The document provides commentary from multiple scholars on Hebrews 10:1-4. It discusses how the law under the old covenant was only a shadow of the good things to come through Christ, while Christ and the gospel provide the full reality and perfection. The yearly sacrifices under the law could not perfect or cleanse people from sin, but Christ's single sacrifice was once for all and sufficient to do so.

1. HEBREWS 10 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Christ's Sacrifice Once for All
1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are
coming--not the realities themselves. For this reason it
can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly
year after year, make perfect those who draw near to
worship.
1. BARNES, "For the law having a shadow - That is, the whole of the Mosaic economy
was a shadow; for so the word “Law” is often used. The word “shadow” here refers to a rough
outline of anything, a mere sketch, such as a carpenter draws with a piece of chalk, or such as an
artist delineates when he is about to make a picture. He sketches an outline of the object which
he designs to draw, which has “some” resemblance to it, but is not the “very image;” for it is not
yet complete. The words rendered “the very image” refer to a painting or statue which is
finished, where every part is an exact copy of the original. The “good things to come” here refer
to the future blessings which would be conferred on man by the gospel. The idea is, that under
the ancient sacrifices there was an imperfect representation; a dim outline of the blessings
which the gospel would impart to people. They were a typical representation; they were not such
that it could be pretended that they would answer the purpose of the things themselves which
they were to represent, and would make those who offered them perfect. Such a rude outline;
such a mere sketch, or imperfect delineation, could no more answer the purpose of saving the
soul than the rough sketch which an architect makes would answer the purpose of a house, or
than the first outline which a painter draws would answer the purpose of a perfect and finished
portrait. All that could be done by either would be to convey some distant and obscure idea of
what the house or the picture might be, and this was all that was done by the Law of Moses.
Can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually - The
sacrifices here particularly referred to were those which were offered on the great day of
atonement. These were regarded as the most sacred and efficacious of all, and yet the apostle
says that the very fact that they were offered every year showed that there must be some
deficiency about them, or they would have ceased to be offered.
Make the comers thereunto perfect - They could not free them from the stains of guilt;
they could not give ease to a troubled conscience; there was in them no efficacy by which sin
could be put away; compare the notes on Heb_7:11; Heb_9:9.
2. CLARKE, "The law, having a shadow of good things to come - A shadow, σκια,
signifies,

2. 1. Literally, the shade cast from a body of any kind, interposed between the place on which
the shadow is projected, and the sun or light; the rays of the light not shining on that
place, because intercepted by the opacity of the body, through which they cannot pass.
2. It signifies, technically, a sketch, rude plan, or imperfect draught of a building, landscape,
man, beast, etc.
3. It signifies, metaphorically, any faint adumbration, symbolical expression, imperfect or
obscure image of a thing; and is opposed to σωµα, body, or the thing intended to be
thereby defined.
4. It is used catachrestically among the Greek writers, as umbra is among the Latins, to
signify any thing vain, empty, light, not solid; thus Philostratus, Vit. Soph., lib. i. cap. 20:
ᆍτι σκια και ονειρατα αᅷ ᅧδοναι πασαι· All pleasures are but Shadows and dreams. And
Cicero, in Pison., cap. 24: Omnes umbras falsae gloriae consectari. “All pursue the
Shadows of False Glory.” And again, De Offic., lib. iii. cap. 17: Nos veri juris germanaeque
justitiae solidam et expressam effigiem nullam tenemus; umbra et itnaginibus utimur.
“We have no solid and express effigy of true law and genuine justice, but we employ
shadows and images to represent them.”
And not the very image - Εικων, image, signifies,
1. A simple representation, from εικω, I am like.
2. The form or particular fashion of a thing.
3. The model according to which any thing is formed.
4. The perfect image of a thing as opposed to a faint representation.
5. Metaphorically, a similitude, agreement, or conformity.
The law, with all its ceremonies and sacrifices, was only a shadow of spiritual and eternal
good. The Gospel is the image or thing itself, as including every spiritual and eternal good.
We may note three things here:
1. The shadow or general outline, limiting the size and proportions of the thing to be
represented.
2. The image or likeness completed from this shadow or general outline, whether
represented on paper, canvass, or in statuary,
3. The person or thing thus represented in its actual, natural state of existence; or what is
called here the very image of the things, αυτην την εικονα των πραγµατων.
Such is the Gospel, when compared with the law; such is Christ, when compared with Aaron;
such is his sacrifice, when compared with the Levitical offerings; such is the Gospel remission of
sins and purification, when compared with those afforded by the law; such is the Holy Ghost,
ministered by the Gospel, when compared with its types and shadows in the Levitical service;
such the heavenly rest, when compared with the earthly Canaan. Well, therefore, might the
apostle say, The law was only the shadow of good things to come.
Can never - make the comers thereunto perfect - Cannot remove guilt from the
conscience, or impurity from the heart. I leave preachers to improve these points.

3. 3. GILL, "For the law having a shadow of good things to come,.... By which is meant
not the moral law, for that is not a shadow of future blessings, but a system of precepts; the
things it commands are not figuratively, but really good and honest; and are not obscure, but
plain and easy to be understood; nor are they fleeting and passing away, as a shadow, but lasting
and durable: but the ceremonial law is intended; this was a "shadow", a figure, a representation
of something true, real, and substantial; was dark and obscure, yet had in it, and gave, some
glimmering light; and was like a shadow, fleeting and transitory: and it was a shadow of good
things; of Christ himself, who is the body, the sum and substance of it, and of the good things to
come by him; as the expiation of sin, peace and reconciliation, a justifying righteousness, pardon
of sin, and eternal life; these are said to be "to come", as they were under the former
dispensation, while the ceremonial law was in force, and that shadow was in being, and the
substance not as yet.
And not the very image of the things; as it had not neither the things themselves, nor
Christ, the substance of them, so it did not give a clear revelation of them, as is made in the
Gospel, nor exhibit a distinct delineation of them, such as an image expresses; it only gave some
short and dark hints of future good things, but did not exactly describe them: and therefore
can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually: namely,
the sacrifices of bullocks and goats, which were offered on the day of atonement, year after year,
in successive generations, from the first appointment of that day, to the writing of this epistle:
sacrifices of such a kind, and so often repeated, could never
make the comers thereunto perfect; either the people that came to the temple, and
brought them to the priests to offer them for them, or the priests that offered them; so the Syriac
and Ethiopic versions render it, "perfect them that offer"; and if not one, then not the other:
legal sacrifices could not make perfect expiation of sin; there is no proportion between them and
sin: nor did they extend to all sin, and at most only typically expiated; nor could they justify and
cleanse from sin. Contrary to this, the Jews (p) say,
"when Israel was in the holy land, there was no iniquity found in them, for the sacrifices which
they offered every day stoned for them;''
but spiritual sacrificers and worshippers were expiated, justified, and cleansed another way,
even by the blood of Christ, slain from the foundation of the world in purpose, promise, and
type, and to which their faith had respect in every sacrifice.
4. HENRY, "Here the apostle, by the direction of the Spirit of God, sets himself to lay low the
Levitical dispensation; for though it was of divine appointment, and very excellent and useful in
its time and place, yet, when it was set up in competition with Christ, to whom it was only
designed to lead the people, it was very proper and necessary to show the weakness and
imperfection of it, which the apostle does effectually, from several arguments. As,
I. That the law had a shadow, and but a shadow, of good things to come; and who would dote
upon a shadow, though of good things, especially when the substance has come? Observe, 1. The
things of Christ and the gospel are good things; they are the best things; they are best in
themselves, and the best for us: they are realities of an excellent nature. 2. These good things
were, under the Old Testament, good things to come, not clearly discovered, nor fully enjoyed. 3.
That the Jews then had but the shadow of the good things of Christ, some adumbrations of
them; we under the gospel have the substance.
II. That the law was not the very image of the good things to come. An image is an exact
draught of the thing represented thereby. The law did not go so far, but was only a shadow, as

4. the image of a person in a looking-glass is a much more perfect representation than his shadow
upon the wall. The law was a very rough draught of the great design of divine grace, and
therefore not to be so much doted on.
5. JAMISON, "
Heb_10:1-39. Conclusion of the foregoing argument. The yearly recurring law sacrifices
cannot perfect the worshipper, but Christ’s once-for-all offering can.
Instead of the daily ministry of the Levitical priests, Christ’s service is perfected by the one
sacrifice, whence He now sits on the right hand of God as a Priest-King, until all His foes shall be
subdued unto Him. Thus the new covenant (Heb_8:8-12) is inaugurated, whereby the law is
written on the heart, so that an offering for sin is needed no more. Wherefore we ought to draw
near the Holiest in firm faith and love; fearful of the awful results of apostasy; looking for the
recompense to be given at Christ’s coming.
Previously the oneness of Christ’s offering was shown; now is shown its perfection as
contrasted with the law sacrifices.
having — inasmuch as it has but “the shadow, not the very image,” that is, not the exact
likeness, reality, and full revelation, such as the Gospel has. The “image” here means the
archetype (compare Heb_9:24), the original, solid image [Bengel] realizing to us those heavenly
verities, of which the law furnished but a shadowy outline before. Compare 2Co_3:13,
2Co_3:14, 2Co_3:18; the Gospel is the very setting forth by the Word and Spirit of the heavenly
realities themselves, out of which it (the Gospel) is constructed. So Alford. As Christ is “the
express image (Greek, ‘impress’) of the Father’s person” (Heb_1:3), so the Gospel is the
heavenly verities themselves manifested by revelation - the heavenly very archetype, of which
the law was drawn as a sketch, or outline copy (Heb_8:5). The law was a continual process of
acted prophecy, proving the divine design that its counterparts should come; and proving the
truth of those counterparts when they came. Thus the imperfect and continued expiatory
sacrifices before Christ foretend, and now prove, the reality of, Christ’s one perfect antitypical
expiation.
good things to come — (Heb_9:11); belonging to “the world (age) to come.” Good things in
part made present by faith to the believer, and to be fully realized hereafter in actual and perfect
enjoyment. Lessing says, “As Christ’s Church on earth is a prediction of the economy of the
future life, so the Old Testament economy is a prediction of the Christian Church.” In relation to
the temporal good things of the law, the spiritual and eternal good things of the Gospel are
“good things to come.” Col_2:17 calls legal ordinances “the shadow,” and Christ “the body.”
never — at any time (Heb_10:11).
with those sacrifices — rather, “with the same sacrifices.
year by year — This clause in the Greek refers to the whole sentence, not merely to the
words “which they the priests offered” (Greek, “offer”). Thus the sense is, not as English
Version, but, the law year by year, by the repetition of the same sacrifices, testifies its inability
to perfect the worshippers; namely, on the YEARLY day of atonement. The “daily” sacrifices
are referred to, Heb_10:11.
continually — Greek, “continuously,” implying that they offer a toilsome and ineffectual
“continuous” round of the “same” atonement-sacrifices recurring “year by year.”
comers thereunto — those so coming unto God, namely, the worshippers (the whole
people) coming to God in the person of their representative, the high priest.
perfect — fully meet man’s needs as to justification and sanctification (see on Heb_9:9).

5. 6. CALVIN, "For the Law having a shadow, etc. He has borrowed this similitude
from the pictorial art; for a shadow here is in a sense different from
what it has in Colossians 2:17; where he calls the ancient rites or
ceremonies shadows, because they did not possess the real substance of
what they represented. But he now says that they were like rude
lineaments, which shadow forth the perfect picture; for painters,
before they introduce the living colors by the pencil, are wont to mark
out the outlines of what they intend to represent. This indistinct
representation is called by the Greeks skiagraphia, which you might
call in Latin, "umbratilem", shadowy. The Greeks had also the eikon,
the full likeness. Hence also "eiconia" are called images (imagines) in
Latin, which represent to the life the form of men or of animals or of
places.
The difference then which the Apostle makes between the Law and the
Gospel is this, -- that under the Law was shadowed forth only in rude
and imperfect lines what is under the Gospel set forth in living colors
and graphically distinct. He thus confirms again what he had previously
said, that the Law was not useless, nor its ceremonies unprofitable.
For though there was not in them the image of heavenly things,
finished, as they say, by the last touch of the artist; yet the
representation, such as it was, was of no small benefit to the fathers;
but still our condition is much more favorable. We must however
observe, that the things which were shown to them at a distance are the
same with those which are now set before our eyes. Hence to both the
same Christ is exhibited, the same righteousness, sanctification, and
salvation; and the difference only is in the manner of painting or
setting them forth.
Of good things to come, etc. These, I think, are eternal things. I
indeed allow that the kingdom of Christ, which is now present with us,
was formerly announced as future; but the Apostle's words mean that we
have a lively image of future blessings. He then understands that
spiritual pattern, the full fruition of which is deferred to the
resurrection and the future world. At the same time I confess again
that these good things began to be revealed at the beginning of the
kingdom of Christ; but what he now treats of is this, that they are not
only future blessings as to the Old Testament, but also with respect to
us, who still hope for them.
Which they offered year by year, etc. He speaks especially of the
yearly sacrifice, mentioned in Leviticus 16, though all the sacrifices
are here included under one kind. Now he reasons thus: When there is no
longer any consciousness of sin, there is then no need of sacrifice;
but under the Law the offering of the same sacrifice was often
repeated; then no satisfaction was given to God, nor was guilt removed

6. nor were consciences appeased; were it otherwise there would have been
made an end of sacrificing. We must further carefully observe, that he
calls those the same sacrifices which were appointed for a similar
purpose; for a better notion may be formed of them by the design for
which God instituted them, than by the different beasts which were
offered.
And this one thing is abundantly sufficient to confute and expose the
subtlety of the Papists, by which they seem to themselves ingeniously
to evade an absurdity in defending the sacrifice of the mass; for when
it is objected to them that the repetition of the sacrifice is
superfluous, since the virtue of that sacrifice which Christ offered is
perpetual, they immediately reply that the sacrifice in the mass is not
different but the same. This is their answer. But what, on the
contrary, does the Apostle say? He expressly denies that the sacrifice
which is repeatedly offered, though the same, is efficacious or capable
of making an atonement. Now, though the Papists should cry out a
thousand times that the sacrifice which Christ once offered is the same
with, and not different from what they make daily, I shall still always
contend, according to the express words of the Apostle, that since the
offerings of Christ availed to pacify God, not only an end was put to
former sacrifices, but that it is also impious to repeat the sacrifice.
It is hence quite evident that the offering of Christ in the mass is
sacrilegious. [164]
7. MURRAY 1-4, “
WE have now seen the Priest for ever, able to save completely
(chap, vii.) ; the true sanctuary in which He ministers (chap,
viii.) ; and the blood through which the sanctuary was opened,
and we are cleansed to enter in (chap. ix.). There is still a
fourth truth of which mention has been made in passing, but
which has not yet been expounded, What is the way into the
Holiest, by which Christ entered in? What is the path in
which He walked when He went to shed His blood and pass
through the veil to enter in and appear before God ? In other
words, what was it that gave His sacrifice its worth, and what the
disposition, the inner essential nature of that mediation that
secured His acceptance as our High Priest. The answer to be
given in the first eighteen verses of this chapter will form the
conclusion of the doctrinal half of the Epistle, and especially of
the higher teaching it has for the perfect.
To prepare the way for the answer, the chapter begins with
once again reminding us of the impotence of the law. The law
having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very
image of the things. The law had only the shadow, not the

7. substance. The gospel gives us the very image. The image
of God in which man was created was an actual spiritual reality.
The Son Himself, as the image of the Father, was His true
likeness ever in possession of His Father s life and glory.
When man makes an image, it is but a dead thing. When
God gives an image it is a living reality, sharing in the life and
the attributes of the original. And so the gospel brings us not
a shadow, a picture, a mental conception, but the very image of
the heavenly things, so that we know and have them, really
taste and possess them. A shadow is first of all a picture, an
external figure, giving a dim apprehension of good things to
come. Then, as the external passes away, and sight is changed
into faith, there comes a clearer conception of divine and heavenly
blessings. And then faith is changed into possession and
experience, and the Holy Spirit makes the power of Christ s
redemption and the heavenly life a reality within us. Some
Christians never get beyond the figures and shadows ; some
advance to faith in the spiritual good set forth ; blessed they
who go on to full possession of what faith had embraced.
In expounding what the law is not able to do, the writer
uses four remarkable expressions which, while they speak of the
weakness of the law with its shadows, indicate at the same time
what the good things to come are, of which Christ is to bring us
the very image, the divine experience.
The priests can never make perfect them that draw nigh.
This is what Christ can do. He makes the conscience perfect.
He hath perfected us for ever. These words suggest the infinite
difference between what the law could do, and Christ has truly
brought. What they mean in the mind of God, and what Christ
our High Priest in the power of an endless life can make
them to be to us, this the Holy Spirit will reveal. Let us be
content with no easy human exposition, by which we are content
to count the ordinary low experience of the slothful Christian
the hope of being pardoned, as an adequate fulfilment of what
God means by the promises of the perfect conscience. Let us
seek to know the blessing in its heavenly power.
The worshippers once cleansed would have had no more
conscience of sins. This is the perfect conscience when there
is no more conscience of sins a conscience that, once cleansed
in the same power in which the blood was once shed, knows
how completely sin has been put away out of that sphere of
spiritual fellowship with God to which it has found access.

8. In those sacrifices there is a remembrance made of sins
year by year. The cleansing of the heavens and the putting
away of sin is so complete that with God our sins are no *more
remembered. And it is meant that the soul that enters fully
into the Holiest of All, and is kept there by the power of the
eternal High Priest, should have such an experience of His
eternal, always lasting, always acting redemption, that there
shall be no remembrance of aught but of what He is and does
and will do. As we live in the heavenly places, in the Holiest
of All, we live where there is no more remembrance of sins.
It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should
take away sins. What is impossible for the law is what Christ
has done. He takes away not only guilt but sins, and that in
such power of the endless life that those that draw nigh are
made perfect, that there is no more conscience of sins, that there
be no more remembrance of sins.
To how many Christians the cross and the death of Christ
are nothing so much as a remembrance of sins. Let us believe
that by God s power, through the Holy Spirit, revealing to us
the way into the Holiest, it may become the power of a life,
with no more conscience of sins, and a walk with a perfect
conscience before God.
1. Here we have again the contrast between the two systems. In the one God spake by the
prophets, giving thoughts and conceptions shadows of he good things to come. But now He
speaks to us in His Son, the likeness of God, who gives us he very image, the actual likeness, in
our experience of the heavenly things. It Is the deep contrast between the outward and the
inward the created and the divine.
2. A perfect conscience. No more conscience of sin. Let me not fear and say, Yes, this
Is the conscience Christ gives, but it is impossible for me to keep it or enjoy its blessing per
manently. Let me believe in Him who is my Priest, after the power of an endless life, who ever
Hues to pray, and is able to save completely, because every moment His blood and love and power
are in full operation, the perfect conscience in me, because He is for me in heaven, a Priest
perfected for evermore.
8. COFFMAN, “A shadow, not the very image
brings into sharp contrast the old and new covenants, the old being likened
to a shadow, and the new to the very image of the heavenly things. Just as
a man's shadow would reveal far less information about him than a
three-dimensional color photograph; just so, the shadow of the heavenly
things as revealed in the law is far inferior to the knowledge of God and his
divine fellowship available in the new covenant. We might even affirm that
the true forgiveness available in Christ, along with the privileges of faith, and
including all the attendant promises, hopes, and blessings of the Christian

9. faith, actually are the REALITIES typified by the shadows of the old
covenant; and yet, significantly, the sacred text falls far short of any such
declaration, the marvelous benefits and blessings of the new institution
THEMSELVES being here hailed as "the very image" of still greater realities
yet to be realized and revealed in heaven. As Westcott said,
Theophylact ... carries our thoughts still further. As the image is better than
the shadow, so, he argues, will the archtype be better than the image, the
realities of the unseen world than the "mysteries" that now represent
them. F1
Likewise, Bruce said, "Within the New Testament itself, we have Paul's
repeated description of Christ as the [Greek: eikon] (image) of God"
(2 Corinthians 4:4;Colossians 1:15). F2
It would be wrong, however, to attribute any lack of efficacy to the new
covenant, wherein Christians are "workers together with God," and have
been blessed with "all spiritual blessings" in Christ, and have been made to
stand upon the threshold of eternal life. The magnificent endowments of the
faith in Christ are more than sufficient for all the needs and desires of life in
man's present condition; and, therefore, it is with the deepest wonder and
admiration that one reads,
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is
perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away ... For now we see
in a mirror darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I
know fully even as also I was fully known (1 Corinthians 13:9-12).
Can never ... make perfect them that draw nigh
is the conclusion dependent on the truth that the law and all of its provisions
had the status of a mere shadow. They were only typical, carnal, earthly,
material, and mortal devices, having no efficacy at all, except as they
directed the minds of the worshipers to the holy and heavenly things
prefigured.
Them that draw nigh
brings before us the whole purpose and intent of holy religion, that of
restoring man's lost fellowship with his Creator. The law, far from making
that possible, actually dramatized the separation between God and men; and
such drawing nigh as took place under the law was certainly not on any
general scale but upon the most limited scope, being only for a few, and for
them on very rare occasions.
9. TERRY LARM, “10:1 This verse starts by contrasting between the "shadow" (skian)
of the law and the "true form" (eikona) of these realities. We have already seen this

10. kind of distinction in 8:5-6 and something of it again in 9:23. However, the contrast
between skia and eikwn presents some difficulties. While the sentence structure of
this verse clearly marks off eikwn as the opposite of skia, which would give it a
meaning of "substance" or "reality," its normal meaning is "figure," "image," "form,"
or "appearance."[11]
Reflections on Hebrews 10:1-18" The Greek Orthodox Theological
Review, 17 no 2 (February 1972): 218. These alternate meanings may have been why
the scribe of P46
(the earliest known copy of Hebrews[12]
) changed the verse to read
"Since the law has only a shadow of the good things which are to come and the mere
copy of those realities" (he removed ouk authn and replaced it with kai).[13]
Yet, since
platonic and middle-platonic thought used eikwn as an image in contrast to the true
form,[14]
universe with skia at the low end, eikwn in the middle, and the true form at
the top. Cf. Harold W. Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews: a Commentary on the
Epistle to the Hebrews, Hermeneia--a Critical and Historical Commentary on the
Bible, edited by Helmut Koester (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1989), 270. Cf.
Stylianopoulos (219) and Ellingworth (490) both of whom see skia and eikwn as
having essentially the same meaning. Whether or not skia and eikwn had the same
meaning in the philosophers, eikwn still did not have the meaning of reality itself. the
question comes, how can Hebrews use eikwn for reality? Evidence from Philo shows
that during Hellenistic times eikwn was sometimes used as an opposite to skia[15]
in
the way that our author uses it here. Attridge also points to the Jewish exegetical
tradition and the emphatic authn as evidence of the breakdown between eikwn and
reality.[16]
Hebrews also connects the "law" (nomoj) with the "sacrifices" (qusiaij). This supports
Ellingworth's proposal that nomoj, here as elsewhere in Hebrews, refers primarily to
the law's cultic aspect.[17]
Ellingworth also understands "the same sacrifices" (taij
autaij qusiaij) to refer to the sacrificial rites rather than the sacrificed animals.[18]
This
cultic arrangement, reflecting what Hebrews has already said in 7:11 and 19,
influences the way we read "perfect" (teleiwsai), and leads us to agree with Braun's
translation "consecrate."[19]
Perfection is what allows the worshipers to "approach"
(proserxomenous) God.
Since the sacrifices have to be repeated year after year, a reference to the Day of
Atonement,[20]
they can never really perfect the community, by bringing God's plan to
completion, so that they can approach God.[21]
But since the sacrifices are prescribed
by the law, this indictment on the sacrifices is also a charge against the law itself.
Hebrews is arguing that merely by the need to prescribe a repetition in the sacrifices

11. the weakness of the whole system is evident.[22]
The law and its sacrifices turn out to
be only an empty shadow of reality that cannot bring us into the presence of God.
2 If it could, would they not have stopped being
offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed
once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for
their sins.
1. BARNES, "For then would they not have ceased to be offered? - Margin, “Or they
would have.” The sense is the same. The idea is, that the very fact that they were repeated
showed that there was some deficiency in them as to the matter of cleansing the soul from sin. If
they had answered all the purposes of a sacrifice in putting away guilt, there would have been no
need of repeating them in this manner. They were in this respect like medicine. If what is given
to a patient heals him, there is no need of repeating it; but if it is repeated often it shows that
there was some deficiency in it, and if taken periodically through a man’s life, and the disease
should still remain, it would show that it was not sufficient to effect his cure. So it was with the
offerings made by the Jews. They were offered every year, and indeed every day, and still the
disease of sin remained. The conscience was not satisfied; and the guilty felt that it was
necessary that the sacrifice should be repeated again and again.
Because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience
of sin - That is, if their sacrifices had so availed as to remove their past sins, and to procure
forgiveness, they would have had no more trouble of conscience on account of them. They would
not have felt that it was necessary to make these sacrifices over and over again in order to find
peace. When a man has full evidence that an atonement has been made which will meet all the
demands of the Law, and which secures the remission of sin, he feels that it is enough. It is all
that the case demands, and his conscience may have peace. But when he does “not” feel this, or
has not evidence that his sins are all forgiven, those sins will rise to remembrance, and he will be
alarmed. He may be punished for them after all. Thence it follows that if a man wants peace he
should have good evidence that his sins are forgiven through the blood of the atonement.
No temporary expedient; no attempt to cover them up; no effort to forget them will answer
the purpose. They “must be blotted out” if he will have peace - and that can be only through a
perfect sacrifice. By the use of the word rendered “conscience” here, it is not meant that he who
was pardoned would have no “consciousness” that he was a sinner, or that he would forget it,
but that he would have no trouble of conscience; he would have no apprehension of future
wrath. The pardon of sin does not cause it to cease to be remembered. He who is forgiven may

12. have a deeper conviction of its evil than he had ever had before. But he will not be troubled or
distressed by it as if it were to expose him to the wrath of God. The remembrance of it will
humble him; it will serve to exalt his conceptions of the mercy of God and the glory of the
atonement, but it will no longer overwhelm the mind with the dread of hell. This effect, the
apostle says, was not produced on the minds of those who offered sacrifices every year. The very
fact that they did it, showed that the conscience was not at peace.
2. CLARKE, "Would they not have ceased to be offered? - Had they made an effectual
reconciliation for the sins of the world, and contained in their once offering a plenitude of
permanent merit, they would have ceased to be offered, at least in reference to any individual
who had once offered them; because, in such a case, his conscience would be satisfied that its
guilt had been taken away. But no Jew pretended to believe that even the annual atonement
cancelled his sin before God; yet he continued to make his offerings, the law of God having so
enjoined, because these sacrifices pointed out that which was to come. They were offered,
therefore, not in consideration of their own efficacy, but as referring to Christ; See on Heb_9:9
(note).
3. GILL, "For then would they not have ceased to be offered,.... The Complutensian
edition, and the Syriac and Vulgate Latin versions, leave out the word "not"; and the sense
requires it should be omitted, for the meaning is, that if perfection had been by the legal
sacrifices, they would have ceased to have been offered; for if the former ones had made perfect,
there would have been no need of others, or of the repetition of the same; but because they did
not make perfect, therefore they were yearly renewed; unless the words are read with an
interrogation, as they are in the Arabic version, "for then would they not have ceased to be
offered?" yes, they would; they are indeed ceased now, but this is owing to Christ and his
sacrifice, and not to the efficacy of these sacrifices; for yearly sacrifices were offered for former
sins, as well as for fresh ones, as appears from the following verse.
Because the worshippers, once purged, would have had no more conscience of
sins; there are external and internal worshippers; the latter are such who worship God in Spirit
and in truth: but here ceremonial worshippers are meant, who, if they had been really purged
from sin by legal sacrifices, and purifications, would have had no more conscience of sins, and so
have had no need to have repeated them; as such spiritual worshippers, who are once purged
from sin by the blood and sacrifice of Christ; not that they have no sin, or no sense of sin, or that
their consciences are seared, or that they never accuse for sin, or that they are to make no
confession and acknowledgment of sin; but that they are discharged from the guilt of sin, and
are not liable to condemnation for it; and through the application of the blood of Christ to them,
have peace with God, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
4. HENRY, "The legal sacrifices, being offered year by year, could never make the comers
thereunto perfect; for then there would have been an end of offering them, Heb_10:1, Heb_10:2.
Could they have satisfied the demands of justice, and made reconciliation for iniquity, - could
they have purified and pacified conscience, - then they had ceased, as being no further
necessary, since the offerers would have had no more sin lying upon their consciences. But this
was not the case; after one day of atonement was over, the sinner would fall again into one fault
or another, and so there would be need of another day of atonement, and of one every year,
besides the daily ministrations. Whereas now, under the gospel, the atonement is perfect, and
not to be repeated; and the sinner, once pardoned, is ever pardoned as to his state, and only

13. needs to renew his repentance and faith, that he may have a comfortable sense of a continued
pardon.
5. JAMISON, "For — if the law could, by its sacrifices, have perfected the worshippers.
they — the sacrifices.
once purged — IF they were once for all cleansed (Heb_7:27).
conscience — “consciousness of sin” (Heb_9:9).
6. COFFMAN, "A shadow, not the very image
brings into sharp contrast the old and new covenants, the old being likened
to a shadow, and the new to the very image of the heavenly things. Just as
a man's shadow would reveal far less information about him than a
three-dimensional color photograph; just so, the shadow of the heavenly
things as revealed in the law is far inferior to the knowledge of God and his
divine fellowship available in the new covenant. We might even affirm that
the true forgiveness available in Christ, along with the privileges of faith, and
including all the attendant promises, hopes, and blessings of the Christian
faith, actually are the REALITIES typified by the shadows of the old
covenant; and yet, significantly, the sacred text falls far short of any such
declaration, the marvelous benefits and blessings of the new institution
THEMSELVES being here hailed as "the very image" of still greater realities
yet to be realized and revealed in heaven. As Westcott said,
Theophylact ... carries our thoughts still further. As the image is better than
the shadow, so, he argues, will the archtype be better than the image, the
realities of the unseen world than the "mysteries" that now represent
them. F1
Likewise, Bruce said, "Within the New Testament itself, we have Paul's
repeated description of Christ as the [Greek: eikon] (image) of God"
(2 Corinthians 4:4;Colossians 1:15). F2
It would be wrong, however, to attribute any lack of efficacy to the new
covenant, wherein Christians are "workers together with God," and have
been blessed with "all spiritual blessings" in Christ, and have been made to
stand upon the threshold of eternal life. The magnificent endowments of the
faith in Christ are more than sufficient for all the needs and desires of life in
man's present condition; and, therefore, it is with the deepest wonder and
admiration that one reads,
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is
perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away ... For now we see
in a mirror darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I
know fully even as also I was fully known (1 Corinthians 13:9-12).

14. Can never ... make perfect them that draw nigh
is the conclusion dependent on the truth that the law and all of its provisions
had the status of a mere shadow. They were only typical, carnal, earthly,
material, and mortal devices, having no efficacy at all, except as they
directed the minds of the worshipers to the holy and heavenly things
prefigured.
Them that draw nigh
brings before us the whole purpose and intent of holy religion, that of
restoring man's lost fellowship with his Creator. The law, far from making
that possible, actually dramatized the separation between God and men; and
such drawing nigh as took place under the law was certainly not on any
general scale but upon the most limited scope, being only for a few, and for
them on very rare occasions.
3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins,
1. BARNES, "But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins
every year - The reference here is to the sacrifices made on the great day of atonement. This
occurred once in a year. Of course as often as a sacrifice was offered, it was an acknowledgment
of guilt on the part of those for whom it was made. As these sacrifices continued to be offered
every year, they who made the offering were reminded of their guilt and their desert of
punishment. All the efficacy which could be pretended to belong those sacrifices, was that they
made expiation for the past year. Their efficacy did not extend into the future, nor did it embrace
any but those who were engaged in offering them. These sacrifices, therefore, could not make
the atonement which man needed. They could not make the conscience easy; they could not be
regarded as a sufficient expiation for the time to come, so that the sinner at any time could plead
an offering which was already made as a ground of pardon, and they could not meet the wants of
all people in all lands and at all times. These things are to be found only in that great sacrifice
made by the Redeemer on the cross.
2. BI, "Sin remembered no more:
Memory is the source both of sorrow and of joy: like the wind, which is laden both with
frankincense and with unpleasant odours, which brings both pestilence and health, which both
distributes genial warmth and circulates cold.

15. The effect of memory depends on the subject of a particular recollection. This faculty is directed
to past events, and if those which memory embraces have been joyous, the effect is joyous; if
they have been grievous, the effect, unless there be some counteracting influence, is grievous.
Among the multitude of sorrows, which, memory awakens, none is so bitter as that which arises
from the recollection of sin. The recollection of sin is in this world variously originated.
Sometimes pride leads a man to dwell on his past errors. He has a very high estimate of himself,
and his complacency has been disturbed by some act of transgression, upon which be is
constantly looking back. Vanity moves men to remember their errors. The vain man is anxious
that others should have a good opinion of him, and his mortified vanity occasions him to look
back upon his past faults and failures. Or he has a selfish desire for his own happiness: he sees in
the past actions which have interfered with his enjoyment, and he cherishes the remembrance of
sin because sin has been drying up the fountain of his pleasures. But turning from the evil
powers which originate such recollections, we may look at a broken and contrite heart.
Contrition of spirit cherishes the memory of transgression. The recollection of sin is occasioned
by various influences, and the effect of these remembrances is various. Sometimes the
recollection of sin hardens a man; sometimes it produces strong rebellion. On other occasions it
induces deep depression. “The spirit of a man may sustain his infirmities, but a wounded spirit,
who can bear?” There is a provision for forgetting our sins. But there was no such provision
under the Law, nor in any of the ceremonies that Moses ordained. On the contrary, “in those
sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.” That Jew would not be a true
disciple to Moses and true child of Abraham who did not on the Day of Atonement call to mind
his trespasses, although he had presented a trespass-offering, and all the sins he had committed,
although he had presented his sin-offerings. If you look at the chapter, you will find that this
passage is introduced for the sake of forming a contrast between the dispensation under Moses
and the dispensation introduced by Christ. “Now there is no remembrance again made of sins.”
We have had our day of atonement—the day upon which Christ hung on the Cross. We have had
our sacrifice offered: it has been both offered and accepted. We have only to feel that it has been
offered, and that it is accepted, and then the atonement which removes the outward guilt takes
away also from the conscience the sense of guilt. “In these sacrifices there is a remembrance
again made of sins every year.” “But by this one offering He hath perfected for ever them that
are sanctified.” Here the writer penned these words for the sake of expressing something else
which these words suggest to every Christian; such as these thoughts: First, God has made
provision for the practical forgetting of sin in His own conduct towards a believing transgressor;
and, secondly, the state of the penitent’s heart should respond to this provision. This provision is
revealed to him on purpose that he may take advantage of it—that he may get all the peace and
joy it is calculated to minister. “Thou shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any
more.” “For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee.” For
the sake of cherishing the spirit of humility, it is right to remember sin; for the sake of learning
patience and forbearance and a kind and forgiving spirit towards each other; for the sake of
increasing our sense of obligation to the atonement of Christ, and stimulating our gratitude for
the everlasting mercy of God, it is right to remember sin; but sin should be forgotten when the
remembrance of it would operate as a barrier to intercourse with God. “Ye have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, Father.” “Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace”; not with the sullenness
of Cain—“my punishment is greater than I can bear”—but with all the loving reliance of
Abel—“come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help
in time of need.”
1. As an obstacle to hope, there is to be no remembrance of sins. “The Lord is my light and
my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be
afraid?” “Jehovah is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.”

16. 2. As a check to filial reliance, there is to be no remembrance of sin. “Though He slay me, yet
will I trust in Him.”
3. As marring our complacency in God, there is to be no remembrance of sin. He “hath
reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ,” and annihilated the distance. “You who were far
off are brought nigh by the blood of Christ.”
4. As hindering our enjoyment in God, there is to be no remembrance of sin. You are not to
ask, “Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?” as
though you would go if you could, or as though it would be a relief to take your eye from
God’s eye and your lip from God’s ear; but your resolve must be, I will “go to the altar of my
God, to God my exceeding joy.”
5. As darkening our prospects, there is to be no remembrance of sin. He has” blotted out as a
thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins.” Why is it that some Christians do not
realise all this? Why is it that sometimes fear gets the mastery over them? The answer is at
hand. Many persons think that they are Christians when they are not. Their repentance has
been a thoroughly selfish state of soul, and not a godly sorrow. (S. Martin.)
Reminders of sins:
As they in the time of the Law had many sacrifices to put them in remembrance of sin, so we in
the time of the Gospel have many remembrancers of sin—sundry monitors to admonish us that
we are sinners. The rainbow may be a remembrance of sin to us, that the world was once
drowned for sin, and that it might be so still but for the goodness and mercy of God. Baptism
daily ministered in the Church putteth us in mind of sin; for if we were not sinners we needed
not to be baptized. The Lord’s Supper puts us in mind of sin: “Do this in remembrance of Me,”
that My body was broken for you and My blood shed for you on the Cross. The immoderate
showers that come oft in harvest and deprive us of the fruits of the earth may put us in mind of
sin; for they be our sins that keep good things from us. Our moiling and toiling for the
sustentation of ourselves with much care and wearisome labour; for if we had not sinned it
should not have been so. The sicknesses and, diseases that be among us, the plague and
pestilence that hath raged among us, the death of so many of our brethren and sisters
continually before our eyes, &c., may put us in mind of sin; for if we had not sinned we should
not have died. There be a number of things to put us in mind of sin; but there is nothing that can
take away sin but Jesus Christ “ the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world.”
Therefore let us all fly to this heavenly Physician for the curing of us. (W. Joules, D. D.)
3. GILL, "But in those sacrifices,.... The Arabic version reads, "but in it"; that is, in the law;
but the Syriac version reads, and supplies, as we do, ‫בדבחא‬‫בהון‬ , "in those sacrifices", which were
offered every year on the day of atonement:
there is a remembrance of sins made again every year; of all the sins that were
committed the year past, and even of those that were expiated typically by the daily sacrifice,
and others that had been offered; which proves the imperfection and insufficiency of such
sacrifices: there was a remembrance of sins by God, before whom the goats were presented, their
blood was sprinkled, and the people cleansed, Lev_16:7 and there was a remembrance of them
by the people, who, on that day, afflicted their souls for them, Lev_16:29 and there was a
remembrance of them by the high priest, who confessed them over, and put them upon the head

17. of the goat, Lev_16:21 by which it was owned, that these sins were committed; that they
deserved death, the curse of the law; that the expiation of them was undertook by another,
typified by the goat; that this was not yet done, and therefore there was no remission, but a
typical one, by these sacrifices; but that sins remained, and required a more perfect sacrifice,
which was yet to be offered up. Legal sacrifices were so far from inducing an oblivion of sins,
that they themselves brought them to remembrance, and were so many acknowledgments of
them. Though Philo the Jew thinks the contrary, and gives this as a reason why the heart and
brain were not offered in sacrifice, because
"it would be foolish, that the sacrifices should cause, not a forgetfulness of sins, but a
remembrance of them (q).''
4. COFFMAN 3-4, "But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made
of sins year by year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and
goats should take away sins.
Concerning the manner in which there was a remembrance of sins each
year, and the same sins at that, see under preceding verse. Behold the
contrast between the old law and the new, in the matter of their most sacred
ceremonies and sacrifices on the Day of Atonement, which were directed to
the remembrance of sins for which daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal
sacrifices had already been offered. On the other hand, look at the contrast
in the new covenant where the glorious function of the solemn observance of
the Lord's Supper is not to call to mind the sins of the worshipers but to
remember Christ, his death, his truly efficacious atonement, and his love for
the redeemed. Remember sins; remember Christ! What a difference! Any
intrusion upon the mind of the worshiper with regard to the remembrance of
sins is swallowed up by the thought of that glorious sacrifice in Christ by
which sins are removed forever and remembered no more. As Jeremiah
spoke of it, "For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins will I
remember no more" (Jeremiah 31:31ff). Thus, the New Testament worshiper
comes into divine service not to recall his sins but to remember the Lord
who said, "This do in remembrance of me."
For it is impossible, ...
Common sense alone is the proof of the statement that the blood of animals
cannot take away sin, but it is reaffirmed by the word of inspiration. On
account of God's having commanded animal sacrifices, there was always the
danger that men would assume some value as pertinent to them; hence, the
prophets repeatedly instructed Israel to the contrary. As Macknight noted,
Micah formerly taught the Jews the same doctrine and even insinuated to
them that the heathens, being sensible of the impossibility of making

18. atonement for sins by shedding the blood of beasts, had recourse to human
sacrifices, in the imagination that they were more meritorious (Micah 6:7). F6
Not the least of the reasons why animal sacrifices could be of no avail lies in
the fact that animals never belonged to man in the first place. "For every
beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills, saith the
Lord" (Psalms 50:10). It was thus manifestly erroneous for man to think that
by sacrificing some of his fellow creatures of a lower order than himself, and
which like himself were the property of God, he could make any true
expiation for his sins.
5. JAMISON, "But — so far from those sacrifices ceasing to be offered (Heb_10:2).
in, etc. — in the fact of their being offered, and in the course of their being offered on the day
of atonement. Contrast Heb_10:17.
a remembrance — a recalling to mind by the high priest’s confession, on the day of
atonement, of the sins both of each past year and of all former years, proving that the expiatory
sacrifices of former years were not felt by men’s consciences to have fully atoned for former sins;
in fact, the expiation and remission were only legal and typical (Heb_10:4, Heb_10:11). The
Gospel remission, on the contrary, is so complete, that sins are “remembered no more”
(Heb_10:17) by God. It is unbelief to “forget” this once-for-all purgation, and to fear on account
of “former sins” (2Pe_1:9). The believer, once for all bathed, needs only to “wash” his hands and
“feet” of soils, according as he daily contracts them, in Christ’s blood (Joh_13:10).
6. CALVIN, "A remembrance again, etc. Though the Gospel is a message of
reconciliation with God, yet it is necessary that we should daily
remember our sins; but what the Apostle means is, that sins were
brought to remembrance that guilt might be removed by the means of the
sacrifice then offered. It is not, then, any kind of remembrance that
is here meant, but that which might lead to such a confession of guilt
before God, as rendered a sacrifice necessary for its removal.
Such is the sacrifice of the mass with the Papists; for they pretend
that by it the grace of God is applied to us in order that sins may be
blotted out. But since the Apostle concludes that the sacrifices of the
Law were weak, because they were every year repeated in order to obtain
pardon, for the very same reason it may be concluded that the sacrifice
of Christ was weak, if it must be daily offered, in order that its
virtue may be applied to us. With whatever masks, then, they may cover
their mass, they can never escape the charge of an atrocious blasphemy
against Christ.

19. 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and
goats to take away sins.
1. BARNES, "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take
away sins - The reference here is to the sacrifices which were made on the great day of the
atonement, for on that day the blood of bulls and of goats alone was offered; see the notes on
Heb_9:7. Paul here means to say, doubtless, that it was not possible that the blood of these
animals should make a complete expiation so as to purify the conscience, and so as to save the
sinner from deserved wrath. According to the divine arrangement, expiation was made by those
sacrifices for offences of various kinds against the ritual law of Moses, and pardon for such
offences was thus obtained. But the meaning here is, that there was no efficacy in the blood of a
mere animal to wash away a “moral” offence. It could not repair the Law; it could not do
anything to maintain the justice of God; it had no efficacy to make the heart pure. The mere
shedding of the blood of an animal never could make the soul pure. This the apostle states as a
truth which must be admitted at once as indisputable, and yet it is probable that many of the
Jews had imbibed the opinion that there was such efficacy in blood shed according to the divine
direction, as to remove all stains of guilt from the soul; see the notes, Heb_9:9-10.
2. CLARKE, "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take
away sins - The reference here is to the sacrifices which were made on the great day of the
atonement, for on that day the blood of bulls and of goats alone was offered; see the notes on
Heb_9:7. Paul here means to say, doubtless, that it was not possible that the blood of these
animals should make a complete expiation so as to purify the conscience, and so as to save the
sinner from deserved wrath. According to the divine arrangement, expiation was made by those
sacrifices for offences of various kinds against the ritual law of Moses, and pardon for such
offences was thus obtained. But the meaning here is, that there was no efficacy in the blood of a
mere animal to wash away a “moral” offence. It could not repair the Law; it could not do
anything to maintain the justice of God; it had no efficacy to make the heart pure. The mere
shedding of the blood of an animal never could make the soul pure. This the apostle states as a
truth which must be admitted at once as indisputable, and yet it is probable that many of the
Jews had imbibed the opinion that there was such efficacy in blood shed according to the divine
direction, as to remove all stains of guilt from the soul; see the notes, Heb_9:9-10.
3. GILL, "For it is not possible,.... There is a necessity of sin being taken away, otherwise it
will be remembered; and there will be a conscience of it, and it must be answered for, or it will
remain marked, and the curse and penalty of the law must take place: but it is impossible
that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins; which was shed on the day of
atonement: sin is a breach of the moral law, but these sacrifices belong to, the ceremonial law,
which are less acceptable to God than moral duties; sin is committed against God, and has an
objective infiniteness in it, and therefore can never be atoned for by the blood of such creatures;
it leaves a stain on the mind and conscience, which this blood cannot reach; besides, this is not
the same blood, nor of the same kind with the person that has sinned; yea, if this could take
away sin, it would do more than the blood of the man himself could do; such blood shed can

20. never answer the penalty of the law, satisfy divine justice, or secure the honour of divine
holiness: but what the blood of these creatures could not do, the blood of Christ has done, and
does: that takes away sin from the sight of justice, and from the consciences of the saints.
Compare with this the Septuagint version of Jer_11:15.
"what, has the beloved committed abomination in my house? shall prayers, and the holy flesh
take away thy wickednesses from thee, or by these shall thou escape?''
4. HENRY, " As the legal sacrifices did not of themselves take away sin, so it was impossible
they should, Heb_10:4. There was an essential defect in them. 1. They were not of the same
nature with us who sinned. 2. They were not of sufficient value to make satisfaction for the
affronts offered to the justice and government of God. They were not of the same nature that
offended, and so could not be suitable. Much less were they of the same nature that was
offended; and nothing less than the nature that was offended could make the sacrifice a full
satisfaction for the offence. 3. The beasts offered up under the law could not consent to put
themselves in the sinner's room and place. The atoning sacrifice must be one capable of
consenting, and must voluntarily substitute himself in the sinner's stead: Christ did so.
V. There was a time fixed and foretold by the great God, and that time had now come, when
these legal sacrifices would be no longer accepted by him nor useful to men. God never did
desire them for themselves, and now he abrogated them; and therefore to adhere to them now
would be resisting God and rejecting him. This time of the repeal of the Levitical laws was
foretold by David (Psa_40:6, Psa_40:7), and is recited here as now come. Thus industriously
does the apostle lay low the Mosaical dispensation.
5. JAMISON, "For, etc. — reason why, necessarily, there is a continually recurring
“remembrance of sins” in the legal sacrifices (Heb_10:3). Typically, “the blood of bulls,” etc.,
sacrificed, had power; but it was only in virtue of the power of the one real antitypical sacrifice of
Christ; they had no power in themselves; they were not the instrument of perfect vicarious
atonement, but an exhibition of the need of it, suggesting to the faithful Israelite the sure hope
of coming redemption, according to God’s promise.
take away — “take off.” The Greek, Heb_10:11, is stronger, explaining the weaker word here,
“take away utterly.” The blood of beasts could not take away the sin of man. A MAN must do
that (see on Heb_9:12-14).
6. CALVIN, "For it is not possible, etc. He confirms the former sentiment with
the same reason which he had adduced before, that the blood of beasts
could not cleanse souls from sin. The Jews, indeed, had in this a
symbol and a pledge of the real cleansing; but it was with reference to
another, even as the blood of the calf represented the blood of Christ.
But the Apostle is speaking here of the efficacy of the blood of beasts
in itself. He therefore justly takes away from it the power of
cleansing. There is also to be understood a contrast which is not
expressed, as though he had said, "It is no wonder that the ancient
sacrifices were insufficient, so that they were to be offered
continually, for they had nothing in them but the blood of beasts,
which could not reach the conscience; but far otherwise is the power of

21. Christ's blood: It is not then right to measure the offering which he
has made by the former sacrifices."
__________________________________________________________________
[164] No remark is made on the second verse. Doddridge and Beza read
the first clause without negative ouk and not as a question, according
to the Vulg. And the Syr. Versions, "Otherwise they would have ceased
to be offered." Most MSS. favor our present reading. There is no real
difference in the meaning. The words, "no more conscience of sins," are
rendered by Beza, "no more conscious of sins;" by Doddridge, "no more
consciousness of sins;" and by Stuart, "no longer conscious of sins."
The true meaning is no doubt thus conveyed. We meet with two other
instances of conscience, suneideses, being followed by what may be
called the genitive case of the object, "conscience of the idol," i.e.,
as to the idol, 1 Corinthians 8:7, -- "conscience of God," i.e., as to
God, or towards God, 1 Peter 2:19. And here, "conscience of sins," must
mean conscience with reference to sins, i.e., conviction of sins, a
conscience apprehensive of what sins deserve. It is a word, says
Parkhurst, which "is rarely found in the ancient heathen writers;" but
it occurs often in the New Testament, though not but once in the Sept.,
Ecclesiastes 10:20. Its common meaning is conscience, and not
consciousness, though it may be so rendered here, consistently with the
real meaning of the passage. Michaelis in his Introduction to the New
Testament, is referred to by Parkhurst, as having produced two
instances, one from Philo, and the other from Diod. Siculus, in which
it means "consciousness." -- Ed
5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body
you prepared for me;
1. BARNES, "Wherefore - This word shows that the apostle means to sustain what he had
said by a reference to the Old Testament itself. Nothing could be more opposite to the prevailing
Jewish opinions about the efficacy of sacrifice, than what he had just said. It was, therefore, of
the highest importance to defend the position which he had laid down by authority which they
would not presume to call in question, and he therefore makes his appeal to their own
Scriptures.
When he cometh into the world - When the Messiah came, for the passage evidently
referred to him. The Greek is, “Wherefore coming into the world, he saith.” It has been made a

22. question “when” this is to be understood as spoken - whether when he was born, or when he
entered on the work of his ministry. Grotius understands it of the latter. But it is not material to
a proper understanding of the passage to determine this. The simple idea is, that since it was
impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin, Christ coming into the world
made arrangements for a better sacrifice.
He saith - That is, this is the language denoted by his great undertaking; this is what his
coming to make an atonement implies. We are not to suppose that Christ formally used these
words on any occasion for we have no record that he did - but this language is what
appropriately expresses the nature of his work. Perhaps also the apostle means to say that it was
originally employed in the Psalm from which it is quoted in reference to him, or was indited by
him with reference to his future advent.
Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not - This is quoted from Psa_40:6, Psa_40:8.
There has been much perplexity felt by expositorsin reference to this quotation, and after all
which has been written, it is not entirely removed. The difficulty relates to these points.
(1) To the question whether the Psalm originally had any reference to the Messiah. The Psalm
“appears” to have pertained merely to David, and it would probably occur to no one on reading it
to suppose that it referred to the Messiah, unless it had been so applied by the apostle in this
place.
(2) There are many parts of the Psalm, it has been said, which cannot, without a very forced
interpretation, be applied to Christ; see Psa_40:2, Psa_40:12, Psa_40:14-16.
(3) The argument of the apostle in the expression “a body hast thou prepared me,” seems to be
based on a false translation of the Septuagint, which he has adopted, and it is difficult to see on
what principles he has done it. - It is not the design of these notes to go into an extended
examination of questions of this nature. Such examination must be sought in more extended
commentaries, and in treatises expressly relating to points of this kind.
On the design of Ps. 40, and its applicability to the Messiah, the reader may consult Prof.
Stuart on the Hebrews, Excursus xx. and Kuinoel in loc. After the most attentive examination
which I can give of the Psalm, it seems to me probable that it is one of the Psalms which had an
original and exclusive reference to the Messiah, and that the apostle has quoted it just as it was
meant to be understood by the Holy Spirit, as applicable to him. The reasons for this opinion are
briefly these:
(1) There are such Psalms, as is admitted by all. The Messiah was the hope of the Jewish
people; he was made the subject of their most sublime prophecies, and nothing was more
natural than that he should be the subject of the songs of their sacred bards. By the spirit of
inspiration they saw him in the distant future in the various circumstances in which he would be
placed, and they dwelt with delight upon the vision; compare Introduction to Isaiah, section
7.iii.
(2) The fact that it is here applied to the Messiah, is a strong circumstance to demonstrate that
it had an original applicability to him. This proof is of two kinds. “First,” that it is so applied by
an inspired apostle, which with all who admit his inspiration seems decisive of the question.
“Second,” the fact that he so applied it shows that this was an ancient and admitted
interpretation. The apostle was writing to those who had been Jews, and whom he was desirous
to convince of the truth of what he was alleging in regard to the nature of the Hebrew sacrifices.
For this purpose it was necessary to appeal to the Scriptures of the Old Testament, but it cannot
be supposed that he would adduce a passage for proof whose relevancy would not be admitted.
The presumption is, that the passage was in fact commonly applied as here.
(3) The whole of the Psalm may be referred to the Messiah without anything forced or
unnatural. The Psalm throughout seems to be made up of expressions used by a suffering

23. person, who had indeed been delivered from some evils, but who was expecting many more. The
principal difficulties in the way of such an interpretation, relate to the following points.
(a) In Psa_40:2, the speaker in the Psalm says, “He brought me up out of an horrible pit, out
of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock,” and on the ground of this he gives thanks to God.
But there is no real difficulty in supposing that this may refer to the Messiah. His enemies often
plotted against his life; laid snares for him and endeavored to destroy him, and it may be that he
refers to some deliverance from such machinations. If it is objected to this that it is spoken of as
having been uttered” when he came into the world,” it may be replied that that phrase does not
necessarily refer to the time of his birth, but that he uttered this sentiment sometime “during”
the period of his incarnation. “He coming into the world for the purpose of redemption made
use of this language.” In a similar manner we would say of Lafayette, that “he coming to the
United States to aid in the cause of liberty, suffered a wound in battle.” That is, during the
period in which he was engaged in this cause, he suffered in this manner.
(b) The next objection or difficulty relates to the application of Psa_40:12 to the Messiah.
“Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than
the hairs of my head; therefore my heart faileth me.” To meet this some have suggested that he
refers to the sins of people which he took upon himself, and which he here speaks of as “his
own.” But it is not true that the Lord Jesus so took upon himself the sins of others that they
could be his. They were “not” his, for he was in every sense “holy, harmless, and undefiled.”
The true solution of this difficulty, probably is, that the word rendered “iniquity” - ‫צון‬ ̀awon -
means “calamity, misfortune, trouble;” see Psa_31:10; 1Sa_28:10; 2Ki_7:9; Psa_28:6; compare
Psa_49:5. The proper idea in the word is that of “turning away, curving, making crooked;” and it
is thus applied to anything which is “perverted” or turned from the right way; as when one is
turned from the path of rectitude, or commits sin; when one is turned from the way of
prosperity or happiness, or is exposed to calamity. This seems to be the idea demanded by the
scope of the Psalm, for it is not a penitential Psalm, in which the speaker is recounting his “sins,”
but one in which he is enumerating his “sorrows;” praising God in the first part of the Psalm for
some deliverance already experienced, and supplicating his interposition in view of calamities
that he saw to be coming upon him. This interpretation also seems to be demanded in
Psa_40:12 by the “parallelism.” In the former part of the verse, the word to which “iniquity”
corresponds, is not “sin,” but “evil,” that is, calamity.
“For innumerable evils have compassed me about;
Mine iniquities (calamities) have taken hold upon me.”
If the word, therefore, be used here as it often is, and as the scope of the Psalm and the
connection seem to demand, there is no solid objection against applying this verse to the
Messiah.
(c) A third objection to this application of the Psalm to the Messiah is, that it cannot be
supposed that he would utter such imprecations on his enemies as are found in Psa_40:14-15.
“Let them be ashamed and confounded; let them be driven backward; let them be desolate.” To
this it may be replied, that such imprecations are as proper in the mouth of the Messiah as of
David; but particularly, it may be said also, that they are improper in the mouth of neither. Both
David and the Messiah “did” in fact utter denunciations against the enemies of piety and of God.
God does the same thing in his word and by his Providence. There is no evidence of any
“malignant” feeling in this; nor is it inconsistent with the highest benevolence. The Lawgiver
who says that the murderer shall die, may have a heart full of benevolence; the judge who
sentences him to death, may do it with eyes filled with tears. The objections, then, are not of
such a nature that it is improper to regard this Psalm as wholly applicable to the Messiah.

24. (4) The Psalm cannot be applied with propriety to David, nor do we know of anyone to whom
it can be but to the Messiah. When was it true of David that he said that he “had come to do the
will of God in view of the fact that God did not require sacrifice and offerings?” In what “volume
of a book” was it written of him before his birth that he “delighted to do the will of God?” When
was it true that he had” preached righteousness in the great congregation?” These expressions
are such as can be applied properly only to the Messiah, as Paul does here; and taking all these
circumstances together it will probably be regarded as the most proper interpretation to refer
the whole Psalm at once to the Redeemer and to suppose that Paul has used it in strict
accordance with its original design. The other difficulties referred to will be considered in the
exposition of the passage. The difference between “sacrifice” and “offering” is, that the former
refers to “bloody” sacrifices; the latter to “any” oblation made to God - as a thank-offering; an
offering of flour, oil, etc.; see the notes on Isa_1:11.
When it is said “sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not,” the meaning is not that such
oblations were “in no sense” acceptable to God - for as his appointment, and when offered with a
sincere heart, they doubtless were; but that they were not as acceptable to him as obedience, and
especially as the expression is used here that they could not avail to secure the forgiveness of
sins. They were not in their own nature such as was demanded to make an expiation for sin, and
hence, a body was prepared for the Messiah by which a more perfect sacrifice could be made.
The sentiment here expressed occurs more than once in the Old Testament. Thus, 1Sa_15:22.
“Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams,” Hos_6:6, “For I
desired mercy and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings;” compare
Psa_51:16-17, “For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it; thou delightest not in
burnt-offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.” This was an indisputable principle of
the Old Testament, though it was much obscured and forgotten in the common estimation
among the Jews. In accordance with this principle the Messiah came to render obedience of the
highest order, even to such an extent that he was willing to lay down his own life.
But a body hast thou prepared me - This is one of the passages which has caused a
difficulty in understanding this quotation from the Psalm. The difficulty is, that it differs from
the Hebrew, and that the apostle builds an argument upon it. It is not unusual indeed in the
New Testament to make use of the language of the Septuagint even where it varies somewhat
from the Hebrew; and where no “argument” is based on such a “passage,” there can be no
difficulty in such a usage, since it is not uncommon to make use of the language of others to
express our own thoughts. But the apostle does not appear to have made such a use of the
passage here, but to have applied it in the way of “argument.” The argument, indeed, does not
rest “wholly,” perhaps not “principally,” on the fact that a “body had been prepared” for the
Messiah; but still this was evidently in the view of the apostle an important consideration, and
this is the passage on which the proof of this is based.
The Hebrew Psa_40:6 “Mine ears hast thou opened,” or as it is in the margin, “digged.” The
idea there is, that the ear had been, as it were, excavated, or dug out, so as to be made to hear
distinctly; that is, certain truths had been clearly revealed to the speaker; or perhaps it may
mean that he had been made “readily and attentively obedient.” Stuart; compare Isa_1:5. “The
Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious.” In the Psalm, the proper connection
would seem to be, that the speaker had been made obedient, or had been so led that he was
disposed to do the will of God. This may be expressed by the fact that the ear had been opened
so as to be quick to hear, since an indisposition to obey is often expressed by the fact that the
ears are “stopped.” There is manifestly no allusion here, as has been sometimes supposed, to the
custom of boring through the ear of a servant with an awl as a sign that he was willing to remain
and serve his master; Exo_21:6; Deu_15:17.
In that case, the outer circle, or rim of the ear was bored through with an awl; here the idea is
that of hollowing out, digging, or excavating - a process to make the passage clear, not to pierce

25. the outward ear. The Hebrew in file Psalm the Septuagint translates, “a body hast thou prepared
me,” and this rendering has been adopted by the apostle. Various ways have been resorted to of
explaining the fact that the translators of the Septuagint rendered it in this manner, none of
which are entirely free from difficulty. Some critics, as Cappell, Ernesti, and others have
endeavored to show that it is probable that the Septuagint reading in Psa_40:6, was - ᆝτίον κατ
ηρτίσω µοι otion katertiso moi - “my ear thou hast prepared;” that is, for obedience. But of this
there is no proof, and indeed it is evident that the apostle quoted it as if it were σራµα soma,
“body;” see Heb_10:10. It is probably altogether impossible now to explain the reason why the
translators of the Septuagint rendered the phrase as they did; and this remark may be extended
to many other places of their version. It is to be admitted here, beyond all doubt, whatever
consequences may follow:
(1) That their version does not accord with the Hebrew;
(2) That the apostle has quoted their version as it stood, without attempting to correct it;
(3) That his use of the passage is designed, to some extent at least, as “proof” of what he was
demonstrating.
The leading idea; the important and essential point in the argument, is, indeed, not that “a
body was prepared,” but that “he came to do the will of God;” but still it is clear that the apostle
meant to lay some stress on the fact that a body had been prepared for the Redeemer. Sacrifice
and offering by the bodies of lambs and goats were not what was required, but instead of that
the Messiah came to do the will of God by offering a more perfect sacrifice, and in accomplishing
that it was necessary that he should be endowed with a body But on what principle the apostle
has quoted a passage to prove this which differs from the Hebrew, I confess I cannot see, nor do
any of the explanations offered commend themselves as satisfactory. The only circumstances
which seem to furnish any relief to the difficulty are these two:
(1) That the “main point” in the argument of the apostle was not that “a body had been
prepared,” but that the Messiah came to do the “will of God,” and that the preparation of a
body for that was rather an incidental circumstance; and
(2) That the translation by the Septuagint was not a material departure from the “scope” of
the whole Hebrew passage.
The “main” thought - that of doing the will of God in the place of offering sacrifice - was still
retained; the opening of the ears, that is, rendering the person attentive and disposed to obey,
and the preparing of a body in order to obedience, were not circumstances so unlike as to make
it necessary for the apostle to re-translate the whole passage in order to the main end which he
had in view. Still, I admit, that these considerations do not seem to me to be wholly satisfactory.
Those who are disposed to examine the various opinions which have been entertained of this
passage may find them in Kuinoel, in loc., Rosenmuller, Stuart on the Hebrews, Excursus xx.,
and Kennicott on Psa_40:6. Kennicott supposes that there has been a change in the Hebrew
text, and that instead of the present reading - ‫אזנים‬ ‛aaznaayim - “ears,” the reading was ‫אז‬‫גוף‬ ‛
aaz guwph - then a body;” and that these words became united by the error of transcribers, and
by a slight change then became as the present copies of the Hebrew text stands. This conjecture
is ingenious, and if it were ever allowable to follow a “mere” conjecture, I should be disposed to
do it here. But there is no authority from mss. for any change, nor do any of the old versions
justify it, or agree with this except the Arabic.

26. 2. CLARKE, "When he (the Messiah) cometh into the world - Was about to be
incarnated, He saith to God the Father, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not - it was never
thy will and design that the sacrifices under thy own law should be considered as making
atonement for sin, they were only designed to point out my incarnation and consequent
sacrificial death, and therefore a body hast thou prepared me, by a miraculous conception in the
womb of a virgin, according to thy word, The seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the
serpent.
A body hast thou prepared me - The quotation in this and the two following verses is
taken from Psalm 40, 6th, 7th, and 8th verses, as they stand now in the Septuagint, with scarcely
any variety of reading; but, although the general meaning is the same, they are widely different
in verbal expression in the Hebrew. David’s words are, ‫אזנים‬‫כרית‬‫לי‬ oznayim caritha li, which we
translate, My ears hast thou opened; but they might be more properly rendered, My ears hast
thou bored, that is, thou hast made me thy servant for ever, to dwell in thine own house; for the
allusion is evidently to the custom mentioned, Exo_21:2, etc.: “If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six
years he shall serve, and in the seventh he shall go out free; but if the servant shall positively say,
I love my master, etc., I will not go out free, then his master shall bring him to the door post, and
shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him for ever.” But how is it possible
that the Septuagint and the apostle should take a meaning so totally different from the sense of
the Hebrew? Dr. Kennicott has a very ingenious conjecture here: he supposes that the
Septuagint and apostle express the meaning of the words as they stood in the copy from which
the Greek translation was made; and that the present Hebrew text is corrupted in the word ‫אזנים‬
oznayim, ears, which has been written through carelessness for ‫אז‬‫גוה‬ az gevah, Then a Body. The
first syllable ‫,אז‬ Then, is the same in both; and the latter ‫,נים‬ which joined to ‫,אז‬ makes ‫אזנים‬
oznayim, might have been easily mistaken for ‫גוה‬ gevah, Body; ‫נ‬ nun, being very like ‫ג‬ gimel; ‫י‬
yod, like ‫ו‬ vau; and ‫ה‬ he, like final ‫ם‬ mem; especially if the line on which the letters were
written in the MS. happened to be blacker than ordinary, which has often been a cause of
mistake, it might have been easily taken for the under stroke of the mem, and thus give rise to a
corrupt reading: add to this the root ‫כרה‬ carah, signifies as well to prepare as to open, bore, etc.
On this supposition the ancient copy, translated by the Septuagint, and followed by the apostle,
must have read the text thus: ‫אז‬‫גוה‬‫כרית‬‫לי‬ az gevah caritha li, σωµα δε κατηρτισω µοι, then a
body thou hast prepared me: thus the Hebrew text, the version of the Septuagint, and the
apostle, will agree in what is known to be an indisputable fact in Christianity, namely, that
Christ was incarnated for the sin of the world.
The Ethiopic has nearly the same reading; the Arabic has both, A body hast thou prepared me,
and mine ears thou hast opened. But the Syriac, the Chaldee, and the Vulgate, agree with the
present Hebrew text; and none of the MSS. collated by Kennicott and De Rossi have any various
reading on the disputed words.
It is remarkable that all the offerings and sacrifices which were considered to be of an atoning
or cleansing nature, offered under the law, are here enumerated by the psalmist and the apostle,
to show that none of them nor all of them could take away sin, and that the grand sacrifice of
Christ was that alone which could do it.
Four kinds are here specified, both by the psalmist and the apostle, viz.:
Sacrifice, ‫זבח‬ zebach, θυσια·
Offering, ‫מנחה‬ minchah, προσφορα·

27. Burnt-Offering, ‫עולה‬ olah, ᆇλοκαυτωµα·
Sin-Offering, ‫חטאה‬ chataah, περι ᅋµαρτιας.
Of all these we may say, with the apostle, it was impossible that the blood of bulls and goats,
etc., should take away sin.
3. GILL, "Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith,.... In Psa_40:7. This
was said by David, not of himself, and his own times, for sacrifice and offering were desired and
required in his times; nor was he able to do the will of God; so as to fulfil the law, and make void
legal sacrifices; nor did he engage as a surety to do this; nor was it written of him in the volume
of the book that he should: besides, he speaks of one that was not yet come, though ready to
come, when the fulness of time should be up; and who is here spoken of as coming into the
world, and who is no other than Jesus Christ; and this is to be understood, not of his coming
into Judea, or the temple at Jerusalem; or out of a private, into a public life; nor of his entrance
into the world to come, into heaven, into life eternal, as the Targum on Psa_40:7 paraphrases it,
after he had done his work on earth, for the other world is never expressed by the world only;
nor did Christ go into that to do the will of God, but to sit down there, after he had done it;
besides, Christ's entrance into heaven was a going out of the world, and not into it. To which
may be added, that this phrase always signifies coming into this terrene world, and intends
men's coming into it at their birth; See Gill on Joh_1:9 and must be understood of Christ's
incarnation, which was an instance of great love, condescension, and grace; and the, reason of it
was to do what the law, and the blood of bulls and goats, could not do. For it follows,
sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not; or didst not desire and delight in, as the word
‫,חפץ‬ used in Psa_40:6 signifies; meaning not the sacrifices of wicked men, or such as were
offered up without faith in Christ; but the ceremonial sacrifices God himself had instituted, and
which were offered in the best manner; and that not merely in a comparative sense, as in
Hos_6:6 but the meaning is, that God would not have these continue any longer, they being only
imposed for a time, and this time being come; nor would he accept of them, as terms,
conditions, and causes of righteousness, pardon, peace, and reconciliation; but he willed that his
Son should offer himself an offering, and a sacrifice for a sweet smelting savour to him.
But a body hast thou prepared me; or "fitted for me"; a real natural body, which stands for
the whole human nature; and is carefully expressed, to show that the human nature is not a
person. This was prepared, in the book of God's purposes and decrees, and in the council and
covenant of grace; and was curiously formed by the Holy Ghost in time, for the second Person,
the Son of God, to clothe himself with, as the Syriac version renders it, "thou hast clothed me
with a body"; and that he might dwell in, and in it do the will of God, and perform the work of
man's redemption: in Psa_40:6 it is, "mine ears thou hast opened"; digged or bored, the ear
being put for the whole body; for if he had not had a body prepared, he could not have had ears
opened: besides; the phrase is expressive of Christ's assuming the form of a servant, which was
done by his being found in fashion as a man, Phi_2:7 and of his being a voluntary servant, and
of his cheerful obedience as such, the opening, or boring of the ear, was a sign, Exo_21:5. And
thus by having a true body prepared for him, and a willing mind to offer it up, he became fit for
sacrifice.
4. FUDGE, “Foreseeing that animal blood could not take away sin, God had from eternity
planned another offering to which burnt sacrifices always pointed. What follows must be seen in

28. the light of this wherefore, as the writer begins to explain the significance of sacrificial blood
and the forgiveness Christ makes possible.
The purpose of Christ's advent into the world as a man may be expressed in words taken from
Psalm 40:6-8, which our author here puts in His mouth. "Sacrifice and offering of animals or
produce is not what You really desire," Jesus says to the Father. "You have prepared a human
body for me instead."
Our author is quoting the Greek Old Testament which says "a body you have prepared." The
Hebrew text says, "you have dug out my ears." The final meaning is the same, however, and may
be explained along either of two lines. Ears may stand here for the entire body, the part for the
whole. If God formed ears for the man, He prepared also the rest of his body.
Approaching the text another way, one may interpret Christ (or David, originally) to be saying
"You have made ears that I may hear Your will and do it" (see Isaiah 50: 4-5). Either way the
point is the same God does not desire a mere multiplication of Old Testament sacrifices and
offerings. What He does want from man is indicated by the gift of a human body. He wants a
human life dived according to His will.
5. BI, "The body of Christ:
These words of the Psalmist are a prophecy of the Incarnation.
I. First, it plainly means THE NATURAL BODY, which He took of the substance of the Blessed
Virgin. All that makes up the natural perfection of man as a moral and reasonable intelligence,
together with a mortal body, He assumed into the unity of His person.
II. As there was a natural, so there is A SUPERNATURAL PRESENCE OF THE BODY OF OUR
LORD JESUS CHRIST. He said, “The bread that I will give is My flesh,” &c.; “Except ye eat the
flesh of the Son of Man,” &c. And when at the Last Supper He gave this great sacrament to His
apostles, He said, “This is My body, this is My blood.” It is not for us to attempt to explain the
secrets of this mystery. Who can reveal the manner of the resurrection of the body or the
mystery of the Incarnation? Then here let us stay our thoughts. What He has said, that He will
give, in spirit, substance, and reality. It is enough for us to know that as truly as the life and
substance of the first creation are sustained and perpetuated until now, so in the second, which
is the mystical Vine, He is root and trunk, branch and fruit; wholly in us, and we in Him.
III. There is yet another and A WIDER MYSTERY SPRINGING UP OUT OF THE LAST. The
natural body of our Lord Jesus Christ is, as it were, the root out of which, by the power of the
Holy Ghost, His mystical body is produced; and therefore He seems to take this title, “I am the
root and the offspring of David”—the offspring according to the descent of the first creation, the
root as the beginning of the new. This great work of the regeneration He began to fulfil when, at
His descent into hell, He gathered to Himself the saints who of old were sanctified through the
hope of His coming; and although “they without us” could not, when on earth, “be made
perfect,” yet at His descent unto them they “came behind in no gift,” but were made equal to the
saints of the kingdom. Then began the growth and expansion of the mystical Vine. Upon this
unity of patriarchs, prophets, and saints of old were engrafted apostles and evangelists, and all
the family of the regeneration. The body which, in its natural and local conditions, was enclosed
in an upper chamber or wound in grave-clothes, has multiplied its life and substance as the first
Adam in the family of mankind throughout the generations of God’s elect. Such is the mystical
body of Christ.

29. IV. ARE THERE, THEN, THREE BODIES OF CHRIST? God forbid; but one only—one in
nature, truth, and glory. But there are three manners, three miracles of Divine omnipotence, by
which that one body has been and is present—the first as mortal and natural; the second
supernatural, real, and substantial; the third mystical by our incorporation. (Archdeacon H. E.
Manning.)
A body prepared:
It is one of the most striking things connected with our earthly existence that God sends no life
into the world unclothed, bodiless. Every life has a body specially adapted for the service which
that life has to render. The higher the life the more complex the organism; but in each case there
is a wondrous harmony between every life and its embodiment and every body and its
surroundings. If it be so, how much more when He will send His Son into the world will He
prepare a body for Him—a body that shall be specially adapted for His great mission and for the
accomplishment of His great design! The Incarnation is confessedly among the greatest of all
mysteries. It is the Infinite One accepting a body. What does this mean? We cannot tell; we can
only touch the fringe of the great subject. It means—it at least signifies this: that, for a time, the
Infinite One
1. Accepts the limitations of finite existence. We know that as man He hungered, was
tempted, wept human tears; we know that He prayed to His Father, and that His was the joy
of receiving the Father’s approval. His acceptance of a finite existence made these things
possible in His experience, and thus made Him an example to us. We are very, very far from
seeing the full significance of the Incarnation, but we see enough to rejoice in it and glorify
God for that Incarnation which, by virtue of the limitations it involved, made a gospel like
ours possible. Again, by the Incarnation Christ accepts
2. The conditions of service, the submission of a servant: “Lo, I come to do Thy will.” How
does the Apostle Paul put it? (Php_2:6-8). The Incarnation was the form in which the Lord
Jesus could render the lowliest service. What a step in the path of obedience was that! Once
we accept the story of the birth, and believe that the Christ has accepted a human body,
Gethsemane and Calvary are perfectly intelligible and easily accepted. It is as man that
Godward He has rendered the most perfect service, and that manward He has left a perfect
example that we should follow His footsteps. Again, by the Incarnation He accepts
3. The highest possibility of self-sacrifice. “By the which will we are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all This Man, after that He had offered one
sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.” The Incarnation finds its full
significance in that sacrifice which was made possible by it. Without the Incarnation there
could be no Cross. It is the manger that predicts Calvary. (D. Davies.)
A prepared body
Be careful to see clearly that Christ is the speaker, and that it is He who says to His Father. “A
body hast Thou prepared Me.” It is the Deity of the Second Person in the Trinity—not yet
become incarnate, but at the very point—addressing God, and declaring the great mystery of the
passing away of all sacrifice and offering—that is, of the death of animals and the presenting of
gifts—as utterly inadequate, and nothing worth for the atonement of the soul. He introduces
Himself—God’s one great method with man, in the strange and inexpressible blending of the
Divine and human, which was in Him. The God in our Emmanuel explains His own manhood,
and traces it all up to the Father’s pre-arranging mind: “A body hast Thou prepared Me.” Let us

30. look at the time of the “preparation.” In the mind and counsel of God that “body” was before all
worlds (Pro_8:24-31). So was Christ ready before He came, and, or ever man sinned, the scheme
was complete. Then came the Fall, and immediately the ready promise (Gen_3:15). As the ages
rolled on, the plan developed. Then, as the time drew on, the “preparation,” which was in the
bosom of the Father, began to take form and substance. The whole Roman world was stirred,
that that “body” should appear at its destined spot. Through the purest channel which this earth
could furnish, by miraculous operation, that “body” should come into the world, human but
sinless, perfectly human but exquisitely immaculate. By what unfathomable processes I know
not. “Curiously wrought” in this lower earth, that “body”—the prototype, before Adam was
made, of all that ever should wear human form—that “body” came … But let us stand again by
that little form laid in the manger outside the caravansaai, and let us reverently ask, For what is
that “body”?
1. The text answers at once, For sacrifice. There is that dear Babe—lovely as no other babe
was ever lovely—only a victim, a victim to be slaughtered upon an altar!… But let me ask, Is
your “body” fulfilling the purpose for which it was “prepared”? Is it a consecrated body? Is it
a ministering body? Ministering—to what? To usefulness, to mission, to truth, to the Church,
to Christ?
2. And that “body” was “prepared” for sympathy. Therefore “He took not on Him the nature
of angels,” but He became the Son of Man, that He might have human instincts; that His
heart might throb to the same beat; that He might be true, even to every nerve and fibre of
the physical constitution of every child of Adam. When you have an ache or feel a lassitude
or depression, do not hesitate to claim and accept at once the fellowship of “the man Christ
Jesus.” (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Care for the body:
First of all, I shall name the sloven. We have all seen him at times, and a very objectionable
fellow he is; clothes, gait, hair, hands, everything about him, denoting a lazy, indolent creature
that is utterly without self-respect. If you keep in mind this little text, “A body hast Thou
prepared me,” you will feel it a sacred duty to keep in proper condition your physical frame.
Secondly, I name the boor. It is the greatest mistake in the world to suppose that it is a token of
manliness to disregard the courtesies of polite society. “Be courteous” is a Scriptural
admonition. Whatever you are, don’t be a boor! As little would I like to see you a fop. Dandyism
is one of the most contemptible developments of’ humanity, and always betokens extreme
littleness of mind. But I cannot dismiss the text without pointing out how it bears upon the
sensualist. There is no language in Scripture more startling in its awful solemnity than that
which condemns the man “who sinneth against his own body.” “The body,” says St. Paul, “is for
the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” Scripture speaks in many a place of a man “sinning against
his own soul.” But there is something exceptionally terrible in the wickedness of those who sin
against their own bodies. My subject compels me to warn you, in accents of earnest entreaty,
against every form of impurity. Your body is God’s temple; no marble fane that ever was reared
is so beautiful or so perfect. Shudder at the thought of its defilement. “A body hast Thou
prepared me, O God; it shall be kept stainless and immaculate for Thee”—let this be your daily
vow. And if it is to be kept, you must first of all guard your heart-purity. There is no fuller’s soap
that will perfectly cleanse the imagination once it is defiled. If a harp be broken, skill may repair
it; if a light be extinguished, the flame may be rekindled; but if a flower be crushed, what power
can restore it to what it was before? Such a flower is purity. The first step on the down-grade
taken, only a miracle of grace can bring you to the level again. The Scriptural doctrine of the
resurrection invests this physical frame of mine with an infinite dignity and importance. Death

31. is its temporary dissolution, not its destruction. With what magnitude of interest and
importance does this invest these corporeal frames of ours! It confers upon them an awful
indestructibility, at the thought of which even the perpetuity of mountains, of suns and stars,
become as nothing. You have a bodily as well as a spiritual immortality. These bodies shall claim
half of your individuality to all eternity. Can you, then, make them the instruments of sin, or
defile them by unholy lusts? Must you not guard with utmost care the imperishable temple of
the soul? (J. T. Davidson, D. D.)
Lo, I come … to do Thy will, O God
The beautiful life of Christ:
Our text presents an aspect of Christ of the highest charm. He is the great and only fulfiller of
“the will of God “ the world has ever seen. There was a “book” in which much concerning Him
was “written.” At different times, in different measures, in different ways, of type in institute and
incident, of promise, of comparison and contrast with other men and other doings, did that
“book” perpetually speak of Him. But howsoever diverse its utterances were, they were all
wonderfully harmonised in their ascription to Him of the spirit of delighted obedience to God.
I. THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL LIFE THAT HAS
EVER BEEN LIVED IN THE WORLD. All sorts of beauty were bright in Him—the beauty of
virtue, the beauty of godliness, the beauty of love, the beauty of sympathy, the beauty of
obedience, and this without crack or flaw; the beauty of wise words, the beauty of holy action,
the beauty of kind and gentle disposition; beauty which shone in the house, beauty which flamed
in the temple, beauty which lighted up the cornfield and the wayside, beauty which graced alike
the table of the publican and the Pharisee; beauty With smiles and tears, gifts and helps for men,
women, and children as He found them.
II. ONE GREAT REASON WHY THAT BEAUTIFUL LIFE HAS BEEN LIVED AMONGST US
MEN IS THAT WE MAY MAKE OUR LIVES BEAUTIFUL BY IT. He came to be an example. He
bade men follow Him. He called for imitation of His spirit and character. His servants held Him
up in the same light; they bade men “put on the Lord Jesus Christ,” “follow in His steps,” let the
same mind be in them as was in Him. There is not a single virtue in Christ that should not have
its place and power in you. The scale of its play, the special circumstances and relations which
throw such grandeur into His career, must, of course, present a vast disparity between Him and
us. But in essence, in spirit, we are bound to cultivate His worth; the actual outworking in our lot
and relations of each excellence of His is an obligation on our heart and conscience.
III. THE SECRET OF THIS MOST BEAUTIFUL LIFE OF CHRIST IS TOLD US. Were you to
see a rare and beautiful flower in another’s garden, you would naturally wish that it might adorn
your own also. You would ask whence it came, what soil it liked, and a dozen other questions, so
that its true treatment might be leaflet and your own garden enriched with it. And when you are
truly roused to spiritual care you ask the like questions about a beautiful action that has struck
you or a beautiful character that has crossed your path. Whence came it? What is its
inspiration—its culture? Tell me the secret, Never were such queries more seemly than on the
survey of Christ’s beautiful life. Is its great secret ascertainable? Is it within my reach? Well,
Christ’s beauty all came from one thing—He did “ the will of God.” He delighted to do it. Its law
was in His heart.
IV. WHAT A BEAUTIFUL WILL THE WILL OF GOD MUST BE IF THE BEAUTIFUL LIFE OF
CHRIST IS SIMPLY ITS OUTCOME! Few phrases are so inadequately welcomed by us as “the
will of God.” We invest it, perhaps, with all the reverence we can, with sublimity, authority,
rectitude, and power, but not with beauty. It is not a charm to us, a ravishing delight. We submit

32. to it rather than accept it. We bow, but we do not sing. Oh! let us correct ourselves. The will of
God is beautiful beyond all expression. Each commandment it gives is beautiful, “holy, just, and
good.” The way of life it prescribes is as “the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the
perfect day.” The character it forms and moulds is radiant with a lustre that never dies. The good
it diffuses is boundless in worth and variety.
V. IF YOU WOULD MAKE YOUR LIFE BEAUTIFUL LIKE THE BEAUTIFUL LIFE OF
CHRIST, YOU MUST DAILY STUDY THE WILL OF GOD, AND JUST BE AND DO WHAT
THAT WILL ORDAINS. There is the philosophy of a high, noble, beautiful, glorious life—so
simple that a child can understand it, so profound and far-reaching that no maturity of power,
no elevation in lot, can ever carry you beyond it. It is the one grand law of time and eternity, of
earth and heaven. (G. B. Johnson.)
Christ the substance of the ancient sacrifices of the Law
To take Jesus Christ for our Redeemer and for our Example is an abridgment of religion, and the
only way to heaven. If Jesus Christ be not taken for our Redeemer, alas! how can we bear the
looks of a God who is of purer eyes than to behold evil? If we do not take Jesus Christ for our
Example, with what face can we take Him for our Redeemer? Should we wish that He who came
into the world on purpose to destroy the works of the devil, would re-establish them in order to
fill up by communion with this wicked spirit that void which communion with Christ leaves?
I. First, we will consider the text AS PROCEEDING FROM THE MOUTH OF JESUS CHRIST.
We will show you Jesus substituting the sacrifice of His body instead of those of the Jewish
economy.
1. Our text is a quotation, and it must be verified. It is taken from the fortieth psalm All that
psalm, except one word, exactly applies to the Messiah. This inapplicable word, as it seems
at first, is in the twelfth verse, “Mine iniquities have taken hold upon Me.” This expression
does not seem proper in the mouth of Jesus Christ, who, the prophets foretold, should have
no deceit in His mouth, and who, when He came, defied His enemies to convince Him of a
single sin. There is the same difficulty in a parallel Psa_69:5), “O God! Thou knowest My
foolishness, and My sins are not hid from Thee.” The same solution serves for both places.
Jesus Christ on the Cross was the Substitute of sinners, like the scapegoat that was accursed
under the Old Dispensation. The Scripture says in so many words, “He bare our sins.” Is the
bearer of such a burden chargeable with any exaggeration when He cries, “My iniquities
have taken hold upon Me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of
Mine head”? Moreover, the fortieth psalm is parallel to other prophecies, which indisputably
belong to the Messiah. I mean particularly the sixty-ninth psalm, and the fifty-third chapter
of Isaiah.
2. A difficult passage, that needs elucidation. The principal difficulty is in these words, “A
body hast Thou prepared Me.” The Hebrew has it, “Thou hast digged, bored, or opened Mine
ears.” It is an allusion to a law recorded in the twenty-first chapter of Exodus, where they
who had Hebrew slaves were ordered to release them in the Sabbatical year. A provision is
made for such slaves as refused to accept of this privilege. Their masters were to bring them
to the doors of their houses, to bore their ears through with an awl, and they were to engage
to continue slaves for ever, that is to say, to the year of Jubilee, or till their death, if they
happened to die before that festival. As this action was expressive of the most entire
devotedness of a slave to his master, it was very natural for the prophet to make it an
emblem of the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ to His Father’s will. But why did not St. Paul

33. quote the words as they are in the psalm? The apostle followed the version commonly called
that of the Seventy. But why did the Seventy render the original words in this manner?
(1) The word rendered “ prepared “ is one of the most vague terms in the Greek tongue,
and signifies indifferently “to dispose,” “to mark,” “to note,” “to render capable,” and so
on.
(2) Before the Septuagint version the Mosaic rites were very little known among the
heathens, perhaps also among the dispersed Jews. Hence in the period of which I am
speaking few people knew the custom of boring the ears of those slaves who refused to
accept the privileges of the Sabbatical year.
(3) It was a general custom among the Pagans to make marks on the bodies of those
persons in whom they claimed a property. They were made on soldiers and slaves, so
that if they deserted they might be easily reclaimed. Sometimes they apposed marks on
them who served an apprenticeship to a master, as well as on them who put themselves
under the protection of a god. These marks were called stigmas (see Ga Eze_9:4;
Rev_7:3-8). On these different observations I ground this opinion. The Seventy thought,
if they translated the prophecy under consideration literally, it would be unintelligible to
the Pagans and to the dispersed Jews, who, being ignorant of the custom to which the
text refers, would not be able to comprehend the meaning of the words, “Mine ears hast
Thou bored.” To prevent this inconvenience they translated the passage in that way
which was most proper to convey its meaning to the readers. Now as this translation was
well adapted to this end, St. Paul had a right to retain it.
3. Jesus Christ, we are very certain, is introduced in this place as accomplishing what the
prophets had foretold; that is, that the sacrifice of the Messiah should be substituted in the
place of the Levitical victims. On this account our text contains one of the most essential
doctrines of the religion of Jesus Christ, and the establishment of this is our next article. In
order to comprehend the sense in which the Messiah says to God, “Sacrifice and offering
Thou wouldst not;” we must distinguish two sorts of volition in God—a willing of a mean,
and a willing of an end. God may be said to will a mean when He appoints a ceremony or
establisheth a rite which hath no intrinsic excellence in itself, but which prepares them on
whom it is enjoined for some great events on which their felicity depends. By willing an end I
mean a production of such events. If the word “will” be taken in the first sense, it cannot be
truly said that God did not will or appoint sacrifices and burnt-offerings. Every one knows
He instituted them, and regulated the whole ceremonial of them, even the most minute
articles. But if we take the word “will” in the second sense, and by the will of God understand
His willing an end, it is strictly true that God did not will or appoint sacrifices and
burnt-offerings; because they were only instituted to prefigure the Messiah, and
consequently as soon as the Messiah, the substance, appeared, all the ceremonies of the Law
were intended to vanish.
II. To WHAT PURPOSE ARE LEVITICAL SACRIFICES, OF WHAT USE ARE JEWISH
PRIESTS, WHAT OCCASION HAYS WE FOR HECATOMBS AND OFFERINGS AFTER THE
SACRIFICE OF A VICTIM SO EXCELLENT? The text is not only the language of Jesus Christ,
who substitutes Himself in the place of Old-Testament sacrifices; but it is the voice of David and
of every believer who is, full of this just sentiment that a personal dedication to the service of
God is the most acceptable sacrifice that men can offer to the Deity. Ye understand, then, in
what sense God demands only the sacrifice of your persons. It is what He wills as the end; and
He will accept neither offerings, nor sacrifices, nor all the ceremonies of religion, unless they
contribute to the holiness of the person who offers them.

