“Barabbas, Part 4” by Romans
Youtube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUnDKD1NMH4
Youtube Audio:
Tonight is Part 4 of our Series, Barabbas. I have been sharing with you how it occurred to me that Barabbas, whose name means “son of the father” was a symbol of each of us when he stood before Pilate. Like Barabbas, we were undeservedly chosen to be released, and unpunished for our sins. But, as we saw last week, there are also many things that differentiate from Barabbas.
When he left Pilate's judgment platform, he disappeared into the mob, and into history. I am not aware of any further record of or reference to his life or activities. He was under no obligation from Pilate to turn his life around, be a model citizen, become a religious man or anything else.
Tonight is Part 4 of our Series, Barabbas. We will be continuing down that “rabbit trail” of the phrase, “we have,” in our Study of Barabbas. I performed a phrase search for the words “we have,” focusing on those things which, unlike Barabbas, “we have” as believers. Barabbas was a symbol of us, being guilty and worthy of punishment for our misdeeds, but being chosen to be released without merit, and without punishment.
When Barabbas left that Judgment Platform, all similarities ceased between him and us. We have, by and through Christ, been blessed with things Barabbas was never promised, never dreamed existed, and much less received. Our first “we have” stop is found in Ephesians 1:7: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;”
If I were to ask you, “What is redemption?” how would you answer that question? We hear it or read it all the time being used in a Biblical or Spiritual context, but what is redemption? In the Roman Culture, redemption was the buying out of slavery someone who was in bondage. If a person were to go to a slave-owner and ask, “How much do you want that I might redeem Matthias?” the redemption price, known as the “ransom,” would be set.
When it was paid, Matthias would not now be owned by the redeemer, or anyone else, he would be a free man. That is redemption. Jesus is our Redeemer. He freed us by His blood, buying us out of our slavery to Satan, our slavery to sin, our bondage to the Law, and our subjection to our having to pay the penalty of the Law for our sins, namely our own death.
This first verse declares that we have redemption through His blood, and the forgiveness of sins by the richness of Grace. Of this, John Gill writes, “In whom we have redemption through his blood,.... Redemption supposes captivity and slavery, and is a deliverance out of it; God's elect by nature are in bondage to sin, Satan, and the law;
through the grace of Christ, they are redeemed from all iniquity; ransomed out of the hands of him that is stronger than they; and are freed from the law, its bondage, curse, and condemnation, and from every other enemy: and this benefit Christ is the author of; he was called to be the Redeemer of his people from all eternity;
and he was sent in the fulness of time, to procure the redemption of them; to which he had a right, being their near kinsman; and for which he was every way fit, being God as well as man; and which he has obtained by his obedience, sufferings, and death: and in whom it resides, as in its proper subject and author;
who, by imputation, is made redemption to all the chosen ones; for not angels, but men, share in this redemption; and not all men, but elect men; such as are chosen in Christ, predestinated to the adoption of children by him, and who are accepted in the beloved: and this comes to them through the blood of Christ, which was freely shed on the cross to procure it;”
Now consider: I said earlier that the money paid to redeem a slave was called a ransom. With that in mind, consider Mark 10:45: “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Jesus' very Life was the cost of Redemption, the ransom paid by the Father so that we might be set free, and be able to not only go without punishment, but to also walk away as free men and women! We also read of Jesus in 1 Timothy 2:6: “Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”
John Gill continues: “and was a sufficient ransom, or redemption price; it being not only the same blood with those who are redeemed, but the blood of an innocent person; and not of a mere man, but of one who is truly and properly God, as well as man. A branch of this redemption follows, or a blessing that comes by it, and along with it,
the forgiveness of sins; of all sins, original and actual, past, present, and to come; and this is through the blood of Christ, which was shed for the same: and yet is according to the riches of his grace; for God of his rich grace found the ransom price, and gave his Son, as well as he gave himself, his life, a ransom for many; and how much soever it cost Christ to procure redemption and pardon, they are free to his people; who are redeemed without money and price of theirs, and whose sins are forgiven freely for Christ's sake.”
