Creflo Dollar - Your Redemption is Done
If you have your Bibles, go with me to the book of Galatians chapter 2:16, in the New Living Translation. We are in the middle of a series entitled How to Respond to Grace. In other words, how do you respond to the finished works of Jesus Christ? We have been taught that it does not require our performance, and it does not require our works and our efforts, to try to accomplish what Jesus has already accomplished. In other words, Jesus, through his blood, has declared that you are already the healed. You are already righteous. You're already delivered. You're already sound. And because he's already declared that, it is now up to us to receive those things that Jesus has already done, by faith in Jesus and his finished works.
But what we do most of the time in religious church settings. We are constantly trying to figure out how can we do something to get healed, to get delivered, to get all of the things that have been finished by Jesus Christ. So, it is you trying to do something to get it to happen, versus believing that Jesus has already done it, and by faith receive the finished works of Jesus Christ. And so, if that is the case, and it is, then if the works have already been finished, and I don't need to be doing something to try to get it finished, because it's already finished. It's no different than if I were to come out here and say, "Sit down", and you're already seated. And I continue to insist, "Sit down".
Well, you start looking at me like something's wrong with me. Why? Because you're already seated. So, likewise, when you go to God in prayer, you start begging him to do what he's already done. I told you before, two prayers God will never answer, number one: if you pray to God to get him to do what he's already done, He'll never answer that prayer. It's already done. And number two: you try to get God to do something he's already told you to do, well it's already done. And so, likewise, as Christians, we've got to stop trying to do things to try to get God to do what he's already done.
Now, that is the case, then we have to see, then, what do I do? How do I respond to what's already been done? How do I respond to the finished works of Jesus? If I'm already healed, so now, how do I respond to that healing that I've not yet seen nor experienced? If I'm already delivered, well how do I respond to that deliverance that I've not yet experienced? And so, this series it to teach us how to respond to the finished works of Jesus, and how to respond to the grace of God that he's made available to us? Our text here, Galatians chapter 2:16, in the NIV. Let's read it out loud together. Ready? Read. "Yet we know that a person is made right with God", how? "By faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law".
Stop. That's a radical statement. That a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, and not by obeying the law. "And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law". That's radical, why? Because Jesus has already made you right with him, so, by faith, receive that. Or are you gonna continue to try to do all these religious activities to try to get what he's already settled. We are made right with God by our faith in Jesus Christ, and not by our religious efforts.
So, praying more and doing all the religious things more, those things are not gonna make you right with God. You've been made right with God the day you believed Jesus Christ, amen. Turn to two people and tell them, "I have been made right with God". So, what does this look like? How do we respond to what's already been done? Well, number one, the first way we've already talked about, number one: the first thing we do to respond to the finished works of Jesus, is we make a decision to believe the love that God has for us. Say it out loud, "I believe God's love for me". See, it's one thing for you to love God, it's another thing for you to believe that he loves you. And when you don't believe that God loves you, you'll rebel against him.
In Deuteronomy chapter 1, they thought God hated them, and they rebelled against him. See, if you think that God's mad at you and God hates you and that he's gonna send you to hell by 12 o'clock today, there's no way you're gonna have faith in what he said. How are you gonna have faith in what he says, when you don't even believe that he loves you? And so, you've got to settle that regardless of what's going on in your life, God loves me. Say it out loud, "I believe God loves me". You've got to believe, regardless of the situation you're in, that God loves me.
Say it out loud, "I believe God loves me". In the midst of hard times or crazy situations, you may not be able to recall a Scripture. But if you can remember that God loves me, maybe that'll be enough to take you through hell and highwater. I know God loves me. Say it, "I know God loves me". So, that's the way you respond to the finished works of Jesus. The first way, the first step. Here's the second step, we talked about this last week, you have to make a decision, make a decision, to believe in the finished works of Jesus Christ. Now, a decision of quality opens the door to reality. In other words, nothing becomes real without a decision. You make a decision, then you open the door to the reality of that thing. So, we've got to decide that I believe that the works are finished. Until you decide that the works are finished, then you're gonna always be trying to do something to finish it.
And so, we talked about, and I decided, well, I needed to show you what those finished works are. So, we showed you last week. The first finished work I showed you was that the price, or the payment, for sin, has been paid already. So, I'm giving you things to check off. He has paid for your sins past, present, and future. So, you don't have to do something to try to take care of your sins. Jesus has already released the payment for all of your sins. And the Bible says that he died for the sins of the whole world, amen. So, that's already been done. So, whatever you're trying to do to take care of that, done. Everybody say, "Done". It's already done.
