[Pastor Ralph]

Q4. According to the slave-ransom analogy, who is the slave? What is he enslaved by? Who offers the ransom? If Satan is involved in the enslaving process, why isn't the ransom paid to him? Why isn't the slave-ransom analogy spelled out completely in the New Testament? Exposition

[Dennis Hatlestad]

according to the slave ransom analogy who is the slave? Us what is he enslaved by? Sin Who offers ransom? Christ Jesus to whom is the ransom offered? all sinners if satan is involved in the enslaving process, why isn't the ransom paid to him? Christ Jesus paid the price by giving his life and shedding his blood on the cross. silver and gold are precious metals here on earth but are useless for eternal life with our Lord in heaven. greed is satan's weapon and material things are not important to our Lord.

[Darleen Nelson]

[COLOR=purple] Sinful people are the slaves. We are slaves to sin and are help captive by it until we acept what Jesus did to ransome us from our sins. Payment is not paid to Satan because the payment is made to the one who owns the thing being ransomed and Satan does not own us even though we walk in sin. We were created by God and in His image and do not belong to Satan. He may exert prower over us and our actions but this is not ownership. God's forgiveness removes us form Staan's power and influence and the filling of the Holy Spirit enables us to move under God's power and influence instead of that of Satan.

[Omie]

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Q3. According to the slave-ransom analogy, who is the slave? What is he enslaved by? Who offers the ransom? If Satan is involved in the enslaving process, why isn't the ransom paid to him? Why isn't the slave-ransom analogy spelled out completely in the New Testament?

+ #1 Every person who will be held accountable, is a prisoner of sin, Satan is the tempter. Sin is what I (we) live with daily. #2 Christ came to serve and his ultimate service for me (us) was to shed his blood as the perfect sacrifice on the horrid cross of suffering and death.

+ There is no reason to "pay off" Satan with ransom of any kind, it is his nature to continue to be a tempter and there is nothing that can be offered him that would stay his way. This is why God removed him from his place in heaven. He is pure evil.

+ Theologians do not understand this slave-ransom analogy. I like the thought brought in our lesson that Satan and his power are defeated. From an old hymn: "My hope is built on nothing less then Jesus blood and righteous . . . On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand".

[nelda huffman]

Everyone who sins is a slave and he is enslaved by his sins. Christ Jesus is the one who paid the ransom by dying upon that cross for all our sins. Satan is the temptor for all sins so their is not a reason to pay satan for anything especially for our sins because Jesus took care of that ransom a long time ago. There is also a hymn. Now I Belong to Jesus and the first verse says it all. Jesus My Lord will Love me forever. From Him no power of evil can sever. He gave his life to ransom my soul, Now I Belong to Him. He loves us for all eternity.

[Julie]

The unsaved are the slaves to sin, satan enslaves men to his will. satan also attacks Christians but we need not fear for the demons are powerful but Christ is more powerful. The redeeming power of Christ ends the enslavement. There is no ransom to satan for he is defeated, we cannot defeat him on our own, but he cannot defeat us if we face him in the power of Christ.

[Bernard Baker]

We all agree that we are or were slaves to sin or the devil or the thief, but who was the ransom paid to. More and more it seems to me it was paid to us the redeemed. John 10:10 says, . 10"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." or in another version,"I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly." Another question, will the devil eventually be destroyed by the extent to which we believe? I believe so, maybe not in our lifetime.

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[Pat Willems]

Though the the slave-ransom analogy is not spelled out completely, Paul gives us a bit more information in his second letter to Corinth.
II CORINTHIANS 1:21+22 Now it is God that makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

The way of redemption has been paid by Christ's death, the victory over death. Christ's asscention brought us his Spirit as a deposit, to those who believe. Christians have recieved the ransom.

God's law of the Year of Jubilee has provisions for the poor and for slaves.
We have nothing to redeem ourselves, but we have been given freedom (Year of Jubilee), to accept a gift. The Old Testament Law could not fulfill the pentalty of sin. Grace has come. It is free, it is a gift. Christ gives us His Spirit as a deposit! We have His seal upon us!

If a ransom was paid to sin, to Satan, all the people in the world would be saved. Only those who are redeemed, believers in Christ are saved.

Julie and Bernard Baker are right that Jesus defeated Satan, but he is not destroyed. Revelation 19:20-21 tells us when the 'beast' and the false prophet are destroyed. Also all of those who take the 'mark of the beast'
(seal-ownership). Revelation 20:14+15 tells of the final destruction of death and Hades.

-God tells it like this in the final days-
MALACHI 3:17+18 “They will be mine,” says the Lord Almighty, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

May you always know that love, Jesus has for you.

[photobug]

We are all sinfullpeople. We are held captive until we accept jesus as our savior. Then jesus sets us free from our sins When we accepy christ as our savior we no longer belong to satin we now belong to jesus.

[wayfarer58]

Greetings All!

a. Anyone who has yet to be redeemed is, in fact, a slave whether or not they acknowledge such.

b. The Scriptures are clear that we are slaves to sin.

c. God offers the ransom.

d. Because we are not slaves to satan, but to sin. Satan is simply a liar and one who encourages us to remain enslaved to sin.

e. Because in order to complete thae analogy God would have to pay ransom Himself the ransom since He has always owned us, even while we were voluntarily enslaved to sin.

Dave

[Mike Dickinson]

Q3. According to the slave-ransom analogy, who is the slave? What is he enslaved by? Who offers the ransom? If Satan is involved in the enslaving process, why isn't the ransom paid to him? Why isn't the slave-ransom analogy spelled out completely in the New Testament?

The slave is whoever is mastered by that which they submit to. Many slaves at the time of writing were undoubtedly so because of their being in debt to a money lender. Nowadays the scenario may have changed but the principles remain the same. People become slaves to television, sex, drugs, alcohol, even their work. Sadly, there are a host of unseen shackles that people are enslaved to. Whatever, or whoever we submit to is our Master. There may be times when we choose to ‘Please ourselves’ as we might say, however, If that means indulging in something we know full well Jesus wouldn’t approve of, it’s not so much ‘WE’ that we are pleasing, as Satan. The story goes of the donkey that was faced with a lovely looking bale of hay on his right and another equally tasty looking bale of hay on his left. As he went to take a bite from the one on his right the bale on the left caught his eye. So, he then went to take a bite from the one on his left. Just about to take a bite from it, his eye caught a glimpse of the lovely looking bale on his right. This went on for so long eventually . . . the donkey died of starvation. We cannot serve two masters (Luke 16:13) And as Paul explains (Romans 6:16-18) we have been set free from sin and been made slaves to righteousness. But are we willing slaves?

It may be Satan’s sin but we choose to make it our own. Now I know many who would say that is the same as saying we are slaves of Satan, however, it is the sin that our fallen nature enjoys, like a pig wallowing in the mud. Yes, no doubt, Satan provides the temptation, things that are pleasing to the eye, as with the fruit in the garden of Eden, even disguising himself as an angel of light so we are taken in by his false promises, it’s up to us how we respond. If you are given a thousand dollars, how you spend it is entirely up to you. If you choose to blow it all in a slot machine, you may be feeding a gambling habit, and I may have given you the means to pursue it, however, that doesn’t make you my slave. Even if you keep coming back to me for more money to feed this habit, it is still the habit you are enslaved to, not the provider of the funds to feed it.

Look around and you’ll see no end of examples of things that God provided for us that were pure and wholesome. Satan has taken many of these things and planting the thoughts in our minds, has used us to abuse and misuse them. There was only one way to pay for the price of sin’s removal and that was through Jesus. Hence, Satan was never the owner of sin and therefore never qualified for the payment that God made on our behalf. I don’t think the people of the time were fully prepared to understand or accept an atoning sacrifice for the whole world’s sin in the sacrificial giving of God’s son.

[leo]

In the same way that the sacrifices during the Old Testament times were dedicated to the Lord and not to Satan, the Servant paid for the ransom of our enslavery to sin to the Lord. We were enslaved to sin when Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge between Good and Evil but Satan's role during that time was to tempt them to eat a forbidden fruit. If Satan's aim was only to enslave us to sin, he would have declared himself successful thousands of years ago. But he didn't so I figure that Satan tempted Adam and Eve to try to get the upper hand in his quest to usurp the Throne of Heaven from the Lord.

[jaunita]

Q3. According to the slave-ransom analogy, who is the slave? What is he enslaved by? Who offers the ransom? If Satan is involved in the enslaving process, why isn't the ransom paid to him? Why isn't the slave-ransom analogy spelled out completely in the New Testament?

Who is the slave? Mankind! We became slaves to sin, at the fall of mankind, in the garden. We are God's creation, made in His image, created for His pleasure, & fellowship. Jesus offered Himself, as a ransom...to make a way, for man to re-establish that fellowship with God, the Father, & Himself. Jesus said "No man take's my life, I lay it down, willingly!" As far as paying the ransom to satan....no way! He is a userper! A thief! Mankind never belonged to him in the first place! I'm not going to pay you, for something that already belongs to me, & neither did God! Satan was defeated, at calvery. As I said, in yesterday's question, & answer, Christian's can fall back into bondage, & thus, become in-slaved in some area of their lives, again, but this doesn't change the fact, that the price was paid...in full. Satan,& his hoard, love to fill us with condemnation, & guilt, causing ( Christians) to feel defeated. We are not defeated! Jesus paid the price, we just have to believe it.

[Kris Ann]

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Q3. According to the slave-ransom analogy, who is the slave? What is he enslaved by? Who offers the ransom? If Satan is involved in the enslaving process, why isn't the ransom paid to him? Why isn't the slave-ransom analogy spelled out completely in the New Testament?

