purpose of this epistle to place the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Son, far above every other

name and dignity. To have commenced with Moses as the law-giver would not have

gone back far enough; Moses the mediator received the law by the disposition of angels.

It must therefore be shown that Christ is much better than they, to establish His complete

superiority. The exaltation of the Lord to the right hand of the Majesty on high marks

the time when the Son was given the name that is above every name. It was at the

resurrection that He was declared `Son of God with power'; it was as the risen One that

He claimed `all power' in heaven and in earth; the superiority of the Son above angels is

one of degree, `by so much', and is to be understood in the light of His inherited name.

The Lord Jesus by His birth at Bethlehem became `the Son of God', for said the angel to

Mary, "the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall

overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called

the Son of God" (Luke 1: 35). When the Word became flesh, then was seen the glory of

the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. All through the spotless years of

His life up to that dread crisis of the cross, the Father's testimony remained true and

unchanged, `This is My beloved Son'. He vindicated His claim to the name He bore, and

the name becomes His by inheritance.

In order to appreciate the emphasis that should be placed upon the `inherited' name,

we take this study a little further in the epistle, and not that in Heb. 1: 14 the believer is

spoken of as an `heir of salvation'. All who believe are saved, saved by grace through

faith, but some (and this is one of the great themes of Hebrews), will receive salvation as

an inheritance also. Christ died for the ungodly, He also learned obedience by the things

which He suffered, and though from His birth, `Holy, harmless and undefiled', He

nevertheless was perfected through these sufferings, and became the Author of aionian

salvation, not simply to those who believe, but to those who `obey' Him (Heb. 5: 7-9).

Not only did He become the `Author' but He became the `Finisher' or `Perfecter' of faith.

"Who for the joy set before Him endured a cross, despising the shame, and is set down at

the right hand of God" (Heb. 12: 2). There is a `race' to be run, not only a gospel to be

Those who thus inherit salvation, not only believe, but suffer, endure, run the race set

before them, and `have respect unto the recompense of the reward'. It is useless to speak

of glory where there is not life. It is equally useless to speak of an inheritance unless one

is already a child "If children, then heirs" is the order of Scripture, and the epistle to the

Hebrews does not teach the way of salvation for the ungodly sinner, but deals rather with

the pilgrim journey of the saint, with the evil heart of unbelief that can possess a believer

at times, of things that accompany salvation, of a salvation that may be inherited.

Soteria "salvation" occurs in Hebrews seven times, and the occurrences are as follows: