Ephesians 1:7 NKJV
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
Set Free by the Blood: The Overwhelming Wealth of God’s Grace
MY NOTES
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”—Ephesians 1:7 (NKJV)
Have you ever stopped long enough to feel the weight of that sentence? Redemption isn’t a polite religious word—it’s the most astonishing thing God has ever done. Creation was breathtaking: He spoke, and galaxies spun into place. But redeeming a fallen human soul? That required something vastly different. God couldn’t merely utter a word to wipe away sin without compromising His righteousness. Redemption cost Him the very lifeblood of His Son.
John 3:16 NKJV
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
The Reality of Our Freedom
That word “redemption” carries the idea of buying someone out of slavery by paying the full price. The Greek word lutroo meant paying a ransom price to set a slave or captive completely free. We were captive—bound by sin, under the accusation of the law, and in the grip of an enemy stronger than we are. Jesus didn’t set us free by living a perfect life as an example for us to copy, or by inspiring us with His love. He set us free by dying in our place. As one older writer put it, it is not redemption through His power or through His love alone; it is through His blood.
Hebrews 9:12
“Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”
Titus 2:14
“who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”
Notice what actually broke those chains: it wasn’t Jesus’ flawless moral example or His earthly wisdom—as powerful as those were. Our freedom was bought strictly by His blood shed in our place. Justice couldn’t be bypassed; it had to be satisfied. On the cross, Jesus didn’t just sympathize with our plight—He paid our debt in full.
1 Peter 1:18–19
“knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
The blood was necessary because God is both perfectly holy and perfectly just. He will not bless us in a way that contradicts His own righteousness. So the Father and the Son together provided what justice demanded and what mercy longed to give. Jesus, both God and man, was the only One who could stand in our place. His blood is enough—fully sufficient, freely given, and utterly effective.
More Than Just a Clean Slate
And look what that purchase bought: the forgiveness of sins. Not some sins, or the “big” ones, or only the ones we feel bad about. All of them—original and actual, past, present, and the ones we haven’t even committed yet. Forgiveness is so central that the rest of redemption can almost be summarized by it.
Forgiveness is only the beginning of what redemption purchased for you:
- Pardon for your past: Every record of sin against you has been wiped clean—past, present, and future.
- Adoption and Access: You are no longer an outsider looking in; you are a child of God with direct access to the Father.
- Power for the present: The Holy Spirit lives inside you, providing guidance, strength, and endurance through every trial.
- Hope for the future: An unshakeable inheritance waiting in heaven that no circumstance on earth can touch.
The apostle names forgiveness because it is the hinge on which everything else turns. No remission without redemption; no true freedom while guilt remains.
Here’s the wonder: this priceless gift comes to us according to the riches of His grace. God found the ransom price Himself. He gave His Son, and the Son gave Himself. It cost Christ everything; it costs us nothing. We are redeemed without money and without price of our own. Justice is satisfied because Christ is our substitute. Grace is magnified because the Father freely accepted that substitute when He could have demanded payment from us. Wisdom planned it; love provided it; righteousness endorsed it. In one stroke, the honor of God and the recovery of sinners are both secured.
Ephesians 2:4–5, 8
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)… For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.”
That is why the cross is not a tragedy we try to explain away. It is the place where the riches of grace overflowed.
Prayer
Father, thank You that redemption is not a theory but a finished work. Thank You that in Jesus I have the forgiveness of every sin, purchased by His blood and given according to the riches of Your grace. Forgive me for the times I have tried to add my own effort to what only His death could accomplish, or for treating this gift lightly. Father, let the riches of Your grace quiet every accusation the enemy brings and transform how I live. Teach me to extend that same grace and forgiveness to others. Let the reality of this freedom shape the way I live today: free from guilt, free to love, and free to rest in what You have already done. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Key Takeaways
- Redemption required the actual blood of Jesus. His life and example inspire us, but only His death in our place purchases our freedom.
- Forgiveness is total. Every sin—past, present, and future—is covered when we are in Him.
