Pt 25 BOUGHT WITH A PRICE
Purchased
1 Corinthians 6:20
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
It had been a year now, she had been working and saving for a year. She was promised that if she saved enough, she could go and choose the one she wanted, bring it home and care for it.
It would not be just the price of the purchase that she need to cover, but the full care of it for the rest of its life. She needed to know ahead of time that the cost of a life is not only in its initial outlay, but for all its days.
She had a good father who never wanted her to not understand the sacrifice needed for doing what she loved.
She was only 12 years of age, and she spent all of her free time doing as many odd jobs as she could for the kitten in the window.
Finally the day had arrived, dad was with her and drove by the pet shop. She was a little confused but she remained silent but wondered at the same time where they were going. It was on the outskirts of town off a side road, there were no shops in sight but an old dusty animal shelter.
Again, she remained silent and followed her father, she trusted he knew what he was doing.
Her heart was set on a kitten and so they were directed to the cages where the cats were kept.
She looked about and saw some very cute young cats playing. But there was one that caught her eye, it was not attractive, it looked skinny and was not playing with the other cats but lying in the corner of the cage. Speckled and grizzled, ringstraked and mottled, it was not a pure-bread cat in any way.
It looked rough, and it was. It looked afraid, and it was. It looked like the kind of cat that no one would ever choose, and it was….but she loved it.
She paid the price and with the left over money she bought food and whatever would make it comfortable. She went home with her father, planning to care for and nurture and care for her purchased possession all its life.
I don’t know what kind of condition you were in when Jesus found you. I do know that you were not brand new.
Damaged goods? Most likely. Malnourished and Unappealing? Probably.
Nothing to offer? Certainly. All your righteousness would have been like filthy rags to God (Isa 64:6).
You were certainly not store bought!
Probably he found you in the proverbial gutter of your life, if not a real one.
You made a mess of life, debts beyond your ability to pay, internally struggling to maintain your own sanity.
The waste-bin of life.
Yet for some reason God seems to like those the most.
Luke 5:32
32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Battered and bruised, destitute, you had given life your best years and returned with nothing, empty! I left full and came back empty said Naomi of her life.
To some that all might be a metaphor for their lives, to others it is literal, Yet these are just the cats Jesus came to saved.
Lives that are broken he desires to mend, lives that are left in pieces he wants to purchase to restore better than new.
Lives that are bought with a price he knows will live their lives to the full when they give it up to him completely. Matthew 10:39
39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
This morning we will give consideration to this verse.
1 Corinthians 6:20
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
The Fact Of The Purchase
1 Corinthians 6:20
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
“Bought with a price“, what an incredible term. Paul is states this not metaphorically, but in actuality.
He uses it to justify the actual conclusion; “therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit ” and then he finishes it off with reaffirming the understanding that being bought with a price infers that you belong to the purchaser; “which are God’s“
…Ye are not your own, For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
The incredible aspect of this confirms so many of the scriptures respecting the current state of your soul, you now BELONG to God, you are his for “ye are bought with a price“.
Someone paid a price for you and purchased you literally, not figuratively nor metaphorically.
This is not something we are reading into the text but naturally spills directly out of it and then gives to us a charge to have a continuous STATE of being that glorifies God both in body and spirit which BELONG to God.
This is the FACT OF THE PURCHASE.
Go forward in the same letter to the next chapter;
1 Corinthians 7:23
23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
You BELONG to God if you have been purchase by him, and so SERVE him rather than men.
In the introduction to his letter to the Ephesians, Paul states the matter both recognising that you were chosen by God and then affirming that he had given to you a gift that you might know you have been purchased.
Ephesians 1:3–4
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
So there again we have knowledge of the choice of God made long before for a purpose, then moves on tell more of our belonging in the next verse;
Ephesians 1:5–6
5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Then in verse 7 he gives to us a hint as to the currency that was employed in the purchase;
Ephesians 1:7
7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Verse 12 gives to us the context so we can know who he is referring to in the verses that follow;
Ephesians 1:12
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Ephesians 1:13–14
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
The Bible here teaching with all plainness that we certainly did not pay for ourselves, but God paid to secure us to him. We are his ‘Purchased Possession”, bought with a price.
Even as Peter warns of false teachers in his letter to the Jewish Christians, he also employs the same understanding;
2 Peter 2:1
1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
It is clear that these certainly were not glorifying God in their Body and in their spirit,but even denying the Lord that bought them.
The Old Testament has the same understanding respecting Jacob;
Exodus 15:16
16 Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.
Deuteronomy 32:6
6 Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?
Psalm 74:2
2 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.
Isaiah 43:3-7 speaks of several nations that were given as a ransom to purchase Israel.
Isaiah 51:10 continues with the theme of Israel being the “ransomed” people of God;
10 Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over? 11 Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
Now we have both the “ransomed” and “Redeemed” identified in the passage and used synonymously.
Jeremiah brings those two concepts together in a single verse;
Jeremiah 31:10–11
11 For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
The Need For the Purchase
1 Corinthians 6:20
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
After recognition that the Bible plainly teaches of the Fact of The Purchase, we then come to the point of the NEED FOR THE PURCHASE.
Why does God need to purchase redemption for mankind? What placed man into this position in the first place, what is his state without the purchase and why can’t he redeem himself?
To answer those four question I have broken this point down to four very short understandings to answer THE NEED FOR THE PURCHASE.
They are;
The Priority Of Man
The Prohibition Of Man
The Predicament Of Man
The Perdition Of Man
The Priority Of Man
Genesis 1:26–28
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Mankind is the only creature which God had made in his own image.
Mankind was created on the sixth day.
