Torrey's Topical Textbook

"Concerning Redemption, Introductory"

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Matthew Henry Commentary -
Easton's Bible Dictionary - Nave's Topical Bible - Torrey's Topical Textbook

Concerning Redemption, Introductory

  • IV. Concerning Redemption.
  • 1. Introductory and General Statements.
  • The sin and ruin of man gave occasion for the gracious interposition of God. In the curse upon the serpent was intimated the purpose of redemption. Ge 3:15

  • a. There is, however, no Self-redemption.
  • The fall of man wrought a change in both his nature and his condition. To be redeemed he must be placed where he was before, both as to character and as to state. His purity must be restored; his condemnation must be removed. Man cannot redeem himself, because--

  • 1. The legal difficulty is insuperable. The divine law requires a perfect obedience.
  • Mt 22:37; Ga 3:10
  • _There can be no surplus obedience_, no reparation for sin that is past.
  • 2. The moral difficulty is insuperable.
  • Job 14:14; Joh 3:6
  • There is no tendency in that which is sinful to that which is holy. No sinner can regain by self-effort alone the purity which he has lost; but this is indispensable to redemption.
  • Heb 12:14
  • b. No Redemption by other Creatures.
  • It is equally certain that, while sinful man cannot redeem himself, no other creature can redeem him. The fact of creatureship necessitates dependence and obligation. The highest angel and all the angels are under law to God. That law is perfect, it exacts their whole power of love and service. By no possibility can they love and serve God except for themselves alone. To find a being qualified and able to redeem, we must find one over whom the law has no jurisdiction. In the presence of that being we are in the presence of God.
  • c. Will God redeem?
  • 1. Nature furnishes presumptive evidence that God will redeem. Nature show the goodness of God. His gifts are not determined by the moral character of man.
  • Ps 103:10; 145:15,16; 147:8,9; Mt 5:45; 6:26
  • 2. In the world man is subject to many evils as to his body, but all around him are remedies in nature.
  • 3. The universal presence of sacrifice is another presumption. It is probable that sacrifice did not originate with man, but in the appointment of God.
  • Ge 3:21
  • 4. If nature is uncertain, revelation is clear and conclusive. From the fall of Adam to the birth of Christ the divine purpose was constantly being more fully and clearly revealed.
  • Ge 3:15; 4:4; 5:24-29; 6:8; 14:18; Joh 8:56; Isa 53:1-12; Da 9:24-27; Joe 2:28-32; Zec 13:1-7
  • 5. The presence and work of the Holy Spirit also attested.
  • Ge 6:3; Ex 31:2,3; Jud 6:34; 11:29; Ne 9:20; Isa 44:3,4; 59:21; 63:11; Hag 2:5
  • d. The Redeemer, or Messiah, has Already Come.
  • It is plain from the prophecies and from their historical fulfilment that the Messiah must have long since come.

  • Ge 49:10; Da 9:25; Hag 2:6-9; Mal 3:1
  • e. Jesus Christ the Messiah, as shown by Fulfilled Prophecies.
  • 1. Was to be from eternity the fellow of God.
  • Isa 9:6; Mic 5:2; Zec 13:7; Mt 3:17; Joh 1:1-3; 1Jo 5:20
  • 2. To be born not by ordinary generation, but of a virgin.
  • Isa 7:14; Mt 1:18-25; Lu 1:26-33
  • 3. In Bethlehem of Judea.
  • Mic 5:2; Lu 2:4,11; Mt 2:4-6; Joh 7:42
  • 4. To come while the sceptre still lingered with Judah, near by the close of the weeks predicted by Daniel, and while the second temple was yet standing.
  • Ge 49:10; Mt 2:1; Da 9:25; Lu 2:1; Hag 2:6-9; Mt 24:1,2
  • 5. To be of the race of Abraham, of the tribe of Judah, of the family of David.
  • Ge 22:18; 49:10; 2Sa 7:16; Isa 11:1-9
  • 6. To come in humble circumstances.
  • Isa 53:2; Lu 2:7-24; Isa 49:7; Mt 8:20; Mr 6:3
  • 7. To make Himself known by works of mercy and of supernatural power.
  • Isa 35:3-6; Joh 5:36,37; Isa 42:7; 61:1-3; Joh 10:24,25
  • 8. To be despised and rejected of men.
  • Isa 53:3-7; Joh 1:10,11; Lu 23:18-21
  • 9. To be cut off by a violent death and His body to be pierced.
  • Isa 53:8; Da 9:26; Lu 23:23,33; Ps 22:16; Joh 20:25; Zec 12:10; Joh 19:34
  • 10. Other prophecies concerning His death.
  • Ps 22:7,8; Mt 27:39-43; Ps 69:21; Mt 27:34; Ps 22:18; Joh 19:23,24; Ex 12:46; Joh 19:33,36; Isa 53:12; Mr 15:27; Isa 53:9; Mt 27:57-60
  • 11. To rise from the dead, to ascend on high, leading captivity captive.
  • Ps 16:9-11; Mt 28:5-7; Ps 68:18; Ac 1:9-11
    • f. The Incarnation.
  • The word incarnation comes from Latin words (in and caro, carnis, flesh) meaning "in the flesh." To become incarnate is to become a man. Remaining God, Christ became man and as such lived among men. The divine was not changed into the human, or co-mingled with the human so that it became what it was not before, but _the divine took the human into union with itself and so entered a form or mode of being which was new as well as mysterious_. As by faith we understand that the world was framed by the word of God, so by faith we understand that He who framed the world became incarnate.

