AUTHORSHIP
EPISTLE
HEBREWS
17
OF THE
TO THE
`Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him. For in
that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God' (Rom. 6:9,10).
`... But now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself ... So
Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many ...' (Heb. 9:26-28).
`But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God' (Heb.
10:12).
Though we must be careful with the `alls' and `everys' of Scripture, there is another doctrinal link between
2 Corinthians and Hebrews:
`... because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that He died for all, that they which
live should not henceforth live unto themselves ...' (2 Cor. 5:14,15).
`But we see Jesus ... for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God
should taste death for every man' (Heb. 2:9).
Both Hebrews and Paul's epistles treat the law of Moses in a special way.
The law cannot save, give
righteousness, inheritance or life, and has been done away as a means of salvation:
`... for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain' (Gal. 2:21).
`For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise' (Gal.
3:18).
`... for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the
law' (Gal. 3:21).
`Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace'
(Gal. 5:4).
`For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness
thereof' (Heb. 7:18).
`For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second' (Heb. 8:7).
`... He taketh away the first, that He may establish the second' (Heb. 10:9).
Not only this, but special stress of the law as a shadow is peculiar to Hebrews and Paul's writings:
`Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the
Sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come' (Col. 2:16,17).
`For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those
sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect' (Heb. 10:1).
The trinity of graces: faith, hope and love, are characteristic of the apostle Paul:
`Now abideth faith, hope, charity (love), these three; but the greatest of these is charity (love)' (1 Cor. 13:13).
They also occur in Romans 5:1-8 in pairs; Galatians 5:5,6; Ephesians 1:15-20; Colossians 1:4,5; 1 Thessalonians
5:8, and twice in Hebrews and nowhere else (Heb. 6:10-12; 10:22-24, where `faith' in verse 23 should read `hope',
see the Revised Version).
Paul is the only New Testament writer who requests prayer for himself, and this usually comes at the end of his
epistles:
`Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit ... and for me ... that I may open my mouth boldly
...' (Eph. 6:18,19).
`Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance' (Col. 4:3).
`Brethren, pray for us' (1 Thess. 5:25).
`Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified ...' (2 Thess.
3:1).
To which may be added Romans 15:30, Phil. 1:19 and Philemon 22.