Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It

"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." Ah, the words of that great hymn of the faith. In Romans, from late in the third chapter through the eighth chapter, Paul paints a beautiful picture of the three phases of redemption--justification, sanctification, and glorification.

God gives us a righteous standing before Him based totally on the work of Christ. That is justification. Sin separated us from our Father, but Christ's sacrifice restored us. He made us just-as-if-I-had-never-sinned. As a result, righteousness, which we could never earn, comes to us only as we accept the gift of God in Jesus Christ. Christ's righteousness is imputed to us. Sadly, most Christians seem to stop right here.

But there is more, so much more. The second phase of redemption is sanctification. In chapter five, Paul shows us God's plan to deliver our souls (our mind, our emotions, and our wills) into His will, which is to be holy even as He is holy. When we were born, we were born into the Adamic nature of sin. We were prone to sin. That is who we were. But, praise Jesus, when He went to the cross, He took us with Him. We were crucified with Christ. The Adamic nature was beaten, defeated, died. Now as we accept the work of Jesus at the cross, we are given a new nature, the nature of Christ! We become dedicated and set apart for God. That is what sanctification is. We are free from the reign of sin in our lives. But we must take up our cross daily and keep our focus on the work Christ has already accomplished. For as a man thinketh, so is he.

As Paul continues through chapter eight, he shows us the third aspect of redemption--glorification. One day, when we stand before our Lord, our bodies will be raised in perfection. At that time, we will be perfect in body, soul, and spirit before Him. Oh, happy day! What glory that will be! We will see Jesus face-to-face.

Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!