At a Bible study yesterday, I listened as my friend Kristen described some of her paintings. Some are sweet and floral and non-controversial. A few have been her effort to desperately wring out of the limitedness of this world what her relationship to her savior is like. I’m not talking about making Jesus images or icons, but she paints her understanding of him. I love it that one of her paintings is at a local taco shop portraying how she experiences a meal there–good tacos and good beer. I haven’t seen the painting, but I could experience a bit of it hearing her share and describe a little of what was in her heart as she painted it. Were Jesus here, he would sit down and enjoy those tacos and enjoy that beer with us. Can you imagine what that wine tasted like that he “poof” made in those huge water jars? Can you imagine what it will be like at the marriage supper of the lamb?
Allowing our divine imaginations to roam within the confines of scripture (Kristen doesn’t paint drunkenness but worship of God as enjoying a good meal and a good beverage) I think primes the pump of worship. For hundreds of years, artists have tried to express their emotions as they worship God.
For myself, I’m not a painter anymore and I’m not currently practicing violin, but I am a potter. As I sit at my wheel, throwing pots, occasionally my mind wanders to the idea that God described himself as the potter and we are the clay. The analogies are myriad as I conform the clay into the pot I desire. The process from clay to finished pot takes longer than you would think. Just the time required for the clay to dry slowly so it doesn’t crack…think about that. Divine imagination. Considering God as I do my craft produces a worship of him that is different than the worship study creates. As you know, I love that worship too. But this morning as I was making my coffee using the stoneware coffee pourover I created to brew this amazing Kenyan coffee I roasted as it collected in this beautiful mug I pulled out of my kiln yesterday…all beckoning me to worship my Creator.
Is there anything in your world that you do that inspires you to worship our God? Even the simplicity of ice skating at a birthday party with your daughter instead of sitting on the side. Allow your divine imagination to frolic with the images of our Heavenly Father ice skating with us because really, aren’t we all still 9? Let’s worship our God in the artistry that is our life.
Turning our attention to our passage, Paul used the artistry of his words as he shifted his praise, honor, and worship to the Son.
Ephesians 1:7–10 (ESV)
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Keeping ourselves grounded in context, we want to make sure we ask the question “him who?” so we aren’t yanking scripture from its mooring. The referent for the him is found in verse 6 where the recipients are blessed in the Beloved. The one who is Beloved is Jesus. “Him who?” Jesus.
As we interpret, a question we want to keep in mind is whether or not there are key words (usually indicated by repetition) or themes present that are also throughout the entirety of scripture. What is the picture Paul tried to paint for us, as it were. We are going to focus on three more words from our section, redemption, forgiveness, and trespasses.
After looking over my last article, I realized that our last Bite was a big bite. We had stuff drooling out of our faces. I’m not usually that worried about talking with my mouth full, but that was ridiculous. Today, while we are still interpreting three words, we will break up the Bite of letting scripture interpret scripture and the Bite of looking in dictionaries.
Redemption
Looking at our observation worksheet, do you see the word redemption in verse 7? I answered the question “how do we get redemption?” with the next phrase through his blood which, when indented like that, indicates a relationship between the two thoughts.
Then lined up with redemption is the phrase the forgiveness of our trespasses. When they are lined up like that on my worksheet, that indicates I see them as so close in relationship that they are almost equals. Not equals in the North American sense, but equals in the Eastern sense.
In the following text from Proverbs, can you see the pairs (or triplets) of ideas? There is the entreaty to keep your father’s commandment right next to the entreaty to not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are right next to each other and so, as I understand it, in Hebrew thinking, parallel comparisons make them very close in relationship. Not synonyms but similar thoughts. It’s a way to explain the meaning of each of them.
20 My son, keep your father’s commandment,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching.
21 Bind them on your heart always;
tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk, they will lead you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
and when you awake, they will talk with you.
Proverbs 6:20–22 (ESV)
To have them bound on your heart is another way say to tie them around your neck. The point being to have them close to you and in the front of your mind. If you can’t understand one concept, there is another description nearby to help the reader. These commandments and teachings will be ever present with you as illustrated by the three phrases about walking, lying down, and being awake.
I realize Paul wrote in Greek, but he was also a Hebrew of Hebrews so his culture and literary thought process would still be influenced by his heritage.
