The Ransom of All People
“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.” (1 Timothy 2:5-6) Ransom is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “a consideration paid or demanded for the release of someone from captivity”. So what was “demanded” of Christ Jesus? Not money or any material thing. The demand for the release from captivity "for all people" was his LIFE. But who did he give his life to? Who or what was holding "all people" captive for ransom? To what enemy was the ransom paid? The way I understand Scripture the ransom was paid to the last and greatest enemy of mankind - the finality of DEATH - for God had declared to Adam and Eve from the beginning that the penalty for sin is DEATH. The false doctrine of eternal conscious torment has screwed this truth up, but the Bible says that DEATH is “the last enemy” , and holds all its captives firmly in its clutches. The Bible says that AL...