The Warning Passages in Hebrews Part 1: The Eschatological Salvation of Hebrews 1:5-2:5 -- By: Thomas Kem Oberholtzer

Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 145:577 (Jan 1988)
Article: The Warning Passages in Hebrews Part 1: The Eschatological Salvation of Hebrews 1:5-2:5
Author: Thomas Kem Oberholtzer


The Warning Passages in Hebrews
Part 1:
The Eschatological Salvation of Hebrews 1:5-2:5

Thomas Kem Oberholtzer

Pastor
Victoria Bible Church, Victoria, Texas

A study of eschatology offers Christians an impetus for a closer walk with the Lord and a godly life before others. Though believers may face difficult problems, they belong to the supreme King of eternity. Having a relationship with Christ and the promise of final victory over the enemies of God should motivate Christians to make obedience and service to God their chief desire. Walking in obedience to His Word today will result in rewards in the coming millennial rule of Jesus Christ.

The Book of Hebrews emphasizes the importance of believers living with a view to future service in the Lord’s millennial kingdom. The writer directed his readers to this future viewpoint throughout the epistle, especially in the five warning passages (2:1–4; 3:7–4:13; 6:4–12; 10:26–39; 12:25–29).

Hebrews opens with the writer’s main thesis, dealing with the superiority of Christ. Hebrews 1 describes Christ’s supremacy in revealing God over the previous revelation of God to the patriarchs by the prophets of the Old Testament (1:1–2a). It also declares the supremacy of the Son in His essential being and ongoing activities in the present (1:2b–4) as well as in the coming eschatological kingdom (1:5–14). Hebrews 1:1–4, the prologue of the epistle, is bound together as one unbroken grammatical construction in

Greek,1 with the central assertion (v. 2) that God has spoken ἐν υἱῷ (“in Son”). Being anarthrous, the word “Son” stresses the quality of His person.2 Though the prologue does not contain an explicit warning, the foundation is laid for the first caveat in 2:1–4 by demonstrating the unique person and character of Christ. The prologue, through a triad of relative clauses, expands on the person of the Son.

The idea of the Son’s heirship (You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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