Jesus’ Ransom | Bible | Reading
The “corresponding ransom” [Greek: antilutron] (1 Timothy 2:6)*
illustrated.
Jesus “the last Adam” is on the right and Adam is on the left. (1 Corinthians 15:45)
Adam was a sinless, perfect soul when he was created.
(Genesis 2:7; 1 Corinthians 15:45) According
to divine justice as expressed in the Law of Moses, soul was to be given for soul. (Exodus 21:23; Leviticus 24:18) Since Adam
was a sinless soul, another sinless soul had to be given in exchange as a ransom: this ransomer would have to correspond
to Adam by being a sinless man. Since Adam was not a God-man, the ransomer could not be a God-man, as that would
upset the soteriological balance (see
scales above). Adam was a perfect man, not a member of the Godhead, so the ransomer likewise could not be a member
of the Godhead on earth. Thus, it was Jesus as the second and last Adam who emptied himself of divine glory (Philppians 2:7) to become what
Adam lost: a sinless, perfect human life. Saying that Jesus was a God-man and a member of the Godhead on earth
is the same as saying that he was not qualified to be the ransomer and that his ransom therefore has no saving
power. But this soteriological dilemma is no more if Jesus corresponded to what Adam lost—which is what Jehovah’s
Witnesses have been teaching all along.
*New Word Translation; Concordant Literal New Testament likewise has “correspondent
ransom”.
Picture from: p. 63 of You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., 1982.
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