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.

“Release by Ransom”

“By means of him we have the release by ransom through the blood of that one, yes, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his undeserved kindness.”—Eph. 1:7, NW.

1. How did sacrifices under the Law fall short of effective “release,” but what purpose was served?

BORN in sin and shaped in iniquity, men were doomed to live in sin and pay its penalty, death. Under the Mosaic law given to Israel the sins of the people were forgiven in a pictorial way by the animal sacrifices made and offered up by the high priest. Yet in a real sense the blood of bulls did not effect an actual release of permanent nature from the penalty of sin, death; for all those conforming to the law eventually died. Moreover, the sacrifices had to be repeated at regular intervals. The law covenant was actually a “shadow of the good things to come,” illustrating what God would do through his Son, Jesus Christ. (Heb. 10:1-3, NW) “Consequently, the Law has become our tutor leading to Christ, that we might be declared righteous due to faith.”—Gal. 3:24, NW.

2. What important part did blood play under the Law, but how did the coming of Jesus make a great change?

² But even under the law arrangement righteousness was imputed only by the shedding of blood. In viewing the sacrifice and ransom of Jesus we must bear in mind the plain statement of Scripture that “unless blood is poured out no forgiveness takes place.” That is why Israel through the high priest continuously offered the blood of animals to obtain, in a pictorial sense, the yearly release from sins. But with the coming of Jesus Christ there is a great change, for “he entered, no, not with the blood of goats and of young bulls, but with his own blood, once for all time into the holy place and obtained an everlasting release for us.” (Heb. 9:22, 12, NW) No more was it necessary to periodically offer animal blood, for the one who was foreshadowed by these animal sacrifices had come and established an everlasting release. Now it was a matter of qualifying to receive the benefit of that release by ransom.

3. In what way was the sacrifice of Jesus superior?

³ The entry of Jesus Christ to make propitiation for the sins of humankind and thus effect a release was not an entry into any earthly temple. “For Christ entered, not into a holy place made with hands [as the high priest of Israel did] which is a copy of the reality, but into heaven itself, now to appear before the person of God for us. . . . the Christ was offered once for all time to bear the sins of many.” (Heb. 9:24-28) It was into the presence of Jehovah God in heaven that Christ went, following his resurrection, to offer the merit of the perfect lifeblood he had poured out, this to effect a permanent release for those of mankind who would exercise faith in the merit of that ransom. Peter confirms that it is the shed blood of Jesus that provides the ransom merit: “For you know that it was not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, as a ransom that you were released from your fruitless form of conduct received by tradition from your forefathers. But it was with precious blood, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb, even Christ’s.”—1 Pet. 1:18, 19, NW.

4. Why is it folly to regard the sacrificial death of Jesus as unnecessary?

⁴ The lifeblood of the perfect man Jesus, poured out in sacrificial death, is thus seen to have a saving merit in behalf of those who exercise faith in it. Hence it is the blood given in sacrifice that is needed to effect the salvation of the world, not merely the “profound, substantial, everlasting truths of the Christian gospel.” There would be no release without the shed blood. The Scriptures emphasize this truth outstandingly. It is sheer folly, then, to view the self-sacrificing course of Jesus as essentially unnecessary to his saviorhood of the world. If the merit of the shed blood is not applied in behalf of any person, that man has no hope of gaining everlasting life. The perfect lifeblood of Jesus Christ corresponded to that life value that Adam lost. When Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, he had in his possession the right to perfect human life with all its prospects, exactly what Adam by the sin of disobedience had lost for the human race. This ransom price Jesus handed over in the presence of God and in exchange therefore received the human race for the purpose of giving deserving members of it the opportunity to gain everlasting life.—Rom. 5:15-19, NW.