We are then directed by John Gill to consider his comments on Colossians 1:14 which reads: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:” Of this he writes, “In whom we have redemption,.... Which is an excellent and wonderful blessing of grace saints have in and by Christ; and lies in a deliverance from sin, all sin, original and actual, under which they are held captive, in a state of nature, and by which they are made subject to the punishment of death;
but through the sacrifice of Christ it is taken, and put away, finished, and made an end of; and they are freed from the damning power of it, or any obligation to punishment for it; and in consequence of this are delivered from the enslaving governing power of it by his grace and Spirit, and will hereafter be entirely rid of the very being of it:
it consists also of a deliverance from the law, the curse and bondage of it, under which they are held on account of sin, the transgression of it; but being delivered from sin, they are also from the law, its accusations, charges, menaces, curses, and condemnation; as likewise out of the hands of Satan, by whom they are led captive;
for through the ransom price paid by Christ they are ransomed out of the hands of him that was stronger than they, the prey is taken from the mighty, and the lawful captive delivered by him that has led captivity captive: in short, this redemption is a deliverance out of the hands of all their enemies, and from all evils and misery, the effects of sin, from death, and hell, and wrath to come.
The author of it is Christ, the Son of God, the Son of his love, his dear Son: he was called to this work in the council of peace, in which the affair of redemption was consulted; and he agreed to undertake it in the covenant of grace, of which this is a principal article; and being in his constitution, as Mediator, every way fit and proper for it:
as man, the right of redemption belonged to him, being the near kinsman of his people, and, as God, he was mighty and able to perform it; as man he had something to offer, and, as God, could make that sacrifice valuable and effectual to all saving purposes; as man, he had compassion on human nature, and, as God, was concerned for things pertaining to his honour and glory.
And thus being every way qualified, he was sent, and came on this errand, and has obtained a redemption, which is precious, plenteous, complete and eternal: it is now with him, and "in him"; and he is made this, and everything else to his people, that they want.
The subjects of this blessing are, not angels, but men; and not all men, but some that are redeemed from among men, out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation; who are called by the name of Jacob, the people of Christ, a peculiar people, and the church of God;
and evidentially are such, who have faith in Christ, love to the saints, and good hope of eternal life; who know the grace of God in truth, are made meet to be partakers of the eternal inheritance, being delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of Christ, and are designed by the we in this text: the means by which this blessing is procured, it through his blood.
This is the blood of Christ, his own blood, and not the blood of bulls and goats, and the same with that of the persons he redeems, but untainted with sin; the blood of Christ, as of a lamb without spot and blemish, of original or actual sin, otherwise it would not have been a sufficient redemption price for his people;
nor even then, were it not as it was the blood of the Son of God, of one that was God as well as man, whereby it came to have a proper value and efficacy [effectiveness] in it to obtain this blessing: Christ's shedding his blood freely on this account is a proof of his great love to his redeemed ones; the efficacy that was in it to answer this purpose shows the dignity and greatness of his person;
and it not being to be effected without it, demonstrates the strictness of divine justice, and that the redemption of men is brought about in a way entirely consistent with the righteousness and holiness of God. A particular branch of this blessing follows, and which serves, in some sense, to illustrate and explain it,\
even the forgiveness of sins; of all sin, original and actual; of heart, lip, and life, secret and open, past, present, and to come; which lies in a non-imputation of sin, a remembrance of it no more, a removing of it entirely out of the way, a covering and blotting it out of sight, so as to be no more visible and legible:
this is in Christ, where all spiritual blessings are; nor is it to be had or expected from an absolute God, but from God in Christ, and through him, through his propitiatory sacrifice; for as redemption, so forgiveness of sin is through his blood, which was shed for it;
so that it proceeds upon the foot of satisfaction made to the justice of God by a price paid, and is an act of justice as well as grace, and belongs to the same persons as redemption does; hence those that are redeemed are represented as without fault before the throne; and indeed, the reason why their iniquities are blotted out, and will be remembered no more against them, is, because they are redeemed.”
