April 2025 Bible Study: Redemption and Forgiveness
By Captain Raghel Santiago
Kauluwela Mission, HI Corps – Hawaiian and Pacific Islands Division
Scriptures: Ephesians 1:7-8, Psalm 103:8-12
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In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. Ephesians 1:7-8
Question: What does it mean to you to be redeemed?
According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, the word redeemed/redemption means to buy back; repurchase or win back. Another definition from Merriam Webster Dictionary says, “To be free from what distresses or harms, such as to free from captivity by payment of ransom.”
Today’s Bible study emphasis is on the word redeemed. As a believer in Christ, we need to embrace what it means to be redeemed by Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
Question: Do you remember what life was like before you put your faith in Jesus and received forgiveness from your sins?
Maybe your life was full of chaos before knowing Jesus. Maybe you felt a void in your life. Whatever your experience, may you rejoice in the knowledge of who Jesus is, and grasp the knowledge of God’s love for you. Here are two Bible verses that remind us of just how much God loves us:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
Please read Ephesians 1:7-8 again.
Focus on the two words, redemption, and forgiveness mentioned in verse 7. These two words go together like a hand and a glove. Through Jesus’s blood shed for us, our sins are forgiven.
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Question: Have you ever experienced being upset and hurt by somebody who has wronged you? What did you feel towards that person after they wronged you? Has that person asked for your forgiveness? If so, was it hard to forgive that person?
Forgiving someone who has hurt us, especially if that person is a family member, a friend, co-worker, or a church member can be difficult, because it is a person that was close to us. However, the Bible teaches us that if we are to follow Jesus, we need to live our lives like Him, and that includes forgiving those who wrong us. Here are some Bible verses that teach us about forgiveness:
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Ephesians 4:31-32
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13
These Bible verses have the same message: forgive just as the Lord forgave us. These Bible verses also apply when we need to seek forgiveness from someone we have hurt or wronged. When we repent of our sins and ask Jesus to be our savior from our sins, we can embrace being redeemed, because not only are we then freed from the bondage of our sins, but we are reminded how our redemption came at a costly price, which is our Lord’s blood that shed for us at Calvary.
Question: What do the words “in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us” mean to you?
When I think of the word lavished, I think of surplus. God is full of grace, and he gives it to us in abundance. When it comes to forgiving us, His grace is not skimpy. God is faithful to hear us when we confess our sins to him, and he is gracious enough to forget our transgression when we seek Him and repent with a whole heart.
When we are forgiven, we are redeemed, and God wants us to experience redemption, which is freedom of burden too. How? By freeing yourself from the burden of holding grudges, the weight of bitterness, and healing from the scars others may have caused. Christ has redeemed you from your sins, and now it is time for you to embrace redemption by forgiving others. To achieve this, we need to be more like the Lord.
To be more like the Lord, let us read Psalm 103: 8-12.
“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever.” Psalm 103:8-9
To be more like Jesus, we need to be compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love, not always accuse, and harbor anger. If this is how we want the Lord to respond to us, we need to do this to others, especially those who upset us and seek our forgiveness.
He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. Psalm 103:10
This Bible verse is the perfect example of what God’s grace looks like. He loves us so much that He sent Jesus to offer His life as a living sacrifice for us and take our sins away.
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We are learning that God loves us and will forgive us no matter what the measure of our sin may be. If we confess our sins wholeheartedly and fully repent to God, He is faithful to forgive us.
Question: What does the world teach us about sin?
We see this being displayed on television, in movies, and on social media. If somebody does something wrong to you, taking revenge or getting even is how the world teaches us to react. This will not allow us to experience redemption, because revenge and anger will not free us, but keep us in captivity. Only when we can forgive the person who wronged us can we experience real freedom.
Question: What should we do after we have forgiven someone?
When we confess our sins and wholeheartedly repent to God, He will forgive us, which redeems us from the bondage of our sins. The next step is to live in His redemption. The way to do that is by trusting God’s love and believing that God has truly forgiven us and will not remind us of our past mistakes.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him. Psalm 103:11
The depth of God’s love for us is as high as the heavens!
Question: What does verse 11 mean when it says, “for those who fear him”?
The fear of the Lord means that we love him deeply, and because we love him deeply, we will honor him, trust him, obey him, and respect him.
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12
When we ask God to forgive us, he will remove our sins and will forgive us. He will not remind us of that sin anymore, because God does not want us to move and live backwards, but he prefers for us to move and live forward. This is when we can say, “I am redeemed and forgiven by the grace and love of Jesus.”
In this same manner, we must do the same for those who seek forgiveness from us. When you forgive someone, do not remind that person of their past mistake. By doing this, you will fully understand and experience redemption.
Download printable version of the Bible Study:
Enjoy this song from Kristian Stanfill, reminding us that “Jesus Paid it All”: