Now, when the poor soul is in prison, in chains and in condemnation, he needs deliverance from his captivity, but he feels that none upon earth can help or deliver him. O no; the blessed Savior alone can deliver and save him. His atoning blood is the ransom price. He says, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." (Isa. 61:1,2) When this deliverance is proclaimed in the conscience of the poor sinner, the effect is as the Bible describes - it is "liberty to the captives." Our religion to stand the test must be according to the Scriptures; and the language of the inspired Word is, "Deliver him" (the poor, captive, bowed-down soul) "from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for him"(Job 33:24) - the blood of the incarnate God. "As for you," says Jehovah the Father to the dear Redeemer, "by the blood of your covenant, I have sent forth your prisoners out of the pit wherein there is no water." (Zech. 9:11) Mark it, my friends, God delivers the poor sinner by the blood of the covenant, the blood of the dear Redeemer. The Holy Spirit applies the atoning blood of Immanuel to the conscience of the convinced sinner, and he discovers to him that the debt of sin is paid, law and justice satisfied, hell defeated, death vanquished and glory obtained. And when the poor sinner sees and feels this in his conscience, he has the spiritual blessing of deliverance from guilt and condemnation, and is brought into the glorious liberty of the gospel. "Stand fast therefore in the liberty with which Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." (Gal. 5:1) And again, "If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed." (John 8:36)

JOHN KERSHAW - preached April 18, 1853

"The Cost Required To Redeem A Sinner"

What exactly was the cost of REDEMPTION? Before we can answer this question we need to understand what is meant by the term "REDEMPTION". In the original language the word "REDEMPTION", as well as the root word "REDEEM" means "to redeem or liberate by payment of ransom" or "to buy out of a debt".(Vines Expository Dictionary) It has reference to the idea of purchasing a slave with a view to his freedom. In order to "redeem" the slave, someone must pay the price required to secure the slaves freedom or liberty. In other words, their debt must be PAID IN FULL. A partial payment wouldn't do it! The slave promising to do things for the slave owner after his release wouldn't do it either. This applies to the elect sinner in that we were sold into slavery to sin's guilt, penalty, and condemnation when we fell in our Representative man, ADAM-See Rom.5:12,17-19; I Cor.15:21,22. As the Representative and Federal Head of ALL MEN , ADAM sold us all into the bondage of sin, including the result of sin: SPIRITUAL, MORAL, AND ETERNAL DEATH- "The WAGES (payday) of sin is DEATH"(Rom.6:23a). In this dire condition, NO SINNER could do anything to secure their own redemption. Like the slave on the auction block, we were entirely under the control of the one who owned us. Now there is no doubt lost sinners in this condition , i.e., "dead in trespasses and sin", can do many things to impress other sinners and are even able to convince themselves they are okay before God-"And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God."(Lk.16:15) But God isn't impressed or influenced by a sinners attempts to justify or redeem himself- "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers..." (I Pet.1:18) Peter is telling us our faith, or our morality, or prayers, or promises to improve, or our actually improving, CANNOT REDEEM us. But praise God, he didn't leave us without hope! He tells us the COST OF REDEMPTION-"But with the PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:"(Vs.19) The payment price required to purchase the eternal salvation of all God's Elect rested on one thing: "THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST". Christ offered Himself ONCE at Calvary, and by His perfect life and substitutionary death , Christ perfectly and eternally redeemed all His elect-"but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."(Heb.9:12) One last thing: not one sinner for whom Christ shed His precious blood will be lost, BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN REDEEMED AT THE CROSS and they no longer owe a debt to God's Holy law and justice. IS CHRIST YOUR REDEEMER?