34. 1. Observe the nature of this sacrifice. This offering includes our whole persons, and
everything that Providence hath put in our power. Two sorts of things may be distinguished
in the victim of which God requires the sacrifice; the one bad, the other good. We are
engaged in vicious habits, we are slaves to criminal passions; all these are our bad things. We
are capable of knowledge, meditation, and love; we possess riches, reputation, employments;
these are our good things. God demands the sacrifice of both these.
2. Having observed the nature of that offering which God requires of you, consider next the
necessity of it (1Sa_15:22; Psa_50:16-17, Isa_1:11; Isa_1:16; Jer_7:21-23). To what purpose
do ye attend public worship in a church consecrated to the service of Almighty God, if ye
refuse to make your bodies temples of the Holy Ghost, and persist in devoting them to
impurity? To what purpose do ye send for your ministers when death seems to be
approaching if, as soon as ye recover from sickness, ye return to the same kind of life, the
remembrance of which caused you so much horror when ye were afraid of death?
3. The sacrifice required of us is difficult, say ye? I grant it. How extremely difficult when our
reputation is attacked, when our morals, our very intentions, are misinterpreted; how
extremely difficult when we are persecuted by cruel enemies; how hard is it to practice the
laws of religion which require us to pardon injuries, and to exercise patience to our enemies!
How difficult is it to sacrifice unjust gains to God, by restoring them to their owners; how
hard to retrench expenses which we cannot honestly support, to reform a table that gratifies
the senses! How difficult is it to eradicate an old criminal habit, and to renew one’s self, to
form, as it were, a different constitution, to create other eyes, other ears, another body!
4. But is this sacrifice the less necessary because it is difficult? Do the difficulties which
accompany it invalidate the necessity of it? Let us add something of the comforts that belong
to it, they will soften the yoke. What delight, after we have laboured hard at the reduction of
our passions, and the reformation of our hearts; what delight to find that heaven crowns our
wishes with success!
5. Such are the pleasures of this sacrifice: but what are its rewards? Let us only try to form
an idea of the manner in which God gives Himself to a soul that devotes itself wholly to Him.
“O my God! how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee! “
My God! what will not the felicity of that creature be who gives himself wholly to Thee, as
Thou givest Thyself to him! (J. Saurin.)
The Son incarnate to do the will of God
I. In the first place the text reminds us THAT INTELLIGENT CREATURES CAN FIND THEIR
HAPPINESS AND PERFECTION ONLY IN THE HARMONY OF THEIR WILLS WITH THE
WILL OF GOD. But what if the new-made man should abuse his freedom? Who can foresee the
consequences? As to his body; what if its hand should pluck forbidden fruit—its tongue utter
deceit—all its members become instruments of unrighteousness unto sin? As to the material
universe around; what if he should take himself out of harmony with its laws—extracting poison
from its plants, and maddening juices from its fruits, and forging its metals into weapons for the
slaughter of his fellows? What if he should league with other self-willed beings like
himself—league with them solely to augment his power for crushing others, andfor openly
disowning his allegiance to heaven? Nay, what if, in the progress of man’s history, he should
come to think of setting up a god of his own? Or worse still—there is a rebel angel at large in the
universe—a sworn enemy to the righteous government of God; what if a man should be led
captive by Satan at his will? And what if he should complete his degradation and his guilt by
calling the worship of his own vices, religion; the thraldom of Satan, liberty? What if here, where

35. the will of God should be done as it is in heaven, the will of Satan should be done instead, as it is
in hell?
II. I need not say THAT THIS IS HISTORY—THE HISTORY OF MAN. The hour of trial came;
and he fell. A law was given him; and, oh, better had a star fallen from its sphere, and been
falling still! he broke away from its sacred restraint—deranged the harmony of his own
nature—disturbed the tranquillity of the universe—incurred the penalty of transgression. Mercy
spared him, but he relented not; justice threatened him, but he quailed not. Generation followed
generation, only to take up the quarrel and widen the breach. The Lord looked down from
heaven to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek after God. Alas I they had all
revolted: there was none that did good; no, not one.
III. But even then, WHEN TO ALL HUMAN EYES THE UNIVERSE WAS UTTERLY VOID OF
AID, HELP WAS ON THE WAY. Even then, when infatuated man was saying, “We will not have
God to reign over us,” and was vowing allegiance to Satan, that God was saying, “As I live, I will
not the death of the sinner.” And even then a voice was heard replying to that purpose, “I come
to do it—lo! I come to do Thy will, O My God. Thy will is My will—I delight to do it—it is within
My heart.” And that voice came from nouncertain quarter—from no angel ranks—it came, if I
may say so, from the centre of the Deity, from the mysterious depths of the Triune God. And the
world was spared on the ground of that engagement, and the angels of God held themselves in
readiness to behold its fulfilment; and Judaea was prepared to be the theatre of the great
transaction, and unnumbered eyes were watching for His coming, and unnumbered interests
depending on it. But when He comes, what laws will He obey?—what appearance will He
assume? What laws? the very laws which man had broken. What appearance? that of the very
nature which man had degraded. And when the fulness of time was come, a body was prepared
Him—God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law. And you know what He
proceeded to do. All the powers of that body He placed at the disposal of the will of God. Yes, by
His obedience unto death, the will of God was done on earth, as it had never been done even in
heaven—done in a manner which makes earth, from its centre to its surface, holy ground—done
so as to secure the means of converting even this sin-worn world into a loyal province of the
King of kings.
IV. And this brings us to the consideration of these MEANS. DO you ask how the will of the
rebellious world is to be brought back into harmony with the will of God?” Not by might, nor by
power”—not by coercion and force; “but by My Spirit, saith the Lord”—by My Spirit taking of the
things of Christ—taking of His voluntary obedience; taking of His love, and showing how He
wept over the infatuation of our disobedience; taking of His mediatorial glory, and showing that
He is now seated on a throne to receive our submission, to place us once more in harmony with
the will of God, and to assure us of His favour.
1. Now, do you not see that when the will of the penitent is secured, the whole man is
secured?
2. Here, then, is a willing agent for God. Wonderful as was the creation of a finite will at
first—wonderful as was the introduction into the universe of a second will—here is a greater
wonder still—the recovery of a lost will to God-a will which had been led captive by Satan, set
at liberty and restored, and once more moving in conformity with God’s will. What if he
could prevail on other wills to unite with his will—how vastly would that increase his power
of serving God!
V. The question naturally arises, then, How is it, if the Divine provision be all complete, and the
sanctified human means so well understood—How is IT THAT THE WILL OF GOD IS NOT
UNIVERSALLY OBEYED, AFTER THE EXAMPLE OF OUR SAVIOUR CHRIST? Eighteen
hundred years have elapsed since He said, “Lo, I come,” and the redemption of the world was

36. effected. How then, we repeat, is the present condition of the world to be accounted for? By the
state of the Church. Whatever the doctrinal heresies of the day may be, the great practical heresy
is that of a defective zeal. They seem to forget, that in praying that the will of God may be done
in the world, they are presupposing that it is done already in the Church. We do not say that
Christians have made no progress in learning this great lesson. All the success which they have
achieved of late years, as a missionary Church, is owing to their partial obedience to the will of
God. But partial obedience will only be followed by partial success. They have so far obeyed, that
they are shut up to the necessity of obeying still further. God has quickened them; and they have
given, and prayed, and laboured as the Church had long ceased to do. Let them copy the
devotedness of their Lord, and the work will be done. Ask you for motives to such zeal”
1. Need I remind you that one of these motives is the sublime truth—that the brightest
example of obedience which heaven now contains is not an angel form, but He who “learned
obedience by the things which He suffered”? He now reigns in the same spirit in which He
suffered. Think what He is doing as your representative there, and say, what ought you to be
doing as His representatives here? He is doing your will—answering your highest
requests—what ought not you to be ready to do in obedience to His will?
2. Need I remind you, as another motive, what a theme it is we have to obey and to
proclaim? The merest despot finds ready instruments to do his will.
3. Think, next, of the happy results of the reception of this message, as compared with man’s
present state.
4. Think, again, how some, influenced by these motives, have copied the devotedness of
Christ.
5. And then one motive there is which adds force and solemnity to every other—the fact that
He who is the subject and substance of our message, on leaving the world, hath said,
“Behold, I come quickly.” (J. Harris, D. D.)
The Atonement
It must strike any person, as something that wants accounting for, how it is that a doctrine
which has called forth the moral affections of man so strongly, and presented so transcendent an
object for them, as that of the Atonement has, should of all criticisms in the world be specially
subjected to the charge of being an immoral doctrine. It is based, it is said, upon injustice. What
can be the reason of this extraordinary discord in the estimate of this doctrine? Is it not that the
Christian body has taken the doctrine as a whole, with all the light which the different elements
of it throw upon each other, while the objection has only fixed on one element in the doctrine,
abstracted from the others? The point upon which the objector has fixed is the substitution of
one man for another to suffer for sin; but he has not taken this point as it is represented and
interpreted in the doctrine itself, but barely and nakedly, simply as the principle of vicarious
punishment. It is to be observed that, according to this idea of sacrifice for sin, it is not in the
least necessary the sacrifice should be voluntary, because the whole principle of sacrifice is
swallowed up in the idea of vicarious punishment; and punishment, vicarious or other, does not
require voluntary sufferer, but only a sufferer. The victim may be willing or unwilling; it matters
not, so long as he is a victim; he endures agony or death in fact, and that is all that, upon the
principle of mere substitution, is wanted. It was this low and degraded idea of sacrifice which
had possession of the ancient world for so many ages, and which produced, as its natural fruit,
human sacrifices, with all the revolting cruelties attending them. Such subtlety of cruelty was the
issue of the idea that a mere substitution could be a sacrifice for sin; pain, due in justice to one,
be escaped by simple transference to another. But this idea was totally extinguished by the

37. gospel idea, when it was revealed that love was of the very essence of sacrifice, and that there
could not be sacrifice without will. A victim then appeared who was the real sacrifice for sin. The
circumstance, then, of the victim being a self-offered one, makes, in the first place, all the
difference upon the question of injustice to the victim. In common life and most human affairs
the rule is that no wrong in justice is done to one who volunteers to undertake a painful office,
which he might refuse if he pleased. In accepting his offer this would not indeed always apply;
for there might be reasons which would make it improper to allow him to sacrifice himself. But
it cannot be said that it is itself contrary to justice to accept a volunteer offer of suffering. Is it in
itself wrong that there should be suffering which is not deserved? Not if it is undertaken
voluntarily, and for an important object. Upon the existence of pain and evil being presupposed
and assumed there are other justifications of persons undergoing it besides ill-desert. The
existence of pain or evil being supposed, there arises a special morality upon this fact, and in
connection with it. It is the morality of sacrifice. Sacrifice then becomes, in the person who
makes it, the most remarkable kind of manifestation of virtue; which ennobles the sufferer, and
which it is no wrong-doing in the universe to accept. But this being the case with respect to
voluntary sacrifice, the gospel sacrifice is, as has been said, specially a voluntary and self-offered
one. It must be remembered that the supernaturalness of the sphere in which the doctrine of the
Atonement is placed, affects the agency concerned in the work of the Atonement. He who is sent
is one in being with Him who sends. His willing submission, therefore, is not the willing
submission of a mere man to one who is in a human sense another; but it is the act of one who,
in submitting to another, submits to himself. By virtue of His unity with the Father, the Son
originates, carries on, and completes Himself the work of the Atonement. But now with regard
to the effect of the act of the Atonement upon the sinner. It will be seen, then, that with respect
to this effect -the willingness of a sacrifice changes the mode of the operation of the sacrifice, so
that it acts on a totally different principle and law from that upon which a sacrifice of mere
substitution acts. A sacrifice of mere substitution professes to act upon a principle of a literal
fulfilment of justice, with one exception only, which is not thought to destroy but only to modify
the literal fulfilment. It is true the sin is committed by one and the punishment is inflicted upon
another; but there is sin, and there is punishment on account of sin, which is considered a sort
of literal fulfilment of justice. But a voluntary sacrifice does not act upon the principle of a mock
literal fulfilment of justice, but upon another and totally different principle, Its effect proceeds
not from the substitution of one person for another in punishment, but from the influence of
one person upon another for mercy—a mediator upon one who is mediated with. Let us see what
it is which a man really means when he offers to substitute himself for another in undergoing
punishment. He cannot possibly mean to fulfil the element of justice literally. What he wants to
do is to stimulate the element of mercy in the judge. Justice is not everything in the world; there
is such a thing as mercy. How is this mercy to be gained, enlisted on the side you want? By
suffering yourself. It is undoubtedly a fact of our nature, however we may place or connect it,
that the generous suffering of one person for another affects our regard for that other person. It
is true that the sufferer for another, and he who is suffered for, are two distinct persons; that the
goodness of one of these persons is not the property of the other; and that it does not affect our
relations towards another upon the special principle of justice; that, upon that strict principle,
each is what he is in himself and nothing more; that the suffering interceder has the merit of his
own generosity, the criminal the merit of his crime; and that no connection can be formed
between the two on the special principle of justice. And yet, upon whatever principle it is, it is a
fact of our nature, of which we are plainly conscious, that one man’s interceding suffering
produces an alteration of regards toward the other man. But it will be said this is true as far as
feeling goes, but it is a weakness, a confessed weakness; this impulse is not supported by the
whole of the man. Can you carry it out? it may be said; can you put it into execution? We cannot,
for very good reasons, that civil justice is for civil objects, and in the moral sphere final pardon is
not in our province. But because this particular impulse to pardon cannot be carried out or put

38. into execution, it is not therefore a weakness. It is something true and sincere which speaks in
our nature, though it cannot be embraced in its full bearings and in its full issue. Even if it is a
fragment, it is a genuine fragment. It exists in us as a true emotion of the mind, a fact of our true
selves; it is a fact of nature, in the correct and high sense of the word. The whole law of
association, e.g., is a law of mediation in the way of enlisting feelings for us, by means external
to us. The laws of association do in fact plead for persons from the moment they are born; men
have advocates in those they never knew, and succeed to pre-engaged affections, and have
difficulties cleared away before them in their path. The air they breathe intercedes for them, the
ground they have trod on, the same sights, the same neighbourhood. What is the tie of place, or
what is even the tie of blood, to the essential moral being; it is a wholly extraneous
circumstance; nevertheless these links and these associations, which are wholly external to the
man, procure regards for him, and regards which are inspired with strong sentiment and
affection. So good deeds of others, with which persons have nothing in reality to do, procure
them love and attention. The son of a friend and benefactor shines in the light of others’ acts,
and inspires, before he is known, a warm and approving feeling. This, that has been described, is
the principle upon which the sacrifice of love acts, as distinguished from the sacrifice of mere
substitution; it is a principle which is supported by the voice of nature and by the law of
mediation in nature; and this is the principle which the gospel doctrine of the Atonement
proclaims. The effect of Christ’s love for mankind, and suffering on their behalf, is described in
Scripture as being the reconciliation of the Father to man, and the adoption of new regards
toward him. The act of one, i.e., produces this result in the mind of God toward another; the act
of a suffering Mediator reconciles God to the guilty. But neither in natural mediation nor in
supernatural does the act of suffering love, in producing that change of regard to which it tends,
dispense with the moral change in the criminal. We cannot, of course, because a good man
suffers for a criminal, alter our regards to him if he obstinately remains a criminal. And if the
gospel taught any such thing in the doctrine of the Atonement, it would certainly expose itself to
the charge of immorality. But if there is no mediation in nature which brings out mercy for the
criminal without a change in him, neither on the other hand, for the purpose of the parallel, do
we want such. Undoubtedly there must be this change, but even with this, past crime is not yet
pardoned. There is room for a mediator; room for some source of pardon which does not take its
rise in a man’s self, although it must act with conditions. But viewed as acting upon this
mediatorial principle, the doctrine of the Atonement rises altogether to another level; it parts
company with the gross and irrational conception of mere naked material substitution of one
person for another in punishment, and it takes its stand upon the power of love, and points to
the actual effect of the intervention of suffering love in nature, and to a parallel case of
mediation as a pardoning power in nature. There is, however, undoubtedly contained in the
Scriptural doctrine of the Atonement, a kind, and a true kind, of fulfilment of justice. It is a
fulfilment in the sense of appeasing and satisfying justice; appeasing that appetite for
punishment which is the characteristic of justice in relation to evil There is obviously an appetite
in justice which is implied in that very anger which is occasioned by crime, by a wrong being:
committed; we desire the punishment of the criminal as a kind of redress, and his punishment
undoubtedly satisfies a natural craving of our mind. But let any one have exposed himself thus
to the appetite for punishment in our nature, and it is undoubtedly the case, however we may
account for it, that the real suffering of another for him, of a good person for a guilty one, wilt
mollify the appetite for punishment, which was possibly up to that time in full possession of our
minds; and this kind of satisfaction to justice and appeasing of it is involved in the Scriptural
doctrine of the Atonement. And so, also, there is a kind of substitution involved in the Scripture
doctrine of the Atonement, and a true kind; but it is not a literal but a moral kind of substitution.
It is one person suffering in behalf of another, for the sake of another: in that sense he takes the
place and acts in the stead of another, he suffers that another may escape suffering, he
condemns himself to a burden that another may be relieved. But this is the moral substitution

39. which is inherent in acts of love and labour for others; it is a totally different thing from the
literal substitution of one person for another in punishment. The outspoken witness in the
human heart, which has from the beginning embraced the doctrine of the Atonement with the
warmth of religious affection, has been, indeed, a better judge on the moral question than
particular formal schools of theological philosophy, The atoning act of the Son, as an act of love
on behalf of sinful man, appealed to wonder and praise: the effect of the act in changing the
regards of the Father towards the sinner, was only the representation, in the sublime and
ineffable region of mystery, of an effect which men recognised in their own minds. The human
heart accepts mediation. It does not understand it as a whole; but the fragment of which it is
conscious is enough to defend the doctrine upon the score of morals. Undoubtedly the story of
the Atonement can be so represented as to seem to follow in general type the poetical legends
and romances of the infantine imagination of the world. In details—what we read in the four
Gospels—not much resemblance can be charged, but a summary can be made so as to resemble
them. And what if it can? What is it but to say that certain turning ideas, Divine and human,
resemble each other; that there is an analogy? The old legends of mankind represent in their
general scope not mere fancy, but a real longing of human nature, a desire of men’s hearts for a
real Deliverer under the evils under which life groans. The whole creation groaneth and
travaileth in pain together until now. But more than this, do not they represent real facts too?
These legends of deliverers would never have arisen had there not been deliverers in fact; the
fabulous champions would not have appeared had there not been the real; it was truth which put
it in men’s heads to imagine. Doubtless, in all ages, there were men above the level, who
interposed to put a stop to wrongs and grievances; for, indeed, the world would have been
intolerable had it been completely given up to the bad: The romances of early times, then, reflect
at the bottom what are facts; they reflect the action of real mediators in nature, who interposed
from time to time for the succour of mankind in great emergencies. When, then, a heavenly
mediation is found to resemble in general language an earthly one, what is it more than saying
that earthly things are types of heavenly? So rooted is the great principle of mediation in nature,
that the mediatorship of Christ cannot be revealed to us without reminding us of a whole world
of analogous action, and of representation of action. How natural thus does the idea of a
mediator turn out to be! Yet this is exactly the point at which many stumble; pardon they
approve of; reconciliation they approve of; but reconciliation by means of mediation is what they
cannot understand. Why not dispense with a superfluity? they say; and why not let these relieve
us from what they consider the incumbrance of a mediator? But this is not the light in which a
mediator is viewed by the great bulk of the human race. It has appeared to the great mass of
Christians infinitely more natural to be saved with a mediator than without one. They have no
desire to be spared a mediator, and cannot imagine the advantage of being saved a special
source of love. They may be offered greater directness in forgiveness, but forgiveness by
intervention is more like the truth to them. It is this rooted place of a mediator in the human
heart which is so sublimely displayed in the sacred crowds of St. John’s Revelation. The
multitude which no man can number are indeed there all holy, all kings and priests, all
consecrated and elect. But the individual greatness of all is consummated in One who is in the
centre of the whole, Him who is the head of the whole race, who leads it, who has saved it, its
King and Representative, the First-born of the whole creation and the Redeemer of it. Toward
Him all faces are turned; and it is as when a vast army fixes its look upon a great commander in
whom it glories, who on some festival day is placed conspicuously the midst. Is there
humiliation in that look because he commands them? there is pride and exaltation, because he
represents them. Every one is greater for such a representative. So in that heavenly crowd all
countenances reflect the exaltation of their Head. (J. B. Mozley, D. D.)
The coming Saviour and the responding sinner

40. Who said this? He who of all who ever walked this earth alone could say—“I have done Thy
bidding.” And when did He say it? When all else had failed? When “Sacrifice and offering and
burnt offerings, and offering for sin, Thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein.” Then,
said He, “Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God.” It is the announcement of human weakness. It was
the final and only way to harmonise the attributes of God, and to make it a just thing for a Holy
God to pardon a sinner—to reconcile man to his Maker. And what was God’s will? In the first
instance God’s will was to make a lovely creation, and a creature, man, who should be a free
agent to occupy and enjoy it. So He made a happy world, and two persons to inhabit and enjoy
it. Free agents! That free agency they broke, and so our whole world fell. Then, all praise to His
glory and grace, God recalled this world to happiness, and the question was—How could that be
done compatible with the truth and justice of His word? That was the problem Christ came to
solve. In Him we have a Brother who is the sharer of our weaknesses and of our sorrows and of
our temptations. But oh! at what a cost was all this done! With what intensity of anguish I This
then is the lesson, “Lo, I come.” But the Greek word which we have translated “ I come “ is more
than that; it is “I am come. I am come.” Observe, the expression denotes two things that He
came, and that where He comes He stays. “I am come” implies the two facts—the Advent and
His presence. “I am come.” He came to die, to be our Substitute. And now, having done that, He
stays. “I am come.” He is with us still—our Companion, our Brother, our Guide, our Friend. Can
you not offer up an echo to such words us these in your heart and say to God; “Thou didst say ‘I
come.’ To Thee, Lord, I will say back, ‘I come to Thee! I come to Thee!’” (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The volume
“In the volume of the book.” In olden times books were not made out of sheets of paper folded
into four, six, or eight, or twelve, and so forming one compact volume, with page following page
from beginning to end, from left to right as now. A book was made of one very long strip of
papyrus or parchment, rolled like a window blind on a roller; or rather, let me say, it was on two
rollers, one roller was attached to the top of the strip, the other roller was fastened to the
bottom. The strip of parchment paper-rush was many yards long. The book began at the very top
of the long strip. There were no pages and no turning over of the leaf, but the reader read
straight down the strip, his book was written all over the yards of material. As he read the top
lines he turned the top roller, and it rolled them up, and unrolled some more of the material
with the writing on it from off the bottom roller. And when the reader came to the end of the
book, he had rolled it all off the bottom roller on to the top one. When he began his book it was
all rolled on to the bottom roller. When the words “volume of the book” are used, it means the
roll of the book. A long book of several volumes was a book in several rolls. Our word volume is a
Latin word and means a roll, such as a roll of calico or cloth at the draper’s. This word was used
before books were made as they are now, in blocks; when the fashion of making books changed
the old name remained on, though it really applied only to books in rolls. When it is said by
Christ of His life, “Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of Me, to fulfil Thy will, O
God,” it really means, “Lo, I come, to do Thy will, so it is written at the head of the scroll,” At the
head of every volume was written the title of the book. Now Christ is speaking of His life as if it
were a book. As the title and heading of His life is this text, “I am come to do Thy will, O my
God!” Many a book opens with a quotation which gives the key to the meaning of the book, just
as a text stands at the head of a sermon. You may have seen how every chapter in Sir Walter
Scott’s stories begins with a piece of poetry, quotation from somewhere or other, and it has
reference to all that follows. So the text, the heading of the chapter of our Lord’s life, is “I am
come to do Thy will, O God.” That was why He was born of a Virgin—to fulfil the will of God.
Why He was born at Bethlehem—to fulfil the will of God. Why He was circumcised—to fulfil the
will of God. Why He fled into Egypt—to fulfil the will of God. (S. BaringGould, M. A.)

41. Voluntariness of Christ’s sacrifice
Who would say it was unjust of David, when Abigail took—voluntarily took—her husband’s guilt
on herself and said, “Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be” (1Sa_25:24)? Would it not
have been unjust to refuse to her the privilege she asked of being allowed to take on herself a
burden, that she might throw it off and secure David’s pacification? Still less can we complain of
injustice when Jesus, touched with pity, flies down from the eternal throne, and says to His
Father in heaven, “Upon Me, My Father, upon Me let this iniquity be; let Me bear this burden,
let Me set them free!” (C. Clemance, D. D.)
Christ in the Old Testament Scriptures:
In all the Word of God there is not a page that does not testify of Him. Mr. Moody tells of a visit
to Prang’s chrome establishment in Boston. Mr. Prang showed him a stone on which was laid
the colour for the making of the first impression toward producing the portrait of a
distinguished public man; but he could see only the faintest possible line of tinting. The next
stone that the paper was submitted to deepened the colour a little; but still no trace of the man’s
face was visible. Again and again was the sheet passed over the successive stones, until at last
the outline of a man’s face was dimly discerned. At last, after some twenty impressions, from as
many different stones, were taken upon the paper, the portrait of the distinguished man stood
forth, so perfect that it seemed only to lack the power of speech to make it living. Thus it is with
Christ in the Scriptures, especially in the Old Testament. Many persons—even those who know
Christ from the New Testament revelations of Him—read rapidly through and over the pages of
the book, and declare that they do not see Christ in them. Well, read it again and again; look a
little more intently upon these sacred pages; draw a little nearer into the light which the Holy
Spirit gives to them that ask Him; read them on your knees, calling upon God to open your eyes,
that you may see wondrous things out of His law, and presently the beauteous, glorious face of
Him whom your soul loveth will shine forth upon you. Sometimes you will see that dear face in
deep shadow, marred more than the face of any man: sometimes He will seem to you as a root
out of dry ground; and, again, He will seem fair as the lily of the valley; and as we move toward
the end He will rise upon us as the day-dawn and day-star, shining above the brightness of the
sun. (G. F. Pentecost, D. D.)
The will of God
Socrates, when the tyrant did threaten death to him, told him he was willing. “Nay, then,” said
the tyrant, “you shall live against your will.” “Nay, but,” said Socrates,” whatever you do with me
it shall be my will.” And a certain Stoic, speaking of God, said, “What God will, I will; what God
nills, I will not; if He will that I live, I will live; if it be His pleasure that I die, I will die.” Ah, how
should the will of Christians stoop and lie down at the foot of God’s will; not my will, but Thine
be done. (J. Venning.)
He taketh away the first
The first and the second:

42. The way of God is to go from good to better. This excites growing wonder and gratitude. This
makes men desire, and pray, and believe, and expect. This aids man in his capacity to receive the
best things. The first good thing is removed that the second may the more fitly come.
I. THE GRAND INSTANCE. First came the Jewish sacrifices, and then came Jesus to do the will
of God.
1. The removal of instructive and consoling ordinances. While they lasted they were of great
value, and they were removed because, when Jesus came-
(1) They were needless as types.
(2) They would have proved burdensome as services.
(3) They might have been dangerous as temptations to formalism.
(4) They would have taken off the mind from the substance which they had formerly
shadowed forth.
2. The establishment of the real, perfect, everlasting atonement. This is a blessed advance,
for
(1) No one who sees Jesus regrets Aaron.
(2) No one who knows the simplicity of the gospel wishes to be brought under the
perplexities of the ceremonial law.
(3) No one who feels the liberty of Zion desires to return to the bondage of Sinai.
II. INSTANCES IN HISTORY.
1. The earthly paradise has been taken away by sin, but the Lord has given us salvation in
Christ and heaven.
2. The first man has failed; behold the Second Adam.
3. The first covenant is broken, and the second gloriously takes its place.
4. The first temple with its transient glories has melted away; but the second and spiritual
house rises beneath the eye and hand of the Great Architect.
III. INSTANCES IN EXPERIENCE.
1. Our first righteousness is taken away by conviction of sin; but the righteousness of Christ
is established.
2. Our first peace has been blown down as a tottering fence; but we shelter in the Rock of
Ages.
3. Our first strength has proved worse than weakness; but the Lord is our strength and our
song, He also has become our salvation.
4. Our first guidance led us into darkness; now we give up self,. superstition, and
philosophy, and trust in the Spirit of our God.
5. Our first joy died out like thorns which crackle under a pot; but now we joy in God.
IV. INSTANCES TO BE EXPECTED.
1. Our body decaying shall be renewed in the image of our risen Lord.
2. Our earth passing away and its elements being dissolved, there shall be new heavens and
a new earth.

43. 3. Our family removed one by one, we shall be charmed by the grand reunion in the Father’s
house above.
4. Our all being taken away, we find more than all in God.
5. Our life ebbing out, the eternal life comes rolling up in a full tide of glory. (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
The Mosaic dispensation abolished by the Christian dispensation
I. THAT THE MOSAIC DISPENSATION WAS ABROGATED BY THE GOSPEL.
1. The Mosaic dispensation was of such a nature that it might be abrogated. It was altogether
a positive institution. It was founded on mutable and not immutable reasons.
2. It was predicted that the Mosaic dispensation should be abrogated by another and more
perfect dispensation under the gospel.
3. The apostles assure us this did actually take place at the death of Christ.
II. HOW THE MOSAIC DISPENSATION WAS ABROGATED OR SET ASIDE BY THE GOSPEL.
There are two ways in which human legislators abrogate their own laws. One way is to pass them
for a limited time, and when that time is expired they cease of course; and another way is to pass
new particular acts to repeal them. But we do not find that the Mosaic dispensation was
abrogated in either of these ways. There was no period specified in the Mosaic laws how long
they should continue in force; nor did Christ authoritatively declare that the legal dispensation
should be no longer binding. But there were two ways by which He took away the first and
established the second dispensation.
1. By completely fulfilling the legal dispensation, which was designed to be typical of Him as
Mediator. Just so far as the law had a shadow of good things to come it was entirely
abrogated by the incarnation, life and death of Christ.
2. By appointing new ordinances which superseded it.
III. WHAT THINGS UNDER THE LAW WERE ARROGATED BY THE GOSPEL. There is room
for this inquiry, because the Mosaic laws were not individually and particularly repealed by
anything that Christ did or said. They were only virtually abolished; which proved an occasion of
a diversity of opinions on the subject in the days of the apostles, and indeed ever since. It is
universally allowed by Christians that some part of the legal dispensation is abrogated, but still
many imagine that some part of it continues to be binding.
1. All those things which were merely typical of Christ are undoubtedly abrogated.
2. All things of an ecclesiastical nature under the law are abrogated under the gospel.
3. All things of a political nature in the Jewish church were abrogated by the gospel.
4. All things which were designed to separate the Jews from other nations were abrogated by
Christ.
5. The gospel abrogated every precept of a positive nature which was peculiar to the Mosaic
dispensation.
Improvement:
1. If the Mosaic dispensation ceased when the gospel dispensation commenced, then the
apostles had a right to disregard, and to teach others to disregard, all the Mosaic rites and
ceremonies,

44. 2. In the view of this subject we may clearly discover the absurdity of Dr. Tindal’s
reasonings, who maintains that Christianity is as old as the creation.
3. If the Christian dispensation has superseded the Mosaic in the manner that has been
represented, then there appears an entire harmony between the Old Testament and the New.
4. It appears from what has been said that the evidence of the truth and divinity of the
Christian dispensation is constantly increasing by means of the Mosaic dispensation.
5. If the Christian dispensation has entirely superseded the Mosaic, then there is no
propriety at this day in reasoning from the Mosaic dispensation to the Christian.
6. If the Christian dispensation has completely superseded and abolished the Mosaic, then it
is a great favour to live under the Christian dispensation.
7. It appears from what has been said, that sinners are much more criminal for rejecting the
gospel under the Christian dispensation than those were who rejected it under the Mosaic
dispensation. The gospel was preached to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to all the Jews
under the law, but it was wrapt up in a multitude of mysterious ceremonies which it was
difficult to explain and understand; and those who rejected it, generally rejected it through
much ignorance. But those who live under the light of the gospel have no ground to plead
ignorance. (N. Emmons, D. D.)
The superiority of Christ’s priesthood
I. The old was COMPLEX—the new SIMPLE.
II. The old was RESTRICTIVE—the new UNIVERSAL.
III. The old was TRANSIENT—the new ETERNAL.
IV. The old was SENSUOUS—the new SPIRITUAL.
6. JAMISON, "Christ’s voluntary self offering, in contrast to those inefficient sacrifices, is
shown to fulfill perfectly “the will of God” as to our redemption, by completely atoning “for (our)
sins.”
Wherefore — seeing that a nobler than animal sacrifices was needed to “take away sins.”
when he cometh — Greek, “coming.” The time referred to is the period before His entrance
into the world, when the inefficiency of animal sacrifices for expiation had been proved
[Tholuck]. Or, the time is that between Jesus’ first dawning of reason as a child, and the
beginning of His public ministry, during which, being ripened in human resolution, He was
intently devoting Himself to the doing of His Father’s will [Alford]. But the time of “coming” is
present; not “when He had come,” but “when coming into the world”; so, in order to accord with
Alford’s view, “the world” must mean His PUBLIC ministry: when coming, or about to come,
into public. The Greek verbs are in the past: “sacrifice ... Thou didst not wish, but a body Thou
didst prepare for Me”; and, “Lo, I am come.” Therefore, in order to harmonize these times, the
present coming, or about to come, with the past, “A body Thou didst prepare for Me,” we must
either explain as Alford, or else, if we take the period to be before His actual arrival in the world
(the earth) or incarnation, we must explain the past tenses to refer to God’s purpose, which
speaks of what He designed from eternity as though it were already fulfilled. “A body Thou didst
prepare in Thy eternal counsel.” This seems to me more likely than explaining “coming into the
world,” “coming into public,” or entering on His public ministry. David, in the fortieth Psalm

45. (here quoted), reviews his past troubles and God’s having delivered him from them, and his
consequent desire to render willing obedience to God as more acceptable than sacrifices; but the
Spirit puts into his mouth language finding its partial application to David, and its full
realization only in the divine Son of David. “The more any son of man approaches the incarnate
Son of God in position, or office, or individual spiritual experience, the more directly may his
holy breathings in the power of Christ’s Spirit be taken as utterances of Christ Himself. Of all
men, the prophet-king of Israel resembled and foreshadowed Him the most” [Alford].
a body hast thou prepared me — Greek, “Thou didst fit for Me a body.” “In Thy counsels
Thou didst determine to make for Me a body, to be given up to death as a sacrificial victim”
[Wahl]. In the Hebrew, Psa_40:6, it is “mine ears hast thou opened,” or “dug.” Perhaps this
alludes to the custom of boring the ear of a slave who volunteers to remain under his master
when he might be free. Christ’s assuming a human body, in obedience to the Father’s will, in
order to die the death of a slave (Heb_2:14), was virtually the same act of voluntary submission
to service as that of a slave suffering his ear to be bored by his master. His willing obedience to
the Father’s will is what is dwelt on as giving especial virtue to His sacrifice (Heb_10:7,
Heb_10:9, Heb_10:10). The preparing, or fitting of a body for Him, is not with a view to His
mere incarnation, but to His expiatory sacrifice (Heb_10:10), as the contrast to “sacrifice and
offering” requires; compare also Rom_7:4; Eph_2:16; Col_1:22. More probably “opened mine
ears” means opened mine inward ear, so as to be attentively obedient to what God wills me to
do, namely, to assume the body He has prepared for me for my sacrifice, so Job_33:16, Margin;
Job_36:10 (doubtless the boring of a slave’s “ear” was the symbol of such willing obedience);
Isa_50:5, “The Lord God hath opened mine ear,” that is, made me obediently attentive as a slave
to his master. Others somewhat similarly explain, “Mine ears hast thou digged,” or “fashioned,”
not with allusion to Exo_21:6, but to the true office of the ear - a willing, submissive attention to
the voice of God (Isa_50:4, Isa_50:5). The forming of the ear implies the preparation of the
body, that is, the incarnation; this secondary idea, really in the Hebrew, though less prominent,
is the one which Paul uses for his argument. In either explanation the idea of Christ taking on
Him the form, and becoming obedient as a servant, is implied. As He assumed a body in which
to make His self-sacrifice, so ought we present our bodies a living sacrifice (Rom_12:1).
7. CALVIN, "Wherefore, when he cometh, etc. This entering into the world was the
manifestation of Christ in the flesh; for when he put on man's nature
that he might be a Redeemer to the world and appeared to men, he is
said to have then come into the world, as elsewhere he is said to have
descended from heaven. (John 6:41.) And yet the fortieth Psalm, which
he quotes, seems to be improperly applied to Christ, for what is found
there by no means suits his character, such as, "My iniquities have
laid hold on me," except we consider that Christ willingly took on
himself the sins of his members. The whole of what is said, no doubt,
rightly accords with David; but as it is well known that David was a
type of Christ, there is nothing unreasonable in transferring to Christ
what David declared respecting himself, and especially when mention is
made of abolishing the ceremonies of the Law, as the case is in this
passage. Yet all do not consider that the words have this meaning, for
they think that sacrifices are not here expressly repudiated, but that
the superstitious notion which had generally prevailed, that the whole
worship of God consisted in them, is what is condemned; and if it be
so, it may be said that this testimony has little to do with the

46. present question. It behaves us, then, to examine this passage more
minutely, that it may appear evident whether the apostle has fitly
adduced it.
Everywhere in the Prophets sentences of this kind occur, that
sacrifices do not please God, that they are not required by him, that
he sets no value on them; nay, on the contrary, that they are an
abomination to him. But then the blame was not in the sacrifices
themselves, but what was adventitious to them was referred to; for as
hypocrites, while obstinate in their impiety, still sought to pacify
God with sacrifices, they were in this manner reproved. The Prophets,
then, rejected sacrifices, not as they were instituted by God, but as
they were vitiated by wicked men, and profaned through unclean
consciences. But here the reason is different, for he is not condemning
sacrifices offered in hypocrisy, or otherwise not rightly performed
through the depravity and wickedness of men; but he denies that they
are required of the faithful and sincere worshippers of God; for he
speaks of himself who offered them with a clean heart and pure hands,
and yet he says that they did not please God.
Were any one to except and say that they were not accepted on their own
account or for their own worthiness, but for the sake of something
else, I should still say that unsuitable to this place is an argument
of this kind; for then would men be called back to spiritual worship,
when ascribing too much to external ceremonies; then the Holy Spirit
would be considered as declaring that ceremonies are nothing with God,
when by men's error they are too highly exalted.
David, being under the Law, ought not surely to have neglected the rite
of sacrificing. He ought, I allow, to have worshipped God with
sincerity of heart; but it was not lawful for him to omit what God had
commanded, and he had the command to sacrifice in common with all the
rest. We hence conclude that he looked farther than to his own age,
when he said, Sacrifice thou wouldest not. It was, indeed, in some
respects true, even in David's time, that God regarded not sacrifices;
but as they were yet all held under the yoke of the schoolmaster, David
could not perform the worship of God in a complete manner, unless when
clothed, so to speak, in a form of this kind. We must, then,
necessarily come to the kingdom of Christ, in order that the truth of
God's unwillingness to receive sacrifice may fully appear. There is a
similar passage in Psalm 16:10, "Thou wilt not suffer thine holy one to
see corruption;" for though God delivered David for a time from
corruption, yet this was not fully accomplished except in Christ.
There is no small importance in this, that when he professes that he
would do the will of God, he assigns no place to sacrifices; for we

47. hence conclude that without them there may be a perfect obedience to
God, which could not be true were not the Law annulled. I do not,
however, deny but that David in this place, as well as in Psalm 51:16,
so extenuated external sacrifices as to prefer to them that which is
the main thing; but there is no doubt but that in both places he cast
his eyes on the kingdom of Christ. And thus the Apostle is a witness,
that Christ is justly introduced as the speaker in this Psalm, in which
not even the lowest place among God's commandments is allowed to
sacrifices, which God had yet strictly required under the Law.
But a body hast thou prepared me, etc. The words of David are
different, "An ear hast thou bored for me," a phrase which some think
has been borrowed from an ancient rite or custom of the Law, (Exodus
21:6;) for if any one set no value on the liberty granted at the
jubilee, and wished to be under perpetual servitude, his ear was bored
with an awl. The meaning, as they thinks was this, "Thou shalt have me,
O Lord, as a servant forever." I, however, take another view, regarding
it as intimating docility and obedience; for we are deaf until God
opens our ears, that is, until he corrects the stubbornness that
cleaves to us. There is at the same time an implied contrast between
the promiscuous and vulgar mass, (to whom the sacrifices were like
phantoms without any power,) and David, to whom God had discovered
their spiritual and legitimate use and application.
But the Apostle followed the Greek translators when he said, "A body
hast thou prepared;" for in quoting these words the Apostles were not
so scrupulous, provided they perverted not Scripture to their own
purpose. We must always have a regard to the end for which they quote
passages, for they are very careful as to the main object, so as not to
turn Scripture to another meaning; but as to words and other things,
which bear not on the subject in hand, they use great freedom. [165]
8. MURRAY, A BODY DIDST THOU PREPARE FOR ME. 5-7
THE writer has reminded us of the utter insufficiency of the sacri
fices of the law to do what was needed to take sin away, or to
perfect the worshipper. In contrast to these he will now unfold
to us the inner meaning, the real nature and worth of the sacri
fice of Christ. In speaking of the blood in chap. ix. he has
taught us what its infinite power and efficacy is. But what we
need still to know is this : what gave it that infinite efficacy ;
what is its spiritual character, and what its essential nature,
that it has availed so mightily to open for us the way to God.
Even when we believe in Christ s death, we are in danger of
resting content with what is not much better than its shadow,

48. the mere doctrinal conception of what it has effected, without
entering so into its divine significance, that the very image,
the real likeness of what it means, enters into us in power.
Our writer here again finds what he wants to expound, in
the Old Testament. He quotes from Psalm xl, where the
Psalmist uses words which, though true of himself, could only
have their full meaning revealed when the Messiah came. Our
author makes special use of two significant expressions, A body
thou didst prepare for Me, and, Lo, I am come to do Thy will,
God. Speaking of the sacrifices of the Old Testament,
the Psalmist had shown that he understood that they never
were what God really willed : they were but the shadows point
ing to something better, to a spiritual reality, a life in the body
given up to the will of God, as a divine prophecy of what has
now been revealed in Christ.
A body didst thou prepare for Me. Instead of the sacri
fices, God prepared a body for Christ, which He so offered up
or sacrificed that we have now been sanctified by the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Christ s body was to
Him just what any man s is to him the dwelling and organ of
the soul ; the channel for intercourse with the outer world,
susceptible of impressions of pleasure and of pain, and there
fore one of the first occasions of temptation. His body was a
part of His human personality and life. He was in danger,
just as we are, of using the body for His own service or pleasure,
a means of gratifying self. But He never did this. He was
filled with one thought God prepared Me this body ; I have it
for His disposal, for His service and glory; I hold it ready
every moment to be a sacrifice to Him. The body comes from
God ; it belongs to Him ; it has no object of existence but to
please Him. The one value My body has is, that I can give it
a sacrifice to God.
It was the purpose of the Old Testament sacrifices to waken
this disposition in the worshipper. There was to be not only
the thought as specially in the sin offering This sacrifice dies
in my stead, so that I need not die. But the farther thought
this the burnt offering specially symbolised The giving up of
this lamb and its life in sacrifice to God, is the image and the
pledge of my giving up my life to Him. I offer the sacrifice to
God, in token of my offering myself to Him. Substitution and
Consecration were equally symbolised in the altar.
This was the feeling of David in writing the Psalm. What

49. he could only partly understand and fulfil has been realised in
Christ. And what Christ accomplished for us, of that we become
full partakers as it is wrought into us, in a life of fellowship
with Him. The word comes to us, Present your bodies a
living sacrifice unto God. The real essential nature of the
sacrifice of Christ, what gives it worth and efficacy, is this:
the body that God prepared for Him, He offered up to God.
And just as David, before Christ, through the Spirit of Christ,
said these words of himself, so every believer after Christ, in the
Spirit and power of Christ, says them too : A body hast thou
prepared for me. This is the new and living way that Christ
has opened up. David walked in it by anticipation ; Christ the
Leader and Forerunner walked in it and fully opened it up ; it is
only as we, too, by participation with Him, walk in it, that we
can find access into the Holiest
Every believer who would be fully delivered from the Old
Testament religion, the trust in something done outside of us,
that leaves us unchanged, and would fully know what it means
that we are sanctified and perfected by the one offering of the
body of Christ, must study to appropriate fully this word as true
of Christ and himself as a member of His body A body didst
thou prepare for Me. In paradise it was through the body
sin entered ; in the body it took up its abode and showed its
power. In the lust for forbidden food, in the sense of naked
ness and shame, in the turning to dust again, sin proved its
triumph. In the body grace will reign and triumph. The body
has been redeemed ; it becomes a temple of the Spirit and a
member of Christ s body ; it will be made like His glorious
body. A body didst thou prepare for Me : through the body
lies, for Christ and all who are sanctified in Him, the path to
perfection.
And yet how many believers there are to whom the body is
the greatest hindrance in their Christian life. Simply because
they have not learnt from Christ what the highest use of the
body is to offer it up to God. Instead of presenting their
members unto God, of mortifying the deeds of the body
tJirough the Spirit, of keeping under the body, they allow it
to have its way, and are brought into bondage. Oh for an
insight into the real nature of our actual redemption, through a
body received from God, prepared by Him, and offered up to
Him.
1. The soul dwells In the body. The body has been well compared to the walls of a city. In
time of war, not only the city and its ind welters must be under the rule of the king, but specially
the walls. Jesus, for whom God prepared a body, who offered His body, knows to keep the body

50. too.
2. The mystery of the Incarnation Is that Godhead dwelt in a body. The mystery of atone
ment, the one offering of the body of Christ. The mystery of full redemption, that the Holy Spirit
dwells in and sanctifies wholly the body too.
3. "Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you ? Glorify God,
therefore, In your body." Did you ever know that the Holy Spirit Is specially gluen for the body ,
to regulate its functions and sanctify it wholly ?
9. COFFMAN, “Verses 5, 6, 7
Wherefore when he cometh into the world he saith, Sacrifice and
offering thou wouldest not, But a body didst thou prepare for me; In
whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sins thou hadst no pleasure:
Then said I, Lo, I come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To
do thy will, O God.
This quotation from Psa. 40:6-8 is introduced by the words, "When he
cometh into the world," a reference to the incarnation of Christ, making him
the true author of the words of David in this Psalm, and requiring that these
words be understood as spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ and not by David.
Lenski was doubtless correct in his understanding of this remarkable
prophecy. He said:
The great force which these lines of the psalm and this true analysis of what
they say has for the readers lies in the fact that David has written these
lines in the psalm; they are in the holy scriptures, are a part of all that David
the type says for the antitype, the Messiah. The lines are the voice of the
Messiah himself speaking to God hundreds of years before this Messiah
"appeared" (26) and did God's will. F7
Also, from the comment of Westcott, "The words, it will be observed,
assume the pre-existence of Christ." F8
The well known problem of this place is that the author of Hebrews
apparently quoted from the Septuagint (LXX) version of the Scriptures which
differs greatly from the Hebrew text in the key words about the prepartion of
a body for the Messiah. Of this, Thomas said:
The Hebrew reads, "Mine ears thou hast opened," while the Greek text from
which the quotation is made reads, "A body hast thou prepared me." On the
principle that the Greek reading is the harder, it may be regarded as the
original. F9

51. We shall presume to pass no judgment as to the relative value of the word
of scholars on this difficulty; but we do confidently affirm the right of every
believer to accept the words as here quoted to be authentic and faithful
words of God, reported in the verses before us by the inspired author of
Hebrews.
Sacrifice and offering ... whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sins,
constitute two pairs of words regarding the Jewish sacrifices, and again to
Westcott we are indebted for this instructive note:
The two pairs of words give a complete view of the Jewish sacrifices. The
first two describe them according to their material, the animal offering, and
the meal offering. The second pair give in the burnt offering and the sin
offering, representative types of the two great classes of offerings. F10
In the roll of the book it is written of me
seems like a strange expression; but as Clarke said,
Anciently, books were written on skins rolled up. Among the Romans, these
were called volumina, from volvo, I roll; and the Pentateuch, in the Jewish
synagogues, is still written in this way. There are two wooden rollers; on the
one they roll ON; on the other they roll OFF. F11
Clark also pinpointed the identification of just which book is meant, in these
words,
The book mentioned here must be the Pentateuch, for in David's time no
other part of divine revelation had been committed to writing. This whole
book speaks about Christ, and his accomplishing the will of God, not only in
Gen. 3:15, but in all the sacrifices and sacrificial rites mentioned in the
law. F12
The statement of the Messiah in presenting himself to do God's will, before
his incarnation and at the time God purposed the redemptive act on behalf
of man, is as follows; "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." All kinds of
offerings and sacrifices having failed to please God, or to give him any
pleasure, and failing totally to remove man's sin and restore his broken
fellowship with God, Christ in this place appears as the great Volunteer who
would undertake the task. Even he would not be able to do it with such
things as animal sacrifices, but would need "a body," a body prepared of
God and made available to the Messiah through the seed of David; thus the
principle is established that absolutely nothing less than the death of man
for the sins of man could prevail; and no ordinary sinful man would suffice
for such a purpose. Nothing less than the perfect and sinless Son of God
could avail to make atonement.
No angel could his place have taken, Highest of the High, though he; The
loved One on the cross forsaken Was one of the Godhead three. F13

52. Thus, the dramatic and world-shaking significance of Christ's voluntary
assumption of so dreadful and necessary a task on man's behalf is seen in
the words, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." How profoundly different was
the voluntary work of Christ from that of the old law offerings, which were
not the result of any willing or voluntary assent on the part of the victims,
but depended upon the arbitrary selection of others. How these precious
words glow upon the sacred page: "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God"!
10, TERRY LARM, 10:5-7 Now that Hebrews has established that the old cultus is
ineffectual, he turns to the scriptures to find what is an effective way of dealing with
sin.[36]
In these verses the words of Psalm 40:6-8 are put in the mouth of Christ as He
"came into the world." "Coming into the world" is a Jewish metaphor of birth,[37]
and
reflects Johannine language associated with the incarnation.[38]
Even without the
affinity to John this is still incarnational language.[39]
Perhaps the simplest way to
understand this is to see it as the words of the pre-incarnate Christ speaking as He is
coming into the world.[40]
Yet, as seen by the connection of "body" (swmatoj) to
"sacrifice" (prosforaj) in Hebrews 10:10, the author is thinking of the whole span of
Jesus' incarnate life. The effect of putting this psalm into the mouth of Christ is to give
it an explicit christological interpretation.[41]
There are several difficulties with the quotation of the psalm. The most obvious is the
substitution of "prepared a body for me" where the MT has "pierced my ears." The
LXX manuscript that the author of Hebrews used is likely to have had "body"
(swma).[42]
Although the author did not change this part of the psalm, he did make
other changes of his own. The LXX rendering of "I desired to do your will, O my
God" becomes "to do your will, O God."[43]
The omission of the final verb "I desired"
(eboulhqhn)adds emphasis[44]
by effectively connecting Christ's coming to the doing
of God's will.[45]
Christ's willing obedience is emphasized, instead of the inadequacies
of the old sacrifices which were the focus of verses 1-4.
6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not
pleased.

53. 1. BARNES, "In burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure -
This is not quoted literally from the Psalm, but the sense is retained. The reading there is,
“burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not required.” The quotation by the apostle is taken
from the Septuagint, with the change of a single word, which does not materially affect the sense
- the word ᆆυκ ᅚυδόκησας ouk eudokesas - “ouk eudokesas” - “thou hast no pleasure,” instead of
ᆆυκ ᅦθέλησας ouk ethelesas - “ouk ethelesas” - “thou dost not will.” The idea is, that God had no
pleasure in them as compared with obedience. He preferred the latter, and they could not be
made to come in the place of it, or to answer the same purpose. When they were performed with
a pure heart, he was doubtless pleased with the offering. As used here in reference to the
Messiah, the meaning is, that they would not be what was required of “him.” Such offerings
would not answer the end for which he was sent into the world, for that end was to be
accomplished only by his being “obedient unto death.”
2. CLARKE, "Thou hast had no pleasure - Thou couldst never be pleased with the
victims under the law; thou couldst never consider them as atonements for sin; as they could
never satisfy thy justice, nor make thy law honorable.
3. GILL, "In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin,.... Which were the principal kinds of
offerings under the law:
thou hast had no pleasure; not only in comparison of moral duties, or spiritual sacrifices,
such as those of praise and thanksgiving, Psa_69:30 but so as to accept of the offerers for the
sake of them, and smell a sweet savour in them; for these could not satisfy his justice, appease
his anger, or expiate sin; and when they were in full force, and offered in the most agreeable
manner, they were no otherwise well pleasing to God, than as they were types of, and had
respect unto the sacrifice of his Son. In the Hebrew text it is, "thou didst not require, or ask for";
for them, when the time was up that Christ should come into the world.
4. FUDGE, " God has never desired sacrifices above human obedience. If man had obeyed, in
fact, he would not have needed sacrifices at all This was true from the beginning of Israel's
history (Jeremiah 7:21-23; I Samuel 15:22; Psalm 51:16-17) to the time of the great writing
prophets of the eighth century (Isaiah 1:11-17; Amos 5:22-24; Micah 6:6-8).
Each type of offering under the old covenant served a particular purpose, and all are included
under the present principles. Sacrifice was the regular term for the peace. offering, a conciliation
for the restoring of fellowship. Offering was the generic term for the meal or cereal offering, a
donation representing the consecration of the giver. Burnt offering indicates the oblation
expressing worship. The sin-offering was made for expiation or atonement.
Whatever the purpose and whatever the offering, none was God's first choice from man. It is
better to maintain fellowship than to restore it, to show consecration by a life than by an offering,
to worship by giving oneself than a burnt animal, to obey than to atone for disobedience. God
simply wanted human conformity to His will, manifested in sincere and loving obedience. Christ
came to give this -- and the Father gave Him a body for that purpose.
5. JAMISON, "burnt offerings — Greek, “whole burnt offerings.”

54. thou hast had no pleasure — as if these could in themselves atone for sin: God had
pleasure in (Greek, “approved,” or “was well pleased with”) them, in so far as they were an act of
obedience to His positive command under the Old Testament, but not as having an intrinsic
efficacy such as Christ’s sacrifice had. Contrast Mat_3:17.
6. CALVIN, "
7 Then I said, 'Here I am--it is written about me in the
scroll-- I have come to do your will, O God.' "
1. BARNES, "Then said I - “I the Messiah.” Paul applies this directly to Christ, showing
that he regarded the passage in the Psalms as referring to him as the speaker.
Lo, I come - Come into the world; Heb_10:5. It is not easy to see how this could be applied
to David in any circumstance of his life. There was no situation in which he could say that, since
sacrifices and offerings were not what was demanded, he came to do the will of God in the place
or stead of them. The time here referred to by the word “then” is when it was manifest that
sacrifices and offerings for sin would not answer all the purposes desirable, or when in view of
that fact the purpose of the Redeemer is conceived as formed to enter upon a work which would
effect what they could not.
In the volume of the book it is written of me - The word rendered here “volume “ - κεφ
αλίς kephalis - means properly “a little head;” and then a knob, and here refers doubtless to the
head or knob of the rod on which the Hebrew manuscripts were rolled. Books were usually so
written as to be rolled up, and when they were read they were unrolled at one end of the
manuscript, and rolled up at the other as fast as they were read; see notes on Luk_4:17. The rods
on which they were rolled had small heads, either for the purpose of holding them, or for
ornament, and hence, the name head came metaphorically to be given to the roll or volume. But
what volume is here intended? And where is that written which is here referred to? If David was
the author of the Psalm from which this is quoted Ps. 40, then the book or volume which was
then in existence must have been principally, if not entirely, the five books of Moses, and
perhaps the books of Job, Joshua, and Judges, with probably a few of the Psalms. It is most
natural to understand this of the Pentateuch, or the five books of Moses, as the word “volume” at
that time would undoubtedly have most naturally suggested that.
But plainly, this could not refer to David himself, for in what part of the Law of Moses, or in
any of the volumes then extant, can a reference of this kind be found to David? There is no
promise, no intimation that he would come to “do the will of God” with a view to effect what
could not be done by the sacrifices prescribed by the Jewish Law. The reference of the language,
therefore, must be to the Messiah - to some place where it is represented that he would come to
effect by his obedience what could not be done by the sacrifices and offerings under the Law. But
still, in the books of Moses, this language is not literally found, and the meaning must be, that

55. this was the language which was there implied respecting the Messiah; or this was the substance
of the description given of him, that he would como to take the place of those sacrifices, and by
his obedience unto death would accomplish what they could not do.
They had a reference to him; and it was contemplated in their appointment that their
inefficiency would be such that there should be felt a necessity for a higher sacrifice, and when
he should come they would all be done away. The whole language of the institution of sacrifices,
and of the Mosaic economy, was, that a Saviour would hereafter come to do the will of God in
making an atonement for the sin of the world. That there are places in the books of Moses which
refer to the Saviour, is expressly affirmed by Christ himself Joh_5:46, and by the apostles
(compare Act_26:22, Act_26:3), and that the general spirit of the institutions of Moses had
reference to him is abundantly demonstrated in this Epistle. The meaning here is, “I come to do
thy will in making an atonement, for no other offering would expiate sin. That I would do this is
the language of the Scriptures which predict my coming, and of the whole spirit and design of
the ancient dispensation.”
To do thy will, O God - This expresses the amount of all that the Redeemer came to do. He
came to do the will of God:
(1) By perfect obedience to his Law, and,
(2) By making an atonement for sin - becoming “obedient unto death;” Phi_2:8.
The latter is the principal thought here, for the apostle is showing that sacrifice and offering
such as were made under the Law would not put away sin, and that Christ came in
contradistinction from them to make a sacrifice that would be efficacious. Everywhere in the
Scriptures it is held out as being the “will of God” that such an atonement should be made. There
was salvation in no other way, nor was it possible that the race should be saved unless the
Redeemer drank that cup of bitter sorrows; see Mat_26:39. We are not to suppose, however,
that it was by mere arbitrary will that those sufferings were demanded. There were good reasons
for all that the Saviour was to endure, though those reasons are not all made known to us.
2. CLARKE, "In the volume of the book - ‫במגלת‬‫ספר‬ bimgillath sepher, “in the roll of the
book.” Anciently, books were written on skins and rolled up. Among the Romans these were
called volumina, from volvo, I roll; and the Pentateuch, in the Jewish synagogues, is still written
in this way. There are two wooden rollers; on one they roll on, on the other they roll off, as they
proceed in reading. The book mentioned here must be the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses;
for in David’s time no other part of Divine revelation had been committed to writing. This whole
book speaks about Christ, and his accomplishing the will of God; not only in, The seed of the
woman shall bruise the head of the serpent, and, In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed, but in all the sacrifices and sacrificial rites mentioned in the law.
To do thy will - God willed not the sacrifices under the law, but he willed that a human
victim of infinite merit should be offered for the redemption of mankind. That there might be
such a victim, a body was prepared for the eternal Logos; and in that body he came to do the will
of God, that is, to suffer and die for the sins of the world.
3. GILL, "Then said I, lo, I come,.... Christ observing that legal sacrifices were not
acceptable to God; that there was a body prepared for him; and that it was written of him in the
book of God, that he should come; and the time being now come, with a note of attention and
admiration, the matter being of great moment and concern, he cheerfully expresses his
readiness to come, immediately, without any compulsion, even he himself, and not another.

56. In the volume of the book it is written of me; in the book of the law, as the, Targum and
Kimchi on Psa_40:7 interpret it; and which may design the Bible in general, the whole book of
the Scriptures of the Old Testament: so ‫,ספר‬ "the book", is used for the whole Bible (r), and it is
said (s), all the whole law, that is, all Scripture, is called ‫,מגילה‬ "a volume"; accordingly there are
things written of Christ in all the writings of the Old Testament, in the law, and in the prophets,
and in the psalms. Jarchi interprets it of the law of Moses, and so it may design the pentateuch,
or the five books of Moses; and there are several places therein, in which it is written of Christ,
and particularly in Genesis, the first of these books, and in the head, the beginning, the frontal
piece, the first part of that book; namely, Gen_3:15 which may be principally designed. Books
were formerly written in rolls of parchment, and hence called volumes; See Gill on Luk_4:17,
See Gill on Luk_4:20. The end of his coming is next expressed by him,
to do thy will, O God; which, when he came, he set about with the utmost delight, diligence,
and faithfulness, in preaching the Gospel, performing miracles, doing good to the bodies and
souls of men, and in finishing the great work of man's redemption, which was the main part of
his Father's will he came to do; and which he did, by fulfilling the law in its precept and penalty;
by offering himself a sacrifice to God; by suffering death, the death of the cross; by destroying all
his and our enemies, and so working out everlasting salvation.
4. HENRY, "Here the apostle raises up and exalts the Lord Jesus Christ, as high as he had
laid the Levitical priesthood low. He recommends Christ to them as the true high priest, the true
atoning sacrifice, the antitype of all the rest: and this he illustrates,
I. From the purpose and promise of God concerning Christ, which are frequently recorded in
the volume of the book of God, Heb_10:7. God had not only decreed, but declared by Moses and
the prophets, that Christ should come and be the great high priest of the church, and should
offer up a perfect and a perfecting sacrifice. It was written of Christ, in the beginning of the book
of God, that the seed of the woman should break the serpent's head; and the Old Testament
abounds with prophecies concerning Christ. Now since he is the person so often promised, so
much spoken of, so long expected by the people of God, he ought to be received with great
honour and gratitude.
II. From what God had done in preparing a body for Christ (that is, a human nature), that he
might be qualified to be our Redeemer and Advocate; uniting the two natures in his own person,
he was a fit Mediator to go between God and man; a days-man to lay his hand upon both, a
peace-maker, to reconcile them, and an everlasting band of union between God and the creature
- “My ears hast thou opened; thou has fully instructed me, furnished and fitted me for the work,
and engaged me in it,” Psa_40:6. Now a Saviour thus provided, and prepared by God himself in
so extraordinary a manner, ought to be received with great affection and gladness.
III. From the readiness and willingness that Christ discovered to engage in this work, when no
other sacrifice would be accepted, Heb_10:7-9. When no less sacrifice would be a proper
satisfaction to the justice of God than that of Christ himself, then Christ voluntarily came into it:
“Lo, I come! I delight to do thy will, O God! Let thy curse fall upon me, but let these go their
way. Father, I delight to fulfil thy counsels, and my covenant with thee for them; I delight to
perform all thy promises, to fulfil all the prophecies.” This should endear Christ and our Bibles
to us, that in Christ we have the fulfilling of the scriptures.
5. JAMISON, "I come — rather, “I am come” (see on Heb_10:5). “Here we have the creed,
as it were, of Jesus: ‘I am come to fulfil the law,’ Mat_5:17; to preach, Mar_1:38; to call sinners
to repentance, Luk_5:32; to send a sword and to set men at variance, Mat_10:34, Mat_10:35; I

57. came down from heaven to do the will of Him that sent me, Joh_6:38, Joh_6:39 (so here,
Psa_40:7, Psa_40:8); I am sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Mat_15:24; I am come
into this world for judgment, Joh_9:39; I am come that they might have life, and might have it
more abundantly, Joh_10:10; to save what had been lost, Mat_18:11; to seek and to save that
which was lost, Luk_19:10; compare 1Ti_1:15; to save men’s lives, Luk_9:56; to send fire on the
earth, Luk_12:49; to minister, Mat_20:28; as “the Light,” Joh_12:46; to bear witness unto the
truth, Joh_18:37. See, reader, that thy Savior obtain what He aimed at in thy case. Moreover, do
thou for thy part say, why thou art come here? Dost thou, then, also, do the will of God? From
what time? and in what way?” [Bengel]. When the two goats on the day of atonement were
presented before the Lord, that goat on which the lot of the Lord should fall was to be offered as
a sin offering; and that lot was lifted up on high in the hand of the high priest, and then laid
upon the head of the goat which was to die; so the hand of God determined all that was done to
Christ. Besides the covenant of God with man through Christ’s blood, there was another
covenant made by the Father with the Son from eternity. The condition was, “If He shall make
His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed,” etc. (Isa_53:10). The Son accepted the
condition, “Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God” [Bishop Pearson]. Oblation, intercession, and
benediction, are His three priestly offices.
in the volume, etc. — literally, “the roll”: the parchment manuscript being wrapped around
a cylinder headed with knobs. Here, the Scripture “volume” meant is the fortieth Psalm. “By this
very passage ‘written of Me,’ I undertake to do Thy will [namely, that I should die for the sins of
the world, in order that all who believe may be saved, not by animal sacrifices, Heb_10:6, but by
My death].” This is the written contract of Messiah (compare Neh_9:38), whereby He engaged
to be our surety. So complete is the inspiration of all that is written, so great the authority of the
Psalms, that what David says is really what Christ then and there said.
6. SBC, “Lo, I come.
I. None but the Son of God could offer unto the Father a sacrifice to please Him, and to reconcile
us unto Him in a perfect manner. The burnt-offerings and sin-offerings were ordained merely as
shadows and temporary types of that one offering, the self-devotedness of the Son of God to
accomplish all the will of God, the counsel of salvation. It is the Divine and eternal offering of
Himself unto the Father in which the incarnation and death of the Lord Jesus are rooted; it is
the voluntary character of His advent and passion, and it is the Divine dignity of the Mediator,
which render His work unique, to which nothing can be compared, and a repetition of which is
impossible.
II. Rise from the river to its source, from the rays of light and love to the eternal origin and
fount. See in the life, the obedience, the agony of Jesus, the expression of that free surrender of
Himself, and espousal of our cause, which was accomplished in eternity, in His own all-glorious
and perfect divinity. Beware lest you see in Him only the faith and obedience, the sufferings and
death of the Son of Man; see His eternal divinity shining through and sustaining all His
humanity.
III. This truth is revealed to us, not merely to establish our hearts in peace, and to fill us with
adoring gratitude and joy, but here, marvellous to say, is held out to us a model which we are to
imitate, a principle of life which we are to adopt. So wondrously are high mysteries and deep
doctrines intertwined with daily duties, and the transformation of our character, that the
Apostle Paul, when exhorting the Philippians to avoid strife and vain-glory, and have brotherly
love and helpfulness, ascends from our lowly earthly path into this highest region of the eternal
covenant. As we owe all to Him, let us be not merely debtors, but followers of Him who came,

58. not to do His own will, and to be ministered unto, who came to love and to serve, to give and to
bless, to suffer and to die.
A. Saphir, Lectures on Hebrews, vol. ii., p. 167.
7.CALVIN, "In the volume or chapter of the book, etc. Volume is properly the
meaning of the Hebrew word; for we know that books were formerly rolled
up in the form of a cylinder. There is also nothing unreasonable in
understanding book as meaning the Law, which prescribes to all God's
children the rule of a holy life; though it seems to me a more suitable
view to consider him as saying, that he deemed himself to be in the
catalogue of those who render themselves obedient to God. The Law,
indeed, bids us all to obey God; but David means, that he was numbered
among those who are called to obey God; and then he testifies that he
obeyed his vocation, by adding, I come to do thy will; and this
peculiarly belongs to Christ. For though all the saints aspire after
the righteousness of God, yet it is Christ alone who was fully
competent to do God's will.
This passage, however, ought to stimulate us all to render prompt
obedience to God; for Christ is a pattern of perfect obedience for this
end, that all who are his may contend with one another in imitating
him, that they may together respond to the call of God, and that their
life may exemplify this saying, Lo, I come. To the same purpose is what
follows, It is written, that is, that we should do the will of God,
according to what is said elsewhere, that the end of our election is,
to be holy and unblamable in his sight. (Colossians 1:22.)
8. FUDGE, “The psalm quotation continues. "I come," Jesus says, "to do thy will, O God." The
parenthetical phrase, "in the volume of the book it is written of me," is also from the psalm.
Again, two meanings are possible. Christ may be saying, "what is written in the Law I apply to
myself to keep." Or He may mean, "what David said in the psalm regarding obedience was a
prophetic statement of Myself and My work." Both are true and both should be included in our
understanding.
Psalm 40:8 adds a phrase not quoted here: "Thy law is within my heart." David of old applied
what the Law said to his own life, so that God's precepts were not written in the book alone but
also inscribed in his heart. How fitting for the Christ to be foretold in such a context! For the new
covenant He mediated is characterized by laws inscribed in men's hearts.
8 First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt
offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were

59. you pleased with them" (although the law required
them to be made).
1. BARNES, "Above when he said - That is, the Messiah. The word “above” refers here to
the former part of the quotation. That is, “having in the former part of what was quoted said that
God did not require sacrifices, in the latter part he says that he came to do the will of God in the
place of them.”
Sacrifice and offering, and burnt-offerings ... - These words are not all used in the
Psalm from which the apostle quotes, but the idea is, that the specification there included all
kinds of offerings. The apostle dwells upon it because it was important to show that the same
remark applied to all the sacrifices which could be offered by man. When the Redeemer made
the observation about the inefficacy of sacrifices, he meant that there was none of them which
would be sufficient to take away sin.
2. COFFMAN, "Here the author quotes the sense of the quotation from Psa.
40:6-8, and for notes on these words see under Heb. 10:5-7. As is
sometimes true in the Scriptures, what is written as a parenthesis turns out
to be of surpassing importance, as for example, the epic parenthesis of John
10:35, "And the Scriptures cannot be broken." So it is here. The
parenthetical statement is for the purpose of alerting the reader to the fact
that it is not merely some special kind of sacrifice, nor all of them together,
which falls under the abrogation about to be mentioned; but rather it is the
law itself, the whole and entire law, which was but a shadow anyway, that
must fall under the sweeping annulment of Christ who repealed the whole
ancient constitution in order to found another.”
3. GILL, "Above when he said, .... In the afore cited place, Psa_40:7
Sacrifice and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering for sin thou wouldst not,
neither hadst pleasure therein; this is a recapitulation of what is before said; and all kind of
sacrifices are mentioned, to show that they are all imperfect, and insufficient, and are abolished;
and the abrogation of them is expressed in the strongest terms, as that God would not have
them, and that he took no pleasure in them:
which are offered by the law; according as that directs and enjoins: this clause is added, to
distinguish these sacrifices from spiritual ones, under the Gospel dispensation, and which are
well pleasing to God; and to prevent an objection against the abolition of them, taken from
hence, that they are according to the law; and yet, notwithstanding this, God will not have them,
nor accept of them.

60. 4. HENRY, "
5. JAMISON, "he — Christ.
Sacrifice, etc. — The oldest manuscripts read, “Sacrifices and offerings” (plural). This verse
combines the two clauses previously quoted distinctly, Heb_10:5, Heb_10:6, in contrast to the
sacrifice of Christ with which God was well pleased.
6. MURRAY, LO, I AM COME TO DO THY WILL. 8-10
ON the word, A body didst thou prepare for Me, as the expres
sion of God s claim, there follows now in the Psalm that other
on the surrender to that claim Lo, I am come to do Thy will.
In this, the doing of God s will, we have the destiny of the
creature, the blessedness of heaven, the inmost secret of redemp
tion. In this consists the worth of Christ s sacrifice, and this
alone is the reason why His blood prevails. The path He
opened up to God, the path He walked in and we walk in, to
enter the Holiest, is I am come to do Thy will. It is through
God s will alone we enter in to God Himself. The central
blessing, Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, gives us, when
He gives us Himself, is a heart in which the will of God lives.
We have more than once spoken of the two aspects of Christ s
death substitution with the atonement it wrought, and fellow
ship with the conformity it brings. The two are inseparably con
nected. As long as we look to the substitution simply as an
act accomplished outside of us, without seeking to know its
inner nature and meaning, the fellowship and conformity of
Christ s death will be an impossibility. But as we enter into the
real meaning of the death for us and in our stead, to that which
constituted its divine life and power, we shall find that death
and the life out of death becomes ours in truth, laying hold of
us, and bringing us into the true life-fellowship with our blessed
Leader and Forerunner ; we shall see and experience that what
was to Him the way into the Holiest will be to us the only but
the certain, the living way thither.
Lo, I am come to do Thy will, God. " He humbled Him
self, and became obedient therefore God hath highly exalted
Him." Because God is the all-perfect fountain of life and
goodness and blessing, there can be no life or goodness or
blessing but in His will. The whole evil and ruin of sin is that
man turned from God s will to do his own. The redemption of
Christ had no reason, no object, and no possibility of success,

61. except in restoring man to do God s will. It was for this Jesus
died. He gave up His own will ; He gave His life, rather than
do His own will. It was this that gave value to His bearing
our sins, with their curse and consequences, to His tasting death
for every man. It was this that gave such infinite worth to His
blood. It was this that made Him a real propitiation for the
sins of the world. And it is this we are made partakers of first,
as an obedience for the sake of which we are made righteous ;
but, further also, in the fellowship of the very spirit of the death
and the life in which He entered the presence of God. I come
to do Thy will, is the way into the Holiest, for Him and for us.
By which will we have been sanctified. By which will,
as willed by God, as done and fulfilled by Christ in His one
offering, as accepted by us in faith. When we accept Christ, the
will of God wrought out in Christ on our behalf, is accepted by
us too ; it becomes the power that rules in our life by the
Holy Spirit. In which will, not as a dead past transaction, or
as the mere performance of a certain work to be done, but as a
living eternal reality restoring man into God s will in living
power this it is in which we have the new and living way to
God.
In which will we have been sanctified. Sanctification in this
Epistle is a word of larger meaning than what is meant by that
title in ordinary Church doctrine. It includes all that is implied
in bringing us into living fellowship with God. He is the Holy
One. His life is His holiness. The inner sanctuary to which
we enter in, is the Holiness of Holinesses. In chap. ii. we read :
Both He that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified are all
of one. Our sanctification is rooted in our oneness with Jesus.
In the which will we are sanctified, delivered from the power
of sin and this evil world, brought into fellowship with the Holy
One, and fitted for entering the Holiest of All.
In the which will we have been sanctified through the offer
ing of the body of Jesus Christ. His offering has such power,
because it was the doing of the will of God, the entering into
the will of God, and through it into the holiness of God, into
the very Holiest of All. And now, as no one but Christ had
power of Himself to say, Lo, I am come to do Thy will, so no
one can speak thus, or live thus, but because the divine nature
of Christ is truly born and formed within him, and is become
the life of his life and the spirit of his Spirit. It is thus that His
priesthood manifests His power to bring us nigh to God.

62. Fellow-Christian ! hast thou learnt to believe and to regard
thyself as sanctified in the will of God as done by Jesus, admitted
to the fellowship of the Holy One? Is not this possibly the
reason that thou hast not yet entered the rest of God within the
veil, because thou hast never, in accepting Christ, accepted that
which really constitutes Him the Christ ? He is the Christ who
came to do the will of God this constitutes Him a Saviour. Oh,
come and believe that this is what He did for thee and on thy
behalf, that thou mightest be able to do it too. The new and
living way into the Holiest, which Jesus as Leader and Fore
runner hath opened up, is the way of a body prepared for me by
God, a body offered to Him, and a life given to do His will.
As I say with Jesus, I am come to do Thy will, I have no other
object in life, for this alone I live, I shall with Him abide in
God s presence.
1. The only way to God is through the will of God. A truth so simple and self-evident !
and yet so deep and spiritual that but few fully apprehend it. Yes, this is the way, the only
way, the new and living way into the Holiest which Jesus opened up. Let us follow Him, our
Leader and Forerunner, walhing in His footsteps, in the will of God.
2. Be not afraid to say Yes, my God, here am I, absolutely given up in everything to
do the will of God ; by Thy grace and Holy Spirit, to make every part of my being a doing
of the will of God ! So help me, God !
3. For the penitent convert it is enough to hnoui the beginning of the doctrine of Christ,
His obedience has atoned and makes me righteous. The believer who seeks to grow and
become conformed to the image of the Son, seeks and finds more. The obedience that gave
the
sacrifice its power in heaven, exercises that power in his heart. The adorable Substitute be
comes the beloved Leader and Brother, the High Priest in the power of the heavenly life,
bringing
us near to God by leading us and keeping us in His will.
9 Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your
will." He sets aside the first to establish the second.
1. BARNES, "Then said he - In another part of the passage quoted. When he had said that
no offering which man could make would avail, then he said that he would come himself.

63. He taketh away the first - The word “first” here refers to sacrifices and offerings. He takes
them away; that is, he shows that they are of no value in removing sin. He states their inefficacy,
and declares his purpose to abolish them.
That he may establish the second - To wit, the doing of the will of God. The two stand in
contrast with each other, and he shows the inefficacy of the former, in order that the necessity
for his coming to do the will of God may be fully seen. If they had been efficacious, there would
have been no need of his coming to make an atonement.
2. CLARKE, "He taketh away the first - The offerings, sacrifices, burnt-offerings, and
sacrifices for sin, which were prescribed by the law.
That he may establish the second - The offering of the body of Jesus once for all. It will
make little odds in the meaning if we say, he taketh away the first covenant, that he may
establish the second covenant; he takes away the first dispensation, that he may establish the
second; he takes away the law, that he may establish the Gospel. In all these cases the sense is
nearly the same: I prefer the first.
3. GILL, "Then said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God,.... See Gill on Heb_10:7.
he taketh away the first, that he may establish the second; the sense is, either that God
has taken away, and abolished the law, that he might establish the Gospel; or he has caused the
first covenant to vanish away, that place might be found for the second, or new covenant; or he
has changed and abrogated the priesthood of Aaron, that he might confirm the unchangeable
priesthood of Christ; or rather he has taken away that which was first spoken of in the above
citation, namely, sacrifice, offering, burnt offerings, and sin offerings; these he has removed and
rejected as insignificant and useless, that he might establish what is mentioned in the second
place; namely, the will of God, which is no other than the sacrifice of Christ, offered up
according to the will of God, and by which his will is done.
4. TERRY LARM, "10:9 Again he quotes part of the psalm, pared down for
emphasis.[50]
The point is that the first is annulled in order to establish the
second.[51]
There has been a progression in the author's argument that is brought to its
finish: in 7:12 the levitical order was set aside, 7:12 and 18 abrogated the mosaic law,
then in 8:7ff. the old covenant was deemed obsolete, now the sacrifices of the mosaic
cult are abolished.[52]
The commentaries agree that "first" refers to the sacrifices of the law, but what is the
"second"? Lane thinks it is in the way that worshippers are consecrated,[53]
whereas
Attridge says it has to do with obedience to God's will.[54]
Stylianopoulos connects
this argument with earlier arguments of Christ's sacrifice replacing the mosaic cult,
thus claiming that the second is "the sacrifice (of the body) of Christ . . . firmly
established in accordance with God's will."[55]
Ellingworth correctly sees that verse
ten is decisive for discerning the meaning of second;[56]
he concludes with Attridge
that the second is the "will," although the verse mentions both "will" and
"sanctified."[57]
"second" referred to it rather than "will." Yet, the "will" of God is, as

64. Stylianopoulos has seen, and as verse ten states, the sacrifice of the body of Christ.
We can best take "second" to be referring to the sacrifice of Christ, in
contradistinction to the sacrifices of the law, realizing that it is the will of God.
5. JAMISON, "Then said he — “At that time (namely, when speaking by David’s mouth in
the fortieth Psalm) He hath said.” The rejection of the legal sacrifices involves, as its
concomitant, the voluntary offer of Jesus to make the self-sacrifice with which God is well
pleased (for, indeed, it was God’s own “will” that He came to do in offering it: so that this
sacrifice could not but be well pleasing to God).
I come — “I am come.”
taketh away — “sets aside the first,” namely, “the legal system of sacrifices” which God wills
not.
the second — “the will of God” (Heb_10:7, Heb_10:9) that Christ should redeem us by His
self-sacrifice.
6. CALVIN, "He taketh away, etc. See now why and for what purpose this passage
was quoted, even that we may know that the full and perfect
righteousness under the kingdom of Christ stands in no need of the
sacrifices of the Law; for when they are removed, the will of God is
set up as a perfect rule. It hence follows, that the sacrifices of
beasts were to be removed by the priesthood of Christ, as they had
nothing in common with it. For there was no reason, as we have said,
for him to reject the sacrifices on account of an accidental blame; for
he is not dealing with hypocrites, nor does he condemn the superstition
of perverted worship; but he denies that the usual sacrifices are
required of a pious man rightly instructed, and he testifies that
without sacrifices God is fully and perfectly obeyed.
10 And by that will, we have been made holy through
the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
1. BARNES, "By the which will - That is, by his obeying God in the manner specified. It is
in virtue of his obedience that we are sanctified. The apostle immediately specifies what he

65. means, and furnishes the key to his whole argument, when he says that it was “through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ.” It was not merely his doing the will of God in general, but it
was the specific thing of offering his body in the place of the Jewish sacrifices; compare Phi_2:8.
Whatever part his personal obedience had in our salvation, yet the particular thing here
specified is, that it was his doing the will of God by offering himself as a sacrifice for sin that was
the means of our sanctification.
We are sanctified - We are made holy. The word here is not confined to the specific work
which is commonly called sanctification - or the process of making the soul holy after it is
renewed, but it includes everything by which we are made holy in the sight of God. It embraces,
therefore, justification and regeneration as well as what is commonly known as sanctification.
The idea is, that whatever there is in our hearts which is holy, or whatever influences are
brought to bear upon us to make us holy, is all to be traced to the fact that the Redeemer became
obedient unto death, and was willing to offer his body as a sacrifice for sin.
Through the offering of the body - As a sacrifice. A body just adapted to such a purpose
had been prepared for him; Heb_10:5. It was perfectly holy; it was so organized as to be keenly
sensitive to suffering; it was the dwelling-place of the incarnate Deity.
Once for all - In the sense that it is not to be offered again; see the notes on Heb_9:28. This
ideals repeated here because it was very important to be clearly understood in order to show the
contrast between the offering made by Christ, and those made under the Law. The object of the
apostle is to exalt the sacrifice made by him above those made by the Jewish high priests. This
he does by showing that such was the efficacy of the atonement made by him that it did not need
to be repeated; the sacrifices made by them, however, were to be renewed every year.
2. CLARKE, "By the which will we are sanctified - Closing in with this so solemnly
declared Will of God, that there is no name given under heaven among men, by which we can be
saved, but Jesus the Christ, we believe in him, find redemption in his blood, and are sanctified
unto God through the sacrificial offering of his body.
1. Hence we see that the sovereign Will of God is, that Jesus should be incarnated; that he
should suffer and die, or, in the apostle’s words, taste death for every man; that all should
believe on him, and be saved from their sins: for this is the Will of God, our sanctification.
2. And as the apostle grounds this on the words of the psalm, we see that it is the Will of God
that that system shall end; for as the essence of it is contained in its sacrifices, and God
says he will not have these, and has prepared the Messiah to do his will, i.e. to die for men,
hence it necessarily follows, from the psalmist himself, that the introduction of the
Messiah into the world is the abolition of the law, and that his sacrifice is that which shall
last for ever.
3. GILL, "By the which will we are sanctified,.... That is, by the sacrifice of Christ, which
was willingly offered up by himself, and was according to the will of God; it was his will of
purpose that Christ should be crucified and slain; and it was his will of command, that he should
lay down his life for his people; and it was grateful and well pleasing to him, that his soul should
be made an offering for sin; and that for this reason, because hereby the people of God are
sanctified, their sins are perfectly expiated, the full pardon of them is procured, their persons are
completely justified from sin, and their consciences purged from it: even

66. through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all; this is said, not to the
exclusion of his soul; it designs his whole human nature, and that as in union with his divine
person; and is particularly mentioned, in allusion to the legal sacrifices, the bodies of slain
beasts, which were types of him, and with a reference to his Father's preparation of a body for
him, for this purpose, Heb_10:5. Moreover, his obedience to his Father's will was chiefly seen in
his body; this was offered upon the cross; and his blood, which atones for sin, and cleanses from
it, was shed out of it: and this oblation was "once for all"; which gives it the preference to
Levitical sacrifices; destroys the Socinian notion of Christ's continual offering himself in heaven;
and confutes the error of the Popish mass, or of the offering of Christ's body in it.
4. HENRY, " From the errand and design upon which Christ came; and this was to do the will
of God, not only as a prophet to reveal the will of God, not only as a king to give forth divine
laws, but as a priest to satisfy the demands of justice, and to fulfil all righteousness. Christ came
to do the will of God in two instances. 1. In taking away the first priesthood, which God had no
pleasure in; not only taking away the curse of the covenant of works, and canceling the sentence
denounced against us as sinners, but taking away the insufficient typical priesthood, and
blotting out the hand-writing of ceremonial ordinances and nailing it to his cross. 2. In
establishing the second, that is, his own priesthood and the everlasting gospel, the most pure
and perfect dispensation of the covenant of grace; this is the great design upon which the heart
of God was set from all eternity. The will of God centers and terminates in it; and it is not more
agreeable to the will of God than it is advantageous to the souls of men; for it is by this will that
we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, Heb_10:10.
Observe, (1.) What is the fountain of all that Christ has done for his people - the sovereign will
and grace of God. (2.) How we come to partake of what Christ has done for us - by being
sanctified, converted, effectually called, wherein we are united to Christ, and so partake of the
benefits of his redemption; and this sanctification is owing to the oblation he made of himself to
God.
5. JAMISON, "By — Greek, “In.” So “in,” and “through,” occur in the same sentence,
1Pe_1:22, “Ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit.” Also, 1Pe_1:5, in
the Greek. The “in (fulfillment of) which will” (compare the use of in, Eph_1:6, “wherein [in
which grace] He hath made us accepted, in the Beloved”), expresses the originating cause;
“THROUGH the offering ... of Christ,” the instrumental or mediatory cause. The whole work of
redemption flows from “the will” of God the Father, as the First Cause, who decreed redemption
from before the foundation of the world. The “will” here (boulema) is His absolute sovereign
will. His “good will” (eudokia) is a particular aspect of it.
are sanctified — once for all, and as our permanent state (so the Greek). It is the finished
work of Christ in having sanctified us (that is, having translated us from a state of unholy
alienation into a state of consecration to God, having “no more conscience of sin,” Heb_10:2)
once for all and permanently, not the process of gradual sanctification, which is here referred to.
the body — “prepared” for Him by the Father (Heb_10:5). As the atonement, or
reconciliation, is by the blood of Christ (Lev_17:11), so our sanctification (consecration to God,
holiness and eternal bliss) is by the body of Christ (Col_1:22). Alford quotes the Book of
Common Prayer Communion Service, “that our sinful bodies may be made clean by His body,
and our souls washed through His most precious blood.”
once for all — (Heb_7:27; Heb_9:12, Heb_9:26, Heb_9:28; Heb_10:12, Heb_10:14).
6. CALVIN, "By the which will, etc. After having accommodated to his subject

67. David's testimony, he now takes the occasion to turn some of the words
to his own purpose, but more for the sake of ornament than of
explanation. David professed, not so much in his own person as in that
of Christ, that he was ready to do the will of God. This is to be
extended to all the members of Christ; for Paul's doctrine is general,
when he says, "This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that
every one of you abstain from uncleanness". (1 Thessalonians 4:3.) But
as it was a supereminent example of obedience in Christ to offer
himself to the death of the cross, and as it was for this especially
that he put on the form of a servant, the Apostle says, that Christ by
offering himself fulfilled the command of his Father, and that we have
been thus sanctified. [166] When he adds, through the offering of the
body, etc., he alludes to that part of the Psalm, where he says, "A
body hast thou prepared for me," at least as it is found in Greek. He
thus intimates that Christ found in himself what could appease God, so
that he had no need of external aids. For if the Levitical priests had
a fit body, the sacrifices of beasts would have been superfluous. But
Christ alone was sufficient, and was by himself capable of performing
whatever God required.
__________________________________________________________________
[165] This is no doubt true; but here the identity of meaning is
difficult to be made out. See [37]Appendix I 2. -- Ed.
[166] "Sanctified," here, as in chapter 2:11, includes the idea of
expiation; it is to be sanctified, or cleansed from guilt, rather than
from pollution, because it is said to be by the offering of the body of
Christ, which was especially an expiation for sins, as it appears from
what follows; and the main object of the quotation afterwards made was
to show that by his death remission of sins is obtained. "By the which
will," or, by which will, is commonly taken to mean, "By the
accomplishing of which will;" or en` may be taken as in chapter 4:11,
in the sense of kata, "according to which will we are cleansed (that
is, from guilt) through the offering of the body of Christ once made."
"Will" here does not mean the act of willing, but the object of the
will, that which God wills, approves and is pleased with, and is set in
opposition to the legal sacrifices. And as there is a hoi in many good
copies after esmen, some have rendered the verse thus, "By which will
we are cleansed who are cleansed by the offering of the body of Christ
once made." Thus "the will," or what pleased God, is first opposed to
the sacrifices, and then identified with the offering of Christ's body.
-- Ed
7. COFFMAN, “By which will we have been sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

68. The principle here is that Christ as man's representative obeyed God
perfectly, doing his will completely, as promised in the words, "I come to do
thy will." In Christ, therefore, man stands before God as obedient. The
perfect compliance with divine law as required by the Eternal has thus been
provided in the person of Christ whose marvelous obedience is on behalf of
all people. Through man's acceptance of the truth of the gospel, and upon
his being baptized into Christ, the person so doing is thereby accounted a
part of the spiritual body of Christ and becomes a beneficiary of the perfect
obedience of the Son of God.
Once for all
is another instance of the use of [Greek: hapax]. See under Heb. 7:27. How
are we sanctified, or made holy? Westcott answered the question thus:
The clause contains an answer to the question that naturally rises, "How are
we sanctified in the will of God?" That will was realized in the perfect life of
the Son of man, in which each man as a member of humanity finds the
realization of his own destiny. F14
This recapitulation of the extensive basis of our Lord's superiority is
continued in the following verses, in which it seems ever stronger and
stronger terms are used to describe it.
8. BI, “Perfect sanctification
I.
THE ETERNAL WILL—“By the which wilt we are sanctified.”
1. This will must, first of all, be viewed as the will ordained of old by the Father—the eternal
decree of the infinite Jehovah, that a people whom He chose should be sanctified and set
apart unto Himself.
2. This wilt by which we are sanctified was performed of the ever blessed Son.
3. This work is applied to us by the Holy Spirit.
II. THE EFFECTUAL SACRIFICE by which the will of God with regard to the sanctity of His
people has been carried out. “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ.”
1. This implies, first, His incarnation, which of course includes His eternal Deity. Jesus
Christ, very God of very God, did certainly stoop to become such as we are, and was made in
the likeness of sinful flesh.
2. All this is implied in the text, because it speaks of the offering of the body of Christ. But
why does it specially speak of the body? I think to show us the reality of that offering; His
soul suffered, but to make it palpable to you, to record it as a sure historical fact, He
mentions that there was an offering of the body of Christ.
3. I take it, however, that the word means the whole of Christ—that there was an offering
made of all Christ, the body of Him, or that of which He was constituted.