To see what I have been saying, spelled out, and in so many words, we read the Apostle Paul's words, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 4:4-7).
Let us move on now to our next “we have” declaration. It is found in Ephesians 1:9-11: “Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him. 11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:”
The Sermon Bible comments, “Christ the Justification of a Suffering World. Such words as these of St. Paul spring out of that first bewilderment of joy which belongs to the sense of discovery. Christ is still a newly discovered wonder, and the wonder of the newness still fascinates, still overwhelms. What, then, is the mystery of God’s will in gathering together all in one in Christ? Why was the Incarnation the true and only secret, the fit and only instrument? What did it actually do? Why was it such an immense relief to St. Paul?
I. Let me take it very broadly. What is the primary plan of God as we see it in nature? For this is the plan that Christ came to fulfil. We gaze and wonder at the terrific process of creation; and if we ask in awe and amazement, What is the end of all this? What is the purpose to be achieved? we are told, "Man."
Man is the final achievement in which all this preparation issues; man is worth all this infinite toil, this agelong effort, this endless struggle, this thousandfold death. He is the justification; it is all very good since it all rises up into his crowning endowment. We turn to look at man, then, man as this world’s fulfilment. What has he done to be worth it all?
II. The one nation in all the world which discovered the permanent purpose of God in history; the one nation which succeeded in finding a path through its own disasters, so that its own ruin only threw into clearer light the principles of God’s ordained fulfilment—this unique nation pronounced that the fulfilment, the justifying purpose, was to be found in holiness of spirit, the union of man with God, whose image he is.
Accept this as man’s end, and no destruction appals [sickens], no despair overwhelms, for this is the higher life, which is worth all the deaths that the lower can die; this is the new birth, which would make all the anguish of the travailing be remembered no more. But to know the secret was one thing; to achieve its fulfilment was another. The one possible end— the achievement of holiness—was itself impossible to the only people who recognised it as their end.
III. The holiness of God incarnate in the flesh of this labouring humanity, the holy image of God’s perfect righteousness taking upon Himself the whole agony of man, dying the death which justifies all death—but it turns death itself, by the honourable way of sacrifice, into the instrument of the higher inheritance, into the sacrament of righteousness, into the mystery of holiness, into the pledge of perfect peace...
this, and this only, makes a consummation by which the effort of God’s creation achieves an end; this and this only, is a secret and a victory worthy of the merciful God in whom we trust. I need not spend many words on the practical application of this. It is practical enough sometimes just to draw out and study God’s truth;
and if we meditate on it, it will enforce on us its own applications. Only let us seek to realise that we are saved only by being well-pleasing to God; and we are well-pleasing only if He can recognise in us the fruit and crown of all this long travailing, the satisfaction of all this immense effort of creation; it is the holiness of Christ.
H. Scott Holland, Logic and Life, p. 81.
References: Eph_1:10.—Homilist, 3rd series, vol. x., p. 121. Eph_1:11.—R. Thomas, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvii., p. 86; Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 215; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 30. Eph_1:11-14.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. v., p. 456.
Ephesians 1:11-15
The Holy Spirit the Seal of God’s Heritage and the Earnest of our Inheritance. I. In the early Church the access of the Spirit of God to a man was commonly associated with the mysterious gift of tongues, with the power of prophecy, or with other manifestations of a miraculous kind.
It seems to be a law of the Divine action that the beginning of a new movement in the religious history of mankind should be signalised by supernatural wonders which bear emphatic testimony to the new forces that are revealing themselves in the spiritual order and illustrate their nature. These wonders gradually cease, but the loftier powers of which they are only the visible symbols remain. The miraculous manifestations of the Divine Spirit have passed away, but it was the promise of Christ that the Spirit should remain with us for ever.