Somebody says, "Well, I believe he's paid for my sins in the past. I believed he paid for my sins in the present. But brother Dollar, I'm having a hard time believing he's paid for the sins I hadn't done yet". Well, listen to this, when he was on the cross, actually paying it, you were not born. So, all of your sins were in the future. So, he has paid for your past sins, your present sins, and your future sins. I'm telling you, this covenant is fool-proof. Not even a fool can mess this up, amen. And as far as the world is concerned, their sins are already paid for, they just hadn't signed for the package. The sad thing about going to hell, is that you're gonna go to hell, only to discover you didn't have to go, because your sins were paid for. You just didn't sign for the package. Ain't no way in the world I'ma go to hell and realize all I had to do is sign for the package, amen. And so, that's a done deal. That's a finished work. It's over with.
So, today, I want to talk about the third finished work. Your redemption is done. Your redemption is finished. Your redemption is finished. It's finished. You remember Ephesians 1:1-3 he says, "You are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places". Well, you're not going to be blessed, he says you're blessed. Say out loud, "I'm blessed". That's done, right? 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 2 and 3 says that he has given you everything that pertains to life and godliness. So, everything that pertains to life and godliness, he's already given to you. It's already done. It's already done. We've got to change our thinking. Stop trying to get him to do, start receiving it's already done, and then take it with your faith, amen. It's already done.
Jesus said, on that cross, in John chapter 19, after he drunk the vinegar, he said this out loud, "It is finished". What do you think it meant? He showed up here to finish what he was sent to do. It's finished. Your healing is finished. Your deliverance is finished. Your prosperity is finished. Your soundness is finished. Your righteousness is finished. Your redemption is a finished deal. You're not in the process of being redeemed. You have been redeemed. Now, redemption, it literally means to be delivered. But in context of what Jesus did, there was a ransom payment. There was a payment that was extended, so that you can go free from the curse and the punishment of not being able to keep the law. You have been delivered. You have been redeemed. The payment has been paid. You can now go free. Glory be to God.
Turn to your neighbor and say, "I have been redeemed". Now let's look at this, man, this is awesome. Redemption's done. You check that off the list. Number one: I believe that God loves me, check. Number two: I believe with all of my heart that the price for my sin has been paid by Jesus, check. These are things that you don't deal with, have been dealt with. And now, number three: redemption is finished, check. You ain't got no business trying to do something to be redeemed. Let the redeemed of the Lord say "I'm redeemed". Amen. You're redeemed from sickness. You're redeemed from debt. You're redeemed from the enemy attacking you.
Now, he may come, but he'll never win, because you've been redeemed. Stuff will happen, but it won't work, 'cause you've been redeemed. You might fall in a ditch, but you ain't staying there, because you've been redeemed. Trouble going to come, because the Bible says that those of you who live godly, shall suffer persecution. But the persecution will never win, because you've been redeemed. You've been delivered out of stuff you hadn't even encountered yet. So, when you go into trouble, you're going in redeemed. You're not getting in trouble trying to beg God to deliver you. You're going in... don't y'all now I'm already, alright, let's go through the motion, because I know I'm coming out. I know I'm delivered. I know I'm healed. I know you're saying cancer hit my body, but I'm redeemed from sickness. What if you start going into trouble with that kind of attitude? That is power. And it's this mind-set we gotta change. I'm not going to be, I already am.
Alright, now, let's go to 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 18 through 19. Let's look at this in the King James and the NLT, King James and the NLT. 1 Peter 1:18-19. Let's look at our redemption. It's not enough for me to say that, now I want to take you in the word and teach it. I wanna sow it on the inside of you, so that the next time you enter into something, and you wonder, "Am I gonna get out of this"? I need you to start thinking you're already out. It's just a matter of walking it through. Weeping may endure for the night, but for the redeemed, joy comes in the mornin'.
See, listen, from this day forward, you never, ever, will wake up the defeated. Every day of your life, you wake up the blessed. I said you wake up blessed, because the real children of Abraham are those who have faith in the finished works of Jesus Christ. Now look at this, verse 18, "Forasmuch you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers". Verse 19, he says, "But with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot, you were redeemed".
Now look at this in the NLT. I thank God I've been redeemed. This is something I'm thinking, man, this is pretty powerful, that actually the spiritual warfare is me maintaining the victory that Jesus died to obtain. And if he says I'm free, I'm gonna maintain my freedom. He says, "For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors". Lord have mercy. He paid a ransom. And the ransom he paid was not "Mere gold or silver". Verse 19. He says, "It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God". And his blood was the ransom that was paid so that you don't have to have this useless life, and live like those who were under the law. I'm free. A price has been paid. A price has been paid of precious blood of Jesus, and there's no way I'm going to accept what I've been set free from.