69. III. THE EVERLASTING RESULT.
1. The everlasting result of this effectual carrying out of the will of God is that now God
regards His people’s sin as expiated, and their persons as sanctified. Offered, and its efficacy
abides for ever.
2. They are reconciled.
3. They are purified. (U. H. Spurgeon.)
The offering of the body of Jesus Christ
Sermon for Good Friday
I. No one can read the Gospels in the most careless manner without noticing THAT IN THEM IS
A SPECIAL IMPORTANCE ATTACHED TO “THE DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST, apart from that
which belongs to His life, with its absolute sinlessness and perfect obedience. As a general rule,
it will be found that Scripture attaches very little importance to a man’s death, and lays all the
stress upon his life. The solitary exception in the Bible is the death of Jesus Christ. Then notice
also the way in which our Lord Himself speaks of it beforehand. Again and again He speaks of
His death as a necessity, as if there was a Divine “must” which rendered it indispensable. There
are frequent allusions to it in parable and allegory. The shadow of the Cross is resting upon Him.
He speaks with the utmost plainness, and tells the Twelve that He has come “to give His life a
ransom for many” Mat_20:28). All this prepares us for the teaching of the apostles, namely, the
fact that throughout their writings the utmost stress is laid on the death of Christ, as distinct
from His life; and that the greatest blessings and highest gifts are always connected with His
suffering and with the shedding of His blood. You will find that the Epistle to the Hebrews
especially is full from beginning to end of the thought of the sacrificial character of the death of
Christ. Vie was incarnate “that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death,
that is, the devil.” “He needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his
own sins and then for the people’s: for this He did once, when He offered up Himself.” “By His
own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”
“The blood of Christ, who through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God” shall”
purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” “Once in the end of the world
hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” He was “once offered to bear the
sins of many.” “He offered one sacrifice for sins for ever.” “We are sanctified by the offering of
the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” We have “boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of
Jesus.” It is the “blood of the covenant wherewith” we are “sanctified.” “Jesus, that He might
sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate.”
II. THE ATONEMENT. What controversies have raged round it! What a stumbling-block it is
even now to many! Let us beware not only of endeavouring “to explain the efficacy of what
Christ has done and suffered for us beyond what the Scripture has authorised”—this is a danger
on one Side—but also let us beware of endeavouring to explain it away, and of “confining His
office as Redeemer of the world to His instruction, example, and government of the
Church”—this is danger on the other side. Both dangers are real ones. A great statesman once
said in eloquent words of our own Church, “Take the history of the Church of England out of the
history of England, and the history of England becomes a chaos without order, without life, and
without meaning.” And may we not say with all reverence, “Take the history of the death of
Christ out of the history of the world, and the history of the world becomes a chaos without
order, without life, and without meaning”? We must cling to the fact that Christ is “the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world,” and that by “the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all,” there was made “a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and

70. satisfaction for the sins of the whole world.” The fact of the Atonement is revealed, but how it is
efficacious, or why it was “ necessary,” we are nowhere fully told. Still, we are not to make it
more mysterious by shutting our eyes to what is told us; and we must not forget that the
doctrine does not stand alone. It should never be dissociated from the great truths of the Holy
Trinity and the Incarnation. Take the doctrine of the Atonement in connection with these two
central doctrines of the Christian faith, and then these three things follow, each of which is
worthy of serious consideration:
1. He who bore our human nature, and wrought human acts, and died on the Cross for us
was a Divine Person. “Not, indeed, God alone; for as such,” it has been truly said, “He would
never have been in the condition to offer, or to die; nor man alone, for then the worth of His
offering would never have reached so far; but He was God and man in one person, and in
this person performing all those acts; man, that He might obey and suffer and die; God, that
He might add to every act of His obedience, His suffering, His death, an immeasurable
worth, steeping in the glory of His Divine personality all of human that He wrought.”
2. From the fact that He was God the Son, the Second Person in the Blessed Trinity, who is
one with the Father, it follows that we must never, even in thought, imagine a discordance of
will between the Father and the Son, nor so represent the Atonement as if there was a
clashing of will within the Godhead. “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself,”
and “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” And what greater proof of love can be
imagined than this?
3. In considering the doctrine of the Incarnation, we are to remember that it was not the
death of a man which brought about such great results. He who died for us was the “Second
Adam,” the Head of the redeemed humanity. If it is His Godhead which gives His offering its
infinite worth, it is His position as the Second Adam which qualifies Him to represent us. It
is often said that if you would win back to self-respect some poor despairing wretch who has
fallen so low as to be utterly reckless, and lost to all sense of shame, you must begin by
making him understand that there is some one who cares for him yet. And if we can learn at
the foot of the Cross of Jesus Christ that though we are sinful and hardened, it may be, and
despairing, yet, in spite of all, God loves us with that yearning, passionate love which led
Him to give Himself for us, then I think that our hearts will be broken, and we shall yield to
the power of that love which knows no rest, and can never tire until it has found those it died
to win. (E. C. S. Gibson, M. A.)
9. TERRY LARM, “10:10 In this verse Hebrews goes beyond a strict commentary on
Psalm 40 to sum up his whole position.[58]
This verse is also the first place in the book
that the full name "Jesus Christ" appears.[59]
This use of the full name, the shift from
third person to first person plural, and the final occurrence of "once for all"
(efapax)[60]
contribute to the climactic feel of the verse.
The phrase "by this will"[61]
(en w qelhmati) leaves open the question of whose will it
is, and just how does that will affect the sacrifice itself? While many modern
translations replace the relative pronoun with "God," correctly connecting it to the
content of the psalm, it may also denote Christ's will.[62]
The question is, Was the
offering made by God or by Jesus? The answer is both.

71. The question is still left, What effect on the sacrifice does the will of God and the
willful offering of the body of Jesus Christ have? Some older commentators have
pointed to the "will" as the definitive aspect of Jesus' actions, putting it over the
sacrificial aspect.[63]
(Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1913), 369, 371. Modern
commentators, on the other hand, see that the actual bodily sacrifice of Christ is
important to Hebrews.[64]
However, given the primacy of the sacrificial quality of the
offering, does the willingness of it, and the conformity to God's will in it, make the
sacrifice interior and therefore heavenly and spiritual?[65]
This seems to lean in the
wrong direction. Lane gets it right when he says,
The term 'body' shows that the contrast the writer wishes to establish is not between
the sacrifice of animals and the sacrifice of obedience, but between the ineffective
sacrifice of animals and the personal offering of Christ's own body as the one
complete and effective sacrifice.[66]
Hebrews is trying to anticipate an objection that his readers might have had, How can
you set aside the sacrifices of the law when they were what God wanted? I.e., they
were God's will. Instead, scripture itself (Psalm 40) says that God's will was not for
animal sacrifices, but for the sacrifice of a human "body." Jesus truly fulfilled God's
will by making the correct sacrifice: not the sacrifices of the law, but the one sacrifice
that conformed to the will of God.
11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his
religious duties; again and again he offers the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
1. BARNES, "And every priest standeth daily ministering - That is, this is done every
day. It does not mean literally that every priest was daily concerned in offering sacrifices, for
they took turns according to their courses, (notes on Luk_1:5), but that this was done each day,
and that every priest was to take his regular place in doing it; Num_28:3. The object of the
apostle is to prove that under the Jewish economy sacrifices were repeated constantly, showing
their imperfection, but that under the Christian economy the great sacrifice had been offered
once, which was sufficient for all.

72. And offering oftentimes the same sacrifices - The same sacrifices were offered morning
and evening every day.
Which can never take away sins - notes, Heb_9:9; Heb_10:1.
2. CLARKE, "Every priest standeth - The office of the Jewish priest is here compared
with the office of our High Priest. The Jewish priest stands daily at the altar, like a servant
ministering, repeating the same sacrifices; our High Priest offered himself once for all, and sat
down at the right hand of God, as the only-begotten Son and Heir of all things, Heb_10:12. This
continual offering argued the imperfection of the sacrifices. Our Lord’s once offering, proves his
was complete.
3. GILL, "And every priest standeth daily ministering,.... The Alexandrian copy, one of
Stephens's, the Complutensian edition, the Syriac and Ethiopic versions, read, "every high
priest"; who might minister daily, if he would; but since the daily sacrifice was generally offered
by the common priests, these are rather designed. The apostle passes from the anniversary
sacrifices offered by the high priest on the day of atonement, having shown the insufficiency and
imperfection of them, to the lambs of the daily sacrifice, which were offered morning and
evening, and whatsoever else might be daily offered on other accounts; and which he also shows
are equally ineffectual to take away sin; almost every word he uses shows the imperfection of the
priesthood of Aaron, and serves to illustrate the priesthood of Christ. When he says "every
priest", it supposes there were more than one, as indeed there were many, not only in succession
to one another, but together, having different parts of service to perform; and everyone of them
"standeth" at the altar, showing that his work was not done; and the present tense is used,
because sacrifice in fact had not ceased at the writing of this epistle, though of right it ought to
have done; and he stood "daily ministering"; every day, and sometimes often in a day, and
always morning and night, Exo_29:38 The priest always stood to minister, Deu_18:5. Hence the
Jews say (t), there is no ministration or service, ‫אלא‬‫מעו‬‫מד‬ , "but standing"; and perhaps some
reference may be had to ‫,מעמדות‬ the "stations" (u), or stationary men, who were always upon the
spot at Jerusalem, to offer for such as were at a distance.
And offering oftentimes the same sacrifices; as a lamb in the morning, and another at
evening; and if it was a burnt offering, or a sin offering, or an offering for the purification of a
woman, or for the cleansing of the leper, they were always the same: and this frequent offering,
and the offering of the same things, show that they were such
which can never take away sins; for notwithstanding these many and repeated offerings,
even the sins of Old Testament saints remained to be atoned for by Christ; see Rom_3:25.
4. COFFMAN 11-12, "And every priest indeed standeth day by day
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, the which
can never take away sins; but he, when he had offered one sacrifice
for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.

73. These, and through Heb. 10:18, are the final summation and shout of
victory. Christ is all and in all. Nothing in the old institution is any better
than a feeble shadow of the riches and glory in Christ; and a few choice
comparisons are reserved for this concluding thrust of the author's
overwhelming presentation. The old priests STOOD, as servants; Jesus SITS,
enthroned. They repeated over and over the same rites; Jesus made one
perfect offering for ever. They served; Christ reigns. They could not procure
forgiveness; Christ removes our sins even from the memory of God! They
offered enough blood during the long centuries of Judaism to have washed
away a city; but the blood of Christ is more efficacious than an ocean of such
blood.
Milligan's quotation from Menkin contrasts the respective attitudes of sitting
and standing.
The priest of the Old Testament stands timid and uneasy in the Holy Place,
anxiously performing his awful service there, and hastening to depart when
the service is done, as from a place where he has no free access, and can
never feel at home; whereas Christ sits down in everlasting rest and
blessedness at the right hand of the Majesty in the Holy of Holies, his work
accomplished, and he himself awaiting his reward. F15
Christ has not ceased from all work; because he intercedes, reigns, sustains
all things by the word of his power, and administers the whole creation from
the throne of God. Despite this, there is a sense in which Christ's work was
done when he ascended on high; it was the work of providing the atonement
for man's redemption. Again from Milligan, who said,
Not that he has ceased to work for the redemption of mankind, for he must
reign, and that too, with infinite power and energy, until the last enemy,
death, shall be destroyed (1 Corinthians 15:25,26; Revelation 19:11-21).
But his sacrificial work was done." F16
THE BLOOD OF CHRIST
The fantastic burden of importance which this epistle places upon the blood
of Christ as the means, and the only means, of human redemption calls for a
more detailed exploration of this subject at this juncture in Hebrews. In New
Mexico and Colorado, one of the most spectacular and beautiful mountain
ranges on earth is called the "Sangre de Cristo Range," that is, "The Blood of
Christ Range"! It is a tribute to the faith and perception of the Conquistadors
that they named the most beautiful mountains they had ever seen after that
which they valued most, "the blood of Christ." For one who truly
understands and appreciates the blood by which we are sanctified, the
commemorative naming of every good and beautiful thing on earth could not
do sufficient honor to the blood of Christ. Spiritual dwarfs in our own secular
age may not properly appreciate the blood of the covenant; but make no

74. mistake about this, "without the shedding of blood there is no remission," in
our own dispensation, or in that.
Lenski said:
This is the climax. The whole will of God and the whole sacrifice of (Christ's)
death is the removal of our sins. Freed of these, heaven is ours. Without
Christ's expiation there are no remission and deliverance from sin. This is
the heart of all Scripture. Those who removed this heart because they
regard it as "the old blood theology" have left only a hopeless corpse. F17
It is a mystery, of course, how the blood of Christ saves us; and there are
doubtless many who do not understand it. Perhaps, in a sense, no one can
fully understand all that is in it. Once, on a train south from St. Louis, this
writer fell into conversation with a professor in a great university. He said,
"You Christians have your arithmetic all wrong. How can the blood of one
man atone for the sins of a billion people? and as for God's putting all the
blame on one good little Johnny, that would not be fair! If one of our
teachers gave all the demerits to one student, the PTA would be up in arms."
Such sophistry, of course, is grounded in ignorance, regardless of the
attainments of the person who may hold such a view. To be sure, the blood
of one man, if only a man, would be insufficient to save any man, not even
the man who might offer it. It was who Christ WAS AND IS that makes all
the difference. As a member of the Godhead, Christ's death was of sufficient
consequence to save all on our poor earth or a million other worlds all
together. The identity of Christ also resolves the other quibble. It was not so
much a question of God's laying all the sins upon Christ (although this he
did); but it was a matter of God's laying the sum total of all human
wickedness upon his own great heart in the person of Christ. Remember that
"God was in Christ" reconciling the world unto himself (1 Corinthians 5:19).
"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever
believeth on him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
People may object; they may rip all reference to the blood from their
hymn-books and banish the mention of it from sophisticated pulpits; but if
such is done, the sentence of God's rejection falls upon them that do it, even
as Christ said of others who rejected him, "Behold your house is left unto
you desolate" (Matthew 23:38).
5. JAMISON, "And — a new point of contrast; the frequent repetition of the sacrifices.
priest — The oldest manuscripts read, “high priest.” Though he did not in person stand
“daily” offering sacrifices, he did so by the subordinate priests of whom, as well as of all Israel,
he was the representative head. So “daily” is applied to the high priests (Heb_7:27).
standeth — the attitude of one ministering; in contrast to “sat down on the right hand of
God,” Heb_10:12, said of Christ; the posture of one being ministered to as a king.
which — Greek, “the which,” that is, of such a kind as.

75. take away — utterly; literally, “strip off all round.” Legal sacrifices might, in part, produce
the sense of forgiveness, yet scarcely even that (see on Heb_10:4); but entirely to strip off one’s
guilt they never could.
6. CALVIN, "And every priest, etc. Here is the conclusion of the whole
argument, -- that the practice of daily sacrificing is inconsistent
with and wholly foreign to the priesthood of Christ; and that hence
after his coming the Levitical priests whose custom and settled
practice was daily to offer, were deposed from their office; for the
character of things which are contrary is, that when one thing is set
up, the other falls to the ground. He has hitherto labored enough, and
more than enough, in defending the priesthood of Christ; the conclusion
then is, that the ancient priesthood, which is inconsistent with this,
has ceased; for all the saints find a full consecration in the one
offering of Christ. At the same time the word teteleioken, which I
render "has consecrated," may yet be rendered "has perfected;" but I
prefer the former meaning, because he treats here of sacred things.
[167]
By saying, them who are sanctified, he includes all the children of
God; and he reminds us that the grace of sanctification is sought
elsewhere in vain.
But lest men should imagine that Christ is now idle in heaven, he
repeats again that he sat down at God's right hand; by which phrase is
denoted, as we have seen elsewhere, his dominion and power. There is
therefore no reason for us to fear, that he will suffer the efficacy of
his death to be destroyed or to lie buried; for he lives for this end,
that by his power he may fill heaven and earth. He then reminds us in
the words of the Psalm how long this state of things is to be, even
until Christ shall lay prostrate all his enemies. If then our faith
seeks Christ sitting on God's right hand, and recumbs quietly on him as
there sitting, we shall at length enjoy the fruit of his victory; yea,
when our foes, Satan, sin, death, and the whole world are vanquished,
and when corruption of our flesh is cast off, we shall triumph for ever
together with our head.
7. MURRAY ONCE AND FOR EVER. 11-14
IN the last verses of chap, vii., where the eternal priesthood of
Jesus had been set forth, He was spoken of as one who needeth
not daily to offer, for this He did once for all, when He offered
up Himself a Son, perfected for evermore. And so in chap,
ix., with its teaching of the efficacy of His blood, we had the

76. thought repeated, Christ entered in once for all. Not that He
should offer Himself often, else must He have often suffered ;
now once hath He been manifested ; Christ once offered
shall appear a second time. The contrast is put as strongly
as possible between the sacrifices ever repeated, and the
offering of Christ once for all. So, too, in the beginning of
our chapter the impotence of the sacrifices year by year
continually is proved from the fact, that the conscience once
cleansed would need no new sacrifice; as a fact, they only
renewed the remembrance of sins. And now, in the concluding
verses of the argument, the thought is summed up and pressed
home anew. The priest standeth day by day offering often-
times ; Christ offered one sacrifice for ever. By one offering He
hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. The once of
Christ s work is the secret of its being for ever : the more clear
the acceptance of that divine once for all, the more sure the
experience of that divine for ever, the continually abiding working
of the power of the endless life.
Once and for ever : see how the two go together in the work
of Christ in its two principal manifestations. In His death, His
sacrifice, His blood-shedding, it is once for all. The propitiation
for sin, the bearing and the putting away of it, was so complete
that of His suffering again, or offering Himself again, there
never can be any thought. God now remembers the sin no
more for ever. He has offered one sacrifice for ever ; He hath
perfected us for ever. No less is it so in His resurrection and
ascension into heaven. He entered once for all through His
blood into the Holiest. When He had offered one sacrifice
for ever, He sat down on the right hand of God. The once for
all of His death is the secret of the for ever of the power of
His sacrifice. The once for all of His entering through the
blood, the power of the for ever of His sitting on the throne.
What is true of Christ is true of His people. The law of
His life is the law of theirs. Of the once for all and the for
ever of His work on earth and in heaven, their lives and spiritual
experience will feel the power and bear the mark. See it in
conversion. How many have struggled for years in doubt and
fear, simply because they did not apprehend the once for all of
Christ s atonement. They could not understand how it was
possible for a sinner once for all to believe and be saved. No
sooner was it made plain to them that the punishment was
borne, that the debt was paid, once for all, all became clear
and they counted it their duty and joy at once to accept what
was so finished and so sure. And they could see, too, how the

77. once was for ever the power of the endless life bearing them
on into the for ever of God s presence.
And no otherwise is it with the believers entering within
the veil, into a life of unclouded and unbroken fellowship. We
saw in Christ s work the two manifestations of the once and
the for ever. It was not only in the death and blood-shedding,
but in the entering into the Holiest and the blood-sprinkling in
heaven. To many it appears at variance with all the laws of
growth and development, that there should be a once for all
of an entrance within the veil. And yet there are witnesses
not a few who can testify that when the once of Christ s
entering in was revealed in its infinite power as theirs, all doubt
vanished, and not only boldness but power of access was given,
which brought them into an experience of the eternal and
unchanging power of the heavenly priesthood, and of the
kingdom within as set up and kept by the Holy Spirit, which
they never had thought of. And that once was followed by
the for ever of the continually abiding, which the priesthood of
Jesus was meant to secure.
But He, when He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever,
sat down on the right hand of God ; from henceforth expecting
till His enemies be made the footstool of His feet. We have said
before, the Epistle would fill us with the thought of a heavenly
Christ ; nothing less than the knowledge of that can enable us
to live as the partakers of a heavenly calling. Let us fix o.ur
eyes here again upon Christ as King. The once of sacrifice and
death issues in the for ever of the nearness and the power of
God. The once of our entrance into the death of Christ and
His life, brings us back to the fellowship with Christ in the love
and power of the Father in heaven. His for ever is one of
victory, and of the blessed expectation of its full manifestation in
the subjugation of every enemy. Our life within the veil may be
one too of possession and expectation combined ; the enjoy
ment of the overcoming life, with the going on from strength to
strength in the victory over every foe. Between these two
pillars on the one hand, this ONCE FOR ALL, on the other this
FOR EVER, the way into the Holiest passes and brings us to the
throne of God and of the Lamb.
1. The time when the long and patient preparation was perfected in this once for all was in
God s hands. Christ waited on the Father. Even so, our full participation in it is not
something
we can count a thing to be grasped ; in the faith of it we bide God s time, seeking each day
to

78. Hue in a redemption that is perfected and eternal. Through faith and longsuffering we
inherit
the promises.
2. Once for alL That covers my past completely my past not only of guilt, but of sin with
all its consequences. For ever. That covers my future, with all its possible needs. Between
these two, in the present moment, the Now of daily life, I am saved with an everlasting
salvation; the To-day of the Eternal Spirit, even as the Holy Ghost saith, To-day mates the
Once and the for ever a daily present reality.
8. TERRY LARM, Interpretation
The Christ event, the climax of which is His death on the cross, is the heart of the
message in chapter ten.[89]
section from 8:1 to 10:18 as well as the entire New
Testament. The once for all bodily sacrifice of Jesus Christ, in conformity to the will
of God, supersedes all other offerings (10:9-10). This is the theological center of our
exposition. What might well have been affirmed by his first readers, that "without the
shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins" (9:22), later turns out to have been a
setup. In 10:4 he says that "it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take
away sins." But these are the only blood sacrifices that the law called for. Not only are
the sacrifices condemned, but the law is useless. The only thing left is what Hebrews
has been arguing for all along: Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ has done what could not be done by the law (10:1), all the
sacrifices--including the Day of Atonement--(10:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8), or the levitical
priesthood (10:11). His sacrifice has permanently (10:10, 12, 14) cleansed our
consciences (10:2, cf. 10:22), done the will of God (10:7, 9, 10), taken away sins
(10:12), perfected those who are sanctified (10:13), abolished the old (10:1, 9),
established a new covenant (10:1, 16), written God's law on our hearts and in our
minds (10:16), brought forgiveness of sins (10:17, 18), and put an end to sacrifices
(10:18).
How does sacrifice, whether animal or human, atone for sins? Hebrews apparently
does not say. He seems to assume that it does (9:22, 10:10), but many people in
Hellenistic times questioned the validity of sacrifice.[90]
Lindars sees "consciousness"
(suneidesij) as the crucial issue,[91]
however, of the four actual uses of the word in
Hebrews (9:14; 10:2, 22; 13:18) none of them actually develops the point, they only
mention it. Cleansing our conscience is only one of the many things Christ's sacrifice
accomplishes.
Obedience and the will of God might offer a better explanation. At least from the
standpoint of 10:1-18, the will of God and Christ's willing obedience to it are the key
points at which the sacrifices of the law and Christ's sacrifice differ. From verse two
the question becomes, What does it take to put an end to sacrifices? There is one

79. sacrifice, and only one, that puts an end to all other sacrifices. It is the sacrifice that
God has willed. It is the sacrifice that is willingly given in absolute obedience to
God's will.[92]
But it is not just a matter of obedience and will. It is also sacrifice. The
"body" that God has prepared for the offering must be sacrificed. This atonement is
the permanent one.[93]
What makes the sacrifice of Jesus permanent? Chapter ten assumes that it is
permanent, and I have argued that its permanence comes because it is according to
God's will. Yet, the perpetuity of a Day of Atonement type sacrifice would not have
been obvious to the first readers of Hebrews. The Day of Atonement sacrifices were
done in order to deal with past sins, not future ones.
Hebrews uses two different types of sacrifice to make his case: legal sacrifices like
those on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16) and covenant sacrifice from Exodus 24.
Although Hebrews never completely segregates his arguments, 9:15-28 mainly deals
with the covenant sacrifice which was introduced in chapter eight. It is in the section
on covenant sacrifice that the permanence of Christ's atonement is argued for most
vigorously.[94]
Hebrews uses the idea of a "will" (as in testament) because the same
Greek word means both "will" and "covenant" (diaqhkhj). Once someone dies their
will takes affect in perpetuity. Hebrews argues that a covenant works in the same way.
Therefore, Jesus' death, because it is a covenant sacrifice, extends eternally into the
future.
Hebrews does not say, however, that the atonement sacrifice of Jesus only covers past
sins. Because Jesus sat down after his sacrifice and does not repeat His offering, it is a
permanent atoning sacrifice. Like the covenant inaugurating sacrifice, Jesus death is
not repeated, therefore its effect is perpetual.
The argument in Hebrews 9:1-14 and 10:1-18 revolve around the sacrifices of the law.
The Day of Atonement is the main legal sacrifice that Hebrews uses because it is the
highest sacrificial act of the law. Whatever sins had not been atoned for during the
previous year, the sacrifices on the Day of Atonement made up for.[95]
By showing
that even these highest sacrifices do not really remove sins, but only remind us of our
sins, Hebrews is nullifying the whole mosaic cultus. If the greatest thing we have put
our hope in is no good then we are left with nothing. It's here that Hebrews makes his
point. There is one thing that we can trust in, the final sacrifice made by Jesus Christ.
Because the atonement secured by Christ is permanent, it "make[s] perfect those who
approach" (10:1, cf. 14) where the sacrifices that were repeated could not. Because it
is permanent there is no more sacrifice, so they "no longer have any consciousness of
sin" (10:2) like they had with the repeated offerings. Because it is not repeated, there
is no "reminder of sin year after year" (10:3). Because the sacrifice according to God's

80. will is once for all "we have been sanctified" (10:10). Because it is permanent, the
priest who offered it (Christ) "sat down at the right hand of God" (10:12). Because it
is permanent God will never "remember their sins" (10:17). Each of these verses
speaks of either the repetition of the old sacrifices or the singleness of Christ's
offering. The difference between these two is that Jesus' sacrifice is the offering that
God willed. The elaborate proof of Jesus' priesthood in chapter seven is necessary in
order for Hebrews to be able to have Him perform the priestly half of this act.[96]
The
sinlessness, willing obedience, and prepared body are needed for Him to properly
perform the bodily sacrifice part.
It is the once for all character of Jesus' ministry[97]
that sets it apart most from the
levitical cultus. Jesus' ministry has this permanence because it is the "true form,"
(10:1) it conforms perfectly to the will of God (10:7, 9, 10), and it fulfills the new
covenant. Since God no longer remembers sins, there is true and lasting forgiveness.
Since sins have been decisively forgiven there is no longer any need for sacrifices.
Perfection language also speaks to the permanence of Christ's ministry.[98]
By
perfecting us once and for all we are now free to approach God without the need for
more sacrifices because we are sanctified and always have a clean conscience. The old
system has served its purpose as a shadow of the good things to come, but since the
"good things to come" have arrived in Jesus Christ they are no longer necessary.
We have talked a lot about Christ as the sacrificial victim, but Hebrews also talks
about Him as the one who offers the sacrifice. Of the two major title of Christ in
Hebrews, "Son" and "high priest,"[99]
neither are explicitly mentioned in chapter ten,
but the second is alluded to in 10:11. Jesus, as the high priest, offers the supreme
offering of himself. Although there is no explicit formulation of Jesus as priest and
sacrifice the arguments that Hebrews make involve both aspects of Jesus' ministry.
His body was offered in 10:10 and He is the offerer of the definitive sacrifice in
10:11. His offering is different because it is a one time offering effective forever.
Jesus Christ, the final sacrifice, is also the great high priest who offers that sacrifice.
12 But when this priest had offered for all time one
sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.

81. 1. BARNES, "But this man - The Lord Jesus. The word “man” is not in the original here.
The Greek is literally “but this;” to wit, this priest. The apostle does not state here whether he
was a man, or a being of a higher order. He merely mentions him as a priest in contradistinction
from the Jewish priests.
After he had offered one sacrifice for sins - By dying on the cross. This he did but once;
this could not be repeated; and need not be repeated, for it was sufficient for the sins of the
world.
For ever sat down - That is, he sat down then to return no more for the purpose of offering
sacrifice for sin. He will no more submit himself to scenes of suffering and death to expiate
human guilt.
On the right hand of God - see the notes on Mar_16:19; compare the notes on
Eph_1:20-22.
2. TERRY LARM, "10:12 The positive half of the contrast emphasizes the singular
nature of the sacrifice of Christ and its continuing efficatiousness. Again, the
argument is not new to Hebrews. The "one" (mian) offering of Christ compared to the
many sacrifices of the old order was present in chapter nine and the early part of
chapter ten.[72]
The aorist participle for Christ's "offering" (prosenegkaj) contrasts with
the present participle of the priest's "offerings" (prosferwn), bringing out the
completed character of Christ's sacrifice even more.[73]
The fact that Christ "sat down at the right hand of God" recalls earlier references to
Psalm 110:1 (Hebrews 1:3, 13 and 8:1-2). Since His sitting is in contrast to the
standing of the priests, it implies that Christ's work is finished.[74]
It has little to do
with royal enthronement[75]
points out that Christ is not just seated in the presence of
God, but at His right hand. A position that indicates more than just an end to his work.
But the author of Hebrews does not expand on the meaning of this special position. or
the nature of Christ's session. We must understand it from the framework of Hebrews
where the emphasis is on the honor and glory rather than the sovereignty of
Christ.[76]
Verse fourteen brings this out more when the author argues for the decisive
nature of Christ's finished work.[77]
Authorities debate whether the offering or session is "for all time" (eij to dihnekej).
The NRSV, Lane, and Stylianopoulos take it with the offering whereas (N)JB,
Attridge and Ellingworth put it with the session[78]
. Either way, the perpetuity of the
effectiveness of the offering is in view. The mention of Christ's session denotes the
offering's finality and therefore its ongoing efficacy.

82. 3. GILL, "But this man,.... Jesus Christ, for he is a man, though not a mere man; or this great
high priest, who came to do the will of God, and whose body was offered once for all:
after he had offered one sacrifice for sins; the sacrifice of himself, body and soul, and this
but once:
for ever sat down on the right hand of God; as having done his work effectually, and that
with acceptance; and therefore is placed as a token of honour at the right hand of God, where he
sits enjoying rest, ease, and pleasure, and that for ever; all which is opposed to the priests under
the law; they were many, he but one; they offered many sacrifices, he but one; they offered theirs
often, every day, he but once; they stood ministering, he sat down; his sacrifice being effectual to
take away sin, when theirs was not.
4. HENRY, "
5. JAMISON, "this man — emphatic (Heb_3:3).
for ever — joined in English Version with “offered one sacrifice”; offered one sacrifice, the
efficacy of which endures for ever; literally. “continuously,” (compare Heb_10:14). “The offering
of Christ, once for all made, will continue the one and only oblation for ever; no other will
supersede it” [Bengel]. The mass, which professes to be the frequent repetition of one and the
same sacrifice of Christ’s body, is hence disproved. For not only is Christ’s body one, but also His
offering is one, and that inseparable from His suffering (Heb_9:26). The mass would be much
the same as the Jewish sacrifices which Paul sets aside as abrogated, for they were anticipations
of the one sacrifice, just as Rome makes masses continuations of it, in opposition to Paul’s
argument. A repetition would imply that the former once-for-all offering of the one sacrifice was
imperfect, and so would be dishonoring to it (Heb_10:2, Heb_10:18). Heb_10:14, on the
contrary, says, “He hath PERFECTED FOR EVER them that are sanctified.” If Christ offered
Himself at the last supper, then He offered Himself again on the cross, and there would be two
offerings; but Paul says there was only one, once for all. Compare Note, see on Heb_9:26.
English Version is favored by the usage in this Epistle, of putting the Greek “for ever” after that
which it qualifies. Also, “one sacrifice for ever,” stands in contrast to “the same sacrifices
oftentimes” (Heb_10:11). Also, 1Co_15:25, 1Co_15:28, agrees with Heb_10:12, Heb_10:13, taken
as English Version, not joining, as Alford does, “for ever” with “sat down,” for Jesus is to give up
the mediatorial throne “when all things shall be subdued unto Him,” and not to sit on it for ever.
6. SPURGEON 12-13, ""This man, after he had offered on sacrifice for sins for ever, sat
down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool."-Hebrews 10:12-13.
At the Lord's table we wish to have no subject for contemplation but our
blessed Lord Jesus Christ, and we have been wont generally to consider him as
the crucified One, "the Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief," while we
have had before us the emblems of his broken body, and of his blood shed for
many for the remission of sins; but I am not quite sure that the crucified
Saviour is the only appropriate theme, although, perhaps, the most so. It is
well to remember how our Saviour left us-by what road he travelled through
the shadows of death; but I think it is quite as well to recollect what he is
doing while he is away from us-to remember the high glories to which the

83. crucified Saviour has attained; and it is, perhaps, as much calculated to
cheer our spirits to behold him on his throne as to consider him on his
cross. We have seen him one his cross, in some sense; that is to say, the
eyes of men on earth did see the crucified Saviour; but we have no idea of
what his glories are above; they surpass our highest thought. Yet faith can
see the Saviour exalted on his throne, and surely there is no subject that
can keep our expectations alive, or cheer our drooping faith better than to
consider, that while our Saviour is absent, he is absent on his throne, and
that when he has left his Church to sorrow for him, he has not left us
comfortless-he has promised to come to us-that while he tarries he is
reigning, and that while he is absent he is sitting high on his father's
throne.
The Apostle shews here the superiority of Christ's sacrifice over that of
every other priest. "Every priest standeth daily ministering and offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but this
man," or priest-for the word "man" is not in the original "after he had
offered one sacrifice for sins," had finished his work, and for ever, he "sat
down." You see the superiority of Christ's sacrifice rests in this, that the
priest offered continually, and after he had slaughtered one lamb, another
was needed; after one scape-goat was driven into the wilderness, a scape-goat
was needed the next year, "but this man, when he had offered only one
sacrifice for sins," did what thousands of scape-goats never did, and what
hundreds of thousands of lambs never could effect. He perfected our
salvation, and worked out an entire atonement for the sins of all his chosen
ones.
We shall notice, in the first place, this morning, the completeness of the
Saviour's work of atonement-he has done it: we shall gather that from the
context: secondly, the glory which the Saviour has assumed; and thirdly, the
triumph which he expects. We shall dwell very briefly on each point, and
endeavour to pack our thoughts as closely together as we can.
I. We are taught here in the first place, THE COMPLETENESS OF THE SAVIOUR'S
WORK. He has done all that was necessary to be done, to make an atonement and
an end of sin. He has done so much, that it will never be needful for him
again to be crucified. His side, once opened, has sent forth a stream deep,
deep enough, and precious enough, to wash away all sin; and he needs not
again that his side should be opened, or, that any more his hands should be
nailed to the cross. I infer that his work is finished, from the fact that he
is described here as sitting down. Christ would not sit down in heaven if he
had more work to do. Sitting down is the posture of rest. Seldom he sat down
on earth; he said, "I must be about my Father's business." Journey after
journey, labour after labour, preaching after preaching, followed each other
in quick succession. His was a life of incessant toil. Rest was a word which
Jesus never spelled. he may sit for a moment on the well; but even there he

84. preaches to the woman of Samaria. He goes into the wilderness, but not to
sleep; he goes there to pray. His midnights are spent in labours as hard as
those of the day-labours of agonising prayer, wrestling with his Father for
the souls of men. His was a life of continual bodily, mental, and spiritual
labour; his whole man was exercised. But now he rests; there is no more toil
for him now; here is no more sweat of blood, no more the weary foot, no more
the aching head. No more has he to do. He sits still. But do you think my
Saviour would sit still if he had not done all his work? Oh! no beloved; he
said once, "For Zion's sake I will not rest until her glory goeth forth like
a lamp that burneth." And sure I am he would not rest, or be sitting still,
unless the great work of our atonement were fully accomplished. Sit still,
blessed Jesus, while there is a fear of thy people being lost? Sit still,
while their salvation is at hazard? No; alike thy truthfulness and thy
compassion tell us, that thou wouldst still labour if the work were still
undone. Oh! if the last thread had not been woven in the great garment of our
righteousness, he would be spinning it now; if the last particle of our debt
had not been paid, he would be counting it down now; and if all were not
finished and complete, he would never rest, until, like a wise builder, he
had laid the top-stone of the temple of our salvation. No; the very fact that
he sits still, and rests, and is at ease, proves that his work is finished
and is complete.
And then note again, that his sitting at the right hand of God implies, that
he enjoys pleasure; for at God's right hand "there are pleasures for
evermore." Now, I think, that the fact that Christ enjoys infinite pleasure
has in it some degree of proof that he must have finished his work. It is
true, he had pleasure with his Father ere that work was begun; but I cannot
conceive that if, after having been incarnate, his work was still unfinished,
he would rest. He might rest before he began the work, but as soon as ever he
had begun it, you will remember, he said he had a baptism wherewith he must
be baptised, and he appeared to be hastening to receive the whole of the
direful baptism of agony. He never rested on earth till the whole work was
finished; scarcely a smile passed his brow till the whole work was done. He
was "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief," until he could say, "it is
finished;" and I could scarcely conceive the Saviour happy on his throne if
there were any more to do. Surely, living as he was on that great throne of
his, there would be anxiety in his breast if he had not secured the meanest
lamb of his fold, and if he had not rendered the eternal salvation of every
blood-bought one as sacred as his own throne. The highest pleasure of Christ
is derived from the fact, that he has become the "head over all things to his
Church," and has saved that Church. He has joys as God; but as the man-God,
his joys spring from the salvation of the souls of men. That is his joy,
which is full, in the thought that he has finished his work and has cut it
short in righteousness. I think there is some degree of proof, although not
perhaps positive proof there, that Jesus must have finished his work.

85. But now, something else. The fact that it is said he has sat down for ever
proves that he must have done it. Christ has undertaken to save all the souls
of the elect. If he has not already saved them, he is bound to do something
that will save them, fir he has given solemn oath and promise to his Father,
that he will bring many souls unto glory, and that he will make them perfect
through his own righteousness. He has promised to present our souls
unblemished and complete,-
"Before the glory of his face
With joys divinely great."
Well, if he has not done enough to do that, then he must come again to do it;
but from the fact that he is to sit there for ever, that he is to wear no
more the thorny crown, that he is never again to leave his throne, to cease
to be king any more, that he is still to be girded by his grandeur and his
glory, and sit for ever there, is proof that he has accomplished the great
work of propitiation. It is certain that he must have done all, from the fact
that he is to sit there for ever, to sit on his throne throughout all ages,
more visibly in the ages to come, but never to leave it, again to suffer and
again to die.
Yet, the best proof is, that Christ sits at his Father's right hand at all.
For the very fact that Christ is in heaven, accepted by his Father proves
that his work must be done. Why, beloved, as long as an ambassador from our
country is at a foreign court, there must be peace; and as long as Jesus
Christ our Saviour is at his Father's court, it shows that there is real
peace between his people and his Father. Well, as he will be there for ever,
that shows that our peace must be continual, and like the waves of the sea,
shall never cease. But that peace could not have been continual, unless the
atonement had been wholly made, unless justice had been entirely satisfied;
and, therefore, from that very fact it becomes certain that the work of
Christ must be done. What! Christ enter heaven-Christ sit on his Father's
right hand before all the guilt of his people was rolled away? AH! no; he was
the sinner's substitute; and unless he paid the sinner's doom, and died the
sinner's death, there was no heaven in view for me. He stood in the sinner's
place, and the guilt of all his elect was imputed to him. God accounted him
as a sinner, and as a sinner, he could not enter heaven until he had washed
all that sin away in a crimson flood of his own gore-unless his own
righteousness had covered up the sins which he had taken on himself, and
unless his own atonement had taken away those sins which had become his by
imputation; and the fact that the Father allowed him to ascend up on high-
that he gave him leave, as it were, to enter heaven, and that he said, "Sit
thou on my right hand," proves that he must have perfected his Father's work,
and that his Father must have accepted his sacrifice. But he could not have
accepted it if it had been imperfect. Thus, therefore, we prove that the work
must have been finished, since God the Father accepted it. Oh! glorious

86. doctrine! This Man has done it; this Man has finished it: this Man has
completed it. He was the Author, he is the Finisher; he was the Alpha, he is
the Omega. Salvation is finished, complete; otherwise, he would not has
ascended up on high, nor would he also sit at the right hand of God.
Christian! rejoice! Thy salvation is a finished salvation; atonement is
wholly made; neither stick nor stone of thine is wanted; not one stitch is
required to that glorious garment of his-not one patch to that glorious robe
that he has finished. 'Tis done-'tis done perfectly; thou art accepted
perfectly in his righteousness; thou art purged in his blood. "By one
offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified."
II. And now, our second point-THE GLORY WHICH HE HAS ASSUMED. "After he has
offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God"-
the glory which Christ has assumed.
Now, by this you are to understand the complex person of Christ; for Christ,
as God, always was on his Father's throne; he always was God; and even when
on earth he was still in heaven. The Son of God did not cease to be
omnipotent and omnipresent, when he came wrapped in the garments of clay. He
was still on his Father's throne; he never left it, never came down from
heaven in that sense; he was still there, "God over all, blessed for ever."
As he has said, "The Son of Man who came down from heaven, who, also," at
that very moment, was "in heaven." But Jesus Christ, as the Man-God, has
assumed glories and honors which once he had not; for as man, he did not at
one time sit on his Father's throne; he was a man, a suffering man, a man
full of pains and groans, more than mortals have ever known: but as God-man,
he has assumed a dignity next to God; he sits at the right hand of God: at
the right hand of the glorious Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, sits the
person of the man Jesus Christ, exalted at the right hand of the Majesty on
High. From this we gather, that the dignity which Christ now enjoys is
surpassing dignity. There is no honor, there is no dignity to be compared to
that of Christ. No angel flies higher than he does. Save only the great
Three-One God, there is none to be found in heaven who can be called superior
to the person of the man Christ Jesus. He sits on the right hand of God, "Far
above all angels, and principalities, and powers, and every name that is
named." His Father "hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is
above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things
in heaven, and of things on earth, and of things under the earth." No dignity
can shine like his. The sons of righteousness that have turned many to God,
are but as stars compared with him, the brightest of the suns there. As for
angels, they are but flashes of his own brightness, emanations from his own
glorious self. He sits there, the great masterpiece of Deity.
"God, in the person of his Son,
Hath all his mightiest works outdone."

87. That glorious man, taken into union with Deity, that mighty Man-God,
surpasses everything in the glory of his majestic person. Christian!
remember, thy Master has unsurpassed dignity.
In the next place, Christ has real dignity. Some persons have mere empty
titles, which confer but little power and little authority. But the Man-
Christ Jesus, while he has many crowns and many titles, has not one tinsel
crown or one empty title. While he sits there he sits not there pro forma; he
does not sit there to have nominal honor done to him; but he has real honor
and real glory. That Man-Christ, who once walked the streets of Jerusalem,
now sits in heaven, and angels bow before him. That Man-Christ, who once hung
on Calvary, and there expired in agonies the most acute, now, on his Father's
throne exalted sins, and sways the sceptre of heaven-nay, devils at his
presence tremble, the whole earth owns the sway of his providence, and on his
shoulders the pillars of the universe rest. "He upholdeth all things by the
word of his power." He overruleth all mortal things, making the evil work a
good, and the good produce a better, and a better still, in infinite
progression. The power of the God-Man Christ is infinite; you cannot tell how
great it is. He is "able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God
by him." He is "able to keep us from falling, and to present us spotless
before his presence." He is able to make "all things work together for good."
He is "able to subdue all things unto himself." He is able to conquer even
death, for he hath the power of death, and he hath the power of Satan, who
once had power over death; yea, he is Lord over all things, for his Father
hath made him so. The glorious dignity of our Saviour! I cannot talk of it in
words, beloved: all I can say to you must be simple repetition. I can only
repeat the statements of Scripture. There is no room for flights; we must
just keep where we ever have been, telling out the story that his Father hath
exalted him to real honors and real dignities.
And once more: this honor that Christ hath now received (I mean the Man-God
Christ, not the God-Christ, for he already had that, and never lost it, and
therefore could never obtain it; he was Man-God, and as such he was exalted;)
was deserved honor; that dignity which his Father gave him he well deserved.
I have sometimes thought, if all the holy spirits in the universe had been
asked what should be done for the man whom the King delighteth to honor, they
would have said, Christ must be the man whom God delighteth to honor, and he
must sit on his Father's right hand. Why, if I might use such a phrase, I can
almost suppose his mighty Father putting it to the vote of heaven as to
whether Christ should be exalted, and that they carried it by acclamation,
"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive honor and glory for ever and
ever." His Father gave him that; but still the suffrages of all the saints,
and of all the holy angels, said to it, amen; and this thing I am certain of,
that every heart here-every Christian heart, says amen to it. Ah, beloved, we
would exalt him, we would crown him, "crown him Lord of all;" not only will
his Father crown him, but we, ourselves, would exalt him if we had the power;

88. and when we shall have power to do it, we will cast our crowns beneath his
feet, and crown him Lord of all. It is deserved honor. No other being in
heaven deserves to be there; even the angels are kept there, and God
"chargeth his angels with folly," and gives them grace, whereby he keeps
them; and none of his saints deserve it; they feel that hell was their
desert. But Christ's exaltation was a deserved exaltation. His father might
say to him, "Well done, my Son, well done; thou hast finished the work which
I had given thee to do; sit thou for ever first of all men, glorified by
union with the person of the Son. My glorious co-equal Son, sit thou on my
right hand, till I make thine enemies thy foot-stool."
One more illustration, and we have done with this. We must consider the
exaltation of Christ in heaven as being in some degree a representative
exaltation. Christ Jesus exalted at the Father's right hand, though he has
eminent glories, in which the saints must not expect to share, essentially he
is the express image of the person of God, and the brightness of his Father's
glory, yet, to a very great degree, the honors which Christ has in heaven he
has as our representative there. Ah! brethren it is sweet to reflect, how
blessedly Christ lives with his people. Ye all know that we were
"One, when he died, one, when he rose,
One, when he triumphed o'er his foes;
One, when in heaven he took his seat,
And angels sang all hell's defeat."
To-day you know that you are one with him, now, in his presence. We are at
this moment "raised up together," and may, afterwards, "sit together in
heavenly places, even in him." As I am represented in parliament, and as you
are, so is ever child of God represented in heaven; but as we are not one
with our parliamentary representatives, that figure fails to set forth the
glorious representation of us which our forerunner, Christ, carries on in
heaven, for we are actually one with him; we are members of his body, of his
flesh, and of his bones, and his exaltation is our exaltation. He will give
us to sit upon his throne, for as he has overcome, and is set down with his
Father on his throne; he has a crown, and he will not wear his crown, unless
he gives us crowns too; he has a throne, but he is not content with having a
throne to himself; on his right hand there must be his bride in gold of
Ophir. And he cannot be there without his bride; the Saviour cannot be
content to be in heaven unless he has his Church with him, which is "the
fulness of him that filleth all in all." Beloved, look up to Christ now; let
the eye of your faith catch a sight of him; behold him there, with many
crowns upon his head. Remember, as ye see him there, ye will one day be like
him, and when ye shall see him as he is; ye shall not be as great as he is,
ye shall not be as glorious in degree, but still ye shall, in a measure,
share the same honors, and enjoy the same happiness and the same dignity
which he possesses. Be then, content to live unknown for a little while; be

89. content to bear the sneer, the jest, the joke, the ribald song; be content to
walk your weary way, through the fields of poverty, or up the hills of
affliction; by-and-bye ye shall reign with Christ, for he has "made us kings
and priests unto God, and we shall reign for ever and ever." By-and-bye we
shall share the glories of the Head; the oil has been poured on his head; it
has not trickled down to us yet, save only in that faithful fellowship which
we have; but by-and-bye that oil shall flow to the very skirts of the
garments, and we, the meanest of his people, shall share a part in the
glories of his house by being made kings with him, to sit on his throne, even
as he sit on his Father's throne.
III. And now, in the last place, WHAT ARE CHRIST'S EXPECTATIONS? We are told,
he expects that his enemies shall be made his footstool. In some sense that
is already done; the foes of Christ are, in some sense, his footstool now.
What is the devil but the very slave of Christ? for he doth no more than he
is permitted against God's children. What is the devil, but the servant of
Christ, to fetch his children to his loving arms? What are wicked men, but
the servants of God's providence unwittingly to themselves? Christ has even
now "power over all flesh that he may give eternal life to as many as God has
given him," in order that the purposes of Christ might be carried out. Christ
died for all, and all are now Christ's property. There is not a man in this
world who does not belong to Christ in that sense, for he is God over him and
Lord over him.
He is either Christ's brother, or else Christ's slave, his unwilling vassal,
that must be dragged out in triumph, if he follow him not willingly. In that
sense all things are now Christ's.
Be we expect greater things than these, beloved, at his coming, when all
enemies shall be beneath Christ's feet upon earth. We are, therefore, many of
us, "looking for that blessed hope; that glorious appearing of the kingdom of
our Saviour Jesus Christ;" many of us are expecting that Christ will come; we
cannot tell you when, we believe it to be folly to pretend to guess the time,
but we are expecting that even in our life the Son of God will appear, and we
know that when he shall appear he will tread his foes beneath his feet, and
reign from pole to pole, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
Not long shall anti-christ sit on her seven hills; not long shall the false
prophet delude his millions; not long shall idol gods mock their worshippers
with eyes that cannot see, and hands that cannot handle, and ears that cannot
hear-
"Lo! he comes, with clouds descending;"
In the winds I see his chariot wheels; I know that he approaches and when he
approaches he "breaks the bow and cuts the spear in sunder, and burns the
chariot in the fire;" and Christ Jesus shall then be king over the whole

90. world. He is king now, virtually; but he is to have another kingdom; I cannot
see how it is to be a spiritual one, for that is come already; he is as much
king spiritually now as he ever will be in his Church, although his kingdom
will assuredly be very extensive; but the kingdom that is to come, I take it,
will be something even greater than the spiritual kingdom; it will be a
visible kingdom of Christ on earth. Then kings must bow their necks before
his feet; then at his throne the tribes of earth shall bend; then the rich
and mighty, the merchants of Tyre, and the travellers where gold is found,
shall bring their spices and myrrh before him, and lay their gold and gems at
his feet;
"Jesus shall reign where'er the sun,
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more."
Once more, beloved; Christ will have all his enemies put beneath his feet, in
that great day of judgment. Oh! that will be a terrible putting of his foes
beneath his feet, when at that second resurrection the wicked dead shall
rise; when the ungodly shall stand before his throne, and his voice shall
say, "Depart, ye cursed." Oh! rebel, thou that hast despised Christ, it will
be a horrible thing for thee, that that man, that gibbeted, crucified man,
whom thou hast often despised, will have power enough to speak thee into
hell; that the man whom thou hast scoffed and laughed at, and of whom thou
hast virtually said, "If he be the Son of God, let him come down from the
cross," will have power enough, in two or three short words, to damn thy soul
to all eternity: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared
for the devil and his angels." Oh! what a triumph that will be, when men,
wicked men, persecutors, and all those who opposed Christ, are all cast into
the lake that burneth! But, if possible, it will be a greater triumph, when
he who led men astray shall be dragged forth.
"Shall lift his brazen front, with thunder scarred,
Receive the sentence, and begin anew his hell."
Oh! when Satan shall be condemned, and when the saints shall judge angels,
and the fallen spirits shall all be under the feet of Christ, "then shall be
brought to pass the saying that is written, he hath put all things under
him." And when death, too, shall come forth, and the "death of death and
hell's destruction" shall grind his iron limbs to powder, then shall it be
said, "Death is swallowed up in victory," for the great shout of "Victory,
victory, victory," shall drown the shrieks of the past; shall put out the
sound of the howlings of death; and hell shall be swallowed up in victory. He
is exalted on high-he sitteth on his Father's right hand, "from henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool."

91. 13 Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made
his footstool,
1. BARNES, "expecting — “waiting.” Awaiting the execution of His Father’s will, that all
His foes should be subjected to Him. The Son waits till the Father shall “send Him forth to
triumph over all His foes.” He is now sitting at rest (Heb_10:12), invisibly reigning, and having
His foes virtually, by right of His death, subject to Him. His present sitting on the unseen throne
is a necessary preliminary to His coming forth to subject His foes openly. He shall then come
forth to a visibly manifested kingdom and conquest over His foes. Thus He fulfills Psa_110:1.
This agrees with 1Co_15:23-28. He is, by His Spirit and His providence, now subjecting His foes
to Him in part (Psa_110:1-7). The subjection of His foes fully shall be at His second advent, and
from that time to the general judgment (Revelation 19:1-20:15); then comes the subjection of
Himself as Head of the Church to the Father (the mediatorial economy ceasing when its end
shall have been accomplished), that God may be all in all. Eastern conquerors used to tread on
the necks of the vanquished, as Joshua did to the five kings. So Christ’s total and absolute
conquest at His coming is symbolized.
be made his footstool — literally, “be placed (rendered) footstool of His feet.”
his enemies — Satan and Death, whose strength consists in “sin”; this being taken away
(Heb_10:12), the power of the foes is taken away, and their destruction necessarily follows.
2. CLARKE, "Till his enemies be made his footstool - Till all that oppose his high
priesthood and sacrificial offering shall be defeated, routed, and confounded; and acknowledge,
in their punishment, the supremacy of his power as universal and eternal King, who refused to
receive him as their atoning and sanctifying Priest. There is also an oblique reference here to the
destruction of the Jews, which was then at hand; for Christ was about to take away the second
with an overwhelming flood of desolations.
3. GILL, "From henceforth expecting,.... According to God's promise and declaration to
him, Psa_110:1.
Till his enemies be made his footstool; see Gill on Heb_1:13.
4. COFFMAN, Verse 13, Henceforth expecting until his enemies be
made the footstool of his feet.

92. Both Bruce and Clarke saw in these words a warning to the readers of this
epistle.
There may be an implied warning here to his readers not to let themselves
be numbered among the enemies of the exalted Christ, but rather to be
reckoned among his friends and companions by preserving their fidelity to
the end. F18
There is also here an oblique reference to the destruction of the Jews, which
was then at hand; for Christ was about to "take away the first" with an
overwhelming flood of desolations. F19
The message trumpeted by this verse is not merely that Christ is preparing
to reign but that he is already doing so. See 1 Cor. 15:22ff. Those who
fondly wait and expect that Christ shall come back to earth literally and take
vengeance upon his enemies overlook the fact that this is being done now.
How? The very sins that people commit destroy them; and, although that
cannot be the manner of death's ultimate destruction, it certainly applies to
all of Christ's other enemies. Christ needs only to wait until the rebellious
and sinful course of people has spent itself like a burnt-out rocket. And when
God's patience has ended, and the last precious fruit of earth shall have
been gathered, Christ will loose Satan for a little season (Revelation 20:3ff);
and that disaster shall give the human race experimental knowledge of just
what the service of Satan actually means. The consummation of all things
shall speedily follow.
5. JAMISON, "expecting — “waiting.” Awaiting the execution of His Father’s will, that all
His foes should be subjected to Him. The Son waits till the Father shall “send Him forth to
triumph over all His foes.” He is now sitting at rest (Heb_10:12), invisibly reigning, and having
His foes virtually, by right of His death, subject to Him. His present sitting on the unseen throne
is a necessary preliminary to His coming forth to subject His foes openly. He shall then come
forth to a visibly manifested kingdom and conquest over His foes. Thus He fulfills Psa_110:1.
This agrees with 1Co_15:23-28. He is, by His Spirit and His providence, now subjecting His foes
to Him in part (Psa_110:1-7). The subjection of His foes fully shall be at His second advent, and
from that time to the general judgment (Revelation 19:1-20:15); then comes the subjection of
Himself as Head of the Church to the Father (the mediatorial economy ceasing when its end
shall have been accomplished), that God may be all in all. Eastern conquerors used to tread on
the necks of the vanquished, as Joshua did to the five kings. So Christ’s total and absolute
conquest at His coming is symbolized.
be made his footstool — literally, “be placed (rendered) footstool of His feet.”
his enemies — Satan and Death, whose strength consists in “sin”; this being taken away
(Heb_10:12), the power of the foes is taken away, and their destruction necessarily follows.
6. CALVIN, "

93. 14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect
forever those who are being made holy.
1. BARNES, "For by one offering - By offering himself once on the cross. The Jewish
priest offered his sacrifices often, and still they did not avail to put away sin; the Saviour made
one sacrifice, and it was sufficient for the sins of the world.
He hath perfected forever - He hath laid the foundation of the eternal perfection. The
offering is of such a character that it secures their final freedom from sin, and will make them
forever holy. It cannot mean that those for whom he died are made at once perfectly holy, for
that is not true; but the idea is, that the offering was complete, and did not need to be repeated;
and that it was of such a nature as entirely to remove the penalty due to sin, and to lay the
foundation for their final and eternal holiness. The offerings made under the Jewish Law were
so defective that there was a necessity for repeating them every day; the offering made by the
Saviour was so perfect that it needed not to be repeated, and that it secured the complete and
final salvation of those who availed themselves of it.
Them that are sanctified - Those who are made holy by that offering. It does not mean
that they are as yet “wholly” sanctified, but that they have been brought under the influence of
that gospel which sanctifies and saves; see Heb_2:11; Heb_9:14. The doctrine taught in this
verse is, that all those who are in any measure sanctified will be perfected forever. It is not a
temporary work which has been begun in their souls, but one which is designed to be carried
forward to perfection. In the atonement made by the Redeemer there is the foundation laid for
their eternal perfection, and it was with reference to that, that it was offered. Respecting this
work and the consequences of it, we may remark, that there is:
(1) Perfection in its nature, it being of such a character that it needs not to be repeated;
(2) There is perfection in regard to the pardon of sin - all past sins being forgiven to those who
embrace it, and being forever forgiven; and
(3) There is to be absolute perfection for them forever.
They will be made perfect at some future period, and when that shall take place it will be to
continue forever and ever.
(The perfection, in this place, is not to be understood of the perfection of grace or of glory. It is
perfection, in regard to the matter in hand, in regard to what was the chief design of sacrifices,
namely, expiation and consequent pardon and acceptance of God. And this indeed is the Τελειω
σις Teleiosis of the Epistle to the Hebrews generally, Heb_7:11; Heb_9:9; Heb_10:1. Perfect
moral purity and consummate happiness will doubtless follow as consequences of the sacrifice
of Christ, but the completeness of his expiation, and its power to bring pardon and peace to the
guilty and trembling sinner, to justify him unto eternal life, is here, at all events, principally
intended. The parties thus perfected or completely justified, are τους ᅋγιαζοµενους tous
hagiazomenous, the “sanctified.” ᅓγιαζω Hagiazo, however, besides the general sense of
“sanctify” has in this Epistle, like τελειοω teleioo, its sacrificial sense of cleansing from guilt.

94. “Whether ceremonially, as under the Levitical dispensation; Heb_9:13; comp, Lev_16:19; or
really and truly, by the offering of the body of Christ; Heb_10:10, Heb_10:14, Heb_10:29;
compare Heb_10:2, and Heb_2:11; Heb_9:14.” - Parkhurst’s Greek Lexicon. The meaning, then,
may be, that they who are purged or cleansed by this sacrifice, in other words, those to whom its
virtue is applied, are perfectly justified.
Wherever this divine remedy is used, it will effectually save. By one offering Christ hath
forever justified such as are purged or cleansed by it. This could not be said of those sanctified or
purged by the legal sacrifices. Mr. Scott gives the sacrificial sense of the word, but combines with
it the sense of sanctifying morally, in the following excellent paraphrase. “By his one oblation he
hath provided effectually for the perfect justification unto eternal life, of all those who should
ever receive his atonement, by faith springing from regeneration, and evidenced ‘by the
sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience,’ and who were thus set apart and consecrated to the
service of God.”)
2. CLARKE, "For by one offering - His death upon the cross.
He hath perfected for ever - He has procured remission of sins and holiness; fur it is well
observed here, and in several parts of this epistle, that τελειοω, to make perfect, is the same as α
φεσιν ᅋµαρτιων ποιεω, to procure remission of sins.
Them that are sanctified - Τους ᅋγιαζοµενους· Them that have received the sprinkling of
the blood of this offering. These, therefore, receiving redemption through that blood, have no
need of any other offering; as this was a complete atonement, purification, and title to eternal
glory.
3. GILL, "For by one offering,.... The same as before; himself, body and soul; this is a reason
why he is set down, and will continue so for ever, and why he expects his enemies to be made his
footstool; because by one sacrifice for sin, which he has once offered,
he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified; that is, who are sanctified by God
the Father, Jud_1:1 or, who are set apart by him in eternal election, from the rest of the world,
for his own use, service, and glory, to a state of grace and holiness here, and happiness hereafter;
for this is not to be understood either of their being sanctified in Christ, though the Syriac
version reads, "that are sanctified" in him, or by his Spirit, though both are true of the same
persons; these Christ, by his sacrifice, has perfected, and has perfectly fulfilled the law for them;
he has perfectly expiated their sins; he has obtained the full pardon of all their sins, and
complete redemption; he has perfectly justified them from all things, and that for ever; which
shows the continued virtue of Christ's sacrifice, in all generations, to all the elect of God, and the
fulness and duration of their salvation; and so Christ by his one sacrifice did what the law, and
all its sacrifices, could not do, Heb_10:1.
4. HENRY, "From the perfect efficacy of the priesthood of Christ (Heb_10:14): By one
offering he hath for ever perfected those that are sanctified; he has delivered and will perfectly
deliver those that are brought over to him, from all the guilt, power, and punishment of sin, and
will put them into the sure possession of perfect holiness and felicity. This is what the Levitical
priesthood could never do; and, if we indeed are aiming at a perfect state, we must receive the
Lord Jesus as the only high priest that can bring us to that state.

95. VI. From the place to which our Lord Jesus is now exalted, the honour he has there, and the
further honour he shall have: This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat
down at the right hand of God, henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool,
Heb_10:12, Heb_10:13. Here observe, 1. To what honour Christ, as man and Mediator, is exalted
- to the right hand of God, the seat of power, interest, and activity: the giving hand; all the
favours that God bestows on his people are handed to them by Christ: the receiving hand; all the
duties that God accepts from men are presented by Christ: the working hand; all that pertains to
the kingdoms of providence and grace is administered by Christ; and therefore this is the
highest post of honour. 2. How Christ came to this honour - not merely by the purpose or
donation of the Father, but by his own merit and purchase, as a reward due to his sufferings;
and, as he can never be deprived of an honour so much his due, so he will never quit it, nor cease
to employ it for his people's good. 3. How he enjoys this honour - with the greatest satisfaction
and rest; he is for ever sitting down there. The Father acquiesces and is satisfied in him; he is
satisfied in his Father's will and presence; this is his rest for ever; here he will dwell, for he has
both desired and deserved it. 4. He has further expectations, which shall not be disappointed;
for they are grounded upon the promise of the Father, who hath said unto him, Sit thou at my
right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool, Psa_110:1. One would think such a person
as Christ could have no enemies except in hell; but it is certain that he has enemies on earth,
very many, and very inveterate ones. Let not Christians then wonder that they have enemies,
though they desire to live peaceably with all men. But Christ's enemies shall be made his
footstool; some by conversion, others by confusion; and, which way soever it be, Christ will be
honoured. Of this Christ is assured, this he is expecting, and his people should rejoice in the
expectation of it; for, when his enemies shall be subdued, their enemies, that are so for his sake,
shall be subdued also.
5. JAMISON, "For — The sacrifice being “for ever” in its efficacy (Heb_10:12) needs no
renewal.
them that are sanctified — rather as Greek, “them that are being sanctified.” The
sanctification (consecration to God) of the elect (1Pe_1:2) believers is perfect in Christ once for
all (see on Heb_10:10). (Contrast the law, Heb_7:19; Heb_9:9; Heb_10:1). The development of
that sanctification is progressive.
6. MURRAY THE SANCTIFIED PERFECTED FOR EVER. 14
X. 14. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are
sanctified.
THIS verse is in reality the conclusion of the doctrinal part of
the Epistle. The four following verses are simply the citation
of the words of the new covenant to confirm its teaching with
the witness of the Holy Spirit. The writer having, in the context,
expounded the nature of Christ s sacrifice, as showing what the
way into the Holiest is, sums up his proof of its worth and
efficacy in the words : By one offering He hath perfected for
ever them that are sanctified. We find here five of the most
important words that occur in the Epistle.

96. Sanctified. That looks back to the great purpose of Christ s
coming, as we had it in chap. ii. Sanctified is cleansed from
sin, taken out of the sphere and power of the world and sin,
and brought to live in the sphere and power of God s holiness
in the Holiest of All. It looks back, too, to ver. 10 : In which
will we are sanctified by the offering of the body of Christ.
He hath perfected them that are sanctified. It not only
says that He has finished and completed for them all they
need. The word points back to what was said of His own
being made perfect. All He became was for us. In His one
sacrifice He was not only perfected Himself, but He perfected
us ; He took us into the fellowship of His own perfectness,
implanted His own perfect life in us, and gave His per
fected human nature to us what we were to put on, and to
live in.
For ever. He hath perfected us once for all and for ever.
His perfection is ours ; our whole life is prepared for us, to be
received out of His hand.
By sacrifice. The death, the blood, the sacrifice of Christ,
is the power by which we have been alike sanctified and
perfected. It is the way which He opened up, in which He
leads us with Himself into what He is and does as the One
who is perfected for evermore, and the Holiest of All.
By one sacrifice. One because there is none other needed,
either by others or Himself; one divine, and therefore sufficient
and for ever.
The chief thought of the passage is : He hath for ever
perfected them that are being sanctified. The words in ver. 10,
In which will we have been sanctified, speak of our sancti-
fication as an accomplished fact : we are saints, holy in Christ,
in virtue of our real union with Him, and His holy life planted
in the centre of our being. Here we are spoken of as being
sanctified. There is a process by which our new life in Christ
has to master and to perfect holiness through our whole outer
being. But the progressive sanctification has its rest and its
assurance in the ONCE and FOR EVER of Christ s work. He
hath perfected for ever them that are being sanctified.
In chaps, ix. 9 and x. I we read that the sacrifices could
never, as touching the conscience, make the worshipper
perfect, never make perfect them that draw nigh, so that

97. they have no more conscience of sins. Our conscience is
that which defines what our consciousness of ourselves before
God should be : Christ makes the worshipper perfect, as
touching the conscience, so that there is no more conscience
of sins. He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
At the close of the chapter on Christ s priesthood we read of
Himself (vii. 28) : He is a High Priest, a Son, perfected for
evermore. Here at the close of the unfolding of His work, it
is said of His saints : He hath perfected them for ever. The
perfection in both cases is one and the same. As the Son of
Man, as the Second Adam, who lives in all who are His,
He perfected Himself for them, and them in Himself. His
perfection and theirs are one.
And wherein His perfection consists we know too. (See in
ii. 10 and v. 9.) A Leader in the way of glory, God made
Him perfect through suffering; perfected in Him that humility
and meekness and patience which mark Him as the Lamb,
which are what God asks of man, and are man s only fitness
for dwelling with God. Having offered up prayer, and
having been heard for His godly fear, though He was a
Son, yet He learned obedience by what He suffered, and
was made perfect. His godly fear, His waiting on God
in the absolute surrender of His will, His submitting to learn
obedience, His spirit of self-sacrifice, even unto death, it was
by this that as man He was perfected, it was in this He
perfected human nature, and perfected His people too. In His
death He accomplished a threefold work. He perfected Him
self, His own human nature and character. He perfected
our redemption, perfectly putting away sin from the place
it had in heaven (ix. 23), and in our hearts. He perfected
us, taking us up into His own perfection, and making us
partakers of that perfect human nature, which in suffer
ing and obedience, in the body prepared for Him, and the
will of God done in it, He had wrought out for us. Christ
Himself is our perfection ; in Him it is complete ; abiding in
Him continually is perfection.
Let us press on to perfection, was the call with which we
were led into the higher-life teaching of the Epistle. Here is
our goal. Christ, by one offering, hath perfected us for
ever. We know Him as the Priest for ever, the Minister of
the new sanctuary, and the Mediator of the new covenant,
who by His blood entered into the Holiest ; there He lives
for ever, in the power of an endless life, to impart to us and
maintain within us His perfect life. It is the walk in this path

98. of perfection, which as our Leader He opened up in doing
the will of God, which is the new and living way into the
Holiest.
1. The work of Christ Is a perfect and perfected work. Everything is finished and complete
for ever. And we have just by faith to behold and enter In, and seek and rejoice, and
receive
out of His fulness grace for grace. Let every difficulty you feel in understanding or claiming
the different blessings set before you, or in connecting them, find its solution in the one
thought Christ has perfected us for ever; trust Him, cling to Him, He will do all.
2. One sacrifice for ever. We perfected for ever. And HE who did it all, HE for ever
seated on the throne. Our blessed Priest-King, Hs Hues to matte it all ours. In the power
of an endless life, in which He offered Himself unto God, in which He entered the Holiest,
He now Hues to glue and be in our hearts all He hath accomplished. What more can we
need ? Wherefore, holy brethren ! partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus.
7. COFFMAN, “Verse 14
For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are
sanctified.
This summation clincher, as to the superiority of Christ's sacrifice, exploits
the fact that he needed only ONE offering to accomplish everything that
millions of offerings under the law could not do, namely, provide forgiveness
of sins.
Them that are sanctified
are not to be identified as those who have by means of personal devotion,
prayer and study, achieved some more than ordinary holiness, but as
encompassing all the redeemed of all the ages who, through Christ alone,
have received all that is necessary to be set apart unto eternal life. The
greatness of that one sacrifice received further emphasis under "The Blood
of Christ," above.
15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First
he says:

99. 1. BARNES, "Whereof the Holy Ghost is a witness to us - That is, the Holy Spirit is a
proof of the truth of the position here laid down - that the one atonement made by the Redeemer
lays the foundation for the eternal perfection of all who are sanctified. The witness of the Holy
Spirit here referred to is what is furnished in the Scriptures, and not any witness in ourselves.
Paul immediately makes his appeal to a passage of the Old Testament, and he thus shows his
firm conviction that the Scriptures were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
For after that he had said before - The apostle here appeals to a passage which he had
before quoted from Jer_31:33-34; see it explained in the notes on Heb_8:8-12. The object of the
quotation in both cases is, to show that the new covenant contemplated the formation of a holy
character or a holy people. It was not to set apart a people who should be externally holy only, or
be distinguished for conformity to external rites and ceremonies, but who should be holy in
heart and in life. There has been some difficulty felt by expositors in ascertaining what
corresponds to the expression “after that he had said before,” and some have supposed that the
phrase “then he saith” should be understood before Heb_10:17. But probably the apostle means
to refer to two distinct parts of the quotation from Jeremiah, the former of which expresses the
fact that God meant to make a new covenant with his people, and the latter expresses the nature
of that covenant, and it is particularly to the latter that he refers. This is seen more distinctly in
the passage in Jeremiah than it is in our translation of the quotation in this Epistle. The
meaning is this, “The Holy Spirit first said, this is the covenant that I will make with them:” and
having said this, he then added, “After those days, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in
their minds will I write them, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” The
first part of it expresses the purpose to form such a covenant; the latter states what that
covenant would be. The quotation is not, indeed, literally made, but the sense is retained;
compare the notes on Heb_8:8-12. Still, it may be asked, how this quotation proves the point for
which it is adduced - that the design of the atonement of Christ was “to perfect forever them that
are sanctified?” In regard to this, we may observe:
(1) That it was declared that those who were interested in it would be holy, for the law would
be in their hearts and written on their minds; and,
(2) That this would be “entire and perpetual.” Their sins would be “wholly” forgiven; they
would never be remembered again - and thus they would be “perfected forever.”
2. CLARKE, "The Holy Ghost - is a witness to us - The words are quoted from
Jer_31:33, Jer_31:34, and here we are assured that Jeremiah spoke by the inspiration of the
Spirit of God. Had said before - See Heb_8:10, Heb_8:12, and the notes there.
3. GILL, "Wherefore the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us,.... In Jer_31:33. This
preface to the following citation shows that the books of the Old Testament are of divine original
and authority; that the penmen of them were inspired by the Holy Ghost; that he existed in the
times of the Old Testament; that he is truly and properly God, the Lord, or Jehovah, that speaks
in the following verses; and that he is a distinct divine Person, and the author of the covenant of
grace; and in what he says in that covenant, he bears testimony to the truths before delivered,
concerning the insufficiency and abolition of legal sacrifices, and of full and perfect remission of
sin, by the blood and sacrifice of Christ:
for after that he had said before; what is expressed in the following verse.
4. HENRY, "The apostle recommends Christ from the witness the Holy Ghost has given in the

100. scriptures concerning him; this relates chiefly to what should be the happy fruit and
consequence of his humiliation and sufferings, which in general is that new and gracious
covenant that is founded upon his satisfaction, and sealed by his blood (Heb_10:15): Whereof
the Holy Ghost is a witness. The passage is cited from Jer_31:31, in which covenant God
promises,
5. JAMISON, "The Greek, has “moreover,” or “now.”
is a witness — of the truth which I am setting forth. The Father’s witness is given Heb_5:10.
The Son’s, Heb_10:5. Now is added that of the Holy Spirit, called accordingly “the Spirit of
grace,” Heb_10:29. The testimony of all Three leads to the same conclusion (Heb_10:18).
for after that he had said before — The conclusion to the sentence is in Heb_10:17, “After
He had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them (with the house of Israel,
Heb_8:10; here extended to the spiritual Israel) ... saith the Lord; I will put (literally, ‘giving,’
referring to the giving of the law; not now as then, giving into the hands, but giving) My laws
into their hearts (‘mind,’ Heb_8:10) and in their minds (‘hearts,’ Heb_8:10); I will inscribe (so
the Greek) them (here He omits the addition quoted in Heb_8:10, Heb_8:11, I will be to them a
God ... and they shall not teach every man his neighbor ...), and (that is, after He had said the
foregoing, HE THEN ADDS) their sins ... will I remember no more.” The great object of the
quotation here is to prove that, there being in the Gospel covenant, “REMISSION of sins”
(Heb_10:17), there is no more need of a sacrifice for sins. The object of the same quotation in
Heb_8:8-13 is to show that, there being a “NEW covenant,” the old is antiquated.
6. CALVIN, "The Holy Ghost also is a witness, etc. [168] This testimony from
Jeremiah is not adduced the second time without reason or
superfluously. He quoted it before for a different purpose, even to
show that it was necessary for the Old Testament to be abrogated,
because another, a new one, had been promised, and for this end, to
amend the weakness of the old. [169] But he has now another thing in
view; for he takes his stand on these words alone, Their iniquities
will I remember no more; and hence he concludes, that there is no more
need of a sacrifice since sins are blotted out. [170]
This inference may indeed seem not to be well founded; for though
formerly there were innumerable promises as to the remission of sins
under the Law and in the prophets, yet the Church ceased not to offer
sacrifices; hence remission of sins does not exclude sacrifices. But if
you consider each particular more closely, you will find that the
fathers also had the same promises as to the remission of sins, under
the Law, as we have at this day; relying on them, they called on God,
and rejoiced in the pardon they obtained. And yet the Prophet, as
though he had adduced something new and unheard of before, promises
that there would be no remembrance of sins before God under the new
covenant. Hence we may conclude, that sins are now remitted in a way
different from what they were formerly; but this difference is not in
the promise, nor in faith, but in the very price by which remissions is
procured. God then does not now remember sins, because an expiation has

101. been made once for all; otherwise what is said by the Prophet would
have been to no purpose, that the benefit of the New Testament was to
be this -- that God would no more remember sins.
Now, since we have come to the close of the discussion respecting the
priesthood of Christ, readers must be brief reminded, that the
sacrifices of the Law are not more effectually proved here to have been
abolished, than the sacrifice of the mass practiced by the Papists is
proved to be a vain fiction.
They maintain that their mass is a sacrifice for expiating the sins of
the living and of the dead; but the Apostle denies that there is now
any place for a sacrifice, even since the time in which the prophecy of
Jeremiah has been fulfilled.
They try to make an evasion by saying, that it is not a new sacrifice,
or different from that of Christ, but the same; on the contrary, the
Apostle contends that the same sacrifice ought not to be repeated, and
declares that Christ's sacrifice is only one, and that it was offered
for all; and, further, he often claims for Christ alone the honor of
being a priest, so that no one was fit to offer him but himself alone.
The Papists have another evasion, and call their sacrifice bloodless;
but the Apostle affirms it as a truth without exception, that death is
necessary in order to make a sacrifice.
The Papists attempt to evade again by saying, that the mass is the
application of the one sacrifice which Christ has made; but the Apostle
teaches us on the contrary, that the sacrifices of the Law were
abolished by Christ's death for this reason, because in them a
remembrance of sins was made; it hence appears evident, that this kind
of application which they have devised has ceased.
In short, let the Papists twist themselves into any forms they please,
they can never escape from the plain arguments of the Apostle, by which
it appears clear that their mass abounds in impieties; for first,
according to the Apostle's testimony, Christ alone was fit to offer
himself; in the mass he is offered by other hands; -- secondly, the
Apostle asserts that Christ's sacrifice was not only one, but was also
once offered, so that it is impious to repeat it; but in the mass,
however they may prate about the sacrifice, yet it is evidently made
every day, and they themselves confess it; -- thirdly, the Apostle
acknowledges no sacrifice without blood and death; they then chatter in
vain, that the sacrifice they offer is bloodless; -- fourthly, the
Apostle in speaking of obtaining pardon for sins, bids us to flee to
that one sacrifice which Christ offered on the cross, and makes this

102. distinction between us and the fathers, that the rite of continually
sacrificing was done away by the coming of Christ; but the Papists, in
order to make the death of Christ efficacious, require daily
applications by means of a sacrifice; so that they calling themselves
Christians, differ nothing from the Jews except in the external symbol.
__________________________________________________________________
[167] See [38]Appendix K 2.
[168] "Now testify to us does also the Holy Spirit;" such may be the
rendering of the words. The de is translated "And," by Macknight, and
"Morever," by Stuart, but "Now" seems the most suitable. -- Ed
[169] The quotation as made here affords a remarkable instance of what
Calvin has previously said, that the Apostles were not very scrupulous
in the use of words, but attended to the meaning. The words have been
before quoted in chapter 8:10-12. There we have "into their mind --
kardias," here, "into their minds -- dianoion;" and in the 12^th verse
in chapter 8, and the 17^th in this chapter, are in words wholly
different, though in meaning essentially the same. We need not wonder
then that there is sometimes a variety in quotations made from the Old
Testament, since the Apostle varies in a quotation when given the
second time by himself. -- Ed
[170] This quotation clearly shows the meaning of the word
"sanctified." The sanctified, or those atoned for, or expiated, were
made perfect by having their sins perfectly and completely forgiven
them. The sufficiently of Christ's sacrifice for taking away sins, for
a full and complete remission, is the subject throughout, and not the
effect of that sacrifice in the work of sanctification. The chapter
begins with sins as to the conscience; and here the words of Jeremiah
are referred to, not for the purpose of showing that the new covenant
provides for the renovation of the heart, (though it includes that
too.) but of proving that it secures the free and full remission of
sins, procured, as stated before, by the one sacrifice of Christ, once
offered and perpetually efficacious. -- Ed.
7. MURRAY, THE WITNESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 15-18
THE writer has concluded his argument. He has made clear
that the sacrifice of Christ, as the offering up of His body to
the will of God, had opened for us a new way into the Holiest.
Through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ we have
been sanctified. When He had offered one sacrifice for ever,

103. He sat down on the right hand of God. By one offering He
hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. His sacrifice
is over, and has everlasting power ; in virtue of it He sits on the
throne, expecting His final triumph ; those He has sanctified
are perfected for ever. The sacrifice is of infinite worth ; it has
opened the entrance to a state of perfect and everlasting holiness
and glory ; nothing is now needed but to rejoice and wait and
see the King on the throne applying and revealing the power of
His finished work.
The writer appeals to the words of the institution of the new
covenant (viii. 6-13), in support of what he has said. He does
so with the words, And the Holy Ghost also beareth witness
to US. The words of Jeremiah are to him the words of the
Holy Spirit. He believes in a direct inspiration. It was the
God who knows the end from the beginning, who had planned
all from the least to the greatest in the preparation of redemp
tion, who had revealed to Jeremiah the new covenant that would
be made centuries later. It was the same Holy Spirit who had
inspired the first record of Melchizedek, and the Psalm with the
oath of God, who had ordered the tabernacle and the veil to
signify that the way into the Holiest was not yet open, and had
watched over the first covenant, and its dedication not without
blood, through whom the promise of the new covenant was
spoken and recorded. Our writer appeals to Him and His
witness.
He does so as one who himself has the teaching of that
Spirit. Anyone might read the words of the covenant, and of
the death of Jesus ; no one could connect and expound them
in their divine harmony and their everlasting significance but
one taught by the same Spirit. These men preached the
gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; the

104. Spirit, from the King sat down upon the throne, revealed in
and to them the will of God, and the eternal power of the one
sacrifice, to open the way into the Holiest.
And what is now the witness of the Holy Ghost in the new
covenant ? The witness to the two blessings of the covenant
in their divine inseparable unity. I will put My laws in
their heart, and their sins will I remember no more. The
complete remission of sins, the removal of sin out of God s
sight and remembrance for ever, was promised. Now, our
writer argues, where remission of these is, there is no more
offering for sin. The one offering hath perfected for ever them
that are sanctified. The death of Christ has opened up and
introduced us into a relationship to God, a state of life before
Him, in which sin has been finally put away, and God receives
us into His fellowship as those who have been sanctified in
Christ. He receives us into the Holiest of All through the
blood. The blood that sprinkles the mercy-seat also sprinkles
and cleanses our conscience, bringing the full remission, the
full deliverance from sin and its power, into our inmost being ;
and, fitting our heart to receive that Spirit of heaven which
witnesses with the blood, as a Spirit of life, puts the law
within us, as the law of our life.
And so we enter into the finished work of Christ, and the
rest of God in it ; enter the perfection with which He Himself
was perfected for evermore, and hath perfected us for ever ; into
that Holiest of All, into which God fulfils the promise, I will be
to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people. And the
offering of the body of Christ once for all, the one sacrifice for
ever, becomes, in ever-growing blessedness, the one thought, the
one trust, the one joy, the one life of the believer. His salvation
and redemption are finished and eternal realities, His perfection

105. and sanctification too. Our one need is to believe and abide in
and receive what our Priest-King on the throne imparts through
His Spirit : a full entrance into the no more offering for sin,
with all that flows from it, in the person and throne and work
of our Priest for ever : this is the entrance into the Holiest.
And the Holy Ghost also beareth witness to us. It is easy
to understand the truth of the forgiveness of sin as one of the
elementary foundation truths, of which we read in chap. vi.
(ver. i). But if we seek to press on to perfection, and to know
what the fulness of salvation is into which it leads, we may count
upon the Holy Spirit to reveal it, to witness to it, in our inner
life. He reveals it not to the mind, or as the reward of earthly
study, but to the poor in spirit and them that are of a lowly heart.
It is in the heart God sends forth the Spirit of His Son ; the
heart that longs for and chooses and loves and waits for this life
of perfect fellowship with God more than its chief joy, shall have
it witnessed by God s Spirit that the no more offering for sin
is indeed the opening up of the Holiest of All. The Holy
Ghost who comes from heaven, bears witness of what is in
heaven. We can know nothing really of what takes place in
heaven but by the Holy Ghost in our heart. Dwelling in us He
gives in our inmost life the full witness to all the efficacy of
Christ s atonement and His enthronement in the presence of
God.
1. The one central truth to which the Holy Spirit testifies is this : that the old way of liuing
and serving God is now completely and for ever come to an end. Death and the devil are brought to
nought ; the veil is rent ; sin is put away; the old covenant is disannulled, vanished away, taken
away. A new system, a new way, a new and eternal life has been opened up in the power of Christ
Jesus. Oh to have our eyes and hearts opened to see that is not merely a thought, a truth for the
mind, but a spiritual state of existence which the Holy Ghost can bring us into.