- The price was infinitely costly to God and completely free to us. Justice and grace meet at the cross, and neither is compromised.
- We were captives; now we are liberated. The chains of guilt, the law’s curse, and the enemy’s claim are broken because the ransom has been paid.
- The riches of His grace mean we never have to earn, top-up, or complete what Jesus finished. We simply receive.
Proverb for Today
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs the hearts. Proverbs 21:2 NKJV
Daily Scripture
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9 NKJV
Closing
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 NKJV
Grace be with you. Amen.
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Commentaries:
Precept Austin
Freedom given by Christ and in Christ is the only true freedom. Delivered from the shackles and the bondage of sin, believers now are free to do what they ought (contrast “the things that you please” Gal 5:17) what God created them to do [Ep 2:10], and they are no longer in shackles to their evil desires [that come from the fallen flesh that once ruled when we were in Adam]. The unsaved man or woman indulges in sin [Ep 2:3] and has no power to resist it. Sin like a cruel “king” rules and controls the unbeliever’s mind and heart and as a result his body (our body is neutral and be used for good or bad, Sin always using it for bad or evil.) Sin from birth has bound the unbeliever in “spiritual shackles” much worse than shackles of iron. Christ’s offer of redemption through His blood is the offer to come into a glorious freedom from such bondage, and into a potentially abundant life (Jn 10:10) that His indwelling Spirit both empowers and wills in the heart of the one redeemed so that they now can live life in a godly, holy way that pleases the Holy God [cp 2Cor 5:9, cp Col 1:9, 10, Php 2:13, Eph 5:10 [context = Ep 5:6, 7, 8, 9], Eph 6:6, 1Th 4:1, Heb 13:20, 21, He 11:6, ]
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Enduring Word
In Him we have redemption through His blood: The Him is the Beloved of Ephesians 1:6. In Him we have redemption and nowhere else. There is no possible redemption outside of Jesus and His redeeming blood. (Guzik)
i. Redemption always implies a price being paid for the freedom that is purchased. It uses the ancient Greek word lootruo, which means, “to liberate on the receipt of a ransom.” (Gaebelein) Here the price is His blood, showing that the blessing from the Father and the Son comes not only from a divine decree, but it also comes according to His righteousness and holiness. He cannot bless in opposition to His righteousness and holiness. (Guzik)
ii. Jesus does not redeem us by His sinless life or His moral example, but only by His death in our place – by His blood. “Observe, it is not redemption through his power, it is through his blood. It is not redemption through his love, it is through his blood.” (Spurgeon)
iii. We should not take a superstitious or mystical view of “the blood.” It was not Jesus’ physical blood that saved anyone, but His real and total payment for the sins of man in His whole person on the cross. This is what the New Testament means when it talks about “the blood.” (Guzik)
According to the riches of His grace: The redemption and forgiveness given to us comes according to the measure of the riches of His grace. It is not a “small” redemption or forgiveness won by Jesus on the cross. It is immense. (Guzik)
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Albert Barnes
In whom we have redemption — On the meaning of the word here rendered “redemption” – (ἀπολύτρωσις apolutrōsis) – see the notes at Romans 3:24. The word here, as there, denotes that deliverance from sin and from the evil consequences of sin, which has been procured by the atonement made by the Lord Jesus Christ. This verse is one of the passages which prove conclusively that the apostle here does not refer to “nations” and to “national privileges.” Of what “nation” could it be said that it had “redemption through the blood of Jesus, even the forgiveness of sins?”
Through his blood — By means of the atonement which he has made; see this phrase fully explained in the notes at Romans 3:25.
The forgiveness of sins — We obtain through his blood, or through the atonement which he has made, the forgiveness of sins. We are not to suppose that this is all the benefit which we receive from his death, or that this is all that constitutes redemption. It is the main, and perhaps the most important thing. But we also obtain the hope of heaven, the influences of the Holy Spirit, grace to guide us and to support us in trial, peace in death, and perhaps many more benefits. Still “forgiveness” is so prominent and important, that the apostle has mentioned that as if it were all.
