Who Is the “Author of Eternal Salvation”?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to the book of Hebrews in a lesson titled “Jesus Christ, ‘the Author of Eternal Salvation.’” This counsel preceded the lesson: “Recording spiritual impressions helps you recognize what the Holy Ghost wants to teach you. Acting on your impressions demonstrates your faith that those promptings are real.” The lesson was then introduced with the following paragraphs. 

Each of us has to give up something in order to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ – bad habits, incorrect beliefs, unwholesome associations, or something else. For Gentiles in the early Christian Church, conversion often meant abandoning false gods. For the Hebrews (or Jews), conversion proved to be, if not more difficult, a little more complicated. After all, their cherished beliefs and traditions were rooted in the worship of the true God and the teachings of His prophets, extending back thousands of years. Yet the Apostles taught that the law of Moses had been fulfilled in Jesus Christ and that a higher law was now the standard for believers. Would accepting Christianity men that the Hebrews must give up their earlier beliefs and history? The Epistle to the Hebrews sought to help settle such questions by teaching that the law of Moses, the prophets, and the ordinances are all important, but Jesus Christ is greater (see Hebrews 1:1-4; 3:1-6; 7:23-28). In fact, all these things point to and testify of Christ as the Son of God and the promised Messiah the Jews had been waiting for.

Conversion, in those early days and today, means making Jesus Christ the center of our worship and our lives. It means holding fast to truth and letting go of that which distracts us from Him, for He is the “author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Hebrews 5:9).

Some scholars question who authored the book of Hebrews because the earlier versions of the book do not mention an author and the literary style differs from Paul’s other letters. Nonetheless, the ideas expressed in Hebrews are consistent with those of Paul. Latter-day Saints and Christian tradition accept that Paul engaged in writing the book.

One of the principles taught by Jesus Christ and His Apostles is that He is “the express image” of Heavenly Father (Hebrews 1-5). Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints taught the following:

Jesus … came to improve man’s view of God and to plead with them to love their Heavenly Father as He has always and will love them. … So feeding the hungry, healing the sick, rebuking hypocrisy, pleading for faith – this was Christ showing us the way of the Father” (“The Grandeur of God,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2003, 72).

Another principle taught in Hebrews is that “Jesus Christ suffered all things so that He can understand and help me when I suffer” (Hebrews 2:9-18; 4:12-16; 5:7-8). Paul taught that each of us can “come boldly unto the throne of grace” and seek mercy (Hebrews 4:16). Another message in this epistle is that we can approach God and attain His grace despite our sins and weaknesses (Hebrews 2:9-18; 4:12-16; 5:7-8). Though He was the Son of God, He came to earth and suffered that He could know our pains and sufferings.

7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.

Elder Holland spoke of Jesus Christ’s ability to feel our pains and sufferings when he spoke in the October 2020 on the topic of “The Exquisite Gift of the Son.” He offered the following counsel for anyone who is suffering.

For anyone today with pains so intense or so unique that you feel no one else could fully appreciate them, you may have a point. There may be no family member, friend, or priesthood leader – however sensitive and well-meaning each may be – who knows exactly what you are feeling or has the precise words to help you heal. But know this: there is One who understands perfectly what you are experiencing, who is “mightier than all the earth,” and who is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that [you] ask or think.” The process will unfold in His way and on His schedule, but Christ stands ready always to heal every ounce and aspect of your agony. (“The Exquisite Gift of the Son,” Ensign, Nov. 2020).