https://youtu.be/oCuFVpm3T04?si=75ZMUsSXkNHlsrs7
The first Watchtower for 2025 is out, and immediately, articles 4 and 5 drew my attention. These will be studied near the Memorial season, a time the Witnesses prepare for their yearly commemoration of Jesus’ death, i will be returning on this articles near at the time. For many outside this community, this commemoration can feel like a strange ritual where most attendees reject the emblems representing Jesus’ flesh and blood. Despite my views on the Memorial, I was surprised to see two articles dedicated to the topics of ransom and grace, both of which are critical but are, unfortunately, presented in a skewed way. Here, I’ll focus on article 4, which delves into the concept of the ransom.
For Jehovah’s Witnesses, the ransom is a fundamental teaching. They understand it as the mechanism by which God canceled out Adamic sin, offering his son’s perfect life to atone for humanity’s inherited imperfection. But the problem isn’t in what they teach about the ransom—it’s in what they don’t address.
In paragraph one of the article, and i will be spending more time on this article, we read:
"SURELY you agree that the ransom is a priceless gift! (2 Cor. 9:15) Because Jesus sacrificed his human life, you can have a close friendship with Jehovah God. You can also have the prospect of everlasting life. How fitting it is that we show gratitude for the ransom and for Jehovah, who was moved by love to provide it! (Rom. 5:8) To help us remain grateful and never take the ransom for granted, Jesus instituted the annual Memorial of his death.—Luke 22:19, 20."
The issue here is subtle yet crucial. Witnesses often describe the ransom as offering two main gifts: everlasting life and a “close friendship with Jehovah.” But a careful study of scripture and context reveals that these benefits—everlasting life and a relationship with God—were actually available even before Jesus’ sacrifice. The patriarchs, prophets, and faithful individuals of the Old Testament had a relationship with God. They also had the promise of resurrection and hope of life on earth, just as today’s Witnesses believe they’ll have in the future.
This is where Jehovah’s Witnesses miss a deeper, more transformative understanding of the ransom. Yes, the ransom is “priceless,” as the paragraph suggests, but its true gifts go beyond what was available under the old covenant or God’s arrangements with the patriarchs. What’s missing from the Witnesses’ perspective are the aspects of grace, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the idea of becoming a “new creation” in Christ.
The ransom is not just a “canceling out” of Adam’s sin. It’s the key that unlocks an entirely new relationship between God and humanity. But the Watchtower’s teachings seem to reduce the ransom to a mechanism—a sort of spiritual transaction. It’s as if they’re focused on the engine of a car rather than the journey it enables.
To understand the difference, imagine walking into a bakery. The baker shows you a fantastic, high-tech dough-kneading machine. It’s impressive, and watching it in action is fascinating. But you didn’t walk into the bakery for the machine; you came for the bread it produces. This machine is essential to make the bread, but it’s not the final product. In the same way, the ransom isn’t the “bread” of Christianity; it’s the process that allows God to offer something far greater: grace, the Holy Spirit, and transformation.
Witnesses concetrate so much on the ransom mechanism that they risk missing the true gifts it makes possible. They view Jesus’ death as the “payment” that erases Adamic sin and gives people a clean slate. This is, of course, a critical aspect of Christian teaching, but it’s just the beginning. The ransom opens the door, but the real gift is what lies on the other side of that door.
For example, let’s talk about grace. Grace is one of the most profound aspects of the ransom. While the Old Testament faithful like Abraham, Moses, and David had relationships with God and received his favor, they did not have access to the same kind of grace that Christians experience post-ransom. This grace isn’t just God’s favor; it’s an empowering force that transforms us from within.
This brings us to the concept of the “new creation.” When Christ died and was resurrected, he didn’t simply return to life as before. He became a new being—a transformed, glorified person. Likewise, Christians who truly embrace the ransom become new creations themselves. This isn’t simply about avoiding Adamic sin or striving to live forever; it’s about a complete transformation that makes Christians different from what existed in the Jewish era. Witnesses focus so heavily on the mechanics of the ransom that they overlook this transformative aspect of Christianity. They don’t emphasize becoming new creations, nor the profound changes that grace and the Holy Spirit bring into a believer’s life.
Imagine, again, buying a new smartphone. You get a behind-the-scenes tour of the factory where it was made—all the complex machinery, the detailed assembly lines, and the engineers hard at work. It’s fascinating to understand the process, but you didn’t buy the phone to admire the factory. You bought it for its capabilities, the tools, the apps, and the connectivity it offers. In the same way, understanding the ransom is like seeing the factory where God’s salvation plan was made. But focusing too much on the ransom itself means missing out on the actual benefits it unlocks—eternal life, yes, but also grace, a transformative relationship with God, and the Holy Spirit.
Jehovah’s Witnesses often get stuck on the mechanism of the ransom, admiring the “factory” instead of experiencing the “phone” itself. They emphasize how Jesus’ death pays for sin, allowing a clean slate for humanity. But as scripture reveals, the ransom is just the beginning—the real gift is the transformed life that it makes possible. Christians are promised that they will become new creations in Christ, that they will receive grace and the Holy Spirit, which acts as an inner guide and comforter, far beyond anything offered to the faithful in the Old Testament.
Think of it like a treasure chest. The ransom is the key that unlocks it, but the true treasure is inside. And while it’s true that the ransom “pays” for humanity’s sin, the real joy and meaning come from the grace that strengthens, the Holy Spirit that dwells within, and the promise of a new creation in Christ.
In short, the ransom is the means—not the end. It’s like the vehicle that takes you to the destination. Jehovah’s Witnesses explain the ransom well enough, but they risk focusing so much on the vehicle that they overlook the destination itself: a life filled with grace, empowered by the Spirit, and transformed by God. This is what sets Christianity apart from any other covenant or arrangement that God had with humanity in the past.
So, while I appreciate the Witnesses’ dedication to understanding and teaching the ransom, I believe they’re missing the bigger picture. The ransom isn’t the final product. It’s what the ransom leads to that counts. It’s the grace that empowers, the Spirit that guides, and the transformation into a new creation that makes Christianity unique and beautiful. Stick around, as I’ll be diving deeper into these articles and exploring what these teachings mean for those who seek a fuller understanding of the ransom.