Saving Grace
But God will redeem my soul from the [a]power of [b]Sheol, for He will receive me. Selah Psalm 49:15 NASB
Will redeem – “I am redeemed,” said the new convert. “I am free at last.” Is that how you felt when you realized your sins were forgiven? Was there an emotional experience of relief? Did you feel like a new person, ready to take on a new life? Was the power of the Devil broken? I’m not throwing cold water on this liberating experience but . . . maybe we need to reconsider the meaning of the Hebrew verb pādâ.
Pādâ is the verb behind the translation “redeem.” It’s the term David uses to express all those feelings you have when God moves in your life. But it isn’t exactly “freedom.”
The basic meaning of the Hebrew root is to achieve the transfer of ownership from one to another through payment of a price or an equivalent substitute. . . The word was given special religious significance by the Exodus. When God delivered Israel from servitude to Egypt, he did so at the price of the slaughter of all the firstborn in Egypt, man and beast (Ex 4:23; 12:29). Consequently, the event was to be perpetually commemorated in Israel by the consecration of all the firstborn of man and beast to the Lord (Ex 13:12).[1][2]
Interestingly enough, only once is pādâ used with reference to redemption from sin (Ps 130:7–8).[3]
In other words, redemption in Hebrew thought is first and foremost about ownership, not about forgiveness. Secondly, it is about what happens here and now, not about what occurs after death. To be redeemed is to be purchased by a new master. It’s not about your freedom. It’s not about removing your guilt. It’s about whom you belong to. To think otherwise is a big mistake. Typical naïve Christian theology places so much emphasis on the “forgiveness-freedom” theme that it misses the point of the Hebrew background. Salvation is about rescue from imminent danger. Redemption is about changing owners. All the rest is commentary.
Perhaps the measure of grace in your life is a current risk assessment and whose name is on your deed.
Topical Index: redeem, pādâ, ownership, salvation, Psalm 49:15
[1] Coker, W. B. (1999). 1734 פָּדָה. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 716). Chicago: Moody Press.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
