Jesus Our Redeemer
Job 19:25
By Harold Dinsmore, M.Div
© 2008 Harold Dinsmore.

I would suppose that one of the most central and crucial elements of our faith as Christians rests upon the work of Christ as our Redeemer.  But in order to understand how Jesus is our Redeemer, we must come to an understanding of why we are, first of all.

In your Bibles, you will find this teaching of Jesus in John 8:34, “Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.””  Now everyone here understands what a slave is, right?  A slave is owned by someone else.  Most slaves are not slaves by choice, but slaves under compulsion – they are forced to be slaves.

This is the context Jesus explains that if you have ever committed a sin, you are a slave to sin.  Sin owns you!  Right along this same line, Paul describes himself, in Romans 7:14, as “carnal (or fleshly) sold under sin.”  So in his mind’s eye, he was as one sold to a cruel slave master.

In Romans 6:17, Paul reminds the Roman Christians that they, too, were “once slaves to sin.”  He also teaches that “if you yield yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are the slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or obedience which leads to righteousness.”

Sinners are slaves.  Sin owns them and sinners are under the sentence and doom of death.  Romans 6:23 says “the wages of sin is death.”