The Ransom Merit of Jesus Christ

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a corresponding ransom for all kinds of people.”—1 Tim. 2:5, 6, NW, margin.

1. How does Jesus Christ stand alone in world history?

JESUS CHRIST of Nazareth rose from birth in a manger to a position of vital importance to humankind. No other single individual since the creation of Adam has made such an indelible imprint on the pages of history, nor has any other person ever been so universally the subject of controversy. Countless other men have gone down into death as martyrs for causes they deemed worthy of their full devotion, but in no other instance has there been attributed to such martyrdom the role of savior. Jesus Christ stands alone in world history as one whose death is said to qualify him to act as the Redeemer of humankind. So unique is his position that a devoted disciple of his was compelled to say, “There is no salvation in anyone else, for there is not another name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must get saved.” (Acts 4:12, NW) Certainly no such efficacy is attributed to the death of any other man.

2, 3. What contrasting views are held concerning him, prompting what vital questions?

² Yet, despite the widespread confession in Christendom that Jesus Christ is the Ransomer of fallen mankind, there is great misunderstanding as to the role he plays in the purposes of the Almighty God. Even among those professing to believe on him there is actually startling disbelief in the merit of his life given as a ransom. Then, of course, there are millions who, though recognizing his prominence in Jewish history, attribute nothing spectacular to his life or death beyond his devotion to certain principles he considered good. However, in contrast, even before Christ made his appearance, “other men were tortured because they would not accept release by some ransom, in order that they might attain a better resurrection” through the ancient promise of God to send forth a “seed” that would provide an eternal release from sin and death.—Heb. 11:35; Matt. 20:28; 2 Tim. 2:8-10, NW.

³ Upon the basis of what the Bible teaches, what is the position of Jesus Christ in Jehovah’s magnificent arrangement of things for establishing a completely new world? Should he be regarded only as a legendary figure of noble ideals who set for us a splendid example of moral living? Or should we view him as the one who poured out his lifeblood in sacrifice so as to purchase by ransom the life rights that Adam lost through rebellion, and thus make it possible for men to ultimately live forever? The correct answer to these questions is vital to every living person today.

4. How was the appearance of Christ different from that of any other man?

⁴ It is important to appreciate that Jesus Christ did not suddenly burst upon the human scene and proclaim himself a savior. He was not merely a man of unusual gifts and mental brilliance who made a mark upon civilization by reason of his energetic activity, as other men have done with varying degrees of success from time to time. No, indeed! Rather, his appearance was singularly different, for long centuries beforetime his coming was foretold. Men of godly understanding looked for the appearance of a savior of humankind because of the promise Jehovah gave in Eden concerning the coming of a “seed” of righteousness.—Gen. 3:15; Gal. 3:19, NW.

5. How is the promise to Abraham brought into view here?

⁵ Nearly 1,900 years before the birth of Christ, Jehovah with an oath confirmed his promise to Abraham concerning this Savior, saying: “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” (Gen. 22:18, AS) Abraham and other faithful men of ancient days looked for this “seed” and longed for the blessings that would come through it. The apostle Paul removes all doubt as to the identity of the “seed” when he says: “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. It says, not, ‘And to seeds,’ as in the case of many such, but as in the case of one, ‘And to your seed,’ who is Christ.”—Gal. 3:16, NW.

6. The words of Moses and the promise to David show what respecting the Christ?

⁶ More than three hundred years after Abraham’s day Moses spoke to Israel about this same coming savior, saying that anyone who failed to listen to him would not live. (Deut. 18:19; Lev. 23:29) Peter confirms the historical fact that Moses predicted the coming of the savior, Christ, saying: “In fact, Moses said: ‘Jehovah God will produce for you from among your brothers a prophet like me. You must listen to him according to all the things he speaks to you. Indeed, any soul that does not listen to that Prophet will be completely destroyed from among the people.’” (Acts 3:22, 23, NW) David was a direct descendant of Abraham, and respecting him Jehovah repeated the promise concerning a savior some six hundred years before Christ appeared. “Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king . . . and [he] shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”—Jer. 23:5; 33:15, AS.

