Real Redemption

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 335, Real Redemption.

Ephesians 1:7 — I want you to hear this: "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace."

In him we have. Not we will have. Not we might have someday, if we get our act together. We have. Present tense. Right now. Paul chose that word deliberately, and I need you to feel the weight of it. Redemption is not waiting on the horizon, held out of reach until you earn it — it is already yours, today, in this moment, in Christ Jesus. It is not a deferred promise. It is a present reality, if you are in Him.

And that "in him" — that's where everything turns. This is not redemption by effort. Not redemption by religious performance or moral track record. It is through his blood. There is a price named in that phrase, and Christ paid it in full. Not because you deserved it. Not because you had figured life out. But because you were loved — deeply, stubbornly, unshakeably loved. The cross is not an abstract symbol. It is the most concrete, most tangible, most undeniable proof God has ever given that He did not give up on you.

And what does that redemption produce? The forgiveness of our trespasses. Now, forgiveness here is not merely a warm feeling — it is a legal and spiritual reality. The debt has been settled. Not renegotiated, not minimized, not deferred. Settled. What once stood like a wall between you and God has been removed entirely — as though it never existed. You are not walking around under an open verdict. The judgment has already been rendered, and it reads: forgiven.

And here is where Paul takes it further than we might expect — he does not say we were forgiven according to the bare minimum required. He says: according to the riches of his grace. Riches. Not a careful droplet of grace, rationed so as not to waste it. Not a reluctant pardon offered with a sigh. Riches — overflowing abundance, extravagant generosity. The measure of God's grace is God himself. And God is not small.

That means you cannot earn what has already been freely given. There is no amount of spiritual discipline, no string of good days, no depth of sincerity that can purchase what Christ has already placed in your hands. Grace does not work like a wage. It works like a gift — received, not achieved. And when you actually stop and let that land in the deepest part of you, something shifts — something that no accomplishment of your own can ever move.

So today I want to ask you to do one thing. Before breakfast — before you check your phone, before the day starts pulling you in every direction — stop. Two minutes. Place your hand on your chest, right here over your heart. And say out loud — not in your head, out loud: "Thank you, Jesus, for the price you paid for me." Let grace land before the day begins. Not as an empty ritual. As a response — from someone who has been redeemed, and knows it.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.