PAUL: THE HUMBLE APOSTLE

Many have suggested that the Apostle Paul was the human instrument for the writing of the Book of Hebrews, but last night, at our weekly Bible study, my pastor provided the most Scriptural evidence that Hebrews had to be written by someone else.  Based upon 2 Thessalonians 3:17, he stated that every epistle Paul sent, whether to an individual, or to a local church, included a salutation stating it was from him. 

Being totally ignorant of the definition of the word "salutation," I questioned his statement, and began checking the ending of the letters of Paul.  Not finding anything of the sort, and knowing he does not make claims like that without knowing for sure, I surmised that he was referring to the introductions of Paul's writings.  Later, he thanked me for my clarification of his statement.  To be honest, I was guessing.  It was a lucky guess.  Today, I looked up the definition of the word and this is how Dictionary.com defined it:  "the act of saluting; something uttered, written, or done by way of saluting; a word or phrase serving as the prefatory greeting in a letter or speech, as 'Dear Sir' in a letter or 'Ladies and Gentlemen' in a speech."  Then, to make sure, I had to look up "prefatory."  The same source defined it as:  "of, pertaining to, or of the nature of a preface."

The salutations of Paul's letters tell us much about the man:

Romans:  "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle. . . "
1 Corinthians:  "Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. . . "
2 Corinthians:  "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. . . "
Galatians:  "Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ. . . "
Ephesians:  "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. . . "
Philippians:  "Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ. . . "
Colossians:  "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. . . "
1 Thessalonians:  "Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church. . . " 
2 Thessalonians:  "Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church. . . "
1 Timothy:  "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God. . . "
2 Timothy:  "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. . . "
Titus:  "Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ. . . "
Philemon:  "Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ. . . "

Hebrews begins:  "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Heb. 1:1-3).

 Whether you're an apostle, a servant, or a prisoner, be what you are for Jesus!