For many generations, the people of God have enjoyed meditations on the person of Christ, examining His many names and titles found throughout the written Word. Each name or title presents something different about the character of Christ, and the consideration of such leads the believer into deeper affection toward Him. An enjoyable way to explore these divine names is to go through the alphabet and find names corresponding to each letter. In this brief series of articles, we’ll consider three names and titles from the Authorized Version, beginning with the first three letters of the alphabet, each having something to do with the “so great salvation” that He has provided and that we have entered into and enjoy.
The Author of Eternal Salvation
“And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Heb 5:9).1
As we consider this title, corresponding to the first letter in the alphabet, we see something of Christ’s person and work, for He is the Author, or Source, or Causer, of eternal salvation. W.E. Vine gives a helpful exposition on this title by teaching that Christ “has not merely caused or effected it (salvation); He is, as His Name, Jesus, implies, our salvation itself.” We recall Simeon holding the infant child in his arms and praising God, saying, “Mine eyes have seen thy salvation” (Luk 2:30). Similarly, John writes, “He that hath the Son hath life” (1Jn 5:12). To have salvation is to have Christ, to have Christ is to have salvation, and Christ has caused salvation to be possible for He is its Author.
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, his doctrinal treatise on the justification of the sinner, he links Christ with salvation no fewer than eight times. He writes of “the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ” (3:22), and in the same chapter he speaks of “redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (v24). He goes on in the fifth chapter to write of “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (v1), being “saved from wrath through him” (v9), of being “reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (v10), and of “eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (v21, and again in 6:23). He commences his eighth chapter by stating, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (v1), and concludes by affirming that no force on earth or in the heavens “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (v39). Well might we sing, “On Christ salvation rests secure”!
There is no firmer foundation upon which we could stand, nothing that could make our hope of eternal life more secure than Christ Himself, the Author of Eternal Salvation. An appreciation of this leads us to bow our hearts in worship and thanksgiving, for there was a time when we were without Christ, had no hope and were without God in the world (Eph 2:12); but now we have life that is in His Son (1Jn 5:11)! And when we speak to others about Him, whether publicly from a platform or privately in conversation, we speak of the One who alone is the Author of Eternal Salvation.
This salvation He has authored is an eternal salvation. This is one of the seven “eternal” things mentioned in the epistle to the Hebrews, and just as the redemption He has obtained for us is an eternal redemption (9:12), so here the salvation of which He is the author is an eternal salvation.
This salvation is eternal because it can never be lost. The one who has Christ, the Author of Eternal Salvation, is known of Him, has been given eternal life, shall never perish, and is secure in the hand of the divine Shepherd Himself and also the hand of the Father, who is greater than all (Joh 10:27-28). This salvation is eternal, also, because it is an enduring salvation. It will never fade in its brilliance or falter in its strength. Its completeness can never be contested for all eternity, and not one who has entered into it will ever fall out of it. As He is eternal, the salvation He brings is eternal as well.
In the highly significant 45th chapter of Isaiah, the prophet speaks of Israel’s understanding of eternal salvation. In verse 17 he writes, “Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.” For Israel, having suffered so much in the past from their enemies, and still suffer and will still yet suffer, what consolation to know Jehovah will deliver the faithful of the nation, world without end. Now the original readers of the Hebrews epistle, who were so familiar with the prophets, would learn that the One whose very name means Jehovah, Our Salvation, extends this eternal salvation not only to Israel but to all them that obey Him, that is to all who obey His gospel and all who obediently trust the Author of Eternal Salvation.
Praise Him, Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
For our sins He suffered, and bled, and died.
He’s our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation,
Hail Him, Hail Him! Jesus, the crucified.2
May this brief consideration of Christ as the “Author of Eternal Salvation” lead you into further meditations on the person of Christ. Can you think of other names or titles of Christ that begin with the letter A? In Daniel 7, He is significantly called the “Ancient of Days,” the only chapter where this name is found. In Revelation 3:14, He is interestingly called the “Amen,” a word found commonly but only here used as a name. There are many others, and be assured, your meditations of Him will be sweet!
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV.
2 Fanny J. Crosby (1820–1915)
