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.