If Christ is a ransom, to whom was he paid?

Godistruth1 said:

Did Jesus pay ransom to himself?

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As to ransom I would have to say that it was a ransom paid to sin and death since we were held prisoners of both sin and death. I also think it is more symbolic than literal in that He also is said in scripture to have paid our debt...that which was owed by the law.

Leviticus 16: "8And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel.a 9And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the LORD and use it as a sin offering,10but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.

Godistruth1 said:

Did Jesus pay ransom to himself?

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It is metaphoric. His work does redeem (buy back) but it is his WORK that does it. Thus he can be called a ransom, but that is stretched into a into the abstract... a picture to depict his work in this sense.

Ransom is probably not the ideal word (but is maybe the only feasible English word) to convey the meaning of λύτρον (lutron), which means something to loosen with. Christ loosened us from the debt demanded by the law by giving his life in exchange for ours. So in that sense the "ransom" was paid to the law.

συνείδησις said:

Ransom is probably not the ideal word (but is maybe the only feasible English word) to convey the meaning of λύτρον (lutron), which means something to loosen with. Christ loosened us from the debt demanded by the law by giving his life in exchange for ours.

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I generally go and look that kind of thing up and didn't, thanks for doing so. That really kind of solidifies what I was saying, in that, instead of being abstract... it is actually right to the point of it being his work that addressed the need, he wasn't bought per see to meet that need.

1 Timothy 2:5–6 (ESV)
5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

Jesus pays the ransom to God (not to be confused with Allah)

Although some church fathers and 19th century German liberal scholars and 20th century American liberal scholars say Satan was paid the ransom, that view is incoherent.

Satan is said to be "Defeated" at the cross not "satisfied."

Secondly, the debt of sin is due to God not Satan!

However, it is a good question as there are a myriad of metaphors used by the biblical authors to describe the nature of Jesus' atoning work on the cross.
The atonement is multifaceted in nature, encompassing ransom, penal substitution, victory over Satan, satisfaction of God and a renewal of government of the kingdom of God whereby Christians rule and reign with Christ.

Godistruth1 said:

Did Jesus pay ransom to himself?

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Wow!

Christ, Paul, Peter, John and the writer of Hebrews, call it a literal ransom and not just something like a ransom.

God owes satan nothing and satan is not going to change by being paid off and since God can just as safely and easily take anything away from satan it would be wrong to pay satan anything.

God is not a criminal kidnapper holding the children away from the kingdom. It would not be a ransom if you or someone “paid” God. God is not blood thirsty personally desiring Christ’s blood. The ransom scenario demands a kidnapper.

The ransom payment is made to change the kidnapper mind and allow the child to go free, but things like death, sin, hell, and evil do not change by giving anything to them.

You can look at Ro. 3:25 for what scripture says: 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished

God is offering the ransom (present Christ as the atonement sacrifice) and this will be accepted or rejected by the kidnapper depending on the faith or lack of faith of the kidnapper (“to be received by faith”). This is all contrasted with the way repented of and forgiven sins were handled prior to the cross (“in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished”).

Since the cross we can now be crucified (punished/disciplined) with Christ (by Christ’s crucifixion) while prior to the cross repented sinners could only be forgiven.

Thing about who was the kidnapper holding the prodigal son in the pigsty for as long as the prodigal son was there and also thing about did the same rebellious, lazy disrespectful son return or did a sincere, humble willing to work son return to the father?

It is a metaphor describing the situation that Satan keeps the whole mankind captive, and with Jesus paid the ransom for them to be released.