We said last week that the atonement doctrines of ransom and redemption are interlinked. This week I will cover redemption. So what is redemption? Deliverance upon payment of ransom. What is the deliverance? Freedom from sin. What is the payment of ransom? His blood.

The redemption theme in the atonement is to deliver people from bondage. In the same way we see Moses as the deliverer, the redeemer of Israel from their bondage to Egypt in the Exodus account. So, Jesus now is our deliverer, our redeemer from our bondage to sin. In other words, Ephesians 1:7 tells us, “in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace.” As redemption denotes redeeming someone from captivity like Isreal from Egypt (Micah 6:4, Exodus 15:13, Deuteronomy 7:8, II Samuel 7:23). Christ does this through the payment of His blood.

I will quote Jerry Bridges on his reflection of Ephesians 1:7, “The price of this redemption is abundantly clear—it is ‘through his blood.’ Our redemption is as real as His blood. It is a real deliverance from a real captivity from a real ransom paid in blood. We really were captive to the dominion of sin and its resulting condemnation. …sin nature dominated us, and the law condemned us to death. But Christ, the beloved, as our representative, intervened on our behalf by dying a real and cursed death in our place. The ransom price was paid to God to satisfy his justice. And we were redeemed from our old owner to our new One with a perfect blood sacrifice, acceptable to the Father.” (Romans 3:23-25)

In counseling, we see the bondage that comes from sin and being sinned against. The bondage is real. As real as this bondage is from sin and being sinned against, so too Christ’s “blood work” in our lives is real. Christ didn’t do a partial work, freeing us partially from bondage. It is complete freedom from the bondage. So, if you are a believer, experiencing bondage, you are left with a question. Was Christ’s death on the cross and His redemption enough? Did He really free you, or did He leave you only partially freed? In a sense we become what we already are in Christ. Freed. I believe that the Enemy of God gets us to fight a battle that’s already been won. We don’t have to fight for redemption. It has already been completed, the battle already won. Atonement happened at the death of Christ. His last breath was our first.

Pastor James is a Biblical Living Pastor at Mars Hill Church West Seattle. He currently oversees counseling for the campus, and is responsible for equipping and training volunteer biblical counselors and leaders at all levels.

If you are hurting and would like to speak with a counselor, please email westseattlecare@marshillchurch.org

Subscribe to our blog by email to stay up to date on articles from Pastor James and other Mars Hill Pastors.

This was the eighth post in the series Bringing Counseling Back Into The Church
To read the other posts in the series click HERE.

On Sunday, November 29th, we are holding our next round of baby dedications. Invariably, there are many questions about what it means to “dedicate” and why we do this. This brief article is meant to answer those questions, allay concerns and prepare for this great day.

As your pastors at Mars Hill West Seattle we strongly encourage parents to actively take up their biblical responsibility to raise their children in the knowledge, love and grace of God in Jesus (Deut. 6:6-7; 11:19; Psalm 34:11; 78:1-8; Prov. 1:1-8ff; 3:1-10; 22:6; 1 Kings 2:1-4). The following are seven points to understand about dedicating children to the Lord:

1. The practice of baby dedication is based on scriptural precedent, rooted in the Old Testament, in which Jesus was presented to the Lord in the temple as an infant (Luke 2:22-35).
2. The practice of baby dedication acknowledges God’s blessing on, concern and care for children (Isaiah 54:13; Matt 18:1-5, 10; 19:13-15; Luke 18:15-17; Acts 2:39; 1 John 2:12-13).
3. It is the parents who are doing the dedicating. It is a commitment parents make in their heart before Jesus and agree together to live out in their home. The dedication we perform during the church service is a public acknowledgement of that commitment.
4. Parents are acknowledging that their children are a gift from God (Gen 33:5; Psalm 127:3-5). As such they are a blessing, a great privilege, and a source of joy (Prov. 23:24-25)—and a lot of work too! Ultimately, we recognize that children are created by our Father in heaven, and as such, belong to him and are entrusted to parents as stewards to raise in Jesus (Exodus 13:2,12).
5. Parents are committing to, by the grace of God, serving as a positive example of what it looks like to follow Jesus, making it easy for their children to follow them as they follow Jesus (1 Cor 11:1), and not be a stumbling block to their children’s saving faith.
6. Additionally, the church leadership and community (elders, deacons, and members) commit to support and equip parents, by the grace of God, to fulfill their responsibility, and likewise be good examples to their children.
7. Lastly, it is important to highlight that baby dedications are not “dry” baptisms nor a replacement for baptism. Mars Hill Church recognizes believer’s baptism as being the only biblical expression of baptism. Baby dedication is not magic, nor a formula that manipulates God, nor does it place any sort of extra-special blessing or protection upon your children, nor does it secure or ensure their immediate or eventual salvation.