According to the riches of his grace — According to his rich grace; see a similar phrase explained in the notes at Romans 2:4. The word “riches,” in the form in which it is used here, occurs also in several other places in this Epistle; Ephesians 1:18; Ephesians 2:7; Ephesians 3:8, Ephesians 3:16. It is what Paley (Horae Paul) calls “a cant phrase,” and occurs often in the writings of Paul; see Romans 2:4; Romans 9:23; Romans 11:12, Romans 11:33; Philippians 4:19; Colossians 1:27; Colossians 2:2. It is not found in any of the other writings of the New Testament, except once in a sense somewhat similar, in James James 2:5, “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world “rich” in faith.”
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John Gill
In whom we have redemption through his blood,…. Redemption supposes captivity and slavery, and is a deliverance out of it; God’s elect by nature are in bondage to sin, Satan, and the law; through the grace of Christ, they are redeemed from all iniquity; ransomed out of the hands of him that is stronger than they; and are freed from the law, its bondage, curse, and condemnation, and from every other enemy: and this benefit Christ is the author of; he was called to be the Redeemer of his people from all eternity; and he was sent in the fulness of time, to procure the redemption of them; to which he had a right, being their near kinsman; and for which he was every way fit, being God as well as man; and which he has obtained by his obedience, sufferings, and death: and in whom it resides, as in its proper subject and author; who, by imputation, is made redemption to all the chosen ones; for not angels, but men, share in this redemption; and not all men, but elect men; such as are chosen in Christ, predestinated to the adoption of children by him, and who are accepted in the beloved: and this comes to them through the blood of Christ, which was freely shed on the cross to procure it; and was a sufficient ransom, or redemption price; it being not only the same blood with those who are redeemed, but the blood of an innocent person; and not of a mere man, but of one who is truly and properly God, as well as man; see more of this See Gill on “Col 1:14.” A branch of this redemption follows, or a blessing that comes by it, and along with it,
the forgiveness of sins; of all sins, original and actual, past, present, and to come; and this is through the blood of Christ, which was shed for the same: and yet is
according to the riches of his grace; for God of his rich grace found the ransom price, and gave his Son, as well as he gave himself, his life, a ransom for many; and how much soever it cost Christ to procure redemption and pardon, they are free to his people; who are redeemed without money and price of theirs, and whose sins are forgiven freely for Christ’s sake.
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Matthew Henry
Remission of sins, and redemption through the blood of Jesus, v. 7. No remission without redemption. It was by reason of sin that we were captivated, and we cannot be released from our captivity but by the remission of our sins. This redemption we have in Christ, and this remission through his blood. The guilt and the stain of sin could be no otherwise removed than by the blood of Jesus. All our spiritual blessings flow down to us in that stream. This great benefit, which comes freely to us, was dearly bought and paid for by our blessed Lord; and yet it is according to the riches of God’s grace. Christ’s satisfaction and God’s rich grace are very consistent in the great affair of man’s redemption. God was satisfied by Christ as our substitute and surety; but it was rich grace that would accept of a surety, when he might have executed the severity of the law upon the transgressor, and it was rich grace to provide such a surety as his own Son, and freely to deliver him up, when nothing of that nature could have entered into our thoughts, nor have been any otherwise found out for us. In this instance he has not only manifested riches of grace, but has abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence (v. 8), wisdom in contriving the dispensation, and prudence in executing the counsel of his will, as he has done. How illustrious have the divine wisdom and prudence rendered themselves, in so happily adjusting the matter between justice and mercy in this grand affair, in securing the honor of God and his law, at the same time that the recovery of sinners and their salvation are ascertained and made sure!
