Redemption: The Exchange for All Mankind

When we accept God’s offer of the Plan of Salvation, Jesus becomes our Redeemer. He has put Himself in our place to receive the penalty for our sins. This daily devotional reviews what redemption is and isn’t, our response to redemption, the rewards we receive when we respond to His redemption, and the consequences when we don’t.

Devotions in the Self-Discipline Review series

All year, we’ve been looking at self-discipline. We looked at self-discipline as the operational plan for self-control because it talked about improvement.

We are reviewing everything and hopefully putting all of the building blocks together. What I am doing is going through all of the devotions for the year and pulling out the nuggets.

I am formatting this as a glossary page. If I already have one, I will combine them later.

The Plan of Salvation works because Jesus agreed to the exchange. He took our sins – and the paid the penalty for them – when we should have been held accountable for them.

What Is Redemption?

Redemption is where something is used in exchange for something else to gain or regain something.

We needed redemption because Adam and Eve chose not to obey God. This allowed sin into the world (What Is Election?).
The Plan of Salvation was designed because God knew we wouldn’t do the do’s and we would do the don’ts. And still God elected to redeem us anyway (What Is Election?).
God had to choose to redeem us because salvation is all about redemption (What Is Election).
God is a loving, forgiving God. He will forgive us when we sincerely admit our sins, believe in Jesus as Savior and Redeemer, and confess Him as Sovereign God (Can We Really Identify God’s Wrath?).
God, the Creator of the universe, is our Father Who wants to have a relationship with His people. God Sent His Son Jesus to be the Redeemer of mankind (Aren’t We All Children of God?).
God always intended to send Jesus to be our Savior and Redeemer (Did Election Fail?).

That plan was the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ (Completion from the Cross).
Because of God’s infinite grace, He devised the Plan of Salvation that made Jesus our Redeemer in order to forgive us of our sins. Jesus is our Redeemer because He was born of a virgin, making Him 100% God and 100% man; gave His life on the cross for us so that His blood could pay the price for our sins; and because of God’s great might and power, rose from the grave, conquering death and paying the price for our sins (How Do We Benefit from Being God’s People?).
While we were still disobeying God and breaking His laws and commandments, God Sent His Son Jesus to be the Redeemer of all mankind (Does God Really Forgive and Forget Sin?).
God’s redemption is available to all — regardless of race, ethnicity — any qualifier this world uses to separate us. It is only when we accept His salvation that we become the elect (What Is Truth?).
The elect are only those who have been forgiven of their sins. We only become the elect once we admit our sins, believe in Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer, and confess God as Sovereign Lord. Then, we are given the gift of salvation (What Is Election?).
We are redeemed because of Jesus’ blood (Does God Really Forgive and Forget Sin?).
The only cost was paid by Jesus. He had to die to be the blood sacrifice to redeem us (What Is Election?).
Jesus came to earth for one reason — to pay the penalty for our sins. He came to be our Redeeming Savior (The Depth and Height of Christ’s Love).
Jesus’ sacrifice purchased our redemption (Discerning between the Seen and Unseen Worlds to Secure Eternity).
Jesus has redeemed us and freed us from the consequences of sin (An Unjust World).
God wants us to admit that we have been separated from Him. To rectify that, we need to believe in Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer. Then, we are confessing that God is Sovereign Lord and submit to Him (Jesus the Liberator).
Redemption allows us to receive forgiveness for our sins (How Do We Benefit from Being God’s People?).
We couldn’t redeem ourselves, so Jesus became the substitute. He could do the hard stuff, the stuff we would never be able to do (Did Jesus or His Blood Redeem Us?).
We are able to approach God and ask for salvation because Jesus redeemed us (What Was Jesus’ Mission? (Part 2)).
We have to consciously choose to admit our sins, believe on Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer, confess God as our Sovereign Lord, and demonstrate that through how we live our lives. This has to happen before death occurs. Once we are dead, our spiritual condition isn’t changing (Discerning between the Seen and Unseen Worlds to Secure Eternity).
When we admit our sins, believe on Jesus as Redeemer, and confess God as Sovereign Lord, we are forgiven of our sins (How Do We Benefit from Being God’s People?).
When we choose to admit our sins, believe Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer, and confess God as our Sovereign Lord, we are redeemed and regenerated (What Is Diligence?).
The only way we begin to become pure is to admit our sins, believe Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer, and confess God as Sovereign Lord (How Are Disciples Pure in Heart?).
God accomplishes His plan of redemption through His disciples. But look to whom Jesus was talking. Uneducated folk. Common folk (Getting Along with Others).

What Isn’t Redemption?