Now let’s look and see what Greek word is behind redemption and see where else it occurs in scripture. Considering those concentric circles at the end of Bite 2, we will first look in Ephesians, and then in other writings of Paul.
The Greek word is ἀπολύτρωσις (apolytrōsis) and here below is an image from my Logos Bible software that lets me visually grasp how it’s translated in the ESV.
The first thing I notice is the shocking lack of the word redemption getting used in the NT. Since it is an integral component of salvation, I would’ve thought it would be everywhere. Perhaps the concept is everywhere, but synonyms are used. We don’t need to speculate too much because what we need to know will become apparent from our study.
What this color wheel is illustrating for us is that of the 10 times the Greek word is used in the NT, 7 times it is translated redemption, and there is a list of the verses where it is found. We can see that Paul used the word in Ephesians 4:30. Since we are trying to understand Paul, we will begin with the writing of Paul in the letter we’re studying.
In this section of Ephesians 4, Paul almost seems to be writing a form of NT Proverbs. Shooting out a series of one-liners and one of them is
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Ephesians 4:30 (ESV)
There is a day coming when the recipients are redeemed. It’ll be like Christmas when we were kids–we get to long for it with eager anticipation!
The next text we’d want to look at is in Colossians because first, Paul wrote it, and second because scholars believe he wrote it at the same time as Ephesians. Remember in Bite 5 when we talked about how evidence seems to indicate that Ephesians was probably a circulated document? At the same time Paul wrote generally to churches in all of Asia Minor (Ephesians), he wrote a letter targeted for the church at Colossae. It’s speculated the courier (probably Tychicus, Col 4:7) carried both letters on the same delivery run. Not only then are there similar topics within the letters, they were written within a close timeframe. Which makes them excellent for comparison. Paul would’ve had similar thoughts running through his heart as he wrote both.
Our word is also here in Colossians.
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:14 (ESV)
This text is very closely related to our text in Ephesians where redemption and forgiveness of sins or trespasses are next to each other. I hear Paul almost rephrasing the word redemption with the forgiveness of sins. As the NT writers were trying to explain theological terms, they were using their Greek words that would’ve been used in a secular sense to try and express new ways of thinking.
We don’t want to gloss over the fact that again we see that it is in Jesus that we have this redemption, this forgiveness of sins. Whether the concepts are vastly different or closely related, they are both stemming from a relationship to Jesus.
I know we are going to be shortly exploring where forgiveness is used in scripture, so I’m having a hard time not investigating it at the same time. There is a delicate balance between focusing on a word and not ignoring the words that are around it. I’m working on how to do that.
The next epistle the word appears in that I’d like to explore is Romans 3:24, however I’d like us to read the surrounding verses to get an idea of the context.
20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Romans 3:20–26 (ESV)
I realize there is a verse in there that for some of us is a very familiar verse. Continue to leave that backpack of previous knowledge at the door and read it with fresh eyes. Read it in the moorings of its surrounding verses.
In this passage, Paul teaches that the law doesn’t provide a means of redemption, that recipients are found in the right (justified) by the gift of grace, and that is through the vehicle of redemption in Jesus. See? I find it almost impossible to understand words in isolation, so we will consider the rest of the text where we also learn that God provided Jesus as a sacrifice (propitiation) which is to be received by faith.
Attempting to make sense of this with regard to the definition of redemption, we know that there is a problem because people have broken God’s law. We aren’t studying what the law is currently, but we can know that there is one and that it has been violated by all (Rom 3:23). Without Jesus, humans are not justified (v20), they are sinners and don’t measure up (v23). Providing the means to be justified, God provided Jesus’ blood as the sacrifice that made the way for there to be redemption. The exclusive means of redemption is in Jesus (v25).
Staying in Romans for a few more minutes, let’s look at Romans 8:23.
23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Romans 8:23–25 (ESV)
Here Paul makes clear that redemption is not simply a spiritual situation, but is also a physical one. Not only will our souls be redeemed but our bodies as well. Additionally, we have more discussion about the present reality (we were saved) and the future hope of this redemption (we wait for it with patience).
When Paul has these phrases next to each other, like I said before, it sounds like he is trying to use multiple descriptions in order to explain difficult concepts. In our post-Christian culture, we are very familiar with terms like redemption and forgiveness and hope, especially in the context of the Church and even more especially if we were raised in the Church. But to a Greek mind, some of these concepts were not only new, they were downright offensive. Counter-cultural.
