noun, and their cognates is that of a re- demption effected by payment of a price, or a release granted on receiving a price (Plut., Pomp., 24; Plato, Leges, 11, p. 919(a); Polyb., xxii., 21, 8; Exod. xxi. 8; Zeph. iii. 1); and in the Pauline Epistles it denotes the deliverance accomplished at the cost of Christ's death from the Divine wrath and the penalty of sin. So it is understood, ¢.g., by Origen, in loc., Μεγ., Alf., Ell., etc.; and as the ἄφεσιν κ.τ.λ. shows that the “ redemption ” here in view is one in relation to the guilt or penalty of sin, so the διὰ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ shows that it is a redemption by payment of a price. This is consistent with Paul’s doctrine of the Divine wrath, redemption, propitiation, expiation, and the curse of the law (Rom. i. 18, iii. 23, ν. 5 ff.; 1 Cor. vi. 20; Gal. iv. 4). It has its foundation also in Christ’s own declaration of the purpose of His coming, vis., to give His life a λύτρον ἀντὶ πολ- λῶν (Matt. xx. 28; Mk. x. 45).---διὰ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ: through His blood. Christ’s “‘blood,”’ therefore, is that by which the redemption is effected—the price (τιμή, τ Cor. vi. 20, vii. 23) of the deliverance, the “ransom” that had to be paid for it (Matt. xx. 28; Mk. x. 45). The same idea appears in the teaching both of Peter and of John (1 Pet. i. 18; Rev. v. 9). The term occurs repeatedl
in the NT, and in various Poser ύ αἷμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ (1 Cor. x. 16), τοῦ Κυρίον (1 Cor. xi. 27), τοῦ ἀρνίον (Rev. vii. 14, xii. 11), τοῦ σταυροῦ (Col. i. 20). What is its import? It means more than the death of Christ. It means that death in a particular aspect—as a sacri- fice, a death having a definite efficacy. It is a sacrificial term, based on the use of the bl of victims, offered under the OT Law, for purposes of purification and expiation (Lev, xvii. 11; Heb. ix. 7, 12, 18-22, 25, x. 4, xi. 28, xiii. αχ). It looks back also to Christ’s own words in the institution of the Su (Matt. xxvi, 28; Mk. xiv. 29), and denotes the ratification of a new relation between God and men by a new covenant sacrifice It is used with reference to the purchase of the Church (Acts xx. 28; Rev. v. 9), the grace of access to God (Heb. x. 19), the admission of the Gentiles on equal terms with the Jews (Eph. ii. 13), the reconciliation of all things to God (Co
i. 20); but also and most definitely {ο
the changed condition of sinful men, and that most frequently on the objective side, as a new relation. As in the Levitical system there was a purificatory use of blood in the case of certain matters
7.
οἵ uncleanness (Lev. xiv. 5, 50), So in the NT the ‘‘blood” of Christ is used with reference to the ethical power of Christ's death in purifying or in overcom- ing (1 Pet. i. 19; 1 Johni. 7; Rev. xii. 11). But its special use is with reference to justification (Rev. v. 9), the position of non-condemnation (Heb. xii. 24), the cleansing of the conscience (Heb. ix. 14), the making of peace between God and the world (Col. i. 20), the manifestation of the righteousness of God in the passing over of sins (Rom. iii. 25), the remission of sins (Heb. ix. 22). Its primary idea, as is shown by usage and by OT analogy, is not that of renewing power or moral effect, but that of expiation, the removal of guilt, the restoration of broken relations with God. The important passage indeed in Ley. xvii. 11, which speaks of the ‘‘blood”’ as reserved by Jehovah for the altar, for the purpose of ‘‘covering’”’ sin or making ‘‘atonement’’ for it, and declares that the atonement is made by the blood by reason ΟΕ’ the life of the flesh ” that is in it, has been held by nota few (including Bahr and other distinguished scholars) to express only the idea of self-surrender. On this ground the piacular efficacy of the OT sacrifices, and, therefore, of the sacrifice of Christ, has been denied. But the ‘covering ”’ of sin or making ‘‘atone- ment’”’ for it by sacrifice, is in many passages of the OT definitely connected with the forgiveness of sin (Lev. iv. 26, v. 18, etc.) ; the passage in Lev. xvii. Ir embodies the idea that ‘‘life” is the offering by which the transgressor ‘covers ”’ his sin or finds forgiveness for it; and in passages like the present it is this kind of efficacy that is definitely ascribed to the ‘‘ blood” of Christ.