Verse by Verse

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The apostle Paul wrote long sentences. He wrote long confusing sentences that require us to very carefully untangle subjects and verbs and adjectives before we can make sense of what's going on, and it usually helps to have a dictionary handy too. Today's verse is the start of one of those very long confusing sentences, and it comes in the middle of a very long confusing thought. Paul wrote, starting in Ephesians 1 verse 7.

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, having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, In him. That is 4 verses long, and the whole thing is 1 single sentence. If you were able to follow all that in one read through, you have better reading comprehension than I do. Luckily for me, we aren't talking about the whole sentence today. Just that first part in verse 7.

In him, that is in Jesus Christ, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. Even in that short sentence, we're dealing with a lot of incredibly big, incredibly important, and incredibly complicated theological terms. Redemption, forgiveness, sins, grace. If we don't have a handle on what these words mean, it's nearly impossible to make our way through even this first part of a single sentence of Paul's writings. Each of those words are important concepts when it comes to being a Christian.

How comfortable are you in trying to explain them? Could you write out a definition for each one? Could you explain them to a friend? What about to a stranger? If those words intimidate you, then it's time to get familiar with them.

You'll find links in the show notes to articles that explain each term, but here's a quick refresher. To redeem something is to buy it back. A sin is anything we do that violates the laws of God. To be forgiven of a sin is to have God remove the stain of that sin from us, treating us as if that sin never happened. And grace is love and favor from god that we do not and cannot deserve.

So with that in mind, let's take a look at Ephesians 1 verse 7 again. In him, we have redemption through his blood. We are redeemed, bought back, repurchased by God through the blood of Jesus Christ. Sin, violating God's law, cuts us off from God. When we sin, and we've all sinned, we earn a death penalty.

That's a problem. That's a huge problem, if you care at all about what happens after you die. Because with sin in the picture, the answer is not very much. God had to buy us back, redeem us with the blood of Jesus Christ who lived a perfect life and died in our place. When we accept that sacrifice, when we repent of our sins by turning from them and pursuing God's way of life instead, we find redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace.

Redemption and forgiveness are gifts that god gives us through his grace, love and favor that we don't deserve. We can't earn God's forgiveness. We can't buy ourselves back from the consequences of our sins. Only he can do that, and he did it at the expense of the most precious blood that has ever been spilled on this earth. He did it because he loves us in a way that we don't deserve and can only begin to understand, and that is just the first thought of Paul's 4 verse sentence.

You should go and read the whole thing sometime. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The apostle Paul wrote long sentences, But boy, are they powerful ones.

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