106. 2. The Holy Ghost beareth witness. For this He came down on the day of Pentecost out of
the heavenly sanctuary and from our exalted Priest-King, to bring down the heavenly life, the king
dom of heaven to the disciples, and make it real to them, as a thing found and felt in their hearts.
Each one of us needs and may claim the Holy Spirit in the same Pentecostal power, and the new,
the sternal, the heavenly life will fill us too.
8. COFFMAN, “Verse 15
And the Holy Spirit also beareth witness to us; for after he hath said.
This verse is invaluable for the light it sheds on the witness of the Holy
Spirit. Thomas accurately read the implications of this verse, thus,
Here again, with great significance, the Holy Spirit is mentioned. Not only is
he the source and author of the divine message in Psa. 3:7, and of the true
meaning of the tabernacle (Hebrews 9:8); but he is shown to be witnessing
through the statements of Scripture to the reality and power of the new
covenant. This is the true witness of the Spirit, not something dependent
upon our own variable emotions, but that which is objective to us, and fixed,
the Word of God. F20
Thomas also noted in this context the various functions assigned to
members of the Godhead, in these words,
We have the three-fold revelation of God in this passage, a very definite
spiritual and practical exemplification of the Holy Trinity, in the WILL of God
(Hebrews 10:9), the work of Christ (Hebrews 10:12), and the WITNESS of
the Spirit (Hebrews 10:15). F21
Jeremiah was the mortal author of the passage here said to be spoken by
the Holy Spirit; and thus this verse becomes another independent witness to
the inspiration of the Holy Bible. The author does not say that "Jeremiah
said," but that "the Holy Spirit said."
9. BI. “The Bible written in the mind:
Christianity in human life is better than Christianity in cold ink, because
1. It contains the Divine things, the other only the symbols.
2. It is the end of culture, the other only the means.
3. It is self-obvious, the other requires explanation.

107. 4. It is imperishable, the other temporary. (Homilist.)
A Saviour such as you need
I. IT IS THIS WHICH CONSTITUTES THE GLORY AND SUPERIORITY OF THE NEW
COVENANT OF GRACE—NAMELY, THAT IT GIVES TO ALL WHO ARE INTERESTED IN
PERFECT SALVATION. Our text tells us that in two points the old covenant was far behind the
new: first, in the matter of sanctification the old covenant did not do what the new one
accomplishes, for the new writes God’s law upon our hearts and upon our minds, whereas the
old covenant was only written out on tables of stone; and, secondly, the old covenant could not
put away the guilt of sin, whereas the new covenant runs on this wise—“And their sins and their
iniquities will I remember no more.”
II. The doctrine, then, is that THERE IS NO MORE SACRIFICE FOR SIN, BECAUSE CHRIST
SUPPLIES ALL THAT IS NEEDED.
III. Lastly, does not this doctrine ANSWER A QUESTION that has often been propounded to
me, namely, HOW IT IS THAT THERE ARE SO MANY HEARTS WHICH CAN FIND NO
PEACE? Some people are always learning, but never coming to the truth. They are good people
in many senses, but they cannot be happy. They are always discontented. Now, what do you
think is the reason? I am sure it is this, they will not agree that Christ shall be all in all to them.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
God forgives and forgets:
“Mother forgives me when I’ve been naughty,” said a little girl; “but I see in her face all day after,
though she does not frown, that she remembers what I did in the morning. She cannot forget.
God forgives and forgets, for ‘He makes it up’ altogether.”
Blotted out
A little boy was once much puzzled about sins being blotted out, and said: “I cannot think what
becomes of the sins God forgives, mother.” “Why, Charlie, can you tell me where are the figures
you wrote on your slate yesterday?” “I washed them all out, mother.” “And where are they, then?
Why, they are nowhere; they are gone,” said Charlie. “Just so it is with the believer’s sins—they
are gone; blotted out; ‘remembered no more.’”
16 "This is the covenant I will make with them after
that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their

108. hearts, and I will write them on their minds."
1. BARNES, "Whereof the Holy Ghost is a witness to us - That is, the Holy Spirit is a
proof of the truth of the position here laid down - that the one atonement made by the Redeemer
lays the foundation for the eternal perfection of all who are sanctified. The witness of the Holy
Spirit here referred to is what is furnished in the Scriptures, and not any witness in ourselves.
Paul immediately makes his appeal to a passage of the Old Testament, and he thus shows his
firm conviction that the Scriptures were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
For after that he had said before - The apostle here appeals to a passage which he had
before quoted from Jer_31:33-34; see it explained in the notes on Heb_8:8-12. The object of the
quotation in both cases is, to show that the new covenant contemplated the formation of a holy
character or a holy people. It was not to set apart a people who should be externally holy only, or
be distinguished for conformity to external rites and ceremonies, but who should be holy in
heart and in life. There has been some difficulty felt by expositors in ascertaining what
corresponds to the expression “after that he had said before,” and some have supposed that the
phrase “then he saith” should be understood before Heb_10:17. But probably the apostle means
to refer to two distinct parts of the quotation from Jeremiah, the former of which expresses the
fact that God meant to make a new covenant with his people, and the latter expresses the nature
of that covenant, and it is particularly to the latter that he refers. This is seen more distinctly in
the passage in Jeremiah than it is in our translation of the quotation in this Epistle. The
meaning is this, “The Holy Spirit first said, this is the covenant that I will make with them:” and
having said this, he then added, “After those days, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in
their minds will I write them, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” The
first part of it expresses the purpose to form such a covenant; the latter states what that
covenant would be. The quotation is not, indeed, literally made, but the sense is retained;
compare the notes on Heb_8:8-12. Still, it may be asked, how this quotation proves the point for
which it is adduced - that the design of the atonement of Christ was “to perfect forever them that
are sanctified?” In regard to this, we may observe:
(1) That it was declared that those who were interested in it would be holy, for the law would
be in their hearts and written on their minds; and,
(2) That this would be “entire and perpetual.” Their sins would be “wholly” forgiven; they
would never be remembered again - and thus they would be “perfected forever.”
2. COFFMAN, "Verses 16, 17
This is the covenant that I will make with them After those days,
saith the Lord: I will put my laws on their heart, And upon their mind
will I write them; then saith he, And their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more.
The author still has in mind the extensive prophecy of the new covenant by
Jeremiah which he more fully quoted in Heb. 8, where he used it to show
that God had foretold the abrogation of the old covenant and had from the

109. first intended to abolish it. At this place the author dwells upon the fact that
true and total forgiveness was likewise a foreordained purpose of the new
institution. Westcott said, "The consequences of sin are threefold: debt
which requires forgiveness, bondage which requires redemption, and
alienation which requires reconciliation." All of these, forgiveness,
redemption, and reconciliation are found in Jesus Christ. The most precious
words in all the Bible, perhaps, with reference to the hope of eternal life and
in view of the number and weight of sins, are these, "And their iniquities will
I remember no more." How sacred is this promise. Sins which people
themselves cannot forget, God will forget! "`Remember no more' is a
contrast to `remembrance year by year.' Man remembers, but God forgets
when he forgives."
3. GILL, "
4. HENRY, "1. That he will pour out his Spirit upon his people, so as to give them wisdom,
will, and power, to obey his word; he will put his laws in their hearts, and write them in their
minds, Heb_10:16. This will make their duty plain, easy, and pleasant. 2. Their sins and
iniquities he will remember no more (Heb_10:17), which will alone show the riches of divine
grace, and the sufficiency of Christ's satisfaction, that it needs not be repeated, Heb_10:18. For
there shall be no more remembrance of sin against true believers, either to shame them now or
to condemn them hereafter. This was much more than the Levitical priesthood and sacrifices
could effect.
And now we have gone through the doctrinal part of the epistle, in which we have met with
many things dark and difficult to be understood, which we must impute to the weakness and
dulness of our own minds. The apostle now proceeds to apply this great doctrine, so as to
influence their affections, and direct their practice, setting before them the dignities and duties
of the gospel state.
5. JAMISON, "
6. CALVIN, "
17 Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will
remember no more."
1. BARNES, "Whereof the Holy Ghost is a witness to us - That is, the Holy Spirit is a
proof of the truth of the position here laid down - that the one atonement made by the Redeemer

110. lays the foundation for the eternal perfection of all who are sanctified. The witness of the Holy
Spirit here referred to is what is furnished in the Scriptures, and not any witness in ourselves.
Paul immediately makes his appeal to a passage of the Old Testament, and he thus shows his
firm conviction that the Scriptures were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
For after that he had said before - The apostle here appeals to a passage which he had
before quoted from Jer_31:33-34; see it explained in the notes on Heb_8:8-12. The object of the
quotation in both cases is, to show that the new covenant contemplated the formation of a holy
character or a holy people. It was not to set apart a people who should be externally holy only, or
be distinguished for conformity to external rites and ceremonies, but who should be holy in
heart and in life. There has been some difficulty felt by expositors in ascertaining what
corresponds to the expression “after that he had said before,” and some have supposed that the
phrase “then he saith” should be understood before Heb_10:17. But probably the apostle means
to refer to two distinct parts of the quotation from Jeremiah, the former of which expresses the
fact that God meant to make a new covenant with his people, and the latter expresses the nature
of that covenant, and it is particularly to the latter that he refers. This is seen more distinctly in
the passage in Jeremiah than it is in our translation of the quotation in this Epistle. The
meaning is this, “The Holy Spirit first said, this is the covenant that I will make with them:” and
having said this, he then added, “After those days, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in
their minds will I write them, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” The
first part of it expresses the purpose to form such a covenant; the latter states what that
covenant would be. The quotation is not, indeed, literally made, but the sense is retained;
compare the notes on Heb_8:8-12. Still, it may be asked, how this quotation proves the point for
which it is adduced - that the design of the atonement of Christ was “to perfect forever them that
are sanctified?” In regard to this, we may observe:
(1) That it was declared that those who were interested in it would be holy, for the law would
be in their hearts and written on their minds; and,
(2) That this would be “entire and perpetual.” Their sins would be “wholly” forgiven; they
would never be remembered again - and thus they would be “perfected forever.”
2. CLARKE, "
3. GILL, "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. See Gill on
Heb_8:10. The words are cited to a different purpose here than there; the principal thing for
which they are cited here, is to observe God's promise of non-remembrance of sin; which is no
other than remission of sin, and which is not consistent with legal sacrifices, in which there is a
remembrance of sin every year, Heb_10:3 and consequently, since this new covenant has taken
place, legal sacrifices must be abolished, as the apostle argues in the next verse. In one of Beza's
copies are inserted, at the, beginning of this verse, these words, "then he said", which seem
necessary to answer to the last clause of Heb_10:15.
4. HENRY, "Here the apostle raises up and exalts the Lord Jesus Christ, as high as he had
laid the Levitical priesthood low. He recommends Christ to them as the true high priest, the true
atoning sacrifice, the antitype of all the rest: and this he illustrates,
I. From the purpose and promise of God concerning Christ, which are frequently recorded in
the volume of the book of God, Heb_10:7. God had not only decreed, but declared by Moses and
the prophets, that Christ should come and be the great high priest of the church, and should
offer up a perfect and a perfecting sacrifice. It was written of Christ, in the beginning of the book
of God, that the seed of the woman should break the serpent's head; and the Old Testament

111. abounds with prophecies concerning Christ. Now since he is the person so often promised, so
much spoken of, so long expected by the people of God, he ought to be received with great
honour and gratitude.
II. From what God had done in preparing a body for Christ (that is, a human nature), that he
might be qualified to be our Redeemer and Advocate; uniting the two natures in his own person,
he was a fit Mediator to go between God and man; a days-man to lay his hand upon both, a
peace-maker, to reconcile them, and an everlasting band of union between God and the creature
- “My ears hast thou opened; thou has fully instructed me, furnished and fitted me for the work,
and engaged me in it,” Psa_40:6. Now a Saviour thus provided, and prepared by God himself in
so extraordinary a manner, ought to be received with great affection and gladness.
III. From the readiness and willingness that Christ discovered to engage in this work, when no
other sacrifice would be accepted, Heb_10:7-9. When no less sacrifice would be a proper
satisfaction to the justice of God than that of Christ himself, then Christ voluntarily came into it:
“Lo, I come! I delight to do thy will, O God! Let thy curse fall upon me, but let these go their
way. Father, I delight to fulfil thy counsels, and my covenant with thee for them; I delight to
perform all thy promises, to fulfil all the prophecies.” This should endear Christ and our Bibles
to us, that in Christ we have the fulfilling of the scriptures.
IV. From the errand and design upon which Christ came; and this was to do the will of God,
not only as a prophet to reveal the will of God, not only as a king to give forth divine laws, but as
a priest to satisfy the demands of justice, and to fulfil all righteousness. Christ came to do the
will of God in two instances. 1. In taking away the first priesthood, which God had no pleasure
in; not only taking away the curse of the covenant of works, and canceling the sentence
denounced against us as sinners, but taking away the insufficient typical priesthood, and
blotting out the hand-writing of ceremonial ordinances and nailing it to his cross. 2. In
establishing the second, that is, his own priesthood and the everlasting gospel, the most pure
and perfect dispensation of the covenant of grace; this is the great design upon which the heart
of God was set from all eternity. The will of God centers and terminates in it; and it is not more
agreeable to the will of God than it is advantageous to the souls of men; for it is by this will that
we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, Heb_10:10.
Observe, (1.) What is the fountain of all that Christ has done for his people - the sovereign will
and grace of God. (2.) How we come to partake of what Christ has done for us - by being
sanctified, converted, effectually called, wherein we are united to Christ, and so partake of the
benefits of his redemption; and this sanctification is owing to the oblation he made of himself to
God.
V. From the perfect efficacy of the priesthood of Christ (Heb_10:14): By one offering he hath
for ever perfected those that are sanctified; he has delivered and will perfectly deliver those that
are brought over to him, from all the guilt, power, and punishment of sin, and will put them into
the sure possession of perfect holiness and felicity. This is what the Levitical priesthood could
never do; and, if we indeed are aiming at a perfect state, we must receive the Lord Jesus as the
only high priest that can bring us to that state.
VI. From the place to which our Lord Jesus is now exalted, the honour he has there, and the
further honour he shall have: This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat
down at the right hand of God, henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool,
Heb_10:12, Heb_10:13. Here observe, 1. To what honour Christ, as man and Mediator, is exalted
- to the right hand of God, the seat of power, interest, and activity: the giving hand; all the
favours that God bestows on his people are handed to them by Christ: the receiving hand; all the
duties that God accepts from men are presented by Christ: the working hand; all that pertains to
the kingdoms of providence and grace is administered by Christ; and therefore this is the
highest post of honour. 2. How Christ came to this honour - not merely by the purpose or
donation of the Father, but by his own merit and purchase, as a reward due to his sufferings;

112. and, as he can never be deprived of an honour so much his due, so he will never quit it, nor cease
to employ it for his people's good. 3. How he enjoys this honour - with the greatest satisfaction
and rest; he is for ever sitting down there. The Father acquiesces and is satisfied in him; he is
satisfied in his Father's will and presence; this is his rest for ever; here he will dwell, for he has
both desired and deserved it. 4. He has further expectations, which shall not be disappointed;
for they are grounded upon the promise of the Father, who hath said unto him, Sit thou at my
right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool, Psa_110:1. One would think such a person
as Christ could have no enemies except in hell; but it is certain that he has enemies on earth,
very many, and very inveterate ones. Let not Christians then wonder that they have enemies,
though they desire to live peaceably with all men. But Christ's enemies shall be made his
footstool; some by conversion, others by confusion; and, which way soever it be, Christ will be
honoured. Of this Christ is assured, this he is expecting, and his people should rejoice in the
expectation of it; for, when his enemies shall be subdued, their enemies, that are so for his sake,
shall be subdued also.
VII. The apostle recommends Christ from the witness the Holy Ghost has given in the
scriptures concerning him; this relates chiefly to what should be the happy fruit and
consequence of his humiliation and sufferings, which in general is that new and gracious
covenant that is founded upon his satisfaction, and sealed by his blood (Heb_10:15): Whereof
the Holy Ghost is a witness. The passage is cited from Jer_31:31, in which covenant God
promises, 1. That he will pour out his Spirit upon his people, so as to give them wisdom, will,
and power, to obey his word; he will put his laws in their hearts, and write them in their minds,
Heb_10:16. This will make their duty plain, easy, and pleasant
5. JAMISON, "
6. CALVIN, "
18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no
longer any sacrifice for sin.
1. BARNES, "Now where remission of these is - Remission or forgiveness of sins; that
is, of the sins mentioned in the previous verse.
There is no more offering for sin - If those sins are wholly blotted out, there is no more
need of sacrifice to atone for them, any more than there is need to pay a debt again which has
been once paid. The idea of Paul is, that in the Jewish dispensation there was a constant
repeating of the remembrance of sins by the sacrifices which were offered, but that in reference
to the dispensation under the Messiah, sin would be entirely cancelled. There would be one
great and all-sufficient sacrifice, and when there was faith in that offering, sin would be
absolutely forgiven. If that was the case, there would be no occasion for any further sacrifice for
it, and the offering need not be repeated. This circumstance, on which the apostle insists so
much, made a very important difference between the new covenant and the old. In the one,
sacrifices were offered every day; in the other, the sacrifice once made was final and complete; in
the one case, there was no such forgiveness but that the offender was constantly reminded of his

113. sins by the necessity of the repetition of sacrifice; in the other, the pardon was so complete that
all dread of wrath was taken away, and the sinner might look up to God as calmly and joyfully as
if he had never been guilty of transgression.
2. CLARKE, "Now where remission of these is - In any case, where sin is once
pardoned, there is no farther need of a sin-offering; but every believer on Christ has his sin
blotted out, and therefore needs no other offering for that sin.
“If,” says Dr. Macknight, “after remission is granted to the sinner, there is no need of any
more sacrifice for sin; and if Christ, by offering himself once, has perfected for ever the
sanctified, Heb_10:14, the sacrifice of the mass, as it is called, about which the Romish clergy
employ themselves so incessantly, and to which the papists trust for the pardon of their sins, has
no foundation in Scripture. Nay, it is an evident impiety, as it proceeds upon the supposition
that the offering of the body of Christ once is not sufficient to procure the pardon of sin, but
must be frequently repeated. If they reply that their mass is only the representation and
commemoration of the sacrifice of Christ, they give up the cause, and renounce an article of
their faith, established by the council of Trent, which, in session xxii. can. 1, 3, declared the
sacrifice of the mass to be a true and propitiatory sacrifice for sin. I say, give up the cause; for
the representation and commemoration of a sacrifice is not a sacrifice. Farther, it cannot be
affirmed that the body of Christ is offered in the mass, unless it can be said that, as often as it is
offered, Christ has suffered death; for the apostle says expressly, Heb_9:25, Heb_9:26, that if
Christ offered himself often, he must often have suffered since the foundation of the world.” Let
him disprove this who can.
3. GILL, "Now where remission of these is,.... That is, of these sins; and that there is
remission of them, is evident from this promise of the covenant, just now produced; from God's
gracious proclamation of it; from the shedding of Christ's blood for it; from his exaltation at the
Father's right hand to give it; from the Gospel declaration of it; and from the several instances of
persons favoured with it:
there is no more offering for sin; there may be other offerings, as of praise and
thanksgiving, but none for sin; "there is no need", as the Syriac version; or there is not required,
as the Arabic version; there is no need of the reiteration of Christ's sacrifice, nor will he be
offered up any more, nor of the repetition of legal sacrifices, nor ought they to continue any
longer. The Jews themselves say (w), that
"in the time to come (i.e. in the times of the Messiah) all offerings shall cease, but the sacrifice of
praise.''
And one of their writers says (x), when
"the King Messiah, the son of David, shall reign, there will be no need of ‫,כפרה‬ "an atonement",
nor of deliverance, or prosperity, for all these things will be had;''
4. HENRY, ". Their sins and iniquities he will remember no more (Heb_10:17), which will
alone show the riches of divine grace, and the sufficiency of Christ's satisfaction, that it needs
not be repeated, Heb_10:18. For there shall be no more remembrance of sin against true

114. believers, either to shame them now or to condemn them hereafter. This was much more than
the Levitical priesthood and sacrifices could effect.
And now we have gone through the doctrinal part of the epistle, in which we have met with
many things dark and difficult to be understood, which we must impute to the weakness and
dulness of our own minds. The apostle now proceeds to apply this great doctrine, so as to
influence their affections, and direct their practice, setting before them the dignities and duties
of the gospel state.
5. JAMISON, "where remission of these is — as there is under the Gospel covenant
(Heb_10:17). “Here ends the finale (Heb_10:1-18) of the great tripartite arrangement
(Heb_7:1-25; 7:26-9:12; 9:13-10:18) of the middle portion of the Epistle. Its great theme was
Christ a High Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. What it is to be a high priest after
the order of Melchisedec is set forth, Heb_7:1-25, as contrasted with the Aaronic order. That
Christ, however, as High Priest, is Aaron’s antitype in the true holy place, by virtue of His
self-sacrifice here on earth, and Mediator of a better covenant, whose essential character the old
only typified, we learn, Hebrews 7:26-9:12. And that Christ’s self-sacrifice, offered through the
Eternal Spirit, is of everlasting power, as contrasted with the unavailing cycle of legal offerings,
is established in the third part, Hebrews 9:13-10:18; the first half of this last portion
[Heb_9:13-28], showing that both our present possession of salvation, and our future
completion of it, are as certain to us as that He is with God, ruling as a Priest and reigning as a
King, once more to appear, no more as a bearer of our sins, but in glory as a Judge. The second
half, Heb_10:1-18, reiterating the main position of the whole, the High Priesthood of Christ,
grounded on His offering of Himself - its kingly character its eternal accomplishment of its end,
confirmed by Psa_40:1-17 and Psa_110:1-7 and Jer_31:1-40” [Delitzsch in Alford].
6. FUDGE, “ Remission of sins means that God does not remember them any longer. Where
there is such remission, no more offering is needed for sin. With this, the argument of Hebrews
ends. The rest of the epistle consists of exhortations or warnings based on the points already
established.
We have a high priest who has offered a perfect offering because it represented a human life
perfectly in accord with God's will for man. By that sacrifice, we are perfected. God has
promised not to remember our sins any more. There will be no further offering; there is no need
for another.
Christ now is mediating the blessed benefits of His once-for-all sacrifice for all His covenant
people. He waits for His kingship to be fully recognized. His people wait for His return with the
inheritance already secured. The writer of Hebrews urges his readers to be among the faithful
who will receive the blessing.
7. COFFMAN, "Verse 18
Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

115. This is the final, irrevocable verdict. Remission of sins having been provided
through Christ, by means of one final and complete offering, already
accomplished, all the Jewish offerings simply do not legally exist any more.
They are not. "There is no more offering for sin," as required by the old law.
It has forever been changed and repealed.
Lenski was struck with the cosmic sweep and power of such words as
"remission" and "redemption." Here are some of his words,
The remission of sins means, literally, "the sending away" of sins. (This
means) to send away the sins of a sinner as far as the east is from the west.
(Psalms 103:12), as a cloud is blotted out and vanishes (Isaiah 44:22), to
the bottom of the sea (Micah 7:19), thus blotting out the sins even from
memory. F23
When God sends away "these," namely our sins and violations of his law, so
that even his memory does not recall them, they are gone indeed. But the
Spirit testifies that God actually does this. F24
THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS
The importance of understanding the final and complete nature of the
heavenly offering of the blood of Christ for human sins is so great, and any
denial of such a sublime truth, even though unintentional, is of such terrible
consequence to mankind that we are led to inquire here as to the validity of
the commonly held view that Christ's blood is DAILY sacrificed in such a
thing as the mass. One cannot help viewing with alarm the inattention to
such a thing as this by so many able and learned commentators on the New
Testament, especially in this century. The writers sought in vain among
modern scholars for a firm word on this subject; and not until Robertson's
mild question, "One wonders how priests who claim that `the mass' is the
sacrifice of Christ's body repeated explain this verse!" F25
does one even find
it mentioned. The older commentators were more diligent to set forth the
truth; and, in order to emulate their worthy example, we here register the
words of the inimitable James Macknight on this subject as they were quoted
in the words of Adam Clarke's great commentary.
If (says Dr. Macknight) after remission is granted to the sinner, there is no
need of any more sacrifice for sins; and if Christ, by offering himself once
has perfected forever the sanctified (Hebrews 10:14), the sacrifice of the
mass, as it is called, about which the Roman clergy employ themselves so
incessantly; and to which the papists trust for the pardon of their sins, has
no foundation in Scripture. Nay, it is evident impiety, as it proceeds upon
the supposition that the offering of the body of Christ "once" is not sufficient
to procure the pardon of sin, but must be frequently repeated. If they reply
that their mass is only the representation and commemoration of the
sacrifice of Christ, they give up the cause and renounce an article of their

116. faith, established by the Council of Trent, which in session xxii, canons 1, 3,
declared "the sacrifice of the mass to be true and propitiatory sacrifice for
sin." I say, give up the cause; for the representaion and commemoration of
a sacrifice is not a sacrifice. Further, it cannot be affirmed that the body of
Christ is offered in the mass, unless it can be said that, as often as it is
offered, "Christ has suffered death"; for the apostle says expressly (Hebrews
9:25,26) that if Christ offered himself often, "He must have suffered since
the foundation of the world." F26
To this paragraph, Adam Clarke appended the challenge: "Let him disprove
this who can!"
Here in Hebrews we view the end of the most elaborate and impressive
argument ever directed to human intelligence extolling the glorious
superiority of Christ and his redeeming mission for mankind. Without doubt
the author was guided by the Holy Spirit, since unaided human mind could
never have discovered it. Like Lenski, we feel the burning words of this
message and marvel at their power. Some of the words, especially, are
charged with unbelievable emotion and eloquence for all who fully
understand them. Throughout the New Testament, those words which certify
man's salvation - how beautiful they are, how rich with the tenderness of
God, how far beyond all mortal merit. Wonderful indeed are the words that
teach people of the love of Christ; and, in the long and terrible night of this
world's darkness and despair, how grandly do those words go marching in
the gloom of human sin and transgression, RANSOMED, REDEEMED,
PROPITIATED, BOUGHT WITH A PRICE, SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS!
The remainder of Hebrews is given over principally to exhortation and this
concludes the great burden of theological discussion, though not all of it;
and the words of Westcott are a fitting summation of this section. He said,
The prophetic words show that under the new covenant no place is left for
the Levitical sacrifices. The Christian can therefore dispense with them
without any loss. To be forced to give up their shadowy consolation is to be
led to realize more practically the work of Christ. This is the last, the decisive
word of the argument. F27
And, to go a little further, indeed the whole way, as intended by the author
of Hebrews, it is not merely the "Levitical sacrifices" to be dispensed with,
but the entire system. Christ took away the first that he might establish the
second; and what is not in the second simply is not.

117. A Call to Persevere
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to
enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
1. BARNES, "Having therefore, brethren - The apostle, in this verse, enters on the
hortatory part of his Epistle, which continues to the end of it. He had gone into an extensive
examination of the Jewish and Christian systems; he had compared the Founders of the two -
Moses and the Son of God, and shown how far superior the latter was to the former; he had
compared the Christian Great High Priest with the Jewish high priest, and shown his
superiority; he had compared the sacrifices under the two dispensations, and showed that in all
respects the Christian sacrifice was superior to the Jewish - that it was an offering that cleansed
from sin; that it was sufficient when once offered without being repeated, while the Jewish
offerings were only typical, and were unable to put away sin; and he had shown that the great
High Priest of the Christian profession had opened a way to the mercy-seat in heaven, and was
himself now seated there; and having shown this, he now exhorts Christians to avail themselves
fully of all their advantages, and to enjoy to the widest extent all the privileges now conferred on
them. One of the first of these benefits was, that they had now free access to the mercy-seat.
Boldness to enter into the holiest - Margin, “liberty.” The word rendered “boldness” - πα
ሜምησίαν parresian - properly means “boldness of speech,” or freedom where one speaks all that
he thinks (notes, Act_4:13); and then it means boldness in general, license, authority, pardon.
Here the idea is, that before Christ died and entered into heaven, there was no such access to the
throne of grace as man needed. Man had no offering which he could bring that would make him
acceptable to God. But now the way was open. Access was free for all, and all might come with
the utmost freedom. The word “holiest” here is taken from the holy of holies in the temple (notes
on Heb_9:3), and is there applied to heaven, of which that was the emblem. The entrance into
the most holy place was forbidden to all but the high priest; but now access to the real “holy of
holies” was granted to all in the name of the great High Priest of the Christian profession.
By the blood of Jesus - The blood of Jesus is the means by which this access to heaven is
procured. The Jewish high priest entered the holy of holies with the blood of bullocks and of
rams (notes, Heb_9:7); but the Saviour offered his own blood, and that became the means by
which we may have access to God.
2. CLARKE, "Having therefore, brethren, boldness - The apostle, having now finished
the doctrinal part of his epistle, and fully shown the superiority of Christ to all men and angels,
and the superiority of his priesthood to that of Aaron and his successors, the absolute inefficacy
of the Jewish sacrifices to make atonement for sin, and the absolute efficacy of that of Christ to
make reconciliation of man to God, proceeds now to show what influence these doctrines should
have on the hearts and lives of those who believe in his merits and death.

118. Boldness to enter - Παρምησιαν εις την εισοδον· Liberty, full access to the entrance of the
holy place, των ᅋγιων· This is an allusion to the case of the high priest going into the holy of
holies. He went with fear and trembling, because, if he had neglected the smallest item
prescribed by the law, he could expect nothing but death. Genuine believers can come even to
the throne of God with confidence, as they carry into the Divine presence the infinitely
meritorious blood of the great atonement; and, being justified through that blood, they have a
right to all the blessings of the eternal kingdom.
3. GILL, "Having therefore, brethren,.... As they were to the apostle, in a natural and civil
sense, being Hebrews, as well as in a spiritual relation, being believers in Christ; which is
observed, to testify his affection to them, and to engage their regard to the duties hereafter
urged, particularly brotherly love, and to signify their common and equal right to the privilege
next mentioned, which is
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus: the place saints have boldness
to enter into is heaven, called "the holiest", in reference to the holy of holies, in the tabernacle;
which was a type of it, for the sacredness and invisibility of it, and for what was in it, went into
it, or was brought thither; as the Shechinah, or divine Majesty, which resided there; the high
priest who went into it once a year; the blood of sacrifices which was carried into it; the sweet
incense; the ark of the testimony, in which was the law; and the mercy seat; all which were
typical of Christ, his person, blood, sacrifice, righteousness, intercession, and the grace and
mercy which come through him. Heaven was symbolically shut by the sin of man, when he was
drove out of the garden of Eden; it was typically opened by the entrance of the high priest into
the holy of holies, on the day of atonement; Christ has in person entered into it by his blood, and
opened the way for his people; and believers in him may "enter" now, and they do, when they
exercise grace on him, who is there, and when they come and present their prayers and praises
to God by him; and they have now an actual right to enter into the place itself, and will hereafter
enter in person: and the manner of their present entrance is, "with boldness"; which signifies
their right unto it, the liberty granted them by God, and the liberty which they sometimes have
in their own souls, and great courage and intrepidity of mind; which arises from a sense of
remission of sins, as may be concluded from the connection of these words with the preceding;
and is found to be true by experience; and such boldness is consistent with reverence, humility,
and submission. The way of entrance is "by the blood of Jesus"; and which gives both entrance
and boldness; for hereby sin is removed both from the sight of God, and the conscience of the
believer; peace is made with God, and spoken to him; pardon is procured, law and justice
satisfied, and neither to be feared, and the everlasting covenant confirmed.
4. HENRY, "Here the apostle sets forth the dignities of the gospel state. It is fit that believers
should know the honours and privileges that Christ has procured for them, that, while they take
the comfort, they may give him the glory of all. The privileges are, 1. Boldness to enter into the
holiest. They have access to God, light to direct them, liberty of spirit and of speech to conform
to the direction; they have a right to the privilege and a readiness for it, assistance to use and
improve it and assurance of acceptance and advantage. They may enter into the gracious
presence of God in his holy oracles, ordinances, providences, and covenant, and so into
communion with God, where they receive communications from him, till they are prepared to
enter into his glorious presence in heaven. 2. A high priest over the house of God, even this
blessed Jesus, who presides over the church militant, and every member thereof on earth, and
over the church triumphant in heaven. God is willing to dwell with men on earth, and to have

119. them dwell with him in heaven; but fallen man cannot dwell with God without a high priest, who
is the Mediator of reconciliation here and of fruition hereafter.
5. JAMISON, "Here begins the third and last division of the Epistle; our duty now while
waiting for the Lord’s second advent. Resumption and expansion of the exhortation
(Heb_4:14-16; compare Heb_10:22, Heb_10:23 here) wherewith he closed the first part of the
Epistle, preparatory to his great doctrinal argument, beginning at Heb_7:1.
boldness — “free confidence,” grounded on the consciousness that our sins have been
forgiven.
to enter — literally, “as regards the entering.”
by — Greek, “in”; it is in the blood of Jesus that our boldness to enter is grounded. Compare
Eph_3:12, “In whom we have boldness and access with confidence.” It is His having once for all
entered as our Forerunner (Heb_6:20) and High Priest (Heb_10:21), making atonement for us
with His blood, which is continually there (Heb_12:24) before God, that gives us confident
access. No priestly caste now mediates between the sinner and his Judge. We may come boldly
with loving confidence, not with slavish fear, directly through Christ, the only mediating Priest.
The minister is not officially nearer God than the layman; nor can the latter serve God at a
distance or by deputy, as the natural man would like. Each must come for himself, and all are
accepted when they come by the new and living way opened by Christ. Thus all Christians are, in
respect to access directly to God, virtually high priests (Rev_1:6). They draw nigh in and through
Christ, the only proper High Priest (Heb_7:25).
6. CALVIN, "Having therefore, brethren, etc. He states the conclusion or the
sum of his previous doctrine, to which he then fitly subjoins a serious
exhortation, and denounces a severe threatening on those who had
renounced the grace of Christ. Now, the sum of what he had said is,
that all the ceremonies by which an access under the Law was open to
the sanctuary, have their real fulfillment in Christ, so that to him
who has Christ, the use of them is superfluous and useless To set this
forth more fully, he allegorically describes the access which Christ
has opened to us; for he compares heaven to the old sanctuary, and sets
forth the things which have been spiritually accomplished in Christ in
typical expressions. Allegories do indeed sometimes obscure rather than
illustrate a subject; but when the Apostle transfers to Christ the
ancient figures of the Law, there is no small elegance in what he says,
and no small light is attained; and he did this, that we may recognize
as now really exhibited in him whatever the Law shadowed forth. But as
there is great weight almost in every word, so we must remember that
there is here to be understood a contrast, -- the truth or reality as
seen in Christ, and the abolition of the ancient types.
He says first, that we have boldness to enter into the holiest. This
privilege was never granted to the fathers under the Law, for the
people were forbidden to enter the visible sanctuary, though the high
priest bore the names of the tribes on his shoulders, and twelve stones
as a memorial of them on his breast. But now the case is very

120. different, for not only symbolically, but in reality an entrance into
heaven is made open to us through the favor of Christ, for he has made
us a royal priesthood. [171]
He adds, by the blood of Jesus, because the door of the sanctuary was
not opened for the periodical entrance of the high priest, except
through the intervention of blood. But he afterwards marks the
difference between this blood and that of beasts; for the blood of
beasts, as it soon turns to corruption, could not long retain its
efficacy; but the blood of Christ, which is subject to no corruption,
but flows ever as a pure stream, is sufficient for us even to the end
of the world. It is no wonder that beasts slain in sacrifice had no
power to quicken, as they were dead; but Christ who arose from the dead
to bestow life on us, communicates his own life to us. It is a
perpetual consecration of the way, because the blood of Christ is
always in a manner distilling before the presence of the Father, in
order to irrigate heaven and earth.
7. MURRAY, Of Life in the Holiest of All. 19-25
IT may help us the better to master the rich contents of this
central passage, containing a summary of the whole Epistle,
if we here give the chief thoughts it contains.
I. The four great Blessings of the new worship :
1. The Holiest opened up.
2. Boldness in the Blood.
3. A New and Living Way.
4. The Great High Priest.
II. The four chief Marks of the true worshipper :
1. A True Heart.
2. Fulness of Faith.
3. A Heart sprinkled from an Evil Conscience.
4. The Body washed with Clean Water.
III. The four great Duties to which the opened Sanctuary calls :

121. 1. Let us draw nigh (in the fulness vlfaitK).
2. Let us hold fast the profession of our hope.
3. Let us consider one another to provoke unto love.
4. Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.
8. MURRAY, THE ENTRANCE INTO THE HOLIEST.
Enter into the Holiest. With these words the second half of
the Epistle begins. Hitherto the teaching has been mainly
doctrinal. The glory of Christ s person and priesthood, of the
heavenly sanctuary which He, through His own blood, has
opened and cleansed and taken possession of for us, of the way
of obedience and self-sacrifice which led Him even to the throne,
has been unfolded. Now comes the practical part, and our
duty to appropriate the great salvation that has been provided
is summed up in the one thought : Having boldness to enter into
the Holiest; let us draw nigh. Access to God s presence
and fellowship, the right and the power to make that our abid
ing dwelling-place, to live our life there, has been provided in
Christ : let us draw nigh, here let us abide.
Enter into the Holiest. It is a call to the Hebrews to come
out of that life of unbelief and sloth, that leads to a departing
from the living God, and to enter into the promised land, the
rest of God, a life in His fellowship and favour. It is a call to
all lukewarm, half-hearted Christians, no longer to remain in
the outer court of the tabernacle, content with the hope that
their sins are pardoned. Nor even to be satisfied with having
entered the Holy Place, and there doing the service of the taber
nacle, while the veil still hinders the full fellowship with the
living God and His love. It calls to enter in through the rent
veil, into the place into which the blood has been brought, and
where the High Priest lives, there to live and walk and
work always in the presence of the Father. It is a call to all
doubting, thirsting believers, who long for a better life than they
have yet known, to cast aside their doubts, and to believe that
this is what Christ has indeed done and brought within the
reach of each one of us : He has opened the way into the Holiest !
This is the salvation which He has accomplished, and which He
lives to apply in each of us, so that we shall indeed dwell in the

122. full light of God s countenance.
Enter into the Holiest. This is, in one short word, the fruit
of Christ s work, the chief lesson of the Epistle, the one great
need of our Christian life, the complete and perfect salvation
God in Christ gives us to enjoy.
Enter into the Holiest, What Holiest? To the reader
who has gone with us through the Epistle thus far, it is hardly
needful to say, No other than that very same into which
Christ, when He had rent the veil in His death, entered through
His own blood, to appear before the face of God for us. That
Holiest of All is the heavenly place. But not heaven, as it is
ordinarily understood, as a locality, distinct and separate from
this earth. The heaven of God is not limited in space in the
same way as a place on earth. There is a heaven above us,
the place of God s special manifestation. But there is also a
spiritual heaven, as omnipresent as God Himself. Where God
is, is heaven ; the heaven of His presence includes this earth
too, The Holiest into which Christ entered, and into which He
opened the way for us, is the, to nature, inaccessible light of
God s holy presence and love, full union and communion with
Him. Into that Holiest the soul can enter by the faith
that makes us one with Christ. The Holy Spirit, who first
signified that the way of the Holiest was not yet open ;
through whom Jesus shed the blood that opened the way;
who, on the day of Pentecost, witnessed in the heart of the
disciples, that it was now indeed open ; waits to testify to us
what it means to enter in and to bring us in. He lifts the soul
up into the Holiest ; He brings the Holiest down into the soul.
Enter into the Holiest. Oh, the glory of the message.
For fifteen centuries Israel had a sanctuary with a Holiest of All
into which, under pain of death, no one might enter. Its one
witness was : man cannot dwell in God s presence, cannot
abide in His fellowship. And now, how changed is all ! As then
the warning sounded : Enter not ! so now the call goes forth :
Enter in ! the veil is rent ; the Holiest is open ; God waits to
welcome you to His bosom. Henceforth you are to live with
Him. This is the message of the Epistle : Child ! thy Father
longs for thee to enter, to dwell, and to go out no more for
ever.
Oh the blessedness of a life in the Holiest! Here the
Father s face is seen and His love tasted. Here His holiness is
revealed and the soul made partaker of it. Here the sacrifice

123. of love and worship and adoration, the incense of prayer and
supplication, is offered in power. Here the outpouring of the
Spirit is known as an ever-streaming, overflowing river, from
under the throne of God and the Lamb. Here the soul, in
God s presence, grows into more complete oneness with Christ,
and more entire conformity to His likeness. Here, in union
with Christ, in His unceasing intercession, we are emboldened
to take our place as intercessors, who can have power with
God and prevail. Here the soul mounts up as on eagle s wings,
the strength is renewed, and the blessing and the power and
the love are imparted with which God s priests can go out to
bless a dying world. Here each day we may experience the
fresh anointing, in virtue of which we can go out to be the
bearers, and witnesses, and channels of God s salvation to men,
the living instruments through whom our blessed King works
out His full and final triumph.
O Jesus ! our great High Priest, let this be our life !
1. "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seeh after; that I may dwell in the
house of
the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His
temple. "
Here the prayer is fulfilled.
2. "Did not Jesus say, I am the door of the sheepfold ? What to us is the sheopfold, dear
children ? It is the heart of the Father, whereunto Christ is the gate that is called Beautiful.
children, how sweetly and how gladly has He opened that door into the Father s heart, into
the
treasure-chamber of God 1 And there within He unfolds to us the hidden riches, the
nearness and
the sweetness of companionship with Himself." TAULER.
3. We have read of a man s father or friends purchasing and furnishing a house for a birth
day or a wedding gift. They bring him there, and, handing the keys, say to him: This is now
your house. " Child of God ! the Father opens unto thee the Holiest of All, and saya : "Let
this noty
be thy home. " What shall our answer be ?
9. MURRAY, BOLDNESS IN THE BLOOD OF JESUS. 19-22
Enter into the Holiest. This word brought us the message of
the Epistle. Christ has in very deed opened the Holiest of All
for us to enter in and to dwell there. The Father would have
His children with Him in His holy home of love and fellowship,
abiding continually all the time. The Epistle seeks to gather

124. all in. Having boldness to enter, let us draw near !
It may be that some, as in the study of the Epistle
the wondrous mystery of the way into the Holiest now opened
was revealed to them, have entered in ; they have said, in faith :
Lord, my God ; I come. Henceforth I would live in Thy secret
place, in the Holiest of All. And yet they fear. They are not
sure whether the great High Priest has indeed taken them in.
They know not for certain whether they will be faithful, always
abiding within the veil. They have not yet grasped what it
means having boldness to enter in.
And there may be others, who have with longing, wistful
hearts, heard the call to enter in, and yet have not the courage
to do so. The thought that a sinful worm can every day and
all the day dwell in the Holiest of All is altogether too high.
The consciousness of feebleness and failure is so strong, the
sense of personal unfaithfulness so keen, the experience of the
power of the world and circumstances, of the weakness of the
flesh and its efforts, so fresh, that for them there is no hope of
such a life. Others may rejoice in it, they must even be content
without it. And yet the heart is not content.
To both such, those who have entered but still are full of
fears, and those who in fear do not enter, the Holy Spirit
speaks To-day, if you shall hear His voice, harden not your
hearts ; Having boldness in the blood of Jesus to enter into
the Holiest, let us draw nigh. The boldness with which we are
to enter is not, first of all, a conscious feeling of confidence;
it is the objective God-given right and liberty of entrance of
which the blood assures us. The measure of our boldness is the
worth God attaches to the blood of Jesus. As our heart reposes
its confidence on that in simple faith, the feeling of confidence
and joy on our part will come too, and our entrance will be amid
songs of praise and gladness.
Boldness in the blood of Jesus. Everything depends upon
our apprehension of what that means. If the blood be to us what
it is to God, the boldness which God means it to give, will fill
our hearts. As we saw in chap, ix., what the blood has effected
in rending the veil and cleansing the heavens, and giving Jesus,
the Son of Man, access to God, will be the measure of what it
will effect within us, making our heart God s sanctuary, and
fitting us for perfect fellowship with the Holy One. The more
we honour the blood in its infinite worth, the more will it prove
its mighty energy and efficacy, opening heaven to us and in us,

125. giving us, in divine power, the real living experience of what the
entrance into the Holiest is.
The blood of Jesus. The life is the blood. As the value
of this life, so the value of the blood. In Christ there was the
life of God ; infinite as God is the worth and the power of that
blood. In Christ there was the life of man in its perfection ; in
His humility, and obedience to the Father, and self-sacrifice, that
which made Him unspeakably well-pleasing to the Father. That
blood of Jesus, God and man, poured out in a death, that was
a perfect fulfilment of God s will, and a perfect victory over all
the temptations of sin and self, effected an everlasting atonement
for sin, and put it for ever out of the way, destroying death and
him that had the power of it. Therefore it was, that in the
blood of the everlasting covenant Jesus was raised from the
dead ; that in His own blood, as our Head and Surety, He
entered heaven ; and that that blood is now for ever in heaven,
in the same place of honour as God the Judge of all, and Jesus
the Mediator (xii. 24). It is this blood, now in heaven before
God for us, that is our boldness to enter in, even into the very
Holiest of All.
Beloved Christian ! The blood of Jesus ! The blood of the
Lamb ! Oh think what it means. God .gave it for your redemp
tion. God accepted it when His Son entered heaven and
presented it on your behalf. God has it for ever in His sight as
the fruit, the infinitely well-pleasing proof, of His Son s obedience
unto death. God points you to it and asks you to believe in
the divine satisfaction it gives to Him, in its omnipotent energy }
in its everlasting sufficiency. Oh, will you not this day believe
that that blood gives you, sinful and feeble as you are, liberty,
confidence, boldness to draw nigh, to enter the very Holiest?
Yes, believe it, that the blood and the blood alone, brings you
into the very presence, into the living and abiding fellowship of
the everlasting God. And let your response to God s message
concerning the blood, and the boldness it gives you be nothing
less than this, that this very moment you go with the utmost
confidence, and take your place in the most intimate fellowship
with God. And if your heart condemn you, if coldness or
unbelief appear to make a real entrance impossible, rest not
till you believe and prove to the full the power of the blood
indeed to bring you nigh. Having boldness by the blood of
Jesus, what then let us draw nigh !
1. Which Is now greater in your sight : your sin or the blood of Jesus ? There can be but one
answer. Then draw nigh, and enter in, Into the Holiest of All. As your sin has hitherto kept you

126. bach, let the blood now bring you nigh. And the blood will give you the boldness and the power to
abide.
2. " One drop of that blood, coming out of the Holiest on the soul, perfects the conscience,
makes that there is no more conscience of sin, and enables us to live in the fellowship of God and
His Son. Such a soul, sprinhled with the blood, is able to enjoy the heavenly treasures, and to
accomplish the heavenly service of the living God."
3. And that blood, such is its heavenly cleansing power, can keep the soul clean. " If we
walh in the light, as He is in the light," if we Hue in the Holiest, in the light of His countenance,
" we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from
all sin, " so that no sin touch us, whereby we lose the fellowship with the Father.
4. Understand how the Father s heart longs that His children draw near to Him boldly. He
gave the blood of His Son to secure it. Let us honour God, and honour the blood, by entering the
Holiest with great boldness.
10. MURRAY, THE NEW AND LIVING WAY. 19-22
THE Holiest of All is opened for us to enter in and appear
before God, to dwell and to serve in His very presence. The
blood of the one sacrifice for ever, taken into heaven to cleanse
away all sin for ever, is our title and our boldness to enter in.
Now comes the question, What is the way that leads up and
through the opened gate, and in which we have to walk if we
are to enter in. This way, the only way, the one infallible way
is, a new and living way, which Jesus dedicated for us, through
the veil, that is to say, His flesh. The boldness we have through
the blood is the right or liberty of access Jesus won for us, when
we regard His death as that of our Substitute, who did what we
can never do made redemption of transgressions, and put away
sin for ever. The new and living way, through the rent veil,
that is, His flesh, has reference to His death, regarded as that
of our Leader and Forerunner, who opened up a path to God, in
which He first walked Himself, and then draws us to follow
Him. The death of Jesus was not only the dedication or
inauguration of the new sanctuary and of the new covenant, but
also of the new way into the holy presence and fellowship of
God. Whoever in faith accepts of the blood He shed as His
boldness of entrance, must accept, too, of the way He opened up
as that In which he walks.
And what was that way? The way through the veil, that
is, His flesh. The veil is the flesh. The veil that separated
man from God was the flesh, human nature under the power of
sin. Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh, and dwelt with
us here outside the veil. The Word was made flesh. He also

127. Himself in like manner fiartook of flesh and blood. In the days
of His flesh, He was tempted like as we are ; He offered prayer
and supplication with strong crying and tears. He learned
obedience even to the death. Through the rent veil of His
flesh, His will, His life, as yielded up to God in death, He
entered into the Holiest. Being made in likeness of men,
He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death. Where
fore also God highly exalted Him. Through the rent veil He
rose to the throne of God. And this is the way He dedicated
for us. The very path in which, as our Substitute, He accom
plished redemption, is the path which He opened for us to walk
in, the path of obedience unto death. " Christ suffered for you,
leaving you an example that ye should follow His steps."
Christ our High Priest is as literally and fully Leader and
Forerunner as He is Substitute and Redeemer.
His way is our way. As little as He could open and enter
the Holiest for us, except in His path of suffering and obedience
and self-sacrifice, as little can we enter in unless we walk in
the same path. Jesus said as much of His disciples as of Him
self: Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground, and die, it
abideth alone. He that hateth his life in this world shall keep
it unto life eternal. Paul s law of life is the law of life for
every believer : Bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus,
that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body.
The way into the Holiest is the way of the rent veil, the way of
sacrifice and of death. There is no way for our putting away
sin from us but the way of Jesus ; whoever accepts His finished
work accepts what constitutes its Spirit and its power ; it is
for every man as for the Master to put away sin by the sacri
fice of self. Christ s death was something entirely and essen
tially new, and so also His resurrection life ; a life out of death,
such as never had been known before. This new death and
new life constitute the new and living way, the new way of
living in which we draw nigh to God.
Even as when Christ spoke of taking His flesh as daily food,
so here where the Holy Spirit speaks of taking the rent veil of
His flesh as our daily life, many say: This is a hard saying ;
who can bear it? Who then can be saved? To those who are
willing and obedient and believe, all things are possible, because
it is a new and living way. A new way. The word means
ever fresh, a way that never decays or waxes old (viii. 13) but
always retains its first perfection and freshness. A living way.
A way always needs a living man to move upon it ; it does not
impart either life or strength. This way, the way of obedience

128. and suffering and self-sacrifice and death, however hard it
appears, and to nature utterly impossible, is a living ivay. It
not only opens a track, but supplies the strength to carry the
traveller along. It acts in the power of the endless life, in
which Christ was made a High Priest. We saw how the Holy
Spirit watches over the way into the Holiest, and how He, as
the Eternal Spirit, enabled Christ, in opening the way, to offer
Himself without spot unto God ; it is He whose mighty energy
pervades this way, and inspires it with life divine. As we are
made partakers of Christ, as we come to God through Him, His
life, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, takes possession
of us, and in His strength we follow in the footsteps of Christ
Jesus. The way into the Holiest is the living way of perfect
conformity to Jesus, wrought in us by His Spirit.
The new and living way through the rent veil into the
Holiest. We now know what it is : it is the way of death. Yes,
the way of death is the way of life. The only way to be set
free from our fallen nature, with the curse and power of sin rest
ing on it, is to die to it. Jesus denied Himself, would do nothing
to please that nature He had taken, sinless though it was in
Him. He denied it ; He died to it. This was to Him the path
of life. And this is to us the living way. As we know Him in
the power of His resurrection, He leads us into the conformity
to His death. He does it in the power of the Holy Spirit. So
His death and His life, the new death and the new life of
deliverance from sin, and fellowship with God, which He inau
gurated, work in us, and we are borne along as He was to
where He is. Having therefore boldness, to enter in by the
new and living way, let us draw nigh.
1. When first a believer avails himself of the boldness He has in the blood, and enters into the
Holiest, he does not understand all that is meant by the new and living way. It is enough if his
heart is right, and he is ready to deny himself and take up his cross. In due time it will be re
vealed what the full fellowship is with His Lord in the way He opened up, of obedience unto death.
2. The new and living way is not only the way for once entering in, but the way for a daily
walk, entering ever deeper into Qod s love and will.
3. The way of life is the way of death. This fallen life, this self, is so sinful and so strong,
there is no way oj deliverance but by death. But, praise God ! the way of death is the way of life ;
in the power of Christ s resurrection and indwelling we dare to walk in it.
11. COFFMAN, Verse 19
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place by
the blood of Jesus.

129. The intensely doctrinal part of the epistle now being completed, there follows
at this point an urgent exhortation, the fourth thus far in Hebrews; and this
begins with the repetition of a plea already made (Hebrews 4:16), the basis
of that one being that our great High Priest can be touched with the feeling
of human infirmities and is enthroned on high; the basis of the appeal here,
on the other hand, is the further consideration that the great High Priest has
offered a perfect and totally efficacious sacrifice of his own blood before the
very presence of God and has opened up a way into that same holy
presence, not merely for himself, who has already entered there, but for us
as well.
Christians are here spoken of as entering "into the holy place"; and this is
based upon the typical nature of the court and sanctuaries of the old order.
The court was a type of the world, the holy place a type of the church, and
the most holy place a type of heaven. An elementary representation of these
types is given in the accompanying sketch.
In a progression from the gate Beautiful into the Holy of Holies, the following
analogies are discernible in the various types. The gate itself stands for the
beautiful innocency and joy of infancy and childhood, during which time, as
William Wordsworth said, "The rainbow comes and goes; and lovely is the
rose." F28
In the outer court stood the altar and the laver, both of them
standing thirty feet in height and dominating the enclosure. The altar stands
for the sacrifice of Christ, and appropriately, it was near the entry,
suggesting that man's first concern in life should be the knowledge of that
sacrifice. The laver was near the doors into the sanctuary and when the
ancient worshiper had first paused at the altar to have his right ear, his right
hand, and the great toe of his right foot sprinkled with the blood of the
sacrifice, he proceeded to the altar where, after being washed all over, he
received clean linen robes, symbolical of forgiveness, and then passed
through the automatic doors into the sanctuary. Just so, the Christian
worshiper learns and accepts for himself the sacrifice of Christ, receives
forgiveness of sins, and is automatically added to Christ (Acts 2:47).
Automatic Doors
Laver
The Court North
Altar
Beautiful Gate
Within the sanctuary, the only light was from the candlestick which
represented God's word. The table of showbread suggested God's
providence; and the altar of incense stood for prayer. The black and white
checkered squares of the floor told of the lights and shadows of life, its joys

130. and sorrows. The veil suggested many things; but in the large view it stood
for death by which man passed to the higher and better world.
The most holy place with its ark and mercy seat symbolized heaven and the
presence of God. For a more detailed study of the various analogies in all
these things, see in Heb. 9.
Several lessons of vast importance appear in the overall dimensions and
arrangement of the three compartments. The court was larger than the
sanctuary, and it was larger than the most holy place, suggesting that the
church is smaller than the world and that heaven, in turn, will not have as
many citizens as were in the church. The only entry into the most holy place
was through the sanctuary, suggesting that the only entry into heaven is
through the church for which Jesus paid his blood (Acts 20:28).
Boldness
to enter the holiest place of all is in sharp contrast with the timidity and
circumspection by which the ancient priest entered it. Such boldness must
not be thought of as brashness or arrogance, for it specifically honors the
command of the Lord for his disciples to exhibit boldness, the means of
acquiring which are given earlier by our author (Hebrews 3:6,13), and which
include a constant glorying in our hope through repeated affirmations of our
faith, not merely for the personal benefit of ourselves in so doing, but also
for the benefit of others, also included is a constant and energetic campaign
of exhorting close associates in family, business, recreation, or wherever in
the private sector of life. See notes on Heb. 3:6,13.
The holy place
in view here is not the sanctuary but the most holy place, the identity of
which being determined by the placement of the veil mentioned a bit later.
This same usage was observed in Heb. 9:8.
20 by a new and living way opened for us through the
curtain, that is, his body,
1. BARNES, "By a new and living way - By a new method or manner. It was a mode of
access that was till then unknown. No doubt many were saved before the Redeemer came, but

131. the method by which they approached God was imperfect and difficult. The word which is
rendered here “new” - πρόσφατον prosphaton - occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It
properly means “slain, or killed thereto;” that is, “newly killed, just dead; and then fresh,
recent.” Passow. It does not so much convey the idea that it is new in the sense that it had never
existed before, as new in the sense that it is recent, or fresh. It was a way which was recently
disclosed, and which had all the freshness of novelty. It is called a “living way,” because it is a
method that imparts life, or because it leads to life and happiness. Doddridge renders it
“ever-living way,” and supposes, in accordance with the opinion of Dr. Owen, that the allusion is
to the fact that under the old dispensation the blood was to be offered as soon as it was shed,
and that it could not be offered when it was cold and coagulated. The way by Christ was,
however, always open. His blood was, as it were, always warm, and as if it had been recently
shed. This interpretation seems to derive some support from the word which is rendered “new.”
See above. The word “living,” also, has often the sense of perennial, or perpetual, as when
applied to a fountain always running, in opposition to a pool that dries up (see the notes on
Joh_4:10), and the new way to heaven may be called living - in all these respects. It is away that
conducts to life. It is ever-living as if the blood which was shed always retained the freshness of
what is flowing from the vein. And it is “perpetual” and “constant” like a fountain that always
flows - for it is by a sacrifice whose power is perpetual and unchanging.
Which he hath consecrated for us - Margin, “or new made.” The word here used means
properly to renew, and then to initiate, to consecrate, to sanction. The idea is, that he has
dedicated this way for our use; as if a temple or house were set apart for our service. It is a part
consecrated by him for the service and salvation of man; a way of access to the eternal sanctuary
for the sinner which has been set apart by the Redeemer for this service alone.
Through the veil, that is to say, his flesh - The Jewish high priest entered into the most
holy place through the veil that divided the holy from the most holy place. That entrance was
made by his drawing the veil aside, and thus the interior sanctuary was laid open. But there has
been much difficulty felt in regard to the sense of the expression used here. The plain meaning of
the expression is, that the way to heaven was opened by means, or through the medium of the
flesh of Jesus; that is, of his body sacrificed for sin, as the most holy place in the temple was
entered by means or through the medium of the veil. We are not to suppose, however, that the
apostle meant to say that there was in all respects a resemblance between the veil and the flesh
of Jesus, nor that the veil was in any manner typical of his body, but there was a resemblance in
the respect under consideration - to wit, in the fact that the holy place was rendered accessible
by withdrawing the veil, and that heaven was rendered accessible through the slain body of
Jesus. The idea is, that there is by means both of the veil of the temple, and of the body of Jesus,
a medium of access to God. God dwelt in the most holy place in the temple behind the veil by
visible symbols, and was to be approached by removing the veil; and God dwells in heaven, in
the most holy place there, and is to be approached only through the offering of the body of
Christ. Prof. Stuart supposes that the point of the comparison may be, that the veil of the temple
operated as a screen to hide the visible symbol of the presence of God from human view, and
that in like manner the body of Jesus might be regarded as a “kind of temporary tabernacle, or
veil of the divine nature which dwelt within him.” and that “as the veil of the tabernacle
concealed the glory of Yahweh in the holy of holies, from the view of people, so Christ’s flesh or
body screened or concealed the higher nature from our view, which dwelt within this veil, as
God did of old within the veil of the temple.”
See this and other views explained at length in the larger commentaries. It does not seem to
me to be necessary to attempt to carry out the point of the comparison in all respects. The
simple idea which seems to have been in the mind of the apostle was, that the veil of the temple
and the body of Jesus were alike in this respect, that they were the medium of access to God. It is
by the offering of the body of Jesus; by the fact that he was clothed with flesh, and that in his

132. body he made an atonement for sin, and that with his body raised up from the dead he has
ascended to heaven, that we have access now to the throne of mercy.
2. CLARKE, "By a new and living way - It is a new way; no human being had ever before
entered into the heaven of heavens; Jesus in human nature was the first, and thus he has opened
the way to heaven to mankind, his own resurrection and ascension to glory being the proof and
pledge of ours.
The way is called ᆇδον προσφατον και ζωσαν, new or fresh, and living. This is evidently an
allusion to the blood of the victim newly shed, uncoagulated, and consequently proper to be
used for sprinkling. The blood of the Jewish victims was fit for sacrificial purposes only so long
as it was warm and fluid, and might be considered as yet possessing its vitality; but when it grew
cold, it coagulated, lost its vitality, and was no longer proper to be used sacrificially. Christ is
here, in the allusion, represented as newly slain, and yet living; the blood ever considered as
flowing and giving life to the world. The way by the old covenant neither gave life, nor removed
the liability to death. The way to peace and reconciliation, under the old covenant, was through
the dead bodies of the animals slain; but Christ is living, and ever liveth, to make intercession
for us; therefore he is a new and living way.
In the Choephorae of Aeschylus, ver. 801, there is an expression like this of the apostle: -
Αγετε, των παλαι πεπραγµενων
Αυσασθ’ ᅋιµα προσφατοις δικαις.
Agite, olim venditorum
Solvite sanguinem recenti vindicta.
This way, says Dr. Owen, is new,
1. Because it was but newly made and prepared.
2. Because it belongs unto the new covenant.
3. Because it admits of no decays, but is always new, as to its efficacy and use, as in the day of
its first preparation.
4. The way of the tabernacle waxed old, and so was prepared for a removal; but the Gospel
way of salvation shall never be altered, nor changed, nor decay; it is always new, and
remains for ever.
It is also called ζωσαν, living,
1. In opposition to the way into the holiest under the tabernacle, which was by death;
nothing could be done in it without the blood of a victim.
2. It was the cause of death to any who might use it, except the high priest himself; and he
could have access to it only one day in the year.
3. It is called living, because it has a spiritual vital efficacy in our access to God.
4. It is living as to its effects; it leads to life, and infallibly brings those who walk in it unto life
eternal.

133. Through the veil - As the high priest lifted up or drew aside the veil that separated the holy
from the most holy place, in order that he might have access to the Divine Majesty; and as the
veil of the temple was rent from the top to the bottom at the crucifixion of Christ, to show that
the way to the holiest was then laid open; so we must approach the throne through the
mediation of Christ, and through his sacrificial death. His pierced side is the way to the holiest.
Here the veil - his humanity, is rent, and the kingdom of heaven opened to all believers.
3. GILL, "By a new and living way,.... Which is Christ, the God-man and Mediator; who is
called the "new" way, not as to contrivance, revelation, or use; for it was contrived before the
world was, and was revealed to our first parents, immediately after the fall, and was made use of
by all the Old Testament saints; but in distinction to the old way of life, by the covenant of
works; and because newly revealed with greater clearness and evidence; see Heb_10:8 and
because it is always new, it never will be old, nor otherwise, there never will be another way:
some render it, "a new slain way"; because Jesus was but newly slain, and his blood lately shed,
by which the way is, and entrance is with boldness: and Christ is a "living way"; in opposition to
the dead carcasses of slain beasts, and to the dead and killing letter of the law; Christ gives life to
all his people; and all that walk in him, the way, live; and none in this way ever die; it leads to
eternal life, and infallibly brings them thither:
which he hath consecrated for us; either God the Father, and so it intends the designation
of Christ to be the way to life and happiness, and the qualification of him for it, by preparing a
body, an human nature for him, and anointing it with the Holy Spirit, and the instalment of him
into his priestly office, called a consecration, Heb_10:28 or else Christ himself, and so designs
his compliance with his Father's will, and his devoting of himself to this service; his preparation
of himself to be the way, by the shedding of his blood, and by his entrance into heaven, and by
giving a clearer discovery of this way in the Gospel, by which life and immortality are brought to
light: and this is
done through the vail, that is to say, his flesh; the human nature of Christ, through which
the way to heaven is opened, renewed, and consecrated, is compared to the vail of the
tabernacle, Exo_26:31 the matter of which that was made, was fine twined linen, which the
Jews (y) say was of thread six times doubled; which may denote the holiness of Christ's human
nature; the strength, courage, and steadfastness of it, under all its sorrows and sufferings; and
the purity and duration of his righteousness; the colours of it were blue, purple, and scarlet,
which may signify the sufferings of the human nature; the preciousness of Christ's blood, and
the dignity of his person, and his royalty; purple and scarlet being wore by kings: the vail was of
cunning work, which may intend the curious workmanship of Christ's human nature, and the
graces of the Spirit, with which it is adorned; and it was made with "cherubim", pointing to the
ministration of angels, both to Christ, and to his people. The pillars of it may signify the deity of
Christ, the support of his human nature, in which it has its personal subsistence; and being of
Shittim wood, may denote his eternity: and being covered with gold, his glory: its hooks and
sockets may be symbolical of the union of the two natures in him.
4. HENRY, "The apostle tells us the way and means by which Christians enjoy such
privileges, and, in general, declares it to be by the blood of Jesus, by the merit of that blood
which he offered up to God as an atoning sacrifice: he has purchased for all who believe in him
free access to God in the ordinances of his grace here and in the kingdom of his glory. This
blood, being sprinkled on the conscience, chases away slavish fear, and gives the believer

134. assurance both of his safety and his welcome into the divine presence. Now the apostle, having
given this general account of the way by which we have access to God, enters further into the
particulars of it, Heb_10:20. As, 1. It is the only way; there is no way left but this. The first way
to the tree of life is, and has been, long shut up. 2. It is a new way, both in opposition to the
covenant of works and to the antiquated dispensation of the Old Testament; it is via novissima -
the last way that will ever be opened to men. Those who will not enter in this way exclude
themselves for ever. It is a way that will always be effectual. 3. It is a living way. It would be
death to attempt to come to God in the way of the covenant of works; but this way we may come
to God, and live. It is by a living Saviour, who, though he was dead, is alive; and it is a way that
gives life and lively hope to those who enter into it. 4. It is a way that Christ has consecrated for
us through the veil, that is, his flesh. The veil in the tabernacle and temple signified the body of
Christ; when he died, the veil of the temple was rent in sunder, and this was at the time of the
evening sacrifice, and gave the people a surprising view into the holy of holies, which they never
had before. Our way to heaven is by a crucified Saviour; his death is to us the way of life. To
those who believe this he will be precious.
5. JAMISON, "which, etc. — The antecedent in the Greek is “the entering”; not as English
Version, “way.” Translate, “which (entering) He has consecrated (not as though it were already
existing, but has been the first to open, INAUGURATED as a new thing; see on Heb_9:18,
where the Greek is the same) for us (as) a new (Greek, ‘recent’; recently opened, Rom_16:25,
Rom_16:26) and living way” (not like the lifeless way through the law offering of the blood of
dead victims, but real, vital, and of perpetual efficacy, because the living and life-giving Savior
is that way. It is a living hope that we have, producing not dead, but living, works). Christ, the
first-fruits of our nature, has ascended, and the rest is sanctified thereby. “Christ’s ascension is
our promotion; and whither the glory of the Head hath preceded, thither the hope of the body,
too, is called” [Leo].
the veil — As the veil had to be passed through in order to enter the holiest place, so the
weak, human suffering flesh (Heb_5:7) of Christ’s humanity (which veiled His God head) had to
be passed through by Him in entering the heavenly holiest place for us; in putting off His rent
flesh, the temple veil, its type, was simultaneously rent from top to bottom (Mat_27:51). Not His
body, but His weak suffering flesh, was the veil; His body was the temple (Joh_2:19).
6. CALVIN, "Through the veil, etc. As the veil covered the recesses of the
sanctuary and yet afforded entrance there, so the divinity, though hid
in the flesh of Christ, yet leads us even into heaven; nor can any one
find God except he to whom the man Christ becomes the door and the way.
Thus we are reminded, that Christ's glory is not to be estimated
according to the external appearance of his flesh; nor is his flesh to
be despised, because it conceals as a veil the majesty of God, while it
is also that which conducts us to the enjoyment of all the good things
of God.
7. COFFMAN, “Verse 20
By the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through
the veil, that is to say, his flesh.

135. The new and living way
properly denotes the means of access through Christ by believers into the
very presence of God. It was a NEW WAY because: (1) only recently, in the
historical sense, had it been made available; (2) it was an essential feature
of the new covenant; (3) it is never subject to change or decay, being thus
eternally new; and it is a LIVING WAY because: (1) it is through the
eternally living Saviour that access exists, not through blood of dead
animals; (2) it leads to newness of life for them that travel in it (Romans
6:4); and (3) it provides a way of living that culminates at last in eternal life,
contrasting with all other ways which may be described as dead, dead-end
streets that lead only to the grave.
Through the veil, that is to say, his flesh
is a reference to the typical nature of the veil that separated the sanctuary
from the most holy place, plainly said here to typify the flesh of Christ. See
under "Veil" in my comments on Heb. 9.
One needs to take note of the difficulty fancied by some commentators with
reference to how the veil can represent the flesh of Christ, since the veil
concealed the presence of God, and Christ in the flesh reveals that presence.
It cannot be true that Jesus' incarnation conceals a knowledge of God, it
being the precise intention of the incarnation to reveal God, not to conceal
him. Westcott, particularly, finds this very difficult, and several scholars
have followed his learned opinion; however, the difficulty does not exist for
this writer. The so-called problem is quickly resolved by consideration of the
dramatic fact that it was not merely the veil that represented Christ, but the
rent veil! The sundered veil did not obscure or conceal anything. The perfect
support of this understanding of the matter lies in the very verse before us.
That typical veil which concealed for such a long time the way into the holy
of holies at last parted asunder; and it thereby became in that miraculous
event the perfect type of the rending of the flesh of Jesus, through which the
way into heaven itself is opened up and revealed to people.
8. FUDGE, Our entrance (see Ephesians 3:12) is by means of a way or road that is new, a
particular Greek word which originally meant "freshly-slain." It is also living, therefore effectual
to attain its desired and intended goal.
Some commentators and translators think his flesh explains the veil, others that it refers to the
way. If the former is intended, the human body of Jesus is a veil separating His perfect life from
God in heaven. His spirit passed through that flesh on its way to glory. If the latter is meant, the
human body of Jesus is itself the way which He consecrated through the figurative veil
separating man from God. His people travel down the road of His human Life into God's
presence. In fact, Jesus did pass through the flesh to His present position of glory and man must
pass through His human life (that is, the merits it secured) to find salvation.

136. In either case, Christ has consecrated or dedicated or officially opened a new highway from man
to God by His blood. We have confidence to venture upon it because Jesus has travelled it ahead
of us and is now safely in heaven at God's right hand
21 and since we have a great priest over the house of
God,
1. BARNES, "And having an High Priest over the house of God - Over the spiritual
house of God; that is, the church; compare the notes on Heb_3:1-6. Under the Jewish
dispensation there was a great high priest, and the same is true under the Christian
dispensation. This the apostle had shown at length in the previous part of the Epistle. The idea
here is, that as under the former dispensation it was regarded as a privilege that the people of
God might have access to the mercy-seat by means of the high priest; so it is true in a much
higher sense that we may now have access to God through our greater and more glorious High
Priest.
2. CLARKE, "A high priest over the house of God - The house or family of God is the
Christian Church, or all true believers in the Lord Jesus. Over this Church, house, or family,
Christ is the High Priest - in their behalf he offers his own blood, and their prayers and praises;
and as the high priest had the ordering of all things that appertained to the house and worship of
God, so has Christ in the government of his Church. This government he never gave into other
hands. As none can govern and preserve the world but God, so none can govern and save the
Church but the Lord Jesus: He is over the house; He is its President; he instructs, protects,
guides, feeds, defends, and saves the flock. Those who have such a President may well have
confidence; for with him is the fountain of life, and he has all power in the heavens and in the
earth.
3. GILL, "And having an high priest over the house of God. The church of God, over
which Christ is as prophet, priest, and King, and as the Son and owner of it; See Gill on
Heb_3:6; See Gill on Heb_4:14. In the Greek text it is, "a great priest"; so the Messiah is called
by the Targum on Zec_6:12 ‫כהן‬‫רב‬ , "a great priest", as he is; even a great high priest, as in
Heb_4:14, and greater than Aaron, and any of his sons.
4. HENRY, "

137. 5. JAMISON, "high priest — As a different Greek term (archiereus) is used always
elsewhere in this Epistle for “high priest,” translate as Greek here, “A Great Priest”; one who is
at once King and “Priest on His throne” (Zec_6:13); a royal Priest, and a priestly King.
house of God — the spiritual house, the Church, made up of believers, whose home is
heaven, where Jesus now is (Heb_12:22, Heb_12:23). Thus, by “the house of God,” over which
Jesus is, heaven is included in meaning, as well as the Church, whose home it is.
6. CALVIN, "And having a high priest, etc. Whatever he has previously said of
the abrogation of the ancient priesthood, it behaves us now to bear in
mind, for Christ could not be a priest without having the former
priests divested of their office, as it was another order. He then
intimates that all those things which Christ had changed at his coming
ought to be relinquished; and God has set him over his whole house for
this end, -- that every one who seeks a place in the Church, may submit
to Christ and choose him, and no other, as his leader and ruler.
7. MURRAY, A GREAT PRIEST OVER THE HOUSE OF GOD. 21
WE said before that in the symbols of the Mosaic worship there
were specially four things that, as types of the mystery of the
coming redemption, demand attention. These are the Sanctuary,
tJie Blood, the Way into the Holiest, the Priest. The first three,
all heavenly things, we have had ; we now come to the fourth,
the chief and the best of all a living Person, Jesus, a great High
Priest over the house of God. The knowledge of what He has
won for me, the entrance into the Holiest ; of the work He did
to win it, the shedding of His blood ; of the way in which I am to
enter into the enjoyment of it all all this is very precious. But
there is something better still : it is this, that the living, loving,
Son of God is there, personally to receive me and make me partaker
of all the blessedness that God has for me. This is the chief
point : we have such a High Priest, who sat down on the right
hand of the majesty in the heavens. Wherefore, brethren,
having a great Priest over the house of God, let us draw near.
And what is now the work we need Jesus to do for us ?
Has it not all been done ? The Holiest is opened. Boldness
through the blood has been secured. The living way has been
dedicated to carry us in. What more is there that Jesus has to
do for us ? Nothing more ; it has all been finished, once and for
ever. And why is it then we are pointed to Him as the great
Priest over the house of God ? And what is it we may expect of
Him ? What we need, and what we must look to Him for is this,
so to work in us that the work He has done for us may be made
real within us, as a personal experience of the power of an

138. endless life in which He was constituted Priest. Because He
liveth ever, we read, He is able to save completely. Salvation
is a subjective, experimental thing manifest in the peace and
holiness of heart He gives. We, our life, our inner man, our
heart, our will and affections, are to be delivered from the power
of sin, and to taste and enjoy the putting away of sin as a
blessed experience. In our very heart we are to find and feel
the power of His redemption. As deep and strong as sin proved
itself in its actual power and its mastery within us, is Jesus to
prove the triumph of redeeming grace.
His one work as Priest over the house of God is to bring us
into it, and enable us to live there. He does this by bringing
God and the soul into actual harmony, sympathy, and fellowship
with each other. As Minister of the sanctuary He does all that
is to be done in heaven with God ; as Mediator of the new
covenant He does all that is to be done here on earth, in our
heart the one as effectually as the other. The two offices are
united in the one great Priest ; in each act of His He unites
both functions, to the soul that knows what to expect, and trusts
Him. Every movement in the presence of God can have its
corresponding movement in the heart of man.
And how is this effected ? In virtue of His union with us,
and our union with Him. Jesus is the Second Adam ; the new
Head of the race. He is it in virtue of His. real humanity,
having in it the power of true divinity that filleth all. Just as
Adam was our forerunner into death, and we have all the power
of his sin and death working in us and drawing us on, so we
have Jesus as our Forerunner into God s presence, with all the
power of His death and His resurrection-life working in us, and
drawing and lifting us in with divine energy into the Father s
presence. Yes, Jesus with His divine, His heavenly life, in the
power of the throne on which He is seated, has entered into the
deepest ground of our being, where Adam, where sin, do their
work, and is there unceasingly carrying out His work of lifting
us heavenward into God s presence, and of making God s
heavenly presence here on earth our portion.
And why is it we enjoy this so little ? And what is needed
that we come to its full enjoyment ? And how can Jesus truly
be to us a great High Priest, giving us our actual life in the
Holiest of All ? One great reason of failure is what the Epistle
so insists on : our ignorance of the spiritual perfection-truth it
seeks to teach, and specially of what the Holy Spirit witnesseth
of the way into the Holiest. And what we need is just this,

139. that the Holy Spirit Himself, that Jesus in the Holy Spirit, be
waited on, and accepted, and trusted to do the work in power.
Do keep a firm hold of this truth, that when our great High
Priest once for all entered the Holiest, and sat down on the
throne, it was the Holy Ghost sent down in power into the
hearts of His disciples^ through whom the heavenly High Priest
became a present and an indwelling Saviour ; bringing down with
Him into their hearts the presence and the love of God. That
Pentecostal gift, in the power of the glorified Christ, is the one
indispensable channel of the power of Jesus priesthood. Nothing
but the fulness of the Spirit in daily life, making Jesus present
within us, abiding continually, can keep us in the presence of
God as full experience. Jesus is no outward High Priest, who
can save us as from a distance. No, as the Second Adam, He
is nowhere if He is not in us. The one reason why the truth
of His heavenly priesthood is so often powerless, is because we
look upon it as an external distant thing, a work going on in
heaven above us. The one cure for this evil is to know that
our great Priest over the house of God is the glorified Jesus,
who in the Holy Spirit is present in us, and makes all that is
done in heaven above for us to be done within us too by the
Holy Spirit.
He is Priest over the house of God, the place where God
dwells ; we are His house too. And as surely as Jesus ministers
in the sanctuary above, He moment by moment ministers in the
sanctuary within. Wherefore, brethren, having, not only in
gift, not only in the possession of right and thought, but in our
hearts, having a great Priest over the house of God, let us
draw near.
1. Having a great Priest ! You know a great deal of Jesus, but do you know this that
His chief, His all-comprehensiue work, is to^bring you near, oh so near, to God ? Has He
done
this for you ? If not, ask Him, trust Him for it,
2. It is Jesus Himself I want. Himself alone can satisfy me. It is In the holy faith of
Jesus, the compassionate sympathiser, in the holy love of Jesus who calls us brethren, that
we
can draw near to God. It is in a heart given up, with its trust and love and devotion to
Jesus,
that the presence of God will be felt.
3. We have such a High Priest ! Yes, say, I have Him ; in all His power and love He ia
mine ; and yield to Him to do His work.

140. 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to
cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our
bodies washed with pure water.
1. BARNES, "Let us draw near with a true heart - In prayer and praise; in every act of
confidence and of worship. A sincere heart was required under the ancient dispensation; it is
always demanded of people when they draw near to God to worship him; see Joh_4:23-24.
Every form of religion which God has revealed requires the worshippers to come with pure and
holy hearts.
In full assurance of faith - see the word used here explained in the notes on Heb_6:11. The
“full assurance of faith” means unwavering confidence; a fulness of faith in God which leaves no
room for doubt. Christians are permitted to come thus because God has revealed himself
through the Redeemer as in every way deserving their fullest confidence. No one approaches
God in an acceptable manner who does not come to him in this manner. What parent would feel
that a child came with any right feelings to ask a favour of him who had not “the fullest
confidence in him?”
(“This πληροφορια plerophoria, or full assurance of faith, is not, as many imagine, absolute
certainty of a man’s own particular salvation, for that is termed “the full assurance of hope,”
Heb_6:11, and arises from faith and its fruits. But the full assurance of faith is the assurance of
that truth, which is testified and proposed in the gospel, to all the hearers of it in common, to be
believed by them, unto their salvation, and is also termed the full assurance of understanding;
Col_2:2. Though all that the gospel reveals, claims the full assurance of faith, yet here it seems
more particularly to respect the efficacy and all-sufficiency of Christ’s offering for procuring
pardon and acceptance.” - McLean.
Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience - By the blood of Jesus. This was
prepared to make the conscience pure. The Jewish cleansing or sprinkling with blood related
only to what was external, and could not make the conscience perfect Heb_9:9, but the sacrifice
offered by the Saviour was designed to give peace to the troubled mind, and to make it pure and
holy. An “evil conscience” is a consciousness of evil, or a conscience oppressed with sin; that is, a
conscience that accuses of guilt. We are made free from such a conscience through the
atonement of Jesus, not because we become convinced that we have not committed sin, and not
because we are led to suppose that our sins are less than we had otherwise supposed - for the
reverse of both these is true - but because our sins are forgiven, and since they are freely
pardoned they no longer produce remorse and the fear of future wrath. A child that has been
forgiven may feel that he has done very wrong, but still he will not be then overpowered with
distress in view of his guilt, or with the apprehension of punishment.
And our bodies washed with pure water - It was common for the Jews to wash
themselves, or to perform various ablutions in their services; see Exo_39:4; Exo_30:19-21;
Exo_40:12; Lev_6:27; Lev_13:54, Lev_13:58; Lev_14:8-9; Lev_15:16; Lev_16:4, Lev_16:24;
Lev_22:6; compare the notes on Mar_7:3. The same thing was also true among the pagan.
There was usually, at the entrance of their temples, a vessel placed with consecrated water, in

141. which, as Pliny says (Hist. Nat. lib. 15:c. 30), there was a branch of laurel placed with which the
priests sprinkled all who approached for worship. It was necessary that this water should be
pure, and it was drawn fresh from wells or fountains for the purpose. Water from pools and
ponds was regarded as unsuitable, as was also even the purest water of the fountain, if it had
stood long. AEneas sprinkled himself in this manner, as he was about to enter the invisible
world (Aeneid vi. 635), with fresh water.
Porphyry says that the Essenes were accustomed to cleanse themselves with the purest water.
Thus, Ezekiel also says, “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean.”
Sea-water was usually regarded as best adapted to this purpose, as the salt was supposed to have
a cleansing property. The Jews who dwelt near the sea, were thence accustomed, as Aristides
says, to wash their hands every morning on this account in the sea-water. Potter’s Greek Archae.
i. 222. Rosenmuller, Alte und Neue Morgenland, in loc. It was from the pagan custom of placing
a vessel with consecrated water at the entrance of their temples, that the Roman Catholic
custom is derived in their churches of placing “holy water” near the door, that those who
worship there may “cross themselves.” In accordance with the Jewish custom, the apostle says,
that it was proper that under the Christian dispensation we should approach God, having
performed an act emblematic of purity by the application of water to the body.
That there is an allusion to baptism is clear. The apostle is comparing the two dispensations,
and his aim is to show that in the Christian dispensation there was everything which was
regarded as valuable and important in the old. So he had shown it to have been in regard to the
fact that there was a Lawgiver; that there was a great High Priest; and that there were sacrifices
and ordinances of religion in the Christian dispensation as well as the Jewish. In regard to each
of these, he had shown that they existed in the Christian religion in a much more valuable and
important sense than under the ancient dispensation. In like manner it was true, that as they
were required to come to the service of God, having performed various ablutions to keep the
body pure, so it was with Christians. Water was applied to the Jews as emblematic of purity, and
Christians came, having had it applied to them also in baptism, as a symbol of holiness.
It is not necessary, in order to see the force of this, to suppose that water had been applied to
the whole of the body, or that they had been completely immersed, for all the force of the
reasoning is retained by the supposition that it was a mere symbol or emblem of purification.
The whole stress of the argument here turns, not on the fact that the body had been washed all
over, but that the worshipper had been qualified for the spiritual service of the Most High in
connection with an appropriate emblematic ceremony. The quantity of water used for this is not
a material point, any more than the quantity of oil was in the ceremony of inaugurating kings
and priests. This was not done in the Christian dispensation by washing the body frequently, as
in the ancient system, nor even necessarily by washing the whole body - which would no more
contribute to the purity of the heart than by application of water to any part of the body, but by
the fact that water had been used as emblematic of the purifying of the soul. The passage before
us proves, undoubtedly:
(1) That water should be applied under the new dispensation as an ordinance of religion; and,
(2) That pure water should be used - for that only is a proper emblem of the purity of the
heart.
2. CLARKE, "Let us draw near - Let us come with the blood of our sacrifice to the throne
of God: the expression is sacrificial.
With a true heart - Deeply convinced of our need of help, and truly in earnest to obtain it.

142. In full assurance of faith - Being fully persuaded that God will accept us for the sake of his
Son, and that the sacrificial death of Christ gives us full authority to expect every blessing we
need.
Having our hearts sprinkled - Not our bodies, as was the case among the Hebrews, when
they had contracted any pollution, for they were to be sprinkled with the water of separation, see
Num_19:2-10; but our hearts, sprinkled by the cleansing efficacy of the blood of Christ, without
which we cannot draw nigh to God.
From an evil conscience - Having that deep sense of guilt which our conscience felt taken
all away, and the peace and love of God shed abroad ill our hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto
us.
Our bodies washed with pure water - The high priest, before he entered into the inner
tabernacle, or put on his holy garments, was to wash his flesh in water, Lev_16:4, and the
Levites were to be cleansed the same way, Num_8:7. The apostle probably alludes to this in
what he says here, though it appears that he refers principally to baptisms, the washing by which
was an emblem of the purification of the soul by the grace and Spirit of Christ; but it is most
likely that it is to the Jewish baptisms, and not the Christian, that the apostle alludes.
3. GILL, "Let us draw near with a true heart,.... Either to the holiest of all, into which the
saints have boldness to enter; or to Christ the high priest, who is entered there; or to the house
of God, over which he is an high priest; or rather to God himself, as on a throne of grace, on the
mercy seat in heaven, the most holy place: to "draw near" to him is a sacerdotal act, common to
all the saints, who are made priests to God; and includes the whole of divine worship, but more
especially designs prayer; to which believers are encouraged from the liberty and boldness they
may have and use, of entering into the holiest by the blood of Jesus; from Christ's being the new
and living way into it, and from his being an high priest over the house of God: the manner of
drawing near is, "with a true heart"; not with the body only, but with the heart principally; with
a renewed one, one that is right with God, and is single and sincere, is hearty in its desires, and
upright in its ends.
In full assurance of faith; in God, Father, Son, and Spirit; without faith, drawing near to God
can neither be acceptable to him, nor of service to men; and a full assurance of faith, with
respect to the object drawn nigh unto, and of the way unto him, and of acceptance with him
through Christ, and of having the petitions put up to him granted, is very comfortable to
believers, greatly becomes them, and is well pleasing to God:
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience; which is blind, inactive, partial,
stupid, or guilty; and it is the blood of Christ, which being sprinkled on it by the Spirit of God,
purges it from dead works, cleanses it from all sin, and speaks peace and pardon to it; and such
may draw near with freedom and boldness, with readiness and cheerfulness, and with reverence
and godly fear:
and our bodies washed with pure water; not baptismal water, but the grace of the Spirit,
which is often compared to water, in Scripture: the body, as well as soul, needs washing, and
renewing; internal grace influences outward, actions, which adorn religion, and without which
bodies cannot be presented holy to God. The allusion is to a custom of the Jews, who were
obliged to wash their bodies, and make them clean, when they prayed. So Aben Ezra observes on
Gen_35:2

143. "that every Israelite, when he went to pray at a fixed place, was obliged to have ‫גופו‬‫נקי‬ , "his body
pure", and his garments pure.''
So a priest might not enter into the court for service, though clean, until he had washed himself
all over (z); and it is to sacerdotal acts that the reference is here.
4. HENRY, "He proceeds to show the Hebrews the duties binding upon them on account of
these privileges, which were conferred in such an extraordinary way, Heb_10:22, Heb_10:23,
etc.
1. They must draw near to God, and that in a right manner. They must draw near to God.
Since such a way of access and return to God is opened, it would be the greatest ingratitude and
contempt of God and Christ still to keep at a distance from him. They must draw near by
conversion, and by taking hold of his covenant. They must draw near in all holy conversation,
like Enoch walking with God. They must draw near in humble adorations, worshipping at his
footstool. They must draw near in holy dependence, and in a strict observance of the divine
conduct towards them. They must draw near in conformity to God, and communion with him,
living under his blessed influence, still endeavouring to get nearer and nearer, till they come to
dwell in his presence; but they must see to it that they make their approach to God after a right
manner. (1.) With a true heart, without any allowed guile or hypocrisy. God is the searcher of
hearts, and he requires truth in the inward parts. Sincerity is our gospel perfection, though not
our justifying righteousness. (2.) In full assurance of faith, with a faith grown up to a full
persuasion that when we come to God by Christ we shall have audience and acceptance. We
should lay aside all sinful distrust. Without faith it is impossible to please God; and the stronger
our faith is the more glory we give to God. And, (3.) Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience, by a believing application of the blood of Christ to our souls. They may be cleansed
from guilt, from filth, from sinful fear and torment, from all aversion to God and duty, from
ignorance, and error, and superstition, and whatever evils the consciences of men are subject to
by reason of sin. (4.) Our bodies washed with pure water, that is, with the water of baptism (by
which we are recorded among the disciples of Christ, members of his mystical body), or with the
sanctifying virtue of the Holy Spirit, reforming and regulating our outward conversation as well
as our inward frame, cleansing from the filthiness of the flesh as well as of the spirit. The priests
under the law were to wash, before they went into the presence of the Lord to offer before him.
There must be a due preparation for making our approaches to God.
5. JAMISON, "(Heb_4:16; Heb_7:19.)
with a true heart — without hypocrisy; “in truth, and with a perfect heart”; a heart
thoroughly imbued with “the truth” (Heb_10:26).
full assurance — (Heb_6:11); with no doubt as to our acceptance when coming to God by
the blood of Christ. As “faith” occurs here, so “hope,” and “love,” Heb_10:23, Heb_10:24.
sprinkled from — that is, sprinkled so as to be cleansed from.
evil conscience — a consciousness of guilt unatoned for, and uncleansed away (Heb_10:2;
Heb_9:9). Both the hearts and the bodies are cleansed. The legal purifications were with blood
of animal victims and with water, and could only cleanse the flesh (Heb_9:13, Heb_9:21).
Christ’s blood purifies the heart and conscience. The Aaronic priest, in entering the holy place,
washed with water (Heb_9:19) in the brazen laver. Believers, as priests to God, are once for all
washed in BODY (as distinguished from “hearts”) at baptism. As we have an immaterial, and a
material nature, the cleansing of both is expressed by “hearts” and “body,” the inner and the
outer man; so the whole man, material and immaterial. The baptism of the body, however, is not

144. the mere putting away of material filth, nor an act operating by intrinsic efficacy, but the
sacramental seal, applied to the outer man, of a spiritual washing (1Pe_3:21). “Body” (not
merely “flesh,” the carnal part, as 2Co_7:1) includes the whole material man, which needs
cleansing, as being redeemed, as well as the soul. The body, once polluted with sin, is washed, so
as to be fitted like Christ’s holy body, and by His body, to be spiritually a pure and living
offering. On the “pure water,” the symbol of consecration and sanctification, compare
Joh_19:34; 1Co_6:11; 1Jo_5:6; Eze_36:25. The perfects “having ... hearts sprinkled ... body (the
Greek is singular) washed,” imply a continuing state produced by a once-for-all accomplished
act, namely, our justification by faith through Christ’s blood, and consecration to God, sealed
sacramentally by the baptism of our body.
6. CALVIN, "Let us draw near with a true heart, etc. As he shows that in Christ
and his sacrifice there is nothing but what is spiritual or heavenly,
so he would have what we bring on our part to correspond. The Jews
formerly cleansed themselves by various washings to prepare themselves
for the service of God. It is no wonder that the rites for cleansing
were carnal, since the worship of God itself, involved in shadows, as
yet partook in a manner of what was carnal. For the priest, being a
mortal, was chosen from among sinners to perform for a time sacred
things; he was, indeed, adorned with precious vestments, but yet they
were those of this world, that he might stand in the presence of God;
he only came near the work of the covenant; and to sanctify his
entrance, he borrowed for a sacrifice a brute animal either from herd
or the flock. But in Christ all these things are far superior; He
himself is not only pure and innocent, but is also the fountain of all
holiness and righteousness, and was constituted a priest by a heavenly
oracle, not for the short period of a mortal life, but perpetually. To
sanction his appointment an oath was interposed. He came forth adorned
with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the highest perfection; he
propitiated God by his own blood, and reconciled him to men; he
ascended up above all the heavens to appear before God as our Mediator.
Now, on our part, nothing is to be brought but what corresponds with
all this, as there ought to be a mutual agreement or concord between
the priest and the people. Away then with all the external washings of
the flesh, and cease let the whole apparatus of ceremonies; for the
Apostle sets a true heart, and the certainty of faith, and a cleansing
from all vices, in opposition to these external rites. And hence we
learn what must be the frame of our minds in order that we may enjoy
the benefits conferred by Christ; for there is no coming to him without
an upright or a true heart, and a sure faith, and a pure conscience.
Now, a true or sincere heart is opposed to a heart that is hypocritical
and deceitful. [173] By the term full assurance, plerophoria the
Apostle points out the nature of faith, and at the same time reminds
us, that the grace of Christ cannot be received except by those who

145. possess a fixed and unhesitating conviction. The sprinkling of the
heart from an evil conscience takes place, either when we are, by
obtaining pardon, deemed pure before God, or when the heart, cleansed
from all corrupt affections, is not stimulated by the goads of the
flesh. I am disposed to include both these things. [174] What follows,
our bodies washed with pure water, is generally understood of baptism;
but it seems to me more probable that the Apostle alludes to the
ancient ceremonies of the Law; and so by water he designates the Spirit
of God, according to what is said by Ezekiel, "I will sprinkle clean
water upon you." (Ezekiel 36:25.) The meaning is, that we are made
partakers of Christ, if we come to him, sanctified in body and soul;
and yet that this sanctification is not what consists in a visible
parade of ceremonies, but that it is from faith, pure conscience, and
that cleanness of soul and body which flows from, and is effected by,
the Spirit of God. So Paul exhorts the faithful to cleanse themselves
from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, since they had been adopted by
God as his children. [175] (2 Corinthians 7:1.)
7. MURRAY, WITH A TRUE HEART. 22
WE have been looking at the four great blessings of the new
worship by which God encourages us to draw near to Him. We
shall now see what the four chief things are that God seeks for
in us as we come to Him. Of these the first is, a true heart.
In man s nature the heart is the central power. As the heart
is so is the man. The desire and the choice, the love and the
hatred of the heart prove what a man is already, and decide
what he is to become. Just as we judge of a man s physical
character, his size and strength and age and habits, by his out
ward appearance, so the heart gives the real inward man his
character ; and " the hidden man of the heart " is what God
looks to. God has in Christ given us access to the secret place
of His dwelling, to the inner sanctuary of His presence and His
heart ; no wonder that the first thing He asks, as He calls us
unto Him, is the heart a true heart ; our inmost being must in
truth be yielded to Him, true to Him.
True religion is a thing of the heart, an inward life. It is
only as the desire of the heart is fixed upon God, the whole
heart seeking for God, giving its love and finding its joy in God,
that a man can draw near to God. The heart of man was
expressly planned and created and endowed with all its powers,
that it might be capable of receiving and enjoying God and His

146. love. God s great quarrel with His people is that their heart is
turned from Him. In chap. iii. we heard Him complain of the
hardening of the heart, the wandering heart, the unbelieving
heart. No wonder that the first requisite for entering the
Holiest of All should be a true heart. It is only with the heart
that religion, that holiness, that the love and the will of God can
be known. God can ask for nothing else and nothing less than
the heart than a true heart.
What the word true means we see from the use of it made
previously (viii. 2 and ix. 24), the true tabernacle, and, the Holy
Place, which are figures of the true. The first tabernacle was
only a figure and a shadow of the true. There was, indeed, a
religious service and worship, but it had no real abiding power ;
it could not make the worshipper perfect. The very image,
the substance and reality, of the heavenly things themselves,
were only brought by Christ. And God now asks that, to
correspond with the true sanctuary, there shall be a true heart.
The old covenant, with its tabernacle and its worship, which was
but a shadow, could not put the heart of Israel right. In the
new covenant God s first promise is, / will write My law in the
heart: a new heart will I give thee. As He has given His Son,
full of grace and truth, in the power of an endless life, to work
all in us as the Mediator of a new covenant, to write His law in
our hearts, He calls us to draw nigh with a true heart.
God asks for the heart. Alas, how many Christians serve
Him still with the service of the old covenant. Religion is a
thing of times and duties. There are seasons for Bible-reading
and praying and church-going. But when one notices how
speedily and naturally and happily, as soon as it is freed from
restraint, the heart turns to worldly things, one feels how little
there is of the heart in it : it is not the worship of a true heart,
of the whole heart. The heart, with its life and love and joy,
has not yet found in God its highest good. Religion is much
more a thing of the head and its activities, than of the heart and
its life, of the human will and its power, than of that Spirit which
God gives within us.
The invitation comes : Let us draw near with a true heart.
Let no one hold back for fear, my heart is not true. There is
no way for obtaining the true heart, but by acting it. God has
given you, as his child, a new heart a wonderful gift, if you but

147. knew it. Through ignorance or unbelief or disobedience it has
grown feeble and withered ; its beating can, nevertheless, still be
felt. The Epistle, with its solemn warnings and its blessed
teaching, has come to bring arousing and healing. Even as
Christ said to the man with the withered hand, Stand forth,
He calls to you from His throne in heaven, Rise, and come and
enter in with a true heart. As you hesitate, and look within to
feel and to find out if the heart is true, and in vain to do what
is needed to make it true, He calls again, Stretch forth thy
hand. When He spake that to him of the withered arm, whom
He had called to rise up and stand before Him, the man felt the
power of Jesus eye and voice, and he stretched it forth. Do
thou, likewise. Stretch forth, lift up, reach out that withered
heart of thine, that has so been cherishing its own impotence,
stretch forth, and it will be made whole. Yes, in the very act of
obeying the call to enter in, it will prove itself a true heart a
heart ready to obey and to trust its blessed Lord, a heart ready
to give up all and find its life in the secret of His presence.
Yes, Jesus, the great Priest over the house of God, the Mediator
of the new covenant, with the new heart secured thee, calls,
Draw nigh with a true heart.
During these last years God has been rousing His people to
the pursuit of holiness that is, to seek the entrance into the
Holiest, a life in full fellowship with Himself, the Holy One. In

148. the teaching which He has been using to this end, two words
have been very much in the foreground Consecration and
Faith. These are just what are here put first a true heart and
the fulness of faith. The true heart is nothing but true
consecration, the spirit that longs to live wholly for God, that
gladly gives up everything that it may live wholly for Him, and
that above all yields up the heart, as the key of the life, into His
keeping and rule. True religion is an inward life, in the power
of the Holy Spirit. Let us enter in into the inner sanctuary of
God s love, and the Spirit will enter into the inner sanctuary of
our love, into our heart. Let us draw nigh with a true heart
longing, ready, utterly given up to desire and receive the
blessing.
1. If you look at your own constitution, you see how the head and the heart are the two great
centres of life and action. Much thought and study make the head weary. Strong emotion or
excitement affects the heart. It is the heart Qod asks the power of desire and affection and will.
The head and the heart are in partnership. God tells us that the heart must rule and lead, that it
is the heart He wants. Our religion has been too much that of the head hearing and reading and
thinking. Let us beware of allowing these to lead us astray. Let them stand aside at times. Let
us give the heart time to assert its supremacy. Let us draw nigh with a true heart.
2. A true heart true in what it says that It thinks of itself; true in what it says that it
believes of Qod; true in what it professes to take from Qod and to glue to Him.
3. It is the heart God wants to dwell in. It is in the state of the heart God wants to prove His
power to bless. It is In the heart the love and the Joy of God are to be known. Let us draw near
with a true heart
8. MURRAY, THE FULNESS OF FAITH. 22
THIS translation, the fullness of faith, is not only more correct
than that of, full assurance of faith, but much more significant.
Full assurance of faith refers only to the strength and confidence
with which we believe. The truth we accept may be very
limited and defective, and our assurance of it may be more an
undoubting conviction of the mind than the living apprehension
of the heart. In both respects the fullness of faith expresses
what we need, a faith that takes in objectively all that God
offers it in its fullness, and subjectively all the powers of our
heart and life in their fullness. Let us draw near, in fullness
of faith.
Here, if anywhere, there is indeed need of fullness of faith,
that we may take in all the fullness of the provision God has
made, and of the promises that are waiting for us to inherit. The
message comes to a sinful man that he may have his continual
abode in the Most Holy ; that, more real and near than with his
nearest earthly friend, he may live in unbroken fellowship with
the Most High God. He is assured that the blood of Christ
can cleanse his conscience in such power that he can draw nigh

149. to God with a perfect conscience and with undoubting confidence,
and can ask and expect to live always in the unclouded light of
God s face. He receives the assurance that the power of the
Holy Ghost, coming from out of the Holiest, can enable him to
walk exactly in the same path in which Christ walked on His
way to God, and make that way to him a new and living way,
with nothing of decay or weariness in his progress. This is the
fulness of faith we are called to. But, above all, to look to
Jesus in all the glory in which He has been revealed in the
Epistle, as God and Man, as Leader and Forerunner, as Melchize-
dek, as the Minister of the sanctuary and Mediator of the new
covenant in one word, as our great Priest over the house of
God. And, looking to Him, to claim that He shall do for us this
one thing, to bring us nigh, and even on earth give us to dwell
for ever in the presence of God.
Faith ever deals with impossibilities. Its only rule or measure
is what God has said to be possible to Him. When we look at
our lives and their failures, at our sinfulness and weakness, at
those around us, the thought will come up Is it for me ? Dare
I expect it ? Is it not wearying myself in vain to think of it or
to seek for it? Soul! the God who redeemed thee, when an
enemy, with the blood of His Son what thinkest thou ? would
He not be willing thus to take thee to His heart? He who
raised Jesus, when He had died under the curse of thy sins,
from the death of the grave to the throne of His glory, would
He not be able to take thee, too, and give thee a place within the
veil ? Do believe it. He longs to do it ; He is able to do it
His home and His heart have room for thee even now. Let US
draw near in fulness of faith.
In fulness of faith. The word has also reference to that
full measure of faith which is found when the whole heart is
filled and possessed by it. We have very little idea of how the
weakness of our faith is owing to its being more a confident
persuasion of the mind with regard to the truth of what God
says, than the living apprehension and possession of the eternal
spiritual realities of the truth with the heart. The Holy Spirit
asks us first for a true heart, and then at once, as its first
exercise, for fulness of faith. There is a faith of insight, a
faith of desire, a faith of trust in the truth of the word, and a
faith of personal acceptance. There is a faith of love that
embraces, a faith of will that holds fast, and a faith of sacri
fice that gives up everything, and a faith of despair that
abandons all hope in self, and a faith of rest that waits on God
alone. This is all included in the faith of the true heart, the
fulness of faith, in which the whole being surrenders and
lets go all, and yields itself to God to do His work. In
fulness of faith let us draw nigh.
In fulness of faith, not of thought. What God is about to do
to you is supernatural, above what you can think. It is a love that
passes knowledge is going to take possession. God is the incom
prehensible, the hidden One. The Holy Spirit is the secret,
incomprehensible working and presence of God. Do not seek
to understand everything. Draw nigh it never says with a

150. clear head, but with a true heart Rest upon God to do for you
far more than you understand.
In fullness of faith, and not in fullness of feeling. When you
come, and, gazing into the opened Holiest of All, hear the voice
of Him that dwells between the cherubim call you to come in ;
and, as you gaze, long indeed to enter and to dwell there, the
word comes again, Draw nigh with a true heart ! Your answer
is, Yes, Lord ; with my whole heart with that new heart thou
thyself hast given me. You make the surrender of yourself, to
live only and always in His presence and for His service. The
voice speaks again : Let it be To-day Now, in fullness of
faith. You have accepted what He offers. You have given
what he asks. You believe that He accepts the surrender. You
believe that the great Priest over the house takes possession
of your inner life, and brings you before God. And yet you
wonder you feel so little changed. You feel just like the old
self you were. Now is the time to listen to the voice
In fullness of faith, not of feeling ! Look to God, who is able
to do above what we ask or think. Trust His power. Look
to Jesus on the throne, living there to bring you in. Claim
the Spirit of the exalted One as His Pentecostal gift Remember
these are all divine, spiritual mysteries of grace, to be revealed
in you. Apart from feeling, without feeling, in fullness of
faith, in bare, naked faith that honors God, enter in. Reckon
yourself to be indeed alive to God in Christ Jesus, taken in into
His presence, His love, His very heart.
1. Be followers of those who, through faith and longsuffering, inherited the promises. Faith
accepts and rejoices in the gift; longsuffering waits for the full enjoyment; and so faith in due
time inherits, and the promise becomes an experience. By faith at once take your place in the
Holiest ; wait on the Holy Spirit In your Inner life to reveal it In the power of God ; your High Priest
will see to your inheriting the blessing.
2. In the fullness of the whole heart to accept the whole fullness of God s salvation this is
what God asks.
3. As in heaven so on earth. The more I look at the fullness of grace in Christ, the more the
fullness of faith will grow in me. Of His fullness have we received, and grace for grace.
4. A whole chapter is to be devoted to the exhibiting of what this fullness of faith implies. Let
us go on to study it with the one object for which It is given our entering into that life in the will
and love of God which Jesus has secured for us.
9. MURRAY, OUR HEARTS SPRINKLED. 22
IN verse 19 we had boldness through the blood of Jesus, as
one of the four precious things prepared for us by God. It is
that actual liberty or right which the blood of Jesus gives,
apart from any use we make of it. Along with the opened
sanctuary, and the living way, and the great Priest, the blood
and our boldness in it is a heavenly reality waiting our faith
and acceptance. Here the blood is mentioned a second time,
and our being sprinkled with it as one of the things God asks
of us. It is in the personal application and experience of the

151. power of the blood we are to draw nigh. This second mention
of the blood is in accord with what we had in chap. ix. of its
twofold sprinkling. First, Christ entered with it into heaven, to
cleanse the heavenly things, and fulfil the type of the sprinkling
on the mercy-seat. It proved its power with God in putting
away sins. And then we read of its cleansing our conscience.
The blood which has had its mighty operation in heaven itself
has as mighty power in our hearts. It makes us partakers of
a divine and eternal cleansing. In heaven the power of the
blood is proved to be infinite and immeasurable, never-ceasing
and eternal, giving boldness to enter even as Christ did. As
the soul learns to believe and rejoice in this heavenly power
of the blood, it will claim and receive the very same power
in the heart ; as Jesus washes us in His blood, we know by
faith what it is to have, in a heavenly reality, a heart sprinkled
from an evil conscience.
There will ever be harmony between a home and those who
dwell in it, between an environment and the life that is sustained
by it. There must be harmony between the Holiest of All and
the soul that is to enter in. That harmony begins with, and
has its everlasting security in, the blood of sprinkling. The
ever-living and never-ceasing energy of the blood, ever speak
ing better things than the blood of Abel and keeping heaven
open for me, has a like effect on my heart. The blood has put
away the thought of sin from God ; He remembers it no more
for ever. The blood puts away the thought of sin in me too,
taking away the evil conscience that condemns me. The better
things which the blood speaks in heaven, it speaks in my heart
too ; it lifts me into that heavenly sphere, that new state of life
and intercourse with God, in which an end has been made of
sin, and the soul is taken in to the full and perfect enjoyment
of the love of God.
The action of the blood in heaven is unceasing never a
moment but the blood is the delight of the Father and the song
of the ransomed. Draw nigh when thou wilt, the blood is there,
abiding continually; not a moment s interval. And even so
will it be in the soul that enters in. The difficulty that staggers
the faith of many lies just here : they cannot understand how
one who has to live amid the cares and engagements and
companionships of this daily life can every moment maintain
a heart sprinkled from an evil conscience. They do not know
that, if once, with a heart sprinkled they enter in, they are in an
inner sanctuary, where everything acts in the power of the
upper world, in the power of an endless life. They breathe the
inspiring, invigorating air of the Holiest of All ; they breathe
the Holy Spirit, and enjoy the power of the resurrection life.
The Minister of the heavenly sanctuary is also the Mediator of
the new covenant in our hearts. All He does in heaven He
does each moment on earth in our hearts, if faith will trust
Him ; for the blood of sprinkling is the blood of the covenant.
And what may be the reason that so few Christians can
testify of the joy and the power of a heart at all times sprinkled
from an evil conscience? The answer is, That in the appre

152. hension of this, as of every other truth, there are stages accord
ing to the measure of faith and faithfulness. See it in Israel.
There you have three stages. The Israelite who entered the
outer court saw the altar and the blood sprinkled there, and
received such assurance of pardon as that could give him.
The priest who was admitted to the Holy Place not only saw
the blood sprinkled on the brazen altar, he had it sprinkled
upon himself, and might see it sprinkled on the golden altar
in the Holy Place. His contact with the blood was closer,
and he was admitted to a nearer access. And the access
of the high priest was still more complete; he might, with
the blood for the mercy-seat, once a year enter within the
veil. Even so there are outer-court Christians, who trust in
Christ who died on Calvary, but know very little of His
heavenly life, or near access to God, or service for others.
Beyond these there are Christians who know that they are
called to be priests and to live in the service of God and their
fellow-men. They know more of the power of the blood as
setting apart for service ; but yet their life is still without the
veil. But then come those who know what Christ s entering
with His blood implies and procures, and who experience that
the Holy Spirit applies the blood in such power, that it indeed
brings to the life in the inner sanctuary, in the full and abiding
joy of God s presence.
Let us draw near, with a true heart, in fulness of faith,
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. Oh,
let us not bring a reproach upon the blood of the Lamb by
not believing in its power to give us perfect access to God.
Let us listen and hear them sing without ceasing the praise of
the blood of the Lamb in heaven ; as we trust and honour and
rejoice in it we shall enter the heaven of God s presence.
1. "Wherein is the blood of Jesus better than the blood of goats and bulls, if it cannot free
us from the spirit of bondage and the evil conscience, if it cannot glue us a full glad confidence
before Qod ? What Jesus hath perfected we can experience and enjoy as perfect in our heart
and conscience. You dishonour your Saviour when you do not seek to experience that He has
perfected you as touching the conscience, and when you do not live with a heart entirely cleansed
from the evil conscience." STEINHOFER.
2. A true heart a heart sprinkled : you see everything depends upon the heart God can
do nothing for us from without, only by what He can put into the heart. Of all that Jesus is and
does as High Priest in heaven I cannot have the least experience, but as it is revealed in the heart.
The whole work of the Holy Spirit is in the heart. Let us draw nigh with a true heart, a sprinkled
heart, our inmost being entirely and unceasingly under the heavenly power of the blood.
3 " The blood contains life (John vi. 53). The blood not only removes death
(judicial and spiritual), but it gives and preserves life (judicial and spiritual). It
quickens. We are not only to be sprinkled with it outwardly, but we are to receive
it inwardly, to drink it. As with the water, so with the blood, they are for inward
as well as outward application." H. BONAR.
10. MURRAY, OUR BODY WASHED. 22

153. MAN belongs to two worlds, the visible and the invisible. In
his constitution, the material and the spiritual, body and soul, are
wonderfully united. In the fall both came under the power of
sin and death ; in redemption deliverance has been provided for
both. It is not only in the interior life of the soul, but in that
of the body too, that the power of redemption can be manifested.
In the Old Testament worship the external was the more
prominent. It consisted mostly in carnal ordinances, imposed
until a time of reformation. They taught a measure of truth,
they exercised a certain influence on the heart, but they could
not make the worshipper perfect. It was only with the New
Testament that the religion of the inner life, the worship of God
in spirit and truth, was revealed. And yet we need to be on the
watch lest the pursuit of the inner life lead us to neglect the
external. It is in the body, as much as in the spirit, that the
saving power of Christ Jesus must be felt. It was with this
view that our Lord adopted one of the Jewish washings, and
instituted the baptism with water. He that believed with the
heart, came with the body to be baptized. It was a token that
the whole exterior physical life, with all its functions and
powers, was to be His too. In was in this connection John
wrote : There are three who bear witness, the Spirit and the water
and the blood. The same Spirit who applies the blood in power
to the heart, takes possession and mastery of the body washed
with water. And where in Scripture the word and water are
joined together (Eph. v. 26 ; John xiii. 10 ; xv. 3), it is because
the word is the external manifestation of what must rule our
whole outer life too.
It is in this connection the two expressions are used here :
Our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, our bodies washed
with pure water. The thought was suggested to our author by
the service of the tabernacle. In the court there were only two
things to be seen the brazen altar and the laver. At the one,
the priest received and sprinkled the blood ; at the other,
he found the water in which he washed, ere he entered the
Holy Place. At the installation of the priests in their office they
were first washed and then sprinkled with blood (Ex. xxix.
4, 20). On the great day of atonement the high priest, too,
had first to wash ere he entered into the Holiest with
the blood (Lev. xvi. 4). And so the lesson comes to us that if
we draw near with hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience,
we must also have the body washed with pure water. The
liberty of access, the cleansing the blood gives, can only be
enjoyed in a life of which every action is cleansed by the word.
Not only in the heart and the disposition, but in the body and
the outer visible life, everything must be clean. Who shall
ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in PI is Holy
Place ? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart. A heart
sprinkled with the blood, a body washed with pure water from
every stain, these God hath joined together ; let no man
separate them. There have been some who have sought very
earnestly to enter into the Holiest of All and have failed. The
reason was that they had not clean hands, they were not ready
to have everything that is not perfectly holy discovered and put
away. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye

154. double-minded is a word that always holds. The blood of Christ
has unspeakable and everlasting power for the soul that, with a
true heart, is ready to put away every sin. Where this is not
the case, and the body is not washed with pure water, the perfect
conscience which the blood gives cannot be enjoyed.
Our body washed with pure water. It is not only in spirit,
but with, the body too, we enter into the Holiest of All. It is on
us here, where we are in the body, that the presence of God
descends. Our whole life in the flesh is to be in that presence ;
the body is very specially the temple, and in charge of the Holy
Spirit ; in the body the Father is to be glorified. Our whole
being, body, soul, and spirit, is in the power of the Holy Spirit,
a holy sacrifice upon the altar, a living sacrifice for service before
God. With the body, too, we live and walk in the Holiest.
Our eating and drinking, our sleeping, our clothing, our labour
and relaxation, all these things have more influence on our
spiritual life than we know. They often interrupt and break
the fellowship we seek to maintain. The heart and the body
are inseparably joined a heart sprinkled from an evil con
science needs a body washed with pure water.
When He cometh into the world He saith, A body didst
thou prepare for Me. This word of Christ must be adopted by
each of His followers. Nothing will help us to live in this world,
and keep ourselves unspotted, but the Spirit that was in Christ,
that looked upon His body as prepared by God for His
service ; that looks upon our body as prepared by Him too, that
we might offer it to Him. Like Christ we too have a body, in
which the Holy Spirit dwells. Like Christ we too must yield
our body, with every member, every power, every action, to
fulfil His will, to be offered up to Him, to glorify Him. Like
Christ we must prove in our body that we are holy to the Lord.
The blood that is sprinkled on thy heart came from the body
of Jesus, prepared by God, and, in His whole life, even to His
one offering, given up to God. The object of that blood
sprinkling is that thy body, of which the heart sprinkled with
the blood is the life, should, like His, be wholly given up to God.
Oh, seek to take in this blessed truth, and to accept it fully.
The heart sprinkled from the evil conscience will then become
an unbroken experience, and the blood of the Lamb the ever-
living motive and power for a life in the body, like Christ s, a
sacrifice holy and acceptable to God.
1. I am deeply persuaded that in the self-pleasing which we allow in gratifying the claims of
the body, we shall find one of the most frequent causes of the gradual decline of our fellowship
with Qod. Do remember, it was through the body that Satan conquered in Paradise ; It was in the
body he tempted Christ and had to be resisted. It was in suffering of the body, as when He
hungered, that Christ was perfected. It is only when the law of self-denial is strictly applied to
the body, that we can dwell in the Holiest.
2. He was tempted In all points, like as we are in His body very specially, and is able to
succour us. Let the committal of our body into the keeping and the rule of Jesus be very definite
and entire.
3. "If Miranda was to run a race for her life, he would submit to a diet that was proper for

155. it. As the race which is set before her is a race for holiness and heavenly affection, so her every
day diet has only this one end to make her body fitter for this spiritual life.
11. MURRAY, LET US DRAW NEAR. 22
WE have studied the four great blessings of the new worship,
as the motives and encouragements for us to draw nigh. They
are the Holiest opened up, Boldness through the blood, the New
and living way, and the Great Priest over the house of God.
And we have considered the four great marks of the true
worshipper A true heart, Fulness of faith, The heart sprinkled,
and The body cleansed. We now come to the four injunctions
which come to us out of the opened sanctuary and specially
to the first Let us draw near. Both in speaking of the
entering in of Christ, and the power of His blood in chap, ix.,
and in the exposition of our context, we have had abundant
occasion to point out what is meant by this entering in, and
what is needed for it. And yet it may be well to gather up all
we have said, and in the very simplest way possible, once
again, by the grace of God, to throw open the door, and to help
each honest-hearted child of God to enter in, and take his place
for life in the home the Father has prepared for him.
And first of all I would say : Believe that a life in the Holiest
of All, a life of continual abiding in God s presence, is most
certainly your duty and within your power. As long as this
appears a vague uncertainty, the study of our Epistle must be
in vain. Its whole teaching has been to prove that the wonderful
priesthood of Christ, in which He does everything in the power
of an endless life, and is therefore able to save completely ;
that His having opened a way through the rent veil into the
Holiest, and entered in with His blood ; that His sitting on the
throne in heavenly power, as Minister of the sanctuary and
Mediator of the covenant ; that all this means nothing if it does
not mean the Holiest is open for us. We may, we must,
and we can live there. What is the meaning of this summing
up of all, Wherefore brethren, having boldness to enter
let us draw nigh, if a real entrance into and abode in the
Holiest is not for us ? No, beloved Christian, do believe, it can
be. Let no thought of thy weakness and unfaithfulness hold thee
back. Begin to look at God, who has set the door open and
calls thee in ; at the blood that has prevailed over sin and
death, and given thee a boldness that nothing can hinder ; at
Christ the almighty and most loving High Priest, who is to
bring thee in and keep thee in ; and believe : yes, such a life is
meant for me ; it is possible ; it is my duty ; God calls me to it ;
and say, then, whether thy heart would not desire and long to
enter into this blessed rest, the home of God s love.
The second step is, the surrender to Christ, by Him to be
brought into the life of abiding fellowship with God. This
surrender implies an entire giving up of the life of nature and of
self; an entire separation from the world and its spirit ; an
entire acceptance of God s will to command my life, in all

156. things, down to the very least. To some this surrender comes
as the being convicted of a number of things which they thought
harmless, and which they now see to have been in the will of
the flesh and of man. To others it comes as a call to part with
some single doubtful thing, or some sin against which they
have hopelessly struggled. The surrender of all becomes only
possible when the soul sees how truly and entirely Jesus, the
Mediator of the new covenant, has undertaken for all, and
engages to put His own delight in God s law into the heart,
to give the will and the strength to live in all God s will.
That faith gives the courage to place oneself before Christ and
to say Lord, here am I, ready to be led by Thee in the
new and living way of death to my will, and a life in God s will
alone : I give up all to Thee.
Then comes, accompanying this surrender, the faith that
Jesus does now accept and undertake for all. The more general
faith in His power, which led to the surrender, becomes a
personal appropriation. I know that I cannot lift or force
myself into the Holiest I trust Jesus, as my almighty and
ever-living Priest on the throne, even now, at this moment, to
take me in within the veil, to take charge of me there, and
enable me to walk up and down before the face of the living
God, and serve Him. However high and impossible such a life
appears, I cannot doubt but that He who with His blood opened
the Holiest for me will take me in ; and that He who sits on the
throne as my great High Priest is able and faithful to keep me
in God s presence. Apart from any feeling or experience of a
change I believe He takes me in, and I say : Thank God, I am
in the Holiest. Let us draw nigh in fulness of faith.
And then follows, the life of faith in the Holiest, holding fast
my confidence and the glorying of hope firm to the end.
I believe Jesus takes me in to the fulfilment and the
experience of all the new covenant blessings, and makes me
inherit all the promises. I look to Him day by day to seal
my faith with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven in my
heart. The disciples, when their Lord ascended the throne,
kept waiting, praising, praying, till the Spirit came as the
witness and the revealer within their hearts of the glory of
Jesus at the right hand of God. It was on the day of Pentecost
that they truly entered within the veil, to which the Forerunner
had drawn their longing hearts. The soul that gives itself over
to a life within the veil, in full surrender and in simple faith, can
count upon this most surely, that, in the power of the eternal,
the Pentecostal Spirit in the heart, faith will become experience,
and the joy unspeakable be its abiding portion Wherefore,
brethren, let us draw near.
1. Having boldness to enter in is the summary of the doctrinal teaching of the first half
of the Epistle; let us draw nigh, the summary of the life and practice which the second half
expounds.
2. The faith that appropriates the blessing Jesus now takes me in and gives me my place
and my life in the Father s presence, is but a beginning. Faith must now count upon the Holy
Spirit, in His Pentecostal power, bringing down the kingdom of heaven to us, to make it a

157. personal experience. Until this comes, faith must in patience wait till it obtains the promise,
in accordance with the teaching we had: "Cast not away therefore your boldness. For ye
have need of patience, that, having done the will of God, ye may receive the promise."
12. COFFMAN, “Verse 22
Let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience: and having our body
washed with pure water.
The drawing near enjoined in these words is drawing near to God, the very
concept of such a thing suggesting what a wonderful privilege is involved.
God is not like some head of a mere earthly state but is the eternal and
all-powerful Ruler of Creation. In all times and places, the heads of human
states have enforced the strictest conditions and requirements upon persons
seeking admittance into their presence. Kings, prime ministers, and
presidents throughout history have laid down specific rules to be followed by
those seeking interviews. Therefore it is not illogical that drawing near to
God should be possible only upon the fulfillment of the preconditions set
forth in the Bible, such things not to be decided by men seeking to draw
near, but prescribed and made mandatory by God himself in his word. The
verse at hand reveals the divinely imposed preconditions to be fulfilled by
them that would draw near to God. The importance of these things demands
that specific attention be given to each one of them.
With a true heart
shows that no insincere person or hypocrite can ever really draw near to
God. Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God"
(Matthew 5:8). The Holy Spirit says, "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for
out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23). Success is promised the
obedient. "And thou shalt find him, when thou searchest after him with all
thy heart and with all thy soul" (Deuteronomy 4:29). In the parable of the
sower, the seed which produced the good fruit was that which fell upon the
good ground, the honest and good heart. Only the honest and good heart
without deceit or hypocrisy can approach God; none others need apply.
In fullness of faith
is another precondition of redemption, or drawing near to God. "Fullness of
faith" means true and wholehearted faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son
of God and with full confidence in his power and Godhead. Although it is a
fact that people are saved "by faith," there are many degrees of faith, such
as little faith, weak faith, vain faith, and dead faith. One should make sure
that he has enough faith to be saved. The doctrine which has stripped the
heart out of most modern religion is that old standby of the Protestant

158. Reformation which announced justification by FAITH ALONE. Such a doctrine
is a perversion of scripture, an addition to scripture, and a flat contradiction
of scriptures (James 2:24). The faith that saves is a working, obedient,
loving, living faith; and a faith that is none of these things can never save. It
is not believing, merely, but believing WITH ALL THE HEART that is needed.
The Christian confession from earliest times was never made without regard
to this emphasis, as attested when Philip required of the eunuch, "If thou
believest WITH ALL THINE HEART, thou mayest" (Acts 8:37). Yes, that verse
is omitted from the English Revised Version (1885) and other versions, but it
is still in the margin where it bears eloquent testimony to the practice of the
primitive church, the same requirement being retained to this day in the
universal practice of churches of Christ throughout the world.
Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience
is a reference to penitent acceptance of Christ's sacrifice through knowledge
and contemplation of it and also a humble willingness to accept as our own
what Christ has provided. The comparison is between the sprinkling of blood
upon ancient worshipers in the old covenant, which blood was actually
sprinkled upon their bodies; and, in the new covenant, the sprinkling not of
people's bodies but their hearts, by the blood of Jesus. The scriptural heart,
of course, is the mind, as implicit in the words of Christ to the Pharisees,
"Why reason ye thus in your hearts?" (Mark 2:8). See under Heb. 9:14 for
the effect of Jesus' blood upon the heart and conscience of sinners.
And our body washed with pure water
is beyond all doubt a reference to Christian baptism, making it, therefore, a
precondition of salvation, or drawing near to God. That such is true is
attested by the vast majority of modern scholars and by the near unanimous
testimony of the ancients. Only among writers in the post-Reformation
period, when writers were influenced by the popularity of the "faith only"
thesis, does one find any strong views to the contrary. Milligan's summary
on this is helpful. He said,
Nearly all eminent scholars are now agreed that here is a manifest reference
to the ordinance called Christian baptism. Alford says that "There can be no
reasonable doubt that this clause refers directly to Christian baptism. The
bath of water (Ephesians 5:26), and the bath of regeneration (Titus 3:5),
are analogous expressions; and the express mention of BODY here, as
distinguished from HEARTS before, stamps this interpretation with
certainty. F29
To deny such an obvious meaning would be to pose an impossible
alternative; because in the entire Christian religion, there is absolutely
nothing else, other than baptism, to which this could have any possible
reference.

159. The entire analogy here is drawn from the activities of the ancient worshiper
as more fully elaborated above. For more on the subject of "Baptism," see
under "Six Fundamentals" in Heb. 6. In keeping with the analogy are Paul's
instructions from Ananias to "Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins,
calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16).
All of the instructions, or preconditions, for drawing near to God as set forth
here stand for that portion of the plan of salvation which brings people into
Christ; which to be sure is not the whole duty, but the beginning. All of the
duties, responsibilities, and requirements of the Christian life are to be
received and discharged in faith as long as one is under the probation of life.
This verse tells HOW to be enrolled as a Christian. How? Draw near to God:
(1) with a true heart; (2) in full assurance of faith; (3) having the heart
sprinkled from an evil conscience; and (4) the body washed with pure water.
13. FUDGE, “Let Christ's people draw near (the same word in 4:16 <hebrews.html>; 7:25
<hebrews.html> and 11:6 <hebrews.html>) to the Father with a true heart, a heart that is sincere
and without guile (see the same point in John 4:23-24). Such an approach is to be in full
assurance of faith, that is, in the complete confidence and total persuasion which faith can give.
We have been separated from dead works by the figurative sprinkling of the blood of Jesus (see
9:13-14 <hebrews.html>); we have been set apart for service to God as well. The priests were to
wash in water before entering the tabernacle to serve (Leviticus 16:4) -- this may be in the mind
of the author here.
I believe that the hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience represents the spiritual cleansing of
the conscience by the Holy Spirit, through the merit of the life of Jesus as represented spiritually
by His blood -- in other words, the inner part of regeneration. The bodies washed with pure
water represents the physical act of baptism in water, the divinely-ordained manner by which
faith reaches out to take hold of sovereign grace. It is the outer element in regeneration.
It is not uncommon for New Testament writers to speak of the physical and spiritual together in
this way. Jesus talked of a birth of water and the Spirit (John 3:3, 5). Peter told his Pentecost
audience to be baptized for remission of sins and the reception of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
Saul of Tarsus was told to be baptized and wash away his sins, calling on the name of the Lord
(Acts 22:16); neither he nor Ananias had any doubt that his sins were washed away by a spiritual
cleansing based on the blood of Christ.
We read of the Corinthians being baptized by the Spirit into one body (I Corinthians 12:13); of
the washing of water by the word (Ephesians 5:26); of merciful salvation by the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). Peter makes it clear that baptism is
related to salvation because it is the appeal to God for a good conscience (I Peter 3:21). His
careful explanation that baptism is not merely the removal of bodily defilement shows that the
inner and outer go together and that they might be misunderstood. The same verse emphasizes
that baptism saves "by the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
The full assurance of faith is possible just because our Standing is grounded in the finished
work and the single offering of Jesus Christ. John Bunyan speaks of od addressing the sinner in
these words: "Sinner, thou thinkest that because of thy sins and infirmities I cannot save thy soul,
but behold my Son is by me, and upon Him I look, and not on thee, and will deal with thee

160. according as I am pleased with Him." We are accepted in the Beloved -- first, last and always
(Ephesians 1:6, KJV); but, praise God, in the Beloved we are accepted"
23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess,
for he who promised is faithful.
1. BARNES, "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering - To
secure this was one of the leading designs of this Epistle, and hence, the apostle adverts to it so
frequently. It is evident that those whom he wrote were suffering persecution Heb. 12, and that
there was great danger that they would apostatize. As these persecutions came probably from
the Jews, and as the aim was to induce them to return to their former opinions, the object of the
apostle is to show that there was in the Christian scheme every advantage of which the Jews
could boast; everything pertaining to the dignity of the great Founder of the system, the
character of the High Priest, and the nature and value of the sacrifices offered, and that all this
was possessed far more abundantly in the permanent Christian system than in what was typical
in its character, and which were designed soon to vanish away. In view of all this, therefore, the
apostle adds that they should hold fast the profession of their faith without being shaken by
their trials, or by the arguments of their enemies. We have the same inducement to hold fast the
profession of our faith - for it is the same religion still; we have the same Saviour, and there is
held out to us still the same prospect of heaven.
For he is faithful that promised - To induce them to hold fast their profession, the
apostle adds this additional consideration. God, who had promised eternal life to them, was
faithful to all that he had said. The argument here is:
(1) That since God is so faithful to us, we ought to be faithful to him;
(2) The fact that he is faithful is an encouragement to us.
We are dependent on him for grace to hold fast our profession. If he were to prove unfaithful,
we should have no strength to do it. But this he never does; and we may be assured, that all that
he has promised he will perform. To the service of such a God, therefore, we should adhere
without wavering; compare the notes on 1Co_10:13.
2. CLARKE, "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith - The word ᆇµολογια, from ᆇ
µου, together, and λογος, a word, implies that general consent that was among Christians on all
the important articles of their faith and practice; particularly their acknowledgment of the truth
of the Gospel, and of Jesus Christ, as the only victim for sin, and the only Savior from it. If the

161. word washed above refer to Christian baptism in the ease of adults, then the profession is that
which the baptized then made of their faith in the Gospel; and of their determination to live and
die in that faith.
The various readings on this clause are many in the MSS., etc. Της ελπιδος την ᆇµολογιαν,
the confession of our Hope; D*, two of the Itala, Vulgate, Erpen’s Arabic, and the Ethiopic. ᆍµολ
γιαν της πιστεως, the confession of Faith; one of the Barberini MSS. and two others. This is the
reading which our translators have followed; but it is of very little authority. Την επαγγελιαν της
ελπιδος, the promise of Hope; St. Chrysostom. Την ελπιδα της ᆇµολογιας, the Hope of our
Profession; one of Petavius’s MSS. But among all these, the confession or profession of Hope is
undoubtedly the genuine reading. Now, among the primitive Christians, the hope which they
professed was the resurrection of the body, and everlasting life; every thing among these
Christians was done and believed in reference to a future state; and for the joy that this set
before them, they, like their Master, endured every cross, and despised all shame: they expected
to be with God, through Christ; this hope they professed to have; and they confessed boldly and
publicly the faith on which this hope was built. The apostle exhorts them to hold fast this
confession without wavering - never to doubt the declarations made to them by their Redeemer,
but having the full assurance of faith that their hearts were sprinkled from an evil conscience,
that they had found redemption in the blood of the lamb, they might expect to be glorified with
their living Head in the kingdom of their Father.
He is faithful that promised - The eternal life, which is the object of your hope, is
promised to you by him who cannot lie; as he then is faithful who has given you this promise,
hold fast the profession of your hope.
3. GILL, "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering,.... Either in
the grace or doctrine of faith, or in the profession of both; See Gill on Heb_4:14.
For he is faithful that promised; that is God; and it is true of Father, Son, and Spirit; but
God the Father may be more especially designed: he is a promising God, and is known to be so
by his people; he is eminently and emphatically the Promiser; and all other promisers, and the
promises made by them, signify little; but the promises of God are exceeding great and precious,
very ancient, free, and unconditional, irrevocable and immutable, and are admirably suited to
the cases of his people, and will be fulfilled everyone of them: they include in them things
temporal, spiritual, and eternal; things temporal, as that his people shall not want, that their
afflictions shall work for good, and that he will support them under all their troubles; things
spiritual, as that he will be their God, which takes in his everlasting love to them, and his
gracious presence with them, and his protection of them; and that all grace shall be wrought in
them, and every blessing of grace bestowed on them: and things eternal; as everlasting glory and
happiness; the promise of eternal life was in God's heart, made in the covenant, and put into
Christ's hands before the world began, and is declared in the Gospel: now God is faithful to all
his promises, nor can he fail, or deceive; he is all wise and foreknowing of everything that comes
to pass; he never changes his mind, nor forgets his word; and he is able to perform, and is the
God of truth, and cannot lie; nor has he ever failed in anyone of his promises, nor will he suffer
his faithfulness to fail; and this is a strong argument to hold fast a profession of faith.
4. HENRY, "The apostle exhorts believers to hold fast the profession of their faith,
Heb_10:23. Here observe, (1.) The duty itself - to hold fast the profession of our faith, to

162. embrace all the truths and ways of the gospel, to get fast hold of them, and to keep that hold
against all temptation and opposition. Our spiritual enemies will do what they can to wrest our
faith, and hope, and holiness, and comfort, out of our hands, but we must hold fast our religion
as our best treasure. (2.) The manner in which we must do this - without wavering, without
doubting, without disputing, without dallying with temptation to apostasy. Having once settled
these great things between God and our souls, we must be stedfast and immovable. Those who
begin to waver in matters of Christian faith and practice are in danger of falling away. (3.) The
motive or reason enforcing this duty: He is faithful that hath promised. God has made great and
precious promises to believers, and he is a faithful God, true to his word; there is no falseness
nor fickleness with him, and there should be none with us. His faithfulness should excite and
encourage us to be faithful, and we must depend more upon his promises to us than upon our
promises to him, and we must plead with him the promise of grace sufficient.
5. JAMISON, "(Heb_3:6, Heb_3:14; Heb_4:14.)
profession — Greek, “confession.”
our faith — rather as Greek, “our hope”; which is indeed faith exercised as to the future
inheritance. Hope rests on faith, and at the same time quickens faith, and is the ground of our
bold confession (1Pe_3:15). Hope is similarly (Heb_10:22) connected with purification
(1Jo_3:3).
without wavering — without declension (Heb_3:14), “steadfast unto the end.”
he — God is faithful to His promises (Heb_6:17, Heb_6:18; Heb_11:11; Heb_
6. CALVIN, "Let us hold fast, etc. As he exhorts here the Jews to persevere, he
mentions hope rather than faith; for as hope is born of faith, so it is
fed and sustained by it to the last. He requires also profession or
confession, for it is not true faith except it shows itself before men.
And he seems indirectly to touch the dissimulation of those who paid
too much attention, in order to please their own nation, to the
ceremonies of the Law. He therefore bids them not only to believe with
the heart, but also to show and to profess how much they honored
Christ.
But we ought carefully to notice the reason which he subjoins, for he
is faithful that promised. For we hence first learn, that our faith
rests on this foundation, that God is true, that is, true to his
promise, which his word contains; for that we may believe, the voice or
word of God must precede; but it is not every kind of word that is
capable of producing faith; a promise alone is that on which faith
recumbs. And so from this passage we may learn the mutual relation
between the faith of men and the promise of God; for except God
promises, no one can believe. [176]
__________________________________________________________________
[171] Macknight makes this "entrance" to be death! As though the
Apostle was speaking of what was future, while in verse 22, with which
the contents of this verse and the following are connected, he says,
"let us draw near;" that is, we who have this entrance, even "the new

163. and living way." Possessing such a privilege, they were to draw nigh.
It is clearly an entrance and a way which believers now possess. -- Ed.
[172] See [39]Appendix L 2.
[173] This true, sincere, or upright heart, freed from vice and
pollution, was symbolized by the washing at the end of the verse.
Without washing the priests were not allowed to minister, and were
threatened with death, Exodus 30:19-21; and when any of them touched an
unclean thing, he was not allowed to eat of holy things until he washed
himself, see 12:6 [sic]. Washing the body was a most important thing,
as it symbolized the inward washing of the heart, which alone makes us
true, or sincere, or faithful to God. We have here two things -- a
sincere heart, and assurance of faith: the last is then set forth by
sprinkling, a word borrowed for Levitical rites; and the first by the
washing of the body as under the law. -- Ed.
[174] Poneros means r in Hebrew, the evil of sin wicked, and also the
effect of sin, miserable It seems to be in the latter sense here; a
miserable conscience is one oppressed with guilt. So Grotius and Stuart
regard the meaning. It is the same as "consciousness of sin" in verse
2. What seems to be meant is an accusing or guilty conscience, laboring
under the pressure of conscious sin. But Doddridge and Scott, like
Calvin, combine the two ideas of guilt and pollution; though washing,
afterwards mentioned, appears more appropriately to refer to the
latter; and forgiveness is what is most commonly connected with the
blood of Christ. -- Ed
[175] See [40]Appendix M 2.
[176] Our version has "faith," but it should be "hope," as found in
almost all copies. "Profession of hope" is a Hebraism for professed
hope, or the hope we profess. He mentioned "faith" in the preceding
verse, and now "hope" as being its daughter, and as that which
especially sustained them under their trials. -- Ed.
7. THE CONFESSION OF OUR HOPE.
X. 23. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not; for
he is faithful that promised.
THE three chief words of this injunction we have had before
Hold fast, Confession, Hope. If we hold fast the glorying of
our hope firm to the end. Give diligence to the fulness of hope.
Christ the High Priest of our profession. Let us hold fast our

164. confession. A better hope, by which we draw nigh to God.
We have now been brought to see what Christian perfection is,
in that perfect life in God s presence to which Jesus brings us
in : here, more than ever, we shall need to hold fast our hope.
Faith and hope ever go together. "Faith is the substance of
things hoped for." Faith accepts the promise in its divine reality,
hope goes forward to examine and picture and rejoice in the
treasures which faith has accepted. And so here, on the words
Let us draw near in fulness of faith, there follows immediately,
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope. Life in the
Holiest, in the nearness of God, must be characterised by an
infinite hopefulness.
It is not difficult to see the reason of this. Entering into
the Holiest is only the beginning of the true Christian life. As
we tarry there God can begin to do His work of grace in power.
There the holiness of God can overshadow us, and can be assimi-
lated into our life and character. There we can learn to worship
in that true humility and meekness and resignation to God s
will, which does not come at once, but in which we may grow up
even as Jesus did. There we have to learn the holy art of
intercession, so as to pray the prayer that prevails. There we
wait to receive in larger measure, in ever -fresh communica
tion, that fulness of the Spirit which comes and is maintained
only by close and living contact with Jesus on the throne.
The entrance into the Holiest is only a beginning. It is
to be a life in which we every hour receive everything from
God, in which God s working is to be all in all. Here, if any
where, we have need of an infinite hopefulness. After we have
entered in, we shall very probably not find what we expected.
The light and the joy and the power may not come at once.
Within the veil it is still, nay rather it is eminently, a life of faith,
not looking to ourselves, but to God, and hoping in Him. Faith
will still be tried, will perhaps most be tried when God wants
most to bless. Hope is the daughter of faith, the messenger it
sends out to see what is to come : it is hope that becomes the
strength and support of faith.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope. Men always
speak out of the abundance of the heart of that which they hope
for. We, too, must confess and give expression to our hope.
The confession strengthens the hope; what we utter becomes
clearer and more real to us. It glorifies God. It helps and
encourages those around us. It makes God, and men, and
ourselves, see that we are committed to it. Let us hold fast the

165. confession of our hope, that it waver not. Let the better hope
by which we draw nigh to God, by which we enter within the
veil, be the one thing we hold fast and confess with a confidence
that never wavers.
For He is faithful that promised. Study the references on
the word " promise " in this Epistle, and see what a large place
they take in God s dealings with His people, and learn how
much your life depends on your relation to the promises.
Connect the promises, as is here done, with the promiser ; con
nect the promiser with His unchanging faithfulness as God, and
your hope will become a glorying in God, through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Faithful is He that promised : that word lies at the
root of the life within the veil. Just as it is God who speaks in
Christ, who sent Him, who appointed Him Priest, who perfected
Him, so it is God to whom Christ brings us into the Holiest, for
Him now to work directly and continually in us that life in
which, as His redeemed creatures, we are to live. This is the
blessedness of being brought into the Holiest : Christ has
brought us to God. And we are now in the right place and
spirit for honouring Him as God that is, for allowing Him to
work freely, immediately, unceasingly in us such a life as He
wrought in Christ. He is faithful that promised. God is going
to fulfil His promises of life and love, of blessing and fruitful-
ness, in a way we have no conception of. Let us hold fast the
confession of our hope, for He is faithful that promised.
My reader, thou hast heard the call, Let us draw near in
fulness of faith. And hast obeyed ? And hast believed that
Jesus takes thee into a life of abiding in God s presence? And
art, even amid the absence of feeling or experience, even amid
the doubts and fears that threaten to press in, holding fast the
confession of thy hope ? Listen, look up He is faithful that
promised ! Let this be thy rock. Say continually O my soul,
hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him. Thou art my hope,
O God! I will hope continually, and praise Thee yet more and
more. This is the blessing of the inner sanctuary, that thou
hast found thy true place at God s feet, there to wait in absolute
dependence and helplessness on His working. Look up in the
boldness the blood gives thee. Look up with a true heart, in
which the Holy Spirit dwells and works. Look up with a heart
sprinkled by thy blessed High Priest with the blood and hope,
yes hope, in God to do His divine work in thy soul. Let Him
be to thee more than ever the God of hope. Claim the fulfil
ment of the promise of His word : The God of hope fill you

166. with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in
hope, in the power of the Holy Ghost. The infinite faithful God,
as the God of our hope, filling us with joy and peace in believing,
and we learning to abound in hope through the power of the
Holy Ghost : Be this our life in the secret of God s presence !
1. Fulness of faith and fulness of hope are two dispositions that mark the true heart. It is
because we are to have nothing in ourselues, and Qod is to be all and to do all, that our whole
attitude is to be looking up to Him, expecting and receiving what He is to do.
2. That ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. See how the life
of hope in the Holiest depends entirely upon the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. To live this life,
we need to be filled with the Spirit. Not a moment can we dwell in the Holiest, but by the Holy
Spirit. Not a moment but we can dwell in the Holiest, by the Holy Spirit. Let us abouna in hope,
through the power of the Holy Spirit.
24 And let us consider how we may spur one another
on toward love and good deeds.
1. BARNES, "And let us consider one another - Let us so regard the welfare of others as
to endeavor to excite them to persevere in the Christian life. The idea is, that much might be
done, in securing perseverance and fidelity, by mutual kind exhortation. They were not to be
selfish; they were not to regard their own interests only (notes, Phi_2:4); they were to have a
kind sympathy in the concerns of each other. They had, as Christians have now, the same duties
to perform, and the same trials to meet, and they should strengthen each other in their trials and
encourage them in their work.
To provoke unto love - We use the word “provoke” now in a somewhat different sense, as
meaning to offend, to irritate, to incense; but its original meaning is to “arouse, to excite, to call
into action,” and it is used in this sense here. The Greek is, literally, “unto a paroxysm of love” -
εᅶς παροξυσµον eis paroxusmon - the word “paroxysm” meaning “excitement or impulse,” and
the idea is, that they were to endeavor to arouse or excite each other to the manifestation of love.
The word is what properly expresses excitement, and means that Christians should endeavor to
excite each other. Men are sometimes afraid of excitement in religion. But there is no danger
that Christians will ever be excited to love each other too much, or to perform too many good
works.
2. CLARKE, "And let us consider one another - Κατανοωµεν· Let us diligently and
attentively consider each other’s trials, difficulties, and weaknesses; feel for each other, and
excite each other to an increase of love to God and man; and, as the proof of it, to be fruitful in
good works. The words εις παροξυσµον, to the provocation, are often taken in a good sense, and
signify excitement, stirring up, to do any thing laudable, useful, honorable, or necessary.

167. Xenophon, Cyrop., lib. vi., page 108, speaking of the conduct of Cyrus towards his officers, says:
Και τουτους επαινων τε, παρωξυνε, και χαριζοµενος αυτοις ᆇ τι δυναιτο. “He by praises and
gifts excited them as much as possible.” See the note on Act_15:39, where the subject is farther
considered.
3. GILL, "And let us consider one another,.... Saints should consider one another as men,
that they are but men, of like passions and infirmities; they should consider their different
tempers, and make allowance for them, and their outward state and condition in the world: they
should consider one another as saints, partakers of the same grace; as that they are all loved
with the same love, all conceived and brought forth in the womb of God's eternal electing grace,
interested in the same covenant, redeemed by the same blood, and have the same graces and
privileges, and an equal right to glory; having one and the same Spirit, the same grace of faith,
the same righteousness, the same fountain to wash in, the same fulness to partake of, the same
throne of grace to go to, and the same inheritance to enjoy: they should consider one another as
church members, the grace and gifts of the another, their different age and standing in the
church, their relation to each other as brethren; they should consider them under suffering or
sorrowful circumstances, under afflictions, temptations, desertions, declensions, and as
attended with infirmities and sins: and the end of such consideration should be,
to provoke unto love; to brotherly love, to stir it up, and stir up to it, which is apt to wax cold,
that so it may be rekindled, and give a most vehement flame; for this is Christ's new
commandment, the bond of perfection, the evidence of regeneration, that which makes the
saints' communion comfortable and delightful, and without which a profession of religion is in
vain.
And to good works; not for justification before God, and in order to procure salvation; but
that God may be glorified, the Gospel adorned, the mouths of gainsayers stopped, faith
evidenced to the world, and gratitude to God for his benefits shown, and for the profit and
advantage of fellow creatures, and fellow Christians.
4. HENRY, "We have the means prescribed for preventing our apostasy, and promoting our
fidelity and perseverance, Heb_10:24, Heb_10:25, etc. He mentions several; as, 1. That we
should consider one another, to provoke to love and to good works. Christians ought to have a
tender consideration and concern for one another; they should affectionately consider what
their several wants, weaknesses, and temptations are; and they should do this, not to reproach
one another, to provoke one another not to anger, but to love and good works, calling upon
themselves and one another to love God and Christ more, to love duty and holiness more, to love
their brethren in Christ more, and to do all the good offices of Christian affection both to the
bodies and the souls of each other. A good example given to others is the best and most effectual
provocation to love and good works. 2. Not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together,
Heb_10:25. It is the will of Christ that his disciples should assemble together, sometimes more
privately for conference and prayer, and in public for hearing and joining in all the ordinances of
gospel worship. There were in the apostles' times, and should be in every age, Christian
assemblies for the worship of God, and for mutual edification. And it seems even in those times
there were some who forsook these assemblies, and so began to apostatize from religion itself.
The communion of saints is a great help and privilege, and a good means of steadiness and
perseverance; hereby their hearts and hands are mutually strengthened. 3. To exhort one
another, to exhort ourselves and each other, to warn ourselves and one another of the sin and
danger of backsliding, to put ourselves and our fellow-christians in mind of our duty, of our

168. failures and corruptions, to watch over one another, and be jealous of ourselves and one another
with a godly jealousy. This, managed with a true gospel spirit, would be the best and most
cordial friendship. 4. That we should observe the approaching of times of trial, and be thereby
quickened to greater diligence: So much the more, as you see the day approaching. Christians
ought to observe the signs of the times, such as God has foretold. There was a day approaching,
a terrible day to the Jewish nation, when their city should be destroyed, and the body of the
people rejected of God for rejecting Christ. This would be a day of dispersion and temptation to
the chosen remnant. Now the apostle puts them upon observing what signs there were of the
approach of such a terrible day, and upon being the more constant in meeting together and
exhorting one another, that they might be the better prepared for such a day. There is a trying
day coming on us all, the day of our death, and we should observe all the signs of its
approaching, and improve them to greater watchfulness and diligence in duty.
5. JAMISON, "Here, as elsewhere, hope and love follow faith; the Pauline triad of Christian
graces.
consider — with the mind attentively fixed on “one another” (see on Heb_3:1),
contemplating with continual consideration the characters and wants of our brethren, so as to
render mutual help and counsel. Compare “consider,” Psa_41:1, and Heb_12:15, “(All) looking
diligently lest any fail of the grace of God.”
to provoke — Greek, “with a view to provoking unto love,” instead of provoking to hatred,
as is too often the case.
6. CALVIN, "And let us consider one another, etc. I doubt not but that he
addresses the Jews especially in this exhortation. It is wellknown how
great was the arrogance of that nation; being the posterity of Abraham,
they boasted that they alone, to the exclusion of all others, had been
chosen by the Lord to inherit the covenant of eternal life. Inflated by
such a privilege, they despised other nations, and wished to be thought
as being alone in the Church of God; nay, they superciliously arrogated
to themselves the name of being The Church. It was necessary for the
Apostles to labor much to correct this pride; and this, in my judgment,
is what the Apostle is doing here, in order that the Jews might not
bear it ill that the Gentiles were associated with them and united as
one body in the Church.
And first, indeed, he says, Let us consider one another; for God was
then gathering a Church both from the Jews and from the Gentiles,
between whom there had always been a great discord, so that their union
was like the combination of fire and water. Hence the Jews recoiled
from this, for they thought it a great indignity that the Gentiles,
should be made equal with them. To this goad of wicked emulation which
pricked them, the Apostle sets up another in opposition to it, even
that of love; or the word paroxusmos, which he uses, signifies the
ardor of contention. Then that the Jews might not be inflamed with
envy, and be led into contention, the Apostle exhorts them to a godly
emulation, even to stimulate one another to love.

169. 7. MURRAY LOVE AND GOOD WORKS.
X. 24. And let us consider one another, to provoke unto love and good
works.
WE have had the fulness of faith in which we are to draw nigh,
and the confession of hope we are to hold fast, now follows the
third of the sister graces : Let us consider one another let us
prove our love and care for each other in the effort to provoke
unto love and good works. These three thoughts form the sub
division of the practical part of the Epistle. Chap. xi. may well
be headed, The fulness of faith ; chap. xii. 1-14, The patience of
hope; and chap, xiii., Love and good works.
And let us consider one another. He that enters into the
Holiest enters into the home of eternal love ; the air he breathes
there is love ; the highest blessing he can receive there is a
heart in which the love of God is shed abroad in power by the
Holy Ghost, and which is on the path to be made perfect in
love. That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself
in the house of God remember this, Faith and hope shall pass
away, but love abideth ever. The chief of these is love.
Let us consider one another. When first we seek the entrance
into the Holiest, the thought is mostly of ourselves. And when
we have entered in in faith, it is as if it is all we can do to stand
before God, and wait on Him for what He has promised to do
for us. But it is not long before we perceive that the Holiest
and the Lamb are not for us alone ; that there are others within
with whom it is blessed to have fellowship in praising God ; that
there are some without who need our help to be brought in. It
is into the love of God that we have had access given us ; that
love enters our hearts ; and we see ourselves called to live like
Christ in entire devotion to those around us.
Let us consider one another. All the redeemed form one body.
Each one is dependent on the other, each one is for the welfare of
the other. Let us beware of the self-deception that thinks it pos
sible to enter the Holiest, into the nearest intercourse with God, in
the spirit of selfishness. It cannot be. The new and living way
Jesus opened up is the way of self-sacrificing love. The entrance
into the Holiest is given to us as priests, there to be filled with
the Spirit and the love of Christ, and to go out and bring God s
blessing to others.
Let us consider one another. The same Spirit that said,

170. Consider Christ Jesus take time, and give attention to know
Him well says to us, Consider one another take time, and
give attention to know the needs of your brethren around you.
How many are there whose circumstances are so unfavourable,
whose knowledge is so limited, whose whole life is so hopeless,
that there is but little prospect of their ever attaining the better life.
For them there is but one thing to be done : We that are strong
ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please our
selves. Each one who begins to see what the blessedness is of
a life in the full surrender to Christ should offer himself to
Christ, to be made His messenger to the feeble and the weary.
Consider one another, to provoke unto love and good
works. Love and good works: These are to be the aim of
the Church in the exercise of its fellowship. Everything that
can hinder love is to be sacrificed and set aside. Everything
that can promote, and prove, and provoke others to, love is to
be studied and performed.
And with love good works too. The Church has been re
deemed by Christ, to prove to the world what power He has to
cleanse from sin, to conquer evil, to restore to holiness and to
goodness. Let us consider one another, in every possible way,
to provoke, to stir up, to help to love and good works.
The chief thought is this : Life in the Holiest must be a life
of love. As earnest as the injunction, Let us draw nigh in
fulness of faith, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope, is
this, Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good
works. God is love. And all He has done for us in His Son,
as revealed in this Epistle, is love. And Christ is love. And
there can be no real access to God as a union with Him in His
holy will, no real communion with Him, but in the Spirit of love.
Our entering into the Holiest is mere imagination, if we do
not yield ourselves to the love of God in Christ, to be rilled
and used for the welfare and joy of our fellow-men.
O Christian ! study what love is. Study it in the word, in
Christ, in God. As thou seest Him to be an ever-flowing foun
tain of all goodness, who has His very being and glory in this,
that He lives in all that exists, and communicates to all His own
blessedness and perfection as far as they are capable of it, thou
wilt learn to acknowledge that he that loveth not hath not known
God. And thou wilt learn, too, to admit more deeply and truly
than ever before, that no effort of thy will can bring forth love ;
it must be given thee from above. This will become to thee

171. one of the chief joys and beauties of the Holiest of All, that there
thou canst wait on the God of love to fill thee with His love.
God hath the power to shed abroad His love in our hearts, by
the Holy Spirit given unto us. He has promised to give Christ,
so dwelling in our heart by faith, that we shall be rooted and
grounded in love, and know and have in us something of a love
that passeth knowledge. The very atmosphere of the Holiest is
love. Just as I breathe in the air in which I live, so the soul
that abides in the presence of God breathes the air of the upper
world. The promise held out to us, and the hour of its fulfil
ment, will come, when the love of God will be perfected in us,
and we are made perfect in love. Nowhere can this be but in
the Holiest ; but there most surely. Let us draw nigh in the
fulness of faith, and consider one another. While we are only
thinking of others to bring God s love to them, we shall find
God thinking of us, and filling us with it.
1. It is the very essence, the beauty, and the glory of the salvation of Christ, that it is for all.
He that truly receives It, as the Holy Spirit gives it, receives it as a salvation for all, and feels
himself impelled to communicate It to others. The baptism of fire is a baptism of redeeming love,
but that not as a mere emotion, but a power at once to consider and to care for others.
2. How impossible to love others and give all for them in our strength I This is one of the real
gifts to be waited for in the Holiest of all, to be received in the power of the pentecostal Spirit the
love of Qod so shed abroad in the heart, that we spontaneously, unceasingly, joyfully love, becausx
It Is our very nature.
8. DAVID REID, “
We sometimes sing, "Heaven is a wonderful place, filled with glory and grace." But heaven is a
place that will also be filled with people--all believers from the beginning of human history.
Won't it be fantastic to spend eternity with Abraham and Moses, David and Daniel, Peter, John
and Paul, as well as countless believers we have yet to learn about. Think of all the great
conversations we could have with the saints of all ages. It's going to be an exciting eternity!
"But, wait a minute," you say. "What about those believers I know now? I'm looking forward to
spending eternity with the saints of old, but do I really have to relate forever to all the believers I
know right now? Even that preacher who disagrees with my thoughts on certain Scriptures? Even
that brother who continually rubs me the wrong way? Even that sister I haven't spoken to in
years? Even that person who does nothing but criticize?" Yes, to all of the above! Heaven will
not be a place where we can have our own select circle of friends and hide from fellow believers
who never "saw it my way" here on earth! "But, wait another minute," you say. "Things will be
different then. We'll be with the Lord. We won't disagree over Scripture interpretation. We'll all
love each other automatically. Isn't that so?" Yes, once again. So, in view of these answers, the
question we should logically be asking ourselves is, "If then, why not now?" If we are going to

172. be "forced" to love all our brothers and sisters in heaven, why don't we get with the program
now?
The writer to the Hebrews may have had these thoughts in mind when he wrote the words,
"...and all the more as you see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25). In view of the evercloser
day of the Lord's return, we are told to relate to our fellow believers now. There is no way that
we can justify playing favorites with some while dodging others. We are "stuck" with
relating now to the believers with whom we will spend eternity!
Hebrews 10:2425 gives us three strong suggestions as to how we should relate to our fellow
believers now. We should stimulate one another (v24). We should meet together (v25). And we
should encourageeach other (v25). This teaching was given to the believers of the first century,
but as God's Word it certainly applies to us today. In fact, since we are closer than ever before to
the Lord's return, it applies "all the more as we see the Day approaching" (v25).
What does "stimulate one another to love and good deeds" mean? The word "stimulate" or
"provoke" can be used in a positive sense or a negative sense. That may be the very reason why
the writer used it in this Scripture. The Hebrew believers may have been provoking one another
wrongly by criticizing, holding grudges and spending too much time arguing. The Hebrews were
urged to stir one another up in positive directions. Instead of bad-mouthing and needling one
another, they were to be energetic in motivating and spurring one another toward love and good
works.
Is this advice applicable to Christians today? Need we ask? We use too much time and energy in
negative dealings with fellow believers. We talk about them. We become jealous of them. We
judge them. We look down on them. We barely tolerate and even ignore some of them! How
much better it would be if we could channel our energies into stimulating each other
in positive ways.
How can we stimulate one another to love and good works? First of all, we can and must set a
good example ourselves. Good role models stimulate! Opening your apartment or house for
Bible studies or for helping needy people "provokes" some other believers to do the same.
Loaning your car and using your weekends to help in teen ministries automatically produces
convicting stimulation in other believers. You don't have to tell fellow believers what you are
doing and what they are not doing for the Lord--they'll see it in action!
Another way to stimulate one another to love and good deeds is to compliment fellow believers
on the positive things they are doing. You may not be able to find much to commend, but
compliments can go a long way towards motivating a person to further expressions of love and
good deeds. Even a brief word of thanks to a fellow believer for helping with the music or the
setup for a church function may stimulate this Christian to become further involved the next time
around.
Stimulating other believers to love and good deeds is not easy. It's work! That's why the word
"consider" is used. This word in Greek emphasizes the use of the mind. God is telling us to to
think through and plan out how we can stimulate fellow believers to greater expressions of love
and good deeds. If at first we don't succeed, let's "consider" another way and try again!

173. In the first part of verse 25, we are told "not to forsake assembling together, as is the habit of
some." Apparently some of the Hebrews were sporadic in their attendance and were not
associating with their fellow believers. Why? There could have been any number of reasons. In
view of what follows in verse 26, as well as the historical context of the book of Hebrews, the
primary reason for the desertion of some of those Hebrew Christians was that they were attracted
once again to the colorful ritual of Judaism. In fact, some who had entered the fellowship showed
that their profession of faith was false by abandoning the fellowship. Others in the church shied
away because of increasing public hostility directed towards Christian worship. Still others
thought that they were spiritually superior and did not need or want the help and fellowship of
other believers. And then, of course, there were those who were weary, or just plain lazy, and did
not make any effort to exert themselves to be involved in the local fellowship.
It doesn't take much insight to see that the same rationalizations exist today for believers to
"forsake the assembling together" with fellow Christians. Why not watch a more exciting
preacher on TV? Why go to church so often that I risk being called a religious fanatic by my
friends and neighbors? Do I really need the fellowship of those intellectually inferior or "social
misfit" Christians that much? Why should I bother to make an effort to attend all the fellowship
activities when I already have heavy business and social schedules?
The Hebrew believers who were shunning the fellowship--for whatever reason--were wrong.
They needed Christian fellowship. The author's point was not that all members of the fellowship
must support the church by attendance at all services. His intention was not to provide legalistic
Christians--both then and now--with a proof text for hounding their fellow believers to appear at
all the services or else be perceived as unspiritual! No, the point is that believers need to relate to
one another in Christian fellowship or their Christian growth will be stunted and incomplete.
Even though we may be disillusioned with certain people or uptight with certain programs in our
Christian fellowships, these are not legitimate reasons for staying away. They may even be
excuses! Remember, we will never be 100 percent satisfied with any particular church or
fellowship group, and there will always be things that irk us about certain of our fellow believers,
but we must hang in there. We cannot function as God intended apart from body life. The Holy
Spirit dwells within the individual Christian (1 Corinthians 6:19), but the local church (Christians
gathered together) is also His Temple (1 Corinthians 3:16). According to Ephesians 3:10 and its
context, God displays His manifold wisdom through Christians gathered together. Let us make
the extra effort to meet together so that the fullness of God's plan is not hindered.
In the second half of verse 25, a third characteristic of conduct among believers is commanded.
We should encourage one another. The word "encourage" means to "call to one's side" in order
to help in time of need. That help may take a variety of forms--whatever is needed. That's why
the same word is used of the Holy Spirit as Comforter or Counselor or Helper (1 Corinthians
16:7) as well as of Christ as our Advocate or Defender (1 John 2:1).
More than ever, Christians in the western world need encouragement. They are increasingly
isolated from their primary support group--their natural families. Job transfers, marital breakups,
parents retiring to different locations--many reasons may contribute to the feeling people have
today of being alone in an unfriendly world. The family of believers must be prepared to step in
and fill the needs of family members, just the way a natural family would rally around to help,
support, counsel and encourage its own brothers, sisters or parents when they are in need.

174. Are we encouraging one another? Look around! Does some fellow "family member" need to be
comforted because of an unexpected misfortune that took place this past week? Give a call or
visit of comfort. Even better--be a true "brother" or "sister" and actively help that person back on
his or her feet! Does some Christian friend need your counsel right now? Sharing from your own
experience may be exactly what's needed. Is there a believer who needs your help because of a
family or marital problem? Don't be afraid to be a "sister" or a "brother." Go to them with
concern and perhaps confrontation (and remember not to sound "holier than thou!"). Comforting,
counseling, caring and confronting are all forms of encouragement in the biblical sense. There
are many needs among our Christian friends and in the church family. Don't leave the
monumental task of meeting all the needs to your church leaders. Let us all obey Scripture and
begin to encourage one another.
Do you need encouragement right now? Don't be afraid to call on another believer for help. We
are to encourage one another and the initiation of the process does not always have to come
from the encourager. As we call on the Lord, our Great Encourager, so we can call on His
imperfect servants as encouragers. In fact, asking for help is another way to stimulate fellow
believers to love and good deeds. Your call for assistance may be just what God intended to
motivate another believer. Don't let personal or family pride block the means that God has
provided for your encouragement.
In this text the Holy Spirit uses "the approaching Day" to motivate us to relate properly and
enjoy happy fellowship with other Christians. Think ahead. Will we want to stand before the
Lord in that Day, knowing that we haven't been willing to help or encourage or even been able to
get along with some of His people here on earth? Are there any reasons or excuses that He will
find acceptable? In view of the imminent return of our Lord, let us consider "all the more" how
we can practice togetherness, be encouragers and stimulate one another to love and good works.
25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in
the habit of doing, but let us encourage one
another--and all the more as you see the Day
approaching.
1. BARNES, "
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together - That is, for purposes of public
worship. Some expositors have understood the word rendered here as “assembling” - ᅚπισυναγω
ᆱν episunagogen - as meaning “the society of Christians,” or the church; and they have supposed

175. that the object of the apostle here is, to exhort them. not to apostatize from the church. The
arguments for this opinion may be seen at length in Kuinoel, in loc. But the more obvious
interpretation is what is commonly adopted, that it refers to public worship. The Greek word
(the noun) is used nowhere else in the New Testament, except in 2Th_2:1, where it is rendered
“gathering together.” The verb is used in Mat_23:37; Mat_24:31; Mar_1:33; Mar_13:27;
Luk_12:1; Luk_13:34, in all which places it is rendered “gathered together.” It properly means
an act of assembling, or a gathering together, and is nowhere used in the New Testament in the
sense of an assembly, or the church. The command, then, here is, to meet together for the
worship of God, and it is enjoined on Christians as an important duty to do it. It is implied, also,
that there is blame or fault where this is “neglected.”
As the manner of some is - Why those here referred to neglected public worship, is not
specified. It may have been from such causes as the following:
(1) Some may have been deterred by the fear of persecution, as those who were thus
assembled would be more exposed to danger than others.
(2) Some may have neglected the duty because they felt no interest in it - as professing
Christians now sometimes do.
(3) It is possible that some may have had doubts about the necessity and propriety of this
duty, and on that account may have neglected it.
(4) Or it may perhaps have been, though we can hardly suppose that this reason existed, that
some may have neglected it from a cause which now sometimes operates - from
dissatisfaction with a preacher, or with some member or members of the church, or with
some measure in the church.
Whatever were the reasons, the apostle says that they should not be allowed to operate, but
that Christians should regard it as a sacred duty to meet together for the worship of God. None
of the causes above suggested should deter people from this duty. With all who bear the
Christian name, with all who expect to make advances in piety and religious knowledge, it
should be regarded as a sacred duty to assemble together for public worship. Religion is social;
and our graces are to be strengthened and invigorated by waiting together on the Lord. There is
an obvious propriety that people should assemble together for the worship of the Most High,
and no Christian can hope that his graces will grow, or that he can perform his duty to his
Maker, without uniting thus with those who love the service of God.
But exhorting one another - That is, in your assembling together a direction which proves
that it is proper for Christians to exhort one another when they are gathered together for public
worship. Indeed there is reason to believe that the preaching in the early Christian assemblies
partook much of the character of mutual exhortation.
And so much the more as ye see the day approaching - The term “day” here refers to
some event which was certainly anticipated, and which was so well understood by them that no
particular explanation was necessary. It was also some event that was expected soon to occur,
and in relation to which there were indications then of its speedily arriving. If it had not been
something which was expected soon to happen, the apostle would have gone into a more full
explanation of it, and would have stated at length what these indications were. There has been
some diversity of opinion about what is here referred to, many commentators supposing that the
reference is to the anticipated second coming of the Lord Jesus to set up a visible kingdom on
the earth; and others to the fact that the period was approaching when Jerusalem was to be
destroyed, and when the services of the temple were to cease. So far as the language is
concerned, the reference might be to either event, for the word a “day” is applied to both in the
New Testament. The word would properly be understood as referring to an expected period
when something remarkable was to happen which ought to have an important influence on their
character and conduct. In support of the opinion that it refers to the approaching destruction of

176. Jerusalem, and not to the coming of the Lord Jesus to set up a visible kingdom, we may adduce
the following considerations:
(1) The term used - “day” - will as properly refer to that event as to any other. It is a word
which would be likely to suggest the idea of distress, calamity, or judgment of some kind, for so
it is often used in the Scriptures; comp Psa_27:13; 1Sa_26:10; Jer_30:7; Eze_21:5; notes
Isa_2:12.
(2) Such a period was distinctly predicted by the Saviour, and the indications which would
precede it were clearly pointed out; see Matt. 24. That event was then so near that the Saviour
said that “that generation would not pass” until the prediction had been fulfilled; Mat_24:34.(3)
The destruction of Jerusalem was an event of great importance to the Hebrews, and to the
Hebrew Christians to whom this Epistle was directed, and it might be reasonable to suppose that
the apostle Paul would refer to it.
(4) It is not improbable that at the time of writing this Epistle there were indications that that
day was approaching. Those indications were of so marked a character that when the time
approached they could not well be mistaken (see Mat_24:6-12, Mat_24:24, Mat_24:26), and it
is probable that they had already begun to appear.
(5) There were no such indications that the Lord Jesus was about to appear to set up a visible
kingdom. It was not a fact that that was about to occur, as the result has shown; nor is there any
positive proof that the mass of Christians were expecting it, and no reason to believe that the
apostle Paul had any such expectation; see 2Th_2:1-5.
(6) The expectation that the destruction of Jerusalem was referred to, and was about to occur,
was just what might be expected to produce the effect on the minds of the Hebrew Christians
which the apostle here refers to. It was to be a solemn and fearful event. It would be a
remarkable manifestation of God. It would break up the civil and ecclesiastical polity of the
nation, and would scatter them abroad. It would require all the exercise of their patience and
faith in passing through these scenes. It might be expected to be a time when many would be
tempted to apostatize, and it was proper, therefore, to exhort them to meet together, and to
strengthen and encourage each other as they saw that that event was drawing near. The
argument then would be this. The danger against which the apostle desired to guard those to
whom he was writing was, that of apostasy from Christianity to Judaism. To preserve them from
this, he urges the fact that the downfall of Judaism was near, and that every indication which
they saw of its approach ought to be allowed to influence them, and to guard them from that
danger.
It is for reasons such as these that I suppose the reference here is not to the “second advent” of
the Redeemer, but to the approaching destruction of Jerusalem. At the same time, it is not
improper to use this passage as an exhortation to Christians to fidelity when they shall see that
the end of the world draws nigh, and when they shall perceive indications that the Lord Jesus is
about to come. And so of death. We should be the more diligent when we see the indications that
the great Messenger is about to come to summon us into the presence of our final Judge. And
who does not know that he is approaching him with silent and steady footsteps, and that even
now he may be very near? Who can fail to see in himself indications that the time approaches
when he must lie down and die? Every pang that we suffer should remind us of this; and when
the hair changes its hue, and time makes furrows in the cheek, and the limbs become feeble, we
should regard them as premonitions that he is coming, and should be more diligent as we see
that be is drawing near.
2. CLARKE, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves - Επισυναγωγην ᅛαυτων.
Whether this means public or private worship is hard to say; but as the word is but once more

177. used in the New Testament, (2Th_2:1), and there means the gathering together of the redeemed
of the Lord at the day of judgment, it is as likely that it means here private religious meetings,
for the purpose of mutual exhortation: and this sense appears the more natural here, because it
is evident that the Church was now in a state of persecution, and therefore their meetings were
most probably held in private. For fear of persecution, it seems as if some had deserted these
meetings, καθως εθος τισιν, as the custom of certain persons is. They had given up these
strengthening and instructive means, and the others were in danger of following their example.
The day approaching - Την ᅧµεραν· That day - the time in which God would come and
pour out his judgments on the Jewish nation. We may also apply it to the day of death and the
day of judgment. Both of these are approaching to every human being. He who wishes to be
found ready will carefully use every means of grace, and particularly the communion of saints, if
there be even but two or three in the place where he lives, who statedly meet together in the
name of Christ. Those who relinquish Christian communion are in a backsliding state; those
who backslide are in danger of apostasy. To prevent this latter, the apostle speaks the awful
words following. See at the end of this chapter (Heb_10:39 (note)).
3. GILL, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,.... Or the episynagogue
of one another; which word is used to distinguish Christian assemblies from Jewish synagogues,
and to denote the coalition of Jews and Gentiles in one church state, and to express the saints'
gathering together to Christ; see 2Th_2:1 and their act of meeting together in some one place to
attend his worship, word, and ordinances. Now to "forsake" such assembling, signifies a great
infrequency in attending with the saints, a rambling from place to place, and takes in an entire
apostasy. It is the duty of saints to assemble together for public worship, on the account of God,
who has appointed it, who approves of it, and whose glory is concerned in it; and on the account
of the saints themselves, that they may be delighted, refreshed, comforted, instructed, edified,
and perfected; and on account of others, that they may be convinced, converted, and brought to
the knowledge and faith of Christ; and in imitation of the primitive saints. And an assembling
together ought not to be forsaken; for it is a forsaking God, and their own mercies, and such are
like to be forsaken of God; nor is it known what is lost hereby; and it is the first outward visible
step to apostasy, and often issues in it.
As the manner of some is; or custom; and this prevailing custom among these Jews might
arise from contempt of the Gentiles, or from fear of reproach and persecution: and in our day,
this evil practice arises sometimes from a vain conceit of being in no need of ordinances, and
from an over love of the world, and from a great declension in the exercise of grace; the
consequence of it is very bad. The Jews (a) reckon among those that go down to hell, and perish,
and have no part in the world to come, ‫הפורשים‬‫מדרכי‬‫צבור‬ , "who separate from the ways of the
congregation"; that is, who do not do the duties thereof, attend with it, and fast when that does,
and the like:
but exhorting one another; to prayer, to attend public worship, to regard all the duties of
religion, to adhere to Christ, and a profession of him, and to consider him, and walk on in him:
or "comforting one another"; by meeting privately together, and conferring about experience,
and the doctrines of grace; and by observing to one another the promises of God, relating to
public worship; and by putting each other in mind of the bright day of the Lord, that is coming
on:

178. and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching; either of death, or the last
judgment, or rather of Jerusalem's destruction; which at the writing of this epistle was near at
hand; and was an affair that greatly concerned these Hebrews; and by various symptoms might
be observed by them, as approaching; and which was no inconsiderable argument to engage
them to a diligent discharge of their duty; unless the day of darkness, infidelity, and blasphemy
in the last days of the world, should be intended, after which will succeed the latter day glory.
4. COFFMAN, "Verse 25
Not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some
is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the
day drawing near.
CONCERNING THE ASSEMBLY
Our own assembling together
is a reference to the Lord's day worship of the church, the regular Sunday
services of congregations of believers, as set in motion by the apostles,
honored by disciples in all ages, and fully recognized as a sacred obligation
for all Christians by the author of Hebrews who penned this formal
commandment regarding church attendance. The significance of this is that
even prior to this epistle, faithful and regular church attendance was a
distinctive characteristic of the faith in Christ. Pliny, a secular writer about
112 A.D., made a report to the emperor Trajan in which he unconsciously
bore witness to certain vital aspects of Christianity. Of special interest was
the witness he bore to the tenacity maintained by the Christians in regard to
their assemblies. They attended the regular worship services in spite of
every hindrance. Legal meetings on a publicly recognized day of rest, as in
these days, were impossible. Christians met in the darkness of pre-dawn
assemblies; and no impediment whatever was allowed to interfere. As Pliny
said, "On an appointed day they had been accustomed to meet before
daybreak." F30
He went ahead to relate that their services were nothing of a
scandalous or improper kind, that they partook of a meal of the most
harmless and ordinary variety, that each sang a hymn to Christ as God, and
that they bound themselves with a promise not to commit fornication or
theft or any other crime. This witness of Pliny reaches back to within a very
few years of the apostles themselves and is a valuable independent
testimony bearing upon the faith.
What was the scriptural foundation upon which attendance of public worship
was so solidly grounded and perpetuated at such cost of personal
inconvenience and even danger to the Christians? Evidently, Christ himself
initiated the weekly meeting of the disciples on the first day of the week,
actually attending them himself on successive Lord's days after he was risen

179. from the dead. Thus he was present on a certain Lord's day, Thomas being
absent, and again on the following first day of the week, Thomas being
present (John 20:19-28). The establishment and beginning of the church on
Pentecost occurred on just such a first day of the week when the disciples
were gathered together. Such references as "Let every one of you lay by him
in store on the first day of the week" (1 Corinthians 16:2), and "When the
disicples came together on the first day of the week to break bread" (Acts
20:7), and "If there come into your assemblies a man with a gold ring, etc."
(James 2:2-4) constitute the most positive and certain proof that regular
assemblies were held by the church on the first day of the week; and the
latter of these shows that the assemblies were of a public nature, open to
the man with the gold ring, no less than to the poor. The second of the
passages cited shows that the assembly was built around the Lord's Supper,
the observance of which was the purpose of coming together. The apostle
James' instructions to ushers, cited above, show that the assemblies were of
divine origin. From all these, it is plain that the Christian assemblies on the
first day of the week existed from the earliest Christian times, derived their
authority from Christ and the apostles, and that it is no light thing to
disregard them.
Perhaps there is nothing so much needed in current America as a return to
the old-fashioned virtue of church attendance. Our beloved nation was
founded by a generation of church-goers; and, although the Puritans and the
settlers at Jamestown have been made to appear rather ridiculous in
contemporary literature, being hailed as dull, hypocritical, and intolerant; it
is nevertheless true that such a caricature is false. They were not dull or
uninteresting. The eloquent literature of those far-off days denies the
current slanders against that generation of spiritual giants who lived on the
highest plane of religious conviction, whose emotions ebbed and flowed with
the tides of eternity, and whose men of letters, such as Whittier, Hawthorne,
and Longfellow, captured in their writings the immortal loveliness of that
people. Moreover, as the noted radio preacher, Charles L. Goodell, said,
"Wherever there is a town meeting house, a free school, a free church, or an
open Bible, those forbears of ours might lay their hands upon them and say,
`All these are our children'." Our greatest institutions are the fruits of their
church-going; and when any generation shall forsake the house of prayer
and worship, that generation is dangerously near to losing those institutions
inherited through the piety of others.
As for the cliche that "mere church attendance" is without value, we do not
speak of "mere" church attendance, but of wholehearted, sincere, devout,
and faithful public worship of Almighty God through Christ; and as for the
falsehood that people can worship God anywhere they are, it is refuted by
the fact that they don't! When people do not attend worship, they do not
give, nor pray, nor sing God's praise, nor observe the Lord's Supper, nor

180. study the sacred scriptures, all of which things are related to the public
worship and have practically no existence apart from it.
Then let people heed the commandment in this verse that they should not
forsake the assembly of the church; and the fact that some do, as was the
case then, is no permission for the faithful to follow an unfaithful example.
Reasons why people forsake the assembly are rationally explained, ardently
advocated by them that wish to defect, and established with all kinds of
charges, excuses, allegations, and insinuations against the church; but the
only true reason for disobeying this basic commandment is simply unbelief,
or the carelessness and sin which lead to unbelief.
But exhorting one another
again brings into view the esprit de corps so vital to spiritual growth and
attainment. Through this epistle (Hebrews 3:6,13, etc.), the necessity for
constant encouragement and exhortation of the believing community is
emphasized. Mutual exhortation is the divine means of counteracting the
host of evil influences and distractions which are the perpetual enemies of
faith.
And so much the more, as ye see the day drawing nigh
has been variously interpreted as the Lord's day, or first day of the week,
the day of death, the day of judgment, or the day of destruction of
Jerusalem. Basing his argument upon the usual import of the Greek word
here translated "day," Westcott was sure that the reference is to the day of
judgment, F31
a position rejected by Milligan who was equally certain it
referred to the approaching fall of Jerusalem. F32
A harmony of these two
learned opinions, both of which were supported by able argument, may be
achieved by understanding the "day" as a reference to the final judgment as
TYPIFIED by the fall of Jerusalem, the latter indeed being very near at hand
and easily seen by all as "approaching" in the political developments of that
period when Hebrews was written. In Matt. 24, by answering three questions
with one set of answers, Jesus mingled the prophecies of the fall of
Jerusalem and the temple with those of the final judgment in such manner
that they would appear to be simultaneous events. That the interpretation of
those events to be simultaneous was indeed an error, we know; but it would
have been far too much to have expected the generation that first received
Hebrews to have known this; because, as Barmby noted,
The blending together of the discourses in Matt. 24 and Mark 13, of the
times of the fall of Jerusalem and of the final day, would naturally lead
Christians to regard the signs of the first event as denoting the other
also. F33
Any imputation of error on the part of the apostles and prophets of the New
Testament, to the effect that they regarded the final judgment to be near at

181. hand in their day, is not correct. There are very definite and concise
teachings in the scriptures which represent the final judgment as an event
far removed from that generation. Jesus plainly indicated that a very long
period would intervene before his second coming (Matthew 24:48; 25:19);
Paul warned that before the judgment, "the falling away must come first"
(2 Thessalonians 2:3); and yet there was surely a conscious ambiguity in the
words of the Holy Spirit in all references to the final judgment, the apparent
reason for this being, according to Trench, that
It is a necessary element of the doctrine of the second coming of Christ, that
it should be POSSIBLE at any time, that no generation should consider it
improbable in theirs. F34
Thus, any allegation that the holy writers were untaught or ignorant with
regard to the coming of that final day is, as Lenski said,
Groundless, as is every fear that the New Testament writers were mistaken
as to the day of judgment. Jesus told the apostles that no man is to know
even "times or periods" (Acts 1:7), to say nothing of the exact day; that he
himself (in his humiliation) did not know the day; but that we must ever see
the signs of its approach, ever ready for its arrival, in constant expectation
of it. All the New Testament writers speak accordingly; we do the same
today. F35
The conclusion, therefore, seems safe that the "day approaching" of this
verse refers to the fall of the Holy City when Christ would "take away the
first" that he might establish the new covenant; and the Holy Spirit
influenced the writer of Hebrews in the choice of words that certainly
included the destruction of Jerusalem, no less than the greater final event it
typified.
5. JAMISON, "assembling of ourselves together — The Greek, “episunagoge,” is only
found here and 2Th_2:1 (the gathering together of the elect to Christ at His coming,
Mat_24:31). The assembling or gathering of ourselves for Christian communion in private and
public, is an earnest of our being gathered together to Him at His appearing. Union is strength;
continual assemblings together beget and foster love, and give good opportunities for
“provoking to good works,” by “exhorting one another” (Heb_3:13). Ignatius says, “When ye
frequently, and in numbers meet together, the powers of Satan are overthrown, and his mischief
is neutralized by your likemindedness in the faith.” To neglect such assemblings together might
end in apostasy at last. He avoids the Greek term “sunagoge,” as suggesting the Jewish
synagogue meetings (compare Rev_2:9).
as the manner of some is — “manner,” that is, habit, custom. This gentle expression
proves he is not here as yet speaking of apostasy.
the day approaching — This, the shortest designation of the day of the Lord’s coming,
occurs elsewhere only in 1Co_3:13; a confirmation of the Pauline authorship of this Epistle. The
Church being in all ages kept uncertain how soon Christ is coming, the day is, and has been, in

182. each age, practically always near; whence, believers have been called on always to be watching
for it as nigh at hand. The Hebrews were now living close upon One of those great types and
foretastes of it, the destruction of Jerusalem (Mat_24:1, Mat_24:2), “the bloody and fiery dawn
of the great day; that day is the day of days, the ending day of all days, the settling day of all
days, the day of the promotion of time into eternity, the day which, for the Church, breaks
through and breaks off the night of the present world” [Delitzsch in Alford].
6. CALVIN, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, etc. This
confirms the view that has been given. The composition of the Greek
word ought to be noticed; for episignifies an addition; then
episunagoge, assembling together, means a congregation increased by
additions. The wall of partition having been pulled down, God was then
gathering those as his children who had been aliens from the Church; so
the Gentiles were a new and unwonted addition to the Church. This the
Jews regarded as a reproach to them, so that many made a secession from
the Church, thinking that such a mixture afforded them a just excuse;
nor could they be easily induced to surrender their own right; and
further, they considered the right of adoption as peculiar, and as
belonging exclusively to themselves. The Apostle, therefore, warns
them, lest this equality should provoke them to forsake the Church; and
that he might not seem to warn them for no reason, he mentions that
this neglect was common to many. [178]
We now understand the design of the apostle, and what was the necessity
that constrained him to give this exhortation. We may at the same time
gather from this passage a general doctrine:
It is an evil which prevails everywhere among mankind, that every one
sets himself above others, and especially that those who seem in
anything to excel cannot well endure their inferiors to be on an
equality with themselves. And then there is so much morosity almost in
all, that individuals would gladly make churches for themselves if they
could; for they find it so difficult to accommodate themselves to the
ways and habits of others. The rich envy one another; and hardly one in
a hundred can be found among the rich, who allows to the poor the name
and rank of brethren. Unless similarity of habits or some allurements
or advantages draw us together, it is very difficult even to maintain a
continual concord among ourselves. Extremely needed, therefore, by us
all is the admonition to be stimulated to love and not to envy, and not
to separate from those whom God has joined to us, but to embrace with
brotherly kindness all those who are united to us in faith. And surely
it behaves us the more earnestly to cultivate unity, as the more
eagerly watchful Satan is, either to tear us by any means from the
Church, or stealthily to seduce us from it. And such would be the happy
effect, were no one to please himself too much, and were all of us to
preserve this one object, mutually to provoke one another to love, and

183. to allow no emulation among ourselves, but that of doing "good works".
For doubtless the contempt of the brethren, moroseness, envy,
immoderate estimate of ourselves, and other sinful impulses, clearly
show that our love is either very cold, or does not at all exist.
Having said, "Not forsaking the assembling together," he adds, But
exhorting one another; by which he intimates that all the godly ought
by all means possible to exert themselves in the work of gathering
together the Church on every side; for we are called by the Lord on
this condition, that every one should afterwards strive to lead others
to the truth, to restore the wandering to the right way, to extend a
helping hand to the fallen, to win over those who are without. But if
we ought to bestow so much labor on those who are yet aliens to the
flock of Christ, how much more diligence is required in exhorting the
brethren whom God has already joined to us?
As the manner of some is, etc. It hence appears that the origin of all
schisms was, that proud men, despising others, pleased themselves too
much. But when we hear that there were faithless men even in the age of
the Apostles, who departed from the Church, we ought to be less shocked
and disturbed by similar instances of defection which we may see in the
present day. It is indeed no light offense when men who had given some
evidence of piety and professed the same faith with us, fall away from
the living God; but as it is no new thing, we ought, as I have already
said, to be less disturbed by such an event. But the Apostle introduced
this clause to show that he did not speak without a cause, but in order
to apply a remedy to a disease that was making progress.
And so much the more, etc. Some think this passage to be of the same
import with that of Paul,
"It is time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than
when we believed." (Romans 13:11.)
But I rather think that reference is here made to the last coming of
Christ, the expectation of which ought especially to rouse us to the
practice of a holy life as well as to careful and diligent efforts in
the work of gathering together the Church. For to what end did Christ
come except to collect us all into one body from that dispersion in
which we are now wandering? Therefore, the nearer his coming is, the
more we ought to labor that the scattered may be assembled and united
together, that there may be one fold and one shepherd (John 10:16.)
Were any one to ask, how could the Apostle say that those who were as
yet afar off from the manifestation of Christ, saw the day near and
just at hand? I would answer, that from the beginning of the kingdom of

184. Christ the Church was so constituted that the faithful ought to have
considered the Judge as coming soon; nor were they indeed deceived by a
false notion, when they were prepared to receive Christ almost every
moment; for such was the condition of the Church from the time the
Gospel was promulgated, that the whole of that period might truly and
properly be called the last. They then who have been dead many ages ago
lived in the last days no less than we. Laughed at is our simplicity in
this respect by the worldlywise and scoffers, who deem as fabulous all
that we believe respecting the resurrection of the flesh and the last
judgment; but that our faith may not fail through their mockery, the
Holy Spirit reminds us that a thousand years are before God as one day,
(2 Peter 3:8;) so that whenever we think of the eternity of the
celestial kingdom no time ought to appear long to us. And further,
since Christ, after having completed all things necessary for our
salvation, has ascended into heaven, it is but reasonable that we who
are continually looking for his second manifestation should regard
every day as though it were the last.
7. MURRAY, THE ASSEMBLING TOGETHER.
X. 25. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the custom
of some is, but exhorting one another ; and so much the more, as ye see the
day drawing nigh.
THE inward and the outward must ever go together. As there
is in every man a hidden inner life of the soul, along with the
outer life of the body, so too in the Church of Christ. All its
members are one body ; the inward unity must be proved in
active exercise, it must be seen in the assembling together. The
assembling of His saints has its ground in a divine appointment
as well as in the very nature of things ; all who have entered
into the Holiest to meet their God must turn to the meeting of
His people. The tabernacle of old was the tent of meeting ; to
meet God and to meet our fellow-men are equally needful.
Among the Hebrews it was already the custom with some to
forsake the assembling together ; it was one of the dangerous
symptoms of backsliding. They are reminded, not only of the
personal duty of each to be faithful, but also to care for others,
and to exhort one another. For exercise and strengthening of
the faith and hope and love, to which we have just been urged ;
for the full development of the life in the Holiest of All ; for the
helping and comforting of all who are feeble ; for the cultivation
of the fellowship of the Spirit and the Word the assembling of
ourselves together has unspeakable value. Let us listen to the
exhortation, in connection with our entrance into the Holiest.

185. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the
custom of some is.
If we would rightly apprehend the import of this word let us
not forget the link to its context. Our section has been teaching
us what life in the Holiest is to be. As those who have drawn
near to God we are to draw near to our fellow-men. Meeting
God is a thing of infinite blessedness and peace and power.
Meeting our fellow-men is often accompanied with so much of
weakness, distraction, and failure that some have thought it
indeed better to forsake the assembling together. Let us see
how life in the Holiest of All points to both the duty and the
power of our assemblies.
It suggests the duty. The Holiest of All is the home of
eternal love. It is love dwells there. It is love that came forth
from there to seek me and bring me in. It is into the everlast
ing love I have been welcomed and taken in. It is love that has
been shed abroad in my heart. My entrance in was only in the
path of self-sacrifice ; my abiding there can only be as one dead
to self and filled with love. And love seeketh not its own ; it
gives itself away, and only lives to make others partakers of its
happiness. And it loves the assembly of God s people, not only
for what it needs and hopes to receive, but for the communion
of saints, and the help it can give in helping and encouraging
others.
It not only does this, but obeys the added injunction-
Exhorting one another. It seeks to watch over those who are
in danger of becoming unfaithful. It cares for those who have
grown careless in their neglect. True love is quick of invention ;
it devises means for making smaller or nearer or more attractive
assemblies forthose who have become estranged. It counts nothing
too humble or too difficult if it may but win back to the gather
ing of God s children those who may there be blessed and saved.
It lives in the Holiest of God s love ; it gives itself up to the one
work of winning others to know that love.
The life in the Holiest is thus not only the motive but the
power for doing the work aright. Yes, it is as those who profess
to have entered the Holiest of All truly draw near to God, and
prove the power of fellowship with Him, that they will have
power in prayer and speech and service among their fellow-
Christians. The Holiest of All is the place for daily worship
and consecration and intercession ; even a little band in the
assembly will have power to make the divine presence felt.

186. The worship in the place of prayer may become so linked to
the secret worship of the Holiest of All that its blessing may
come to those who have never known of it. God is willing so to
bless the fellowship of His redeemed that the assembly shall be
crowned with a fuller sense of His love and presence than ever
can be found in the solitary approach to Him. Wherefore,
brethren, having boldness to enter into the Holiest, let us draw
near; not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together, but
exhorting one another.
And so much the more as ye see the day approaching.
The writer has doubtless in view the then approaching day of
judgment on Jerusalem. We know not in how far the per
spective of prophecy was clearly revealed, and that day was con
nected with the coming of the Lord Himself. It is enough for
us to know that the fear of an approaching day of judgment was
the motive to which appeal is made ; and that, not only to
move the indifferent, but specially to urge the earnest to exhort
others. Christians need to be reminded of the terrible doom
hanging over the world, and of all the solemn eternal realities
connected with our Lord s coming in their bearing upon our
daily life. So will our efforts for helping and saving others all
be under the power of the thought of how short the time is, how
terrible the fate of those who perish, and how urgent the call for
everyone who knows redeeming love to do its work with all his
might. In the Holiest of All we hear the voice of warning, and
come out to save ere it be too late.
1. Note the intensely practical character of the gospel. Our section (19-25) is only one sen
tence. It begins with spiritual, heavenly mysteries ; it ends in the plainest rules for our conduct
to our fellow-men. Let us be sure that the deeper we enter into the perfection-teaching of chap,
vii.-x. the fitter we shall be to be a blessing in the world.
2. When Christ spoke His farewell discourse to His disciples one of the things He pressed
most urgently was that they should love one another. He loves all His redeemed ones, however
feeble or perverse they be, so intently, that He tells us that we cannot prove our real love to Him
in any other way than by loving them ; the proof of a real entrance into the Holiest of All, the
humility and gentleness and self-sacrifice with which we speak and think and prove our care of
one another.
3. Study carefully the connection between these last twelve meditations, and see to get a clear
hold of the unity of thought in this portion, the living centre of the Epistle.
8. FUDGE, “Such holy provocation can not occur with the forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together, although some had done just that. It happens rather by exhorting each other in
assemblies called far that purpose, as well in the normal course of daily life.
It has been suggested that these readers were still meeting in Jewish synagogue assemblies, but
remaining for Christian devotions on the Lord's Day. Some were neglecting this additional

187. assemblying, for which they are chided. Others have suggested that some were absenting
themselves from the regular assemblies of the saints through pride or party-spirit and were
holding private meetings instead.
It is best to take the passage in its context and simply say that those who have access to God's
presence and who have a high priest in heaven are to draw near to God, hold fast their own hope,
and encourage Christian loving and living in one another. They will not do this by calling an end
to Christian assemblies (through fear of persecution or simple indifference), but rather by
meeting together for exhortation.
Such encouragement is to intensify as the day is seen approaching. Throughout the Old
Testament literature "the day" means an occasion when God visits a people to punish sin and
deliver the righteous. The New Testament writers also speak of such a final day of punishment
and salvation. Before the destruction of Jerusalem, many early Christians did not know to
separate the end of the Jewish state and religion from the close of the present age and end of the
world (see Matthew 24:3; Acts 1:6-8). Jesus had taught, however, that the two would not come
together (Matthew 24:33, 36; Mark 13:29, 32).
The author to the Hebrews may write before or after the climactic days of the closing sixties.
Whatever the date, he speaks of the final day of the Lord -- the denouement of all human history
at the consummation of the age His readers had not learned to separate that "day" into the
separate events of resurrection, judgment and so forth, but thought of the entire event in terms of
the phrase from the Old Testament.
As Delitzsch puts it, this is "the day of days, the final, the decisive day of time, the commencing
day of eternity, breaking through and breaking up for the church of the redeemed the night of the
present." It is a poor argument that believers could not see this day approaching. James could
urge patience in affliction "for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh" (5:6-8). Paul could speak of
saints "knowing the time" that "the day is at hand" (Romans 13:11-12). Peter could write of
impending judgment and "the end of all things" as "at hand" (I Peter 4:5, 7). The word in all
three passages is the word translated approaching here. Furthermore, all three contexts contain
ethical instruction regarding proper conduct and mutual concern among Christian believers in
view of the impending end.
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have
received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for
sins is left,
1. BARNES, "For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of
the truth - If after we are converted and become true Christians we should apostatize, it would
be impossible to be recovered again, for there would be no other sacrifice for sin; no way by
which we could be saved. This passage, however, like Heb_6:4-6, has given rise to much

188. difference of opinion. But that the above is the correct interpretation, seems evident to me from
the following considerations:
(1) It is the natural and obvious interpretation, such as would occur probably to ninety-nine
readers in a hundred, if there were no theory to support, and no fear that it would conflict with
some other doctrine.
(2) It accords with the scope of the Epistle, which is, to keep those whom the apostle
addressed from returning again to the Jewish religion, under the trials to which they were
subjected.
(3) It is in accordance with the fair meaning of the language - the words “after that we have
received the knowledge of the truth,” referring more naturally to true conversion than to any
other state of mind.
(4) The sentiment would not be correct if it referred to any but real Christians. It would not be
true that one who had been somewhat enlightened, and who then sinned “wilfully,” must look
on fearfully to the judgment without a possibility of being saved. There are multitudes of cases
where such persons are saved. They “wilfully” resist the Holy Spirit; they strive against him; they
for a long time refuse to yield, but they are brought again to reflection, and are led to give their
hearts to God.
(5) It is true, and always will be true, that if a sincere Christian should apostatize he could
never be converted again; see the notes on Heb_6:4-6. The reasons are obvious. He would have
tried the only plan of salvation, and it would have failed. He would have embraced the Saviour,
and there would not have been efficacy enough in his blood to keep him, and there would be no
more powerful Saviour and no more efficacious blood of atonement. He would have renounced
the Holy Spirit, and would have shown that his influences were not effectual to keep him, and
there would be no other agent of greater power to renew and save him after he had apostatized.
For these reasons it seems clear to me that this passage refers to true Christians, and that the
doctrine here taught is, that if such an one should apostatize, he must look forward only to the
terrors of the judgment, and to final condemnation.
Whether this in fact ever occurs, is quite another question. In regard to that inquiry, see the
notes on Heb_6:4-6. If this view be correct, we may add, that the passage should not be
regarded as applying to what is commonly known as the “sin against the Holy Spirit,” or “the
unpardonable sin.” The word rendered “wilfully” - ᅛκουσίως hekousios - occurs nowhere else in
the New Testament, except in 1Pe_5:2, where it is rendered “willingly” - “taking the oversight
thereof (of the church) not by constraint, but willingly.” It properly means, “willingly,
voluntarily, of our own accord,” and applies to cases where no constraint is used. It is not to be
construed here strictly, or metaphysically, for all sin is voluntary, or is committed willingly, but
must refer to a deliberate act, where a man means to abandon his religion, and to turn away
from God. If it were to be taken with metaphysical exactness, it would demonstrate that every
Christian who ever does anything wrong, no matter how small, would be lost.
But this cannot, from the nature of the case, be the meaning. The apostle well knew that
Christians do commit such sins (see the notes on Rom. 7), and his object here is not to set forth
the danger of such sins, but to guard Christians against apostasy from their religion. In the
Jewish Law, as is indeed the case everywhere, a distinction is made between sins of oversight,
inadvertence, or ignorance, (Lev_4:2, Lev_4:13, Lev_4:22, Lev_4:27; Lev_5:15; Num_15:24,
Num_15:27-29; compare Act_3:17; Act_17:30), and sins of presumption; sins that are
deliberately and intentionally committed; see Exo_21:14; Num_15:30; Deu_17:12; Psa_19:13.
The apostle here has reference, evidently, to such a distinction, and means to speak of a decided
and deliberate purpose to break away from the restraints and obligations of the Christian
religion.

189. There remaineth no more sacrifice for sins - Should a man do this, there is no sacrifice
for sins which could save him. He would have rejected deliberately the only atonement made for
sin, and there will be no other made. It is as if a man should reject the only medicine that could
heal him, or push away the only boat that could save him when shipwrecked; see notes,
Heb_6:6. The sacrifice made for sin by the Redeemer is never to be repeated, and if that is
deliberately rejected, the soul must be lost.
2. CLARKE, "For if we sin wilfully - If we deliberately, for fear of persecution or from any
other motive, renounce the profession of the Gospel and the Author of that Gospel, after having
received the knowledge of the truth so as to be convinced that Jesus is the promised Messiah,
and that he had sprinkled our hearts from an evil conscience; for such there remaineth no
sacrifice for sins; for as the Jewish sacrifices are abolished, as appears by the declaration of God
himself in the fortieth Psalm, and Jesus being now the only sacrifice which God will accept,
those who reject him have none other; therefore their case must be utterly without remedy. This
is the meaning of the apostle, and the case is that of a deliberate apostate - one who has utterly
rejected Jesus Christ and his atonement, and renounced the whole Gospel system. It has nothing
to do with backsliders in our common use of that term. A man may be overtaken in a fault, or he
may deliberately go into sin, and yet neither renounce the Gospel, nor deny the Lord that bought
him. His case is dreary and dangerous, but it is not hopeless; no case is hopeless but that of the
deliberate apostate, who rejects the whole Gospel system, after having been saved by grace, or
convinced of the truth of the Gospel. To him there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin; for there
was but the One, Jesus, and this he has utterly rejected.
3. GILL, "For if we sin wilfully,.... Which is not to be understood of a single act of sin, but
rather of a course of sinning; nor of sins of infirmity through temptation, or even of grosser acts
of sin, but of voluntary ones; and not of all voluntary ones, or in which the will is engaged and
concerned, but of such which are done on set purpose, resolutely and obstinately; and not of
immoral practices, but of corrupt principles, and acting according to them; it intends a total
apostasy from the truth, against light and evidence, joined with obstinacy.
After that we have received the knowledge of the truth; either of Jesus Christ, or of the
Scriptures, or of the Gospel, or of some particular doctrine, especially the principal one,
salvation by Christ; of which there may be a notional knowledge, when there is no experimental
knowledge; and which is received not into the heart, but into the head: and whereas the apostle
speaks in the first person plural, we, this is used not so much with regard to himself, but others;
that so what he delivered might come with greater weight upon them, and be more readily
received by them; when they observed he entertained no hard thoughts or jealousies of them,
which would greatly distress the minds of those that were truly gracious. Moreover, the apostles
use this way of speaking, when they do not design themselves at all, but others, under the same
visible profession of religion, and who belonged to the same community of believers; see
1Pe_4:3 compared with Act_22:3. Besides, these words are only hypothetical, and do not
prove that true believers could, or should, or do sin in this manner: to which may be added, that
true believers are manifestly distinguished from these persons, Heb_10:38,
there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins; meaning, not typical sacrifice; for though the
daily sacrifice ought to have ceased at the death of Christ, yet it did not in fact until the
destruction of Jerusalem; but the sacrifice of Christ, which will never be repeated; Christ will die
no more; his blood will not be shed again, nor his sacrifice reiterated; nor will any other sacrifice

190. be offered; there will be no other Saviour; there is no salvation in any other, nor any other name
whereby we must be saved. These words have been wrongly made use of to prove that persons
sinning after baptism are not to be restored to communion again upon repentance; and being
understood of immoral actions wilfully committed, have given great distress to consciences
burdened with the guilt of sin, committed after a profession of religion; but the true sense of the
whole is this, that after men have embraced and professed the truths of the Gospel, and
particularly this great truth of it, that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour of men by his blood and
sacrifice; and yet after this, against all evidence, all the light and convictions of their own
consciences, they wilfully deny this truth, and obstinately persist in the denial of it; seeing there
is no more, no other sacrifice for sin, no other Saviour, nor any salvation in any other way, the
case of these men must be desperate; there is no help for them, nor hope of them; for by this
their sin they shut up against themselves, in principle and practice, the way of salvation, as
follows.
4. HENRY, " Having mentioned these means of establishment, the apostle proceeds, in the
close of the chapter, to enforce his exhortations to perseverance, and against apostasy, by many
very weighty considerations, Heb_10:26, Heb_10:27, etc.
1. From the description he gives of the sin of apostasy. It is sinning wilfully after we have
received the knowledge of the truth, sinning wilfully against that truth of which we have had
convincing evidence. This text has been the occasion of great distress to some gracious souls;
they have been ready to conclude that every wilful sin, after conviction and against knowledge, is
the unpardonable sin: but this has been their infirmity and error. The sin here mentioned is a
total and final apostasy, when men with a full and fixed will and resolution despise and reject
Christ, the only Saviour, - despise and resist the Spirit, the only sanctifier, - and despise and
renounce the gospel, the only way of salvation, and the words of eternal life; and all this after
they have known, owned, and professed, the Christian religion, and continue to do so
obstinately and maliciously. This is the great transgression: the apostle seems to refer to the law
concerning presumptuous sinners, Num_15:30, Num_15:31. They were to be cut off.
2. From the dreadful doom of such apostates. (1.) There remains no more sacrifice for such sins,
no other Christ to come to save such sinners; they sin against the last resort and remedy. There
were some sins under the law for which no sacrifices were provided; but yet if those who
committed them did truly repent, though they might not escape temporal death, they might
escape eternal destruction; for Christ would come, and make atonement. But now those under
the gospel who will not accept of Christ, that they may be saved by him, have no other refuge left
them.
5. JAMISON, "Compare on this and following verses, Heb_6:4, etc. There the warning was
that if there be not diligence in progressing, a falling off will take place, and apostasy may ensue:
here it is, that if there be lukewarmness in Christian communion, apostasy may ensue.
if we sin — Greek present participle: if we be found sinning, that is, not isolated acts, but a
state of sin [Alford]. A violation not only of the law, but of the whole economy of the New
Testament (Heb_10:28, Heb_10:29).
willfully — presumptuously, Greek “willingly.” After receiving “full knowledge (so the Greek,
compare 1Ti_2:4) of the truth,” by having been “enlightened,” and by having “tasted” a certain
measure even of grace of “the Holy Ghost” (the Spirit of truth, Joh_14:17; and “the Spirit of
grace,” Heb_10:29): to fall away (as “sin” here means, Heb_3:12, Heb_3:17; compare Heb_6:6)
and apostatize (Heb_3:12) to Judaism or infidelity, is not a sin of ignorance, or error (“out of
the way,” the result) of infirmity, but a deliberate sinning against the Spirit (Heb_10:29;
Heb_5:2): such sinning, where a consciousness of Gospel obligations not only was, but is
present: a sinning presumptuously and preseveringly against Christ’s redemption for us, and the

191. Spirit of grace in us. “He only who stands high can fall low. A lively reference in the soul to what
is good is necessary in order to be thoroughly wicked; hence, man can be more reprobate than
the beasts, and the apostate angels than apostate man” [Tholuck].
remaineth no more sacrifice — For there is but ONE Sacrifice that can atone for sin; they,
after having fully known that sacrifice, deliberately reject it.
6. CALVIN, "For if we sin willfully, or voluntarily etc. He shows how severe a
vengeance of God awaits all those who fall away from the grace of
Christ; for being without that one true salvation, they are now as it
were given up to an inevitable destruction. With this testimony Novatus
and his sect formerly armed themselves, in order to take away the hope
of pardon from all indiscriminately who had fallen after baptism. They
who were not able to refute his calumny chose rather to deny the
authority of this Epistle than to subscribe to so great an absurdity.
But the true meaning of the passage, unaided by any help from any other
part, is quite sufficient of itself to expose the effrontery of Novatus
Those who sin, mentioned by the Apostle, are not such as offend in any
way, but such as forsake the Church, and wholly alienate themselves
from Christ. For he speaks not here of this or of that sin, but he
condemns by name those who willfully renounced fellowship with the
Church. But there is a vast difference between particular fallings and
a complete defection of this kind, by which we entirely fall away from
the grace of Christ. And as this cannot be the case with any one except
he has been already enlightened, he says, If we sin willfully, after
that we have received the knowledge of the truth; as though he had
said, "If we knowingly and willingly renounce the grace which we had
obtained." It is now evident how widely apart is this doctrine from the
error of Novatus
And that the Apostle here refers only to apostates, is clear from the
whole passage; for what he treats of is this, that those who had been
once received into the Church ought not to forsake it, as some were
wont to do. He now declares that there remained for such no sacrifice
for sin, because they had willfully sinned after having received the
knowledge of the truth. But as to sinners who fall in any other way,
Christ offers himself daily to them, so that they are to seek no other
sacrifice for expiating their sins. He denies, then, that any sacrifice
remains for them who renounce the death of Christ, which is not done by
any offense except by a total renunciation of the faith.
This severity of God is indeed dreadful, but it is set forth for the
purpose of inspiring terror. He cannot, however, be accused of cruelty;
for as the death of Christ is the only remedy by which we can be
delivered from eternal death, are not they who destroy as far as they

192. can its virtue and benefit worthy of being left to despair? God invites
to daily reconciliation those who abide in Christ; they are daily
washed by the blood of Christ, their sins are daily expiated by his
perpetual sacrifice. As salvation is not to be sought except in him,
there is no need to wonder that all those who willfully forsake him are
deprived of every hope of pardon: this is the import of the adverb eti,
more. But Christ's sacrifice is efficacious to the godly even to death,
though they often sin; nay, it retains ever its efficacy, for this very
reason, because they cannot be free from sin as long as they dwell in
the flesh. The Apostle then refers to those alone who wickedly forsake
Christ, and thus deprive themselves of the benefit of his death.
The clause, "after having received the knowledge of the truth," was
added for the purpose of aggravating their ingratitude; for he who
willingly and with deliberate impiety extinguishes the light of God
kindled in his heart has nothing to allege as an excuse before God. Let
us then learn not only to receive with reverence and prompt docility of
mind the truth offered to us, but also firmly to persevere in the
knowledge of it, so that we may not suffer the terrible punishment of
those who despise it.
7. JOHN W. WHITE, ""WE": The personal pronoun "We" includes the author and those
to whom he is writing. This warning is to the saved that have been weaned from the milk of
the Word.
"SIN": This word is a present active plural participle. The present tense indicates that this
sin is practiced.
"WILFULLY": The word "willful" carries the same meaning and attitude of an elder in 1
Peter 5:1-2 "The elders which are among you I exhort,... 2. Feed the flock ..., taking the
oversight... willingly; ... of a ready mind;" An elder takes the oversight of a flock because
it is the right thing to do. The willful sin is a sin that one believes is the right thing to do and
that he has the right to do. The willful sin is sin(s) practiced by those who are lawless. This
is lawlessness!
"AFTER": For there to be "No more sacrifice for sins" a certain level of knowledge and
maturity must be attained through study of the scriptures. Hebrews 5:14 "..Strong meat
belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses
exercised to discern both good and evil." The warning is to those who have attained to
this level of maturity. Hebrews 5:13 "For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word
of righteousness; for he is a babe."
"KNOWLEDGE": The word "knowledge" is the Greek word ejpi>gnwsiv. This word is a
compound word having the preposition ejpi> "upon," and the noun gnw~vis "relatively
high knowledge." A description of the knowledge of the truth is found in Hebrews 6:4-5
"...Those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made
partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5. And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of
the world [age] to come," The children of Israel tasted the fruit of the land as proof that
what God said about the land was true. Numbers 13:27 "...We came unto the land ..., and
surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it." Ten spies caused Israel to

193. despise and blaspheme the Word of God when in Numbers 13:32 "...they brought up an
evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel..." Israel
repented in Numbers 14:40-41 "Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the
LORD hath promised: for we have sinned. 41. "...Moses said, Wherefore now do ye
transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper." Israel sinned wilfully
at Kadesh and spent the next forty years dying in the wilderness without mercy. When a
child of God matures in the meat of the word there is a greater accountability for what has
been learned. Luke 12:48 "...Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much
required..." Numbers 20:12 "And the LORD spake unto Moses ... ye believed me not, to
sanctify me ... therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have
given them." One act of disobedience disqualified Moses from entering the land of Canaan.
"THE TRUTH": In verse 29 there are three areas of knowledge that is more than the milk
of the Word. These are "The Son of God," "The blood of the covenant," and "The spirit of
grace." Revelation 21:7 "He that overcometh (spirit of grace) shall inherit (blood of the
covenant) all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son (Son of God)." The
deeper knowledge of the truth is like salt Matthew 5:13 "...if the salt have lost his savour,
wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be
trodden under foot (same word found in Hebrews 10:30) of men." Salt that is savory is
valuable. When salt has lost it saltiness then it is good for nothing, therefore it is cast out,
and trodden under foot. When a child of God becomes lawless, the value of being an
overcomer, having an inheritance, and being proclaimed a son of God drops so low that he
can walk on them.
"NO MORE SACRIFICE FOR SINS": Under the law of Moses there were sins that a child
of God could commit and be forgiven by a sacrifice or offering; and there were other sins
that required the death penalty. The presumptuous sin in Numbers 15:30 required death
by stoning. There was not a sacrifice or offering that could be offered to spare the life of the
guilty person and restore him back in the camp and fellowship. Eli, the priest, honored his
sons more than the Lord and Eli was judged in 1 Samuel 3:14 "And therefore I have
sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with
sacrifice nor offering for ever." Hebrews 9:22 "And almost all things are by the law
purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission." "Almost all" means
there are some things that are not cleansed with blood, yet without the shedding of blood
there is no deliverance and liberty for the child of God. Not all of the sins of the saved will
be forgiven until after there is a new heaven and a new earth. Matthew 12:32 "...
whosoever speaketh against (blasphemes) the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him,
neither in this world [aijw>n, age], neither in the world to come [present active, the one
coming]."
Remember the warning in Matthew 6:15 "But if ye forgive not men their trespasses,
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." also in 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins..." Unconfessed sins will not put you out of
the family of God but it will break your fellowship with God. The children of Israel in the
Old Testament are saved, yet God still remembers their sins and iniquities (ajnomi>a) to
this day. It is not until the nation of Israel is raised from their graves and brought into the
land that the Lord will say in Hebrews 10:16,17 "...I will put my laws into their hearts, and
in their minds ...; Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more."

194. 8. MURRAY, OF WILFUL SIN. 26-27
IN mentioning those who forsake the assembling together of
God s people, the writer has touched one of those sore places
which, to him, are the symptom of imminent danger. This
neglect of Christian fellowship is at once the indication of that
indifference which is so dangerous, and the cause of further
backsliding. All this leads him once again to sound the alarm,
and to point out how neglect of outward, apparently secondary
duties, opens the way to positive sin and eternal loss. He has
scarcely finished his wondrous exposition of the glory of the
heavenly Priest and the heavenly sanctuary and the way into it,
he has only just begun to speak of the life and walk to which
that opened sanctuary calls us, when, thinking of the state of
the Hebrews, he sounds a trumpet-blast of warning more terrible
than any we have heard yet. In the three previous warnings he
had spoken first of neglect (ii. 1-4), then of unbelief and dis
obedience (iii. i ; iv. 13), then of sloth, leading to hopeless falling
away (v. 13 ; vi. 19) : here he now speaks of willful sinning, with
the awful rejection of God s mercy it implies, and the sore and
certain punishment it will inevitably bring. John Bunyan, in
his dream, saw a way leading from the very gate of heaven
down to the pit. It is not only the Holiest of All that is set
wide open for us ; the gate of hell is opened wide, too, to receive
all who neglect or refuse to enter the gate of mercy and of
heaven. Let all who believe that it is indeed God who, by His
Spirit speaks in this word, listen with holy fear.
For if we sin willfully after that we have received the
knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacri
fice for sins. As we had in chap. vi. mention of those who were
once enlightened, and tasted the heavenly gift and the good
word of God, and who yet fell away, so here he speaks of
those who, after having received the knowledge of the truth,
yet sin willfully. The expressions used show us that in the case
of these the enlightening and the acceptance of the truth had
been more with the mind than with the heart. Their judgment
had been convinced, through the mind their desire and will had
been affected and wrought upon ; and yet, the heart, the whole
inner life, had never been truly regenerate, had never received
that eternal life, which cannot be taken away. And so there
was a possibility of their still sinning willfully and being shut out
for ever from the one sacrifice for sin. As we saw before, the
true assurance of salvation, the assuring of our hearts before God,
can only be enjoyed in a life under the teaching of the Spirit,

195. and a walk in obedience to God s will (i John iii. 19-24.) True
assurance of faith is the witness of the Holy Spirit that is given
in living fellowship with and obedience to Christ as Leader.
If we sin willfully. The question will be asked, But what is
willful sin? How are we to know when we are guilty of it?
No answer can be given ; no one on earth can draw the line
between what is and what is not willful sin. Only He who sits
on the throne, and who knows the heart, can judge. But how
will this warning profit, if we cannot see what willful sin is ? The
warning will just thus profit us most it will make us fearful of
committing any sin, lest it might be, or lead us into willful sin.
He that would know what willful sin is, with the thought that he
is safe, as long as he keeps from that extreme, deceives himself.
The only sure way of being kept from willful sin is to keep far
from all sin.
A captain of a ship, sailing between two harbors on a rocky
coast, was once asked by an anxious passenger if the coast was
not very dangerous. The answer was, Very. And was he not
afraid ? No ; our way is perfectly safe ; you can be at ease.
But how, if the rocks are so dangerous ? Oh, very simply ! I
put out to sea, and keep far from, the rocks. O Christian ! here is
thy only safety : launch out into the deep of full obedience to all
the will of God ; keep far from all sin, and thou shalt be kept
from willful sinning.
For if we sin willfully, there remaineth no more a sacrifice
for sins. What a terrible contrast to the same expression as we
had it before (x. 18) : No more offering for sin. There it was
the blessed secret of the glory of the gospel and redemption, the
joy of Christian faith and life no more offering for sin : salva
tion finished and perfected for ever. Here it is the awful revela
tion of the highest sin and its terrible doom : the one sacrifice
rejected, and now no more a sacrifice for sins ever to be found.
How awful to sin willfully.
There remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain
fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire, which
shall devour the adversaries. Fearful judgment, fierceness of
fire, devouring the adversaries, these words are in God s gospel ;
they follow close on its highest teaching ; they are words He
speaks to us in His Son. In the religion of the world alas, in
a great deal of the Christian teaching and the religious literature
of our day, professing to honor the God of love whom the
Bible reveals these words are set aside and rejected. And yet

196. there they stand, and behind them stand the divine realities they
express. God help us to believe them with our whole heart, and
to exhort one another, if so be we may save some, snatching
them out of the fire !
1. Let all who have entered the Holiest of All turn round and look to the hole of the pit the
horrible pit whence they have been drawn up. And as they see the multitudes going down to
the pit, oh let them remember that the highest glory of life in the Holiest is, even as it is of Him
who opened it with His blood and sits on the throne, to go out and bring others in.
2. Even though thou knewest, through grace, that thou hadst escaped the judgment and the
fire, take time to gaze upon them. Take upon thee the burden of those who are asleep, and pleati
with Christ to use thee to warn and to save them.
9. COFFMAN, “Verse 26
For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of
the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins.
This is a return to the warning uttered in Heb. 6 regarding the final and total
apostasy of persons who were once true Christians, concerning whom it was
affirmed that it "is impossible" to renew them. Here, the reason for that
impossibility is stated in the fact that the rejection of Christ's one sacrifice
can only result in the sinner's being left with none at all, "there remaineth no
more a sacrifice"! Of course, it would be a mistake to construe every
stronghearted and presumptuous sin as "an eternal sin," although the
danger that it might become so should never be overlooked. The
impossibility of apostasy, euphemistically called the final perseverance of the
saints, is not a teaching of the New Testament; and the acceptance of such
a doctrine can quite easily lead to a presumptuous arrogance that issues in
eternal death.
Clarke's words here are appropriate:
The case is that of a deliberate apostate - one who has utterly rejected
Christ and his atonement, and renounced the whole gospel system. It has
nothing to do with backsliders in our common use of that term. A man may
be overtaken in a fault, or he may deliberately go into sin, and yet neither
renounce the gospel, nor deny the Lord that bought him. His case is dreary
and dangerous, but it is not hopeless; no case is hopeless except that of the
deliberate apostate, who rejects the whole gospel system, after having been
saved by grace, or convinced of the truth of the gospel. To him there
remaineth no more sacrifice for sin; for there was but the one, Jesus, and
this he has utterly rejected.

197. 10. FUDGE, “Warning follows exhortation. To sin willfully is not to commit a single sinful
act of weakness or ignorance, but, as the Greek verb form indicates, to continue in a constant
practice of sin. Nor is sin here just any kind of sin, but specifically the sin of disbelief which
shows itself in forsaking Christ altogether. While such apostasy may occur gradually (see the
warnings of 2:1-3 <hebrews.html>; 6:11-12 <hebrews.html>), it ultimately comes about through
an act of the will which rejects Christ and His offering for sin. One might observe that even the
Old Testament sacrifices made provision only for sins committed in ignorance or weakness -- not
for presumptuous or willful sins (Numbers 15:22-31).
What is envisioned here is a rejection of the new cove nant, after it has been received with faith
and joy. Here is a will to sin in spite of a full knowledge of the truth, knowledge being a
thorough knowledge both in mind and by personal relationship.
Apostasy from Christ is dreadfully severe because there is no more sacrifice for sins. His
offering, once for all, is man's last chance and only hope. The person who rejects that --
especially the man who has known it personally and then rejected it -- is hopelessly lost, for he
has set his will against the only basis of forgiveness and the only sacrifice God will accept.
Regular assemblying of saints for mutual exhortation is so important because it helps prevent the
damnation that comes through loss of faith.
27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of
raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
1. BARNES, "But a certain fearful looking for of judgment - The word “certain” here
does not mean “fixed, sure, inevitable,” as our translation would seem to imply. The Greek is the
same as “a (τις tis) fearful expectation,” etc. So it is rendered by Tyndale. The idea is, that if
there was voluntary apostasy after having embraced the Christian religion, there could be
nothing but an expectation of the judgment to come. There could be no other hope but that
through the gospel, and as this would have been renounced, it would follow that the soul must
perish. The “fearful apprehension” or expectation here does not refer so much to what would be
in the mind itself, or what would be experienced, as to what must follow. It might be that the
person referred to would have no realizing sense of all this, and still his situation be that of one
who had nothing to expect but the terrors of the judgment to come.
And fiery indignation - Fire is often used in the Scriptures as an emblem of fierce
punishment. The idea is, that the person referred to could expect nothing but the wrath of God.
Which shall devour the adversaries - All who become the adversaries or enemies of the
Lord. Fire is often said to devour, or consume, and the meaning here is, that those who should
thus become the enemies of the Lord must perish.

198. 2. CLARKE, "A certain fearful looking for of judgment - From this it is evident that
God will pardon no man without a sacrifice for sin; for otherwise, as Dr. Macknight argues, it
would not follow, from there remaining to apostates no more sacrifice for sin, that there must
remain to them a dreadful expectation of judgment.
And fiery indignation - Και πυρος ζηλος· A zeal, or fervor of fire; something similar to
the fire that came down from heaven and destroyed Korah and his company; Num_16:35.
Probably the apostle here refers to the case of the unbelieving Jews in general, as in chap. 6 to
the dreadful judgment that was coming upon them, and the burning up their temple and city
with fire. These people had, by the preaching of Christ and his apostles, received the knowledge
of the truth. It was impossible that they could have witnessed his miracles and heard his
doctrine without being convinced that he was the Messiah, and that their own system was at an
end; but they rejected this only sacrifice at a time when God abolished their own: to that nation,
therefore, there remained no other sacrifice for sin; therefore the dreadful judgment came, the
fiery indignation was poured out, and they, as adversaries, were devoured by it.
3. GILL, "But a certain fearful looking for of judgment,.... Either of some outward
visible judgment in this life, which sometimes falls on such persons; or of the particular
judgment which immediately follows after death; or of the universal judgment, after the
resurrection, and the dreadful sentence of condemnation which will then pass, and be
immediately executed; and which will be done by Christ, and according to truth, and in strict
justice; it is certain, and there will be no escaping it, for it will be general. Now there is in this
life an expectation in men of a future judgment, and in wicked men it is a fearful one; it is
dreaded by them, and more especially in such men before described, when their consciences are
awakened; it is a very dreadful one, inexpressibly so:
and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries; which is to be understood,
not of the fire of purgatory, for this is after judgment, that is pretended to be before it; this
devours, that only purges, according to the Papists; this is for adversaries, that, as is supposed, is
for friends: but perhaps some fiery judgment, expressive of the wrath and indignation of God,
such as befell Sodom and Gomorrah, the two sons of Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and the men
that rose up with Korah against Moses and Aaron: or rather the fire of hell, which is not
corporeal and material, but is the wrath of God let down into the conscience; which shows the
vile nature of sin, the strictness of God's justice, and the intolerableness of future punishment:
and this is said to "devour the adversaries"; not only open ones, but secret, underhanded
enemies, as the word here signifies; as such apostates are, before described, to God, and Christ,
and the Spirit; to the Gospel, its doctrine, discipline, and ordinances; and to the children of God,
and to the power of godliness in them: and with the fire of God's wrath they shall be devoured;
not so as to be annihilated, but shall be eternally destroyed, both soul and body; that is,
everlastingly punished, or punished with everlasting destruction.
4. HENRY, "There remains for them only a certain fearful looking for of judgment,
Heb_10:27. Some think this refers to the dreadful destruction of the Jewish church and state;
but certainly it refers also to the utter destruction that awaits all obstinate apostates at death
and judgment, when the Judge will discover a fiery indignation against them, which will devour
the adversaries; they will be consigned to the devouring fire and to everlasting burnings. Of this
destruction God gives some notorious sinners, while on earth, a fearful foreboding in their own

199. consciences, a dreadful looking for it, with a despair of ever being able either to endure or escape
it.
3. From the methods of divine justice with those who despised Moses's law, that is, sinned
presumptuously, despising his authority, his threatenings and his power. These, when convicted
by two or three witnesses, were put to death; they died without mercy, a temporal death.
Observe, Wise governors should be careful to keep up the credit of their government and the
authority of the laws, by punishing presumptuous offenders; but then in such cases there should
be good evidence of the fact. Thus God ordained in Moses's law; and hence the apostle infers the
heavy doom that will fall upon those that apostatize from Christ. Here he refers to their own
consciences, to judge how much sorer punishment the despisers of Christ (after they have
professed to know him) are likely to undergo; and they may judge of the greatness of the
punishment by the greatness of the sin. (1.) They have trodden under foot the Son of God. To
trample upon an ordinary person shows intolerable insolence; to treat a person of honour in that
vile manner is insufferable; but to deal thus with the Son of God, who himself is God, must be
the highest provocation - to trample upon his person, denying him to be the Messiah - to
trample upon his authority, and undermine his kingdom - to trample upon his members as the
offscouring of all things, and not fit to live in the world; what punishment can be too great for
such men? (2.) They have counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an
unholy thing; that is, the blood of Christ, with which the covenant was purchased and sealed,
and wherewith Christ himself was consecrated, or wherewith the apostate was sanctified, that is,
baptized, visibly initiated into the new covenant by baptism, and admitted to the Lord's supper.
Observe, There is a kind of sanctification which persons may partake of and yet fall away: they
may be distinguished by common gifts and graces, by an outward profession, by a form of
godliness, a course of duties, and a set of privileges, and yet fall away finally. Men who have
seemed before to have the blood of Christ in high esteem may come to account it an unholy
thing, no better than the blood of a malefactor, though it was the world's ransom, and every
drop of it of infinite value. (3.) Those have done despite unto the Spirit of grace, the Spirit that
is graciously given to men, and that works grace wherever it is, - the Spirit of grace, that should
be regarded and attended to with the greatest care, - this Spirit they have grieved, resisted,
quenched, yea, done despite to him, which is the highest act of wickedness, and makes the case
of the sinner desperate, refusing to have the gospel salvation applied to him. Now he leaves it to
the consciences of all, appeals to universal reason and equity, whether such aggravated crimes
ought not to receive a suitable punishment, a sorer punishment than those who had died
without mercy? But what punishment can be sorer than to die without mercy? I answer, To die
by mercy, by the mercy and grace which they have despised. How dreadful is the case when not
only the justice of God, but his abused grace and mercy call for vengeance!
5. JAMISON, "a certain — an extraordinary and indescribable. The indefiniteness, as of
something peculiar of its kind, makes the description the more terrible (compare Greek,
Jam_1:18).
looking for — “expectation”: a later sense of the Greek. Alford strangely translates, as the
Greek usually means elsewhere, “reception.” The transition is easy from “giving a reception to”
something or someone, to “looking for.” Contrast the “expecting” (the very same Greek as here),
Heb_10:13, which refutes Alford.
fiery indignation — literally, “zeal of fire.” Fire is personified: glow or ardor of fire, that is,
of Him who is “a consuming fire.”
devour — continually.

200. 6. CALVIN, "But a certain fearful looking for, etc. He means the torment of an
evil conscience which the ungodly feel, who not only have no grace, but
who also know that having tasted grace they have lost it forever
through their own fault; such must not only be pricked and bitten, but
also tormented and lacerated in a dreadful manner. Hence it is that
they war rebelliously against God, for they cannot endure so strict a
Judge. They indeed try in every way to remove the sense of God's wrath,
but all in vain; for when God allows them a short respite, he soon
draws them before his tribunal, and harasses them with the torments
which they especially shun.
He adds, fiery indignation, or the heat of fire; by which he means, as
I think, a vehement impulse or a violent ardor. The word fire is a
common metaphor; for as the ungodly are now in a heat through dread of
divine wrath, so they shall then burn through the same feeling. Nor is
it unknown to me, that the sophists have refinedly speculated as to
this fire; but I have no regard of their glosses, since it is evident
that it is the same mode of speaking as when Scripture connects fire
with worm. (Isaiah 66:24.) But no man doubts but that worm is used
metaphorically to designate that dreadful torment of conscience by
which the ungodly are gnawed. [181]
Which shall devour the adversaries. It shall so devour them as to
destroy, but not to consume them; for it will be inextinguishable. And
thus he reminds us, that they are all to be counted the enemies of
Christ who have refused to hold the place granted them among the
faithful; for there is no intermediate state, as they who depart from
the Church give themselves up to Satan.
__________________________________________________________________
[177] The words literally are, "And let us observe (or take notice of)
one another for the instigation of love and of good works;" that is,
"Let us notice the state and circumstances of each other for the
purpose of stimulating love and acts of kindness and benevolence, its
proper fruits." Love is the principle, and good or benevolent works are
what it produces. "And let us attentively consider one another in order
to the quickening of love and good works." -- Macknight. "Let us
moreover attentively regard one another for the sake
of exciting to love and good works." -- Stuart. The idea of emulation
seems not to be included in the words. The meaning of the exhortation
is, to take opportunity which circumstances afforded, to promote love
and the exercise of benevolence. As an instance of the want of love, he
notices in the next verse their neglect of meeting together for divine
worship; and by not meeting together they had no opportunity of doing
the good work admonishing and exhorting one another. -- Ed.

201. [178] Another view is commonly given of the cause of this neglect; it
was the dread of persecution, according to Doddridge; and Scott says,
that it was either "timidity or lukewarmness." As the Apostle had
previously mentioned "love" the probability is that the main cause was
coldness and indifference; and the cause of such a neglect is still for
the most part the same. -- Ed.
[179] "As ye see drawing nigh the day;" so are the words literally. The
day of judgment, say some; the day of Jerusalem's destruction, say
other. Doddridge introduces both in his paraphrase; and Scott and
Bloomfield regard the day of judgment as intended; but Stuart is in
favor of the opinion that the destruction of Jerusalem is what is
referred to, and so Hammond and Mede. The word "day" is applied to
both. The day of judgment is called "that day," (Jude 6;) and the
destruction of Jerusalem is called the Son of man's day, "his day,"
(Luke 17:24) And both these days must have been well known to the
Hebrews to whom Paul was writing. The reference, then, might have been
well thus made to either without any addition. But the sentence itself
seems to favor the opinion that the day of Jerusalem is intended; "as
ye see," he says; which denotes that there were things in the
circumstances of the times which clearly betokened the approaching ruin
of that city and nation. -- Ed.
[180] See [41]Appendix N 2.
[181] It is puros zolos, "heat of fire;" which means hot or burning
fire; the genitive here, as in some other instances, is the main
subject. See [42]chapter 3:13, note. The language is still borrowed
from the Old Testament: God often destroyed the rebellious among the
Israelites with fire -- a symbol of the dreadful punishment of the
wicked hereafter. See Leviticus 10:2; Numbers 16:35. The word zolos is
properly heat, but is used in a variety of senses; heat of emulation --
"envy," Acts 13:45; -- of wrath -- "indignation" Acts 5:17; -- of
concern, good and bad -- "zeal," Romans 10:2, and Philippians 3:6; --
of suspicion as to love -- "jealousy," 2 Corinthians 11:2; -- and of
affection -- "love," 2 Corinthians 11:2. It is the context that
determines the character of this heat. Here is has evidently its
literal meaning, as being connected with fire, only the noun is used
for the adjective. -- Ed
7. John W. White, "Hebrews 10:27 "But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and
fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." The fiery indignation is the lake of
fire.
"SUFFER LOSS": 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 "Every man's work shall be made manifest: for
the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every
man's work of what sort it is. 14. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon,

202. he shall receive a reward. 15. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall SUFFER LOSS:
but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by [dia>, through] fire." Matthew 3:11 "... He shall
baptize you with [ejn, in] the Holy Ghost, and with fire:" Both "Holy Ghost" and "fire"
are the objects of a single preposition "in" therefore both are to be taken literally.
Revelation 2:11 "... He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death [the lake of
fire]."
CONCLUSION
If you practice the willful sin ,lawlessness, you will be cut off, perish, and 1 Corinthians
3:15 "He shall suffer loss: but ... saved; yet so as through fire." What you lose is not your
salvation, but the reward of your inheritance which includes riches, and positions of
honor and glory in the coming kingdom of Jesus Christ.
8. COFFMAN, ” Verse 27
But a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of
fire which shall devour the adversaries.
This verse sharply focuses on the fearful and inevitable result of rejecting
the sacrifice for man's sins (available in the vicarious death of Jesus Christ),
that result being the judgment with its eternal fires of punishment awaiting
the wicked. No wonder that such a terrible fate should be called a "fearful
expectation." The word "devour" has the interesting connotation of"eating
up" offenders! This is a subject people do not like to dwell upon; and some
present-day Christians seem very sensitive to the plain teachings of the
word of God on such a thing as "fire" for the wicked; but the burden of
scriptural emphasis on this subject is far too great to be ignored or cast
aside. Fire destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24); Korah and his
company were consumed by fire (Numbers 16:35); and it was by fire that
God answered the prayers of Elijah (1 Kings 18:38). Strangely, God himself
is described a moment later in this epistle as a "consuming fire"! (Hebrews
10:27); Christ will appear the second time "in flaming fire" (2 Thessalonians
1:8); and Peter consigned the entire present world to destruction by fire,
contrasting it sharply with the first destruction of the world by the flood in
Noah's day (2 Peter 3:14-18). John the Baptist did not hesitate to speak of
the chaff which was to be burned up "with unquenchable fire" (Matthew
3:10), and even our Saviour made frequent mention of it (Matthew 25:41).
Nor can there be any relief from the severity of such thoughts by construing
them all as mere figures of speech; for just what, can it be supposed, is so
terrible as to demand such a figure as "fire"? Many of the statements
regarding eternal punishment seem to demand some degree of metaphorical
interpretation, as for example in the combination of such terms as "outer
darkness" and "fire and brimstone" in descriptions of eternal punishment;
but the soul hardly dares to contemplate a fate that would require so terrible
a representation of it. The utter horror of such a destiny seems to be in the

203. mind of the author here who speaks of "fearful expectation." A guilty
conscience to feel and a wrathful God to fear combine to remove every
thought of tranquility from the mind of the wicked.
The adversaries
mentioned here are a grim reminder of the struggles identified with man's
probation. Paul knew the meaning of "many adversaries" (1 Corinthians
16:9); and every wayfarer on the road to eternity is often made aware of
those elemental antagonisms that rise on every hand, and from most
unexpected sources, to harass, to discourage, and to prevent if possible the
attainment of eternal life.
28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without
mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
1. BARNES, "He that despised Moses’ law - That is, the apostate from the religion of
Moses. It does not mean that in all cases the offender against the Law of Moses died without
mercy, but only where offences were punishable with death, and probably the apostle had in his
eye particularly the case of apostasy from the Jewish religion. The subject of apostasy from the
Christian religion is particularly under discussion here, and it was natural to illustrate this by a
reference to a similar case under the Law of Moses. The Law in regard to apostates from the
Jewish religion was positive. There was no reprieve; Deu_13:6-10.
Died without mercy - That is, there was no provision for pardon.
Under two or three witnesses - It was the settled law among the Hebrews that in all cases
involving capital punishment, two or three witnesses should be necessary. That is, no one was to
be executed unless two persons certainly bore testimony, and it was regarded as important, if
possible, that three witnesses should concur in the statement. The object was the security of the
accused person if innocent. The “principle” in the Law was, that it was to be presumed that two
or three persons would be much less likely to conspire to render a false testimony than one
would be, and that two or three would not be likely to be deceived in regard to a fact which they
had observed.
2. CLARKE, "He that despised Moses’ law - Αθετησας· He that rejected it, threw it
aside, and denied its Divine authority by presumptuous sinning, died without mercy - without
any extenuation or mitigation of punishment; Num_15:30.
Under two or three witnesses - That is, when convicted by the testimony of two or three
respectable witnesses. See Deu_17:6.

204. 3. GILL, "He that despised Moses' law,.... By breaking it wilfully, and presumptuously, for
which there was no sacrifice; meaning the law which Moses was the minister of not the author;
and it respects the whole body of laws given by him, from God; and is instanced in for the sake
of the comparison between him and Christ, and between the law and the Gospel, and for the
illustration of the case in hand. Now one that transgressed that law, either in whole, or in part,
by denying it entirely, or by breaking any particular precept of it presumptuously,
died without mercy; a corporeal death; there was no atonement nor sacrifice for him, nor pity
to be shown him, Deu_13:8.
Under two or three witnesses; who "stood by", or were present, as the Arabic version
renders it, when the transgression was committed; or that "accused him", as the Ethiopic
version; that were witnesses against him, and plainly and fully proved the fact, Deu_17:6.
4. , "COFFMAN, “Verse 28
A man that hath set at naught Moses' law dieth without compassion
on the word of two or three witnesses.
The fact stated here is exemplified by many instances in the history of
Israel. There was the case of the man stoned for picking up sticks on the
sabbath (Numbers 15:36), to name only one; and the use of the present
tense in "dieth" indicates that the penalty was yet being invoked at the time
Hebrews was being written. Annas the high priest was deposed by the
Romans for putting a man to death as a lawbreaker; and it was precisely
their readiness to execute such penalties that caused Rome to forbid their
right to put people to death. It was that which forced them to seek the
permission of the procurator to put Jesus to death. The words "without
compassion" show the general concurrence of the Hebrew people in the
enforcement of the law, their usual opinion being that the offender deserved
no pity.
5. JAMISON, "Compare Heb_2:2, Heb_2:3; Heb_12:25.
despised — “set at naught” [Alford]: utterly and heinously violated, not merely some minor
detail, but the whole law and covenant; for example, by idolatry (Deu_17:2-7). So here
apostasy answers to such an utter violation of the old covenant.
died — Greek, “dies”: the normal punishment of such transgression, then still in force.
without mercy — literally, “mercies”: removal out of the pale of mitigation, or a respite of
his doom.
under — on the evidence of.

205. 6. CALVIN, "He that despised, etc. This is an argument from the less to the
greater; for if it was a capital offense to violate the law of Moses,
how much heavier punishment does the rejection of the gospel deserve, a
sin which involves so many and so heinous impieties! This reasoning was
indeed most fitted to impress the Jews; for so severe a punishment on
apostates under the Law was neither new to them, nor could it appear
unjustly rigorous. They ought then to have acknowledged that vengeance
just, however severe, by which God now sanctions the majesty of his
Gospel [182]
Hereby is also confirmed what I have already said, that the Apostle
speaks not of particular sins, but of the entire denial of Christ; for
the Law did not punish all kinds of transgressions with death, but
apostasy, that is, when any one wholly renounced religion; for the
Apostle referred to a passage in Deuteronomy 17:2-7, [183] where we
find, that if any one violated God's covenant by worshipping foreign
gods, he was to be brought outside of the gate and stoned to death.
Now, though the Law proceeded from God, and Moses was not its author,
but its minister, yet the Apostle calls it the law of Moses, because it
had been given through him: this was said in order to amplify the more
the dignity of the Gospel, which has been delivered to us by the Son of
God.
Under two or three witnesses, etc. This bears not on the present
subject; but it was a part of the civil law of Moses that two or three
witnesses were required to prove the accused guilty. However, we hence
learn what sort of crime the Apostle meant; for had not this been
added, an opening would have been left for many false conjectures. But
now it is beyond all dispute that he speaks of apostasy. At the same
time that equity ought to be observed which almost all statesmen have
adopted, that no one is to be condemned without being proved guilty by
the testimony of two witnesses.
7. MURRAY, THE SIN AGAINST THE TRIUNE GOD. 28-31
THE Epistle has set before us the more excellent glory of the
New Testament. We can draw near to God as Israel never
could ; God hath indeed made His grace to abound more
exceedingly. But let no one think that greater grace means
less stringency with sin, or less fierceness of the fire of judgment.
Nay, the very opposite. Greater privilege brings greater responsi
bility, and, in case of failure, greater judgment. As elsewhere
(ii. 2 ; xii. 25) we are reminded that the New Testament exceeds
the Old not only in its blessing but also in its curse. As he had

206. asked " How much more will the blood of Christ cleanse ? " so
here he asks, " How much more sore will the punishment be ? "
Oh that men would believe it ; the New Testament, with its
revelation of God as love, brings on its rejectors a far more fear
ful judgment than the Old. May God in mercy show us what
it means, for our own sakes and that of others.
A man that hath set at nought Moses law dieth without
compassion note this terrible word, without compassion: of
how much sorer punishment, think ye, shall he be judged
worthy, who sins against New Testament grace ? The measure
of the superior greatness of the New Testament will be the only
measure of the greater fearfulness of the punishment sent ; as in
the first warning the greatness of salvation was connected with
the part each person in the Holy Trinity had taken in it, so here
too. The Father gave His Son : of how much sorer punish
ment shall he be counted worthy, who hath trodden under
foot the Son of God. The Son gave His blood : here is one
who hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he
was sanctified, an unholy thing. The Father and the Son gave
the Spirit: he hath done despite to the Spirit of grace. Under
Moses law a man died without compassion : how much sorer
punishment, without compassion, shall be the fate of them that
reject Christ. Hear what all this means.
Who hath trodden under foot the Son of God ! There was
once an aged father, who had often pleaded in vain with a dissi
pated son to forsake his evil ways. One night, as the son was
preparing again to go out, the father, after renewing his
entreaties, went and stood in the door, saying, " My son, I
cannot let you go if you do, it will be over my body." The
son tried to push the father aside. The old man fell, and in
rushing out he trod on the father! Jesus Christ, God s Son,
comes and stands in the sinner s way, pleading with him to
turn from his evil way. He casts Himself in the way, with His
wounded, bleeding body. And the sinner, not heeding what he
does, passes over it : he hath trodden under foot the Son of God !
What a sin against the Father and the love that gave the Son !
And hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he
was sanctified, an unholy thing. The Father gave the Son.
And the Son gave His blood the blood of the covenant,
securing and conveying to us all its wondrous privileges the
blood with which he was sanctified, admitted to the Holiest of
All and the Holy One, he hath counted an unholy thing.
When I come to water in which I wish to wash, and find it

207. impure, I reject it ; I throw it out. Christ calls the sinner to
wash in His blood and be clean. He rejects it as an unclean
thing. Yes, the blood that speaks of the love of Jesus, and
remission of sins, and the opened heaven, is rejected and cast
aside ! Oh, what sin ! If the rejectors of the blood of bulls
and goats died without compassion, how much more the
despisers of the blood of the Son of God !
And hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace ! I can put
no greater affront on my king, or my father, than by shutting
my door in his face. If they come to me with a message or a
gift of love in my wretchedness, to turn them away is to do
them despite. The Spirit comes as the Spirit of grace, to con
vince of sin and stir to prayer and lead to Jesus. To close the
door, to refuse surrender, to open the heart to the spirit of the
world instead of Him, is to do despite to the Spirit of grace !
The Son trodden under foot, the blood counted unclean, the
Spirit of grace despised and rejected, alas, what terrible sin !
For such there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins !
And such are they among us and around us who reject the
Christ of God! And such their fate! For we know Him
that said, Vengeance belongeth unto Me, I will recompense.
And again, the Lord shall judge His people. For we know
Him ! How many there are who profess to believe in Scripture,
and to worship God, but who do not know this God. They
have framed to themselves a God, after their own instincts and
imagination ; they believe not in the Holy One in whom
righteousness and love meet in perfect harmony. They refuse
to say, We know Him that said, Vengeance belongeth unto
Me, I will recompense. Oh, let us seek so to know Him,
that our hearts may be filled with compassion for all who are
still exposed to this fearful vengeance. For it is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Let us think
in love on all who are still exposed to this judgment, until
it stir us to thanksgiving for our own redemption, to an infinite
compassion for all who are in danger, to new fervency of
prayer for their salvation, and to a consecration of ourselves
to the one work of warning them of their danger and leading
them to Christ.
1. In accepting God s word let us remember theft as little as we could have devised or under
stood the glorious redemption In Christ, such as God s love has provided, without a divine revela
tion, can we arrange for or understand a judgment day such as God s righteousness requires.
The one Is a mystery of love and the other a mystery of wrath, beyond all we can thinh or know.
2. It was to meet the judgment and the wrath of God Christ s blood was needed. The blood
stands midway between the judgment threatened and the judgment yet to be poured out. As we

208. believe in the judgment we shall honour the blood; as we believe In the blood we shall fear the
judgment.
29 How much more severely do you think a man
deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of
God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing
the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who
has insulted the Spirit of grace?
1. BARNES, "Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought
worthy - That is, he who renounces Christianity ought to be regarded as deserving a much
severer punishment than the man who apostatized from the Jewish religion, and if he ought to
be so regarded he will be - for God will treat every man as he ought to be treated. This must refer
to future punishment, for the severest punishment was inflicted on the apostate from the Jewish
religion which can be in this world - death; and yet the apostle here says that a severer
punishment than that would be deserved by him who should apostatize from the Christian faith.
The reasons why so much severer punishment would be deserved, are such as these - the Author
of the Christian system was far more exalted than Moses, the founder of the Jewish system; he
had revealed more important truths; he had increased and confirmed the motives to holiness; he
had furnished more means for leading a holy life; he had given himself as a sacrifice to redeem
the soul from death, and he had revealed with far greater clearness the truth that there is a
heaven of glory and of holiness. He who should apostatize from the Christian faith, the apostle
goes on to say, would also be guilty of the most aggravated crime of which man could be guilty -
the crime of trampling under foot the Son of God, of showing contempt for his holy blood. and
despising the Spirit of grace.
Who hath trodden under foot the Son of God - This language is taken either from the
custom of ancient conquerors who were accustomed to tread on the necks of their enemies in
token of their being subdued, or from the fact that people tread on what they despise and
contemn. The idea is, that he who should apostatize from the Christian faith would act as if he
should indignantly and contemptuously trample on God’s only Son. What crime could be more
aggravated than this?
And hath counted the blood of the covenant - The blood of Jesus by which the new
covenant between God and man was ratified; see the notes on Heb_9:16-20; compare the notes
on Mat_26:28.
Wherewith he was sanctified - Made holy, or set apart to the service of God. The word
“sanctify” is used in both these senses. Prof. Stuart renders it, “by which expiation is made;” and
many others, in accordance with this view, have supposed that it refers to the Lord Jesus. But it

209. seems to me that it refers to the person who is here supposed to renounce the Christian religion,
or to apostatize from it. The reasons for this are such as these:
(1) It is the natural and proper meaning of the word rendered here “sanctified.” This word is
commonly applied to Christians in the sense that they are made holy; see Act_20:32;
Act_26:18; 1Co_1:2; Jud_1:1; compare Joh_10:36; Joh_17:17.
(2) It is unusual to apply this word to the Saviour. It is true, indeed, that he says Joh_17:19,
“for their sakes I sanctify myself,” but there is no instance in which he says that he was
sanctified by his own blood. And where is there an instance in which the word is used as
meaning “to make expiations?”
(3) The supposition that it refers to one who is here spoken of as in danger of apostasy, and
not of the Lord Jesus, agrees with the scope of the argument. The apostle is showing the
great guilt, and the certain destruction, of one who should apostatize from the Christian
religion. In doing this it was natural to speak of the dishonor which would thus be done to
the means which had been used for his sanctification - the blood of the Redeemer. It
would be treating it as if it were a common thing, or as if it might be disregarded like
anything else which was of no value.
An unholy thing - Greek common; often used in the sense of unholy. The word is so used
because what was holy was separated from a common to a sacred use. What was not thus
consecrated was free to all, or was for common use, and hence, also the word is used to denote
what is unholy.
And hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace - The Holy Spirit, called “the Spirit of
grace,” because he confers favor (grace) upon people. The meaning of the phrase “done despite
unto” - ᅚνυβρίσας enubrisas - is, “having reproached, or treated with malignity, or contempt.”
The idea is, that if they were thus to apostatize, they would by such an act treat the Spirit of God
with disdain and contempt. It was by him that they had been renewed; by him that they had
been brought to embrace the Saviour and to love God; by him that they had any holy feelings or
pure desires; and if they now apostatized from religion, such an act would be in fact treating the
Holy Spirit with the highest indignity. It would be saying that all his influences were valueless,
and that they needed no help from him. From such considerations, the apostle shows that if a
true Christian were to apostatize, nothing would remain for him but the terrific prospect of
eternal condemnation. He would have rejected the only Saviour; he would have in fact treated
him with the highest indignity; he would have considered his sacred blood, shed to sanctify
people, as a common thing, and would have shown the highest disregard for the only agent who
can save the soul - the Spirit of God. How could such an one afterward be saved? The apostle
does not indeed say that anyone ever would thus apostatize from the true religion, nor is there
any reason to believe that such a case ever has occurred, but if it should occur the doom would
be inevitable. How dangerous then is every step which would lead to such a precipice! And how
strange and unscriptural the opinion held by so many that sincere Christians may “fall away”
and be renewed, again and again!
(See the supplementary note on Heb_6:6. where certain principles are laid down, for the
interpretation of this and similar passages, in consistency with the doctrine of the saints’
perseverance. If that doctrine be maintained, and our author’s view of the passage at the same
be correct, then plainly it contains an impossible case. It is descriptive of real Christians, yet they
never can fall away. The utility of the warning, in this case, may indeed successfully be
vindicated, on the ground that it is the means of preventing apostasy in the saints, the means by
which the decree of God in reference to their stability is effected. Most, however, will incline to
the view which regards this case, as something more than imaginary, as possible, as real. The
warning is addressed to professors generally, without any attempt of distinguishing or
separating into true or false. Doubtless there might be some even of the latter class in the

210. churches whose members the apostles, presuming on their professed character, addressed as
“saints, “elect,” and “faithful,” without distinction.
Of course, in consistency with the doctrine of perseverance only the “false,” in whom the “root
of the matter” had never existed, could apostatize; yet at the same time, when no distinction was
made, when the apostle made none, but addressed all in the language of charity, when
Christians themselves might find it difficult at all times to affirm decidedly on their own case,
universal vigilance was secured, or at all events designed. But is not the party whose apostasy is
here supposed, described by two attributes which belong to none but genuine Christians,
namely, the “reception of the knowledge of the truth,” and “sanctification through the blood of
the covenant?” The answer which has been given to this question is generally, that neither of
these things necessarily involves more than external dedication to God. The first is parallel to
the “once enlightened” of Heb_6:4, and of course admits of the same explanation; see
supplementary note there.
The second thing, namely, the sanctification of the party “is not real or internal sanctification,
and all the disputes concerning the total and final apostasy from the faith of them who have
been really and internally sanctified from this place, are altogether vain. As at the giving of the
Law, the people being sprinkled with blood, were sanctified or dedicated to God in a special
manner, so those who, by baptism and confession of faith in the church of Christ, were
separated from all others were especially dedicated to God thereby.” - “Owen.” Yet, this eminent
writer is rather disposed to adopt the opinion of those who construe, ᅚν ᇜ ᅧγιασθη en ho he
giasthe with the immediate antecedent, τον Υᅷον του Θεου ton Huion tou Theou, thus referring
the sanctification to Christ, and not to the apostate; see Joh_17:19. Whichever of these views we
receive, the great doctrine of perseverance is, of course, unaffected. In reference to an objection
which the author has urged that “the sentiment (in the Heb_10:26 and Heb_10:27 verses)
would not be correct, if it referred to any but true Christians,” let it be noticed that while many
may be saved, who have long resisted the Spirit, yet the assertion must appear hazardous in the
extreme, that any can be saved, who do all that the apostate in this passage is alleged to do. The
sin described seems to be that of a determined, insulting, final rejection of the only remedy for
sin.)
2. CLARKE, "Of how much sorer punishment - Such offenses were trifling in
comparison of this, and in justice the punishment should be proportioned to the offense.
Trodden under foot the Son of God - Treated him with the utmost contempt and
blasphemy.
The blood of the covenant - an unholy thing - The blood of the covenant means here the
sacrificial death of Christ, by which the new covenant between God and man was ratified, sealed,
and confirmed. And counting this unholy, or common, κοινον, intimates that they expected
nothing from it in a sacrificial or atoning way. How near to those persons, and how near to their
destruction, do they come in the present day who reject the atoning blood, and say, “that they
expect no more benefit from the blood of Christ than they do from that of a cow or a sheep!” Is
not this precisely the crime of which the apostle speaks here, and to which he tells us God would
show no mercy?
Despite unto the Spirit of grace? - Hath insulted the Spirit of grace. The apostle means
the Holy Spirit, whose gifts were bestowed in the first age on believers for the confirmation of
the Gospel. See Heb_6:4-6. Wherefore, if one apostatized in the first age, after having been
witness to these miraculous gifts, much more after having possessed them himself, he must, like
the scribes and Pharisees, have ascribed them to evil spirits; than which a greater indignity

211. could not be done to the Spirit of God. Macknight. This is properly the sin against the Holy
Ghost, which has no forgiveness.
3. GILL, "Of how much sorer punishment,.... Than a mere corporeal death, which was the
punishment inflicted on the transgressors of the law of Moses.
Suppose ye; the apostle appeals to the Hebrews themselves, and makes them judges of what
punishment
shall he be thought worthy; who is described as follows:
who hath trodden under foot the Son of God: this seems to be a stronger expression than
crucifying him again, Heb_6:6 and is to be understood, not of what was in fact committed, but
in will by persons; who, could they have had their will of him, would have pulled him from his
throne, and trampled upon him: it is a phrase expressive of the utmost scorn, contempt, and ill
usage; and which such are guilty of, who deny his deity, and eternal sonship; who render him
useless in his offices, undervalue his sacrifice, despise his righteousness, and strip him of the
glory of his person, office, and grace. And this is aggravated by his being the Son of God who is
thus used, who became the son of man for the sake of men, is superior to men, and equal with
God:
and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an
unholy thing; or "common thing"; putting it upon a level with the blood of a bullock, or at
most counting it ‫איך‬‫דכלנש‬ , "as that of another man"; as the Syriac version renders it; yea,
reckoning it as unclean and abominable, as the blood of a very wicked man: this is aggravated by
its being "the blood of the covenant"; of the covenant of grace, because that is ratified and
confirmed by it, and the blessings of it come through it; and from sanctification by it: either of
the person, the apostate himself, who was sanctified or separated from others by a visible
profession of religion; having given himself up to a church, to walk with it in the ordinances of
the Gospel; and having submitted to baptism, and partook of the Lord's supper, and drank of the
cup, "the blood of the New Testament", or "covenant": though he did not spiritually discern the
body and blood of Christ in the ordinance, but counted the bread and wine, the symbols of them,
as common things; or who professed himself, and was looked upon by others, to be truly
sanctified by the Spirit, and to be justified by the blood of Christ, though he was not really so: or
rather the Son of God himself is meant, who was sanctified, set apart, hallowed, and
consecrated, as Aaron and his sons were sanctified by the sacrifices of slain beasts, to minister in
the priest's office: so Christ, when he had offered himself, and shed his precious blood, by which
the covenant of grace was ratified, by the same blood he was brought again from the dead, and
declared to be the Son of God with power; and being set down at God's right hand, he ever lives
to make intercession, which is the other part of his priestly office he is sanctified by his own
blood to accomplish. This clause, "wherewith he was sanctified", is left out in the Alexandrian
copy:
and hath done despite unto the spirit of grace; by denying his being, deity, and
personality; despising his powerful operations as enthusiasm; treating his extraordinary gifts as
illusions; and ascribing his miracles to Satan, and representing the Gospel dictated by him as a
fable, or a lie: and this is aggravated by his being "the spirit of grace"; the author, giver, and
applier of all grace to the saints; and who therefore ought not to be in the least slighted, but
highly esteemed and honoured; nor will such affronts go unpunished.

