1 Corinthians 6:19–20 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
In an age where personal liberty and freedom of choice are lauded, these informative words from the Apostle Paul need to be understood and applied. Fundamentally, we all are enslaved to someone. No one walks this earth with absolute freedom and independence, nor are people born in a position of neutrality to decide at some point whether they will serve the devil or the Lord.
We are all conceived as sinners as the result of the sin of Adam in the garden. We sin because it is our nature, we don’t become sinners because we sin. When we are brought to faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord, our sinful nature is transformed so that we progress in more consistent displays of righteousness because we have been delivered from the realm of Satan and sin to become citizens of the realm of our Lord Jesus (Cf 1 John 3:7-8). All those who become Christians by faith in Jesus are delivered from the bonds of sin and are blessed with the bonds of righteousness (Cf Romans 6:17-18).
The transaction that severs the bonds of sin and Satan and establishes the bonds of righteousness and Christ is the provision of redemption accomplished by Jesus offering His lifeblood on the cross as the payment to God for sin, satisfying the justice of God. A righteous sacrifice is offered through Jesus for unrighteous people. Through faith in the payment made by Jesus to satisfy the righteous wrath of God, believers have cleansing, forgiveness, and a new Master, the Lord Jesus. As Paul tells the Corinthian born-again believers in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, all Christians do not belong to themselves, they belong to the Lord because of the price paid for them by Jesus on the cross. What is described here is redemption. Purchased by the blood of Christ, we now belong to God, and we are to live accordingly.
We rejoice in the reality that our master is no longer Satan. Our master is our Lord, and by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, we willingly conform to the will and ways of God.
A line of lyrics from the old gospel song, Redeemed, written by Fanny J. Crosby, is a good way to close these reflections on redemption.
Redeemed—how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His child, and forever, I am.