I am the slave. All of mankind are slaves.

I am enslaved by 'an empty way of life'. We are in need of satisfaction, so too quickly we take the fast and easy road. But this does not satisfy us, so we repeat the fast and easy road - like a drug, it never satisfies us completely.

Jesus the Christ offers ransom to set me and us all free from slavery.

Who recieves the ransom? Great question. I'm not sure where to go with this. I would say that no one recieves it. The analogy was used to help us understand what God has done for us. An analogy means that slavery is not exactly or completely descriptive of what God did for us. It is simply used to describe what He has done in a way that we are able to understand. An analogy falls short of the reality of what actually happened.

[Helen Spaulding]

I am the slave. To sin against God. Jesus offers redemption from slavery
to us. Satan has no desire to set us free, so he will not offer it, nor can he
prevent Jesus from giving it to us, as Jesus has already defeated satan by His
death for us on the cross. By this, He has bought our freedom! All that is
needed to be said about our freedom from sin--having our freedom bought
by Jesus--is stated in the Bible. Obstinent as we are, I guess we want Him to
write it on a banner across the sky! He has already written His freedom
proclamation in His Word--and when we say 'Yes!', it is written in our heart!

[shadylady]

I am the slave, trapped by my own & the world's sin. God offers Jesus for me, to set me free from this entrapment. Satan is NOT paid the ransom because he does NOT own me - but because he is a liar, he will lead me into sin through temptation and try to convince me that there is no way out, once I am there. The New Testament can take the analogy no further as we don't know all the answers and God has chosen to keep certain things hidden from us. It's enough that we have been rescued, we know who rescued us and we know why - we can only share with others God's love.

[gail m]

[U]According to the slave-ransom analogy, who is the slave? What is he enslaved by? Who offers the ransom? If Satan is involved in the enslaving process, why isn't the ransom paid to him? Why isn't the slave-ransom analogy spelled out completely in the New Testament?

1. me "people"
2. Sin
3. God
4. The ransom is not paid to Satan because he does not enslave us..he decieves us..he loses his power over us because we are forgiven..he could never ransom us off because he never owns us....
5. Because it says that God paying God a ransom cofuses the picture. But that's not really true..If you think about it..God paid our ransom to himself so we could be covered by Christs blood and be seen in God's eyes perfect like his son. God knew he couldn't look at us without this ultimate sacrifice because he couldn't stand to see our sin..So he made it possible for us to be with him by making and paying this ransom....to himself...

[Pat Willems]

Captives_Not owned!

We are slaves to whatever has mastered us.(IIPeter2:19) Satan has never owned us or been our master. We are enslaved to sin, Satan's will.

II TIMOTHY 2:26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.


May you always know the love, Jesus has for you.

[bjcollin]

Pastor Ralph, on Feb 22 2003, 11:02 PM, said:

Q3. According to the slave-ransom analogy, who is the slave? What is he enslaved by? Who offers the ransom? If Satan is involved in the enslaving process, why isn't the ransom paid to him? Why isn't the slave-ransom analogy spelled out completely in the New Testament? Exposition

According to the analogy, we are the slave and we are enslaved by sin who is our master. God offers the ransom in the form of His son Jesus Christ who died for us to pay His own price. The devil satan is involved in the enslaving process, but he doesn't receive the payment because everything he has is stolen from God who owned it in the first place. It isn't spelled out completely in the New Testament because it would be too confusing for us to understand completely, our ways are not His ways. It really isn't value added to know the completed analogy anyway, all we need to know is: God pronounced us guilty in our sin and the sentance was death, but God loves us so much that in while we were yet sinners He sent His only son Jesus to die on the cross to pay that penalty in our place.

[Linda Stanley]

Pastor Ralph, on Feb 22 2003, 09:02 PM, said:

Q3. According to the slave-ransom analogy, who is the slave? What is he enslaved by? Who offers the ransom? If Satan is involved in the enslaving process, why isn't the ransom paid to him? Why isn't the slave-ransom analogy spelled out completely in the New Testament? Exposition

According to the slave-ransom analogy we are the slaves.The form of slavery is the empty way of life.Christ's blood offers the ransome"Jesus gave his life for us,shed his own blood,he became the Lambs Blood of Life.
Satan is sure death for eternity,he is ruler over darkness and can offer us nothing but torment.Satan is defeated,not paid off.
The Bible depects"Jesus,salvation as a victorious battle with the forces of evil.Satan loses his power,not because he has been paid off,but because we have been forgiven.
The key passages do not spell out clearly who receives the ransom,"since God owns us",the slave analogy breaks down at this point,since God paying a ransom to God,this is confusing to some,so the Bible Authors drop it there.The most important thing for us to know is we are saved by the blood of Jesus,and our sins are forgiven when we make that choise to except Jesus Christ as our savior then we will be changed into a more fuller and free life with Jesus Christ. Amen