212. 4. COFFMAN, "Verse 29
Of how much sorer punishment, think ye, shall he be judged worthy,
who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the
blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing,
and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
There are two directions one's thoughts may take in reference to this verse.
The extremely powerful language used to describe the apostate has led
some to suppose that only the most shameful and incorrigibly wicked are
included in the author's thoughts. Thus, Thomas affirms that "It is obvious
that this is no case of ordinary backsliding, but, as in Heb. 6, of willful and
persistent apostasy." F37
On the other hand, there may be another intention
of these holy words, namely, to show what dreadful guilt attaches to such
ordinary lapses as forsaking the assembly or neglect of the Lord's Supper.
Only a moment before this verse, the author had mentioned that very kind
of failure on the part of some; and though not implied that an occasional or
isolated instance of such failure could call forth such a proscription as this, it
may very likely be intended that persistent and habitual neglect of such
sacred duties may be accurately described as trampling the Son of God
under foot and insulting the Spirit of grace. The demand for this
understanding of the warning is inherent in the fact that one must look to
the sins of the people whom this epistle was addressed in order to identify
the condition described; and what were those sins? A neglect of Christian
duty, lack of diligence in study, forsaking the assembly, and a tendency to
revert to their old religion - those were the sins which were under
consideration; and such were not the sins of reprobates, debauchers, or
scoundrels, but the sins of"nice people"! - nice people who did not realize
that their indifference and dalliance were not minor but major departures
from the path of duty and that they were in deadly danger from such
conduct. If the attitude of millions today may be taken as example of the
same sins they committed, it is probable that they did not realize that their
wrongs were of any serious consequence. For us, as well as for them,
excuses are plentiful; cares, riches, and pleasures require a dreadful
preoccupation of most; and it becomes quite easy to view the kind of
spiritual lapse in view here as trivial, especially since it violates no law, is in
fact customary for millions, and hardly viewed as sinful at all by the vast
majority. But may God help Christians to remember that as custodians of
the Light of all nations, their utmost endeavor is the least required of them,
for their lives are forfeit to this task above all others that the lamp of truth
be held aloft in the darkness of human sin and transgression. Any
carelessness or preventable inattention, any conscious neglect of Christian

213. duty shall certainly bring upon the offender a mountainous load of
blood-guiltiness. When people who are generally supposed to be Christians
live lives that lead others to despise the truth, they stand in the same
condemnation as the Pharisees who did not enter the kingdom themselves
nor allow others to do so.
Trodden under foot
here translates a Greek word used by Matthew for heartless and totally
indifferent action. Bristol says:
The verb is used by Jesus of the useless salt cast out and trodden under foot
(Matthew 5:13) and of the perils of being trampled down by swine (Matthew
7:6). Here it denotes that the sinner rejects the Son of God completely and
brutally. F38
It is easy to take the penalties of neglect, and other so-called milder sins, as
stated in this verse, and from the practical RESULT of such sins, impute to
those that committed them "brutality," "harshness," and even reprobacy, as
Bristol does both here and in the quotation below. This actually avoids the
point of the exhortation, namely, that neglecting the assembly, absence
from the Lord's table, indifference, and impiety - these things are said to
make common the blood of Jesus, trample Christ under foot, and insult the
Holy Spirit. Of course, this is the same manner of interpretation that imputes
all manner of sins to the rich man at whose gate Lazarus lay. It is alleged
that he had acquired his wealth dishonestly, that he was a drunkard, and
that he even kicked Lazarus! The human mind finds it hard to believe that
respectable people will be lost. It is in this tradition that commentators
assign much worse sins to those ancient Hebrew Christians than any they
committed.
The blood of the covenant ... an unholy thing
refers to a lack of appreciation of the blood of Christ, making it "common"
(see Greek, English Revised Version (1885) margin). How does one make
the blood of Jesus common? By his indifference to it, by responding to it not
at all, or half-heartedly, by neglecting to enter by means of the access
provided through it, or, in short, either by non-Christian or anti-Christian
conduct.
Wherewith he was sanctified
is further evidence that the people addressed in Hebrews, and with such a
powerful exhortation, were true Christians, as far as previous experience
was concerned, and that they were not merely those "superficially"
associated with Christianity. This poses so great a difficulty that translators
and commentators alike often resort to radical devices in a vain attempt to
remove it. Hewitt said, "The omission of the words `wherewith he was
sanctified' by the Codex Alexandrinus was most probably due to an attempt

214. to avoid this difficulty." F39
The difficulty, of course, is the sad, unwelcome
fact, and one almost unbelievable, that even after one is a true and devoted
Christian, enjoying all the privileges of salvation, even "sanctified" as in this
verse, that even then such a person can defect from the Lord and lose his
soul. All efforts to alter this fact, whether by tampering with the text of
scripture or by explanations that deny the text, should be rejected. As an
example of the latter, take Bristol's words concerning the passage here. Of
course, they are true, at least on the surface; but they nevertheless fail to
present one vital and overwhelming truth of God's word in these verses. He
said:
(Regarding "hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace") The verb contains
the thought of violent self-assertion and arrogance. Through his Spirit, God
offers his love in action for man's redemption. But the defiant sinner thinks
that he does not need this help in his life. His rejection is harsh and
brutal. F40
It is in that last sentence of Bristol's words that the common fallacy comes
to light. What about the sinner who is not "harsh and brutal" but who rather
reluctantly turns away from the fountain of grace, as did the rich young ruler
(Mark 10)? How about him who is merely too busy with this life to concern
himself with another? What about the man who simply never has time to
think about it, after the first blush of his conversion is past? What of the soul
which merely drifts away from it? It is the solemn conviction of this student
that such conduct on the part of men, however good they may be in the
ordinary sense, and however justified by the customs of a permissive society
- that such conduct is not merely deplorable but GUILTY. The verse at hand
calls such behavior by its proper labels; it is a trampling under foot the Son
of God, making the blood of Jesus common, and insulting the Spirit of grace.
5. JAMISON, "sorer — Greek, “worse,” namely, “punishment” (literally, “vengeance”) than
any mere temporal punishment of the body.
suppose ye — an appeal to the Hebrews’ reason and conscience.
thought worthy — by God at the judgment.
trodden under foot the Son of God — by “willful” apostasy. So he treads under foot God
Himself who “glorified His Son as an high priest” (Heb_5:5; Heb_6:6).
an unholy thing — literally, “common,” as opposed to “sanctified.” No better than the blood
of a common man, thus involving the consequence that Christ, in claiming to be God, was guilty
of blasphemy, and so deserved to die!
wherewith he was sanctified — for Christ died even for him. “Sanctified,” in the fullest
sense, belongs only to the saved elect. But in some sense it belongs also to those who have gone a
far way in Christian experience, and yet fall away at last. The higher such a one’s past Christian
experiences, the deeper his fall.

215. done despite unto — by repelling in fact: as “blasphemy” is despite in words (Mar_3:29).
“Of the Jews who became Christians and relapsed to Judaism, we find from the history of Uriel
Acosta, that they required a blasphemy against Christ. ‘They applied to Him epithets used
against Molech the adulterous branch,’ etc.” [Tholuck].
the Spirit of grace — the Spirit that confers grace. “He who does not accept the benefit,
insults Him who confers it. He hath made thee a son: wilt thou become a slave? He has come to
take up His abode with thee; but thou art introducing evil into thyself” [Chrysostom]. “It is the
curse of evil eternally to propagate evil: so, for him who profanes the Christ without him, and
blasphemes the Christ within him, there is subjectively no renewal of a change of mind
(Heb_6:6), and objectively no new sacrifice for sins” (Heb_10:26) [Tholuck].
6. CALVIN, "Who has trodden under foot the Son of God, etc. There is this
likeness between apostates under the Law and under the Gospel, that
both perish without mercy; but the kind of death is different; for the
Apostle denounces on the despisers of Christ not only the deaths of the
body, but eternal perdition. And therefore he says that a sorer
punishment awaits them. And he designates the desertion of Christianity
by three things; for he says that thus the Son of God is trodden under
foot, that his blood is counted an unholy thing, and that despite is
done to the Spirit of grace. Now, it is a more heinous thing to tread
under foot than to despise or reject; and the dignity of Christ is far
different from that of Moses; and further, he does not simply set the
Gospel in opposition to the Law, but the person of Christ and of the
Holy Spirit to the person of Moses.
The blood of the covenant, etc. He enhances ingratitude by a comparison
with the benefits. It is the greatest indignity to count the blood of
Christ unholy, by which our holiness is effected; this is done by those
who depart from the faith. For our faith looks not on the naked
doctrine, but on the blood by which our salvation has been ratified. He
calls it the blood of the covenant, because then only were the promises
made sure to us when this pledge was added. But he points out the
manner of this confirmation by saying that we are sanctified; for the
blood shed would avail us nothing, except we were sprinkled with it by
the Holy Spirit; and hence come our expiation and sanctification. The
apostle at the same time alludes to the ancient rite of sprinkling,
which availed not to real sanctification, but was only its shadow or
image. [185]
The Spirit of grace. He calls it the Spirit of grace from the effects
produced; for it is by the Spirit and through his influence that we
receive the grace offered to us in Christ. For he it is who enlightens
our minds by faith, who seals the adoption of God on our hearts, who
regenerates us unto newness of life, who grafts us into the body of
Christ, that he may live in us and we in him. He is therefore rightly
called the Spirit of grace, by whom Christ becomes ours with all his

216. blessings. But to do despite to him, or to treat him with scorn, by
whom we are endowed with so many benefits, is an impiety extremely
wicked. Hence learn that all who willfully render useless his grace, by
which they had been favored, act disdainfully towards the Spirit of
God.
It is therefore no wonder that God so severely visits blasphemies of
this kind; it is no wonder that he shows himself inexorable towards
those who tread under foot Christ the Mediator, who alone reconciles us
to himself; it is no wonder that he closes up the way of salvation
against those who spurn the Holy Spirit, the only true guide. [186]
30. For we know him that hath said, etc. Both the passages are taken
from Deuteronomy 32:35, 36. But as Moses there promises that God would
take vengeance for the wrongs done to his people, it seems that the
words are improperly and constrainedly applied to the vengeance
referred to here; for what does the Apostle speak of? Even that the
impiety of those who despised God would not be unpunished. Paul also in
Romans 12:19, knowing the true sense of the passage, accommodates it to
another purpose; for having in view to exhort us to patience, he bids
us to give place to God to take vengeance, because this office belongs
to him; and this he proves by the testimony of Moses. But there is no
reason why we should not turn a special declaration to a universal
truth. Though then the design of Moses was to console the faithful, as
they would have God as the avenger of wrongs done to them; yet we may
always conclude from his words that it is the peculiar office of God to
take vengeance on the ungodly. Nor does he pervert his testimony who
hence proves that the contempt of God will not be unpunished; for he is
a righteous judge who claims to himself the office of taking vengeance.
At the same time the Apostle might here also reason from the less to
the greater, and in this manner: "God says that he will not suffer his
people to be injured with impunity, and declares that he will surely be
their avenger: If he suffers not wrongs done to men to be unpunished,
will he not avenge his own? Has he so little or no care and concern for
his own glory, as to connive at and pass by indignities offered to
him?" But the former view is more simple and natural, -- that the
Apostle only shows that God will not be mocked with impunity, since it
is his peculiar office to render to the ungodly what they have
deserved. [187]
The Lord shall judge his people. Here another and a greater difficulty
arises; for the meaning of Moses seems not to agree with what here
intended. The Apostle seems to have quoted this passage as though Moses
had used the word punish, and not judge; but as it immediately follows
by way of explanation, "He will be merciful to his saints," it appears

217. evident that to judge here is to act as a governor, according to its
frequent meaning in the Hebrew; but this seems to have little to do
with the present subject. Nevertheless he who weighs well all things
will find that this passage is fitly and suitably adduced here; for God
cannot govern the Church without purifying it, and without restoring to
order the confusion that may be in it. Therefore this governing ought
justly to be dreaded by hypocrites, who will then be punished for
usurping a place among the faithful, and for perfidiously using the
sacred name of God, when the master of the family undertakes himself
the care of setting in order his own house. It is in this sense that
God is said to arise to judge his people, that is, when he separates
the truly godly from hypocrites, (Psalm 1:4;) and in Psalm 125:5, [188]
where the Prophet speaks of exterminating hypocrites, that they might
no more dare to boast that they were of the Church, because God bore
with them; he promises peace to Israel after having executed his
judgment.
It was not then unreasonably that the apostle reminded them that God
presided over his Church and omitted nothing necessary for its rightful
government, in order that they might all learn carefully to keep
themselves under his power, and remember that they had to render an
account to their judge. [189]
He hence concludes that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of
the living God. A mortal man, however incensed he may be, cannot carry
his vengeance beyond death; but God's power is not bounded by so narrow
limits; besides, we often escape from men, but we cannot escape from
God's judgment. Who soever then considers that he has to do with God,
must (except he be extremely stupid) really tremble and quake; nay,
such an apprehension of God must necessarily absorb the whole man, so
that no sorrows, or torments can be compared with it. In short,
whenever our flesh allures us or we flatter ourselves by any means in
our sins, this admonition alone ought to be sufficient to arouse us,
that "it is a fearful thing to fall into to hands of the living God;"
for his wrath is furnished with dreadful punishments which are to be
forever.
However, the saying of David, when he exclaimed, that it was better to
fall into Gods hands than into the hands of men, (2 Samuel 24:14,)
seems to be inconsistent with what is said here. But this apparent
inconsistency vanishes, when we consider that David, relying
confidently on God's mercy, chose him as his Judge rather than men; for
though he knew that God was displeased with him, yet he felt confident
that he would be reconciled to him; in himself, indeed, he was
prostrate on the ground, but yet he was raised up by the promise of
grace. As then he believed God not to be inexorable, there is no wonder

218. that he dreaded his wrath less, than that of men; but the Apostle here
speaks of God's wrath as being dreadful to the reprobate, who being
destitute of the hope of pardon, expect nothing but extreme severity,
as they have already closed up against themselves the door of grace.
And we know that God is set forth in various ways according to the
character of those whom he addresses; and this is what David means when
he says, "With the merciful thou wilt be merciful, and with the froward
thou wilt be froward." (Psalm 18:25-27.) [190]
__________________________________________________________________
[182] "Despised" of our version ought to have been "rejected," as
Calvin renders the word, for the renouncing of the Law is what is
meant. Followed by "commandment" in Mark 7:9, it is rendered "reject,"
and "cast off" when followed by "faith" in 1 Timothy 5:12; and "cast
off" would be very suitable here. -- Ed.
[183] Both Doddridge and Stuart refer to Numbers 15:30, 31, but
incorrectly, as there the specific sin of apostasy is not mentioned,
nor is there mention made of witnesses. Besides, it is not the
presumptuous or willful sin there referred to, that is here intended,
but the sin of apostasy, when it is the result of a free choice,
without any outward constraining power as under violent persecution. --
Ed.
[184] "Neither the king nor the Senate," says Grotius, "had the power
to pardon." It is to be observed that God delegated the power to
execute apostates to the rulers of Israel: but we find here that he has
under the Gospel resumed that power and holds it in his own hands; the
execution of the vengeance belongs alone to him, and the punishment
will be everlasting perdition. Then to assume such a power now is a
most impious presumption, whether done by civil or ecclesiastical
rulers. To put apostates or heretics to death, receives no sanction
from the Gospel, and is wholly alien to its spirit. -- Ed.
[185] The words "covenant," and "sanctified," and "unclean" or
"unholy," are derived from the old dispensation. "The blood of the
covenant" was the blood shed on the cross; and the reference to it is
not as sprinkled for the ratifying of the covenant, but as the blood of
atonement, as "the blood of the New Testament, or rather covenant,
"shed for many for the remission of sins," Matthew 26:28. Then
"sanctified" has the same meaning here as in verse 10 and in chapter
2:11, expiated or atoned for; "by which he has expiated." He who
professes the Christian faith, professes to believe in the atoning
sacrifice of Christ, that Christ shed his blood for many for the
remission of sins. As to "unholy," or rather unclean, such was the
blood of a malefactor or impostor, and as such Christ was counted by

219. the Jews and by every Jew who returned to Judaism. -- Ed.
[186] Most strangely does Schleusner paraphrase this clause,
"contumaciously repudiating the divine favor." The case here
contemplated is the same with that in chapter 6: 4-6. The Holy Spirit
is there so distinctly mentioned that it is impossible to turn or
change the plain meaning of the passage; and to be "partakers of the
Holy Spirit" was no doubt to be in that age. Here he is mentioned only
as the holy Spirit of grace, i.e., the bestower of grace, or it may be
taken as meaning "the gracious" or benevolent "Spirit;" as "God of all
grace" in 1 Peter 5:10, may mean either the author and giver of every
grace, or the most gracious God, though the former meaning is most
consistent with the context
[187] The quotation is literally neither from the Hebrew nor from the
Sept., but is the same as quoted in Romans 12:19; which seems to show
that Paul is the Author of both epistles. The Hebrew is, "Mine is
vengeance and recompense;" and the Sept., "In the day vengeance will I
recompense." The sense is the same, though the words are different. --
Ed.
[188] The original text referred to Ps 125:3, which seems to be
directed more at the fact that the wicked will not persevere over the
righteous, whereas Ps 125:5 refers to the wicked joining the "workers
of iniquity," and that "peace will be upon Israel"; neither are quite
as explicit as the commentary in terms of the final destruction of the
wicked, but in my humble opinion, verse 5 has more relevance.-fj.
[189] See [43]Appendix O 2.
[190] The original text had Ps 18:27, but because the quote comes
partly from the first half of verse 25, and partly from the last half
of verse 26, and is emphasized by verse 27, I decided that all three
verses should be referenced.-fj.
7. JOHN W. WHITE, "Hebrews 10:29 "Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall
he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the
blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite
unto the Spirit of grace?" Physical death was the sentence for those who sinned
presumptuously under the Law of Moses. In the New Testament physical death is not to be
feared because of Philippians 1:21 "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." The
cursing and the blessing is clear in Proverbs 13:13 "Whoso despiseth the word shall be
destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded." To be destroyed in
the age to come is to be feared. The age that is coming is the millennial reign of Jesus
Christ. Matthew 16:25, 27 "For whosoever will save his life shall lose [ajpo>llumi, perish,
future tense] it... 27. For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his

220. angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works."
8. FUDGE, “If apostasy under the inferior covenant was hastily and rigidly punished, how
much sorer punishment must be proper for the man who rejects the new covenant instituted by
the blood of the Son of God? The question is left open for consideration by each reader --
suppose ye?
Rejection of Christ and His offering involves a turning from the most holy elements of divine
religion, and that in the cruelest manner. It is to renounce and tread under foot (see the same
word at Matthew 5:13; 7:6; Luke 8:5) the Son of God. It is to regard the blood of the covenant
(see comments at 9:18-20 <exp09.html>) which makes man holy (wherewith he was sanctified)
as itself common and unholy. It is to despise the very Spirit of grace.
Do despite translates a word which comes into our language in the noun "hubris." This word was
used by the ancient Greeks for the most presumptuous arrogance and haughtiness, and was
regarded as the worst possible sin. The idea is seen in various forms of the word translated
"entreat spitefully" (Luke 18:32; Matthew 22:6), "use despitefully" (Acts 14:5), "reproach" (II
Corinthians 12:10) or "shamefully entreat" (I Thessalonians 2:2). Just as it is cruelly ironic for
the covenant blood which makes holy to be regarded as itself unholy, so it is for the Spirit whose
ministry brings divine grace to be rejected with arrogance and insolence!
30 For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I
will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his
people."
1. BARNES, "For we know him that hath said - We know who has said this - God. They
knew this because it was recorded in their own sacred books.
Vengeance belongeth unto me ... - This is found in Deu_32:35; see it explained in the
notes on Rom_12:19. It is there quoted to show that we should not avenge ourselves; it is here
quoted to show that God will certainly inflict punishment on those who deserve it. If any should
apostatize in the manner here referred to by the apostle, they would, says he, be guilty of great
and unparalleled wickedness, and would have the certainty that they must meet the wrath of
God.
And again, The Lord shall judge his people - This is quoted from Deu_32:36. That is,
he will judge them when they deserve it, and punish them if they ought to be punished. The
mere fact that they are his people will not save them from punishment if they deserve it, any
more than the fact that one is a beloved child will save him from correction when he does wrong.
This truth was abundantly illustrated in the history of the Israelites; and the same great

221. principle would be applied should any sincere Christian apostatize from his religion. He would
have before him the certainty of the most fearful and severe of all punishments.
2. CLARKE, "Vengeance belongeth unto me - This is the saying of God, Deu_32:35, in
reference to the idolatrous Gentiles, who were the enemies of his people; and is here with
propriety applied to the above apostates, who, being enemies to God’s ordinances, and Christ’s
ministry and merits, must also be enemies to Christ’s people; and labor for the destruction of
them, and the cause in which they are engaged.
The Lord shall judge his people - That is, he shall execute judgment for them; for this is
evidently the sense in which the word is used in the place from which the apostle quotes,
Deu_32:36 : For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he
seeth that their power is gone. So God will avenge and vindicate the cause of Christianity by
destroying its enemies, as he did in the case of the Jewish people, whom he destroyed from
being a nation, and made them a proverb of reproach and monuments of his wrathful
indignation to the present day.
3. GILL, "For we know him that hath said,.... That is, God, whom the apostle and the
Hebrews knew; not merely by the works of creation and providence, but by the Scriptures, which
they were favoured with, and by which they were distinguished from the Gentiles, and by which
they knew his being, nature, and perfections; particularly, that what he said he was able to
perform, and that he was true and faithful to every word of his, and to what he has said,
Deu_32:35
vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompence, saith the Lord. Vengeance belongs
to God, not as to the affection, as if there was any such passion in him; but as to the effect, there
being that produced by him, which answers to the effect of such a passion among men, namely
punishment: and punishment for sin belongs to God, against whom it is committed; and not to
Heathen deities, one of which goes by the name of Vengeance, Act_28:4 nor to Satan, and his
spiteful angels; nor to men, to exercise it in a private and personal way; though civil magistrates,
being in God's stead, are allowed to exercise it in a public way, according to the laws of God: and
there is good reason to believe, that what the Lord here says, "I will recompence", or revenge sin,
shall be done; which may be concluded from his hatred of sin; from his purity, holiness, and
justice; from his faithfulness to his word; from his omnipotence; from the notice he takes of sin,
in his own people, in a way of chastisement, and correction; and from the vengeance he has
poured on his own Son, as their surety.
And again, in Deu_32:36 the Lord shall judge his people; such as are truly so, his chosen and
covenant people, his redeemed and called ones; these he judges by chastising them in a fatherly
way, that they may not be condemned with the world; and by governing and protecting them;
and by vindicating and pleading their cause, and avenging them on their enemies: or else such
as are only his people by profession; on these he will write a "Lo-ammi"; he distinguishes them
from his own, and judges between them and his people, and will condemn them; nor will their
profession screen them from his wrath and vengeance.
4. HENRY, "From the description we have in the scripture of the nature of God's vindictive
justice, Heb_10:30. We know that he has said, Vengeance is mine. This is taken out of Psa_94:1,
Vengeance belongs unto me. The terrors of the Lord are known both by revelation and reason.
Vindictive justice is a glorious, though terrible attribute of God; it belongs to him, and he will

222. use and execute it upon the heads of such sinners as despise his grace; he will avenge himself,
and his Son, and Spirit, and covenant, upon apostates. And how dreadful then will their case be!
The other quotation is from Deu_32:36, The Lord will judge his people; he will search and try
his visible church, and will discover and detect those who say they are Jews, and are not, but are
of the synagogue of Satan; and he will separate the precious from the vile, and will punish the
sinners in Zion with the greatest severity. Now those who know him who hath said, Vengeance
belongeth to me, I will recompense, must needs conclude, as the apostle does (Heb_10:31): It is
a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Those who know the joy that results from
the favour of God can thereby judge of the power and dread of his vindictive wrath. Observe
here, What will be the eternal misery of impenitent sinners and apostates: they shall fall into the
hands of the living God; their punishment shall come from God's own hand. He takes them into
the hand of his justice; he will deal with them himself; their greatest misery will be the
immediate impressions of divine wrath on the soul. When he punishes them by creatures, the
instrument abates something of the force of the blow; but, when he does it by his own hand, it is
infinite misery. This they shall have at God's hand, they shall lie down in sorrow; their
destruction shall come from his glorious powerful presence; when they make their woeful bed in
hell, they will find that God is there, and his presence will be their greatest terror and torment.
And he is a living God; he lives for ever, and will punish for ever.
5. JAMISON, "him — God, who enters no empty threats.
Vengeance belongeth unto me — Greek, “To Me belongeth vengeance”: exactly according
with Paul’s quotation, Rom_12:19, of the same text.
Lord shall judge his people — in grace, or else anger, according as each deserves: here,
“judge,” so as to punish the reprobate apostate; there, “judge,” so as to interpose in behalf of,
and save His people (Deu_32:36).
6. COFFMAN, "Verses 30, 31
For we know him that said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will
recompense. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a
fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
These quotations are Deut. 32:35,36; but a check of those verses will show
that their form, but not their meaning, has been altered by the author of
Hebrews. The quotation is not like the Septuagint, nor like Philo, so what is
it? It is the apostle Paul quoting a well-known scripture in his own words;
and the proof of this is Rom. 12:19 where exactly the same quotation in
exactly the same words is found; and, if the scholarship of the world will
forgive us, by exactly the same author, namely, Paul himself. It is certainly a
gratuitous assumption of intolerable dimensions to make Barnabas, Apollos,
Luke, Clement, Mark or anybody else misquote a passage in exactly the
same words of Paul's misquotation.
The fact of God's wrath is inherent in his holiness. These verses trumpet the
fact that the God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament,

223. and that he is angry with the wicked every day, that sin shall not stand in
his presence, and that the utter and final destruction of everything evil is a
part of God's eternal purpose.
The Lord shall judge his people
is a pointed warning of judgment for the saints themselves, a fact noted by
Peter who said, "And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the
ungodly and sinner appear?" (1 Peter 4:18).
There is by us a line unseen That crosses every path, The hidden boundary
between God's mercy and God's wrath.
When King David was offered a choice of three punishments for his sin in
numbering Israel, he said, "Let us now fall into the hands of Jehovah, for his
mercies are great" (2 Samuel 24:14). However, as Milligan wisely noted,
there is a difference in falling into the hands of God for correction and in
doing so for judgment. F41
The fearful penalties to be executed upon
apostates are exceedingly dreadful.
The living God
is an expression used here and in three other passages of Heb. 3:12; Heb.
9:14; and Heb. 12:22; and in this place seems to be given in answer to a
possible question of why it is a fearful thing to fall into God's hands. Because
he is a living God!
31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God.
1. BARNES, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God - There may
be an allusion here to the request of David to “fall into the hands of the Lord and not into the
hands of men,” when it was submitted to him for the sin of numbering the people, whether he
would choose seven years of famine, or flee three months before his enemies, or have three days
of pestilence; 2 Sam. 24. He preferred “to fall into the hands of the Lord,” and God smote
seventy thousand men by the pestilence. The idea here is, that to fall into the hands of the Lord,
after having despised his mercy and rejected his salvation, would be terrific; and the fear of this
should deter from the commission of the dreadful crime. The phrase “living God” is used in the
Scripture in opposition to “idols.” God always lives; his power is capable of being always exerted.
He is not like the idols of wood or stone which have no life, and which are not to be dreaded, but

224. he always lives. It is the more fearful to fall into his hands because he will live “forever.” A man
who inflicts punishment will die, and the punishment will come to an end; but God will never
cease to exist, and the punshment which he is capable of inflicting today he will be capable of
inflicting forever and ever. To fall into his hands, therefore, “for the purpose of punishment” -
which is the idea here - is fearful:
(1) Because he has all power, and can inflict just what punishment he pleases;
(2) Because he is strictly just, and will inflict the punishment which ought to be inflicted;
(3) Because he lives forever, and can carry on his purpose of punishment to eternal ages; and
(4) Because the actual inflictions of punishment which have occurred show what is to be
dreaded.
So it was on the old world; on the cities of the plain; on Babylon, Idumea, Capernaum, and
Jerusalem; and so it is in the world of wo - the eternal abodes of despair, where the worm never
dies. All people must, in one sense, fall into his hands. They must appear before him. They must
be brought to his bar when they die. How unspeakably important it is then now to embrace his
offers of salvation, that we may not fall into his hands as a righteous, avenging judge, and sink
beneath his uplifted arm forever!
2. CLARKE, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God - To fall
into the hands of God is to fall under his displeasure; and he who lives for ever can punish for
ever. How dreadful to have the displeasure of an eternal, almighty Being to rest on the soul for
ever! Apostates, and all the persecutors and enemies of God’s cause and people, may expect the
heaviest judgments of an incensed Deity: and these, not for a time, but through eternity.
3. GILL, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. For this is to be
understood not in a good sense; so in general all mankind may be said to fall into, or be in the
hands of God, as they are the work of his hands, the care of his providence, and are subject to his
sovereignty; and in especial manner, believers, whose times and persons are in God's hand,
which bespeaks his great affection for them, their nearness to him, the support they have by
him, and protection from him; and they choose to fall into the hands of him as a chastising
Father, rather than into the hands of men, and at death commend themselves into his hands:
but here it is taken in a bad sense, and signifies to be arrested by justice as a criminal, and be
brought to the bar of God, and receive the sentence of condemnation; when such will feel the
weight of his hand, and the fierceness of his wrath; and this is "a fearful thing": it is a dreadful
thing to fall into the hands of men, injured and affronted, and that have power, and will show no
mercy; it is very tremendous to fall into the hands of God, in the way of his judgments in this
world; the apprehensions of a future judgment are terrible before hand; and the apparatus of the
judgment, when it comes, will be very striking and surprising; but to stand before the Judge,
charged with sin, naked, and without righteousness, speechless, and no one to speak in favour of
them; to hear the dreadful sentence pronounced, and feel the wrath of God to the uttermost,
how horrible must this be! the aggravations of this are, that it is into the hands "of God" that
such fall, and not into the hands of men, or mere creatures; but of God, who is omniscient, and
sees through all pretences; omnipotent, and none can rescue out of his hands by force;
omnipresent, and so no escaping from him; just and faithful, and not to bribed, inexorable,
immutable, and unalterable: and that he is "the living God"; in opposition to the lifeless deities
of the Gentiles, and to mortal men; and is expressive of his eternity, and so of the duration of the
sinner's punishment, that falls into his hands.

225. 4. HENRY, "
5. JAMISON, "fearful ... to fall into the hands — It is good like David to fall into the
hands of God, rather than man, when one does so with filial faith in his father’s love, though
God chastises him. “It is fearful” to fall into His hands as a reprobate and presumptuous sinner
doomed to His just vengeance as Judge (Heb_10:27).
living God — therefore able to punish for ever (Mat_10:28).
6. CALVIN, "
32 Remember those earlier days after you had
received the light, when you stood your ground in a
great contest in the face of suffering.
1. BARNES, "As previously he has warned them by the awful end of apostates, so here he
stirs them up by the remembrance of their own former faith, patience, and self-sacrificing love.
So Rev_2:3, Rev_2:4.
call to remembrance — habitually: so the present tense means.
illuminated — “enlightened”: come to “the knowledge of the truth” (Heb_10:26) in
connection with baptism (see on Heb_6:4). In spiritual baptism, Christ, who is “the Light,” is
put on. “On the one hand, we are not to sever the sign and the grace signified where the sacrifice
truly answers its designs; on the other, the glass is not to be mistaken for the liquor, nor the
sheath for the sword” [Bengel].
fight of — that is, consisting of afflictions.
2. CLARKE, "But call to remembrance - It appears from this, and indeed from some
parts of the Gospel history, that the first believers in Judea were greatly persecuted; our Lord’s
crucifixion, Stephen’s martyrdom, the persecution that arose after the death of Stephen,
Act_8:1, Herod’s persecution, Act_12:1, in which James was killed, and the various persecutions
of St. Paul, sufficiently show that this disposition was predominant among that bad people.
A great fight of afflictions - Πολλην αθλησιν παθηµατων· A great combat or contention of
sufferings. Here we have an allusion to the combats at the Grecian games, or to exhibitions of
gladiators at the public spectacles; and an intimation how honorable it was to contend for the
faith once delivered to the saints, and to overcome through the blood of the Lamb, and their own
testimony.

226. 3. GILL, "But call to remembrance the former days,.... The words may be considered
either as a declaration of what they had done, and be read, "but ye do call to remembrance", &c.
or as an exhortation to remember the days of their espousals, the times of their first conversion:
and the apostle's design in this is, to mitigate the terror the preceding words might strike them
with; and to aggravate the disgrace of turning back, when they had behaved so bravely in former
times; and to encourage their faith and trust in God:
in which after ye were illuminated, by the Spirit of God, to see their impurity, impotence,
and unrighteousness, and their lost and miserable state by nature; and to behold Christ and
salvation by him; and to have some light into the doctrines of the Gospel; and some glimmering
of the glories of another world. The Syriac and Ethiopic versions render it "baptized"; now such
as are converted, and are brought to make a public profession of their faith, and submit to the
ordinances of Christ, are, in common, immediately called to suffer reproach and persecution of
one kind or another; so Christ, after his baptism, was led into the wilderness to be tempted by
the devil: Satan is spiteful and malicious, and God suffers afflictions to befall his people to try
their graces, and to inure them to troubles early, as follows;
ye endured a great fight of afflictions; meaning some violent persecution from their own
countrymen, either at the death of Stephen, in which the apostle, being then unconverted; was
concerned himself; or rather some other time of trouble, after the apostle was converted, to
which he seems to have respect in 1Th_2:14, these Hebrews, being enlisted as soldiers under
Christ, the Captain of their salvation, were quickly engaged in a warfare, and were called forth to
fight a fight of afflictions, and a very great one; and which they endured with patience, courage,
and intrepidity.
4. HENRY, "He presses them to perseverance by putting them in mind of their former
sufferings for Christ: But call to mind the former days, in which, after you were illuminated,
you endured a great fight of afflictions, Heb_10:32. In the early days of the gospel there was a
very hot persecution raised up against the professors of the Christian religion, and the believing
Hebrews had their share of it: he would have them to remember,
(1.) When they had suffered: In former days, after they were illuminated; that is, as soon as
God had breathed life into their souls, and caused divine light to spring up in their minds, and
taken them into his favour and covenant; then earth and hell combined all their force against
them. Here observe, A natural state is a dark state, and those who continue in that state meet
with no disturbance from Satan and the world; but a state of grace is a state of light, and
therefore the powers of darkness will violently oppose it. Those who will live godly in Christ
Jesus must suffer persecution.
(2.) What they suffered: they endured a great fight of afflictions, many and various afflictions
united together against them, and they had a great conflict with them. Many are the troubles of
the righteous. [1.] They were afflicted in themselves. In their own persons; they were made
gazing-stocks, spectacles to the world, angels, and men, 1Co_4:9. In their names and
reputations (v. 33), by many reproaches. Christians ought to value their reputation; and they do
so especially because the reputation of religion is concerned: this makes reproach a great
affliction. They were afflicted in their estates, by the spoiling of their goods, by fines and
forfeitures. [2.] They were afflicted in the afflictions of their brethren: Partly while you became
companions of those that were so used. The Christian spirit is a sympathizing spirit, not a
selfish spirit, but a compassionate spirit; it makes every Christian's suffering our own, puts us
upon pitying others, visiting them, helping them, and pleading for them. Christians are one
body, are animated by one spirit, have embarked in one common cause and interest, and are the
children of that God who is afflicted in all the afflictions of his people. If one member of the body
suffers, all the rest suffer with it. The apostle takes particular notice how they had sympathized

227. with him (Heb_10:34): You had compassion on me in my bonds. We must thankfully
acknowledge the compassions our Christian friends have shown for us under our afflictions.
(3.) How they had suffered. They had been mightily supported under their former sufferings;
they took their sufferings patiently, and not only so, but joyfully received it from God as a favour
and honour conferred upon them that they should be thought worthy to suffer reproach for the
name of Christ. God can strengthen his suffering people with all might in the inner man, to all
patience and long-suffering, and that with joyfulness, Col_1:11.
(4.) What it was that enabled them thus to bear up under their sufferings. They knew in
themselves that they had in heaven a better and a more enduring substance. Observe, [1.] The
happiness of the saints in heaven is substance, something of real weight and worth. All things
here are but shadows. [2.] It is a better substance than any thing they can have or lose here. [3.]
It is an enduring substance, it will out-live time and run parallel with eternity; they can never
spend it; their enemies can never take it from them, as they did their earthly goods. [4.] This will
make a rich amends for all they can lose and suffer here. In heaven they shall have a better life, a
better estate, better liberty, better society, better hearts, better work, every thing better. [5.]
Christians should know this in themselves, they should get the assurance of it in themselves (the
Spirit of God witnessing with their spirits), for the assured knowledge of this will help them to
endure any fight of afflictions they may be encountered with in this world.
5. JAMISON, "As previously he has warned them by the awful end of apostates, so here he
stirs them up by the remembrance of their own former faith, patience, and self-sacrificing love.
So Rev_2:3, Rev_2:4.
call to remembrance — habitually: so the present tense means.
illuminated — “enlightened”: come to “the knowledge of the truth” (Heb_10:26) in
connection with baptism (see on Heb_6:4). In spiritual baptism, Christ, who is “the Light,” is
put on. “On the one hand, we are not to sever the sign and the grace signified where the sacrifice
truly answers its designs; on the other, the glass is not to be mistaken for the liquor, nor the
sheath for the sword” [Bengel].
fight of — that is, consisting of afflictions.
6. CALVIN, "But call to remembrance, etc. In order to stimulate them, and to
rouse their alacrity to go forward, he reminds them of the evidences of
piety which they had previously manifested; for it is a shameful thing
to begin well, and to faint in the middle of our course, and still more
shameful to retrograde after having made great progress. The
remembrance then of past warfare, if it had been carried on faithfully
and diligently under the banner of Christ, is at length useful to us,
not as a pretext for sloth, as though we had already served our time,
but to render us more active in finishing the remaining part of our
course. For Christ has not enlisted us on this condition, that we
should after a few years ask for a discharge like soldiers who have
served their time, but that we should pursue our warfare even to the
end.
He further strengthens his exhortation by saying, that they had already
performed great exploits at a time when they were as yet new recruits:

228. the more shame then would it be to them, if now they fainted after
having been long tried; for the word enlightened is to be limited to
the time when they first enlisted under Christ, as though he had said,
"As soon as ye were initiated into the faith of Christ, ye underwent
hard and arduous contests; now practice ought to have rendered you
stronger, so as to become more courageous." He, however, at the same
time reminds them, that it was through God's favor that they believed,
and not through their own strength; they were enlightened when immersed
in darkness and without eyes to see, except light from above had shone
upon them. Whenever then those things which we have done or suffered
for Christ come to our minds, let them be to us so many goads to stir
us on to higher attainments.
7. MURRAY, THE FORMER DAYS. 32-34
THE solemn warning now, just as was the case in chap. vi. (ver.
9), turns to encouragement and exhortation. As there, the
Hebrews are reminded of the former days, when they were first
enlightened the time of their first love. But, in the previous
instance, they were told that God was not unrighteous to forget
their work and love ; here they are urged themselves not to
forget what had taken place. Call to remembrance the former
days. The retrospect would call up the joy with which they
once had sacrificed all for the name of Jesus, would humble
them in view of past backsliding and present coldness, would stir
within the desire and the hope of regaining the place they once had
occupied. Call to remembrance, he says, the former days, in
which ye endured a great conflict of sufferings, in not only
bearing reproaches and taking joyfully the spoiling of your
possessions, but also in compassion towards and being par
takers with others who were in bonds.
It is a sad thought that a community that had so remarkably
proved its faithfulness to the Lord, in the midst of persecution
and suffering, should in a few years have gone so far back as to
need the warnings that have just been given. And yet it has
often been so. In some cases it happened that the persecution
ceased, and the spirit of ease and of sloth, or of worldly prosperity,
obtained the mastery. In others, the persecution lasted too long,
and those who had appeared to forsake all, succumbed to the
severity and length of the trial. The Hebrews were not only
an instance of such defection, but of so many other cases, in
which Christians, after having begun well, wax weary, fainting

229. in their souls. They stand out as beacons to warn us of the
danger the Epistle so strongly urges that the best beginning
will not avail unless we endure to the end (iii. 14; vi. n ; xii. 3).
They call us to remember that we need a faith and a religion
that stands fast and lasts ; because it has its steadfastness, as the
Epistle teaches, in the promise and the oath of God ; in the hope
within the veil ; in Him the surety of the covenant, who is seated
on the right hand of God, the Priest after the power of an end
less life, the surety of an everlasting covenant.
In reminding them of the past a very remarkable expression
is used to indicate what the power was that enabled them at
first to endure so bravely. Ye took joyfully the spoiling of
your possessions, knowing that ye yourselves have a better and
abiding possession. The Christian stands between two worlds ;
each offers him its goods as possessions. In unceasing conflict
the two compete for mastery. The one has the advantage of being
infinitely more worthy than the other giving infinite satisfac
tion, and lasting for ever. The other is in no wise to be compared
with it it cannot satisfy, and it does not last. But, in the con
flict, it has two immense, two terrible advantages. The one is,
it is nearer ; it is visible ; it has access to us by every sense ; its
influence on us is natural and easy and unceasing. The other,
that our heart is prepossessed ; the spirit of the world is in it.
And so it comes that the possessions of this world with the most
actually win the day, even against the better and abiding
possession.
Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your possessions, knowing
that ye have a better and abiding possession. What is this
better and abiding possession? It is the love and grace of God.
It is the eternal life within. It is Christ as our heart s treasure.
It is a life and a character in the likeness of Christ. The old
heathen moralists teach us most striking lessons as to the nobility
of a man who knows that all earthly possessions are as nothing
compared with the being master of himself. How much more
reason the Christian has to rejoice in the good things, in the
eternal realities which Christ bestows, both in the heaven above
and the heart within. The world may rob you of personal
liberty or earthly goods ; it cannot compel you to commit sin or
separate you from the living God in Christ Jesus. Heaven and
its blessing in your heart can fill you with a joy that counts
every sacrifice a privilege, that makes every loss a gain, and that
turns all suffering into an exceeding weight of glory.
Alas that the Hebrews, after knowing this better and abid

230. ing possession, and having, for its sake, joyfully taken the
spoiling of their possessions, should yet, many of them, have
waxed weary, and fainted and turned back ! Alas for the
terrible possibility of making sacrifices, and enduring reproach
for Christ, and then falling away ! No wonder that our author
at once follows up his appeal to the former days with the
exhortation : Cast not away your boldness ye have need of
patience.
Let us learn the solemn lesson : the lawful possessions and
pleasures and occupations of this world, its literature and its cul
ture, are unceasingly and most insidiously seeking to undermine
the influence of the better and abiding possession. This influence
is greater than we know, because they are seen and near and
ever active. Nothing can secure us against their power but a
life of faith, a life in the Holiest, a life in the power of Christ,
the Priest for ever, who works all in the power of the endless life.
Alone through Him who abideth continually can we abide con
tinually too, can we endure unto the end.
1. If there be any reader who has to look bach with shame and regret on his first hue, and
his
leaving it, let him listen to the call : Remember the former days. Think of them. Face the
fact
of your having gone bach. Confess it to God. And take courage in the assurance, there is
restora
tion and deliverance. Trust Jesus.
2. A better and abiding 1 possession. A rich man counts his money. He spends time and
thought on preserving it safe, and making it more. Our power to resist the world, so that its
possessions shall not tempt us, nor Its threats terrify us, lies in the full consciousness and
enjoyment of our heavenly treasures. Take time to know your possessions, draw out an
inventory
of what you have and what you expect, and all the world offers will have no power.
8. COFFMAN, “Verse 32
But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were
enlightened, ye endured a great conflict of suffering.
This verse refers to fidelity and endurance of the Hebrew Christians who
passed through the tribulations that arose around the martyrdom of Stephen
and the following persecutions. The uncertainty of scholars about the original
addressees of this epistle makes the positive identification of the "conflict of
sufferings" somewhat precarious; but, if it was not THAT persecution, it was

231. another one of sufficient priority to the date of Hebrews to have allowed the
development of a prevailing indifference that arose after it and which is so
strongly treated by the author. Certainly, the words, "Ye have not yet
resisted unto blood, striving against sin" (Hebrews 12:4), as used by the
author, do not rule out Stephen's martyrdom as being the time of the
sufferings mentioned here; because "Ye" could have reference to the
generation receiving Hebrews, rather than to a congregation that had no
history of persecutions. Hebrews was addressed to the living and not to the
dead; and whatever persecution was referred to, it was "a great conflict of
suffering."
33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and
persecution; at other times you stood side by side with
those who were so treated.
1. BARNES, "Partly - That is, your affliction consisted partly in this. The Greek is, “this” -
specifying one kind of affliction that they were called to endure.
Whilst ye were made a gazing-stock - Greek θεατριζόµενοι theatrizomenoi - you were
made a public spectacle, as if in a theater; you were held up to public view, or exposed to public
scorn. When this was done, or in precisely what manner, we are not told. It was not an
uncommon thing, however, for the early Christians to be held up to reproach and scorn, and
probably this refers to some time when it was done by rulers or magistrates. It was a common
custom among the Greeks and Romans to lead criminals, before they were put to death, through
the theater, and thus to expose them to the insults and reproaches of the multitude. See the
proofs of this adduced by Kuinoel on this passage. The “language” here seems to have been
taken from this custom, though there is no evidence that the Christians to whom Paul refers had
been treated in this manner.
By reproaches - Repreached as being the followers of Jesus of Nazareth; probably as weak
and fanatical.
And afflictions - Various “sufferings” inflicted on them. They were not merely reviled in
words, but they were made to endure positive sufferings of various kinds.
And partly, while ye became companions of them that were so used - That is, even
when they had not themselves been subjected to these trials, they had sympathized with those
who were. They doubtless imparted to them of their property; sent to them relief, and identified
themselves with them. It is not known to what particular occasion the apostle here refers. In the

232. next verse he mentions one instance in which they had done this, in aiding him when he was a
prisoner.
2. CLARKE, "Ye were made a gazing-stock - Θεατριζοµενοι· Ye were exhibited as wild
beasts and other shows at the theatres. See the note on 1Co_4:9, where all this is illustrated.
Companions of them that were so used - It appears, from 1Th_2:14, 1Th_2:15, that the
Churches of God in Judea were greatly persecuted, and that they believed with courage and
constancy in their persecutions. When any victim of persecuting rage was marked out, the rest
were prompt to take his part, and acknowledge themselves believers in the same doctrine for
which he suffered. This was a noble spirit; many would have slunk into a corner, and put off the
marks of Christ, that they might not be exposed to affliction on this account.
3. GILL, "Partly whilst ye were made a gazing stock,.... Brought upon the stage or
theatre, and made a spectacle to the world, angels, and men, 1Co_4:9
both by reproaches and afflictions; suffering both in their characters and reputations, and
in their persons and substance:
and partly whilst ye became companions of them that were so used; they maintained
their communion with them, relieved them in distress, and sympathized with them.
4. HENRY, "What they suffered: they endured a great fight of afflictions, many and various
afflictions united together against them, and they had a great conflict with them. Many are the
troubles of the righteous. [1.] They were afflicted in themselves. In their own persons; they were
made gazing-stocks, spectacles to the world, angels, and men, 1Co_4:9. In their names and
reputations (v. 33), by many reproaches. Christians ought to value their reputation; and they do
so especially because the reputation of religion is concerned: this makes reproach a great
affliction. They were afflicted in their estates, by the spoiling of their goods, by fines and
forfeitures. [2.] They were afflicted in the afflictions of their brethren: Partly while you became
companions of those that were so used. The Christian spirit is a sympathizing spirit, not a
selfish spirit, but a compassionate spirit; it makes every Christian's suffering our own, puts us
upon pitying others, visiting them, helping them, and pleading for them. Christians are one
body, are animated by one spirit, have embarked in one common cause and interest, and are the
children of that God who is afflicted in all the afflictions of his people. If one member of the body
suffers, all the rest suffer with it. The apostle takes particular notice how they had sympathized
with him (Heb_10:34): You had compassion on me in my bonds. We must thankfully
acknowledge the compassions our Christian friends have shown for us under our afflictions.
5. JAMISON, "The persecutions here referred to seem to have been endured by the Hebrew
Christians at their first conversion, not only in Palestine, but also in Rome and elsewhere, the
Jews in every city inciting the populace and the Roman authorities against Christians.
gazing-stock — as in a theater (so the Greek): often used as the place of punishment in the
presence of the assembled multitudes. Act_19:29; 1Co_4:9, “Made a theatrical spectacle to the
world.”
ye became — of your own accord: attesting your Christian sympathy with your suffering
brethren.

233. companions of — sharers in affliction with.
6. CALVIN, "Partly, whilst ye were made, etc. We see who they were whom he
addresses, even those whose faith had been proved by no common trials,
and yet he refrains not from exhorting them to greater things. Let no
man therefore deceive himself by self-flattery as though he had reached
the goal, or had no need of incentives from others.
Now he says, that they had been made gazingstocks both by reproaches
and afflictions, or exposed to public shame by reproaches and
distresses, as though they were exposed on a public theater. [192] We
hence learn that the persecutions which they had sustained were
remarkably severe. But we ought especially to notice the latter clause,
when he says that they became companions, or associates of the godly in
their persecutions; for as it is Christ's cause for which all the godly
contend, and as it is what their contend for in common, whatever one of
them suffers, all the rest ought to transfer, as it were, to
themselves; and this is what ought by all means to be done by us,
unless we would separate ourselves from Christ himself.
7. COFFMAN, “Verse 33
Partly being made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions;
and partly becoming partakers with them that were so used.
The appeal in these words is to the truly heroic and faithful endurance of
those Hebrew Christians who, at the first, had stood against every
persecution and insult, endured every hardship, and had continued in spite
of every shameful thing done to them, never deviating and never turning
back.
The mention of "gazingstock" brings to mind the words of Milligan in his
quotation of Seneca. "In the morning men are exposed to lions and bears: at
midday to their spectators." F42
"Reproaches" included scornful words of
vilification, slurs, insults, lies, and curses of them that hated the Christians.
The particular thing the author stressed is that they had not merely endured
such things but willingly identified themselves with any of their brethren
thus treated, befriending them, accompanying them, and sharing their
reproaches.

234. 34 You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully
accepted the confiscation of your property, because
you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting
possessions.
1. BARNES, "For ye had compassion of me in my bonds - You sympathized with me
when a prisoner, and sent to my relief. It is not known to what particular instance of
imprisonment the apostle here refers. It is probable, however, that it was on some occasion
when he was a prisoner in Judea, for the persons to whom this Epistle was sent most probably
resided there. Paul was at one time a prisoner more than two years at Cesarea Act_24:27, and
during this time he was kept in the charge of a centurion, and his friends had free access to him;
Act_24:23. It would seem not improbable that this was the occasion to which he here refers.
And took joyfully the spoiling of your goods - The plunder of your property. It was not
an uncommon thing for the early Christians to be plundered. This was doubtless a part of the
“afflictions” to which the apostle refers in this case. The meaning is, that they yielded their
property not only without resistance, but with joy. They, in common with all the early
Christians, counted it a privilege and honor to suffer in the cause of their Master; see the notes
on Phi_3:10; compare Rom_5:3. Men may be brought to such a state of mind as to part with
their property with joy. It is not usually the case; but religion will enable a man to do it.
Knowing in yourselves - Marg “or, that ye have in yourselves; or, for yourselves.” The true
rendering is, “knowing that ye have for yourselves.” It does not refer to any internal knowledge
which they had of this, but to the fact that they were assured that they had laid up for themselves
a better inheritance in heaven.
That ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance - Better than any earthly
possession, and more permanent. It is:
(1) Better; it is worth more; it gives more comfort; it makes a man really richer. The treasure
laid up in heaven is worth more to a man than all the wealth of Croesus. It will give him more
solid peace and comfort; will better serve his turn in the various situations in which he may be
placed in life, and will do more on the whole to make him happy. It is not said here that property
is worth nothing to a man - which is not true, if he uses it well - but that the treasures of heaven
are worth more.
(2) It is more enduring. Property here soon vanishes. Riches take to themselves wings and fly
away, or at any rate all that we possess must soon be left. But in heaven all is permanent and
secure. No calamity of war, pestilence, or famine; no change of times; no commercial
embarrassments; no failure of a crop, or a bank; no fraud of sharpers and swindlers, and no act
of a pick-pocket or highwayman can take it away; nor does death ever come there to remove the
inhabitants of heaven from their “mansions.” With this hope, therefore, Christians may

235. cheerfully see their earthly wealth vanish, for they can look forward to their enduring and their
better inheritance.
2. CLARKE, "Ye had compassion of me in my bonds - Συνεπαθησατε· Ye suffered with
me, ye sympathized with me, when bound for the testimony of Jesus. This probably refers to the
sympathy they showed towards him, and the help they afforded him, during his long
imprisonment in Caesarea and Jerusalem. But instead of τοις δεσµοις µου, my bonds, τοις δεσ
µιοις, the prisoners, is the reading of AD, and several others, both the Syriac, the Arabic of
Erpen, the Coptic, Armenian, Vulgate, some of the Itala, and several of the Greek fathers. This
reading appears to be so well supported, that Griesbach has admitted it into the text. If it be
genuine, it shows that there had been, and perhaps were then, several bound for the testimony
of Jesus, and that the Church in Judea had shown its attachment to Christ by openly
acknowledging these prisoners, and ministering to them.
Took joyfully the spoiling of your goods - They were deprived of their inheritances,
turned out of their houses, and plundered of their goods; they wandered about in sheepskins
and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. To suffer such persecution patiently was
great; to endure it without a murmur was greater; to rejoice in it was greatest of all. But how
could they do all this? The next clause informs us.
Knowing in yourselves - They had the fullest evidence that they were the children of God,
the Spirit itself bearing this witness to their spirits; and if children than heirs, heirs of God and
joint heirs with Christ. They knew that heaven was their portion, and that to it they had a sure
right and indefeasible title by Christ Jesus. This accounts, and this alone can account, for their
taking joyfully the spoiling of their goods: they had Christ in their hearts; they knew that they
were his children, and that they had a kingdom, but that kingdom was not of this world. They
had the support they needed, and they had it in the time in which they needed it most.
3. GILL, "For ye had compassion of me in my bonds,.... When he was bound at
Jerusalem, by the chief captain Lysias, with two chains, Act_21:33 or when he was in bonds
elsewhere; which they did by sympathizing with him in their hearts; by their prayers for him,
and in their letters to him; and by sending presents to him for his relief and support. The
Alexandrian copy, and two of Stephens's, the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions, read, "had
compassion on the prisoners"; or "them that were bound"; meaning prisoners in general,
remembering them that were in bonds, as bound with them; or particularly such as were
prisoners for the sake of Christ, and his Gospel; and it may be some of them, which the apostle
himself committed to prison, in his state of unregeneracy:
and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods; the furniture of their houses, their worldly
substance, of which they were stripped by their persecutors; and this they took quietly and
patiently, yea, joyfully; rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer the confiscation of their
goods for the sake of Christ: the reason of which joy was,
knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance:
that which is laid up for the saints in heaven is "substance"; it is signified by an house, a city, a
kingdom; and so it is rendered here in the Ethiopic version; and by riches, true, glorious, and
durable; and by a treasure and an inheritance: and this is "better" than anything in this world; as
to the quality of it, it being celestial; and as to the quantity of it, it being all things; and as to the

236. place where it is, "in heaven"; though this clause is left out in the Alexandrian copy, and in the
Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions; and as to the company with whom it is enjoyed, saints in
light; yea, God himself is the portion of his people: and this is an "enduring" substance; it cannot
be wasted by the saints themselves; nor taken away from them by others; nor can it decay in its
own nature; and the saints will always endure to enjoy it: and this they may be said to "have": it
is promised to them, and prepared for them; they have a right unto it, and the earnest of it; and
they have it already in Christ, their head and representative; so that it is, upon all accounts, sure
unto them: and this they know in themselves; from what they find and feel in their own hearts;
from the sealing testimony and earnest of the Spirit, and from the promise of Christ, Mat_5:10.
4. HENRY, "The apostle takes particular notice how they had sympathized with him
(Heb_10:34): You had compassion on me in my bonds. We must thankfully acknowledge the
compassions our Christian friends have shown for us under our afflictions.
(3.) How they had suffered. They had been mightily supported under their former sufferings;
they took their sufferings patiently, and not only so, but joyfully received it from God as a favour
and honour conferred upon them that they should be thought worthy to suffer reproach for the
name of Christ. God can strengthen his suffering people with all might in the inner man, to all
patience and long-suffering, and that with joyfulness, Col_1:11.
(4.) What it was that enabled them thus to bear up under their sufferings. They knew in
themselves that they had in heaven a better and a more enduring substance. Observe, [1.] The
happiness of the saints in heaven is substance, something of real weight and worth. All things
here are but shadows. [2.] It is a better substance than any thing they can have or lose here. [3.]
It is an enduring substance, it will out-live time and run parallel with eternity; they can never
spend it; their enemies can never take it from them, as they did their earthly goods. [4.] This will
make a rich amends for all they can lose and suffer here. In heaven they shall have a better life, a
better estate, better liberty, better society, better hearts, better work, every thing better. [5.]
Christians should know this in themselves, they should get the assurance of it in themselves (the
Spirit of God witnessing with their spirits), for the assured knowledge of this will help them to
endure any fight of afflictions they may be encountered with in this world.
5. JAMISON, "ye had compassion on me in my bonds — The oldest manuscripts and
versions omit “me,” and read, “Ye both sympathized with those in bonds (answering to the last
clause of Heb_10:33; compare Heb_13:3, Heb_13:23; Heb_6:10), and accepted (so the Greek is
translated in Heb_11:35) with joy (Jam_1:2; joy in tribulations, as exercising faith and other
graces, Rom_5:3; and the pledge of the coming glory, Mat_5:12) the plundering of your (own)
goods (answering to the first clause of Heb_10:33).”
in yourselves — The oldest manuscripts omit “in”: translate, “knowing that ye have for (or
‘to’) yourselves.”
better — a heavenly (Heb_11:16).
enduring — not liable to spoiling.
substance — possession: peculiarly our own, if we will not cast away our birthright.
6. CALVIN, "And took joyfully, [194] etc. There is no doubt but as they were
men who had feelings, the loss of their goods caused them grief; but
yet their sorrow was such as did not prevent the joy of which the
Apostle speaks. As poverty is deemed an evil, the plunder of their
goods considered in itself touched them with grief; but as they looked

237. higher, they found a cause for joy, which allayed whatever grief they
felt. It is indeed thus necessary that our thoughts should be drawn
away from the world, by looking at the heavenly recompense; nor do I
say any other thing but what all the godly find to be the case by
experience. And no doubt we joyfully embrace what we are persuaded will
end in our salvation; and this persuasion the children of God doubtless
have respecting the conflicts which they undertake for the glory of
Christ. Hence carnal feelings never so prevail in overwhelming them
with grief, but that with their minds raised up to heaven they emerge
into spiritual joy.
And this is proved by what he subjoins, knowing that ye have in heaven
a better and an enduring substance. Joyfully then did they endure the
plundering of their goods, not because they were glad to find
themselves plundered; but as their minds were fixed on the recompense,
they easily forgot the grief occasioned by their present calamity. And
indeed wherever there is a lively perception of heavenly things, the
world with all its allurements is not so relished, that either poverty
or shame can overwhelm our minds with grief. If then we wish to bear
anything for Christ with patience and resigned minds, let us accustom
ourselves to a frequent meditation on that felicity, in comparison with
which all the good things of the world are nothing but refuse. Nor are
we to pass by these words, "knowing that ye have"; [195] for except one
be fully persuaded that the inheritance which God has promised to his
children belongs to him, all his knowledge will be cold and useless.
7. COFFMAN, “Verse 34
For ye both had compassion on them that were in bonds, and took
joyfully the spoiling of your possessions, knowing that ye have for
yourselves a better possession and an abiding one.
The student is aware that the KJV makes this place read, "compassion of me
in my bonds"; but a fact not often noted is that the KJV rendition is
supported by no less an authority than the Codex Sinaiticus, along with
other ancient manuscripts. (See introduction.) Westcott noted that this
expression is found nowhere else in the New Testament except as a
reference by Paul himself to his own imprisonment. F43
This, of course, is
another reason why many students are not convinced by scholarly
fulminations against the Pauline authorship of Hebrews. The other-worldly
emphasis in the thoughts of persecuted Christians shows that they had truly
set their affections upon the things in heaven rather than upon the things on
earth, "the better possession" being a reference to eternal rewards stored up
for them that prevail through Christ. Jesus said, "Rejoice and be exceeding
glad, for great is your reward in heaven" (Matthew 5:12).

238. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be
richly rewarded.
1. BARNES, "Cast not away therefore your confidence - Greek “your boldness;”
referring to their confident hope in God. They were not to cast this away, and to become timid,
disheartened, and discouraged. They were to bear up manfully under all their trials, and to
maintain a steadfast adherence to God and to his cause. The command is not to “cast this away.”
Nothing could take it from them if they trusted in God, and it could be lost only by their own
neglect or imprudence. Rosenmuller supposes (Alte und Neue Morgenland, “in loc.”) that there
may be an allusion here to the disgrace which was attached to the act of a warrior if he cast away
his shield. Among the Greeks this was a crime which was punishable with death. Alexander ab
Alexand. Gen. Dier. L. ii c. 13. Among the ancient Germans, Tacitus says, that to lose the shield
in battle was regarded as the deepest dishonor, and that those who were guilty of it were not
allowed to be present at the sacrifices or in the assembly of the people. Many, says he, who had
suffered this calamity, closed their own lives with the baiter under the loss of honor. Tac. Germ.
c. 6. A similar disgrace would attend the Christian soldier if he should cast away his shield of
faith; compare the notes, Eph_6:16.
Which hath great recompense of reward - It will furnish a reward by the peace of mind
which it gives here, and will be connected with the rewards of heaven.
2. CLARKE, "Cast not away therefore your confidence - Την παρምησιαν ᆓµων· Your
liberty of access to God; your title and right to approach his throne; your birthright as his sons
and daughters; and the clear evidence you have of his favor, which, if you be not steady and
faithful, you must lose. Do not throw it away, µη αποβαλητε· neither men nor devils can take it
from you, and God will never deprive you of it if you continue faithful. There is a reference here
to cowardly soldiers, who throw away their shields, and run away from the battle. This is your
shield, your faith in Christ, which gives you the knowledge of salvation; keep it, and it will keep
you.
The Lacedemonian women, when they presented the shields to their sons going to battle, were
accustomed to say: Η ταν, η επι τας· “Either bring this back, or be brought back upon it;”
alluding to the custom of bringing back a slain soldier on his own shield, a proof that he had
preserved it to the last, and had been faithful to his country. They were accustomed also to excite
their courage by delivering to them their fathers’ shields with the following short address. Ταυτη
ν ᆇ πατηρ σοι αει εσωζε· και συ ουν ταυταν σωζε, η µη εσο· “This shield thy father always
preserved; do thou preserve it also, or perish;” Lacaenarum Apophthegmata, Plut. Opera, a

239. Wittenbach, vol. i. p. 682. Thus spake the Lacedemonian mothers to their sons; and what say the
oracles of God to us? Μη αποβαλητε την παρምησιαν ᆓµων· Cast not away your confession of
faith. This is your shield; keep it, and it will ever be your sure defense; for by it you will quench
every fiery dart of the wicked one. The Church of Christ speaks this to all her sons, and especially
to those employed in the work of the ministry. Of this shield, of this glorious system of salvation
by Jesus Christ, illustrated and defended in this work, I say to each of my children: Ταυτην ᆇ π
ατηρ σοι αει εσωζε· και συ ουν ταυταν σωζε, η µη εσο· This faith, thy father, by the grace of
God, hath always kept; keep thou it also, or thou must expect to perish! May this be received
both as a warning and encouragement!
Great recompense of reward - No less than God’s continual approbation; the peace that
passeth all understanding ruling the heart here; and the glories of heaven as an eternal portion.
Conscientiously keep the shield, and all these shall be thine. This will be thy reward; but
remember that it is the mercy of God that gives it.
3. GILL, "Cast not away therefore your confidence,.... The same word is used here, as in
Heb_10:19 where it is translated "boldness"; and may design here, as there, an holy boldness in
prayer, free from a servile and bashful spirit; and which appears in a liberty of speaking to God,
and in a confidence of being heard; prayer itself should not be left off, nor should freedom,
boldness, and confidence in it be slackened, or laid aside: or else a profession of faith is
intended, which ought to be free and open, bold and courageous, firm and constant; and which
ought by no means to be let go and dropped: or the grace of faith in its full assurance, with
respect to interest in God, as a covenant God and Father, and in his love; and with respect to
interest in Christ, and in his grace, and a right to the glorious inheritance, the better and
enduring substance: and this shield of faith is by no means to be cast away; it was reckoned
infamous and scandalous in soldiers to lose or cast away their shield; with the Grecians it was a
capital crime, and punished with death (b); to which the apostle may here allude. There are two
sorts of believers, nominal and real; and there are two sorts of faith; an historical one, which
may be in persons destitute of the grace of God, and is in devils; and a true and unfeigned one,
which has salvation connected with it; the former may be cast away and lost; the latter, though it
may be remiss and weak in its exercise, yet it cannot be wholly and finally lost; and this
exhortation may be designed as a means of continuing it, and of perseverance in it: the reason
urging it follows,
which hath great recompence of reward; freedom and boldness in prayer has its reward,
for such that ask in faith shall have; and so has a firm and constant profession of religion, for he
that endures to the end shall be saved; and so has a true and strong faith in Christ; everlasting
salvation is connected with it; the reward of the inheritance follows upon it; and this reward is
the recompense of God's own grace: and it is a very great one; it is the fruit of great love and
grace; yea, it is no other than God himself, who is the exceeding great reward of his people; it is
Christ and his glory, and the riches of it; it is a reward exceeding, and beyond all deserts of men,
and beyond all thought and expression.
4. HENRY, "He presses them to persevere, from that recompense of reward that waited for
all faithful Christians (Heb_10:35): Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great
recompense of reward. Here, (1.) He exhorts them not to cast away their confidence, that is,
their holy courage and boldness, but to hold fast that profession for which they had suffered so
much before, and borne those sufferings so well. (2.) He encourages them to this by assuring

240. them that the reward of their holy confidence would be very great. It carries a present reward in
it, in holy peace and joy, and much of God's presence and his power resting upon them; and it
shall have a great recompense of reward hereafter. (3.) He shows them how necessary a grace
the grace of patience is in our present state (Heb_10:36): You have need of patience, that after
you have done the will of God you might receive the promise; that is, this promised reward.
Observe, The greatest part of the saints' happiness is in promise. They must first do the will of
God before they receive the promise; and, after they have done the will of God, they have need of
patience to wait for the time when the promise shall be fulfilled; they have need of patience to
live till God calls them away. It is a trial of the patience of Christians, to be content to live after
their work is done, and to stay for the reward till God's time to give it them is come. We must be
God's waiting servants when we can be no longer his working servants. Those who have had and
exercised much patience already must have and exercise more till they die. (4.) To help their
patience, he assures them of the near approach of Christ's coming to deliver and to reward them
(Heb_10:37): For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. He will
soon come to them at death, and put an end to all their sufferings, and give them a crown of life.
He will soon come to judgment, and put an end to the sufferings of the whole church (all his
mystical body), and give them an ample and glorious reward in the most public manner. There
is an appointed time for both, and beyond that time he will not tarry, Hab_2:3. The Christian's
present conflict may be sharp, but it will be soon over.
5. JAMISON, "Consequent exhortation to confidence and endurance, as Christ is soon
coming.
Cast not away — implying that they now have “confidence,” and that it will not withdraw of
itself, unless they “cast it away” willfully (compare Heb_3:14).
which — Greek, “the which”: inasmuch as being such as.
hath — present tense: it is as certain as if you had it in your hand (Heb_10:37). It hath in
reversion.
recompense of reward — of grace not of debt: a reward of a kind which no mercenary
self-seeker would seek: holiness will be its own reward; self-devoting unselfishness for Christ’s
sake will be its own rich recompense (see on Heb_2:2; see on Heb_11:26).
6. CALVIN, "Cast not away, therefore, etc. He shows what especially makes us
strong to persevere, even the retaining of confidence; for when that is
lost, we lose the recompense set before us. It hence appears that
confidence is the foundation of a godly and holy life. By mentioning
reward, he diminishes nothing from the gratuitous promise of Salvation;
for the faithful know that their labor is not vain in the Lord in such
a way that they still rest on God's mercy alone. But it has been often
stated elsewhere how reward is not incompatible with the gratuitous
imputation of righteousness.
__________________________________________________________________
[191] "A great fight of affliction," is rendered by Doddridge, "a great
contest of sufferings;" by Macknight. "a great combat of afflictions;"
and by Stuart, "a great contest with sufferings." The last word may be
deemed as the genitive case of the object, "a great contest as to
sufferings;" or the word pollen, may be rendered, "long contest as to

241. sufferings." Doddridge remarks that contest hupomeo is used to show the
courage displayed. But "endure," is in the case not the proper word,
but "sustain," If "endure" be retained, then we must give its secondary
sense to athlesin, toil, labor, struggle; and so Schleusner does, "Ye
endured the great toil of sufferings," or, a great struggle with
sufferings. -- Ed
[192] The words may be rendered, "When ye were publicly exposed to
reproaches and afflictions," or, to revilings and persecutions. They
were reproached with bad names, or reviled, and also oppressed and
persecuted. -- Ed.
[193] The latter clause of this verse is rendered the same as in our
version by Beza and Macknight, while Grotius, Doddridge, Stuart and
Bloomfield, give in effect this rendering, "when ye became partakers
(i.e., in sympathy, and in their losses) with those who were so
treated." It signifies, says Grotius, that they sympathized with their
brethren in their calamities, and also succored them as far as they
could by praying for them, and administering to their wants. In Matthew
23:30, koinonoi auton is rendered, "partakers with them," or sharers
with them; and so it might be rendered here, "sharers with those who
were so treated," i.e., sharers in reproach and suffering. -- Ed.
[194] The preceding clause is literally "For ye sympathized with my
bonds." There is a different reading, "For ye sympathized with the
prisoners -- desmiois. The authority as to MSS. is nearly equal; and
there is nothing decisive in the context. A similar phrase is in
chapter 4:15. "who cannot sympathize with our infirmities." Grotius,
Hammond and Stuart, are in the text as it is, and also Bishop Jebb, and
Bloomfield. There is here a clear instance of an inverted order as to
the subjects previously mentioned which often occur in the Prophets,
and in other parts of Scripture. The last subject in the previous verse
is here first referred to, and then the first. -- Ed.
[195] Calvin leaves out en heautois, as the Vulg. does. The en is
deemed by most spurious, but most retain heautois, though they do not
connect it as in our version, with "knowing," and render the clause
thus, "knowing that you have for yourselves in heaven a better and an
enduring substance," or property or possession. The word for
"substance" occurs only here, except in the plural number in Acts 2:45.
It occurs often in the Sept., and stands for words in Hebrew, which
signify substance, wealth, riches, possessions. – Ed
7. MURRAY, BOLDNESS AND PATIENCE. 35

242. WE know how often we have had the word boldness in our
Epistle. If we hold fast our boldness (iii. 6) ; Let us draw
near with boldness to the throne of grace (iv. 16) ; Having
boldness to enter into the Holiest through the blood of Jesus
The boldness and confidence toward God is one of
the strongest roots of the Christian life. Without it there is no
strength to persevere, no power to draw nigh to the throne of
grace in prayer, no liberty to enter into the full fellowship of
God in the Holiest. And so the Hebrews are urged not to cast
away their boldness, because it has great recompense of reward.
In the vigour and joy of the Christian life, in the bright and
joyous fellowship with God, in the courage for meeting the
battle with the world and sin, the reward of boldness is great.
Cast not away your boldness. When I have my hands
filled, and something more tempting is offered, I may either
directly cast away what I have, or, by trying to take the new
object into hands already full, may gradually lose hold of what
I first held fast. Casting away our boldness always has its
cause in something else that we allow to take its place in the
heart. It may be sin, whether only rising in the heart or
breaking out into act, if it be not immediately confessed and
cleansed away. It may be something in itself lawful, but which
is allowed too large a share in our interest or affections. It may
be something doubtful, so insignificant that it hardly appears
worth considering, and yet which somehow robs us of perfect
liberty in looking up into God s face. It may be care or fear, it
may be self-effort, or self-seeking, self-trust ; anything that is not
in the perfect will of God loosens our hold on the boldness
before God, and, ere we know, we have cast it away : it is lost.
But we must not only know how we lose it ; we want as
much to know how to keep and increase it. The texts we
quoted tell us. Among the foundation truths we had it : We
have a High Priest able to sympathise, let us come with
boldness. And in the fuller teaching it came again : Having
boldness to enter through the blood, let us draw nigh. The
High Priest and the blood these are the everlasting and un
changing ground of our confidence. It is as we consider Christ
Jesus, and follow Him ; as we grow in the knowledge and the
faith of His blood, and enter through it into God s presence,
that we shall hold fast our boldness with an ever firmer grasp.
As with a true heart we draw nigh, and in the consciousness of
our integrity, that in holiness and sincerity of God we are

243. walking in the world, place ourselves in the light of God, we
shall receive even in this life something of the great recompense
of reward the boldness of faith ever brings.
Cast not away your boldness, for ye have need of patience.
Your boldness you cannot dispense with for a single moment ;
to the end of life it is your only strength. Cast it not away ;
remember that without patience, in the persevering exercise and
daily renewal of faith, you cannot inherit the promise. Between
the faith that accepts a promise, and the experience that fully
inherits or receives it, there often lie years of discipline and
training needed to fit and perfect you for the inward possession
of what God has to give. Whether it be a promise to be
realised in this world or the coming, you have need of patience.
Therefore cast not away, never for a moment lose hold of, hold
fast firm to the end, your boldness ye have need of patience.
In chap. vi. it was said : Be imitators of them who through
faith and longsufifering inherited the promise. This is one
of the great practical lessons of the Epistle. Without perse
verance, endurance, steadfastness, faith is vain ; the only proof
that it is a living, saving faith, is that it holds fast its boldness
firm unto the end.
Ye have need of patience, that, having done the will of
God, ye may receive the promise. Doing the will is the way
to receive the promise. Doing the will is to be the one thing
that is to occupy us while we patiently wait. Between God s
giving the promise to Abraham and his receiving its fulfil
ment there lay years of the obedience of faith. And each new
act of obedience was crowned with new and larger blessing.
Doing the will was the proof of his faith, the occupation of his
patience, the way to his blessing. It was even so with our
blessed Lord. Between the promise given Him of the Father
and His inheriting it in the resurrection and ascension there
lay what? His life of obedience: L0, 1 am come to do Thy
will, O God. With every Christian who puts his trust in the
living Christ, and enters the Holiest of All to live there, doing
the will of God must be the link that unites the end to the
beginning. Between the faith that accepts the promise and the
experience that fully inherits it, there may to us, too, be years of
waiting and trial. These must be marked by the obedience of
faith, by " patient continuance in well-doing," or we never can
reach the promised end. If we see to the doing of God s will,
He will see to our inheriting the promise. The sure mark of
true faith, the blessed exercise of life within the veil, the proof
of the power of Christ, the obedient One within us, the blessed

244. ness of fellowship with God will all come with this doing His
will. To do the will of God is the only way to God and His
presence. Therefore, day by day, hour by hour, let this be our
motto : Patience, that having done the will, ye may inherit the
promise.
1. We have been so little accustomed in our Christian life to give the doing of God s will
its right place, and there is so much misconception about it, as if it is not actually expected
of us, that it will take time and trouble to get the heart under the complete mastery of the
thought / am every moment to be doing nothing but the will of God. Jesus Christ lived so.
He, our Leader, wilt teach it us. He, our life, will Hue it in us. He, our High Priest, will by
His Spirit, in this new and living way, bring us in very deed nigh to God.
2. Boldness, courage, bravery, the chief of the manly virtues. Patience, one of the
loveliest of the gentler sisterhood of passive graces. In each full Christian character the two
must be combined. Cast not away your boldness, for Ye have need of patience. Boldness to
undertake, patience to carry out the doing of God s will.
3. believer, let the truth enter deep into thee boldly, patiently doing the will is the
way to inherit the promise.
8. COFFMAN, “Verse 34
For ye both had compassion on them that were in bonds, and took
joyfully the spoiling of your possessions, knowing that ye have for
yourselves a better possession and an abiding one.
The student is aware that the KJV makes this place read, "compassion of me
in my bonds"; but a fact not often noted is that the KJV rendition is
supported by no less an authority than the Codex Sinaiticus, along with
other ancient manuscripts. (See introduction.) Westcott noted that this
expression is found nowhere else in the New Testament except as a
reference by Paul himself to his own imprisonment. F43
This, of course, is
another reason why many students are not convinced by scholarly
fulminations against the Pauline authorship of Hebrews. The other-worldly
emphasis in the thoughts of persecuted Christians shows that they had truly
set their affections upon the things in heaven rather than upon the things on
earth, "the better possession" being a reference to eternal rewards stored up
for them that prevail through Christ. Jesus said, "Rejoice and be exceeding
glad, for great is your reward in heaven" (Matthew 5:12).

245. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done
the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
1. BARNES, "For ye have need of patience - They were then suffering, and in all trials
we have need of patience. We have need of it because there is in us so much disposition to
complain and repine; because our nature is liable to sink under sufferings; and because our
trials are often protracted. All that Christians can do in such cases is to be patient - to lie calmly
in the hands of God, and submit to his will day by day, and year by year; see Jam_1:3-4; notes,
Rom_5:4.
That after ye have done the will of God - That is, in bearing trials, for the reference here
is particularly to afflictions.Ye might receive the promise - The promised inheritance or
reward - in heaven. It is implied here that this promise will not be received unless we are patient
in our trials, and the prospect of this reward should encourage us to endure them.
2. CLARKE, "Ye have need of patience - Having so great a fight of sufferings to pass
through, and they of so long continuance. God furnishes the grace; you must exercise it. The
grace or principle of patience comes from God; the use and exercise of that grace is of
yourselves. Here ye must be workers together with God. Patience and perseverance are nearly
the same.
Have done the will of God - By keeping the faith, and patiently suffering for it.
3. GILL, "For ye have need of patience,.... Not that they were destitute of the grace of
patience; for where God is the God of all grace, he is the God of patience; and such, who are
called by grace, are conformed to the image of Christ, and, among other things, are like him in
this; and those who are born of the Spirit, have the fruits of the Spirit, and this, among the rest;
to whom the word of God is effectual, this fruit is produced in them, that being the word of
patience; and such who are brought into the kingdom of Christ, are also in the patience of Jesus;
where there is one grace, there is every grace; saints are immediately called to sufferings and
trials, which require patience; and, without this, there can be no enjoyment of a man's self: but
the meaning is, that they needed the continuance, exercise, and increase of it; in general, to run
the race set before them; to bear afflictions from the hand of God, and reproaches and
persecutions from men; to wait for God, when he hides his face, and for answers of prayer, when
they are deferred; and to bear up, and not to sink under temptations; and to live in the constant
expectation of heaven and happiness: and, in particular, it is necessary for the following,
that after ye have done the will of God: there is the purposing will of God, which is done by
himself; and there is his revealed will, touching the salvation of men, which is done by his Son;
and there is his will of precept to be done by men; and which, when done aright, is done
according to the rule of his word, in faith, from love, through the strength of Christ, and by the

246. assistance of his Spirit and grace, with a view to his glory, and without any dependence on what
is done: and the will of God regards suffering, as well as doing; for to that the saints are also
called, to which patience is necessary:
ye might receive the promise; that is, of eternal life; not the promise itself, which they had
received already, but the thing promised; which is the sense, in which this word is often used in
this book, Heb_6:12 which is so called, to show that it is not of works, for promise and merit do
not agree together; but that it is of grace, and will certainly be enjoyed, but must be patiently
waited for.
4. HENRY, "He shows them how necessary a grace the grace of patience is in our present state
(Heb_10:36): You have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God you might
receive the promise; that is, this promised reward. Observe, The greatest part of the saints'
happiness is in promise. They must first do the will of God before they receive the promise; and,
after they have done the will of God, they have need of patience to wait for the time when the
promise shall be fulfilled; they have need of patience to live till God calls them away. It is a trial
of the patience of Christians, to be content to live after their work is done, and to stay for the
reward till God's time to give it them is come. We must be God's waiting servants when we can
be no longer his working servants. Those who have had and exercised much patience already
must have and exercise more till they die.
5. JAMISON, "patience — Greek, “waiting endurance,” or “enduring perseverance”: the
kindred Greek verb in the Septuagint, Hab_2:3, is translated, “wait for it” (compare Jam_5:7).
after ye have done the will of God — “that whereas ye have done the will of God” hitherto
(Heb_10:32-35), ye may now show also patient, persevering endurance, and so “receive the
promise,” that is, the promised reward: eternal life and bliss commensurate with our work of
faith and love (Heb_6:10-12). We must not only do, but also suffer (1Pe_4:19). God first uses the
active talents of His servants; then polishes the other side of the stone, making the passive
graces shine, patience, meekness, etc. It may be also translated, “That ye may do the will of God,
and receive,” etc. [Alford]: “patience” itself is a further and a persevering doing of “God’s will”;
otherwise it would be profitless and no real grace (Mat_7:21). We should look, not merely for
individual bliss now and at death, but for the great and general consummation of bliss of all
saints, both in body and soul.
6. CALVIN, "For ye have need of patience, etc. He says that patience is
necessary, not only because we have to endure to the end, but as Satan
has innumerable arts by which he harasses us; and hence except we
possess extraordinary patience, we shall a thousand times be broken
down before we come to the half of our course. The inheritance of
eternal life is indeed certain to us, but as life is like a race, we
ought to go on towards the goal. But in our way there are many
hindrances and difficulties, which not only delay us, but which would
also stop our course altogether, except we had great firmness of mind
to pass through them. Satan craftily suggests every kind of trouble in
order to discourage us. In short, Christians will never advance two
paces without fainting, except they are sustained by patience. [196]
This then is the only way or means by which we can firmly and
constantly advance; we shall not otherwise obey God, nor even enjoy the

247. promised inheritance, which is here by metonymy called the "promise".
7. ALEX PETERSON, “What is perdition, and what is this statement a defense against (v.
39)?
Perdition in the New Testament primarily refers to lawlessness and final or ultimate
destruction. You will see the son of perdition in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 often translated as the
man of lawlessness. The Hebrews of this transitional period of the birth of Christianity
thought that Christians were wholly lawless. They no longer observed the Jewish
Laws. They kept following what they said was the rule of Christ, the Law written upon
their hearts. This statement, “(39) But we are not of those who draw back to perdition,
but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.” Is a defense against that perception that
Christians were somehow lawless people. So many were saying that Christians were
people who had drawn back to perdition, yet, those who were saying that had themselves
drawn back from the Only Person who could Save them. Therefore, Christians are not
lawless, but rather those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. This was a defense against
the generic Hebrew accusation that Christians were lawless and also pointing out that it
was in fact the readers who were drawing back into perdition from the Law of Christ.
8. COFFMAN, “Verse 36
For ye have need of patience, that, having done the will of God, ye
may receive the promise.
Verse 36 and through the end of this chapter conclude the fourth great
exhortation of Hebrews. The exhortation is based on a number of
considerations, among which are these: (1) We have a great high priest who
has opened up the new and living way through the veil, that is to say, his
flesh. (2) Willful sin shall certainly result in eternal destruction. (3) The
Christians who received this epistle had already endured great hardship and
suffering and should not throw all that away by becoming indifferent. (4)
Patience should be exercised in order to win the crown of life. (5) Christ is
faithful and will surely come to reward his followers as he promised. (6) We
are not of them that draw back to perdition but of them that believe to the
saving of the soul.
Patience
is stressed as the opposite of that impatience which began to develop in the
hearts of many who expected that the Lord should have come already. Their
expectations were founded on a misinterpretation of the scriptures, but it
was none the less a real disappointment. Their misapprehension might also
have been due partially to the purposeful ambiguity of the scriptures relating
to the second coming of the Lord. (See ) Jesus said, "In your patience, ye
shall possess your souls" (Luke 21:19). One of the hardest things for the
fleshly mind to realize is that the victory of faith is not achieved by one

248. brilliant campaign but a lifetime of patient and faithful service. It is not so
much the glory of a promising start that the Lord desires as it is the glory of
a faithful finish. It is such a fidelity to the end that is urged by the author
here.
9. Author unknown, “Florence Nightingale, who left wealth and comfort for poverty, war,
and disease to nurse the sick, wrote in her diary, I am thirty years of age, the age at which
Christ began His mission. Now no more childish things, no more vain things. Now, Lord,
let me think only of Thy Will." Years later, near the end of her illustrious, heroic life, she
was asked for her life's secret, and she replied: Well, I can only give one explanation. That
is, I have kept nothing back from God."
John and Betty Stamm, missionaries in China, were martyred December 8, 1934. On
December 6, John Stamm wrote, My wife, baby and myself are today in the hands of
Communists. All our possessions and stores they have taken, but we praise God for peace
in our hearts and a meal tonight. God grant you wisdom in what you do and us fortitude,
courage and peace of heart. He is able, and a wonderful Friend in such a time." And in
closing he said, The Lord bless and guide you, and as for us, may God be glorified, whether
by life or death."
You cannot stop the man of faith! You cannot dissuade him! You cannot divert him! He'll
go on, with or without you, or right over you, if necessary!--David Fontaine
It's better to die for something than to live for nothing.
A classic in the annals of the U.S. Coast Guard is the story of Captain Pat Etheridge of the
Cape Batterne station. One night in the howling hurricane, the look-out saw a distress
signal from a ship that had gone aground on the dangerous Diamond Shoals, ten miles at
sea. The lifeboats were ordered out. One of the lifeguards protested, Captain Pat, we can
get out there, but we can never get back."
Responding to the call of duty, the captain gave the reply that has gone down in history:
Boys, we don't have to come back."
The Lord has given us our marching orders. He has commanded that the Gospel be
preached in all the World. He has not promised His messengers an easy time. He has not
given the assurance of a safe return to the home base, but He did say, Go!"
David Livingstone, the great missionary and explorer, said of his life: People talk of the
sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that which is simply
paid back as a small part of a great debt we owe to our God be called a sacrifice? Is that a
sacrifice which brings its own best reward in healthful activity, the knowledge that one is
doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter?
It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say, rather, it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or
danger now and then, with less of the common conveniences of this life, may make us pause
and cause the spirit to waver and the soul to sink, but let this be only for a moment.
All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us. I
never made a sacrifice! We ought not to talk of this when we remember the great sacrifice
made by Him who left His Father's throne on high to give Himself to us."
Be strong!
We are not here to play, to dream, to drift;
We have hard work to do, and loads to lift.

249. Shun not the struggle; face it.
'Tis God's gift.
Be strong!
Say not the days are evil--Who's to blame?
And fold the hands and acquiesce--O shame!
Stand up, speak out, and bravely,
In God's name.
Be strong!
It matters not how deep entrenched the wrong,
How hard the battle goes, the day how long,
Faint not, fight on!
Tomorrow comes the song.
--Maltbie D. Babcock
10. MURRAY, BELIEVING OR DRAWING BACK. 36-39
IN the summary we had (19-25) of what life in the Holiest
means, the last word, after we had been urged to exhort one
another, was : And so much the more as ye see the day draw
ing nigh. And then came the warning of the fearful expecta
tion of judgment, and the terror of falling into the hands of the
living God. Here the warning closes with once again pointing
to the Lord s coming as not far off. Christian faith lives not
only in the unseen present but also in the future ; more especially
in the future of the coming of Him who shall appear a second
time to them that wait for Him, Him who is now seated on
the throne, expecting till all His enemies be made His footstool.
Let our faith so live in the future, that all our life may be in
the power of eternity, and of Him in whom eternity has its
glory.
The passage quoted is from Habakkuk, the same that forms
the text of the Epistles to the Galatians and Romans. The
prophet is told by God, in the midst of the oppression of Israel
by the Chaldaeans, that the vision will surely come. Two
classes among the people are spoken of. Of one it is said:
His soul is puffed up, it is not upright in him. Of the other :
But the righteous shall live by his faith. Our writer uses the
words to contrast the two classes among the Hebrews. On
the one side, those who are not upright ; on the other, the
righteous who live by faith. The righteous man will in the
midst of trouble, and while the vision is delayed, put his trust
in God, and live in that trust. He shall live by it too, the God
whom He trusts will not fail him but send deliverance.

