A Ransom for All
I Timothy 2:6
The title
is from I Timothy 2:6, the following are the first six verses of that text: (1)
“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions,
and giving of thanks, be made for all men; (2) For kings, and for all that are
in authority; that we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and
honesty.(3) For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our savior; (4)
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
(5) For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus; (6) Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
From such expressions as; “Who will
have all men to be saved” and “Who gave himself a ransom for all” many have
inferred that the ransom is for all and every man without exception. The writer
maintains a different point of view, a view which if compared to the rest of
scriptures will show that rather than declaring a general ransom for all without
exception, and, a will in God, that all and every man should be saved, this
scripture references a ransom for, and, a willingness in God, that men of all sorts,
and various stations in life should be saved. First; because verse two calls
upon us to pray for all men, and then mentions only two sorts; kings, and those
that are in authority. Second; because the will of God cannot be broken,
thwarted, refused, or altered therefore if that assumption of a general ransom,
and will in God for the salvation all without exception be true, then
necessarily all and every one of Adams race must be saved without fail, else
the will of God would be broken, and ruined. We know from scripture that all
men are not saved, for the rich man who refused kindness to Lazarus landed in
hell, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were swallowed up alive into the pit Num.16:
1-35. We may find instruction in this connection in Matthew 7:13,14 “Enter ye
in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth
to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat: Because strait is the
gate, and narrow the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find
it.” Now if the will of God be so weak, that every damned sinner is a
testimonial to that weakness, who will fear him, who will honor him? To deny the sovereignty of God is to deny his
person, power, and Godhead; it is to deny God himself, that he is God, “the
high and lofty one who inhabiteth eternity” (Isaiah 57:15) who is the sole
governor of the universe. We must consider our religious traditions; whether
they are according to the scriptures; for ”Now we have received, not the spirit
of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things
that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in words
which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth;
comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” (I Corinthians 2:11-13)
If we would be taught of the Spirit of God; the truth of the scriptures, we
must compare spiritual things with spiritual; that is, we must compare the
scripture with itself, we must compare verse with verse, line with line, truth
with truth, so, shall we be taught of God. With this mind as our guide, let us
seek to understand; the will of God toward the salvation of men.
In the book of
Job we find; “But he is of one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul
desireth, even that he doeth. For he performeth the thing that is appointed for
me: and many such things are with him.”(23:13) Our God is of one mind and who
can turn him? Certainly this is a comforting thought for the children of men,
in that, the covenant of grace sets before us the mind of God; that it is
toward the children of men. For the message that God has sent of the angel to
us is; “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which
shall be to all people.” Luke 2:10.
Though our race
fell in ruin in the first man; yet our gracious God has ordained a
seed (Genesis 3:15; psalms 22:30, 31; Galatians 3:16, 29) to eternal
life (Acts 13:48) they are his elect, his chosen, his peculiar people; that is,
a people of his own. It is true; the elect are born in this world with all the
sinful characteristics that are common to the men of the world, and that they
are “children of wrath, even as others” (Ephesians 2:3) yet God has determined
that he will “bring many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10) the “many sons” are his
chosen.
Since God has declared the end from the
beginning; we may know the end by viewing the stated will of God in the beginning,
or at any point in the interim. “The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, Surely as
I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, .so shall it
stand:” (Isaiah 14:24.) It is true of our God that the thoughts of his mind
come to pass, for he brings them to pass. Again our God declares; “Remember the
former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there
is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times
the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will do
all my pleasure:” Isaiah (46: 9, 10). Again “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for
sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and
the pleasure (or purpose) of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.” (Isaiah
53:10) From the New Testament “For whom
he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
son, that he might be the first born among many brethren.” (Romans 8:29) And
from Romans 9:19 … “For who hath resisted his will?” From what is before us we
may gather, that our God “is of one mind and who can turn him”; as he has
purposed so shall it be, the thoughts of his heart shall come to pass; in
short, the will of God cannot be thwarted, broken, or overturned.
Now as we view the end we may know
the will of God from the beginning; we may view the end by looking in the
Revelation of Jesus Christ; for there it is that God shows us the end of all
things. In particular look at Revelation 5:9, for there, before us is the
entire body of the redeemed, of all the ages. “And they sung a new song,
saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for
thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and
tongue, and people, and nation;” Now as we view the vast multitude; (for it is
a number that no man can number), we know that all of mankind are not present,
for many of the race of men would not bow the knee to the Lord Jesus in this
world, and therefore have nothing of his mediation in the next.
According to the testimony of the
elect, they are redeemed “out of every kindred,” tongue,
people, and nation. Now we know that whom God has redeemed, those are they who he
intended to redeem, for “he is of one mind and who can turn him?” His “counsel
shall stand and he will do all his pleasure.” Therefore by viewing the redeemed
at the end, we know who it was that God chose to salvation from the beginning,
(II Thessalonians 2:13) and that he failed not in his purpose and grace which
was given the elect before the world began, (II Timothy 1:9); which he must
have (that is he must have failed of his purpose and grace) if his will was
that all men should be saved, for we know by the testimony of the holy
scripture that all men are not saved. It is evident that there is a will in God
that men of all races, social strata, financial situations, sexes, nations,
tongues, and what ever distinctions there are among men, that God has chose
some of every sort to salvation, by the blood and righteousness of Jesus
Christ, and for Christ’s sake alone, for he is the ransom for all. The question
is all of whom?
A
Ransom for Many
Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “Even
as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give
his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28) A ransom is a price paid to secure
the release or discharge of someone who is captive. Now according to the
testimony of the Lord Jesus; he gave his life a ransom for many, and the ransom
must have been sufficient to secure all that was intended by him that paid the
ransom, and by him that received the ransom, otherwise there could have been no
resurrection from the grave of our Lord, for the resurrection is witness that
divine justice was and is satisfied.
Our God is a just God; (Isaiah
45:21) everyone who was ransomed by the blood of the Lord Jesus must go free
from the curse of the law; for “The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness’
sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honorable.” (Isaiah 42:21) Our Lord
Jesus fulfilled the law; in it’s precept and it’s penalty; for he said “Think
not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am come not to
destroy but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass,
one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be
fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:17, 18) Again “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of
the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that
hangeth on a tree:” ( Galatians 3:13).
Since
the ransom has been paid in full, by the Lord Jesus Christ; and since the law
has been magnified and made honorable, being fulfilled in it’s precept and it’s
penalty by our Lord Jesus; since the curse has been fully borne by our Lord;
because of that, divine justice requires the release of all for whom the ransom
is paid. Since Christ Jesus has made satisfaction to divine law and justice,
for his people, “for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21);
the law of God requires that Christ’s people must live, (Leviticus 18:5); and
therefore “.. God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved
us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by
grace are ye saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us to sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (Ephesians 2: 4-6). Dear reader;
the complete election of grace, the entire family of God, is at this moment
seated in Christ (representatively) at the right hand of God, the elect were
crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20), the elect were baptized into his death
(Romans 6:3), the elect were buried with him (Romans 6:4) his elect were
quickened together with him, they were raised up together, and made to sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:5, 6) . It is all the
elect of God (the many of Matthew 20:28) that Christ Jesus ransomed. If he had
ransomed some who were not quickened together with him, he being their
representative before the justice God, the law of God would be violated by God
himself, for the ransom was paid and received, but the captives were not set at
liberty. This cannot be. Call his name Jesus for he shall save his
people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). Christ Jesus ransomed all his
people, and according to the justice of God they (his elect) must live with him
(John 17:24).
A.J. Ison
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