Turn with me again tonight to
Ephesians 1. Our text will be verse 7. And
I want to talk to you about redemption through His blood. The apostle writes by inspiration
and says, in Christ, We have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. What a blessed theme of thought
and meditation and for preaching. Redemption presupposes a very
grave situation. It presupposes captivity, bondage,
and slavery. The word here used for redemption
means deliverance by a ransom. Were we not in a fallen, captive,
enslaved state as a race, there would be no need for redemption.
But God's elect, like all other men, are children of wrath by
nature. Now this is what that means.
We were born wrathful children, hating God in our own consciences
under the sentence of condemnation. We lived all the days of our
lives in captivity to sin, under the dominion and bondage of Satan
and darkness, and under the terror of the sentence and curse of
God's holy law. Redemption is complete deliverance
from that which held us in captivity. It is deliverance from bondage,
from the curse of the law, from the terror felt by that condemnation
we well deserved. deliverance absolutely and completely
into the glorious liberty of the sons of God in resurrection
glory by the purchase of Christ's precious blood and by the power
of his omnipotent grace. Redemption is the theme of this
book. Everywhere in the scriptures,
redemption through his blood is prophesied, portrayed, and
proclaimed. Everything in the Old Testament,
everything, everything written in the Old Testament points to
it and typifies it. Everything in the New Testament
explains it, defines it, and makes known to us the blessed
accomplishment of it. Redemption is by price. We see this in the Paschal Lamb
in the book of Exodus. The blood must be shed or the
people cannot go free. Redemption is by power, power
demonstrated in God Almighty drying up the sea as a wilderness,
making a way in the depths of the sea for his people to pass
over. Deliverance by God causing Israel
to cross the Red Sea by his stretched out arm, and that very same work
by God destroying all their enemies. Redemption is portrayed to us
in scripture and pictured in the kinsmen law. that God gave
to Israel, our great Boaz, Christ our kinsman, is that one who
has the right and the power to redeem us. And redemption is
set forth throughout the scriptures as the redemption of our souls
by the blood of a crucified substitute, someone who took our place. Someone who stood in our room
instead before God. Someone who assumed all responsibility
for our souls. It is set forth many times in
the Old Testament as well as in the New. I think immediately
of Isaiah 53. The eunuch was coming back from
the feast in Jerusalem. He'd gone up to the Bible conference
at Jerusalem. And he's on his way home. He
went up thirsty and came back thirsty. He went up empty and
came away empty. And as he's going along the way,
he's reading Isaiah 53. And God sent Philip to him. And
Philip heard him reading. Apparently, he was reading aloud
from the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. And he said, do you understand
what you're reading? He said, How can I, except some man showed
me? Of whom does the prophet speak,
himself or some other man? Philip said, slide over, buddy,
and I'll tell you what it's all about. And he preached to him Jesus
Christ and redemption through his blood. That's what this book
is all about. This is the dominant theme of
Holy Scripture. It is and has been for 35 years
the dominant theme of my thoughts continually. the dominant theme
of prayer, of meditation, and of praise. It is the dominant
theme of all true worship, all true thanksgiving before God.
It must be the dominant theme of the pulpit of God's church.
Cowper put it well, every preacher ought to solemnly repeat with
him, ere since by faith I saw the stream, thy flowing wound
supply, redeeming love has been my theme and shall be till I
die. If I didn't preach redemption,
I wouldn't preach at all. This is what I mean. If I did
not preach redemption through his blood, every time I stood
before men to preach, I wouldn't pretend to be a preacher. Let
me repeat that so you don't miss it. If I did not preach redemption
through His blood, every time I stand before eternity-bound
sinners to preach in God's name, I would not pretend to be a preacher. With Paul, I determine not to
know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Redemption through His blood
is the one thing you and I must have. Without redemption, we
must perish. Someone must suffer for sin. Someone must be punished for
our crimes. Either you or a substitute. Either me or a substitute. And if a substitute, it must
be a substitute who is able not only to bear the punishment,
but to satisfy all the demands of law and justice. Now I realize
folks debate that and argue about that and all those things. Your
conscience verifies what I'm telling you. The reason men without
a substitute can't sleep at night because their screaming conscience
says somebody's got to pay. The reason men without a redeemer
cannot rest easy is because their screaming conscience declares
to them somebody has got to suffer for sin, for my sins. I'm here
to tell you that redemption was purchased and bought accomplished
and obtained for chosen sinners by the precious blood of God's
darling son. With his own blood, he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. He said, I go to my father. I
go to my Father, and because I go to my Father, the Spirit
will come and convince you of righteousness. I could not go
to my Father had I not fulfilled the mission upon which I came
into this world, to redeem and save my people. But now, having
obtained eternal redemption, Through his blood, with his blood,
he entered in once into the holy place. Now let's look here at
Ephesians 1, 7. You just told your Bible's open
right here, and follow me along. You won't have any difficulty
at all getting my outline. I'm going to show you six things
clearly set before us in this seventh verse of Ephesians 1.
