What is Christian redemption? What does it mean to be redeemed?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

Throughout the Bible, redemption involves rescue through a costly transaction. In the Old Testament, God redeemed His people from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 6:6) and promised future redemption from exile (Isaiah 52:3-6), showing that He reclaims what is His. The Law provided redemption through relatives who could buy back lost property or marry widows to preserve family lines (Leviticus 25:25; Ruth 4:1-13). These provisions reflect God’s desire to restore what has been broken or lost.

In the New Testament, these pictures are magnified and completed in Jesus, who redeems people from their slavery to sin. All people are born in slavery to sin (Romans 6:20; Titus 3:3), and the penalty is death (Romans 6:23). But Jesus, who was sinless, willingly died as a propitiation—satisfying God’s wrath so that those who believe could be set free (Romans 3:23-25). This redemption cannot be earned. Instead, it is given by God’s grace and received by faith (Romans 10:9-10). Redemption, then, is not just forgiveness for sin but freedom to live righteously and no longer serve sin.

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• “Redemption” is a biblical word that means to “purchase” or “ransom” a nation, person, or thing. Historically, redemption was used in reference to the purchase of a slave’s freedom. For example, God told to Moses to tell the Israelites, “I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment” (Exodus 6:6). God would reclaim the Israelites from the Egyptians. In this case, however, because they were already God’s people, the redemption was not through a payment but “with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.”
• Similarly, when talking about Israel’s future redemption, God said, “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money. … My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. Now therefore what have I here … seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail …” (Isaiah 52:3-6). While God caused His people to go into captivity because of her sin (Ezekiel 36:19), she willingly went into slavery and thus those who captured them did not own them. Thus, God will one day redeem (or reclaim) them for the same price: nothing. As with His rescue from Egypt, His redemption will be through judgement (“their rulers will wail”).
• Besides slavery, redemption could also refer to relatives buying back something his impoverished relative lost (Leviticus 25:25-28). Even if the lost property could not be afforded, God provided a way for it to revert to the original owner and his descendants every fifty years (Leviticus 25:5-10). In other words, God had a built in means for sustaining even the poorest among the Israelites.
• Another example of redemption was the “salvation” of a widow. In Old Testament times, widows were exceptionally vulnerable without a husband to protect and provide for them. God mercifully included provisions to marry them to the closest relative of her former husband (Deuteronomy 25:5-10). That relative would redeem them, continuing the line of his relative and ensuring the widow was supported and protected.
• Ruth is a key example of this in action. Though a foreigner, she had been married to an Israelite (Ruth 1:4-5). After her husband died, through the providence of God, Ruth was redeemed by Boaz, a man from the same family as her deceased husband. Naomi, her mother-in-law and also a widow, realized the importance, saying, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers” (Ruth 2:20b, 4:13). God’s kindness in redeeming Ruth was also part of His plan to redeem the world as her offspring with Boaz was the line through which the Messiah would come.

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• The apostle Paul reminded believers that “when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness” (Romans 6:20). His point was that though they were no longer slaves, they used to be. Everyone is born into slavery to sin (Romans 3:23). His larger point was that, since they were no longer slaves to sin, they needed to stop acting like slaves by sinning.
• Paul also wrote, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). Just like someone earns his or her wage by working, death is the earned “wage” for sin. This isn’t just physical death but a second, eternal death (Revelation 21:8). Without redemption, believers would be subject to that second death.
• Jesus came to bring redemption. Being fully God, He never sinned. Being fully human, he lived a perfectly righteous, sinless life, unlike anyone else in history. Because of His perfectly righteous life, He did not have to die—He had not earned those wages. However, He did so willingly. Paul said, “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” (Romans 3:23-25a).
• While this redemption is free (Romans 6:23b), it is only for those who humble themselves and receive it . This means repenting of sin, believing in Jesus, and submitting to Him as Lord and Master through obedience (Romans 10:9-10).

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

Christian redemption means to be bought out the slavery of sin through Jesus’ sacrificial death. This is the only way to be saved because God requires death for all sinners. If you have not trusted in Jesus, then judgement for your sin has not been paid, and you will pay it after you die. Jesus is the only way of salvation (John 14:6).

The first implication, then, is that if you have not yet repented of your sin and turned to Jesus, do that now, before it is too late. Sin is a master who will take you down with it.

For believers, Jesus being your redeemer means more than simply avoiding Hell. It means that you are no longer in slavery to your sin. While an unbeliever will never escape sin, you can. This is why, in Scripture, a true believer is one who fights against his or her sin (1 John 3:9), growing to be more and more righteous (2 Corinthians 3:18) with the aim to be like his or her Master, Jesus. You will never be perfect until you see Him (1 John 3:2), but He did not die so that you could continue in slavery.

Let us praise God for the costly redemption through Jesus. Without Him, there would be no redemption and only an eternity of Hell to come.

UNDERSTAND

• Redemption is being freed from sin’s slavery through Jesus’ sacrificial death.
• Old Testament redemption involved God reclaiming His people or restoring what was lost.
• Jesus’ death is the ultimate redemption, offering salvation by grace through faith.

REFLECT

• How has understanding Jesus as your Redeemer changed the way you view your freedom from sin?
• In what ways are you actively living out the freedom and new life that redemption through Christ offers?
• In what ways do you see God’s redemption shaping your identity and purpose in life?

ENGAGE

• How do the Old Testament examples of redemption deepen our understanding of the spiritual rescue Jesus provides?
• What does it mean that redemption is a costly gift freely given, not something earned?
• How can we encourage and equip believers to live out the freedom and responsibility that come with being redeemed?