Acquittal Based on the Ransom 12 Jehovah God accepted the ransom sacrifice that his Son offered. (Heb. 9:24; 10:10, 12) Still, Jesus’ disciples on earth, including his faithful apostles, remained imperfect. Though they strove to avoid doing wrong, they did not always succeed. Why? Because they had inherited sin. (Rom. 7:18-20) But God could and did do something about that. He accepted the “corresponding ransom” and was willing to apply it in behalf of his human servants. 13 It is not that God owed it to the apostles and others to apply the ransom because they had performed certain good works. Instead, God applied the ransom in their behalf out of his mercy and great love. He chose to acquit the apostles and others of the judgment against them, viewing them as absolved of inherited guilt. Paul made that plain: “By this undeserved kindness, indeed, you have been saved through faith; and this not owing to you, it is God’s gift.”—Eph. 2:8. 14 Think what a gift it is for the Almighty to forgive the sin a person inherited as well as the wrongs he committed! You could not count how many sins individuals committed before becoming Christians; yet, on the basis of the ransom, God can forgive those sins. Paul wrote: “The gift resulted from many trespasses in a declaration of righteousness.” (Rom. 5:16) The apostles and others receiving this loving gift (being declared righteous) would have to continue to worship the true God in faith. With what future reward? “Those who receive the abundance of the undeserved kindness and of the free gift of righteousness [will] rule as kings in life through the one person, Jesus Christ.” Indeed, the gift of righteousness works in the opposite direction. The gift has life as its outcome.—Rom. 5:17; read Luke 22:28-30. 15 Those receiving that gift, being declared righteous, become God’s spiritual sons. As joint heirs with Christ, they have the prospect of being resurrected to heaven as actual spirit sons to “rule as kings” with Jesus Christ.—Read Romans 8:15-17, 23.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Oct 2013 22:37:13 +0000
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