Here's the first point. The purchaser of redemption is
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The text opens with these
words, in whom? All the blessings of God's free
grace for time and eternity, all of them are in Christ. Not
in the church, not in doctrine, not in academics, not even religious
academics. All the blessings of God for
sinners for time and eternity are in Christ, in whom we have
redemption through His blood. Christ is the author and finisher
of our faith. He is the author and finisher
of redemption. He was called and appointed to
be our Redeemer in eternity in the covenant of grace. He freely
agreed to it as our surety, striking hands with the Father who trusted
Him with our souls. And in the fullness of time,
he was sent forth to accomplish redemption by the sacrifice of
himself. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law for this purpose,
to redeem them that were under the law. With his own blood,
he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained it. He did it. Redemption is his. He did it. He obtained it. He owns it. It resides in Him. He is made of God unto us. Redemption. Remember what Paul
said in 1 Corinthians 1.30? Of Him are you in Christ Jesus. If you're in Christ right now,
you're in Christ by faith, it's because God put you in Christ
in covenant grace before the world began, chose you in Christ,
and God Almighty has now given you faith in Christ. Of Him are
ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption. And you look at that text and
you think, well, it looks like he ought to put redemption first.
He put redemption last because it ain't over yet. He redeemed
us with his blood before the world began as the Lamb slain
from eternity. He redeemed us at Calvary when
he died as our substitute. He redeemed us when he came by
the power of his grace and spirit and set us free from the bondage
and curse of the law, applying his blood to us. And he shall
yet redeem us when he redeems our bodies from corruption in
resurrection glory. This too is spoken of as redemption.
You see, his work of redemption in us will not be complete until
these bodies are made like unto his glorious body. And we see
him with these eyes, and bless him with these lips, in the perfection
of the sons of God in resurrection glory. Now look at the second
thing. The objects of redemption. Who
did he redeem? The objects of redemption are
God's elect. We. We. In whom we have redemption
through his blood. Now who is it that he redeemed?
Those who are redeemed. I don't know why this is so complicated
to some folks. To talk about redemption of people
who aren't redeemed is to talk about redemption that's meaningless
and useless. To talk about folks being redeemed
and not being redeemed is kind of like talking like a politician.
Maybe that's why preachers do it. He redeemed us. Now listen carefully. I want
you to listen carefully to me. Everywhere in this book where
God, the Holy Spirit, talks about redemption, No exceptions. Everywhere in this book where
God the Holy Spirit talks about redemption, he talks about redemption
as something that is effectually accomplished for a specific people. There is not the slightest hint
anywhere in this book that Jesus Christ died in vain to redeem
the multitudes who are damned in hell. Every time somebody
quotes a passage of scripture or a verse, ripping it out of
its context and spinning it to you like a machine gun spits
bullets trying to deny eternal redemption, every time they speak
of it, they use passages that have nothing at all to do with
redemption. There's not a hint. Some years
ago, there was a preacher, missionary, that called himself such, going
around some of the churches, and he was trying to convince
fellas that he was real sincere and believed in grace. He sat
in our house one time, came here, and I invited him to come down
and visit with me. I wanted to talk to him. And
after three days or so, he sat in my living room, he and his
wife, and he said, You know, I would believe in limited atonement
if it wasn't for just two or three verses of scripture that
really give me trouble. And I paused for a minute and looked at him
until I got the attention of my wife and his wife who were
in the kitchen right beside us. And I said, you're lying. That's
not so. And of course, she, not Shelby,
but his wife and he were shocked. How could you dare say that?
