PUTTING A CLOUD OVER THE RESURRECTION HOPE — PART FOUR

A CORRESPONDING RANSOM FOR ALL 

The Greek word antilytron, which means “a corresponding ransom” is only found one time in the Christian Greek Scriptures, namely in 1 Timothy 2:6. We read verses 5 and 6:

⁵ For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a corresponding ransom (antilytron) for all—[this is] what is to be witnessed to at its own particular times.

The book Things in Which it is Impossible for God to Lie, page 233, has a comment on Paul’s words:

¹¹ When he sinned and was sentenced to death, Adam’s race or offspring were all unborn in his loins, and so they all died in him. By natural inheritance, they have all been born dying. They died by the mishap of birth from sinner Adam. Jesus a perfect man had a race or offspring unborn in his loins, when he died innovently as a perfect human sacrifice, and this possible human race died with him. He died as an unmarried man who had not raised a family of his own. Jesus’ dying as a childless man, his unborn offspring counterbalanced all the race that Adam has reproduced till now.

In this way Almighty god provided in his Son Jesus Christ a “corresponding ransom for all.” One perfect man, Jesus Christ, was thus able to die for all mankind.

This is an excellent explanation. The book shows that the price paid by Jesus was his perfect human life that he gave instead of the perfect human life of Adam. However, Adam’s sin affected all his unborn offspring, and when Jesus bought Adam, he also bought his unborn offspring. In order to illustrate the force of antilytron — “a corresponding ransom,” an equal prince — the book uses the illustration of Jesus and his possible offspring equaling Adam and his possible offspring. This is only an illustration, and the price of the ransom sacrifice that was paid was only the perfect life of Jesus.

THE APPLICATION OF THE CORRESPONDING RANSOM 

The present members of the Governing Body neither understand nor believe what the Bible says about the ransom sacrifice and the resurrection. But this was the very foundation of the faith of C.T. Russell and the Bible Students and J.F. Rutherford and Jehovah’s Witnesses in his time. Let us see.

The corresponding ransom of Jesus Christ means that all the bad effects of the sin all humans have inherited from Adam are eliminated by the ransom sacrifice. This includes the right to live forever on the earth. The members of the present Governing Body agree with this. The difference is that the members of the Governing Body claim that the eternal destiny of most of Adam’s descendants will be decided in this old system of things, while Russel and the Bible students and Rutherford and the Witnesses in his day believed that the final destiny will be decided during the thousand-year-long Judgment Day. The last viewpoint accords with the Bible.

The basic point that the members of the Governing Body do not accept is that the inherited sin of humans prevents them from taking a personal stand by accepting or rejecting the ransom sacrifice. To use an illustration: If you are going to make a will and sign it, you must be an adult. You are not competent to sign a will before you have become an adult. In a similar way, humans with inherited sin are not “adults” as far as making a final decision to serve God forever is concerned. They will first become “adults” at the end of the thousand-year-long Judgment Day when they have become perfect and without sin.

Paul drives this home this point with his words in Romans 7:14-23:

¹⁴ For we know that the Law is spiritual; but I am fleshly, sold under sin. ¹⁵ For what I am working out I do not know. For what I wish, this I do not practice; but what I hate is what I do. ¹⁶ However, if what I do not wish is what I do, I agree that the Law is fine. ¹⁷ But now the one working it out is no longer I, but sin that resides in me. ¹⁸ For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, there dwells nothing good; for ability to wish is present with me, but ability to work out what is fine is not [present]. ¹⁹ For the good that I wish I do not do, but the bad that I do not wish is what I practice. ²⁰ If, now, what I do not wish is what I do, the one working it out is no longer I, but the sin dwelling in me.

²¹ I find, then, this law in my case: that when I wish to do what is right, what is bad is present with me. ²² I really delight in the law of God according to the man I am within, ²³ but I behold in my members another law warring against the law of my mind and leading me captive to sin’s law that is in my members.

Because Paul was declared righteous and was a new creation, he could say that he was not the one that was sinning. But it was “the sin dwelling in me.” The important point in our context is the words: “For what I wish, this I do not practice; but what I hate is what I do.” This is something that all Adam’s descendants rightly can say. This is the reason why I say that Adam’s descendants are not “adults” that are competent to sign their “will” in connection with serving God or not.

Here is where the members of the Governing Body no longer agree with what Paul and Jesus said. They place the responsibility on Adam’s descendants, and they are, for example, saying that if a person has heard the good news of the Kingdom and have refused to accept it, he has had his chance to serve God. In other words, they claim that the sins that humans do in this wicked system of things disqualify them from the resurrection of the dead. In the Watchtower of Mai 2024, the members of the Governing Body are pleading ignorance of the destiny of some people that they previously claimed would receive eternal annihilation. But their basic rejection of the ransom sacrifice and of the resurrection described in the Christian Greek Scriptures is still standing.

I will quote what Jesus said about the situation in Matthew 12:31, 32:

³¹ “On this account I say to YOU, Every sort of sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven. ²² For example, whoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the holy spirit, it will not be forgiven him, no, not in this system of things nor in that to come.

When Jesus uses the words “every sort of sin,” he refers to any sin that is committed because of the sin we have inherited from Adam. The ransom sacrifice covers any such sin. As the context shows, sin against the holy spirit includes actions that are not done because of the inherited sin but because of the wickedness of the person. These are sins that someone continues to do, in spite of the fact that he knows that they are evil — to the point when the person no longer is able to feel regret.[1]

Jesus illuminated his words in Luke 10:12-15:

  ¹² I tell you that it will be more endurable for Sod’om in that day than for that city. ¹³ “Woe to you, Cho·raʹzin! Woe to you, Beth·saʹi·da! because if the powerful works that have taken place in you had taken place in Tyre and Siʹdon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴ Consequently, it will be more endurable for Tyre and Siʹdon in the judgment than for you. ¹⁵ And you, Ca·perʹna·um, will you perhaps be exalted to heaven? Down to the Grave (hadēs) you will come!

Jesus spent much time in the three cities north of the Sea of Galilee. He preached the good news of the kingdom to its inhabitants, and he made several miracles in these cities. But the inhabitants refused to believe in him. Nevertheless, Jesus said that the inhabitants of these three cities would get a resurrection on Judgment Day. This shows that even though they got an exceptionally good chance to believe in Jesus, their refusal was based on their inherited sin. And they had not sinned against the holy spirit.

The words of Jesus regarding these three cities show that the view of the members of the Governing Body that a person’s reaction to the good news of the kingdom is what decides his final destiny is wrong.

We can even take this a step further and consider Matthew 12:38-42:

³⁸ Then as an answer to him, some of the scribes and the Pharisees said: “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” ³⁹ In reply he said to them: “A wicked and adulterous generation keeps on seeking a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Joʹnah the prophet. ⁴⁰ For just as Joʹnah was in the belly of the huge fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.⁴¹ Men of Ninʹe·veh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it, because they repented at what Joʹnah preached. But look! something more than Joʹnah is here. ⁴² The queen of the south will be raised up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solʹo·mon. But look! Something more than Solʹo·mon is here.

Jesus says that the members of “this wicked and adulterous generation” will get a resurrection on Judgment Day. I demonstrate in My book, the Atonement Between God and Man, pages 99-101 that “this wicked and adulterous generation” refers to all inhabitants in Israel in the days of Jesus, including the inhabitants of Chorazin, Capernaum, and Bethsaida.

[1].  A detailed discussion of sin against the holy spirit is found in my article, “The members of the Governing Body have devalued and restricted the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ” in the category “The Governing Body.”

IN THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES: THE BIBLICAL VIEW OF THE RANSOM SACRIFICE WAS UPHELD  

When C.T. Russell and his friends started to study the Bible in order to find the truth, the correct view of ransom sacrifices was one of the first truths that they found. And they strongly defended this truth. J.F. Rutherford was also a strong defender of the ransom sacrifice, and in The Watchtower of August 14, 1934, pages 352, 353, he wrote an excellent article on the ransom sacrifice from which I quote:

For whom did Jesus die? This question must be answered from the Scriptures. Everyone should de­sire to know the truth. “Thy word is truth,” said Jesus in his prayer to God. (John 17:17) It would seem strange that God would provide for his blessing to extend to a few, and not grant a similar privilege to all. The Scriptures answer: “ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” —John 3:16, 17.

The apostle Paul discusses the matter; and writing (as we know) under inspiration, he declared it to be the will of God that by virtue of the ransom price all men should be redeemed from death and that then each one must be given a knowledge of God’s arrange­ment, to the end that each one may have the opportu­nity to exercise his free moral agency and accept or reject the offer of life that comes through the ransom sacrifice.—Heb. 2:9; Rom. 10:13-15.

This is an excellent explanation of both the ransom sacrifice and the resurrection. The point here is that all Adam’s descendants were bought by Jesus, and therefore, they must get a personal chance to accept or reject the ransom sacrifice. This is not possible in this wicked system of things, and therefore there will be a resurrection on thousand-year-long Judgment Day.