II. That for the most part we are so indifferent to the presence of the Spirit of God is infinitely surprising. We repeat in another form the sin of insensibility of which the Jewish people were guilty when our Lord was visibly among them. The past was sacred to them, but they were so completely under its control that they failed to recognise the nobler disclosures of the righteousness and power and love of God to themselves.
And is it not the same with us? We look back upon the days when the Son of God was teaching in the Temple and in the cornfields and on the hills of Galilee; and we feel in our hearts that those were the days in which heaven and earth met, and in which God was near to man.
The presence of the Spirit, which Christ Himself declared was to be something greater than His own presence, was to bring clearer light and firmer strength and completer access into the kingdom of God, does not fill us with wonder, with hope, with exulting thankfulness.
III. Paul has spoken of us in verse 11 as being God’s heritage; in verse14 we are described as anticipating an inheritance for ourselves. Our hopes are infinite. If by His Spirit God dwells in us now, we shall dwell in God for ever; and His Spirit dwells in us that He may redeem us completely from all sin and infirmity and raise us to the power and perfection and blessedness of the Divine kingdom.”
R. W. Dale, Lectures on the Ephesians, p. 109.
References: Eph_1:13.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. x., No. 592; G. Brooks, Five Hundred Outlines, p. 4; J. H. Evans, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. vi., p. 61.”
Our next “we have” statement is found in Ephesians 3:12: “In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.”
John Gill writes of this, “In whom we have boldness and access,.... Into the holy of holies, to the throne of grace there, and to God the Father, as seated on it: Christ is the way of access; union to him gives right of access; through his mediation his people have audience of God, and acceptance with him, both of person and service: and this access is with boldness; which denotes liberty of coming, granted by God, and a liberty in their own souls to speak out their minds plainly and freely;
and an holy courage and intrepidity of soul, being free from servile fear, or a spirit of bondage; which is owing to the heart being sprinkled from an evil conscience, to an act of faith, on the person, blood, and righteousness of Christ, and to a view of God, as a God of peace, grace and mercy: and this access may be had with confidence by the faith of him;
with confidence of interest in the everlasting love of God; of relation to him, as a covenant God and Father; of his power, faithfulness, and willingness to fulfil his promises; of his hearing and answering prayer; of the fulness of Christ, the prevalence of his mediation, and of the acceptance of persons and performances through him; and of the work of grace being carried on till the day of Christ;
and of entrance at last into the heavenly glory: and this access is not local but spiritual; it is by faith, and so is peculiar to believers; and the confidence with which it may be had, arises from its being by the faith of Christ; not that faith which Christ himself had, and exercised as man, but that of which he is both the object and author; or that by which souls believe in him for acceptance, for righteousness, for pardon, for every supply of grace, and for eternal life and happiness.”
Our final “we have” statement occurs in the Apostle Paul's letter addressed to Philemon, an individual, as opposed to his usual recipients, a Congregation. I include this tonight because 1.) There is much here for us to learn; and 2.) We began our Study, tonight, speaking about slavery and redemption, so I thought it fitting that we close with a similar theme.
Philemon, a friend and convert of Paul, owned a slave named Onesimus who ran away. Somehow, Paul and Onesimus crossed paths, Onesimus also became a believer, and this epistle is Paul's effort to smooth things over between the two men.
We read in Philemon 1:4-7: “I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, 5 Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints; 6 That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. 7 For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.”
Of this, Matthew Henry writes, “Philemon, the master of Onesimus, was the principal, to whom the letter is inscribed, the head of the family, in whom were the authority and power of taking in or shutting out, and whose property Onesimus was: with him therefore chiefly lay the business.
The general calling as Christians knits those together who are Christian; but, when conjunction in the special calling as ministers is added, this will be further endearing. He expresses the singular and affection he had for him, by thanksgiving and prayer to God in his behalf, and the great joy for the many good things he knew and heard to be in him.