I've been serving on mission field all my life. I said, tell
me something. Are there two or three verses
that might give you some trouble in believing what the scriptures
teach about the eternal trinity? And he said, they're kind of
dumbfounded. I said, if they're not, I can give you a bunch of
them. I can give you a bunch of them. Taken from their context
that would seem to have great difficulty letting a man believe
in the eternal triune Godhead. But the scripture, in the preponderance
of the declaration of scripture, and everywhere the scripture
declares the person of the Godhead speaks of God, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit in one blessed person by whom we are saved. And those
scriptures that give folks trouble is because they try to interpret
scripture without being honest with scripture. And there's not
a single verse in this book that even hints that Christ died for
folks who aren't saved by his blood. No, no. Everywhere in
scripture, when the word of God speaks about redemption, it speaks
about the effectual, accomplished redemption of a specific people. Let me show you some passages.
Turn to Isaiah 53. O.J. answered Ephesians 1. Isaiah
53. There are not any exceptions. No exceptions. The prophet speaks and the Lord
God speaks through him and says for the transgression of my people
was he stricken. Verse 10. Yet it pleased the
Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, watch it now, he shall
see his seed. He made an offering for sin for
his seed. He shall prolong his days, that
is, he's going to live again. and the pleasure of the Lord,
all the will of God shall prosper in his hand. This one who is
put to death for the transgression of my people, he's going to see
his seed. Saved, justified, and glorified. He is going to sit on the throne
of glory and live forever and rule over all flesh and the pleasure
of the Lord, the will of God shall be accomplished by His
hand. Verse 11. He shall see of the
travail of His soul and shall be satisfied. Oh, it's been 35 years ago now.
I was in school at Piedmont in Winston-Salem. They had a welshman
come and he came to chapel. They had me sitting right on
the front row so they could keep an eye on me. It was the only
time I ever heard the gospel preached at all in that place.
And this fellow was preaching on Galatians 6.14 on why I must
glory in the cross of Christ. And by the time he got halfway
done, there was only two people in there enjoying what he was
saying. That was him and me. But he'd make a statement and he'd
look at me and he'd say, what do you think of that? I said, I like that.
And this is what he said, he said, I must glory in the cross
of Christ because the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never
be discovered in miscarriage. Oh, I thought I'll fly away with
that. It shall never be discovered in miscarriage. The Lord Jesus
did not enter into travail only to find a miscarriage in the
end. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and he shall have that for which his soul was in travail. He shall be satisfied. Read on. By his knowledge. By his knowledge. Now folks like
to translate that this way, by knowledge of him. But that's
not what it says. By his knowledge. By his knowledge
of what he has accomplished. By his knowledge of that which
he swore himself to. By his knowledge of his finished
work of redemption. By his knowledge of righteousness
brought in. By his knowledge of justice satisfied
shall my righteous servant Justify many, not everybody, but many. For he shall bear their iniquities. The many who are justified by
him are the many for whom he entered into soul travail, the
seed for which he died, those who are justified by him. For
he shall bear their iniquities. Then the Lord says, Therefore
will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide
the spoil with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto
death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare
the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Turn to
Revelation chapter 5. By now I'm sure you can recite
from memory Galatians 3.13, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed
is everyone that hangeth on a tree. He has redeemed us, for whom
he was made a curse, that we might receive the promise of
God, the blessing of the Spirit, the promise that God gave to
Abraham. In Revelation 5, the picture John has as he was translated
into heaven, he said, I saw one sitting on the throne, and I
saw a book written throughout on the front side and on the
back, sealed with seven seals. And I wept because no man was
found worthy to open the book. And then, he said, I saw a lamb
rising up in the midst of the throne who took the book. He
didn't ask for it. He took it. He took the book. The book of God's eternal decrees. The book of God's everlasting
purpose. The book that describes everything
that has been, shall be, and is now. And he says he took the
book and opened the seals. And he fulfilled everything written
in the book. And the verse 9 describes the song that was sung. as he
who is the lion of the tribe of Judah and has prevailed to
open the book opens it. They sung a new song saying,
thou art worthy to take the book. Oh, it's right for you to have
the reigns of the universe. It's right for you, oh blessed
Lamb of God, to be in control of all things. It's right for
you to have dominion over all. And to open the seals thereof.