He was not a by product of creation he was the prioroty for creation!
It is vitally important in these days of apostasy that we accept the account given in scripture as true, the moment we reinterpret the plainness of the text we confuse all accounts of all things.
There is NO GAP bewteen the first verse and the second verse of the Bible where you are permitted to gain millions of years to include the fall of satan, evolution ect. We have six literal days in the creation order, man was the only one created in the image of God.
Man is given priority.
The Prohibition Of Man.
Genesis 3:1–10
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
The state of men ever since sees him hiding himself from God.
What we see here described is known as The Fall of Man.
Genesis 3:22–24
22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Prohibited from the garden to bless man, prohibited from life eternal and even from an immortalised life temporal.
The Prohibition of Man sees his need of redemption, a need for the purchase.
The Predicament Of Man
Romans 3:10–18
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17 And the way of peace have they not known: 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
If man cannot gain eternal life through any means of personal endevour, he is indeed in a Predicament.
There is yet a need for the purchase.
The Perdition Of Man
Removed from life eternal, man now finds himself in the same condemnation as the devil himself.
Ecclesiastes 12:13–14
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Revelation 20:12–15
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Hebrews 9:27–28
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
And so again we see , a need for the purchase.
The Cost Of The Purchase
1 Corinthians 6:20
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
The full extent of the cost of the purchase requires yet a little more understanding of the need for the purchase.
Man now finds himself eternally damned without any hope of ever escaping the damnation of hell.
Hell is the FINAL place for the lost of this world. They have grossly offended a holy God and have no hope of eternal life without his mercy and grace, and both a required.
Isaiah 33:13–14
13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might. 14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Matthew 13:49–50
49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, 50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Luke 16:19–23
19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Beloved, the bible mentions the word HELL 54 times, and the concept of hell multiple more times. Jesus spoke more of hell and its details that any other person in the scriptures. We know more about the details of hell than we do of heaven!
The COST OF THE PURCHASE must take this all into consideration.
Whatever the cost is, it needs to be sufficient to cover the cost of every person in the world throughout history
Mark 10:45
45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
1 Timothy 2:5–6
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
Galatians 3:13
13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
1 Peter 1:18–19
18 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; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
Turn to Acts 20,
Paul here speaking to the pastors of the churches of Ephesus and warns of wolves entering into the churches, but gives to them a severe exhortation in verse 28 reaffirming both the purchase as well as the currency paid;
Acts 20:28
28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
The COST of the Purchase needed to be sufficient enough to pay for the eternal punishment of every human being who has ever lived.
Not only to pay for the punishment, this alone could never have the wicked in heaven with a holy God, but to make them holy, perfect, righteous.
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
The currency is the Blood of Christ.
The State Of The Purchase
1 Corinthians 6:20
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
The Fact Of The Purchase, The Need For the Purchase, The Cost Of The Purchase
There are two states respecting the purchase:
One is the unconditional, eternal state that God promised.
The other is the conditional, temporal state that you choose.
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Paul addresses the temporal state in this passage. He brings to you the charge based on the knowledge that you have been purchased, that you are not your own and yet makes it clear that though this is true, the choice to “Glorify God in your body, and in your spirit” remains voluntary.
In the entirety of the passage the apostle speaks of that which has value, not temporal value, but eternal value.
Though all things are lawful for me, all things are NOT expedient! Not all things have an advantage, in fact there are some things that provide to you a temporal disadvantage, especially if they are compared to that which provides advantage.
Watching TV, YT, NetFlix, Insta, FB, X, TicTk or any form of amusement, not only is not expedient, you are doing so at the COST of that which has INFINITE ADVANTAGE.
Romans 12:1–2
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
What is the STATE of the Purchased Possession? What is it doing with the life it was given?
- Does he spurn that bread of life, or does he pick it up to learn more of the one who saved his soul?
- Does it take pleasure in the pursuit of a vagrant, or does he find a settled place at the feet of the Saviour of his soul?
- Is he a loiterer around the minute clips of amusement, or does he take pleasure in prayer?
What is the STATE of the Purchased Possession? What is it doing with the life that had been pardoned for a price?
- Does he wake in the morning to praise the Lord before the birds of the air do?
- Does he gather himself to labour for his master in heaven before the tradesmen gather to labour for their masters on earth?
- Are his first fruits given to one who paid to redeem him before they are taken by the tax man?
What is the STATE beloved, of that Purchased Possession? What is it doing with the life ransomed by the redeemer?
- Where does he store his treasure? On what does he place his trust? Will the earth suffice his lust? Will he dissannul the judgement of God that he may be righteous?
- Is it right that the soul purchased at a price lift his anger against the one ransomed for him? Will you truly vent your rage at the bloodied body on the cross when things don’t go well enough for you? Is the thorny crown you see pressed into his head, not enough to show you his love?
He that is purchased, let him answer it?
- “I thirst” said the King of kings who died the death of a common criminal, “I Thirst“…”I thirst“…will you also offer him vinegar to drink or will you pour out your life that his thirst may be quenched?
He that is purchased, let him answer it!
CLOSE
488 My Redeemer
I will sing of my redeemer and his wonderous love to me. On the cruel cross he suffered, from the curse to set me free.
I will tell the wonderous story, how my lost estate to save, in his boundless love and mercy, he the ransom freely gave.
I will praise my dear redeemer, his triumphant pow’r I’ll tell, how the victory he giveth over sin and death and hell.
I will sing of my redeemer and his heavnly love to me, he from death to life hath brot me, So of God with him to be.
Sing, O sing of my redeemer with his blood he purchased me; on the cross he sealed my pardon, paid the debt and made me free.
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