Do you see the poetry of Paul? He used words that inspire emotion. Groaning as there is waiting for adoption. There is a weariness that causes internal sighing. A word-painting. Then to make sure the painting isn’t blurry, he clarifies with the phrase the redemption of our bodies. Groaning with eagerness because the process isn’t finished, can you relate to that? Can you see yourself in Paul’s painting?
In order to have all that I’ve gathered from exploring scripture succinctly expressed, I will make a list of aspects.
- The recipients currently have redemption through Jesus’ blood
- There is a coming day of redemption
- Redemption is in Christ
- Redemption is rephrased as forgiveness of sins (twice)
- Redemption is not by works of the law
- Justification comes through redemption
- Redemption is rephrased as adoption as sons
- Redemption is not spiritual exclusively but also specifically for the body
- There is expectation in the future of adoption and redemption
Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem like a concise definition of redemption. However, we can see what redemption is closely related to, that it is already and not yet, and how it is not by works but through Jesus.
Forgiveness
First off, we don’t need to leave behind what we just learned about the relationship between redemption and forgiveness of sins/trespasses. While they are not strictly synonymous, we can see that they are closely related. So closely related that Paul uses forgiveness of sins to give a clearer picture to his readers of what redemption is.
Let’s look again at the translation wheel in my Bible software to see all the places the Greek word for forgiveness is used.
The Greek word is ἄφεσις (aphesis) and here below is another image from my Logos Bible software that lets me visually grasp how it’s translated in the ESV. There are 15 times of the 17 uses that it is translated forgiveness.
We have already examined the two texts that Paul wrote, using the Greek word we translate as forgiveness: Ephesians 1:7 and Colossians 1:14. Those were two of the places it appears Paul was using the word forgiveness to help explain the concept of redemption.
Since we don’t know who the author of Hebrews is (though I have suspicions), we will look at how Jesus used this word next. There are only two instances gospel writers reported Jesus as talking about forgiveness using this word. One is in Mark when Jesus explained that if someone blasphemes the Holy Spirit and says he is evil, then they will not be forgiven.
28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Mark 3:28–30 (ESV)
I just studied this section of scripture in that Mark study I was telling you about, so you get a sample of what I’ve been learning over there. Letting folks know they won’t be forgiven if they say the Holy Spirit is evil makes sense. If you think about the symphony of effort by the triune God: God the Father chose and provided the sacrifice, Jesus was the sacrifice, and the Holy Spirit gives the life. The Holy Spirit is the one who regenerates; he makes the dead alive. To reject the Holy Spirit is to reject salvation.
As far as learning what forgiveness means, we have an opposite. On the one hand, someone would have forgiveness; on the other, someone would be guilty of an eternal sin. Therefore, forgiveness is not being guilty.
The other instance Jesus was reported to have used this word was by the evangelist Luke in the account of Saul’s conversion.
15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
Acts 26:15–18 (ESV)
In Saul’s assignment from Jesus himself, he was going to open people’s eyes so they would turn from darkness and the power of Satan to light and the power of God.
Jesus loved the arts! He could’ve said something obvious like “so they will stop being bad” or “so they will do the right thing”. Instead, Luke records Jesus as using the poetic language of turning from evil and moving towards the power of God. Which vibrantly helps us to understand the two options. Only one leads to the receiving of forgiveness of sin which is further clarified as a place among those who have faith in Jesus and are being changed by that faith.
Powerful testimony, I know. But I’ve never considered Paul’s testimony in light of a definition for forgiveness. Looking closely and hearing the poetic language, I see movement preceding the forgiveness which is given–eyes being opened and turning from darkness. Those who have received forgiveness have their eyes open, they’ve made a life direction change, and they are positionally in a different place from where they once were. They are among people who also believe in Jesus. Not necessarily physically, but they are counted among the members of the household of God, if you remember another Bite. This is a word painting that requires us to linger in front of it and ponder like we would in front of an excellent painting in an art gallery.
Now that we’ve considered how Jesus used the word, we will continue by looking at how Luke used this word. He used it a total of eight times in his writing and four of those times, he had the word repentance near by. Again words that are closely related. Seemingly, the author is trying to more fully describe what he’s talking about.