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Calvin’s Commentary
In whom we have redemption. The apostle is still illustrating the material cause, — the manner in which we are reconciled to God through Christ. By his death he has restored us to favor with the Father; and therefore we ought always to direct our minds to the blood of Christ, as the means by which we obtain divine grace. After mentioning that, through the blood of Christ, we obtain redemption, he immediately styles it the forgiveness of sins, — to intimate that we are redeemed, because our sins are not imputed to us. Hence it follows, that we obtain by free grace that righteousness by which we are accepted of God, and freed from the chains of the devil and of death. The close connection which is here preserved, between our redemption itself and the manner in which it is obtained, deserves our notice; for, so long as we remain exposed to the judgment of God, we are bound by miserable chains, and therefore our exemption from guilt, becomes an invaluable freedom.
According to the riches of his grace. He now returns to the efficient cause, — the largeness of the divine kindness, which has given Christ to us as our Redeemer. Riches, and the corresponding word overflow, in the following verse, are intended to give us large views of divine grace. The apostle feels himself unable to celebrate, in a proper manner, the goodness of God, and desires that the contemplation of it would occupy the minds of men till they are entirely lost in admiration. How desirable is it that men were deeply impressed with “the riches of that grace” which is here commended! No place would any longer be found for pretended satisfactions, or for those trifles by which the world vainly imagines that it can redeem itself; as if the blood of Christ, when unsupported by additional aid, had lost all its efficacy.
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Miscellaneous Comments
John Eadie – The apostle now specifies some fruits of that grace-illustrates echaritosen. From a recital of past acts of God toward us, he comes now to our present blessing. Redemption stands out to his mind as the deliverance-so unique in its nature and so well known, that it has the article prefixed. It is enshrined in solitary eminence. The idea fills the Old Testament, for the blessing which the Levitical ritual embodied and symbolized was redemption-deliverance from evil by means of sacrifice. Leviticus 1:4; Leviticus 1:9; Leviticus 4:26; Leviticus 17:11. Blood was the medium of expiation and of exemption from penalty….The human race need deliverance, and they cannot, either by price or by conquest, effect their own liberation, for the penal evil which sin has entailed upon them fetters and subdues them. But redemption is not an immediate act of sovereign prerogative; it is represented as the result of a process which involved and necessitated the death of Christ. The means of deliverance, or the price paid, was the blood of Christ- dia tou haimatos autos; as in Acts 20:28, where we have periepoesato, and 1 Corinthians 6:20, where we have, under a different aspect, egorasthete and similarly in Galatians 3:13. Blood is the material of expiation. The death of Jesus was one of blood, for it was a violent death; and that blood-the blood of a sinless man, on whom the Divine law had no claim, and could have none-was poured out as a vicarious offering. The atonement was indispensable to remission of sin-it was to lutron-the price of infinite value. Matthew 20:28; Matthew 26:28; Mark 10:45; Hebrews 9:22. The law of God must be maintained in its purity ere guilty man can be pardoned. The universal Governor glorifies His law, and by the same act enables Himself to forgive its transgressors….The dia (through) points to the instrumental connection which the death of Christ has with our redemption, but en (in) to the method in which that redemption becomes ours. Romans 3:24. Dia regards the means of provision, en the mode of reception-in Christ the Beloved, in loving, confiding union with Him as the one sphere-a thought vitally pervading the paragraph and the entire epistle. For how can we have safety if we are out of the Saviour? Romans 8:1; Romans 8:33.
Henrietta Mears – Redemption is the most glorious work of God. It is greater far than His work of creation. He spoke a word and worlds were formed, but it cost Him the life of His beloved Son to redeem the world.
Word Study
Redemption (629) from apo = marker of dissociation or separation + lutroo = to redeem <> from lutron = ransom <> from lúo = loosen what is bound, loose any person tied or fastened) is the payment of a price to ransom (lutron = money for a ransom = ransom or price paid for a slave who is then set free), to release (of someone from the power of someone else), to buy back or to deliver one from a situation from which one is powerless to liberate themselves from or for which the penalty was so costly that they could never hope to pay the ransom price. In other words, the idea of redemption is deliverance or release by payment of a ransom.
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