In 1965, The Watchtower had 12 articles dealing with the resurrection, and the conclusion was that most of those who had died would get a resurrection.[1] The Watchtower of March 15, 1965, pages 178, 179, said that “the vast majority of dead mankind” will get a resurrection on Judgment Day and get their chance to accept or reject the ransom sacrifice.

In 1995, the book Knowledge That Leads to Everlasting Life vas published, and on pages 185 and 186 we find an excellent explanation of the ransom and the resurrection:

I5 During that Millennium, the resurrection will take place. Those who willfully sinned against God’s holy spirit. or active force, by unrepentantly acting contrary to its manifestation or leadings will not be resurrected. (Matthew 23: 15.33; Hebrews 6:4-6) Of course, God will decide who sinned in that way. But two distinct groups will be resurrected-“the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Acts 24:15) Since there will be proper order, it is reasonable to conclude that the first to be welcomed back to life on earth will be the righteous, those who served Jehovah loyally.-Hebrews 11:35-39…

17 How helpful these faithful ones will be during the next phase of the resurrection, when billions of “the unrighteous” are released from the bonds of death! Most of mankind never had a chance to know Jehovah. Satan was ‘blinding their minds.’ (2 Corinthians 4:4) But the Devil’s work will be undone. The unrighteous will come back to a beautiful and peaceful earth. They will be welcomed by a people well organized to teach them about Jehovah and his reigning Son, Jesus Christ. As billions of resurrected ones come to know and love their Creator, the knowledge of Jehovah will fill the earth in an unprecedented way.

These words express the biblical view of the resurrection. And they preach the same Jesus that Paul and the other Christians in the first century CE preached.

[1]. The Watchtower of 1965: “Worship the God of Resurrection.”; “Death and Hades to Give Up the Dead.”, “Part II.”; “The Dead Who Are in Line for Resurrection.”, “Part II.”; “For Whom There Are Resurrection Hopes.”, “Part II.”; “Who Will be Resurrected from the Dead?”, “Part II.”; “Who Will be Resurrected—Why?”; “Our Own Twentieth-Century Generation and the Resurrection.”; Earthly Opportunity Opened Up by Resurrection.” in The Watchtower of January 1, January 15, February 1, February 15, March 1, and March 15, 1965.

IN THE 21ST CENTURY: PREACHING A JESUS OTHER THAN THE ONE PREACHED BY PAUL AND THE FIRST CHRISTIANS 

The words in the heading are taken from 2 Corinthians 11:4:

The reference is to the so-called “superfine apostles” in Corinth. However, the same words can rightly be applied to the members of the present Governing Body. They have rejected the basic side of the ransom sacrifice, and they do not accept what the Christian Greek Scriptures say about the resurrection.

To understand which Jesus Paul and the first Christians preached, I quote two passages, 1. John 2:2 (above) and 1 Timothy 2:6 (below):

² And he is a propitiatory sacrifice for our sins, yet not for ours only but also for the whole world’s.

⁶ who gave himself a corresponding ransom for all—[this is] what is to be witnessed to at its own particular times.

The whole world refers to all Adam’s descendants, and the same is true with the words “ransom for all.” This is the Jesus that Paul and the first Christians preached — he bought all Adam’s descendants when he died. Which Jesus is the members of the Governing Body preaching about? We find the answer in the following online article with the theme: “How is Jesus’ ‘a Ransom for Many’”?:[1]

Correspondence. Jesus’ sacrifice corresponds exactly to what Adam lost​—one perfect human life. (1 Corinthians 15:21, 22, 45, 46) The Bible says: “Just as through the disobedience of the one man [Adam] many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one person [Jesus Christ] many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:​19) This explains how the death of one man can pay the ransom for many sinners. In fact, Jesus’ sacrifice is “a corresponding ransom for all” those who take the steps necessary to benefit from it.​—1 Timothy 2:​5, 6.

So, Jesus is not a corresponding ransom for “all,” for “the whole world.” But he is a corresponding ransom for “those who take the steps necessary to benefit from it.” The word “all” and the words “the whole world” are reduced to a part of “all” and a part of “the whole world.”