7. What other prophetic things were written concerning Jesus Christ, and upon what are all the prophets in agreement?

⁷ Approximately 150 years before Jeremiah penned the above words in the sacred Record, the prophet Isaiah, knowing full well that the Redeemer was to come through Abraham and David’s line, under inspiration wrote: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even for ever.” (Isa. 9:6, 7, AS) Bethlehem was predicted as the place of his birth. (Mic. 5:2) In fact, all the prophets agreed that a redeemer was due to appear upon the human scene; and “to him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone putting faith in him gets forgiveness of sins through his name.”—Acts 10:43, NW.

8. What supporting facts demonstrate that John was not wrong in his identification of Jesus?

⁸ The prophet Isaiah in advance declared remarkable details concerning Jesus Christ, namely, that he would be despised, rejected, be a man of sorrows and be acquainted with grief; that his life would be made an offering for the sins of many, that he would intercede for mankind, that when he was oppressed and afflicted he would not open his mouth to complain but would submit to his sacrifice like a lamb that is led to the slaughter. No wonder John the Baptist, when he saw Jesus approaching, loudly exclaimed, “See, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, NW; Isa. 53:3-9, AS) That John was correct in his identification of Jesus as the Redeemer is made sure by the record of the angel’s declaration thirty years previous, when that mighty spirit creature said to the shepherds, “Have no fear, for, look! I am declaring to you good news of a great joy that all the people will have, because there was born to you today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, in David’s city.” (Luke 2:10, 11, NW) Beyond any question, Jesus Christ was not a self-proclaimed savior, but had come in fulfillment of promises made by God long centuries before.

9. How do the apostles confirm the truth that Jesus was sent?

⁹ The apostle John supports this view with the forthright declaration that it was God who sent Jesus. “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16, NW) Jesus was thus not an ordinary mortal whom Jehovah selected to use in providing a ransom, but, with good reason, was one who came direct from God’s own heavenly realm for the specific purpose of vindicating the Father’s name and providing a ransom. Jesus’ prehuman existence extended back before humankind or even the earth itself came into being. (John 1:1-3; Prov. 8:22-36, AS) His disciples appreciated Jehovah’s great expression of love in sending his Son. They knew Jesus Christ was no mere man like themselves, and they showed no hesitancy in declaring so. (Matt. 16:16, NW) “By this the love of God was made manifest in our case, because God sent forth his only-begotten Son into the world that we might gain life through him. . . . we ourselves have beheld and are bearing witness that the Father has sent forth his Son as Savior of the world.”—1 John 4:9, 14, NW.

10. How do false conclusions of some religionists lead them into error regarding the Christ?

¹⁰ But there are some religious men who deny Jesus was God’s son and had come in the flesh by Jehovah’s miraculous transference of him to the womb of a Jewish virgin, Mary. Instead they teach the incarnation theory, saying that Jesus was actually God himself who clothed his spirit body with a covering of flesh, as angels had done in appearing to Abraham, Lot and others. (Gen. 18:1, 2; 19:1; Judg. 13:9-11, 16) Trinitarians are stuck with the same false reasoning, since they believe that God and Christ are one and the same. This erroneous doctrine forces still other wrong conclusions. For instance, this theory must assume that Jesus’ weariness and suffering were merely feigned, because no spirit creature can be weary and suffer. It is bound to force the conclusion that his prayers were feigned, since he was only praying to himself after all, and did so merely for the profound impression such made upon his disciples and others. (John 17, NW) Still farther along the same road of error it would have to be concluded, on the basis of the original premise, that Christ’s death was merely an appearance of death, for God, being immortal, cannot really die; hence there was no real death and pouring out of blood as a ransom for humankind at all!

11, 12. What other views are held by religious leaders?

¹¹ Closely akin to this hazardous reasoning are the conclusions of those who believe in the “moral influence theory.” They hold that the sole mission of Christ was to reveal the love of God in a way so moving as to melt the heart and induce men to forsake sin. (Theology at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century, p. 261) “Strictly speaking,” say they, “the death of Christ was not necessary to human salvation.”