We celebrate “new birth” on November 29th. We’ll celebrate “re-birth” on Dec 13th.
More to come.

In Christ,
Pastor Adam

Extending mercy is an essential mark of the Christian life because it reveals we understand the mercy we’ve been shown by God through the gospel (cf. Mt 18:23-35). So essential is mercy to the Christian life that Jesus tells us its presence, or lack thereof, can be used to test whether true faith is present (Mt 25:31-46).

Acts of mercy offer help and healing of the effects of sin in all areas of life, including physical, social, economic and emotional (Lk 10:25-27). It is a demonstrable work that points to the greater spiritual healing offered in and thru the gospel.

Scripture is clear that no one is saved by good deeds, even merciful deeds, but by faith alone (Gal 2:15,16; Rom 9:30; Php 3:9). We do not have any righteousness of our own (Rom 3:10). In fact, even our best works are polluted (Isa 64:6). But, there is a connection between our faith and works. James, the half-brother of Jesus, tells us the inevitable sign of true faith in Jesus Christ is a life poured out in deeds of mercy (James 2:14-18).

The primary difference between secular deeds and Christian deeds is one of motivation. Christian’s are motivated by the gospel (1 John 3:16-18). We serve because we’ve been served by Jesus. We love because we’ve been infinitely loved by Jesus. We sacrifice for others because Jesus was scarified for us. We offer mercy to the undeserving because even while we were undeserving Christ offered us mercy (Rom 5:8). The only real, long-lasting, enduring motivation for pouring your life out in deeds of mercy is experiencing the radical grace of God offered to us in the gospel.

So, in light of this, on Sunday, Nov 22nd, 10:30am-4:00pm Mars Hill West Seattle will be partnering with the Puget Sound Blood Center to support “Give Life Before Giving Thanks” through the donation of blood. Each donation can save up to three lives. So, whether you call Mars Hill home or not, we invite you to join us in this collective effort to bring health, life and hope to those in our city with need. Walk-ins are welcome though appointments are recommended as space is limited. For more information, restrictions and to register go to our Give Blood page.

We give blood because there is One who gave his blood for us.

Thankful for the Mercy of God,
Adam Sinnett

To begin, I want to state that this blog will fall significantly short of truly expressing what Christ’s blood actually did for the believer through ransom. It is my attempt to give you the clearest picture that I can in this short word, but I will continue to produce more articles on this theme as we work forward.

The doctrines of ransom and redemption are interlinked. However, this week I will talk about ransom and next week about redemption. So what is ransom? The price Christ paid. What is the price Christ paid? His blood. What is his blood for? Redemption. And what else did Christ’s blood do for us?

Please read these Scriptures that talk about what Christ’s blood has done for the believer; although in this blog, I will concentrate on the cleansing power of the blood. The blood of Christ signifies His death.

• Redemption by blood of Jesus: 1 Peter 1:18-19
• Reconciliation though the blood of Jesus: Romans 3:24-25
• Cleansing through the blood of Jesus: 1 John 1:7-9, Ephesians 2:13, Hebrews 9:14
• Victory through the blood of Jesus: Revelation 12:11
• A greater fellowship with God through the blood of Jesus: Hebrews 10:19-22
• Victory through the blood of Jesus: Revelation 12:11
• We sing a new song through the blood of Jesus: Revelation 5:9

We see in 1 John 1:7-9 that it is the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from sin. If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin. We see that it’s the forgiveness of sin that cleanses us from all unrighteousness. The blood removes guilt; the blood removes shame; the blood removes condemnation. The blood removes the filth which is our sin. How does the blood of Christ remove all of these? By Jesus Christ becoming our guilt, our shame, our condemnation, our filth, so that we are forgiven, thus standing right before God. My sin is no longer attached to me but to Him, and I obtain his righteousness—justified. He died my death, so I obtain his life. I am cleansed as He is cleansed, pure as He is pure.

In counseling, one of the main distortions in the cleansing power of the blood of Christ is believers who are still experiencing filth (shame, condemnation, guilt). This is very strange because Scripture exhaustively explains our purification, received by the blood. So I ask, are you still experiencing filth? Is that filth the stain of un-removed sin? Clearly God has removed the stain and the sin through Christ’s death. I believe that it’s not an actual stain or filth but rather a self-absorbed response to the cross, intentional blindness, or sheer rebellion. Because of this response and our false sense of filth, we try to clean ourselves up for God when the only thing that makes us clean is the blood. When we try to clean ourselves up, we are making ourselves God. It’s great news that we can’t clean ourselves up. We have to rely on the blood of Christ to do that work. So rather than trying to clean your life up for God, invite Him into your mess. That’s where real change happens.