And here's the reason why it's right. For thou wast slain. And let me tell you something.
That would be utterly meaningless. If it wasn't for the next word. Thou wast slain. That doesn't
mean a thing. All that does is tear at your
heart. All that does is play on your emotions. That's the
reason that stupid idolatrous movie that Mr. Gibson made millions
on is so popular with religious folks who don't know God. Thou
wast slain. That doesn't mean a thing. Unless
you can read, and hast redeemed us. That's it. Now! His being slain has meaning. Thou wast slain and hast redeemed
us. Watch it. To God by thy blood
along with everybody else in the world. Is that what it says?
Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of
every kindred and tongue and people and nation. Back here
in Ephesians 1. Who are the we spoken of in this
text? Who are those people who are
redeemed by the blood of Christ? You don't have to guess about
it. You don't have to speculate at all. Just read the chapter.
The chapter tells us exactly who he's talking about. Who are
these we who are redeemed by his blood? We who are blessed,
verse 3, blessed with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places
in Christ from eternity. We who are chosen, verse 4, chosen
in him before the foundation of the world. We who are predestinated
under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will. We who are, in verse 6, accepted
in the beloved. We who are forgiven, he tells
us in the 7th verse. We, in verse 11, who have obtained
the inheritance of grace. We who have faith in Christ,
given to us by God the Holy Spirit, in verse 13. We who are sealed
and given the pledge, the earnest of an eternal inheritance in
God the Holy Spirit. Universal redemption. Universal
Redemption, the teaching that Christ died for everybody, even
for those who perish under the wrath of God, is universal nonsense. And worse than that, it is blasphemy,
for it is the declaration that there's somebody for whom Christ
died in vain. We preach an effectual Savior. We trust an effectual Savior. We worship an effectual Savior. He who has obtained and in whom
we have effectual redemption. Alright, here's the third thing.
Paul shows us the fact of redemption. In whom we have redemption through
his blood. Now that's good. This is not
something we hope to have. This is not something we might
have. This is not something that is some way conditioned on something
in us. In whom we have redemption. A present possession. That good
thing which shall never be taken from us. In whom we presently
and forever have redemption through his blood. Being redeemed, being
redeemed, listen now, being redeemed, we are freed from sin. Is that what Paul says in Romans
chapter 6? Being then made free from sin?
Freed from sin. Freed from sin because Christ
has freed us with his blood. John writes, you know that he
was manifested to take away our sins and in him is no sin. Every child of God acknowledges
painfully but honestly that he's nothing but sin, nothing but
sin. But the gospel of God's free
grace declares to sinners, believing on his son, in him is no sin. With his spotless garments on,
I am as holy as God's own son. In him is no sin. Bold shall
I stand in that great day, for who ought to my charge shall
lay, while through thy blood absolved I am from sin's tremendous
guilt and blame. Freed from the dominion of Satan. Freed from the law. Look at Romans
7. Romans 7. Listen. Know ye not,
brethren, for I speak to them that know the law, how that the
law hath dominion over man as long as he liveth? For the woman
which hath a husband is bound by the law to her husband so
long as he liveth. But if the husband be dead, she
is loosed from the law of her husband. So then, if while her
husband liveth she be married to another man, she shall be
called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she
is freed from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though
she be married to another man. Now, Paul is not talking about
divorce and marriage. That's not his subject. He's
talking about redemption. And now he gets to it. Wherefore,
my brethren, ye also are become, what was that word? D-E-A-D,
dead. Dead to the law. Dead to the law. Well, in what
sense are we under the law? We're dead to it. What does the
law have to do with us? We're dead to it. Dead to it. Dead to something means it doesn't
have any effect on you. You're dead to it. Dead to it. Can't apply to me. I'm dead to
it. Oh, the law threatens. No care to me. I'm dead to it.
