The Father’s plan done by the Son
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
In this section the emphasis shifts from election itself to the one through whom our election was made possible. The centrality of Christ, so evident in the previous section, becomes even more pointed and direct here. Note once more Paul’s key concepts: God’s eternal plan, fulfilled in Christ, for our good and blessing, so that we are led to thank and praise our gracious God.
What was earlier referred to in general terms as “every spiritual blessing” and then narrowed down a bit as our “adoption” into God’s family now comes into sharp focus. Our greatest blessing, the apostle tells us, is the forgiveness of sins we have in Christ. “In him [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”
Paul uses two terms that differ as to the picture underlying them yet are virtually interchangeable in meaning: “redemption” and “forgiveness.” Redemption implies that someone is a slave or captive and needs to be ransomed. Forgiveness implies that someone has acted improperly toward another and in so doing has incurred guilt that needs to be covered over or taken away.
Both require the payment of a heavy price. The sinner has offended God himself; the price is—or at least should be—the sinner’s life. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). But “in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us,” he did the unthinkable: God himself paid the price. He sent his Son to be our substitute, to suffer and die in our place. Through his blood we have been rescued from the captivity of sin and freed from its guilt.
In a million years we would not have devised such a plan. Rather, God devised it “in accordance with the riches of [his] grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”