You were ransomed … not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1Pe 1:18-19).1
Simon Peter, who penned these thrilling words, was a man who looked in two directions. He loved to look ahead to a glorious future of eternal, heavenly communion with Christ; his first epistle opens with a “living hope,” an “imperishable inheritance” and a “coming salvation.” But in the rearview mirror of his joyful expectation, there was a secure foundation, a sure anchor, a rock of immovable assurance. Every authentic hope for heaven looks back to a crucified and risen Christ. And in this wonderful gospel text, we discover four essential truths that illuminate God’s amazing salvation.
An Inadequate Redemption Rejected
“Not with perishable things” – The forgiveness of sins cannot come about by human endeavor. One cannot do enough or give enough or change enough to break the shackles of sin’s slavery or to remove the stain of our guilt. God, whose holiness must be satisfied, surveys every effort that men have contrived to please Him, and simply says “No!” His message is non-negotiable. The purchase price of our freedom, our ransom, is beyond our ability to secure or our resources to provide. If we are to be rescued, our deliverance must come from above.
An Impeccable Lamb Provided
“A lamb without blemish or spot” – Peter was evidently thinking of the unending parade of Jewish lambs sacrificed as substitutes for sinning humans, and understood that there had never been a fully perfect lamb in a fallen, imperfect world. Even to the casual eye, it was obvious that their tedious repetition exposed their woeful inadequacy. If a truly satisfactory lamb was to come, it must be “otherworldly,” a flawless Lamb whose origins were “before the foundation of the world” (v20). Nothing less than the pure and holy Lamb of God could “take away the sin of the world” (Joh 1:29). In Christ, Peter said, God graciously provided what we desperately needed.
An Infinite Sacrifice Offered
“The precious blood of Christ” – The death of an infinite Person, the Lord Jesus, has provided an unlimited reservoir of grace for the redemption of a fallen world. In His blood, the divinely assigned symbol of a life fully and sacrificially given, the cleansing power of Christ is made evident; it is “the blood of Jesus his Son [that] cleanses us from all sin” (1Jn 1:7). Its value and effectiveness are not diminished by man’s unbelief; rather, every repentant sinner may confidently rest in this: in Christ “we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses” (Eph 1:7). And what’s more, His resurrection guarantees what His death has promised: “God … raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God” (1Pe 1:21).
An Imperishable Salvation Secured
“You were ransomed” – Peter’s audience, like Peter himself, looked back with assurance to Calvary, where Christ’s death secured their eternal salvation. Not with irrational self-confidence but having placed full and total confidence in the work of another, they relied exclusively upon Christ. What about you? Do you have this assurance? Do you have Christ?
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the ESV.