The law condemns. No condemnation to me. I'm dead
to it. But the law requires, doesn't require anything from
me, I'm dead to it. Dead to it. Are you saying preacher
that believers are dead to the law? No, I wouldn't say that
for the life of me. God said it. Dead to the law. Dead to it. That you should be
married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead,
that we should bring forth fruit unto God. dead to the law by
the body of Christ. When he died, did he die under
the curse of the law? Is that what Galatians 3 says?
Did he die burying our sins in his body on the tree under the
curse of the law? Did God Almighty call for the
sword of His justice to awake and slay our shepherd, our substitute,
our surety? He died to the law, and I died
in Him. Now, Paul says, there is therefore
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, because
we're dead to the law. Being redeemed, we have everlasting
life. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. Hath everlasting life. The reason
you believe is because God gave you life. I know you must believe
and take hold on everlasting life, but I'm telling you, if
you believe, it's because God has given you everlasting life. You sit there and you say, Brother
Dodd, I believe on Christ. Will God save me? If you believe
on Christ, Bob Duff, right now for the first time in all your
life, if you believe on Him, God has saved you. You have everlasting life. Here's the fourth thing. The
price of our redemption. Now let me pause here a little
bit. His blood. in whom we have redemption through
His blood. You remember in the Old Testament
God required of all those many, many sacrifices that the blood
be shed. Blood be shed. Almost all things
were by the law purged with blood. Blood. Blood. Folks say, well,
this is archaic, this is old doctrine, this is out of date.
Well, I've been out of date ever since God saved me and I plan
to stay that way. Oh, this is blessed doctrine. Without shedding
of blood is no remission. God required the blood of those
animals to be sacrificed. He required it because the blood
represents the life. The life of the flesh is in the
blood. And when we speak of the Lord
Jesus Christ redeeming us with his blood, we're declaring the
Lord Jesus Christ sacrificed his whole being, his entire life,
as our substitute. And with his life, he redeemed
us, laying down his life for us. The Son of God loved me and
gave himself for me. His blood is the blood of a man. Man sinned, man must suffer. Man sinned, man must be punished. Man sinned, man must die. Therefore he took on himself
our nature, the Son of God, never ceasing to be God, became one
of us. And he is now one who is capable
of suffering the wrath of God as a man. But this blood is also
the blood of God himself. We sang that great hymn by Isaac
Watts, Alas, and Didn't My Savior Bleed. Our hymn book has changed
Watts' words. Just one. Just one word. The
hymn book, I think it's the third verse, says, well might the sun
in darkness hide and shut his glories in when Christ the mighty
maker died for man the creature said. Now that's true. That's
true. But I'm a little suspicious of
the reason why it was changed. You see, Watts wrote it this
way. Well might the sun in darkness hide and shut his glories in
when God the mighty maker died for man the creature said. But God can't die. No, He can't. No, He can't. But He did. God can't die. No, He can't.
But man can't satisfy. But here is one who is the God-man. And this God-man, having died,
has satisfied all the law and justice of God, so that His blood
is blood of infinite merit. His blood is blood with omnipotent
power. His blood is blood with omnipresent
efficacy, continually efficacious for us. The Lord Jesus is that
one who is described when Paul speaks of the church of God,
which God has purchased with his own blood. His blood is enough. In whom we have redemption through
his blood. When Christ poured out his last
blood unto death, God said that's enough. That's enough. And looking to Christ, I finally
found enough. I found enough or I tried, I
can't tell you how I tried to quit my sin when I thought I
could. I tried, I can't tell you how
I tried to do something to make myself right with God. when I
thought I could and my conscience screaming in my soul said that's
not enough that's not enough that's not
enough that's not enough and one day God Almighty revealed
Christ in me, and I looked away from me to Him. And my conscience
has been saying for 37 years now, that's enough. That's enough. That's enough. And when Satan
roars in my soul and accuses and would condemn me, I look
away to Christ my Redeemer and I say, that blood, that's enough.