1. Here is the object of Paul's praises and prayers for Philemon: I thank my God, making mention of thee in my prayers. Observe, (1.) God is the author of all the good that is in any, or that is done by them.
(2.) It is the privilege of good men that their praises and prayers they come to God as their God: Our God, we thank thee, said David; and I thank my God, said Paul.
(3.) Our prayers and praises should be offered up to God, not for ourselves only, but for others also. We must be affected with joy and thankfulness for any good in them, or done by them, or bestowed on them, as far as is known to us, and seek for them what they need.
In this lies no little part of the communion of saints. Paul, in his private thanksgivings and prayers, was often particular in remembering his friends: I thank my God, making mention of thee in my prayers; sometimes it may be by name, or at least having them particularly in his thoughts; and God knows who is meant, though not named.
This is a means of exercising love, and obtaining good for others. Strive with me, by your prayers to God for me, said the apostle: and what he desired for himself he surely practised on behalf of others; so should all. Pray one for another, says James, (in James 5:16).
2. Here is the circumstance: Always making mention of thee. Always - usually, not once or twice only, but frequently. So must we remember Christian friends much and often, as their case may need, bearing them in our thoughts and upon our hearts before our God.
3. Here is the matter both of his praises and prayers, in reference to Philemon. (1.) Of his praises. [1.] He thanks God for the love which he heard Philemon had towards the Lord Jesus. He is to be loved as God superlatively, as his divine perfections require; and as related to us, the Lord, and our Lord, our Maker, Redeemer, and Saviour, who loved us, and gave himself for us.
Paul thanks God for what he heard of this, the signal marks and expressions of it in Philemon. [2.] For his faith in Christ also. Love to Christ, and faith in him, are prime Christian graces, for which there is great ground of praise to God, where he has blessed any with them. This is a saving grace, and the very principle of Christian life and of all good works.
[3.] He praises God likewise for Philemon's love to all the saints. These two must go together; for he who loveth him that begat must and will love those also that are begotten of him. The apostle joins them in that (see Colossians 1:3-4), We give thanks to God since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have to all the saints.
These bear the image of Christ, which will be loved by every Christian. Different sentiments and ways in what is not essential will not make a difference of affection as to the truth, though difference in the degrees of love will be according as more or less of that image is discerned. Mere external differences are nothing here... We must love, as God does, all saints... Good works must be done, not of vain-glory to be seen, yet such as may be seen to God's glory and the good of men.”
There are so many blessings and that “we have” here and now, that God has poured out on us as His adopted sons and daughters, members of the Family and Kingdom of God. Today, as in Paul's day, we find ourselves in a wide variety of social and economic circumstances. For Philemon and Onesimus, though they were master and slave in the culture of their day, they were of equal worth in God's eyes as co-heirs of Promise, and future inheritors of the Kingdom.
Jesus loved and shed His blood for the world... for every individual in the world without regard to gender, race, social or economic standing. The angel that announced the birth of the Messiah to the shepherds, announced, “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people” (Luke 2:10). In the Resurrection, all of those redeemed by Christ will be raised in glory, living and reigning with Christ in Eternity in the Kingdom prepared for us from the Foundation of the World.
This concludes this evening's Discussion, “Barabbas, Part 4.”
This Discussion was originally presented “live” on May 4th, 2022.
I have designed a website to serve as an Online Book Store for the things I have written and published on Amazon. These are in the form of both Kindle eBooks, and paperback books. Some of you may recall a Series I presented on "The Lord's Prayer" several years ago. My original notes for this and other Bible Studies have been greatly revised and expanded for these publications. For further details on the books that are available, and for ordering information, click the following:
https://arvkbook.wixsite.com/romansbooks
If you purchase and read any of my books, Thank you! I would also greatly appreciate a review on Amazon!