Ephesians 4:8 “Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”
We have already looked at the above quoted passage of scripture when we discussed the redemption of the Old Testament saints. Nevertheless I wanted to look at this passage in this section as well because it highlights the truth that we are discussing in this section, i.e. that those who are in Satan’s kingdom are held captive by him. In this passage the Holy Spirit very clearly refers to the Old Testament saints as being held in captivity. And so even though they were not in Hades and were kept separate in Abraham’s bosom they nevertheless were still being held in captivity. So why is that? The reason is because they were still spiritually dead, because of which they fell under the rule of one who had the power of death i.e. the devil (Hebrews 2:14).
1 Timothy 2:5-6 “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, (6) who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”
If it were possible for men to simply change allegiance from Satan’s kingdom back to the kingdom of God, then mankind could have been redeemed through that mechanism and God would be able to make them spiritually alive once again. Satan however, does not allow his subjects to change their allegiance, which is his legal right and God acknowledges his rule over his subjects. So how did God overcome the problem of setting the captives free? In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul teaches us that our Lord Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for mankind. And so it was through the mechanism of the ransom paid by the Lord Jesus that God was legally able to set mankind free from the captivity of spiritual death that they were held by, for a ransom is paid in order to release those who are being held captive.
Michael E.B. Maher
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