📖WEB · 1 Timothy 2:6
What does 1 Timothy 2:6 mean?
"who gave himself as a ransom for all; the testimony in its own times;"
— 1 Timothy 2:6 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior;
who desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
who gave himself as a ransom for all; the testimony in its own times;
to which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth in Christ, not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
I desire therefore that the men in every place pray, lifting up holy hands without anger and doubting.
In the same way, that women also adorn themselves in decent clothing, with modesty and propriety; not just with braided hair, gold, pearls, or expensive clothing;
Explanation
1 Timothy 2:6 says that Christ Jesus "gave himself as a ransom for all," with the phrase "the testimony in its own times" indicating that this act of self-giving was declared and confirmed at the appointed moment in history. In plain language, the verse teaches that Jesus voluntarily surrendered his life as the price paid to free humanity from sin's bondage, and that this saving act was not hidden or delayed indefinitely but was revealed and testified to at the proper time set by God.
The letter of 1 Timothy was written by the apostle Paul to Timothy, a young pastor Paul had left in Ephesus to oversee the church there and correct false teaching that had crept in. In the verses surrounding this one (1 Timothy 2:1-7), Paul urges that prayers be made for all people, including kings and those in authority, grounding this instruction in the truth that God "desires all people to be saved" (v. 4) and that "there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (v. 5). Verse 6 flows directly from this: Christ is the one mediator precisely because he gave himself as a ransom for all. Paul is likely countering an exclusivist tendency in the Ephesian church, perhaps from teachers who limited God's saving concern to a select few. Against this, Paul insists on the universal scope of Christ's sacrifice.
Theologically, the word "ransom" (Greek: antilytron) carries the image of a price paid to secure someone's release from captivity or debt, language rooted in the
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