Ephesians 1:7 – Far, Far Away
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
Truth to Learn
Our sin penalty is paid and our sins are thrown-away.
Behind the Words
The word “redemption” is from apolutrōsis. This compound word is made up of apo, meaning “from” or “away from” and a form of the verb lutroō, meaning “to pay a ransom.” Apolutrōsis refers to the act of releasing captives from their captivity through the payment of a ransom for them.
“Forgiveness” is from aphesis, made up of apo, meaning “from” or “away from” and hiēmi, meaning “to send.” Thus, aphesis refers to the sending away of sins from the sinner.
The word translated “sins” is paraptōma. This word is made up of para, meaning “to the side” and a form of piptō, meaning “to fall.” Therefore, paraptōma literally refers to “a falling by the wayside.” Some claim that this is an accidental sin as opposed to a deliberate sin (which they claim would be represented by the Greek word parabainō), but the consistent uses of these two words do not support such a claim. Paraptōma is always used to indicate deliberate acts of sin.
Meaning Explained
To begin with, in today’s verse we have to ask ourselves the question, “Who is being referred to by ‘Him’?” The answer is that it refers to “the Beloved” from the previous verse; in other words, it refers to Jesus Christ.
As we pointed out in the previous verse, this opening passage of Ephesians portrays God the Father shining the spotlight on His grace. In the current verse Paul is explaining to us one of the characteristics of this grace. Because of the grace of God, we have redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ. Without God’s grace, we are captives of sin and, as Paul teaches in the book of Romans, we are in bondage to sin. We cannot free ourselves and we must obey our master (sin). However, by the grace of God, the blood of Christ (His death on the cross) is paid as the ransom to release us from the bondage of sin.
And, through the grace of God our sins are forgiven. But what does it mean to have forgiveness? As we saw in “Behind the Words,” the Greek word is aphesis; that is, God does not simply “excuse” our sins, He sends them far away from us. Here’s how the psalmist expressed it:
He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. (Psalms 103:10-12)
Also, the writer of Hebrews, in discussing the blood of Christ, says what God does with our sins because of His sacrifice:
“their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” (Hebrews 10:17)
Application
What a precious truth! Through God’s amazing grace He has chosen us, He has adopted us as His children, and He has cast our sins away from us so that He no longer even remembers them. As a result, He sees us as righteous as Christ!
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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