So many doctrinal errors are made by not reading a verse carefully and observing the grammar of the text. To understand the scriptures, one must do as Ezra and his fellow teachers of Israel did when they taught the congregation from the law.
Neh 8:8 – So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
They read the words of God distinctly, which means they read them “in a distinct or separate manner; separately, individually, severally.” In other words, they paid attention to each word and did not just skim over the text to get the general idea of what it meant. And if we are to understand the Bible as they did, we must do likewise. Each word must be read carefully and defined, and the grammar must be examined if we are to comprehend the teaching of the verse.
Hebrews 5:9 is a great example of a verse that is often misunderstood due to the grammar being ignored.
Heb 5:9 – And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
Many people read this verse and conclude that Jesus stands ready to become the author of eternal salvation to men as soon as they choose to obey the gospel and believe in Him. But did you notice that that’s not what the verse says? The verse does not say that Jesus will become the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him, but rather that He became it.
Notice carefully the tenses of the verbs. Became is past tense, denoting a completed action which occurred in the past. Obey is a present tense verb, signifying an action that takes place in the present. Jesus became the author of eternal salvation of those He died for immediately after He suffered for their sins (Heb 5:8) and was resurrected from the dead and made perfect.
Rom 4:25 – Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Jesus died for those whom the Father gave Him to save, as He said: “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him” (Joh 17:2). Through His death and resurrection, Jesus became the author of their eternal salvation, for, said Jesus, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (Joh 17:4).
How then does a man know if he is one of those whom the Father gave to Jesus to save eternally? By obeying the call of Jesus Christ to “repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mar 1:15). Obeying Jesus Christ is the evidence and assurance of eternal salvation, not the cause of it. Those who obey the Lord Jesus Christ demonstrate that they are those for whom He became the author of eternal salvation.
4 Responses
I absolutely love grammar, but realize how much I was not taught in school that can be so useful in Bible study. I am so thankful “He became”. What an encouraging nugget of truth in knowing Christ.
Amen!
I like that. I hadn’t looked at that verse in that way before.
Funny how the best insights are often the most simple (and also the ones which we slap our foreheads because we didn’t see it before).
Thank you for the insight, Pastor Wagner.
Yes, it’s interesting how that happens. I just noticed it as I was reading through Hebrews again recently. Thanks for the feedback, Justin.