📖 Biblical Definition
The redemption price is the ransom paid to secure the freedom of those held in bondage. In the Old Testament, the firstborn could be redeemed by payment (Numbers 18:15-16), and slaves could be freed by a kinsman's payment. But no man could pay the price for his own soul: "Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of His life" (Psalm 49:7). Only Christ could pay the infinite price that divine justice demanded. Jesus said, "The Son of Man came... to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). The price of redemption is the blood of the sinless Son of God — nothing less would suffice.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
RANSOM: The price paid for the redemption of a prisoner or slave, or for goods captured by an enemy.
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RAN'SOM, n. [Fr. rancon.] 1. The money or price paid for the redemption of a prisoner or a slave, or for goods captured by an enemy. 2. Release from captivity, bondage or the possession of an enemy. In theology, the price paid for a sinner's deliverance from the penalty of his transgression. Note: Webster understood ransom as requiring actual payment — there is no such thing as costless redemption.
📖 Key Scripture
• Mark 10:45 — "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
• 1 Peter 1:18-19 — "You were ransomed... with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish."
• Psalm 49:7-8 — "Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of His life, for the ransom of their life is costly."
• 1 Timothy 2:5-6 — "Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
The cost of redemption is minimized or dismissed in theologies that reject substitutionary atonement.
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Liberal theology denies that God requires any payment for sin, dismissing substitutionary atonement as "cosmic child abuse." This guts the gospel of its center: the cross was not a tragedy or a moral example — it was the place where the redemption price was paid in full. If no price was required, the cross was unnecessary. If the cross was unnecessary, there is no gospel. The blood of Christ is the currency of heaven that purchases what no human wealth or effort could ever afford: the freedom of guilty sinners from the just penalty of their sin.
Usage
• "The redemption price was not silver or gold but the precious blood of the Lamb — the most costly transaction in the history of the universe."
• "No man can pay His own ransom. The price of a soul exceeds all human wealth — only the blood of Christ is sufficient."