A RANSOM FOR ALL

Dr. W. A. Criswell

1 Timothy 2:6

7-13-58

 

You are sharing with us the services of the First Baptist Church in Dallas.  This is the pastor bringing the morning message.  In our preaching through the Bible, we have come, after thirteen years, to the first letter of Paul to Timothy, to the second chapter of 1Timothy, and to the sixth verse.  The whole sentence reads like this:

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

 

One of the great, great sentences found in the Word of the Lord.  Last Sunday evening, I spoke on the first half of the sentence: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”  And I preached last Sunday evening on the mediator between God and men.  This Lord's Day morning, we speak of the second half of that sentence: Jesus, the ransom for our souls, “who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”

            I would think most certainly that when Paul wrote that sentence, he was very conscious of the strife and controversy which would rage then and—maybe unknown to him, but certainly historically true—has raged through all the centuries about this text.  It has in it a very plain and explicit pronouncement.  No child would stumble at the meaning of these simple words.  It is most evident, clear, lucid, apparent, what the man says.  The controversy arises over whether or not we receive what the inspired apostle Paul writes to his young son in the ministry.

            “Is there any approach to God except Jesus?” Paul says: “No!  There is one God and one mediator, one approach to God, one approach of God to men—through the Man, Christ Jesus!”  Never a plainer doctrine could be written down than that “there is no approach to God except through Jesus Christ.”  That eliminates all the suitors that you find in chancels, and churches, and cloisters.  All the images, all the saints, all the mediatrixes, all are brushed aside.

There is no approach to God but through that Man of God, Christ Jesus, none at all—not according to the Word of the Lord: There is one God, “there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”  If we talk to God, if we pray to God, if we importune God, if we ask of God, if we plead with God, we must approach God through Christ our Lord.  There is no other avenue, no other way, no other line of communication; there is no other mediator.  It is that man, Christ Jesus.

            Now, the second half of that sentence is no less fraught with deepest, profoundest meaning.  How is it that a man is saved?  How can a man be saved?  And over that also, I repeat, controversy has remained through the centuries.  But not over what the Book says; not over what the Bible means.  The controversy rages over whether or not men accept it.

Now, in the message this morning, I have made it in two parts.  The first part is a delineation, a calling to mind, of what the Bible says, what God says, how a man can be saved.  And then the other part, the last part, is the controversy concerning it.

Now, there is no question about the meaning of the word of Paul when he writes here that Jesus Christ gave Himself a ransom for us.  There are two Greek words that make up what is translated here, "a ransom for," and those two words are very plain.  And we're going to look at them in the Bible.  And, as we look at them, the doctrine, the how of our salvation, will be very apparent.

            Now, the Greek words that Paul uses here: Christ gave himself, “a ransom for all” (antilutrŏn huper pantôn.)  antilutrŏn, translated here, "a ransom for."  That is almost like a word from Christ our Lord Himself in the twentieth chapter of the Book of Matthew and the twenty-eighth verse: “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”  “Dounai (to give) tçn psuchçn (His soul), tçn psuchçn autou (the soul of Him, His soul).  God shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied.  He poured out His soul unto death.

A young man asked me this last week: "How is it that physical suffering—the body and blood of Jesus—could wash away spiritual sin?"

            I said: "I do not think that you have said it all!"

The blood—and as we continue in the sermon, it will be most apparent—the blood is a sign, a symbol of the pouring out of the essence of being.  “He poured out His soul unto death.”  And the blood was a picture, an outward sign, of the pouring out of His life.  And the Greek here says soul—psuchç (soul), zôç (life), psuchç (soul), dounai  (to give) tçn psuchçn autou (the soul of Him).  Now, these two words again: lutron anti pollôn, "To give his life a ransom for"—lutron anti pollôn, for many.

            Now, we have two words there that both Jesus and Paul used to refer to what Jesus has done for us to save us.  So, all we have to do is to take those two little Greek words, anti and lutron, and look at them through the Bible.  And when you see what those two words mean, you have it exactly what Jesus did for us to save us.

            Now, let's take the first one: “anti.”  “Anti” is a preposition of exchange, of substitution, of price; it never means anything else.  There is no deviation from it—“anti” means a substitute; it means an exchange; means a thing like a man would purchase; like he'd repurchase, redeem; like he'd pay for, to possess.  Now, for a moment, we look at it in The Book.  In the second chapter of the Book of Matthew and in the twenty-second verse: “But when Joseph heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea anti his father Herod.” 

            When Joseph heard that Archelaus reigned in Judea, anti…” You have it translated here: “in the room of his father Herod.”  You know what it means: "instead of", "in place of", "a substitute for."  “Archelaus reigned anti his father Herod,” instead of…

            All right, another passage:  In the sixteenth chapter of the same gospel of Matthew, in the twenty-sixth verse:

What has a man profited, if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul?  or what shall a man give anti antallagma for his soul?