5. What great question is posed, and how does the wrong view of matters work injury to men?

⁵ This brings to the fore the question as to who benefit by the ransom. Do all men benefit, whether good or bad? Was it not God’s great love for all men that prompted the giving of his Son? And does not that support the view held by many that all must ultimately be saved, Adam himself included, and even the Devil? Decidedly not, for nothing could be farther from the truth. Holding to such a universal salvation theory works great injury upon men, for it blinds them to the real purpose of the ransom. It lulls men into a false sense of security and irresponsibility, for it tells them that everything will come out all right in the end, no matter what they do or how they live. Through belief in “salvation for all” they fail to see the need for examining God’s purpose and ascertaining upon what grounds they can qualify for “release by ransom through the blood” of Jesus Christ.

6. What simple facts support the correct view?

⁶ Stop, think, and examine some simple facts. When Jesus was on earth and preached repentance, some heard him in belief and others despised his teaching. To those who heard with belief and ‘stuck with him in his trials’ Jesus promised great blessings in the Kingdom. (Luke 22:28-30, NW) And he said that other sheep would in later times listen with faith and receive blessings, also. But to those unbelieving Jews who encircled him and derided his message demanding to know if he was the Christ, Jesus replied, “I told you and yet you do not believe. . . . you do not believe, because you are none of my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them everlasting life, and they will by no means ever be destroyed.” (John 10:16-30, NW) Those unbelievers later tried to stone Jesus. Promise of a ransom to everlasting life was held out to absolutely no such persons, but only to the believers, the “sheep.”

7. The record at Matthew 23 presents what perplexing situation to those who believe in “salvation for all”?

⁷ Proponents of “salvation for all” must close their eyes to the scathing testimony of Jesus against the false teachers of his day, the scribes and Pharisees. Claiming to worship God, they did all manner of evil. Jesus predicted nothing good for them, but only woe upon woe. Forcefully he pointed out their utter inability to escape the judgment of Gehenna (destruction) at Jehovah’s hand because of their wicked course. Would you say, then, that he died to provide a ransom for them? Could they be both ransomed and destroyed? Certainly not, as any reasoning person must admit! Yet Jesus did tell them they were doomed; so there could be no ransom for them.—Matthew 23, NW.

8. Jesus’ instructions to his disciples support what view?

⁸ The instructions Jesus gave to his disciples add weight to the truth that the ransom would not apply to all men individually, for, said he, “wherever anyone does not take you in or listen to your words, on going out of that house or that city shake the dust off your feet. Truly I say to you, It will be more endurable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on Judgment Day than for that city.” (Matt. 10:14, 15, NW) He was pin-pointing the utter impossibility of ransom for unbelievers or those willfully wicked, because Sodom and Gomorrah were irrevocably condemned and destroyed, beyond any possible recovery.

9. How is there a difference between the position of Satan, Adam and humankind in general?

⁹ Satan the Devil is the god of this world based upon evil and wickedness. He is a deliberate and willful sinner and violator of God’s sovereignty. For him there is no recovery, but only a certain destruction. The man Adam willfully and deliberately chose the same course of rebellion as that taken by Satan, and God in justice meted out death to him. But for Adam’s offspring the situation is different, because they were born under condemnation as a result of Adam’s willful act, yet not because of anything they themselves had done. (Rom. 16:20; Rev. 20:10, NW; Hos. 6:7, AS; Rom. 5:14, NW) Hence, for them Jehovah provided the opportunity for recovery from this slavery by a release by ransom through Jesus Christ.

10. What transformation must take place in the life of one who benefits by the ransom?

¹⁰ In the days when Jesus preached the good news, not all of Adam’s descendants then alive heard and believed, and hence not all came under the ransom Jesus later made available. On the other hand, in the case of those who did believe, a marvelous transformation was made in their lives, as was true with the apostles. So today those who ultimately benefit by the ransom must first effect a transformation in their lives. It means more than refraining from evil and maintaining a neutral or aloof position from rank wickedness, thus hoping for ransom because of beautiful character built up through one’s own efforts. Rather, it requires hearing and belief in the good news that Jesus preached and that is, true to his promise, being preached today throughout the earth. It means activity in a positive way to support the entire arrangement of Jehovah God for the establishment of a new world, for which the blood of Jesus provided a basis. The Devil and all those who are of like mind, deliberate sinners, will not support the new world. Neither will they benefit by the ransom, nor ever