That's enough. And when my heart is dead and
nifty and hard as steel and cold as ice, I look away to Christ
my Redeemer and I declare, that's enough. That's enough. payment
God cannot twice demand first at my bleeding surety's hand
and then again at mine. His blood we saw this morning
is covenant blood. The apostle says, as he pronounces
his benediction in Hebrews 13, listen to this. Now the God of
peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ,
that great shepherd of the sheep, now watch it, through the blood
of the everlasting covenant. Why did he say that? He brought
Christ up from the dead through the blood. Because His blood
has fulfilled everything required in the covenant. And now through
His blood He sits on the throne of glory and He gives to us every
blessing of grace. His blood is eternal blood. Now I'm in waters over my head.
I can't begin to explain it. But I don't have to. I can still
rejoice in it. Turn to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. Verse 18, For as much as you
know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like
silver and gold, from your vain conversation, from your meaningless
existence, received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of
Christ. Precious blood, because his is
blood as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Precious blood,
because he who is the Lamb of God was verily foreordained before
the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for you. Revelation 13 verse 8, you don't
need to turn there, you can look at it later. John is describing for us those
who worship the beast and the false prophet. Those who are
deceived by anti-Christ religion. Those who will not worship the
Lord Jesus Christ and God Almighty revealed in him, but worship
another Christ, another Jesus, another spirit, another God.
Who are they? All they that dwell on the earth
shall worship the beast and the false prophet, whose names are
not written in the book of life of the Lamb." Listen now. Slain
from the foundation of the world. Was he really slain from the
foundation of the world? Yeah, he really was. He really
was. Did he really experience it?
Yeah, he really did. Now, preacher, that can't be.
That can't be. Well, let's see. Did Abraham
sacrifice his son on Mount Moriah? Did he? God says he did. God says he received him from
the dead. Well, God said. But he didn't
stick his knife in him. The Lord stopped him. He stopped
him from actually drawing blood. But in his heart, Abraham had
done the deed. And God said he received him
from the dead. Now listen to me. God Almighty,
in his heart, from eternity, sacrificed his darling son for
us. And the Son of God, in eternity,
in his heart gave himself for us. His blood is sprinkled blood,
sprinkled in heaven, purifying all things in the heavens, and
sprinkled in our conscience, purging our consciences from
dead works. His blood is assuring blood,
giving us access unto God that we might through his blood now
draw near unto God in full assurance of faith. This is what he's saying, Ron.
We come to God with full assurance of God's smile and approval when
we come to God trusting the blood of His Son. You say, well, I don't have that
kind of assurance. That's because you're trusting something else. Full assurance of faith. Leaning
all together upon His blood. Now back in Ephesians 1. The
price of our redemption was His blood. You're bought with the
price. Here's the result of redemption. Ephesians 1, 7. The forgiveness
of sins. In whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Wherever there is redemption
through His blood, there is the forgiveness of sins. In whom we have redemption through
his blood. What's that? The forgiveness of sins. Purchased
for us by his blood. Given to us upon the merit of
his blood. This forgiveness is ours in exactly
the same way. To exactly the same degree as
it is Christ himself. Was he charged with our sins?
Was he punished for our sins? he was sacrificed for our sins
and was buried as a condemned dead felon and he rose again
being justified in the spirit as a free man and he that is
dead is ceased from sin now in exactly the same way as he risen
from the dead dropped our sins, and there no
longer is. We have forgiveness of all sin,
past, present, and future. All sin. No wonder David sang,
blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. He has cast our sins behind his
back. He has removed them from us as
far as the east is from the west. He has blotted them out. He will
not impute them. He's purged them away. He will
not remember them. He cannot remember them for he
says they are not and he will never deal with us. in any way,
any the less graciously, because of our sins. In whom we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Now
let me show you the cause. The riches of His grace. in whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of his grace. It was not to make Jehovah's
love toward the center flame that Jesus from his throne above
a suffering man became. T'was not the death that he endured,
nor all the pains he bore, That God's eternal love procured,
for God was loved before. He loved the world of his elect
with love surpassing thought, Nor will his mercy ever neglect
the souls so dearly bought, The warm affections of his breast
towards his chosen bird, And in his love he'll ever rest. nor from his oath return. Having loved his own, which were
in the world, he loved them to the end. Where he is in the grip of his
grace from everlasting.