17b – “… You have kept my soul from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
  • Isaiah 43:25 – “I, even I, am He who blots [wipes out] out your transgressions for My own sake, and will not remember your sins.”
  • Nehemiah 9:17b – “… You are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in kindness, and did not forsake them.”
  • Daniel 9:9 – “To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him.”
  • Micah 7:19 – “He will again have compassion upon us. He will tread down our iniquities, and cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea.”
  • Corrie ten Boom often would say that God would throw our sins into the depths of the sea and then put up a sign that says, “no fishing allowed.”
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away. Look, all things have become new.”
• Redemption is the idea of being set free from captivity through the payment of ransom. If someone gets captured and their captors leave a ransom note, they are saying if they don’t get paid, the person will be harmed or killed.
• Mark 10:45 – “For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
• 1 Peter 1:18-19 – “For you know that you were not redeemed from your vain way of life inherited from your fathers with perishable things, like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
• 1 Peter 1:18-19 (ESV) – “knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”
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