  • Heb 1:1-14; 11:3

  • While incarnation could not affect the nature and properties of Deity, it did affect their manifestation. The glory which the Son had with the Father was not visible when He was among men.

  • Joh 17:5; Php 2:7; Joh 1:14; Lu 1:32

  • To the sight of men the human was the more constant and conspicuous. At times, however, there was the clear shining forth of Deity.

  • Mt 7:28,29; Joh 3:2; 7:46; Mt 17:1,2
  • g. Old Testament Intimations of the Incarnation.
  • 1. In the first promise. In the renewal of the promise to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David He was to be their seed.
  • Ge 3:15; 22:18; 28:14; 2Sa 7:12-29
  • 2. The theophanies of the old covenant were manifestations of God in the person of His Son.
  • - To Abraham. Ge 18:1-33
  • - To Jacob. Ge 32:22-32
  • - To Joshua. Jos 5:13; 6:5
  • - To Manoah and his wife. Jud 13:1-25
  • 3. Isaiah said: "A Virgin shall conceive, and bear a son"
  • Isa 7:14
  • This would make Him human, at the same time His name was Immanuel, _God with us_. (See also, Isa 9:6; Zec 13:7; Mt 26:31
  • h. Necessity of the Incarnation.
  • Its necessity in the fact of sin. God under no obligation to redeem lost men, but, on the supposition of redemption, the Redeemer must become incarnate.

  • 1. God alone could redeem. The law broken must be vindicated, the nature defiled must be renewed. Men and angels are utterly incompetent in such an exigency. The case necessitates a divine Redeemer.
  • 2. God Himself in redeeming men must do it righteously. His perfect law cannot be set aside. The Redeemer must come under the law, under its jurisdiction and its power. But to do this He must come out of the sphere of absolute God-head into that of real manhood.
  • Heb 2:14-16
  • It was impossible that He should cease to be God; it was not impossible that He should assume into union with Himself the nature of man.
  • i. The Mediator.
  • The Greek word for mediator is emites, meaning _one who goes between_, or _in the middle_. It embraces the additional ideas of _variance_ and _reconciliation_.

  • 1. The word _mediator_ does not in itself indicate by what means mediation is to be made.
  • a. In the case of a _misapprehension_ the mediator would only need to explain, or be an interpreter.
  • b. In a case of _deliberate wrong_ the mediator would seek the clemency and favour of the offended party, and thus _become an intercessor_.
  • c. If, further, the case were such that there were grave _liabilities in law and right_ resting upon the offending party, it would be requisite for the mediator to obtain for him, or himself become _a sponsor_, or to use the Scriptural word, a _surety_ or _bondsman_.
  • d. If the obligations resting upon the offending party were _such as he could not in his own person, or by his own resources satisfy_, it would behove the mediator to take them upon himself, and actually meeting them became his _redemptor_, or _redeemer_.
  • 2. The application of this idea to Christ.
  • The word _mediator_ as applied to Jesus Christ has this definite meaning--_He comes between men and God--separated and at variance by reason of sin-- to effect their reconciliation, in harmony with eternal truth, right, and holiness_.

  • Heb 2:9-18; 4:14-16; 5:9
    • j. Atonement.
  • 1. The usage of the English word.
  • a. Its verbal meaning.
  • This is seen by pronouncing it at-one-ment. In this verbal sense the word expresses a _result_, not that by which the result is gained.
  • b. In theology the word is commonly used to denote _that part of the priestly work of Christ by which He made satisfaction to the law and justice of God for the sins of men, and in view of which men are saved_. In this use it expresses not reconciliation itself, but that which reconciles.
  • 2. Scriptural words in this connection.
  • a. In the Old Testament the fundamental Hebrew word for atonement means _to cover_.
  • Ps 32:1
  • According to it, sin is expiated or atoned for by _covering_ it.
  • b. In the New Testament.
  • (1) Katallage ( Ro 5:11 means a change or an exchange; i.e., a change from enmity to love, and so reconciliation.
  • (2) Apolutrosis ( Ro 3:24), deliverance by a ransom or by payment of price. Mat 20:28; 1Pe 1:18,19
  • (3) Hilasmos, propitiation. Both Jews and Gentiles perfectly understood the meaning of hilasmos. When under a sense of sin they would make a propitiation--they approached the altar and laid upon it the sacrificial victim. 1Jo 2:2
  • c. If now we combine and formulate these ideas, we see that the atonement of Christ is _that satisfaction to the law and justice of God for the sins of men, which, as the one great High Priest, He made by His own obedience unto death, and on the ground of which He carries on His acts of intercession and benediction in heaven_.
  • k. Redemption (In contrast with atonement.)
  • _Atonement_ is the ground and means of redemption, while _redemption_ is the result of atonement. Redemption consists of two parts, the one legal, the other moral. The work of Christ meets the demands of the law and man is justified. The work of the Spirit renews the depraved nature and reforms the sinner in the divine image, and man is sanctified.