Captain of their Salvation

‘Became him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory.’ It was suitable to divine wisdom and justice and the program of grace to offer Jesus as a sacrifice to bring many sons to glory.

‘Captain of their salvation.’ The Originator of Salvation. Without suffering He could not have died; without dying He could not have made atonement for sin; and without completing His redemptive work He could not have been perfected.

‘Perfect’ [Greek: teleioo] make a full end; complete. The idea is that Christ could not have been made complete or bring to a complete end the work He was supposed to do without His sufferings.

‘For both he that sanctified and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.’ Christ is the great Sanctifier, who sets apart and consecrates men to the service of God. They who are sanctified or thus consecrated and set apart to the service of God, are all one, in the same family, and called brethren. The brethren are those who represent the body of Christ which is male and therefore called brethren. During Old Testament times the nation Israel was referred to as God’s wife and the representative of God during those dispensations.

‘I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.’ This is the 8th Old Testament prophecy in Hebrews (2:12; Ps. 22:22) and is fulfilled in Christ declaring the Father to His followers – the Christians, also called His brethren. The Old Testament use of congregation is the correct translation instead of using the word “church” which derives from the translations period where King James’ translators changed the word to fit the Roman Catholic Church.

Introduction to the book Hebrews Part 2

The arguments for Paul’s authorship are (continues): [7] There is nothing in the epistle contrary to Paul’s authorship, and there is much internal evidence that Paul was the author: (1) Both books argue at length on the abolishment of the old covenant. (2) Both anticipate the visit of the writer (Gal. 4:20; Heb. 13:19). (3) Paul was the only writer of the New Testament who requested prayer for himself (cp. Heb. 13:18 with 2Thess. 3:1). (4) Many exhortations in Hebrews are similar to those of other epistles of Paul (cp. Heb. 12:3 with Gal. 6:9; Heb.12:14 with Rom. 12:18; Heb. 13:1-3 with Eph. 5:2-4; Heb. 13:16 with Php. 4:18; Heb. 5:12 with 1Cor. 3:2; Heb. 8:1 with Eph. 1:20; Heb. 8:6; 9:15; 12:24; Gal. 3:19-20; 1Tim. 2:5; Heb. 10:1 with Col. 2:17; Heb. 10:33 with 1Cor. 4:9; Heb. 13:9 with Eph. 4:14; Heb. 13:10 with 1Cor. 9:13; 10:18; Heb. 13:20-21 with Rom. 15:33; 16:20; 2Cor. 13:11; Php. 4:9; 1Thess. 5:23; Heb. 13:22 with Acts 24:16; etc.). (5) The author of both books wrote from Italy (Heb. 13:24). (6) Paul was the only New Testament writer who wrote from prison and expected release (Heb. 13:19, 23 with Php. 1:7-8, 13, 26; 2:23-24; etc.). (7) No other writer of epistles mentions Timothy. Paul refers to him 20 times in his recognized epistles (cp. Heb. 13:23). When Paul mentions Timothy to others he always calls him brother (2Cor. 1:1; Col. 1:1; 1Thess. 3:2). (8) The conclusion of the epistle is like others of Paul (cp. Heb. 13:18-25 with the end of his other epistles).

The theme of this book is to present Jesus Christ as deity, and as better than all human beings and angels; to prove that Judaism and the law have come to an end; to confirm Jewish Christians in the faith; and to set forth new covenant doctrines for all people.

Statistics: 58th book of the Bible; 13 chapters; 303 verses; 6,913 words; 17 questions; 270 verses of history; 9 verses of fulfilled and 24 verses of unfulfilled prophecy.

Introduction to the book Hebrews Part 1

The book of Hebrews was written in Rome about 68 A.D., along with Galatians and 2 Timothy. Even though an author is not clearly stated, the arguments for Paul’s authorship are: [1] The thoughts and reasonings are Paul’s. Any difference in style is due to his writing to Jews as a Jew and not to Gentile congregations as in other epistles. Furthermore, the translation of the book into Greek by Luke may account for some change in style. [2] Peter confirms the fact that Paul wrote an epistle to Jews (2Pet. 3:15-16). [3] The book of Hebrews is ascribed to him by over 100 ancient writers in both Greek and Latin, from 70 to 73 A.D. [4] It was received as Paul’s by the council of Laodicea (363 A.D.), and by the council of Carthage (397 A.D.). [5] Paul is named as the author of the Alexandrian manuscripts (500 A.D.). [6] Some Latin churches questioned it only because Paul’s name is not used in the introduction as in all his other epistles, but this was for two reasons: (1) Eusebius, the father of congregational history, explains that Paul wrote the epistle in Hebrew, leaving his name off so that it would be read and received more readily by Jews who hated him and would not want to listen to anything he had to say. Luke translated it into Greek, hence it is similar to Acts in expression. (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 2, p. 579). (2) In the oldest manuscripts the epistle follows Galatians with the title “To the Hebrews,” indicating that it was part of the Galatian letter. If this is true, the authorship stated in Galatians 1:1 applies to both books. This would explain why Paul speaks of Galatians as “a large letter” (Heb. 6:11). “The Israel of God” of Galatians 6:16 would be an appropriate introduction to the book of Hebrews.

To be continued…