God the Son, Student Workbook, SW10

1 0 8 /

G O D T H E S O N

B. The case against the Ransom view:

1. The Bible does not teach that a ransom needed to be paid to the devil for the liberation of humankind.

2. Christ died in our place to liberate us from the penalty of our sins (i.e., the curse of the law), Gal. 3.13.

3. Christ’s propitiation and suffering for our sin debt and punishment crushed the power of sin to hold us in every way (not as some debt that required payment to Satan), Heb. 2.14.

4. His substitution provided the redemption from the curse’s bondage, not payment to the devil.

3

C. What truth can we glean from this view?

1. Jesus’ death is the climax of God’s warfare against evil, death, and the forces of the curse, 1 John 3.8.

2. Jesus’ death does represent a complete destruction of the Devil’s ability to accuse, control us through the power of death, and blame us as unworthy sinners in the presence of God, 1 Pet. 5.8-10.

3. We do triumph over the forces of evil through what Jesus accomplished on the cross; the devil simply had no rights to force anything upon us, 2 Cor. 2.14.