581. The chapter on redemption showed that the Lord's redemption and his suffering on the cross were two distinct things, and they should not in any way be confused with each other [126-133]. That chapter also taught that both redemption and the suffering on the cross allowed the Lord to take on the power to regenerate and save people.

The received faith in the church of today that claims the suffering on the cross was redemption itself has led to hordes of horrible falsities about God, faith, goodwill, and all the other teachings that hang like unbroken chains on these three. Take, for example, the belief that God locked the human race into damnation, but was willing to be brought back to a merciful outlook by the imposition of that damnation on his Son, or by the Son's taking that damnation upon himself. Or take the belief that the only people who are saved are those who, whether through God's foresight or predestination, are granted Christ's merit. Another concept hatched from the mistaken idea mentioned above is the belief that those people who have been gifted with that faith are simultaneously regenerated without any cooperation on their part; indeed, that those people have therefore been released from the damnation of the law and are no longer under the law but under grace.

Yet the Lord said that he would not take away even the tip of one letter of the law (Matthew 5:18-19; Luke 16:17); and said to his disciples that they should preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:47; Mark 6:12). And he himself said, "The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15). The gospel here means the good news that we can be regenerated and therefore saved. This would not have been possible if the Lord had not brought about redemption, that is, if he had not taken power away from hell through battles against it and victories over it, and if he had not glorified his human manifestation, that is, made it divine.