So, anything comes on you that you've been set free from, don't accept it. Don't accept it. You've been redeemed from sickness. You've been redeemed from poverty. You've been redeemed from poverty. You've been redeemed from poverty. I don't care how many times you gotta eat Hamburger Helper without the hamburger, you will never submit to that. I'm not submitting to it. I don't know when I'm coming out. I don't know how I'm coming out, but I'm already out. I am redeemed. Same thing with sickness and disease. Just 'cause somebody died of that same sickness doesn't mean you going die of it. Hallelujah.
Yeah, doctor, I hear what you're saying, but you talking to a redeemed. I'm redeemed from this. I will not accept this. It is not a part of my agreement with God. So, I am telling you. I am saying, since I'm redeemed, I'm telling you, I'm redeemed of that, I'm redeemed of this, I'm redeemed of that. That's not supposed to be in my life. I'm blessed. I woke up blessed, praise God. Jesus paid for my redemption that I'm telling you about, doc. He paid a ransom, not with silver and gold, but with his precious blood. And I refuse to have him waste his blood to pay for my redemption. And I just give it away at the first sign of trouble. I am redeemed, amen.
Now look at Galatians 3, verse 13. Let's do it again, King James and the Amplified. This is really a mind-set. You have to renew your mind with this. And like I said before, if we're going to respond, how do I deal with the finished works of Jesus? How do I deal with what's already done? I respond to it by faith. This is my response. We're talking about how to respond to what God's already done. My response is with an attitude that I've redeemed, I'm responding this way. This is how I'm responding. You know, great things happen, because you're responding the right way. Alright, now watch this, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree".
Now look at this in the NLT. Galatians chapter 3 in the NLT. He says, "Christ purchased our freedom redeeming us". So, again, that goes along with his blood that he used to purchase our freedom, "redeeming us from the curse, or the doom of the law". Now, what was the doom of the law? The fact that you could not keep 613 of those laws, including the Ten Commandments. You couldn't keep 'em. And if you didn't keep them, the Bible said you are cursed. And if you read the series of curses in Deuteronomy 28, starting at verse 15 on down, he says the blood of Jesus has purchased your freedom from all of those things. None of those things will ever happen to you because you couldn't keep all of the law.
Boy, that's good news. None of those curses will ever come on you because you couldn't keep all of the law. You have been redeemed "From the curse and the doom of the Law and its condemnation by Himself becoming a curse for us, for it is written in the Scriptures, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree, or is crucified'".
So, here's what Jesus did. Jesus says, "So here's what I'ma do. I'ma do a little exchange here. I'm gonna give you the blessing, and I'll take all the curse that was due to you". When did he make that exchange? On the cross. "I'ma take off my coat of righteousness and blessing, and I'm gonna give it to you in exchange for your coat of sin and cursing". All I can say is how great thou art. I got to serve someone who would do this. Now, for us, he did it before we were even born. Even before we were formed into a fetus, he made that exchange. He made the purchase.
So, when anybody tells you stupid stuff like, "You're gonna be cursed for not tithing". Jesus said, "I paid a ransom, so if you don't tithe, the curse won't come on you, 'cause I let it come on me". He says, "You still get the blessing for not tithing, but you definitely won't be cursed for not tithing. And you won't be cursed for any of those things that you fail at, in these 613 commandments, because I've taken away the curse. I purchased it with my blood. Don't let anybody tell you that today you live under curse. Don' t talk to me about no generation curses. The generational curses have been replaced with generational blessings".
You are not cursed because of what happened with your parents. You are not cursed. Your children are not cursed. Those of you who are born again and made Jesus the Lord of your life, you are now blessed, hallelujah. You're blessed in the city, blessed in the field, blessed going in, blessed coming out. You are blessed. You are not cursed. Don't go over talking about "I must be cursed". No, you're just having a bad day, but you're not cursed, because Jesus has paid the price for you to be delivered from the curse.
Now that's not so if you're not born again. See, you have to be born again into what I'm talking about. So, if you haven't made Jesus the Lord of your life, you have not become a part of the agreement. So, don't be saying amen if you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Hopefully, this encourages you to get to know him rat now, R-A-T, get to know him today, so you can take full advantage of the ransom that has been paid for you. But those of you who have made Jesus the Lord of your life, I want you to understand right now, don't you ever let somebody call you cursed. Don't you ever submit to being cursed. Don't submit to, "Well, your granddaddy did that, and he did that, and so you're supposed to do it. Granddaddy got high, and then they got high, and you going to get high". No, no, no. The curse broke with the believer. It broke with you. No curse here.