A Ransom for All

“This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” —I Timothy 2:3-6

JESUS CHRIST CAME into the world to save sinners, the Scriptures declare. (Matt. 9:13; 18:11; Luke 9:56; 19:10; John 3:17) His coming was in keeping with the purpose of his Heavenly Father, the Creator, hence our text refers to God as being ‘our Saviour’. God’s plan for the salvation of the world through Jesus was a manifestation of his love for sinners, for we read that God “so loved the world” that he gave his Son to be the Redeemer, with the provision that all who believe on him “should not perish, but have everlasting life. “—John 3:16

The basis upon which salvation is brought to the sin-cursed and dying race through Jesus is the fact that in death he became a substitute for the forfeited life of father Adam. “As in Adam all die,” wrote Paul, “even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (I Cor. 15:22) This substitutional arrangement is referred to in our text as a ‘ransom’, or, as it means in the Greek, ‘a price to correspond’. Jesus’ sacrifice of his life on behalf of Adam and the dying race was, indeed, a price to correspond; for just as Adam was a perfect human being before he sinned, so Jesus was made flesh—flesh that was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners”—and this flesh he gave “for the life of the world.”—John 6:51; Heb. 7:26

In I Timothy 4:10 the apostle speaks of God as the “Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.” In this passage of Scripture the apostle mentions a point which at first might seem strange. He says that “we both labor and suffer reproach” because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men. Why should anyone be reproached and caused to suffer for believing in such a God? Yet it is true that they do!

We cannot be too sure about the background meaning of this statement by the apostle, but evidently the suffering and reproach to which he refers came from those who believed in one or more of the many false gods worshiped by the people at that time. Under the influence of prejudice and superstition, stimulated by the spirit of Satan, these worshipers of false gods resented the truth concerning a true and living God of love, a real Benefactor of the people, one who loves the world and has made a provision of salvation for all who believe. The same is true today. Churchianity discarded the names of the heathen gods of the pagans, but applied the pagan doctrines and superstitions to the God of the Bible. When they worship him they are not in reality worshiping the true and living God, but the gods of the pagans. (John 17:3; I John 5:20) In some cases their conceptions of God are even more grotesque than those of the pagans. And just as pagan worshipers reproached those who worshiped the true and living God in Paul’s day, so we are reproached today.

The Gospel of salvation through Christ has been distorted to the point that salvation means to be rescued from the torments of a creedal hell, with only a few in all the ages fortunate enough to escape. The bearers of the true Gospel of love—those who believe in and teach that God is the Savior of all men, especially those who believe—are reproached by those who worship the torment deity, and are held up before the people as opposers of Christianity.

But thanks be to God that we have learned to know him as the Savior of all men, and especially those who believe! Those who have come to know this glorious truth are glad to lay down their lives heralding forth his praises, for he has called them “out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (I Pet. 2:9) We could not have a better vocation, a better cause for which to die, than that of magnifying the name of the true God of love.

Perhaps we have not appreciated this privilege as much as we should. Perhaps we have tended to be somewhat apologetic when enemies of the truth accuse us of being teachers of a ‘second chance’. What is there about teaching a second chance for which we should be ashamed? Adam sinned willfully, and God will give him a second chance—indeed, his love provided for it through the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Why should we not glory in the fact that our God is a loving, merciful, and forgiving God?

THROUGH THE RANSOM

Our God is also just—but not vengeful. Through Jesus, he has made a provision whereby he can be just, yet the justifier of all who believe. (Rom. 3:26) Surely we are honored in having the privilege of knowing such a God—knowing him in advance of the time when the world will know him; knowing him and rejoicing in his love at this time when the world is still in darkness.

Paul says of our God that he “will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” The great truth which all shall eventually learn is that the “man Christ Jesus” in his work as Mediator between God and men, “gave himself a ransom for all.” This harmonizes with John 1:9, where we read that Jesus is that “true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” So while we rejoice that we have come to a knowledge of the truth, our joy is increased in the realization that ultimately—in God’s due time—all mankind will learn to know him, whom to know aright is life eternal.—John 17:3

Paul’s phrase, “Who will have all men to be saved,” does not indicate “universal salvation” within the accepted meaning of that expression. It does not mean that God’s love will save everlastingly every individual who has ever been born. The remainder of the expression clarifies its meaning: “and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (I Tim. 2:4) Practically every member of Adam’s race has gone down into death wholly or partially ignorant of the provision of life made by God through Jesus. These must be awakened from death—saved in this sense of the word—in order that they might be made acquainted with the great and saving truth of the ransom for all.

“That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life,” declared the Master. How few there have been who have had an opportunity to believe in him! But this has been taken into consideration in the Lord’s plan, and the provision made to rescue them from the sleep of death that they might have an opportunity to hear and believe and be saved. It is this fact that the apostle emphasizes when he says that the great truth of the ‘ransom for all’ is to be ‘testified in due time’.

ACCEPTABLE TIME FOR SACRIFICE

It was not the due time during the ‘world’ before the Flood for the people to learn about God’s provision of salvation through Christ. Nor was this great truth testified to the people during Old Testament times. In the time since, the Gospel has been preached worldwide as a witness, but it has come far short of reaching all; and the blinding influences of the “god of this world” (II Cor. 4:4)—Satan—have prevented nearly everyone from really appreciating the truth concerning the true God of love and the provision for life he has made through the ransom for all.