The law points to Jesus but does not offer redemption as Jesus does (Leadership Change).
Since the law can’t be payment for our sins, we are still spiritually dead under it. We have to admit our sins, believe on Jesus as Redeemer, confess God as Sovereign Lord, and demonstrate that commitment by following our job description (How Do We Let the Spirit Lead?).
God isn’t selling fire insurance. We can’t admit our sins, believe He is our Savior and Redeemer, and confess God as our Sovereign Lord – and drop it. God wants to see evidence that we have chosen Him (The Nominal Disciple).
God loves all people; however, He will only reward those who have admitted their sins, believed on His Son Jesus as Redeemer, and confessed Him as Sovereign Lord (Who Is God?).
Just knowing about God isn’t enough. We have to admit our sins, believe on Jesus as Redeemer, confess God as Sovereign Lord, and demonstrate that commitment by following our job description (Who Is God?).
Jesus is going to guide and comfort us. He is going to redeem and purify us (The Scriptures Last Forever).
The law did not provide a way for redemption. The Plan of Salvation did (Why Is Repentance Important?).

Our Response to Redemption

Everybody was in the same unredeemed boat as, in the spiritual sense, we are all uncircumcised Gentiles (Paul’s Take on Children of God).
We use our minds to decide to ask Jesus to be our Savior and Redeemer and give control of our lives over to our Sovereign God (Watching while Praying).
We enter into Christ’s covenant by accepting Him as our Savior and Redeemer. That makes us one of God’s people (How Do We Benefit from Being God’s People?).

As we dig deeper and deeper into God’s Word, we will see more clearly our unworthiness — except for the admission of our sins, the belief in Jesus as Savior and Redeemer, and confession of God as Sovereign Lord. It is then we truly become poor in spirit and can inherit the kingdom of heaven (Are Disciples to be Docile?).
Unfortunately, we continue to sin after we admit our sins, believe Jesus to be our Savior and Redeemer and confess God as our Sovereign Lord (What Does It Mean to Walk in the Spirit?).
Our job is to tell others so that they may be saved. We need to encourage them to admit their sins, believe on Jesus as the Son of God and as Redeemer, and confess God as Sovereign Lord (How Does Longsuffering Help Consistency?).
We must wholly trust in Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer. We must be seeking His Will and doing our best to follow it (Will Everyone Have a Judgment Day?).

Rewards of Redemption

Our joy and blessings come from believing Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer. Yes, that is the B of our ABCDs (What Is Obedience?).
We get freedom when we ask Jesus to be our Savior and Redeemer. But we have to put Him on the throne of our hearts. We do that through the guidance of the Holy Spirit (How Do We Let the Spirit Lead?).
We find satisfaction by admitting our sins, believing Jesus hung on that cross to become our Savior and Redeemer, and confess God as our Sovereign Lord (Thirst from the Cross).
Jesus died so we might live. Accepting Him as our Savior and Redeemer gives us spiritual life. Eternal, spiritual life (Life from the Cross).
God is looking for the genuine, complete submission of our souls to His authority. We have to admit we are sinners, believe Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer, and confess God as Sovereign King (Salvation from the Cross).

Consequences of not Accepting Redemption

If we do not choose to admit our sins, believe on Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer, and confess God as our Sovereign Lord, we have chosen against Him (Does God Tempt Us?).
One day the Sovereign God is going to judge this world for its unbelief. Those who have not admitted their sins, believed on Jesus as Redeemer and Savior, and confessed Him as Sovereign Lord will learn the errors of their way. But it will be too late (How Did Moses Say Goodbye?).

Redemption and the Churchy Words

Mankind may be elected, but that does not automatically make them the elect. The elect is God’s church — those who have admitted they are separated from Him, believe Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer, and confessed God as Sovereign Lord (Who Can Learn God’s Truth?).
Because we have the hope, we believe in the ultimate triumph of Truth. That will be Jesus’ second coming. In this instance, our hope is in eternal life. We only have that hope when we have Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer. We have to be a child of God, not just a creation made in His image (Are We Proactive or Reactive?).
Only God can create this peace. And He gives it to us freely when we admit our sins, believe on Jesus as Redeemer, confess God as Sovereign Lord, and demonstrate that commitment by following our job description (Thankfulness in Prayer).
Remember, Jesus was the substitute — the propitiation — so that we could be redeemed. That means He had to be us — body, soul, and spirit (Why Jesus Became a Man).
Regeneration is where God breaks Satan’s hold on us. Only God has the power to do that, and He only does when we admit our sins, believe on Jesus as Redeemer, and confess God as Sovereign Lord (How Are Disciples Pure in Heart?).
But we all are spiritually dead — until we admit our sins, believe on Jesus as Savior and Redeemer, and confess God as our Sovereign Lord. Once we ABCD, God regenerates us and makes us spiritually alive (Prayers of Forgiveness from the Cross).
Once we admit our sins, believe Jesus as Savior and Redeemer, and confess God as Sovereign God, we start on the Sanctification Road (How Are We to be Inclusive in Our Worship?).
The Truth will set us free because Jesus is the Truth. He sets us free because He has redeemed us and paid the penalty for our sins. When we accept Jesus is the Word, He marks paid on our accounts. We have to continue in Him on the Sanctification Road so that we change our character to be like Him (What Is Religious Freedom?).

Seeking to imitate God in our lives