Bought With an Infinite Price
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
I Peter 1:18,19
Salvation is free but not cheap. The gift of God cost God His Son and the Son His life. With His own precious blood He bought us in the market, bought us out of the market, bought us never to return to the market. We are not redeemed by anything we are or have or can do.
The New Testament theme is a glorious Three R’s – Ruin, Redemption and Regeneration. There is a tendency today to make much of Christ as teacher and example, but when the Greeks came to see Him He spoke immediately of His death. Modern Greeks need the message of redemption by His blood.
It is also the incentive to consecration and service. Not the copying of an Example or following a Teacher, but because we are not our own, but are bought with a price – for that reason we are to glorify God in our body and spirit, which are God’s.