 

 “What would a man give in exchange for his soul?”  No deviation from that: Always, it means "instead of," "in exchange of," "in substitution for." It's the preposition of price, of purchase.

            In the eleventh chapter of the Book of Luke and the eleventh verse:

If a man has a son, and the son shall ask bread, will he give him a stone?  or if he ask a fish, will he, anti a fish give him a serpent?

 

You have it translated here: “For if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?”  “Will he anti a fish, give him a serpent?”  “Will he instead of, in exchange, in substitution, give him a serpent?”

            “Anti,” never any deviation from it.  In the twelfth chapter of the Book of Hebrews and the second verse:

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who anti the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

 

“Who anti the joy… anti as the price of—looking unto Jesus who as the price of the joy that was set before him endured the Cross, despising the shame and sat down at the right-hand of the throne of God.”

            So there is no doubt of the meaning of that little Greek preposition “anti;” it means “instead of;” it means “in exchange for.”  It is a preposition of price.  Now, without deviation, the word of God presents the death of Christ as a price, a blood-bought price of the redemption of our souls.  Paul would sometimes say: “Ye are not your own.  Ye are bought with a price, a purchase, a substitution.”

            In the second chapter of 2 Peter and the first verse, Peter describes some there who deny “the Lord who bought them.”  Bought with a price!  And that picture, these gospel writers, and the Bible uses of that substitution is the pouring out of the soul, and the blood, and the life of the Son of God: “Dounai (to give) tçn psychçn autou (the soul of him) lutron (a ransom) anti (instead of, for a purchase price.)  You have there all of those types and symbols of the Old Testament sacrificial Levitical system.  The animal was not a sacrifice till the purple stream ran down the sides of the altar; until the body was laid in the fire upon the wood.  And that animal sacrifice, with its blood poured out at the base of the altar, and the body consumed in fire on the wood, that was a Bible picture of the substitution, the “instead of” [for] the man who had sinned in his soul.

            And as they went along together, Isaac, who had seen his father worship God through blood many times said: “Father here is the wood, and here is the fire, but where is the lamb?”

And Abraham replied: “My son, my son, God will provide Himself (and the Hebrew is very distinctly singular) a lamb.”  “God will provide Himself a lamb for the sacrifice.  “The substitution,” “instead of,” He poured out His soul “instead of” your dying, and your condemnation, and your suffering.  No doubt about the meaning of that little preposition “instead of,” “a substitution.”

            Now, let's take up that second word: I said there were two of them that form that translation: “A ransom for.”  That other little word is “lutron,” “lutroô .”  “Lutroô” is a very simple word meaning "to redeem, to purchase, to ransom by paying a price."  And “lutron” is the price. “lutroô” is “to purchase, to ransom, to redeem by paying a price.”  And “lutron” is that ransom price, the purchase price.

            Now, we look at The Book just for a minute on that word.  You have it translated in your Bible "redeemed," but the word is “lutroô,” to pay a price, a ransom price, to buy, to purchase, to redeem, to recover.  In the twenty-fourth chapter of the Book of Luke and the twenty-first verse, they talking about Jesus, who had died, and in whom they had ever hope:  “We trusted that it had been he which should have lutroô -ed Israel.”  And you have it translated there “redeemed.”  “We trusted (we had hoped) it was Jesus who should have lutroô, purchased a ransom, Israel.”  Translated “redeemed.”

Over here in Titus, the second chapter and the fourth verse: “Looking unto… Jesus who gave himself for us, that he might lutroô (redeem us, you have it translated) from all iniquity…”  “Pay a purchase price,” “buy us back,” “a ransom,” lutroô—you call it here, “redeemed.”

            Now, in the first letter of the apostle Peter, in the first chapter and the eighteenth verse:

As ye you know that ye were not lutroô with the corruptible things, as silver and gold…

But with the precious blood of Christ, as with a lamb without blemish and without spot.

 

“Lutroô:” You have it translated there “redeemed.”  But lutroô means “to pay a ransom for,” “to purchase back.”

            Now, that word “purchase” is actually used in the fifth chapter of the Revelation and the ninth verse:

And they sang a new song saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to the open the seals thereof: for Thou was slain, and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.

 

And the word there is “purchase,” “agorazô,” “redeemed.”  “Thou was slain, and hast redeemed us (purchased us) to God by Thy blood.”

            So, your little Greek word anti (instead of, a substitution) and the word lutron, lutroô, which means “to pay a ransom for,” “to buy,” “to purchase.”  Just like the figure, the type, in the redemption money in Israel.  All of the firstborn in Israel who were males belonged to God, and their life was forfeit, and they were redeemed by a piece of silver—redemption money.  The rich paid no more; the poor paid no less;  all of them paid alike.  And when the redemption money was paid, then the life that was forfeit was brought back and these for whom the money had been paid were enrolled as the redeemed of the Lord.  They were “the purchased of God.”  They were “bought unto God.”  For one not to be redeemed was to be cut off from Israel.  A slave that had been sold could be redeemed, could be purchased back, a ransom paid for him, and the slave could be free.

            So, the picture is of our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave His soul a ransom, a purchase, for us.  And we, who follow Him, are the redeemed of the Lord.  We are “the blood-bought” of the Lord.  We belong to Him.  He paid for us with a price.  We don't belong to ourselves.  We belong to God, “Who loved us and gave Himself for us.”

I read this week of the strangest parade.  It was a funeral, happened a long time ago here in America.  A great and famous physician had died.  And, after the memorial service, they were describing—in this article I read—the trip out to the cemetery, which used to be quite a thing.  We've gotten away from most of that now.  But a long time ago, this physician died, and immediately behind the funeral car, there marched sixty pallbearers.  Every one of the sixty owed his life to the man, the physician who had died.  And behind those sixty pallbearers, there marched eight hundred other people whose ability to walk and to be in the line, they owed the physician in the funeral car.  And behind those eight hundred, were two hundred ninety-three carriages of people whose lives had been saved by that physician.  And behind those carriages, it described a multitude who were walking in gratitude to what that physician had done in his ministrations to the sick, to the ill, to the crippled.

            And, as I read that, I could just see, in mind there, that hearse going by, and behind, those hundreds and hundreds of people who had been given life, and recovery, and health by the genius and the dedication of that beloved and wonderful physician.  And then my mind, as you would know, turned immediately to the great entree that some day Jesus shall have in heaven, when He's followed by all His redeemed people.  Just think of it!  Christ at the head of His blood-bought throne!  Oh, what a redemptive glory!

 

I dreamed that hoary time had fled

The sea and earth gave up their dead.

The fire dissolved this ball

I saw the churches ransomed throng

I caught the burden of their song

'Twas this, that Christ is all.

[W. A. Williams]

 

            Lutron (a payment, a buying back), anti (instead of): Now, for just a moment, let's put the two words together—“antilutron.”  And Paul does it here in this text:  “Who gave himself a ransom for all of us (antilutron, a ransom, a price of purchase, instead of).”  So what he says is this:  Our Savior has poured out His soul and His life instead of the payment God demands from us for our sins.

            What the Bible pictures is this:  No man shall escape the penalty of sin.  There is no such thing in this Book as a man being forgiven by the naked mercy of God.  Every sin demands its penalty.  There is no such thing in the book as forgiveness without suffering, without penalty, without paying the price of the sin.

God's government is everlastingly and eternally always to be honored.  The soul that sins shall die.  And there's no escape from that iron chain.  “The wages of sin is death;” God made that in the beginning.  And that iron chain is unbroken forever.  Sin and death—however man may plead the mercy of God, and however man may plead this is own righteous reformation—if he has sinned, he dies.

            There's no such thing as forgiveness without payment and without penalty.  And those little words, anti lutron, means that the penalty, which for us would be eternal damnation, torment, excommunication, hell, fire, shut out from the presence of God, in darkness forever and ever—for us, it means damnation.  For Christ, it meant our suffering substitute.  He poured out His soul unto death for us.  He paid the penalty and the price of our sins, for us, in our stead.  He is our substitute.

            And God says He doesn't require the penalty to be paid for twice.  If Jesus pays it, then I'm free.  If Jesus didn't pay it, then I pay it with my soul in hell.  If He pays it, He doesn't ask it twice.  I'm free!

            I could imagine a poor widow who's home was mortgaged at the bank.  And she couldn't pay it.  And a great, gracious, benevolent, philanthropically-minded man came by and said: "Here Mr. Banker, I pay this mortgage.  The debt is closed.  It's all paid."

            The poor widow goes up there to the bank expecting to lose her house and her home.  And the teller says, or the president says: "Why, the debt's paid."  What would you think of the banker, if he said to the poor widow: "The debt's paid by your friend, but you have to pay it again"?  Why, it unthinkable!  It's unthinkable! 

I talked to a man this last week for whom some of us had prayed for so many years.  He'd been in prison twenty years and over.  And as he sat down by my side he said: "I have paid the debt I owe society."  Over twenty years of his life—went in when he was thirty.  Now, he's over fifty.  Who would stand up to say he must pay it again?

The debt's paid!  God doesn't require it twice.  And that's what Paul means here when he says: That Jesus Christ was God's substitute for us, and when He died, we who trust in Him have our sins paid for, washed away, forgiven for Jesus' sake.  He gave Himself a ransom for all.

            Now, I have just a few minutes for what ought to take an hour.  You will not see that as definitely as when you see it by contrast.  I speak now of the controversy that has raged around that…

 

 

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