¹² It is not surprising, then, to find a very prominent religious leader saying this in regard to the ransom: “Of course I do not believe in the Virgin Birth, or in that old fashioned substitutionary doctrine of the Atonement; and I do not know any intelligent Christian minister who does. The trouble with these fundamentalists is that they suppose that unless one agrees with them in their doctrinal set-up, he cannot believe in the profound, substantial, everlasting truths of the Christian gospel that transform men’s lives, and are the only hope of Christ’s saviorhood in this world.”a Included in this class of men are those who ridicule the death of Jesus Christ as necessary to provide a ransom because, as they say, it requires a murder to fulfill the will of God.

13. How is their disbelief in the ransom shown, placing them in a class described by Peter?

¹³ Thus we find religious men, leaders at that, who actually deny the ransom merit of Jesus Christ. Yes, they talk about the “everlasting truths of the Christian gospel,” but in their eyes the principles embodied in the Ten Commandments plus the new commandments that Christ taught, the love of God, the love of neighbor unto dying for him—these are the things “that transform men’s lives, and are the only hope of Christ’s saviorhood in this world.” By their own words and deeds they do not believe that the life of Jesus Christ, laid down in sacrificial death, actually served to open up the way for mankind to regain that perfection of flesh and unity with God that Adam first lost by his sin of rebellion. They do, in fact, disown Christ as their redeemer and savior, and do not believe that the value of his shed blood was the price paid over to God to regain for mankind the life rights lost by Adam. Pretending to be servants of God, they are actually false teachers. How accurately Peter describes them: “There will also be false teachers among you. These very ones will quietly bring in destructive sects and will disown even the owner that bought them, bringing speedy destruction upon themselves.”—2 Pet. 2:1; 1 Cor. 1:18, NW.

14. What full impact of truth must be appreciated by honest persons?

¹⁴ Every person interested in life must appreciate the full impact of the truth that the Sacred Scriptures are overwhelmingly specific and definite in making known that only through the ransom merit of Jesus Christ will anyone ever attain to salvation. Moreover, anyone gaining salvation must meet the terms of the ransom and thus qualify according to God’s standards. In the final analysis, the philosophies of men and all the worldly knowledge and human reasoning they can bring to bear against the Scriptures will avail nothing. The Word of God is sure, firm, to be relied upon as coming from the one who has all knowledge and who possesses all power to back up his word and fulfill it. Rightly we go to him for an explanation of the position of his Son in the divine purpose as it relates to the salvation of humankind.

15. To “ransom” means what, and why does the whole human race need such?

¹⁵ To “ransom” means to “redeem from captivity, slavery, punishment or the like, by paying a price; to buy out of bondage; to deliver, as from sin, its penalty, or the like; to be the Redeemer of.” (Webster’s New International Dictionary, 2nd Edition) That mankind since Eden has been in bondage to sin and its penalty, death, stands admitted. “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me,” said David. (Ps. 51:5, AS) That confession of bondage applied not only to David himself, for Paul confirms it as being true of the whole human race, when he says, “Through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned.” (Rom. 5:12, NW) The whole human race has been and is in bondage, slavery, which results in death, and needs a Ransomer to effect release if the full freedom of Eden in its perfection is ever to be realized again.—Heb. 2:15, NW.

16. Upon what conditions might man recover from sin’s penalty of death?

¹⁶ Death comes to man justly, through the operation of Jehovah’s righteous and perfect laws. It was no injustice on God’s part, for man brought this slavery upon himself, with its punishment of death. In keeping with justice, God could allow death to reign over men for all time to come, but his great quality of love and mercy moves him to provide a way out for men who incline to righteousness. In exercising his mercy, however, Jehovah cannot disregard or ignore the justice of the penalty judgment of death entered against man. “Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot”—this expresses the terms and principles under which God has always operated. (Ex. 21:23, 24, AS) Consequently what Jehovah had decreed as the penalty for mankind’s sin, namely death, could be lifted only by the payment of a ransom or corresponding price. If one could be found willing and able to make payment of this ransom, thus fulfilling Jehovah’s just law, then his mercy might be extended toward mankind. Jesus Christ was the one willing and able to buy man out of his bondage.

