Straight From Pastor Ey

Image credit We are bought with a great price. We are bought from the slave market of sin. We are bought to be set free. Those were the facets of the diamond of redemption. We got the big picture from the three Greek verbs that the apostle Paul used to described redemption. We already learned what agarazo and exagorazo mean. Now we look at the third one, lytroo.   Related to the verb “to loose” ( luo ), it carries the fullest meaning of redemption, namely, “to set free by the payment of a ransom.” …Jesus’ death [is] the redemption price that sets us free and motivates us to live for Him. … A related noun is apolytrosis, the act of buying a slave so that he is free. When a person believes in Christ, he or she is freed from the slavery to sin. [1] Image credit We were not bought to become slaves. We were bought to become free. This is the Greek word that Paul used in Ephesians 1:7. “In him we have redemption [from lytroo ] through his blood, the forgiveness ...

There is a reason why we need to look back time and again. Image credit We have a saying here in the Philippines, “Ang hindi lumingon sa pinanggalingan, hindi makakarating sa paroroonan.” (“He who does not look back cannot go forward.”) Though we are not supposed to dwell in the past, it is good to remember from where the Lord redeemed us.  We already saw the first verb that Paul used for redemption. The first is agarazo , “to purchase in the marketplace.” [1]  The second verb, exagorazo, is akin to the first one. Image credit The prefix ex emphasizes separation of what has been purchased from the slave market altogether. Exagorazo is used two times to stress that believers have been set free from bondage to the Law and its condemnation (Gal. 3:13; 4:5). This adds the idea of being taken out of the slave market. Twice this word refers to “buying back” time (Ephesians 5:16; Col. 4:5). [2] If we would try to earn our way to heaven, we have to keep the ...

Image credit There are two kinds of Greek language, the Classical Greek and the Koine or Common Greek. The New Testament (NT) used the Koine, instead of the Classical. In earlier years, scholars were confused over the difference between NT Greek and Classical Greek. Some even suggested that NT Greek was a special “Holy Ghost language” created by God just for the Bible. [1] But archaeology prove them wrong. It turned out that “the Koine Greek of the NT is similar to that spoken by the average man on the street.”  [2] That means, given the right tools and training, even a lay person can understand Greek. Also, since Koine Greek is already a “dead” language, (that is, no longer in use) it’s meaning is more or less fixed. Much unlike the English language that is still in use today and is very much dynamic or still changing in meaning. Image credit Now, talking about redemption, there are three Greek verbs that “emphasize different aspects of redemption.” [3] Putt...

Image credit In the Old Testament, “[w]hen an Israelite was obliged to sell his inheritance because of poverty it was the duty of the nearest relative to redeem it for him”. [1] (The verb “redeem” in Hebrew “conveys the idea of buying back or purchasing something lost by paying a price.” [2] ) If he became a slave, his close relative must redeem him. When a man dies without an heir, his nearest of kin not only has the duty to redeem his property, he even has to marry his widow also to “provide a male heir who in turn could care for the parents in their old age and prevent the alienation of family property.”  [3] (Leviticus 25:25-28; Deuteronomy 25:5-10).  Image credit That close relative is called a go’el (“one who redeems”) or a “kinsman-redeemer.” It is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ as our Redeemer. If a person were to buy back or redeem something or someone as a kinsman-redeemer ( go’el ), he had to meet five qualifications. First, he must be a blo...