Pastor James is a Biblical Living Pastor at Mars Hill Church West Seattle. He currently oversees counseling for the campus, and is responsible for equipping and training volunteer biblical counselors and leaders at all levels.

If you are hurting and would like to speak with a counselor, please email westseattlecare@marshillchurch.org

Subscribe to our blog by email to stay up to date on articles from Pastor James and other Mars Hill Pastors.

This was the seventh post in the series Bringing Counseling Back Into The Church
To read the other posts in the series click HERE.

Francisco Benfeldt is a good brother and new friend is a Guatemalan native who planted Casa de Libertad, a church on the outskirts of Guatemala City. Watch this video to meet Francisco and learn more.

Video: Francisco Benfeldt | Pastor of Casa de Libertad in Guatemala City

To read other posts in this series click HERE.

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to consider all that we have to be thankful for, especially for Christians. Jesus’ victory over Satan, sin and death (1Cor 15:57; 2Co 9:15; Ro 7:23-25; 2Co 2:14) has cleared the way for us to be in eternal relationship with God. This calls for lives of thanksgiving, not merely a holiday. I thought it would help to recount what is now true of all who live by faith in Jesus Christ in order to maximize our thanksgiving in this season. Consider this the appetizer.

In Jesus, we are adopted by God (Eph 1:5; Rom 8:15) as God’s children (Jn 1:12; 1 Jn 3:1,2). In Jesus, we are made friends of God (Jn 15:15) and saints (Eph. 1:1). In Jesus, we are complete (Col. 2:10). We are hidden with Jesus in God (Col. 3:3) and seated with him in the heavenly kingdom (Eph. 2:6). In Jesus, we are established, chosen and made holy (2Cor. 1:21-22). In Jesus, we cannot be kept away from the love of God (Rom. 8:35-39).

In Jesus, we are free from any charges against us (Rom. 8:31-34). In Jesus, we are assured that all things work together for good (Rom. 8:28). In Jesus, we are forever free from being ruined (Rom. 8:1-2). In Jesus, we have been saved from and forgiven of all our sins (Col. 1:14). In Jesus, we can go directly to God the Father through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18), approaching him with freedom and confidence (Eph 3:12). In Jesus, we can find grace and mercy in time of need (Heb. 4:16). In Jesus, we are fully reconciled to God (2Cor 5:18) and can do all things through him who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13). In Jesus, we have been bought with a price and now belong to God (1 Cor. 6:19-20) and the devil cannot touch us (1John 5:18).

In Jesus, we have peace with God (Rom. 5:1) and are in one spirit with him (1 Cor. 6:17). In Jesus, we are God’s co-workers (2 Cor. 6:1; 1 Cor. 3:9), God’s temple (1 Cor. 3:16) and personal witness (Acts 1:8). In Jesus, we are chosen to bear fruit (John 15:16) as branches of the true Vine (John 15:1-5) and members of his body (1 Cor. 12:27; Ro 12). In Jesus, we are called to bring people together for God (2 Cor. 5:17-21), participate in his unfolding story of redemption (Mt. 28:18-20) and to be “sent” as Jesus was sent (John 17:18).

Given this, it is easy to see why Christians are called to be a thankful people (Ps 105:1; Ps 116:17; Ps 95:2; Col 3:15) and why thanksgiving should permeate the entirety of the Christian life. This month as we celebrate the day of Thanksgiving lets re-commit ourselves to living lives of thanksgiving.

Join us on Thanksgiving Eve, Nov 25th at 6pm, for a family-style service of thanksgiving, worship and pie-eating for his glory and our greatest good.

Thankful with you in Jesus,
Adam Sinnett

Jay Bauman has spent years developing relationships within Brazil as he served as the Executive and Worship Pastor of Crosspointe. A Acts 29 church in Orlando. Recently he moved to Rio de Janeiro and founded Restore Brazil to facilitate church-planting, social justice and cultural transformation through the gospel.

Video: Jay Bauman of Restore Brazil

Video: About Restore Brazil

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This is part five of six in the series “Back from Ecuador”.
In my next post I’m going to introduce Francisco Benfeldt of Casa de Libertad.
 

To read other posts in this series click HERE.

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