17. How is God’s great love shown in this respect?

¹⁷ That it was Jehovah’s love and mercy that moved Christ to provide the payment of a ransom is plainly shown at John 3:16 (NW): “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.” It was an action initiated by God, and it was accompanied by the willingness of his Son to meet the terms of justice in paying the ransom. “By this the love of God was made manifest in our case, because God sent forth his only-begotten Son into the world that we might gain life through him. The love is in this respect, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent forth his Son as a propitiatory sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:9, 10, NW) Jesus Christ was willing to pay the ransom price, out of love for Jehovah and for fallen man.

18. Was the requirement of a ransom a new thing with God?

¹⁸ It was no new thing for Jehovah to thus require a ransom payment. He was merely following the same basic principle he followed in his dealings with Israel as that nation’s Ransomer or Redeemer. He said of himself, “For I am Jehovah thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour; I have given Egypt as thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in thy stead. Since thou hast been precious in my sight, and honorable, and I have loved thee; therefore will I give men in thy stead, and peoples instead of thy life.” (Isa. 43:3, 4, AS) The ordinances of the law covenant given to Israel provided for the payment of a ransom as a redemption for one’s life in certain kinds of offenses. The poll tax of half a shekel for every Hebrew was deemed the ransom to propitiate for their lives. (Ex. 21:28-32; 30:12-16) The annual offering of a bullock and of a goat for the sins of the people served as an atonement or ransom that Jehovah recognized and accepted.—Lev. 4:1-35; 5:1-19; 16:1-31; Prov. 21:18.

19. How is the payment of a ransom a difficult thing?

¹⁹ In the case of man, the ransom God required to restore perfection and everlasting life could not be paid with silver, gold or other precious things, nor by the blood of animals, for these payments would not correspond or be equal to the perfect life that Adam lost for all mankind. (1 Pet. 1:18, 19, NW) To all the “inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor” Psalm 49 (AS) points out that man can never give to God a ransom for his life, “for the redemption of their life is costly, and it faileth for ever.” It follows, then, that unless Jehovah provided the means of paying over the corresponding ransom, there would never be a recovery from sin and death. God made this provision by granting his only-begotten Son the privilege to lay down a perfect human life in sacrifice.—Gal. 4:4, 5, NW.

20. What was Christ’s attitude regarding this sacrificial course laid out for him?

²⁰ Jehovah did not have to coerce his Son into this sacrificial course, but Jesus willingly pursued it when he perceived that it was his Father’s will. Says Paul concerning him, “He . . . gave no consideration to a seizure, namely, that he should be equal to God. No, but he emptied himself and took a slave’s form and came to be in the likeness of men. More than that, when he found himself in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient as far as death, yes, death on a torture stake.” (Phil. 2:6-8, NW) Jesus himself confirms his own willingness to lay down his life in sacrifice, saying, “This is why the Father loves me, because I surrender my soul [life], in order that I may receive it again. No man has taken it away from me, but I surrender it of my own initiative.” (John 10:17, 18, NW, margin) As the sacrificial lamb of God, Jesus Christ moved steadily, willingly and unwaveringly toward his sacrifice on the torture stake, with full appreciation of the ability it would give him to provide the ransom for believing mankind.—Isa. 53:7, AS.

21. In his loving-kindness how did Jehovah provide a basis for belief in the ransom of Jesus Christ?

²¹ It was doubtless at a distant time before his miraculous coming to earth that Jesus in his prehuman existence expressed his willingness to provide the ransom. It must have been so, for through Abraham, long before the earthly advent of Jesus, Jehovah illustrated how he would give his Son in sacrifice, and how that Son would of his own free will lay down his life. (Gen. 22:1-19) Immediately following this prophetic portrayal by Abraham, Jehovah made the promise that “in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,” which “seed” Paul identified as the Christ. So God was showing that, at a fixed time future from Abraham’s day, his own beloved Son would come to make the great sacrifice. In his written Word Jehovah was laying a groundwork so that righteously disposed men might fix their hope upon this great event and the untold blessings it would open up to them. A reliable record was being established by which men would be able to identify the one providing a ransom for them. (Prov. 8:22-36; John 8:58, NW) A great release was now in sight, but it would certainly come through the ransom of Jesus Christ.

[Footnotes]