The Millennial Age—the “times of restitution of all things” (Acts 3:19)—will be the due time when the knowledge of the ransom will be testified to all. During this present Gospel Age another feature of the divine plan is being developed; that is, the call and development of the church of Christ. These are called to “glory and honor and immortality” (Rom. 2:7; 8:17), and to joint-heirship with Christ; and it is the ransom which constitutes the basis for this glorious hope.

One of the conditions upon which we may live and reign with Christ is that we suffer and die with him. Paul speaks of this as filling up “that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ.” (Col. 1:24) He speaks of it also as being “baptized into his death,” and as being “planted together in the likeness of his death.” (Rom. 6:3,5) And when we question what he means by the likeness of Jesus’ death, the apostle answers that Jesus died unto sin, that is, as a sin-offering, and that “likewise” we should reckon ourselves to be dead unto sin.—Rom. 6:10,11

What does the apostle mean by reckoning ourselves to be dead unto sin? Simply that we are authorized, through our faith in the merit of Jesus’ shed blood to count ourselves as offering an acceptable sacrifice to God—a sacrifice that will have to do with ridding the world of sin, hence a sin-offering. In verse seven the apostle explains—according to the Marginal Translation—that those who are thus dead are planted together in the likeness of Jesus’ death and “justified from sin.”

This means that they are not dying as sinners, for the blood of Christ frees them from condemnation; they are dying, rather, as sin-offerings, even as Jesus died “unto sin.”

This wonderful arrangement whereby the followers of Jesus may join in his sacrificial work for the salvation of the world in no way changes the fact that the ransom sacrifice of Jesus releases mankind from sin. Jesus’ ransom sacrifice is the basis of the entire arrangement. It is only through the ransom that we are authorized to ‘reckon’ ourselves to be dead unto sin.

There is no sin-canceling merit in the sacrifice of the church. But when the Lord authorizes us to reckon it as being part of the “better sacrifices” of this Gospel Age, we should honor him by doing so, and seek faithfully to keep our sacrifice on the altar until it is fully consumed. (Heb. 9:23) It is this thought that Paul stresses saying, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”—Rom. 12:1

Jesus “tasted death for every man,” declares the apostle. (Heb. 2:9) However, this alone does not complete the work of reconciling the lost race to God. If nothing more were done, the living generations would go on in sin and continue to die, while those in the tomb would remain there. It was necessary in the divine plan that a knowledge of this ‘ransom for all’ should be made known to those for whom it was provided, and it is in this phase of the atonement work that the church has a share.

First, Jesus was raised from the dead and appeared “in the presence of God for us.” (Heb. 9:24) The apostle states the same thought in another way, saying that Christ was “raised again for our justification.” (Rom. 4:25) And why should we, the church class, be justified? It is in order that we might present our bodies an acceptable sacrifice and be planted together in the likeness of Jesus’ death. This is not for the purpose of adding anything to the ransom, but in order that each one in the true church might prove his full harmony with the divine program of love for the human race, and be trained to share with Jesus in the future work of enlightening and blessing the world.

It is in this way that the merit of Christ’s ransom will reach the world through the church. This merit is first used to make the church’s joint-sacrifice with Jesus acceptable, and when this sacrifice is complete and the church is glorified with the Lord, together they will be the channel through which the offer of salvation will reach mankind. And how will the benefits of the ransom be made available to all? It will be through the enlightenment of the people in order that they might have an opportunity to believe.

“How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?” (Rom. 10:14), asks the apostle. As the merit of the ransom is available at the present time for those who believe only, it becomes evident that the church has a very vital part in the work of reconciliation—not by providing the ransom, but by being co-workers in the divine arrangement whereby, on the basis of imparted knowledge, the benefits of the ransom will be available to the people. It was in keeping with this divine arrangement that Jesus prayed for the oneness of the church with himself—that full oneness which will be attained in the “first resurrection”—“that the world may believe.”—Rev. 20:5,6; John 17:21

So while the due time for testifying the knowledge of the ransom to all mankind—the living and those who will be raised from the dead—will not be until the mediatorial kingdom of Christ is established, now is the “acceptable year [time)” (Luke 4:17) for the followers of Jesus to lay down their lives as joint-sacrificers with him. Paul speaks of this in proves that the church is to be used, together with Christ, as the servants of God in establishing this covenant.

This whole arrangement is made possible through the “ransom for all.” (I Tim. 2:6) Truly it constitutes the basis of hope for both the church and the world. And what a blessed hope it is for both! For the church it is a hope of glory and honor and immortality; and for the world, restitution to human perfection on the earth.

As we have seen, the hope of the church also is that she may share in the work of restoring the world. “I will preserve thee,” says the Lord, “and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish [Margin, ‘raise up’] the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; that thou mayest say to the prisoners [of death], Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves.” (Isa. 49:8,9; 42:6) It will be in the fulfillment of this promise that “the ransom for all” will be testified to all “in due time.”—I Tim. 2:6; I Pet. 5:6

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