This is a false teaching, and it shows another Jesus than the one preached by Paul and the first Christians. This view that both the ransom sacrifice and the resurrection are restricted have been presented in different garbs in the Watchtower literature in the 21st century. This false view is also the basis for the articles in The Watchtower of May 2024. I quote some examples:

The article “Trust in the Merciful ‘Judge of All the Earth’,” page 4, paragraph 9, says:

Some might reason, though, that “the one who has died has been acquitted from his sin.” (Rom. 6:7) True, but this does not mean that all who have died will be resurrected, as if a new life were a right that they have earned. Resurrection is a gift from a loving God. He bestows it on those whom he wants to give an opportunity to serve him forever. (Job 14:13, 14; John 6:44)

It is true that resurrection is a gift from God. But the basis for this gift is the death of Jesus. Because Jesus bought all of Adam’s descendants, they have received as a gift the right to get a resurrection so they can get the chance to accept or reject the ransom sacrifice. All Adam’s descendants got this right, and as Jesus said, “Every sort of sin will be forgiven men.” (Matthew 12:31) Regardless of how wicked a person has been, he or she will get a resurrection if he or she has not sinned against the holy spirit.

The members of the Governing Body have a distorted view of both Jehovah God and of humans. The case is not that God is picking those “he wants to give an opportunity to live forever.” Not at all! He loves all humans, the whole world, and as John says, Jesus gave his life for the world of mankind and he bought all of them. Jehovah will give all Adam’s descendants the possibility of getting everlasting life, and he is not picking some of them.

The two articles in The Watchtower of 2024 ignore what the Christian Greek Scriptures say about the resurrection, as I have shown above. The articles discuss whether some persons of particular groups of humans will get a resurrection:

Will those who died in the flood, the inhabitants of the seven nations Jehovah ordered to be destroyed, and the 185,000 Assyrian soldiers who died get a resurrection? The answer is (first article, page 3, paragraph 6):

In these cases, does the Bible give us enough information to determine that Jehovah sentenced all those individuals to eternal destruction, with no hope of a resurrection? No, it does not. Why can we say that? (the bold font in the original)

Will those who died in Sodom and Gomorrah get a resurrection? The answer is (first article, page 4, paragraph 8):

Can we say for certain, then, that none of them will rise in the “resurrection of . . . the unrighteous”? No, we cannot say for sure!

Will those who die before and during the great tribulation get a resurrection? The answer is (second article, page 10, paragraph 8):

Thus, a question arises: What about those who may not have a chance to hear the good news before the great tribulation strikes? How will Jehovah and his Son, whom he has entrusted to do the judging, deal with them? (John 5:19, 22, 27; Acts 17:31) The theme text of this article states that Jehovah “does not desire anyone to be destroyed.” Instead, he wants “all to attain to repentance.” (2 Pet. 3:9; 1 Tim. 2:4) That said, we must acknowledge that Jehovah has not yet revealed to us what he will do in answer to this question.

All the three answers preach another Jesus than the one preached by Paul and John. Pleading ignorance may seem to be a humble approach. But this is contradicted by the presentation of Jesus as the savior of the whole world in the Christian Greek Scriptures. All the people of whom the members of the Governing Body plead ignorance of will get a resurrection, except the few of them that has sinned against the holy spirit.

The important point that the two articles ignore is that because of inherited sin, Adam’s descendants, who have lived in this wicked system of things, are not competent to make a decision regarding their eternal destiny. Therefore, all descendants of Adam who have died, except the 144,000 who will reign with Jesus Christ in heaven and the few that have sinned against the holy spirit[2], will get a resurrection on Judgment Day to choose whether they will worship Jehovah or not.

[1]. https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/502016129.

[2]. Adam was bought by Jesus. But because he was perfect when he sinned, he sinned against the holy spirit and will not get a resurrection.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Jesus is a corresponding ransom for Adam and all his descendants and a propitiary sacrifice for the whole world. This fundamental truth that was the pillar for C.T, Russel and the Bible Students, and for J.F Rutherford and Jehovah’s Witnesses in his day, have been rejected by the members of the Governing Body in the 21st century.

Their belief is that Jesus died for those who will be saved and not for Adam and all his descendants. And they deny that the ransom sacrifice guarantees that each descendant of Adam will get Adam’s chance. The consequence of this is that the members of the Governing Body preach another Jesus than the one that was preached by Paul and John and the first Christians.

Instead of following the false teaching of the members of the Governing Body, each one of us should make a thorough study of the Bible and believe what the Bible says about the ransom sacrifice and the resurrection.

QUESTIONS FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BODY

The first article says that the repentant Ninivites will get a resurrection ( paragraph 13 and 14):

• Will the members of the wicked and adulterous generation also get a resurrection?
• In that case, does this generation refer to all the inhabitants of Israel in the days of Jesus?
• Will the inhabitants of Chorazin, Capernaum, and Bethsaida get a resurrection on Judgment Day?