Title: 13
Author: JBG
Last saved by: Auth User
Company: Auth CO

00-08-06-B.JSH-356 / 

© 2000  Joe Griffin

The Inscrutable Question: Personal Love for God: Conclusions from Sunistemi: “God demonstrates,” Rom 5:8 and Lutron: Redemption, Matt 20:28 et al.
Conclusions Regarding the Retroactive Progressive Present of Sun…sthmi / sunistemi /
1.	The work of Christ on the cross that resulted in our salvation is referred to in theology as “soteriology,” from the Greek noun for salvation swthr…a / soteria /.
2.	Soteriology consists of three major doctrines: redemption, reconciliation, and propitiation.
3.	Redemption is directed toward sin, reconciliation is directed toward mankind, and propitiation is directed toward God.
4.	The aspect of soteriology that we will emphasize for the moment is redemption, for we need to bring into focus the undiminished love of God, how it is demonstrated to us through the saving work of Christ, and the mechanics of divine grace that makes His work compatible with divine integrity.
5.	The English word “redemption” comes from the derivatives of the Greek verb lÚw  / luo /.
6.	The noun lÚtron / lutron / means “ransom” or the “redemption price of a slave.”   It always denotes a vicarious gift whose value covers a fault and the creditor may freely choose whether he will accept the payment thus he may not be forced to do so.
7.	The vicarious payment indicates a willing third party whose act of redemption is performed as a substitute for another and for his benefit and advantage.
8.	The willing third Party is Jesus.  The ransom paid is His substitutionary spiritual death.  The Creditor is God the Father Whose righteousness condemned man at physical birth through the imputation of Adam’s original sin.  His willing acceptance of the Lord’s sacrifice is referred to as propitiation.
9.	The Lord addresses the subject of His redemptive sacrifice in two of the Gospels:
Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45 -	“…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom [ lÚtron / lutron ] for [ ¢nt… / anti / ] many.”
10.	These verses and the subject of redemption is discussed by:
Vine, W. E.  An Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words.  (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984), 919-20:
RANSOM:
LUTRON (lÚtron)	That Christ gave up His life in expiatory sacrifice under God’s judgment upon sin and thus provided a ransom whereby those who receive Him on this ground obtain deliverance from the penalty due to sin, is what Scripture teaches.
	NOTE:	Note that our Lord was judged for our personal sins so that they are never an issue.  To believe in Him as our substitutionary sacrifice enabled the justice of God to credit to our account the righteousness of God.  This is justification by which we are vindicated from the penalty of sin which is spiritual death.  Spiritual death is based on the imputation of Adam’s original sin at the moment of physical birth.
In Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45, the preposition (following lÚtron / lutron /) ¢nt… / anti /, has a vicarious significance, indicating the ransom holds good for those who, accepting it, no longer remain in death since Christ suffered death in their stead.  There is a change in preposition in:
1 Timothy 2:5 -	There is one God and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
v 6 -	Who gave Himself as a ransom [ ¢nt…lutron / antilutron ] for [ Øpšr / huper ] all [ p©j / pas / ] …
Here we find the word, used as a substitutionary ransom.  There the preposition is Øpšr / huper, [as a substitute for]: “He gave Himself as a substitutionary ransom for all.”  “All” is the ablative of p©j / pas /  and refers to the entire human race.  This indicates that the ransom was provisionally universal, while being of a vicarious character.
	NOTE:	The redemptive work of Christ according to these three verses reveals that it was universal in nature and supports the doctrine of Unlimited Atonement.  In 1 Timothy 2:6 the words for “redemption,” ¢nt…lutron / antilutron, and the preposition “for”, Øpšr / huper /, is followed by the ablative plural “all,” p©j / pas /, and indicate that it was a substitutionary sacrifice willingly entered into by our Lord.
Thus, the three passages consistently show that while the provision of redemption was universal, for Christ died for all men, yet it is actually for those only who accept God’s conditions.
	NOTE:	Those who believe that Jesus is the Christ and that He offered Himself up as a substitutionary sacrifice on their behalf, being judged for their personal sins, are referred to as the “redeemed.”  These believers are referred to in Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45 as the “many,” polÚj / polus /.
11.	Redemption emphasizes the fact that we are sinners, not only as a result of our decisions to commit personal sins but in fact, we were sinners all the way back into eternity past.
12.	We were condemned at physical birth by the imputation of Adam’s original sin to our genetically formed sinful nature.
Romans 5:12 -	Just as through one man [ Adam ] sin [ the sinful nature ] entered into the world and so spiritual death through the sin [ of Adam ],  consequently spiritual death spread to all men because all sinned when Adam sinned.

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