Lessons in the Small Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther For the Senior Department of Lutheran Sunday-Schools and for General Use · George Mezger
LESSON 23.
The Second Article. Christ, My Lord, Has Redeemed Me With His Holy, Precious Blood. Which is the Second Article? _I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord._ What does this mean? _I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death._ 1. Christ has redeemed and _purchased us,_ that is, He bought us. Our Lord had to pay a price, a very high price for our redemption. He has purchased or bought me not with _gold_ or _silver. "Ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold."_ 1 Pet 1,18. Gold and silver are, indeed, highly prized among men. Much can be accomplished, much can be bought with gold and silver for the support of our life and for our comfort here in this world. But all the gold and silver, all the treasures in the world, cannot buy our redemption. Gold and silver cannot redeem one lost and condemned sinner from sin, death, and the powers of the devil, from hell and damnation. A much higher price was necessary. Our Lord has paid this price.
2. Christ redeemed and purchased us with His _blood._ He shed His blood for us. He gave His _life_ for our redemption. Consider the great love of our Lord. He gave His life not for His friends, but for us, who were His enemies. We call this blood a _holy_ blood. _It is the blood of a holy man._ Our Savior was born without sin, and He never committed a sin in His life. We have been redeemed, not with gold or silver, _"but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."_ 1 Pet. 1,19. We call the blood of Christ a _precious_ blood. This blood is the most precious thing in heaven and earth. It is the _blood of the Son of God,_ shed for our sins. _"The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin."_ 1 John 1,7.
3. Christ purchased us with His blood _and with His suffering and death._ Suffering and dying our Lord shed His blood for us. We say it was an _innocent_ suffering and death, because He did not deserve this. He was without sin, He never did any wrong. He did not suffer and die because of any guilt of His own. He suffered and died _on account of my guilt and the guilt of the whole world._ During His whole sinless life He fulfilled God's commandments. _We_ ought to have kept the commandments, but we could not do it because we were born in sins. Christ, our Lord, has fulfilled the Law of God _for us, in our stead._ He came into this world and was made under the Law that He might redeem us, who were under the Law. _We_ had transgressed the commandments, therefore the wrath of God was upon us, and we deserved His punishment. _We_ ought to have suffered death, eternal death. _Christ_ was _innocent,_ without sin, and still He suffered death on the cross. _He did all this for us, in our stead. "Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.... He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed."_ Is. 53,4.5.--It was a high price that Jesus paid for our salvation. He gave Himself for us. How thankful we ought to be to our dear Savior, who lived and died for us that we may be saved! How thankful we ought to be to our heavenly Father, who _"so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life"!_ John 3,16.
4. Christ paid a high price for me. He gave Himself a ransom for my salvation. But before His death on the cross my Savior cried out: _"It is finished."_ His great work is finished indeed. My Lord _has_ purchased and redeemed me and all mankind. Because Christ shed His precious blood, and suffered and died for us in our stead, we are redeemed and free from _our sins._ By leading a sinless life Christ has fulfilled all commandments of God for us; _in Him we have fulfilled them._ We are free from the curse of the Law. _"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us."_ Gal. 3,13. All the punishments for our sins were suffered by Christ. _In Him God has punished us,_ and therefore we no longer need to suffer punishment for our sins.--We have been redeemed from _all_ sins. There is not a single sin, either great or small, from which Christ, our Lord, has not redeemed us. _He has earned forgiveness of all sins for us._ 5. The penalty of sin is _death,_ eternal death and damnation. Christ, our Lord, has taken away our sins, He has earned forgiveness for us; therefore _we have been redeemed from death._ He has suffered death for us and therefore we are free from death. Eternal death has no power over us; for _"Christ hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light."_ 2 Tim. 1,10. We no longer need to fear death. In death our Lord gives us everlasting life.
6. Since Christ has suffered and died for us, _we have also been redeemed from the power of the devil._ Through sin the devil has power over us. Our sins are forgiven; by His death the Lord _destroyed the works of the devil._ Satan has lost his power over me. He cannot force me to sin nor keep me in his kingdom. _"Through death He destroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the devil."_ Heb. 2,14. We thank the Lord for having redeemed us from all sin, from death, and from the power of the devil. 1. _I have been bought with a price. My Lord has purchased me, not with treasures of this world, but with His own precious blood, with His innocent suffering and death._ 2. _In my stead Christ fulfilled all the commandments of God. In my stead He suffered and died for my sins. With His stripes I am healed._ 3. _Now I am redeemed and free from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil. In Christ I have forgiveness of all my sins._
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.