3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Luke 3:3 (ESV)
47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Luke 24:47 (ESV)
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:38 (ESV)
31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
Acts 5:31 (ESV)
In each of these examples, I see activity preceding the forgiveness. There is a change in direction of the recipient of forgiveness–repentance. Just like what Jesus said–a turn from darkness and Satan to light and the power of God. Luke describes a baptism of repentance, repentance for the forgiveness of sins, a call to repent, and even that repentance is given.
Let’s list what scripture says about this word:
- Forgiveness is not being guilty
- Having eyes opened (directly in the text by Paul, but an implication is by anyone who shares the Good News) leads to forgiveness
- Turning from darkness to light allows the receiving of forgiveness
- Turning from Satan to the power of God allows the receiving of forgiveness
- Receiving the forgiveness of sins means the forgiven one has a place among other saints who are being changed by faith in Christ
- Forgiveness is often used in close relation to repentance
That’s a good start for understanding this word. Even though there are more scriptures to look at, I will let you explore them on your own. Let’s continue on and learn how the word trespass is used in scripture.
Trespasses
I find the wheel of translation useful to see how the Greek word is used elsewhere. The words we’ve been looking at aren’t particularly colorful with all the different ways they are translated, but the fact that these words are basically used one way makes understanding them easier.
The Greek word is παράπτωμα (paraptōma) and here again is an image from my Logos Bible software that lets me visually grasp how it’s translated in the ESV. There are 18 times of the 19 uses that it is translated trespass or trespasses.
We’re getting good at this, now! We start with Ephesians.
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
Ephesians 2:1 (ESV)
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Ephesians 2:5 (ESV)
Hey. I think Paul is telling us that being in trespasses means we are dead. Since we are not physically dead, he must be telling us that we are another kind of dead, using more skills with how he uses words to paint the picture in a way that moves us to shudder. Dead. We are stone cold dead as doornails in trespasses. When Paul uses such descriptive language, we can put ourselves in the scripture, feeling the weight of it. Moving to other letters he wrote, let’s see if other scripture will shed more light for us.
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Colossians 2:13–14 (ESV)
Expertly using a literary device to present contrasts, Paul talks about the recipients again being previously dead in trespasses, but there is the awesome news that he also made them alive with Christ. He also explains how that happened, that the record of debt that God had against them (remember in Romans we talked earlier about the law that everyone has broken–it created a debt with legal demands) got set aside; it got nailed to the cross. More poetry. There was a charge nailed to the cross above Jesus, and though it wasn’t ours, we are encouraged by Paul to use our divine imagination to see them nailed there.
There is one more scripture we will look at–we can’t consider all of them here. But you are welcome to look at the rest of them and see what else you can gather. We will look at 2 Corinthians 5:19 because I think it has an interesting aspect.
19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:19 (ESV)
In this usage, Paul describes the reality that because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, God reconciled the world to himself, that he didn’t count trespasses against them anymore. If anyone’s trespasses are not nailed to the cross like we just learned about in Colossians, then they are not reconciled to God. They are opposed to God. They are at war with God.
One more thing to clear up about the close relationship between the words trespasses and sins, they are so closely related that they are basically the same thing. Do you remember Granville Sharp? He had a rule. This one from Bite 6 again:
Look again at Ephesians 2:1:
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
We have article, noun, και, noun. That means that trespasses and sins are equal with each other. They are basically the same thing. Synonyms. Which helps us understand both words better because they are words we are mostly familiar with.
Wrapping up our exploration of the scriptures of the word trespasses, let’s review what we’ve seen.
- Everyone at one time was dead in trespasses
- When trespasses are forgiven, a person is made alive
- Trespasses forgiven by having debt (trespasses) nailed to the cross
- If trespasses not paid for on the cross, not reconciled to God
- If trespasses are nailed to the cross, reconciled to God
- Trespasses are sins
Now that we’ve allowed scripture to interpret scripture for these three words, I think we will stop for today. Next time we will take what we learned here from this Bite and combine it with what we can learn from dictionaries and then hopefully be able to better understand Paul as he leans into his worship of Jesus.
Our Bible Study Bite for today is to let scripture interpret scripture. While we do that, I want to encourage us to not look at the Word strictly with analysis in mind but to allow the beauty and artistry to move us. There is no addition to the scripture, but let your imagination roam in the realm God has provided.
