Week 7, Doctrine: Redemption Day 1 - Who is the only Redeemer? Scripture - Deuteronomy 18:18, Hebrew 2:14,17 & 9:12, Matthew 1:20-21, Romans 8:34 Devotional - What does the word Redemption mean? It is a word that we read often in Scripture, so it is important to know what its definition is. Redemption means, “to win back, or to save”. When we talk about how Jesus redeems His people, we are simply saying that Jesus saved and rescued God's chosen people from the clutches of Satan, sin, and death. Jesus even redeemed the cursed Earth. Only the eternal Son of God was able to redeem God's people. In His victory, Jesus takes the offices of Prophet, Priest, and King. This means that He reveals to us God's plan to save us, while also being the sacrifice offered to God in order to save us. He sits at the Father's right hand in heaven, where He prays for us and rules the nations. Questions: 1. What does Redemption mean? 2. Who Redeems us? 3. What 3 offices does Jesus hold? Day 2 - Who is Redeemed? Scripture - John 8:47, 9:31, 10:26-29 & Romans 9:19-23 Devotional - To the praise of God's glory, before He created anything, God chose a special people for Himself. In scripture, these people are called, “God's elect”, “God's sheep”, “God's chosen people”, or “ God’s Covenant people”. These are the people that God shows His favor to. The favor that God gives to his elect is not earned by them. There is nothing in a sinful human that God finds attractive or necessary. It is only because God desires to be in a special relationship with them that the elect person of God loves Him. Many people, including some Christians, do not like this teaching. To them, it seems unfair that God only chose some people to love and relate to. Their rejection of this scriptural teaching is because of their pride. They have decided for themselves, by their own wisdom, how God should think or act. God is equally glorified by showing mercy and grace to some of His creation, and by showing His wrath and justice toward sinners that chose to rebel against Him. The sinful mind is hostile and hates God. Without the Holy Spirit changing our hearts, we would never desire to be in fellowship with Him. This is why God must elect a people for Himself. Those elect people are the redeemed. Questions - 1. Does anyone in their sinful state want to be in a relationship with God? 2. How is God glorified by choosing His elect? 3. How is God glorified by not choosing to save some people? Day 3 - How are the elect redeemed? Scripture - Ephesians 2:8, 2 Corinthians 5:21, John 19:30, Romans 5:8-11 & 1 Peter 2:24 Devotional - When Jesus hung dying on the cross, He spoke the words, “It is finished”. What did He mean by that? Did He mean that His life was over? No, the words He spoke mean more than that. Remember how He had made a covenant (See Week 6, Day 2) with the other members of the Trinity to redeem His lost covenant people? Well, now Jesus had accomplished what He had promised to do. He had fought against our enemies, and He had won. The battle against Satan, sin, and death was over. He Himself, the Creator of the world, took on the curse that belonged to His sinful creatures. He gave to us all of the blessings of being in covenant fellowship with God and took from us all of the curses that we deserved from breaking the covenant with God. Questions - 1. How did Jesus fulfill the covenant of redemption by dying on the cross? 2. What did Jesus mean when He said, “It is finished”? 3. What enemies did Jesus defeat for us? Day 4 - By Grace Scripture - Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:24, 11:6, & Acts 15:11 Devotional - What is Grace? This is a word that Christians love to use. Grace is when God gives us something that we don't deserve. When Jesus died for us on the cross, He gave us salvation and forgiveness. We did not deserve this wonderful gift of grace. Instead, we deserved Hell and God's judgment. By God's grace, we are saved. It could never be because of something that we did or earned. We are only saved and forgiven because God is so loving and bestows grace on His people. Questions - 1. What is grace? 2. Can we earn grace? 3. What do sinners rightfully deserve? Day 5 - Through Faith Scripture - Ephesians 2:8-9, Philippians 1:29, Luke 22:31-32, Galatians 3:26 Devotional - We have already learned that grace is a gift that God gives to His people, but what about faith? How do we get faith, and what exactly is it anyway? Faith is absolutely knowing and believing something to be true. When we have faith in God, it means that we know and believe God to be absolutely true and that His plans are unstoppable. God is who gifts us the grace of faith. Only God can give us the ability to trust and believe in Him. Naturally, we are enemies with God, but by His grace, with the faith that He gives us, we are made friends with God. This is only possible because Jesus made peace between us and God by dying for His elect. Faith is believing that all God's promises in Jesus are true and unstoppable. Questions - 1. What is faith? 2. Is faith a gift? 3. Is saving faith a gracious gift?