Welcome listeners to the 9th session of our series on New Testament Survey. We have covered the epistles of Paul in the previous two talks. In this and the next session, we shall introduce the epistles of the other New Testament writers. Each of them have something significant to contribute to our faith. As an introduction, there are 8 epistles written by different important New Testament writers, other than Paul. They are grouped together as the general or catholic epistles. These terms tell us that the messages of these writings are for all. They give us extensive and diverse insights into God’s revelation in Jesus Christ that are not treated by Paul and complements his writing. Unlike the Pauline epistles, which are named according to the likely original destination, these epistles are named according to their authors. Hebrews is the exception as it has an author unknown to us, though known to its original recipients. In this session, we shall highlight the first three general epistles: Hebrews, James and 1 Peter. In the next session, we shall highlight the next five, 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 3 John and Jude. So, let’s begin with Hebrews.

Hebrews was written by someone not known to today’s readers but well-known to the original recipients in very good Greek. The writer is someone who knows both the Old Testament and the Gospel of Christ very well. He is a prominent and strong teacher or preacher but is not someone who knew Christ when He was on Earth. In the light of these factors, the most likely author is Barnabas or Apollos. This New Testament epistle gives us the best overview of the Old Testament and in how it relates to the New Testament Gospel of Christ. It declares the superiority of Christ over the prophets, angels, Moses and the Aaronic priesthood. These are the people or channels that God used to give us the Old Testament and its way of life. Therefore, who Christ is and the revelation He brings, exceeds all that was in the Old Testament. He is the new high priest from Heaven, who by offering Himself as the one perfect sacrifice for sin, has completely put away any more need for sacrifice or rituals. His priesthood is by the order of Melchizedek for He is directly appointed in person by the Father to be His high priest. In contrast, the Aaronic or Levitical priesthood depends on descent from Aaron and can only offer repeatedly animal sacrifices that can only symbolise but not take away sin. So, as the new Moses, Jesus has inaugurated the New Covenant to replace the Old Covenant of the Old Testament. We are therefore strongly warned against going back on our faith, for the greatness of the grace that has been extended to us. We are exhorted to be faithful to the end.

We come next to the epistle of James. James is the half-brother of Jesus who came to faith after His ascension and became the leader of the church in Jerusalem. This epistle is often considered the wisdom book of the New Testament as it teaches us how to live by the wisdom from above. It exhorts us to live by joyful perseverance in the face of persecution. God uses such to mould us to be stronger in Him. We are to be doers of the Word, not hearers only. True faith is expressed by living and acting in accordance with that faith. Faith without such evidence is false. True holiness includes caring for the weak and needy, without being sucked into the world’s way. It warns that discrimination on the basis of wealth or class is sin. It points to the danger of the uncontrolled tongue and the damage it does. We need to cultivate control over our speech. It reflects our control of our way of life. We are to use our speech to bless and not to harm or curse. It warns that selfish self-interest and fighting one another block God’s blessing and His answer to our prayers and needs. We are to seek and to live by Godly wisdom instead. He calls us for the elders of the church to care for the sick in its membership.

Then, we come to 1 Peter. 1 Peter is written by Peter, the leading Apostle. He highlights that we are saved with an eternal home in Christ. As we walk in this faith even through trials, we are being prepared for our eternal salvation. The gospel is the fulfilment of God’s prophecies through the ages. We are to be living stones, built on Christ as our cornerstone, to be a spiritual house. We are to live holy lives at home and in society. We are the chosen people, the royal priesthood, a holy nation in Christ. These designations were only for Israel in the Old Testament; therefore, the church is the New Israel of God. We are His special possession to serve Him to bring others to receive His salvation. We are to persevere in faith even to suffer for doing good in Christ. This is how we are different from the world. In so doing, we are fully assured of His salvation. He exhorts the church elders to serve faithfully without seeking selfish gains but honouring the Lord as His under shepherd. We are to resist the devil in Christ and so defeat him. I believe we can appreciate the great insights of these New Testament writers.

In the next talk, we will cover the remaining 5 general epistles to learn from them.

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