ministered to, but to minister and to give his soul a ransom in exchange for many.”—Matt. 20:28.

On the third day after Christ died on the stake he was resurrected as a spirit creature with heavenly life rights. Peter testified to this when he said: “Why, even Christ died once for all time concerning sins, a righteous person for unrighteous ones, that he might lead you to God, he being put to death in the flesh, but being made alive in the spirit.” (1 Pet. 3:18) As a spirit he was able to present the value of his sacrificed human life before God as a ransom price to release Adam’s descendants.

But this ransom does not bring a blanket release to all humans. Those people who persist in following Adam’s course of disobedience to God will not benefit from the ransom. It was purposed for those who would not follow that wrong course but who would be obedient and would exercise faith. “He that exercises faith in the Son has everlasting life; he that disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.”—John 3:36; 1 Tim. 4:10.

Why should God be a Savior to those who do not rest their hope in him and who are not faithful? Why should the precious life of his beloved Son be used to bring them the valuable things Adam lost when they are unworthy of them? Jehovah did not give his Son as a ransom for every human but rather for those who would exercise faith and be obedient. These are the ones he desired to save.

A world consisting exclusively of such persons from all kinds of men is what God purposed. It is this righteous new world that he loved so much that he gave his Son as a sin-atoning sacrifice. It was for all obedient humans who exercise faith and who would be the inhabitants of that righteous new world that the ransom was paid. “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.”—John 3:16.

Such ones who exercise faith will be cleansed of inherited sin from Adam by Christ’s blood, as it alone can cleanse from sin. (1 John 1:7) Because it does they will be freed from captivity to sin and death. All that Adam lost will thus be redeemed for them. Christ’s one sacrifice does this, and it does not have to be repeated. “But now he has manifested himself once for all time at the consummation of the systems of things to put sin away through the sacrifice of himself.”—Heb. 9:26.

WHY FAITH IN RANSOM NECESSARY

If a captive is told how he can be ransomed but he refuses to have faith in the means that could free him and so rejects it, he will continue in his captivity. So it is with humankind. God does not force the benefits of Christ’s ransom upon anyone. Its existence has been proclaimed to mankind, and it is up to each individual to accept it or reject it. It is only by accepting it and exercising faith in it that a person will experience release from sin and its curse of death. “But the Scripture delivered up all things together to the custody of sin, that the promise resulting from faith toward Jesus Christ might be given to those exercising faith.”—Gal. 3:22.

There are many professed Christians that refuse to exercise faith in Christ’s ransom sacrifice. They refuse to see any sin-atoning value in his shed blood. They are similar to the ones Peter referred to when he said: “However, there also came to be false prophets among the people, as there will also be false teachers among you. These very ones will quietly bring in destructive sects and will disown even the owner that bought them, bringing speedy destruction upon themselves.” (2 Pet. 2:1) Christ bought the Christians with his perfect human life, but these persons ceased to recognize his ownership. When men reject him, he rejects them. They will never receive the things that Adam lost and Christ redeemed.

Unless a person has knowledge about the ransom and why it is necessary it is not possible for him to exercise faith in it. He must first know something about it, and this requires instruction in the truths of God’s Word. The Scriptures make it clear that God was not obliged to provide a ransom for mankind. The fact that he did was an expression of undeserved kindness toward man. This must be appreciated by those who want freedom from Adamic sin.—Titus 3:4, 5.

For a person to benefit from the ransom he must recognize his sinful condition. He cannot close his eyes to it and imagine himself free from sin, as some try to do. “If we make the statement, ‘We have no sin,’ we are misleading ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8) He must gain accurate knowledge, and when he does he then has a basis for exercising faith in the ransom and in the fact that God is “the rewarder of those earnestly seeking him.”—Heb. 11:6.

WHEN RANSOM BENEFITS WILL GENERALLY BE APPLIED

God has anointed Christ Jesus to be King of the righteous world he purposed in the beginning. By means of him and the Kingdom he heads, the present wicked system of things will be swept from the earth. He will then proceed to fulfill his Father’s purpose for the earth by extending to the survivors of that cleansing action the benefits of his ransom sacrifice. This will begin a reviving of mankind that will proceed until mankind regains all that Adam lost for them.

During this reviving period of one thousand years the dead who are judged worthy of a resurrection will be raised to life. This will be an emptying of mankind’s common grave and will mean that the death due to Adam’s sin will lose its sting. Adamic sin will no longer result in further death to man. The benefits of Christ’s ransom sacrifice will nullify it. Then the prophecy will be fulfilled that says: “As the last enemy, death is to be destroyed.”—1 Cor. 15:26.

After a short and final test obedient mankind will be justified by God and will once again have a righteous standing before him. The gift of eternal life will then be theirs. Christ’s ransom sacrifice not only will have brought them release from captivity to sin and death, but will have redeemed for them all that Adam lost.

But for anyone today to be among those who shall live to see this, he must be obedient to the will of God. He must exercise faith in God’s promises and in the value of Christ’s ransom sacrifice. It is only by obedience and faith now that he will be living then.

Spiritual Condition in Question

A Roman Catholic bishop recently questioned the reality of his church’s membership claim in the United States. The Roman Catholic Church now claims 34,563,851 members. But Bishop Stephen S. Woznicki of Saginaw, Michigan, thought that no more than twenty-five million are practicing Catholics. “There has been great progress in the physical condition of dioceses,” he said, “but the spiritual condition is an entirely different question.”—Time, September 23, 1957.