250. Our writer introduces the passage of set purpose, to serve as
the text of the following chapter. He had in chaps, iii. and
iv. spoken of unbelief as the great sin through which Israel had
perished in the wilderness, of faith as the one thing needful if
we are to enter into the rest of God. In chap. vi. of the faith
by which the fathers inherited the promises. He had in our
chapter, in his summing up of the Epistle, said : Let us draw
nigh in the fulness of faith. He wishes, after his exposition of
what the purpose and the work of Jesus can be to us, to show
us the way to a full personal experience and enjoyment of it all,
through faith alone. He proposes to do so by proving how all
the Old Testament saints had lived and conquered through
faith, and how it is the one only thing God asks if we are to
experience His mighty saving power and the blessedness of
His good pleasure. He is going to point out all the variety of
circumstances and difficulties in which faith will give us God s
help and sure deliverance, as well as all the various tempers
and dispositions with which it will be accompanied. For all
this he finds a most suggestive text in the words : My righteous
one shall live by faith.
That means a great deal more than what many think the
sinner shall be counted righteous by faith ; more, too, than the
righteous shall have eternal life by faith. It means, the
righteous shall live, his whole life shall be, by faith. This is
just the lesson we need. The righteous who lives by faith is
contrasted with him who draws back, of whom God says :
My soul shall have no pleasure in Him. The one cause of
backsliding is the want of faith in the unseen, a yielding of
the heart to the visible, and, in the battle against it, a trusting in
our own strength and not in Christ. We see here again that
there is no other alternative either believing or drawing back.
In the Christian life nothing will avail to keep us from back
sliding but the fulness of faith always and in everything to
live the life of faith. It is only when faith gives itself up
entirely to Christ for Him to do all in us, to keep us standing
too, and when faith so dominates our life that every moment
and every engagement shall all be under its influence, that we
can hope to be safe from drawing back. If I am to be sure of
salvation, if I am to be strong against every temptation, if I am
to live daily as one in whom God s soul has pleasure, I must see
to one thing to be a man of faith.
Let us prepare ourselves for the wonderful chapter that is
coming, and all its blessed teaching, by looking back on what

251. has been set before us of Christ and His redemption as the
object of our faith. He is the Priest for ever, the Priest of
God s oath, able to save completely shall we not throw our
whole being wide open to Him in trust? We ftave Him, a
Priest-King upon the throne, the Minister of the sanctuary He
has opened for us, and where He presides, to bring us in oh,
shall we not be strong in faith, giving glory to God ? We have
Him, the Mediator of the new covenant, who with one sacrifice
hath perfected Himself and us for evermore, and whose work
it is to write and put God s law within us as the power of a
living obedience, again, I say, shall we not believe, and allow
this mighty Saviour to do His perfect work in us ? We have
entered the Holiest of All, we have in faith claimed God s
presence, and the life of abiding continually in it as our portion,
and we have the great Priest over the house of God to make it
all true and sure to us ; surely it needs no words to urge us to
make faith, faith alone, the faith of the heart, the unceasing
sacrifice we bring our God. So may we too say, We are not of
them that draw back, but of them that believe to the saving oi
the soul.
1. The only cure for all the coldness and backsliding in the Church is "the preaching of faith."
Holiness by faith, standing by faith, being kept by the power of God through faith, having Christ
dwell in our heart by faith, this must be the daily food of the Christian. A preaching that
insists upon salvation by faith chiefly as pardon and acceptance must produce feeble
Christians. The fulness of faith is indispensable to the full Christian life.
2. Believing or drawing back there is no other alternative. Look back over the warning of
which these words form the conclusion, and let us fear at the terrible possibility for ourselves
and others. And look forward to the coming chapter, with the one prayer that our whole life may
be in the fulness of faith, in the very presence and power of God.
37 For in just a very little while, "He who is coming
will come and will not delay.
1. BARNES, "For yet a little while - There seems to be an allusion here to what the
Saviour himself said, “A little while, and ye shall not see me; and again, a little while and ye shall
see me;” Joh_16:16. Or more probably it may be to Hab_2:3. “For the vision is yet for an
appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not he: though it tarry, wait for it; because it
will surely come, it will not tarry.” The idea which the apostle means to convey evidently is, that
the time of their deliverance from their trials was not far remote.

252. And he that shall come will come - The reference here is, doubtless, to the Messiah. But
what “coming” of his is referred to here, is more uncertain. Most probably the idea is, that the
Messiah who was coming to destroy Jerusalem, and to overthrow the Jewish power Matt. 24,
would soon do this. In this way he would put a period to their persecutions and trials, as the
power of the Jewish people to afflict them would be at an end. A similar idea occurs in
Luk_21:28. “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads;
for your redemption draweth nigh;” see the notes on that passage. The Christians in Palestine
were oppressed, reviled, and persecuted by the Jews. The destruction of the city and the temple
would put an end to that power, and would be in fact the time of deliverance for those who had
been persecuted. In the passage before us, Paul intimates that that period was not far distant.
Perhaps there were already “signs” of his coming, or indications that he was about to appear,
and he therefore urges them patiently to persevere in their fidelity to him during the little time
of trial that remained. The same encouragement and consolation may be employed still. To all
the afflicted it may be said that “he that shall come will come” soon. The time of affiction is not
long. Soon the Redeemer will appear to deliver his afflicted people from all their sorrow; to
remove them from a world of pain and tears; and to raise their bodies from the dust, and to
receive them to mansions where trials are forever unknown; Joh_14:3 note; 1 Thes. 4:13-18
notes.
2. CLARKE, "For yet a little while - Ετι γαρ µικρον ᆇσον· For yet a very little time. In a
very short space of time the Messiah will come, and execute judgment upon your rebellious
country. This is determined, because they have filled up the measure of their iniquity, and their
destruction slumbereth not. The apostle seems to refer to Hab_2:3, Hab_2:4, and
accommodates the words to his own purpose.
3. GILL, "For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come,.... That the person
spoken of is the Lord Jesus Christ, is evident from the prophecy in Hab_2:3 here referred to,
and from the character of him that is to come, Mat_11:3 and from parallel places, Jam_5:7 and
this is to be understood, not of his coming in the flesh, for he was come in the flesh already;
though Habakkuk indeed refers to his first coming, yet not to that only, but including his second
coming also; but of his coming in his kingdom and power to destroy Jerusalem, and take
vengeance on the Jews, for their rejection of him: the kingdom of Christ was at hand, when he
began to preach; upon his ascension to heaven, it began to appear more visible; but still the
temple was standing, and that worship continued, which stood in the way of the glory of his
kingdom; during which time the saints suffered much: but in a little while from the writing of
this epistle, he, who was to come, did come, even within about ten years after this, and showed
his power and his glory, in delivering his people, and destroying his enemies; see Mat_16:28. It
may be applied to his coming to help his people in time of need; the afflictions of the saints are
many; they are all for an appointed time, and but for a while; and Christ has promised to come,
and visit them; and which he does often, and speedily, and seasonably: it may also be
accommodated to Christ coming to take his people to himself by death; Christ may be said to
come in this sense, and he will certainly come; and this will be in a little while; man is but of few
days; death is certain, and should be patiently expected: and it may likewise be suitably
improved, with respect to Christ's coming to judgment; that he will come is certain, from
prophecies, particularly from the prophecy of Enoch, from his own words, from the testimony of
angels, from the institution of the Lord's supper, till he comes, and from the general expectation
of the saints; and this coming of his is desirable, because it will be the marriage of the Lamb, and
the redemption of the saints, and because of the grace and glory that will be brought unto them,

253. and because they shall then be for ever with him; and this will be quickly, in a little time, in
comparison of the time that went before his first coming, and of the eternity that will follow after
this; and though it may seem long, yet with God it is but a little while, with whom a thousand
years are as one day; and however, since it is certain that he will come,
and will not tarry, beyond the appointed time, patience should be exercised.
4. HENRY, "To help their patience, he assures them of the near approach of Christ's coming
to deliver and to reward them (Heb_10:37): For yet a little while, and he that shall come will
come, and will not tarry. He will soon come to them at death, and put an end to all their
sufferings, and give them a crown of life. He will soon come to judgment, and put an end to the
sufferings of the whole church (all his mystical body), and give them an ample and glorious
reward in the most public manner. There is an appointed time for both, and beyond that time he
will not tarry, Hab_2:3. The Christian's present conflict may be sharp, but it will be soon over.
5. JAMISON, "Consequent exhortation to confidence and endurance, as Christ is soon
coming.
Cast not away — implying that they now have “confidence,” and that it will not withdraw of
itself, unless they “cast it away” willfully (compare Heb_3:14).
which — Greek, “the which”: inasmuch as being such as.
hath — present tense: it is as certain as if you had it in your hand (Heb_10:37). It hath in
reversion.
recompense of reward — of grace not of debt: a reward of a kind which no mercenary
self-seeker would seek: holiness will be its own reward; self-devoting unselfishness for Christ’s
sake will be its own rich recompense (see on Heb_2:2; see on Heb_11:26).
Hebrews 10:37-38
Encouragement to patient endurance by consideration of the shortness of the time till Christ
shall come, and God’s rejection of him that draws back, taken from Hab_2:3, Hab_2:4.
a little while — (Joh_16:16).
he that shall come — literally, “the Comer.” In Habakkuk, it is the vision that is said to be
about to come. Christ, being the grand and ultimate subject of all prophetical vision, is here
made by Paul, under inspiration, the subject of the Spirit’s prophecy by Habakkuk, in its final
and exhaustive fulfillment.
6. CALVIN, " For yet a little while, or, for yet a very little time, etc. That
it may not be grievous to us to endure, he reminds us that the time
will not be long. There is indeed nothing that avails more to sustain
our minds, should they at any time become faint, than the hope of a
speedy and near termination. As a general holds forth to his soldiers
the prospect that the war will soon end, provided they hold out a
little longer; so the Apostle reminds us that the Lord will shortly
come to deliver us from all evils, provided our minds faint not through
want of firmness.

254. And in order that this consolation might have more assurance and
authority, he adduces the testimony of the Prophet Habakkuk. (Habakkuk
2:4.) But as he follows the Greek version, he departs somewhat from the
words of the Prophet. I will first briefly explain what the Prophet
says, and then we shall compare it with what the Apostle relates here.
When the Prophet had spoken of the dreadful overthrow of his own
nation, being terrified by his prophecy, he had nothing to do but to
quit as it were the world, and to betake himself to his watchtower; and
his watchtower was the Word of God, by which he was raised as it were
into heaven. Being thus placed in this station, he was bidden to write
a new prophecy, which brought to the godly the hope of salvation. Yet
as men are naturally unreasonable, and are so hasty in their wishes
that they always think God tardy, whatever haste he may make, he told
them that the promise would come without delay; at the same time he
added, "If it tarries, wait for it." By which he meant, that what God
promises will never come so soon, but that it seems to us to tarry,
according to an old proverb, "Even speed is delay to desire." Then
follow these words, "Behold, his soul that is lifted up is not upright
in him; but the just shall live by his faith." By these words he
intimates that the ungodly, however they may be fortified by defenses,
should not be able to stand, for there is no life of security but by
faith. Let the unbelieving then fortify themselves as they please, they
can find nothing in the whole world but what is fading, so that they
must ever be subject to trembling; but their faith will never
disappoint the godly, because it rests on God. This is the meaning of
the Prophet.
Now the Apostle applies to God what Habakkuk said of the promise; but
as God by fulfilling his promises in a manner shows what he is, as to
the subject itself there is not much difference; nay, the Lord comes
whenever he puts forth his hand to help us. The Apostle follows the
Prophet in saying, That it would be shortly; because God defers not his
help longer than it is expedient; for he does not by delaying time
deceive us as men are wont to do; but he knows his own time which he
suffers not to pass by without coming to our aid at the moment
required. Now he says, He that cometh will come, and will not tarry.
Here are two clauses: by the first we are taught that God will come to
our aid, for he has promised; and by the second, that he will do so in
due time, not later than he ought. [197]

255. 38 But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he
shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him."
1. BARNES, "Now the just shall live by faith - This is a part of the quotation from
Habakkuk Hab_2:3-4, which was probably commenced in the previous verse; see the passage
fully explained in the notes on Rom_1:17. The meaning in the connection in which it stands
here, in accordance with the sense in which it was used by Habakkuk, is, that the righteous
should live by “continued confidence” in God. They should pass their lives not in doubt, and
fear, and trembling apprehension, but in the exercise of a calm trust in God. In this sense it
accords with the scope of what the apostle is here saying. He is exhorting the Christians whom
he addressed, to perseverance in their religion even in the midst of many persecutions. To
encourage this he says, that it was a great principle that the just, that is, all the pious, ought to
live in the constant exercise of “faith in God.” They should not confide in their own merits,
works, or strength. They should exercise constant reliance on their Maker, and he would keep
them even unto eternal life. The sense is, that a persevering confidence or belief in the Lord will
preserve us amidst all the trials and calamities to which we are exposed.
But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him - This also is a
quotation from Hab_2:4, but from the Septuagint, not from the Hebrew. “Why” the authors of
the Septuagint thus translated the passage, it is impossible now to say. The Hebrew is rendered
in the common version, “Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him;” or more
literally, “Behold the scornful; his mind shall not be happy” (Stuart); or as Gesenius renders it,
“See, he whose soul is unbelieving shall, on this account, be unhappy.” The sentiment there is,
that the scorner or unbeliever in that day would be unhappy, or would not prosper - ‫לה‬‫ישרה‬ lo’
yaasha
raah. The apostle has retained the general sense of the passage, and the idea which he
expresses is, that the unbeliever, or he who renounces his religion, will incur the divine
displeasure. He will be a man exposed to the divine wrath; a man on whom God cannot look but
with disapprobation. By this solemn consideration, therefore, the apostle urges on them the
importance of perseverance, and the guilt and danger of apostasy from the Christian faith. If
such a case should occur, no matter what might have been the former condition, and no matter
what love or zeal might have been evinced, yet such an apostasy would expose the individual to
the certain wrath of God. His former love could not save him, any more than the former
obedience of the angels saved them from the horrors of eternal chains and darkness, or than the
holiness in which Adam was created saved him and his posterity from the calamities which his
apostasy incurred.
2. CLARKE, "Now the just shall live by faith - ᆍ δε δικαιος εκ πιστεως ζησεται· But
the just by faith, i.e. he who is justified by faith, shall live - shall be preserved when this
overflowing scourge shall come. See this meaning of the phrase vindicated, Rom_1:17. And it is
evident, both from this text, and Gal_3:11, that it is in this sense that the apostle uses it.
But if any man draw back - Και εαν ᆓποστειληται· But if he draw back; he, the man who
is justified by faith; for it is of him, and none other, that the text speaks. The insertion of the
words any man, if done to serve the purpose of a particular creed, is a wicked perversion of the
words of God. They were evidently intended to turn away the relative from the antecedent, in

256. order to save the doctrine of final and unconditional perseverance; which doctrine this text
destroys.
My soul shall have no pleasure in him - My very heart shall be opposed to him who
makes shipwreck of faith and a good conscience. The word ᆓποστελλειν signifies, not only to
draw back, but to slink away and hide through fear. In this sense it is used by the very best Greek
writers, as well as by Josephus and Philo. As dastards and cowards are hated by all men, so
those that slink away from Christ and his cause, for fear of persecution or secular loss, God must
despise; in them he cannot delight; and his Spirit, grieved with their conduct, must desert their
hearts, and lead them to darkness and hardness.
3. GILL, "Now the just shall live by faith,.... The "just" man is one not in appearance only,
but in reality; not by his obedience to the law, but by the obedience of Christ; and he is evidently
so by the Spirit, and by faith: and he is one, who lives soberly and righteously; and the life he
lives, and shall live, at present, is, not eternal life; for though he shall live that life, yet this is not
intended; for it is a living by faith that is spoken of, and as antecedent to the coming of Christ;
but a spiritual life is meant, a life of justification in Christ, a life of communion with Christ, and
a life of holiness from Christ, with peace, joy, and comfort through him: and the manner of this
just man's living is "by faith"; not upon his faith, but upon Christ, the object of it; and by "his
faith", as in Hab_2:4 his own, and not another's; or by the faith of Christ: the Syriac version here
renders it, "by the faith of myself"; that is, by the faith of Christ, who speaks, and who is the
author and object of faith: the Alexandrian copy and the Vulgate Latin version read, "my just
man shall live by faith"; and this life is to be now, in the mean while, until Christ comes, and
because he will certainly come:
but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. The Hebrew word
‫,עפלה‬ used in Hab_2:4 and which, by the Septuagint there, and by the apostle here, is translated
by υποστειληται, and rendered "draw back", according to R. David Kimchi (c) signifies, pride and
haughtiness of heart; and, according to R. Sol. Jarchi (d) it signifies impudence; R. Moses
Kimchi (e) takes it to be the same with ‫,עפל‬ which is used for a tower, or fortified place; and
thinks it designs one who betakes himself to such a place for safety from the enemy, and seeks
not to God for deliverance: so that such a person seems to be designed, who swells with pride
and confidence in his own righteousness; who betakes himself to some fortress of his own for
safety; who withdraws from the assembly of the saints, through fear of reproach and
persecution; who withholds the truth, shuns to declare it, or maintain a profession of it; plays
the hypocrite, and deals deceitfully in religious things; and, in short, it may intend one, who
finally and totally apostatizes from the doctrine of faith, and the profession of it: and in such
persons God has no pleasure, never had, nor never will have; but, on the contrary, they are
abominable to him, and will lie under his sore displeasure, and feel the keen resentments of it;
such stand opposed to the just man, that lives by faith, walks humbly with God, in a dependence,
not on his own righteousness, but on the righteousness of Christ, in which he is safe from
condemnation, and secure of the divine favour; for drawing back is not supposed of the just
man, but of any man, as we, with the Ethiopic version, rightly supply; and is to be understood of
anyone of the external professors of religion, who forsake the assembling of the saints,
Heb_10:25 and is denied of the truly righteous in the following words.
4. HENRY, "He presses them to perseverance, by telling them that this is their
distinguishing character and will be their happiness; whereas apostasy is the reproach, and will

257. be the ruin, of all who are guilty of it (Heb_10:38, Heb_10:39): Now the just shall live by faith,
etc. (1.) It is the honourable character of just men that in times of the greatest affliction they can
live by faith; they can live upon the assured persuasion they have of the truth of God's promises.
Faith puts life and vigour into them. They can trust God, and live upon him, and wait his time:
and, as their faith maintains their spiritual life now, it shall be crowned with eternal life
hereafter. (2.) Apostasy is the mark and the brand of those in whom God takes no pleasure; and
it is a cause of God's severe displeasure and anger. God never was pleased with the formal
profession and external duties and services of such as do not persevere. He saw the hypocrisy of
their hearts then; and he is greatly provoked when their formality in religion ends in an open
apostasy from religion. He beholds them with great displeasure; they are an offence to him. (3.)
The apostle concludes with declaring his good hope concerning himself and these Hebrews, that
they should not forfeit the character and happiness of the just, and fall under the brand and
misery of the wicked (Heb_10:39): But we are not, etc.; as if he had said, “I hope we are not of
those who draw back. I hope that you and I, who have met with great trials already, and have
been supported under them by the grace of God strengthening our faith, shall not be at any time
left to ourselves to draw back to perdition; but that God will still keep us by his mighty power
through faith unto salvation.” Observe, [1.] Professors may go a great way, and after all draw
back; and this drawing back from God is drawing on to perdition: the further we depart from
God the nearer we approach to ruin. [2.] Those who have been kept faithful in great trials for the
time past have reason to hope that the same grace will be sufficient to help them still to live by
faith, till they receive the end of their faith and patience, even the salvation of their souls. If we
live by faith, and die in faith, our souls will be safe for ever.
5. JAMISON, "Encouragement to patient endurance by consideration of the shortness of the
time till Christ shall come, and God’s rejection of him that draws back, taken from Hab_2:3,
Hab_2:4.
a little while — (Joh_16:16).
he that shall come — literally, “the Comer.” In Habakkuk, it is the vision that is said to be
about to come. Christ, being the grand and ultimate subject of all prophetical vision, is here
made by Paul, under inspiration, the subject of the Spirit’s prophecy by Habakkuk, in its final
and exhaustive fulfillment.
Hebrews 10:38
just — The oldest manuscripts and Vulgate read, “my just man.” God is the speaker: “He who
is just in My sight.” Bengel translates, “The just shall live by my faith”: answering to the
Hebrew, Hab_2:4; literally, “the just shall live by the faith of Him,” namely, Christ, the final
subject of “the vision,” who “will not lie,” that is, disappoint. Here not merely the first beginning,
as in Gal_3:11, but the continuance, of the spiritual life of the justified man is referred to, as
opposed to declension and apostasy. As the justified man receives his first spiritual life by faith,
so it is by faith that he shall continue to live (Luk_4:4). The faith meant here is that fully
developed living trust in the unseen (Heb_11:1) Savior, which can keep men steadfast amidst
persecutions and temptations (Heb_10:34-36).
but — Greek, “and.”
if any man draw back — So the Greek admits: though it might also be translated, as Alford
approves, “if he (the just man) draw back.” Even so, it would not disprove the final perseverance
of saints. For “the just man” in this latter clause would mean one seemingly, and in part really,

258. though not savingly, “just” or justified: as in Eze_18:24, Eze_18:26. In the Hebrew, this latter
half of the verse stands first, and is, “Behold, his soul which is lifted up, is not upright in him.”
Habakkuk states the cause of drawing back: a soul lifted up, and in self-inflated unbelief setting
itself up against God. Paul, by the Spirit, states the effect, it draws back. Also, what in Habakkuk
is, “His soul is not upright in him,” is in Paul, “My soul shall have no pleasure in him.”
Habakkuk states the cause, Paul the effect: He who is not right in his own soul, does not stand
right with God; God has no pleasure in him. Bengel translates Habakkuk, “His soul is not
upright in respect to him,” namely, Christ, the subject of “the vision,” that is, Christ has no
pleasure in him (compare Heb_12:25). Every flower in spring is not a fruit in autumn.
6. CALVIN, "Now the just, etc. He means that patience is born of faith; and
this is true, for we shall never be able to carry on our contests
unless we are sustained by faith, even as, on the other hand, John
truly declares, that our victory over the world is by faith. (1 John
5:4.) It is by faith that we ascend on high; that we leap over all the
perils of this present life, and all its miseries and troubles; that we
possess a quiet standing in the midst of storms and tempests. Then the
Apostle announced this truth, that all who are counted just before God
do not live otherwise than by faith. And the future tense of the verb
live, betokens the perpetuity of this life. Let readers consult on this
subject Romans 1:17, [198] and Galatians 3:11, where this passage is
quoted.
But if any man draw back, etc. This is the rendering of phlh elation,
as used by the Prophet, for the words are, "Where there shall be
elation or munition, the soul of that man shall not continue right in
him." The Apostle gives here the Greek version, which partly agrees
with the words of the Prophet, and partly differs from them. For this
drawing back differs but little, if anything, from that elation or
pride with which the ungodly are inflated, since their refractory
opposition to God proceeds from that false confidence with which they
are inebriated; for hence it is that they renounce his authority and
promise themselves a quiet state, free from all evil. They may be said,
then, to draw back, when they set up defenses of this kind, by which
they drive away every fear of God and reverence for his name. And thus
by this expression is intimated the power of faith no less than the
character of impiety; for pride is impiety, because it renders not to
God the honor due to him, by rendering man obedient to him. From
selfsecurity, insolence, and contempt, it comes that as long as it is
well with the wicked, they dare, as one has said, to insult the clouds.
But since nothing is more contrary to faith than this drawing back, for
the true character of faith is, that it draws a man unto submission to
God when drawn back by his own sinful nature.
The other clause, "He will not please my soul," or as I have rendered
it more fully, "My soul shall not delight in him," is to be taken as

259. the expression of the Apostle's feeling; for it was not his purpose to
quote exactly the words of the Prophet, but only to refer to the
passage to invite readers to a closer examination of it. [199]
7. COFFMAN, “Verses 38, 39
But my righteous one shall live by faith: And if he shrink back, my
soul hath no pleasure in him, But we are not of them that shrink
back into perdition; but of them that have faith unto the saving of
the soul.
Here is the answer to all problems, the solution of all difficulties, and the
removal of all disappointments. This is a strong and candid declaration that
Christians must "live by faith"! The matter of "when" Christ will come, as
well as countless other questions can be safely left with the Lord. Enough for
us to know that what God has promised is not about to fail. That soul that
draws back because of any considerations whatsoever shall confront the
displeasure of God himself.
Not of them that shrink back
is an affirmation of the writer's confidence that his readers will, after all,
continue in the path of duty and ultimately prevail. This same confidence
was expressed also in connection with the powerful warnings of the sixth
chapter (Hebrews 6:9,10). The dual mention of "faith" in these last two
verses would appear to have thrust themselves upon the author's attention;
and, immediately afterward, in what would be called by some a typically
Pauline digression, there follows a moving, comprehensive discussion of
faith, accompanied by a panoramic presentation of the great exemplars of
faith.
39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are
destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
1. BARNES, "But we are not of them ... - We who are true Christians do not belong to
such a class. In this the apostle expresses the fullest conviction that none of those to whom he
wrote would apostatize. The case which he had been describing was only a supposable case, not
one which he believed would occur. He had only been stating what “must” happen if a sincere
Christian should apostatize. But he did not mean to say that this “would” occur in regard to

260. them. or in any case. He made a statement of a general principle under the divine
administration, and he designed that this should be a means of keeping them in the path to life.
What could be a more effectual means than the assurance that if a Christian should apostatize
“he must inevitably perish forever?” See the sentiment in this verse illustrated at length in the
notes on Heb_6:4-10.
Remarks
(1) It is a subject of rejoicing that we are brought under a more perfect system than the ancient
people of God were. We have not merely a rude outline - a dim and shadowy sketch of religion,
as they had. We are not now required to go before a bloody altar every day, and lead up a victim
to be slain. We may come to the altar of God feeling that the great sacrifice has been made, and
that the last drop of blood to make atonement has been shed. A pure, glorious, holy body was
prepared for the Great Victim, and in that body he did the will of God and died for our sins;
Heb_10:1-10.
(2) Like that Great Redeemer, let us do the will of God. It may lead us through sufferings, and
we may he called to meet trials strongly resembling his. But the will of God is to be done alike in
bearing trials, and in prayer and praise. “Obedience” is the great thing which he demands; which
he has always sought. When his ancient people led up in faith, a lamb to the altar, still he
preferred obedience to sacrifice; and when his Son came into the world to teach us how to live,
and how to die, still the great thing was obedience. He came to illustrate the nature of perfect
conformity to the will of God, and he did that by a most holy life, and by the most patient
submission to all the trials appointed him in his purpose to make atonement for the sins of the
world. Our model, alike in holy living and holy dying, is to be the Saviour; and like him we are
required to exercise simple submission to the will of God; Heb_10:1-10.
(3) The Redeemer looks calmly forward to the time when all his foes will be brought in
submission to his feet; Heb_10:12, Heb_10:13. He is at the right hand of God. His great work on
earth is done. He is to suffer no more. He is exalted beyond the possibility of pain and sorrow,
and he is seated now on high looking to the period when all his foes shall be subdued and he will
be acknowledged as universal Lord.
(4) The Christian has exalted advantages. He has access to the mercy-seat of God. He may
enter by faith into the “Holiest” - the very heavens where God dwells. Christ, his great High
Priest, has entered there; has sprinkled over the mercy-seat with his blood, and ever lives there
to plead his cause. There is no privilege granted to people like that of a near and constant access
to the mercy-seat. This is the privilege not of a few; and not to be enjoyed but once in a year, or
at distant intervals, but which the most humble Christian possesses, and which may be enjoyed
at all times, and in all places. There is not a Christian so obscure, so poor, so ignorant that he
may not come and speak to God; and there is not a situation of poverty, want, or wo, where he
may not make his wants known with the assurance that his prayers will be heard through faith
in the great Redeemer; Heb_10:19-20.
(5) When we come before God, let our hearts be pure; Heb_10:22. The body has been washed
with pure water in baptism, emblematic of the purifying influences of the Holy Spirit. Let the
conscience be also pure. Let us lay aside every unholy thought. Our worship will not be
acceptable; our prayers will not be heard, if it is not so. “If we regard iniquity in our hearts the
Lord will not hear us.” No matter though there be a great High Priest; no matter though he have
offered a perfect sacrifice for sin, and no matter though the throne of God be accessible to
people, yet if there is in the heart the love of sin; if the conscience is not pure, our prayers will
not be heard. Is this not one great reason why our worship is so barren and unprofitable?
(6) It is the duty of Christians to exhort one another to mutual fidelity; Heb_10:24. We should
so far regard the interests of each other, as to strive to promote our mutual advance in piety. The
church is one. All true Christians are brethren. Each one has an interest in the spiritual welfare

261. of every one who loves the Lord Jesus, and should strive to increase his spiritual joy and
usefulness. A Christian brother often goes astray and needs kind admonition to reclaim him; or
he becomes disheartened and needs encouragement to cheer him or his Christian way.
(7) Christians should not neglect to assemble together for the worship of God; Heb_10:25. It
is a duty which they owe to God to acknowledge him publicly, and their own growth in piety is
essentially connected with public worship. It is impossible for a man to secure the advancement
of religion in his soul who habitually neglects public worship, and religion will not flourish in
any community where this duty is not performed. There are great benefits growing out of the
worship of God, which can be secured in no other way. God has made us social beings, and he
intends that the social principle shall be called into exercise in religion, as well as in other
things. We have common wants, and it is proper to present them together before the mercy-seat.
We have received common blessings in our creation, in the providence of God, and in
redemption, and it is proper that we should assemble together and render united praise to our
Maker for his goodness.
Besides, in any community, the public worship of God does more to promote intelligence,
order, peace, harmony, friendship, neatness of apparel, and purity and propriety of contact
between neighbors, than anything else can, and for which nothing else can be a compensation.
Every Christian, and every other man, therefore, is bound to lend his influence in thus keeping
up the worship of God, and should always be in his place in the sanctuary. The particular thing
in the exhortation of the apostle is, that this should be done “even in the face of persecution.”
The early Christians felt so much the importance of this, that we are told they were accustomed
to assemble at night. Forbidden to meet in public houses of worship, they met in caves, and even
when threatened with death they continued to maintain the worship of God. It may be added,
that so important is this, that it should be preserved even when the preaching of the gospel is
not enjoyed. Let Christians assemble together. Let them pray and offer praise. Let them read the
Word of God, and an appropriate sermon. Even this will exert an influence on them and on the
community of incalculable importance, and will serve to keep the flame of piety burning on the
altar of their own hearts, and in the community around them.
(8) We may see the danger of indulging in any sin; Heb_10:26-27. None can tell to what it
may lead. No matter how small and unimportant it may appear at the time, yet if indulged in it
will prove that there is no true religion, and will lead on to those greater offences which make
shipwreck of the Christian name, and ruin the soul. He that “wilfully” and deliberately sins “after
he professes to have received the knowledge of the truth,” shows that his religion is but a name,
and that he has never known any thing of its power.
(9) We should guard with sacred vigilance against everything which might lead to apostasy;
Heb_10:26-29. If a sincere Christian “should” apostatize from God, he could never be renewed
and saved. There would remain no more sacrifice for sins; there is no other Saviour to be
provided; there is no other Holy Spirit to be sent down to recover the apostate. Since, therefore;
so fearful a punishment would follow apostasy from the true religion, we may see the guilt of
everything which has a “tendency” to it. That guilt is to be measured by the fearful consequences
which would ensue if it were followed out; and the Christian should, therefore, tremble when he
is on the verge of committing any sin whose legitimate tendency would be such a result.
(10) we may learn from the views presented in this chapter Heb_10:26, Heb_10:29, the error
of those who suppose that a true Christian may fall away and be renewed again and saved. If
there is any principle clearly settled in the New Testament, it is, that if a sincere Christian should
apostatize, “he must perish.” There would be no possibility of renewing him. He would have
tried the only religion which saves people, and it would in his case have failed; he would have
applied to the only blood which purifies the soul, and it would have been found inefficacious; he
would have been brought under the only influence which renews the soul, and that would not
have been sufficient to save him. What hope could there be? What would then save him if these

262. would not? To what would he apply to what Saviour, to what blood of atonement, to what
renewing and sanctifying agent, if the gospel, and the Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit had all
been tried in vain? There are few errors in the community more directly at variance with the
express teachings of the Bible than the belief that a Christian may fall away and he again
renewed.
(11) Christians, in their conflicts, their trials, and their temptations, should be strengthened by
what is past; Heb_10:32-35. They should remember the days when they were afflicted and God
sustained them, when they were persecuted and he brought them relief. It is proper also to
remember for their own encouragement; now, the spirit of patience and submission which they
were enabled to manifest in those times of trial, and the sacrifices which they were enabled to
make. They may find in such things evidence that they are the children of God; and they should
find in their past experience proof that he who has borne them through past trials, is able to
keep them unto his everlasting kingdom.
(12) we need patience - but it is only for a little time; Heb_10:36-39. Soon all our conflicts will
be over. “He that shall come will come and will not tarry.” He will come to deliver his suffering
people from all their trials. He will come to rescue the persecuted from the persecutor; the
oppressed from the oppressor; the down-trodden from the tyrant; and the sorrowful and sad
from their woes. The coming of the Saviour to each one of the afflicted is the signal of release
from sorrow, and his advent at the end of the world will be proof that all the trials of the
bleeding and persecuted church are at an end. The time too is short before he will appear. In
each individual case it is to be but a brief period before he will come to relieve the sufferer from
his woes, and in the case of the church at large the time is not far remote when the Great
Deliverer shall appear to receive “the bride,” the church redeemed, to the “mansions” which he
has gone to prepare.
2. CLARKE, "But we are not of them who draw back - Ουκ εσµεν ᆓποστολης - , αλλα
πιστεως· “We are not the cowards, but the courageous.” I have no doubt of this being the
meaning of the apostle, and the form of speech requires such a translation; it occurs more than
once in the New Testament. So, Gal_3:7 : Οᅷ εκ πιστεως, they who are of the faith, rather the
faithful, the believers; Rom_3:26 : ᆍ εκ πιστεως, the believer; Rom_2:8 : Οᅷ εξ εριθειας, the
contentious; in all which places the learned reader will find that the form of speech is the same.
We are not cowards who slink away, and notwithstanding meet destruction; but we are faithful,
and have our souls saved alive. The words περιποιησις ψυχης signify the preservation of the life.
See the note, Eph_1:14. He intimates that, notwithstanding the persecution was hot, yet they
should escape with their lives.
1. It is very remarkable, and I have more than once called the reader’s attention to it, that not
one Christian life was lost in the siege and destruction of Jerusalem. Every Jew perished,
or was taken captive; all those who had apostatized, and slunk away from Christianity,
perished with them: all the genuine Christians escaped with their lives. This very
important information, which casts light on many passages in the New Testament, and
manifests the grace and providence of God in a very conspicuous way, is given both by
Eusebius and Epiphanius. I shall adduce their words: “When the whole congregation of
the Church in Jerusalem, according to an oracle given by revelation to the approved
persons among them before the war, κατα τινα χρησµον τοις αυτοθι δοκιµοις δι’ αποκαλ
υψεως δοθεντα προ του πολεµου, µεταναστηναι της πολεως, και τινα της περαιας πολιν

263. οικειν κεκελευσµενου, Πελλαν αυτην ονοµαζουσιν, were commanded to depart from the
city, and inhabit a certain city which they call Pella, beyond Jordan, to which, when all
those who believed in Christ had removed from Jerusalem, and when the saints had totally
abandoned the royal city which is the metropolis of the Jews; then the Divine vengeance
seized them who had dealt so wickedly with Christ and his apostles, and utterly destroyed
that wicked and abominable generation.” Euseb. Hist. Eccles, l. iii. c. v. vol. i. p. 93. Edit. a
Reading.
St. Epiphanius, in Haeres. Nazaren, c. 7, says: “The Christians who dwelt in Jerusalem,
being forewarned by Christ of the approaching siege, removed to Pella.”
The same, in his book De Ponderibus et Mensuris, says: “The disciples of Christ being
warned by an angel, removed to Pella; and afterwards, when Adrian rebuilt Jerusalem,
and called it after his own name, Aelia Colonia, they returned thither.” As those places in
Epiphanius are of considerable importance, I shall subjoin the original: Εκειθεν γαρ ᅧ α
ρχη γεγονε µετα την απο των ᅿεροσολυµων µεταστασιν, παντων των µαθητων των εν Π
ελλᇽ ሩκηκοτων, Χριστου φησαντος καταλειψαι τα ᅿεροσολυµα, και αναχωρησαι, επειδη
ηµελλε πασχειν πολιορκιαν. Epiph. adver. Haeres., l. i. c. 7, vol. i. p. 123. Edit. Par. 1622.
The other place is as follows: ᅯνικα γαρ εµελλεν ᅧ πολις ᅋλισκεσθαι ᆓπο των ሤωµαιων,
προεχρηµατισθησαν ᆓπο Αγγελου παντες οᅷ µαθηται µεταστηναι απο της πολεως, µελλου
σης αρδην απολλυσθαι. Οᅷ τινες και µετανασται γενοµενοι ሩκησαν εν Πελλᇽ - περαν τ
ου Ιορδανου, ᅧ τις εκ ∆εκαπολεως λεγεται ειναι. Ibid. De Pon. et Mens., vol. ii. p. 171.
These are remarkable testimonies, and should be carefully preserved. Pella, it appears,
was a city of Coelesyria, beyond Jordan, in the district of Decapolis. Thus it is evident that
these Christians held fast their faith, preserved their shields, and continued to believe to
the saving of their lives as well as to the saving of their souls. As the apostle gives several
hints of the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, it is likely that this is the true sense in
which the words above are to be understood.
2. I have already said a little, from Heb_10:25, on the importance of social worship. Public
worship is not of less consequence. Were it not for public, private worship would soon be
at an end. To this, under God, the Church of Christ owes its being and its continuance.
Where there is no public worship there is no religion. It is by this that God is
acknowledged; and he is the universal Being; and by his bounty and providence all live;
consequently, it is the duty of every intelligent creature publicly to acknowledge him, and
offer him that worship which himself has prescribed in his word. The ancient Jews have
some good maxims on this subject which may be seen in Schoettgen. I shall quote a few.
In Berachoth, fol. 8, it is written: “Rabbi Levi said, He who has a synagogue in his city, and
does not go thither to pray, shall be esteemed a bad citizen,” or a bad neighbor. And to this
they apply the words of the prophet, Jer_12:14 : Thus saith the Lord against all my evil
neighbors - behold, I will pluck them out of their land.
In Mechilta, fol. 48: “Rabbi Eliezer, the son of Jacob, said,” speaking as from God, “If thou
wilt come to my house, I will go to thy house; but if thou wilt not come to my house, I will
not enter thy house. The place that my heart loveth, to that shall my feet go.” We may
safely add, that those who do not frequent the house of God can never expect his presence
or blessing in their own.
In Taanith, fol. 11, it is said that “to him who separates himself from the congregation shall
two angels come, and lay their hands upon his head and say, This man, who separates

264. himself from the congregation, shall not see the comfort which God grants to his afflicted
Church.” The wisest and best of men have always felt it their duty and their interest to
worship God in public. As there is nothing more necessary, so there is nothing more
reasonable; he who acknowledges God in all his ways may expect all his steps to be
directed. The public worship of God is one grand line of distinction between the atheist
and the believer. He who uses not public worship has either no God, or has no right notion
of his being; and such a person, according to the rabbins, is a bad neighbor; it is dangerous
to live near him, for neither he nor his can be under the protection of God. No man should
be forced to attend a particular place of worship, but every man should be obliged to
attend some place; and he who has any fear of God will not find it difficult to get a place to
his mind.
3. GILL, "But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition,.... There is a drawing
back which is not unto perdition; persons may be attended with much unbelief, may be very cold
and indifferent to Gospel ordinances, may fall into great sins, and may greatly backslide, and yet
be recovered, as David, Peter, and others: and there is a drawing back to perdition; when Christ
is rejected as the alone Saviour; when he is not held to as the head; when false doctrines and
damnable heresies are given into; and when men draw back, and never return, nor are they, nor
can they be returned, and their apostasy is total, and final: but true believers do not, and cannot
draw back in this sense; because they are held fast in the arms, and with the cords of everlasting
love, are chosen of God unto salvation, are given unto Christ, and secured in him; they are
redeemed and purchased by him; they are united to him, and built upon him; they are interested
in his prayers and preparations, and are his jewels, and his portion; they are regenerated,
sanctified, inhabited, and sealed by the Spirit of God, and have the promises and power of God,
on their side.
But of them that believe to the saving of the soul; or "of faith, to the salvation of the
soul"; not of faith of miracles, nor of an historical faith; but of that faith, which is the faith of
God's elect, is the gift of God, and the operation of his Spirit; by which a soul sees Christ, goes to
him, lays holds on him, commits all to him, and expects all from him: this stands opposed to
drawing back; for by faith a man lives, walks, and stands; and with this is connected the
salvation of the soul, as opposed to perdition; not as though it is a cause of salvation, but as a
means of God's appointing to receive the blessings of salvation, and which is entirely consistent
with the grace of God; and since salvation and faith are inseparably connected together, so that
he that has the one shall have the other, it follows, that true believers can never perish. The
nature and excellency of this grace is largely treated of in the following chapter.
4. HENRY, "The apostle concludes with declaring his good hope concerning himself and
these Hebrews, that they should not forfeit the character and happiness of the just, and fall
under the brand and misery of the wicked (Heb_10:39): But we are not, etc.; as if he had said, “I
hope we are not of those who draw back. I hope that you and I, who have met with great trials
already, and have been supported under them by the grace of God strengthening our faith, shall
not be at any time left to ourselves to draw back to perdition; but that God will still keep us by
his mighty power through faith unto salvation.” Observe, [1.] Professors may go a great way, and
after all draw back; and this drawing back from God is drawing on to perdition: the further we
depart from God the nearer we approach to ruin. [2.] Those who have been kept faithful in great
trials for the time past have reason to hope that the same grace will be sufficient to help them

265. still to live by faith, till they receive the end of their faith and patience, even the salvation of their
souls. If we live by faith, and die in faith, our souls will be safe for ever.
5. JAMISON, "A Pauline elegant turning-off from denunciatory warnings to charitable hopes
of his readers (Rom_8:12).
saving of the soul — literally, “acquisition (or obtaining) of the soul.” The kindred Greek
verb is applied to Christ’s acquiring the Church as the purchase of His blood (Act_20:28). If we
acquire or obtain our soul’s salvation, it is through Him who has obtained it for us by His
bloodshedding. “The unbelieving man loses his soul: for not being God’s, neither is he his own
[compare Mat_16:26, with Luk_9:25]: faith saves the soul by linking it to God” [Delitzsch in
Alford].
6. CALVIN, "But we are not of them which draw back, etc. The Apostle made a
free use of the Greek version, which was most suitable to the doctrine
which he was discussing; and he now wisely applies it. He had before
warned them, lest by forsaking the Church they should alienate
themselves from the faith and the grace of Christ; he now teaches them
that they had been called for this end, that they might not draw back.
And he again sets faith and drawing back in opposition the one to the
other, and also the preservation of the soul to its perdition.
Now let it be noticed that this truth belongs also to us, for we, whom
God has favored with the light of the Gospel, ought to acknowledge that
we have been called in order that we may advance more and more in our
obedience to God, and strive constantly to draw nearer to him. This is
the real preservation of the soul, for by so doing we shall escape
eternal perdition.
__________________________________________________________________
[196] Or, "patient waiting," as rendered by Erasmus and Stuart, and not
"perseverance," as rendered by Macknight. They were to suffer patiently
their trials, looking forward to their termination; and in order to
encourage them patiently to endure, he reminds them in the next verse
that it will only be for a very short time. -- Ed.
[197] It is evident from the manner in which the quotation is made,
that the Apostle meant only to adapt to his own purpose the passage in
Habakkuk; he does not quote it in the order in which it is found there,
nor literally from the Hebrew, nor wholly so from the Sept. What is
said in Habakkuk of the vision, he applies here to the Lord. Surely,
such a use of a passage is legitimate. The coming of Christ mentioned
here, according to Mede, was his coming to destroy Jerusalem, and to
put an end to the Jewish polity. If "the approaching day," in verse 25,
be considered to be that event then the same event is most probably

266. referred to here. Besides, he speaks here of the enmity of the
unbelieving Jews; and as our Savior represented the destruction of
Jerusalem as a blessing to his people, it becomes still more probable
that Christ's coming to destroy that nation is intended. -- Ed.
[198] The Book has Ro 1:7, -- an obvious typesetting error.-fj.
[199] This verse, with the exception of the two clauses being inverted,
and of my being not added to "faith," is literally the same with the
Sept. But the last clause here and the first in Habakkuk, differs in
words materially from the Hebrew, according to the received text. There
are two MSS. which give lphh instead of phlh, a transposition of two
letters. If not exactly in words. The Hebrew, then, would be as follows
-- Behold the fainting! Not right is his soul within him;
But the righteousness by his faith shall he live. The fainting i.e., as
to faith and he who "draws back," or withdraws through fear, as the
verb means, are descriptive of the same character. To persevere in
expecting the fulfillment of a promise, is the subject in Habakkuk and
also in this passage. And then, that the soul of the fainting is not
right, is the same as to say that such a soul is not what God approves.
A theological dispute has arisen, though unnecessarily, from the
construction of the last clause in this verse. The introduction of "any
one," or any man, has been objected to, and that it ought to be "but if
he," i.e., "the righteousness" draw back, etc. The probability is, that
as "anyone" should not be ascribed to Beza, for Pagininus and others
had done so before him. However, the doctrine of perseverance is in no
way imperiled by leaving out "any one." The Bible is full of this mode
of addressing Christians, and yet the Bible assures us that the sheep
of Christ shall never perish. Warnings and admonitions are the very
means which God employs to secure the final salvation of his people;
and to conclude from such warnings that they may finally fall away, is
by no means a legitimate argument. -- Ed.
7. FUDGE, “The exhortation closes with a word of optimism We includes the author and his
first readers. We are not of that class who draw back, and end in perdition or destruction, but
of those who believe and keep on believing to the resultant saving of the soul. The next chapter
will demonstrate the character and behavior of saving faith through examples of saints long dead.
Here the readers are urged to be among the faithful.
Some will be rejected, cursed and burned (6:8 <hebrews.html>), but "we are persuaded better
things of you" (6:9 <hebrews.html>)! Let each believer be fully informed regarding the destiny
of deserters and apostates. Let him tremble before the Wrath of a righteous God. But let him then
be encouraged and consoled and strengthened, lest he become discouraged and fall to another of
Satan's devices. This is the true style of exhortation, and Hebrews is above all a "word of
exhortation" (13:22 <hebrews.html>).

267. 8. BI, “Apostasy
Apostates have martial law, they run away, but into hell-mouth, Runaways are to be received as
enemies, and to be killed wherever they be found.
(Jr. Trapp.)
Looking back:
Dr. Donne says that Lot’s wife looked back and God never gave her leave to look forward again.
God hath set our eyes in our foreheads to look forward, not backward; not to be proud of that
which we have done, but diligent in that which we are to do. (E. P. Thwing.)
Way to heaven:
“I know the way to heaven,” said little Minnie to little Johnny, who stood by her side, looking on
a picture-book that Minnie had in her hand. “You do?” said little John. “Well, won’t you tell me
how to get there?” “Oh, yes! I’ll tell you. Just commence going up, and keep on going up all the
time, and you’ll get there. But, Johnny, you must not turn back.” (New Cyclopcedia of
Illustrations.)
Perdition—the state of the lost:
Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” Dante’s “Inferno,” Dore’s cartoons, the weird word-painting of the
pulpit, dreadful fancy pictures of hell—all of this cannot make us understand what it is to be lost.
It was not to purgatory or hell that Christ went, but it was into this world of ours that He came to
seek and to save the lost. They were here. To be lost is to get away from where we belong. The
lost sheep, the lost prodigal, were wanderers. They were not dead, they were not in hell; but they
were lost. The soul does not belong to sin and the devil; it belongs to God. And if you want to
know how lost the soul is, then learn how far it has got away from God. That is the thing to
know. Heaven and hell are incidentals. If you take care to be saved from your sins, to be brought
back to the image of God from which you have wandered, heaven and hell will take care of
themselves. Now, if you would know how lost you are, put your life, with all its selfishness and
littleness, beside the life of Jesus; your motives by His, your thoughts by His, your heart by His.
Try and see how far you ]lave got away from the perfect image of the God-Man. He is the perfect
specimen of man, of which the rest of us are ruins, it matters not how magnificent those ruins
may be. He shows us a specimen of man who is not lost. The image of Christ will teach us more
about the lost than Dore’s cartoons could ever do. (R. S. Barrett.)
Believe to the saving of the soul
Saving faith
I. THE NATURE OF FAITH.
1. Belief in another’s testimony. We go to places, and attend meetings; we write letters, and
maintain intercourse with others; we transact business, and conduct our affairs; we sail for

268. foreign ports; we do ten thousand things, trivial or important, simply on the testimony of
others, because we believe in them and what they say.
2. Belief in God’s testimony. His testimony is contained in the Scriptures. In them He
reveals His nature, perfections, government and laws; His relations and designs towards us;
judgment to come, and future states of being; things unseen and eternal. We accept the
testimony—that it is from Him, and, consequently, that what it declares and unfolds,
promises and threatens, is true and real. “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of
God is greater.”
3. Belief in God’s testimony concerning the Redeemer. He has testified that Jesus Christ is
His eternal, only-begotten, well-beloved Son, one with Him in nature and operation; that “in
the fulness of the time” He was born of a woman, became partaker of flesh and blood, and
was made in our likeness,” &c. We believe the testimony concerning Jesus Christ, because
He who testifies cannot deceive.
4. Trust in Christ as our Saviour. Believing the testimony God has given us concerning His
Son, concerning His Divine person and mediatorial office—that He came “to seek and to save
the lost.” We cast ourselvesunreservedly and wholly on Him; we confidently give up
ourselves to Him; we trust in Him.
II. THE ORIGIN OF FAITH.
1. It is of God. The Godhead is the fountain of all blessings, the primary cause of all gracious
effects. We have neither the inclination nor the ability to believe unto salvation. The desire
and strength must be granted. If we have a true apprehension of our demerit and exposure
to perdition, and are disposed to flee to Christ: and if we have a full persuasion of His
sufficiency to save, and are able to cast ourselves on Him, it is of Divine favour and
operation.
2. God produces faith by the Holy Spirit. Convicted, illumined and made willing by the
power of the Holy Ghost, we realise our sinfulness, our awful danger; we see Christ in the
beauty and excellency of His Divine person, and in the suitableness and sufficiency of His
atoning work; and we surrender every other ground of hope, and rest altogether and only on
Him for salvation.
III. THE INSTRUMENT OR MEANS BE WHICH FAITH IS PRODUCED AND MAINTAINED.
“Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”
IV. THE DEGREES OF FAITH. The rock on which saved sinners stand is equally stable to all,
but the foothold of all is not equally firm. Faith may decline; how far it would be difficult to
determine. Even the believer, in a time of desertion and darkness, may question his interest in
Christ, and fear coming short of heaven. On the other hand, faith is sometimes strong.
V. THE EFFECTS AND EVIDENCES OF FAITH.
1. It imparts peace. The storm is changed into a calm. The dark night is past, and morning
dawns. The fever, the agony, is over. And in proportion as faith is maintained, so is peace. If
faith languish, and be temporarily interrupted, distress of soul returns; if it flourish, and be
strong and vigorous, tranquillity continues.
2. It produces holiness. “The operation of God,” its tendency is to godliness, A holy principle,
it produces holy practice; good seed, it yields good fruit; a pure spring, pure streams flow
from it; a latent power, it manifests itself in godly deeds.
3. It purifies the heart. A believing sight of Christ crucified, imparted by the Holy Ghost,
reveals the terrible evil of sin, and fills us with repugnance of it. Faith in vigorous exercise,

269. we cannot but loathe sin. The heart purified, sanctified, “holiness to the Lord” shall be
inscribed on all pertaining to us.
4. In producing holiness, faith works by love. Believing in Jesus Christ, we are assimilated,
though very imperfectly, to His human disposition and conduct. How attractive and effective
are words and deeds of love I Faith and love are beautiful graces and potent factors.
5. It overcomes the world. (Alex. McCreery.)
How to own ourselves:
The writer uses a somewhat uncommon word in this clause, which is not altogether adequately
represented by the translation “saving.” Its true force will be apparent by comparing one or two
of the fear instances in which it occurs in the New Testament. For example, it is twice employed
in the Epistles to the Thessalonians; in one case being rendered, “God hath not appointed us to
wrath, but to obtain” (or, more correctly, to the obtaining of) “salvation by our Lord Jesus
Christ”; and in another, “called to the obtaining of glory, through Jesus Christ.” It is employed
twice besides, in two other places of Scripture, and in both of these it means “ possession.” So
that, though substantially equivalent to the idea of salvation, there is a very beautiful shade of
difference which is well worth noticing. The thought of the text is substantially this—those who
believe win their souls; they acquire them for their possession. We talk colloquially about
“people that cannot call their souls their own.” That is a very true description of all men who are
not lords of themselves through faith in Jesus Christ. “They who believe to the gaining of their
own souls” is the meaning of the writer here.
I. First, then, IF WE LOSE OURSELVES WE WIN OURSELVES. All men admit in theory that a
self-centred life is a blunder. Jesus Christ has all thoughtful men wholly with Him when He says,
“He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life shall find it.” There is no such way
of filling a soul with blessedness and of evolving new capacities as self-oblivion for some great
cause, for some great love, for some great enthusiasm. Many a woman has found herself when
she held her child in her arms, and in the self-oblivion which comes from maternal affections
and cares has sprung into a loftier new life. But whilst all these counterpoises to the love of self
are, in their measure, great and blessed, not one of them will so break the fetters from off a
prisoned soul and let it out into the large place of glad self-oblivion as the course which our text
enjoins when it says: If you wish to forget yourselves, to abandon and lose yourselves, fling
yourselves into Christ’s arms, and by faith yield your whole being, will, trust, purposes, aims,
everything—yield it all up to Him; and when you can say, “We are not our own,” then first will
you belong to yourselves and have won your own souls. Nothing else is comparable to the
talismanic power of trust in Jesus Christ. When thus we lose ourselves in Him we find ourselves,
and find Him in ourselves. I believe that a life must either spin round on its own axis,
self-moved, or else it must be drawn by the mass and weight and mystical attractiveness of the
great central sun, and swept clean out of its own little path to become a satellite round Him.
Then only will it move in music and beauty, and flash back the lustre of an unfading light. Self or
God—one or other will be the centre of every human life. It is well to be touched with lofty
enthusiasms; it is well to conquer self in the eager pursuit of some great thought or large subject
of study; it is well to conquer self in the sweetness of domestic love; but through all these there
may run a perverting and polluting reference to myself. Affection may become but a subtle
prolongation of myself, and study and thought may likewise be tainted, and even in the
enthusiasm for a great cause there may mingle much of self-regard; and on the whole there is
nothing that will sweep out, and keep out, the seven devils of selfishness except to yield
yourselves to God, drawn by His mercies, and say, “I am not my own; I am bought with a price.”
Then, and only then, will you belong to yourselves.

270. II. Secondly, IF WE WILL TAKE CHRIST FOR OUR LORD WE SHALL BE LORDS OF OUR
OWN SOULS. I have said that self-surrender is self-possession. It is equally true that
self-control is self-possession; and it is as true about this application about my text as it was
about the former, that Christianity only says more emphatically what all moralists say, and
supplies a more efficient means of accomplishing the end which they all recognise as good. For
everybody knows that the man who is a slave to his own passions, lusts, or desire—that the man
who is the sport of circumstance, and yields to every temptation that comes sweeping round
him, as bamboos bend before every blast—is not his own master. He “dare not call his soul his
own.” What do we mean by being self-possessed, except this, that we can so rule our more
fluctuating and sensitive parts as that, notwithstanding appeals made to them by external
circumstances, they do not necessarily yield to these. He possesses himself who, in the face of
antagonism, can do what is right. Trust in Jesus Christ, and let Him be your
Commander-in-Chief, and you have won your souls Let Him dominate them, and you can
dominate them. If you will give your wills into His hands, He will give them back to you and
make you able to subdue your passions and desires. What does some little rajah, on the edge of
our great Indian Empire, do when troubled with rebels that he cannot subdue? He goes and
makes himself a feudatory of the great central Power at Calcutta, and then down comes a
regiment or two and makes very short work of the rebellion that the little kinglet could do
nothing with. If you go to Christ and say to Him, “Dear Lord, take my crown from my head and
lay it at Thy feet. Come Thou to help me to rule this anarchic realm of my own soul,” you will
win yourself.
III. Thirdly, IF WE HAVE FAITH IN CHRIST WE ACQUIRE A BETTER SELF. The thing that
most thoughtful men and women feel after they have gone a little way into life is not so much
that they want to possess themselves, as that they want to get rid of themselves—of all the
failures and shame and disappointment and futility of their lives, and that desire may be
accomplished. We cannot strip ourselves of ourselves by any effort. The bitter old past keeps
living on, and leaves with us seeds of weakness and memories that sometimes corrupt, and
always enfeeble; memories that seem to limit the possibilities of the future in a tragic fashion.
Ah, we can get rid of ourselves; and, instead of continuing the poor, sin-laden, feeble creatures
that we are. The old individuality will remain, but new tastes, new aspirations, aversions, hopes,
and capacities to realise them, may all be ours. You can lose yourselves, in a very deep sense, if,
trusting in Jesus Christ, you open the door of the heart to the influx of that new life which is His
best gift. Faith wins a better self, and we may each experience, in all its blessedness, the paradox
of the apostle when he said, “I live “ now, at last, in triumphant possession of this better life: “I
live” now, I only existed before; “yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” And with Christ in me I first
find myself.
IV. Lastly, IF BY FAITH WE WIN OUR SOULS HERE, WE SAVE THEM FROM
DESTRUCTION HEREAFTER. I have said that the word of my text is substantially equivalent to
the more frequent and common expression, “salvation”; though with a shade of difference,
which I have been trying to bring out. And this substantial equivalence is more obvious if you
will note that the text is the second member of an antithesis, of which the first is, “we are not of
them which draw back into perdition.” So, then, the writer sets up, as exact opposites of one
another, these two ideas, perdition or destruction, on the one hand; and the saving or winning of
the soul on the other. Therefore, whilst we must give due weight to the considerations which I
have already been suggesting, we shall not grasp the whole of the writer’s meaning unless we
admit also the thought of future. So, then, you cannot be said to have won your souls if you are
only keeping them for destruction. And such destruction is clearly laid down here as the fate of
those who turn away from Jesus Christ. Now it seems to me that no fair interpretation can eject
from that word “perdition,” or “destruction,” an element of awe and terror. However you may
interpret the ruin, it is ruin utter of which it speaks. Now, remember, the alternative applies to

271. each of us. It is a case of “either—or” in regard to us all. If we have taken Christ for our Saviour,
and, as I said, put the reins into His hands and given ourselves to Him by love and submission
and confidence, then we own our souls, because we have given them to Him to keep, “and He is
able to keep that which is committed to Him against that day.” But I am bound to tell you, in the
plainest words I can command, that if you have not thus surrendered yourself to Jesus Christ,
His sacrifice, His intercession, His quickening Spirit, then I know not where you find one
foothold of hope that upon you there will not come down the overwhelming fate that is darkly
portrayed in that one solemn word. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Saving faith:
It is not the quantity of thy faith that shall save thee. A drop of water is as true water as the
whole ocean. So a little faith is as true faith as the greatest. A child eight days old is as really a
man as one of sixty years; a spark of fire is as true fire as a great flame; a sickly man is as true
living as a well man. So it is not the measure of thy faith that saves thee—it is the blood that it
grips to that saves thee; as the weak hand of a child that leads the spoon to the mouth, will feel
as well as the strong arm of a man; for it is not the hand that feeds thee—albeit, it puts the meat
into thy mouth, but it is the meat carried into the stomach that feeds thee. So if thou canst grip
Christ ever so weakly, He will not let thee perish. (J. Welsh.)
Gripped by the Lord
A convert, at the Golden Lane Mission, in London, said: “I’m a corster and doin’ well, for I’ve got
nearly a score o’ barters. Many a time I’ve had a lark at the meeting, and tried to upset ‘era. One
day the Lord spoke to my ‘art, an’ it reeled ready to bust in me—an’ I couldn’t sleep until I got
down on my knees an’ prayed for forgiveness. Since then I’ve had plenty o’ things tryin’ to pull
me back from the Lord, but He’s got such a firm grip that I’m not afeerd.”
What and how to believe:
“Can you tell me,” said an unhappy sceptic to a happy old saint, “just what is the gospel you
believe, and how you believe it?” She quietly replied, “God is satisfied with the work of His
Son—that is the gospel I believe; and I am satisfied with it—that is how I believe it.” (J. H.
Brooks, D. D.)
9. FUDGE,
APPENDIX 1: THE OFFICIATING
PRIESTHOOD
It need scarcely be said that everything connected with the priesthood was intended) to be
symbolical and typical -- the office itself, its functions, even its dress and outward support. The
fundamental design of Israel itself was to be unto Jehovah "a kingdom of priests and an holy
nation" (Exodus 19:5-6). This, however, could only be realized in "the fulness of time." At the
very outset there was the barrier of sin; and in order to gain admittance to the ranks of Israel,
when "the sum of the children of Israel was taken after their number," every man had to give the
half-shekel,

272. which in after times became the regular Temple contribution, as "a ransom ( covering) for his
soul unto Jehovah" (Exodus 30:12-13). But even so Israel was sinful' and could only approach
Jehovah in the way which He Himself opened, and in the manner which He appointed. Direct
choice and appointment by God were the conditions alike of the priest. hood' of sacrifices, feasts,
and of every detail of service.
The: fundamental ideas which underlay all and connected it into a harmonious whole were
reconciliation and mediation: the one expressed by typically atoning sacrifices, the other by a
typically intervening priesthood. Even the Hebrew term for priest (Cohen) denotes in its
root-meaning "one who stands up for another, and mediates in his cause." For this purpose God
chose the tribe of Levi, and out of it again the family of Aaron, on whom He bestowed the
"priest's office as a gift" (Numbers 18:7). But the whole characteristics and the functions of the
priesthood centered in the person of the high-priest. In accordance with their Divine "calling"
(Hebrews 5:4) was the special and exceptional provision made for the support of the priesthood.
Its principle was thus expressed: "I am thy part and shine inheritance among the children of
Israel;" and its joyousness, when re. realized in its full meaning and application, found vent in
such words as Psalm 16:5-6, "Jehovah is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: Thou
maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly
heritage."
But there was yet another idea to be expressed by the priesthood. The object of reconciliation
was holiness. Israel was to be "a holy nation" -- reconciled through the "sprinkling of blood;"
brought near to, and kept in fellowship with God by that means. The priesthood, as the
representative offerers of that blood and mediators of the people, were also to show forth the
"holiness" of Israel. Everyone knows how this was symbolized by the gold-plate which the
high-priest wore on his forehead, and which bore the words: "Holiness unto Jehovah." But
though the high-priest in this, as in every other respect was the fullest embodiment of the
functions and the object of the priesthood, the same truth was also otherwise shown forth.
The bodily qualifications required in the priesthood, the kind of defilements which would
temporarily or wholly in. interrupt their functions, their mode of ordination, and even every
portion, material, and color of their distinctive dress were all intended to express in a symbolical
manner this characteristic of holiness. In all these respects there was a difference between Israel
and the tribe of Levi; between the tribe of Levi and the family of Aaron; and, finally, between an
ordinary priest and the high-priest, who most fully typified our Great High-priest, in whom all
these symbols have found their reality.
Alfred Edersheim, The Temple, its Ministry and Services, pp. 60-62.
APPENDIX II: SACRIFICES: THEIR ORDER AND THEIR MEANING
It is a curious fact, but sadly significant, that modern Judaism should declare neither sacrifices
nor a Levitical priesthood to belong to the essence of the Old Testament; that, in fact, they had
been foreign elements imported into it -- tolerated, indeed, by Moses, but against which the
prophets earnestly protested and incessantly laboured. The only arguments by which this
strange statement is supported are that the Book of Deuteronomy contains merely a brief
summary, not a detailed repetition, of sacrificial ordinances, and that such passages as Isaiah
1:11ff; Micah 6:6ff inveigh against sacrifices offered without real repentance or changing of
mind. Yet this anti-sacrificial, or, as we may call it, anti-spiritual, tendency is really of much
earlier date. For the sacrifices of the Old Testament were not merely outward observances -- a
sort of work-righteousness which justified the offerer by the mere fact of his obedience -- since
"it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4).
The sacrifices of the Old Testament were symbolical and typical. An outward observance without
any real inward meaning is only a ceremon. But a rite which has a present spiritual meaning is a

273. symbol; and if, besides, it also points to a future reality, conveying at the same time, by
anticipation, the blessing that is yet to appear, it is a type. Thus the Old Testament sacrifices
were not only symbols, nor yet merely predictions by feet (as prophecy is a prediction by word),
but they already conveyed to the believing Israelite the blessing that was to flow from the future
reality to which they pointed. Hence the service of the letter and the work-righteousness of the
Scribes and Pharisees ran directly contrary to this hope of faith and spiritual view of sacrifices,
which placed all on the level of sinners to be saved by the substitution of another, to whom they
pointed.
Afterwards, when the destruction of the Temple rendered its services impossible, another and
most cogent reason was added for trying to substitute other things, such as prayers, fasts, etc., in
room of the sacrifices. Therefore, although none of the older Rabbis has ventured on such an
assertion as that of modern Judaism, the tendency must have been increasingly in that
direction. In fact, it had become a necessity -- since to declare sacrifices of the essence of
Judaism would have been to pronounce modern Judaism an impossibility. But thereby also the
synagogue has given sentence against itself' and by disowning sacrifices has placed itself outside
the pale of the Old Testament.
Every unprejudiced reader of the Bible must feel that sacrifices constitute the center of the Old
Testament. Indeed, were this the place, we might argue from their universality that, along with
the acknowledgment a! a Divine power, the dim remembrance of a happy past, and the hope of a
happier future, sacrifices belonged to the primeval traditions which mankind inherited from
Paradise. To sacrifice seems as "natural" to man as to pray; the one indicates what he feels about
himself, the other what he feels about God. The one means a felt need of propitiation; the other
a felt sense of dependence.
The fundamental idea of sacrifice in the Old Testament is that of substitution, which again
seems to imply everything else -- atonement and redemption, vicarious punishment and
forgiveness. The first fruits go for the whole products; the firstlings for the flock; the
redemption-money for that which cannot be offered; and the life of the sacrifice' which is in its
blood (Leviticus 17:11), for the life of the sacrificer. Hence also the strict prohibition to partake of
blood. Even in the "Korban" gift (Mark 7:11) or free-will offering, it is still the gift for the giver.
This idea of substitution, as introduced, adopted, and sanctioned by God Himself, is expressed
by the sacrificial term rendered in our version "atonement," but which really means covering,
the substitute in the acceptance of God taking the place of, and so covering, as it were, the
person of the offerer. Hence the scriptural experience: "Blessed is he whose transgression is
forgiven, whose sin is covered . . . unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity" (Psalm 32:1-2);
and perhaps also the scriptural prayer "Behold, O God, our shield, and look upon the face of
Thine Anointed" (Psalm 84:9). Such sacrifices, however, necessarily pointed to a mediatorial
priesthood, through whom alike they and the purified worshippers should be brought near to
God, and kept in fellowship with Him. Yet these priests themselves continually changed; their
own persons and services needed purification, and their sacrifices required constant renewal
since, in the nature of it, such substitution could not be perfect.
In short, all this was symbolical (of man's need, God's mercy, and His covenant), and typical. till
He should come to whom it. all pointed, and who had all along given reality to it; He, whose
Priesthood was perfect' and who on a perfect altar brought a perfect sacrifice, once for all -- a
perfect Substitute, and a perfect Mediator.
* * * * *
It is deeply interesting to know that the New Testament view of sacrifices is entirely in
accordance with that of the ancient Synagogue. At the threshold we here meet the principle:
"There is no atonement except by blood." (For an excellent, documented treatment of Isaiah 53

274. in illumination of the previous statement, see The Challenge of the Ages, Frederick Alfred
Aston., published by Research Press, 73 Hampton Road, Scarsdale, N. Y. 10583, 1971. This
24-page study proves from reliable sources that the idea of atonement was linked to the Servant
of Isaiah 53 from earliest times in Jewish theology, and that only in recent centuries has that
chapter been alleged as having no reference to the Messiah.) In accordance with this we quote
the following from Jewish interpreters. Rashi says: "The soul of every creature is bound up in its
blood; therefore I gave it to atone for the soul of man -- that one soul should come and atone for
the ether." Similarly Aben Ezra writes: "One soul is a substitute for the other." And Moses hen
Nachmann: "I dave the soul for you on the altar, that the soul of the animal should be an
atonement for the soul of the man." These quotations might be almost indefinitely multiplied.
Another phase of scriptural truth appears in such Rabbinical statements as that by the
imposition of hands "the offerer, as it were, puts away his sins from himself, and transfers them
upon the living animal," and that "as often as any one sins with his soul, whether from haste or
malice, he puts away his sin from himself, and places it upon the head of his sacrifice, and it is
an atonement for him . . . ." In fact, according to Rabbinical expression, the sin-bearing animal
is on that ground expressly designated as something to be rejected and abominable. The
Christian reader will here be reminded of the scriptural statement: "For He has made Him to be
sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."
There is yet one other phase . . . which . . . is best expressed in the following quotation, to which
many similar might be added: "Properly speaking, the blood of the sinner should have been
shed, and his body burned, as those of the sacrifices. But the Holy One -- blessed be He! --
accepted our sacrifice from us as redemption and atonement. Behold the full grace which
Jehovah -- blessed be He! -- has shown to man! In His compassion and in the fulness of His
grace He accepted the soul of the animal instead of his soul, that through it there might be an
atonement." Hence also the principle, so important as an answer to the question whether the
Israelites of old had understood the meaning of sacrifices. "He that brought a sacrifice required
[sic] to come to the knowledge that the sacrifice was his redemption."
In view of all this, the deep-felt want so often expressed by the Synagogue [of modern times] is
most touching. In the liturgy for the Day of Atonement we read: "While the altar and the
sanctuary were still in their places, we were atoned for by the goats, designated by lot. But now
for our guilt, if Jehovah be pleased to destroy us, He takes from our hand neither burnt-offering
nor sacrifice." We add only one more out of many similar passages in the Jewish prayer-book:
"We have spoken violence and rebellion; we have walked in a we, that is not right.... Behold, our
transgressions have increased upon us: they press upon us like a burden; they have gone over
our heads we have forsaken Thy commandments, which are excellent. And wherewith shall we
appear before Thee, the mighty God, to atone for our transgressions, and to put away our
trespasses' and to remove sin, and to magnify Thy grace? Sacrifices and offerings are no more;
sin-and trespass-offerings have ceased, the blood of sacrifices is no longer sprinkled; destroyed
is Thy holy house, and fallen the gates of Thy sanctuary; Thy holy city lies desolate; Thou hast
slain, sent from Thy presence; they have gone, driven forth from before Thy face, the priests who
have brought Thy sacrifices!" Accordingly, also, the petition frequently recurs: "Raise up for us a
right Intercessor (that it may be true), I have found a ransom (an atonement, or covering)."'
. . . Who shall make answer to this deep lament of exiled Judah, Where shall a ransom be found
to take the place of their sacrifices? In their despair some appeal to the merits of the fathers or of
the pious; others to their own or to Israel's sufferings, or to death, which is regarded as the last
expiation. But the most melancholy exhibition, perhaps, is that of an attempted sacrifice by each
pious Israelite on the eve of the Day of Atonement. Taking for males a white cock, and for
females a hen, the head of the house prays .... Next, the head of the house swings the sacrifice
round his head, saying, "This is my substitute; this is in exchange for me; this is my atonement.

275. This cock goes into death, but may I enter into a long and happy life, and into peace!" Then he
repeats this prayer three times, and lays his hands on the sacrifice which is now slain.
This offering up of an animal not sanctioned by the law, in a place, in a manner, and by hands
not authorized by Gad, is it not a terrible phantom of Israel's dark and dreary night? and does it
not seem strangely to remind us of that other terrible night, when the threefold crowing of a
cock awakened Peter to the fact of his denial of "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of
the world?',
And still the cry of the Synagogue comes to us through these many centuries of past unbelief and
ignorance: "Let one innocent come and make atonement for the guilty!" To which no other
response can ever be made than that of the apostle: "Such an High-Priest became us, who is
holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens!" (Hebrews
7:26)
Alfred Edersheim, The Temple, its Ministry and Services, pp. 79-82; 91-95.
APPENDIX III: SACRIFICE IN HEBREWS
. . . In connection with the term "sacrifice" we are inclined to think too narrowly of the slaying of
the victim. To do so leaves out of account an act of co-equal if not of greater importance in the
ritual. For this reason it is better to avail ourselves, as the author throughout does, of the verb
("to offer") which, owing to the peculiar point of view from which it regards the transaction, is
precisely adapted to call to mind that which follows the death of the sacrifice. Where the author
refers to the offering of Christ, he by no means restricts the range of this act to what happened
on Calvary; to his view the offering was not finished there; its culminating stage lay in the
self-presentation of Christ or in the presentation of His blood, as it is variously expressed, before
God in heaven. Sometimes he even refers to this latter act, not as a part or the climax of the
offering, but as "the offering" par excellence. And what is true of the offering is true of the
"expiation." This also is not confined to the cross: Christ expiates in heaven as well as on
Calvary. Evidently the process as a whole is covered by the terms, which consequently can be
applied to each half of it, yet so that the second stage more clearly brings out its real significance
and throws back its light upon the first....
Geerhardus Vos, Princeton Theological Review, p.. 24.
APPENDIX IV. CHRIST'S SACRIFICE AND THE CHRISTIAN
We know that God will judge the world because He has raised Christ from the dead, and
therefore all men should now repent. This is the teaching of Acts 17:30-31. But why does it
follow from the resurrection of Christ that God will judge the world?
Life and death go together, as do resurrection and judgment. If a man lives we expect him to die
and if a man is raised his judgment is imminent. The pair resurrection/judgment is so
intertwined that we may conceive of the time for resurrection and the time for judgment as a
single brief period at the consummation of the age. This is also the biblical point of view.
Because Christ has already been raised and judged (He was. acquitted of all charges of evil and
pronounced blameless on the basis of His perfectly submissive and obedient life), the era has
already come for all men to be raised and judged. The countdown has begun, but only God
knows the number. Or, to look from another direction, we may think of God counting men as
they are raised and judged. With Jesus He has already said, "Number One." Creation now waits
for Him to continue the count, and, though He has presently paused, there is no reason why He
may not resume at any moment.

276. Because Christ died to bear the sins of many and entered. God's presence to appear for us -- and
because His sacrifice was perfect and sufficient for all men and for all time -- those who are His
people in the new covenant may know that the judgment verdict is already decided in their
favor. Who can condemn? It is Christ who died, and is risen again, and is even now at God's
right hand making intercession for His people! His people plan to throw themselves on the
mercy of the Judge and plead the blood of Christ alone, but Christ is already in heaven pleading
their cause by that same perfect-life blood. Furthermore, God has judged the basis of their plea,
and has rendered a favorable decision regarding it.
The determining factor in the judgment of God's people is already decided before they enter the
courtroom -- by the reception they gave the Son. All judgment depends on this, and the one who
receives the Son in truth and holds fast to Him cannot be condemned. All sins and all good
works may be set out of the picture for the moment, and we may state with full biblical
assurance that judgment is summed up in the reception given (l) by God, and (2) by man, to the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ which occurred once for all in history in the beginning of these last days.
The first question regards God's acceptance of the sacrifice , and the book of Hebrews answers
this question with a resounding affirmation: God has already accepted the per. feet offering of
Christ and He will receive Christ's new. covenant people on its merits. Only the second question
remains, and it involves each man individually. Will he accept this sacrifice by faith as his basis
of salvation, then hold fast the confidence in Him who is author of eternal salvation to all who
obey? If so, his salvation is guaranteed. But if not, that man will not be a partaker of Christ's
benefits, though all the faithful covenant people surely will.
Salvation has been brought down! The choice is for each man. The perfect sacrifice has been
offered and accepted. But each individual must cast away all human pride and claims, throw
Himself totally upon the mercy of the Court and plead only the blood of Christ. The man who
does this will not hesitate or balk in obedience to anything God has commanded him to do, but
will joyfully offer himself --body, soul, and spirit -- as a grateful and consecrated thank-offering,
eager to do all that is asked by the One who became first his Sin-offering and, because of that,
the author of his eternal salvation.
The cross of Christ touches earth and points toward heaven; its two arms are outstretched in
invitation. The Lamb of God has died. Judgment has taken place already for One Man. The
verdict is in. Only one question remains: Where do YOU stand? Come to the Savior! Put your
faith wholly in Him! Turn from sin and self to serve Him! Speak your faith aloud -- be led by it to
join Christ in burial and resurrection as you obey Him in water baptism! Then serve Him
gratefully, joyfully and fully so long as He gives you life! There is no other way.
APPENDIX V: THE RITUAL OF THE DAY OF ATONEMENT
The following account of the Jewish observance of the Day of Atonement is that of Moses ben
Maimon., a Jewish philosopher and codifier of the 12th century A.D. Maimonides (as he is often
called) was born in Cordova, Spain on March 30, 1135, and he died in Cairo, Egypt, December
13, 1204.
Maimonides set out to compile all the Jewish traditions of past centuries in an orderly form. His
great work which emerged is known as the Mishneh Torah {Repetition of the Law) or the Yad
Hahazakah (Strong Hand). "For systematic structure and logical presentation" the work "has no
equal in Jewish literature," according to The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia.
The account of Maimonides does not purport to describe the Old Testament observance of the
Day of Atonement, but it is the most authoritative record available today of the observance after
Old Testament days, including the period after Christ which saw the writing of The Epistle to the
Hebrews. He divides his account into four sections, each further broken down into individual
halacha, or precepts of the rabbis.

277. I have eliminated all unnecessary Hebrew words, several technical footnotes and certain of the
author's scholarly asides, but otherwise the following is as it appears in English at the end of the
great commentary by Delitzsch which is listed in my bibliography.
THE RITUAL OF THE DAY OF ATONEMENT
FIRST SECTION
Halacha 1. On the day of the fast the morning and evening sacrifice is offered just as on any
other day, and also the oblation of the day, -- a bull, a ram, and seven lambs, all of them
burnt-offerings, and a he-goat as a sin-offering, the blood of which was sprinkled in the outer
place {of the sanctuary!, the flesh being eaten in the evening.
But in addition to these (regular) sacrifices, there were also offered a young bull as a sin-
offering, which was consumed? and a ram as a burnt-offering, both of which the high priest had
to provide out of his own means. But the ram, which was provided out of the public means . . . is
that which is reckoned in Numbers among the sacrifices of the feast, and is called the ram of the
people. Lastly, two he-goats were provided by the public means; one of which was offered as a
sin-offering, and consumed by fire, and the other was to be driven away as the scapegoat.
The whole number of the sacrificial victims for this day was therefore fifteen: two daily
sacrifices, one bull, two rams, and seven lambs, all burnt-offerings in addition to these, two
goats as sin-offerings, one of which was eaten in the evening, the blood being sprinkled without;
the other, the blood of which was sprinkled within, was burnt: lastly, the high priest's bull as a
sin-offering, which was burnt.
Halacha 2. The service as regards all the fifteen victims on this day was performed by the high
priest alone, either by him who was anointed with the anointing oil [at the time of the first
temple] or by him who was (merely) distinguished for the occasion by wearing the official
garments [at the time of the second temple]. And if it was a Sabbath' no one but the high priest
offered the Sabbath oblation Likewise, in respect of the other ministries of this day -- such as the
daily fumigation and cleaning of the lamps -- all was done by the high priest, who was a married
man, as it is written (Leviticus 16:6), "And he shall make an atonement for himself and for his
house," that is, for his wife.
Halacha 3. Seven days before the day of atonement the high priest is removed from his own
house to his chamber in the sanctuary: this is handed down from Moses our teacher. He must
also for these seven days keep away from his wife, for it might happen unto her according to the
custom of women, and he might then become unclean and unfit for the divine service for seven
days. A deputy high priest is also to be previously appointed; so that, in case any legal hindrance
set the high priest aside from the ministry, the other might act in his stead. Should any
hindrance prevent the high priest from ministering before the daily morning sacrifice, or even
after he had offered his own sacrifice, he that officiates in his place needs no special
consecration; but his ministerial action supplies the consecration, and he begins with that act of
the service at which the other left off. When the day of atonement is over. the first returns to his
ministry, and the second leaves it. All the precepts of the law regarding the high priest apply to
him, although in case of necessity it is valid; and if the first high priest is removed by death, the
second is instituted in his place.
Halacha 4. During these seven days he is sprinkled with the ashes of a heifer, -- on the third day
after his separation, and on the seventh, that is, on the day of preparation for the feast of
atonement; for he might unwittingly have made himself unclean. If either of these days falls
upon a Sabbath, the sprinkling is omitted.
Halacha 5. During these seven days he is to exercise himself in all the performances of the
service: he sprinkles the blood, takes care of the fumigation, cleanses the lamps and brings the

278. pieces of the daily sacrifice to the altar-fire so that he may be accustomed to the service on the
day of atonement. He has associated with him elders of the high court, who read to him, and
instruct him in the ritual and ordinances of worship of the day, and address him: "My lord! high
priest! Read thou with thy mouth; perhaps thou hast forgotten or never learnt this point." And
on the day of preparation for the day of atonement, early in the morning, he is made to take his
stand in the eastern gates and bulls, rams, and lambs were led by in front of him so that he
might become experienced and versed in the service.
Halacha 6. During the whole of the seven days meat and drink were not withheld from him; but
after nightfall, on the day of preparation for the day of atonement, he was not permitted to eat
much, because food tends to make one drowsy; and he was not allowed to sleep, lest any
impurity might affect him. Of course he was not allowed to eat things which might cause
pollution, such as eggs, warm milk, etc.
Halacha 7. In the days of the second temple a free-thinking spirit flourished in Israel; and the
Sadducees arose -- may they soon disappear! -- who do not believe oral teaching. They said that,
on the day of atonement, the incense was to be lighted in the temple outside the veil, and that
when the smoke ascended therefrom it was to be carried inside into the holiest of holiest The
reason for this is, that they explain the words of Scripture (Leviticus 16:2, "For I will appear in
the cloud on the mercy-seat") as referring to the clouds proceeding from -the incense But sages
have learnt by tradition that the frankincense was first lighted in the holy of holies facing the
ark, as it is written (Leviticus 16:13), "And he shall put the incense upon the fire before
Jehovah." Now, because in the second temple they entertained the apprehension that the then
existing high priest might incline to the free-thinking party, they therefore, on the preparation
day for the day of atonement, conjured him, saying: "My lord! high priest! We are delegates of
the high court, but thou art delegate both for us and the high court; we conjure thee by Him who
causes His name to rest upon this house, we conjure thee to make no change in anything that we
have said to thee." Thereupon he goes away and weeps because they had suspected him of
free-thinking, and they go away and weep because they had entertained a suspicion against a
person whose conduct was unknown to them; for perhaps he had nothing of the kind in his
thoughts.
Halacha 8. The whole night before the day of atonement the priest sits and gives didactic
expositions, that is, if he be a sage; if he be only a disciple, doctrinal expositions are addressed to
him. If he be practiced in reading, he reads out; if not, some one reads out to him, lest he should
fall asleep. And what is it that is read from? From the holy Scriptures. If he is disposed to fall
into a slumber, the Levitical youths suddenly touch him with the middle finger, and say to him,
"My lord! high priest! Stand up, and refresh thyself a little by walking on the floor, lest thou
sleepest." And thus employment was found for him until the hour for slaying the victims drew
near; but they did not slay them until they were certainly convinced that morning twilight had
broken, lest they should slay them by night.
SECOND SECTION
Halacha l. All sacrificial actions, as regards both the daily offerings and also the oblations, are
performed by the high priest on the same day, clothed in the golden robes. The ritual peculiar to
the day is, however, performed in the white robes. The service peculiar to the day consists in the
dealings with the bull of the high priest and the two goats, one of which was to be the scapegoat,
and in the fumigation with frankincense in the holy of holies, and all these matters were
performed in the white clothing.
Halacha 2. As often as he changes his clothes, taking some off and putting others on, he must
bathe himself; for it is written (Leviticus 16:23-24), "He shall put off the linen garments . . . and
he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments."

279. The priest is to undergo five baths and ten washings of consecration on the same day. And how
does this take place? Firstly, he takes off his ordinary clothes which he had on, and then, having
bathed himself, stands up and dries himself, he then puts on the golden robes, and having
consecrated his hands and feet, slays the daily sacrifice, performs the daily morning fumigation,
cleanses the lamps, brings the pieces of the daily sacrifice to the fire on the altar, together with
the meat-offering and the drink-offering, and offers the bull and the seven Iambs for the
feast-offering of the day. After this he consecrates his hands and his feet, puts off the golden
robes, and having bathed, stands up and dries himself; he then puts on the white robes,
consecrates his hands and feet, and performs the service of the day -- the collective confession of
sins, the drawing lots, the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifice in the inner places, and the
fumigating with frankincense in the holy of holiest He then gives up the goat to him who is to
lead it away to Azazel [tradition takes Azazel to be the name of the place to which the goat was
driven away], and severing the sacrificial portions from the bull and goat which were to be
burnt, delivers up the rest of them to be consumed. After this he consecrates his hands and his
feet' and takes off the white robes and after bathing, he stands up and dries himself, and puts on
the golden robes. He next consecrates his hands and feet, and offers the atonement-goat, which
formed a part of the oblation of the day, his own ram and the ram of the people, which are
burnt-offerings; and placing on the altar-fire the sacrificial portions of the bull and goat which
were to be burnt, he offers the daily evening sacrifice. After that he consecrates his hands and
feet, and takes off the golden robes; and after hashing, he stands and dries him. self, and puts on
the white robes. He consecrates his hands and feet, and entering the holiest of holies, takes
therefrom the spoon and the censer. Next he consecrates his hands and feet, and takes off the
white robes; and after bathing, he stands up and dries himself and puts on the golden robes: he
consecrates his hands and feet, and performs the daily evening fumigation; and after seeing to
the care of the evening lights, consecrates his hands and feet; then, taking off the golden robes,
he puts on his ordinary clothes, and goes out.
Halacha 3. These baths and consecrating washings were all performed: in the sanctuary; for it is
written, "And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place." The first bathing was an
exception to this rule, and might be performed in any ordinary place, inasmuch as its aim was
only to increase his attention; so that if he recollected any former impurity which still clung to
him, he might in his thoughts give to this bathing the special purpose of cleansing himself from
it. If a priest omitted the bathing on the occasion of the change of clothing, or the consecrating
washing between the various clothings and acts of service, his ministry is nevertheless legally
valid.
Halacha 4. If the high priest was old or sickly, some redhot iron plates were prepared on the day
of preparation, which on the morrow were thrown into the water to take away the cold (as in the
sanctuary none of the rabbinical prohibitions from work held good), or same hot water was
mingled with the water of the bath of purification until the cold was taken from it.
Halacha 5. On any other day the high priest performed the consecrating washing of his hands
and feet in the same basin as the other priests, but on this day, in conformity with his dignity, he
washes them in a golden cup. On any other day the priests ascend on the eastern edge, and
descend on the western edge of the altar-stage; but on this day they go along in the middle,
before the priest, both in ascending and descending, for his glorification. On any other day, he to
whom the censer was entrusted shovelled up the glowing embers with a silver pan, and then
poured them into a golden pan; but an this day the high priest shovelled them up with a golden
pan and went with them into the temple: this was done so as not to fatigue him with an
accumulation of acts of service. In the same way the pan used every day held four kab, but that
employed on this day held only three kab; and on every other day it was heavy, but to-day it was
light; on every other day the handle of it was short, but to-day long, in order to make it lighter

280. for the high priest, lest he might be wearied. On every other day there were three layers of fire
placed on the altar, but to-day there were four, in order to adorn and crown the altar.
Halacha 6. In the Torah it says (Leviticus 16:17), "And he makes atonement for himself, and for
his household, and for all the congregation of Israel." By this -- thus have they learnt from
tradition -- oral confession of sins is to be understood: thou [earnest accordingly from this, that
on this day he makes three confessions of sins First one for his own person, a second for his own
person in connection with the rest of the priests; both are made over the bull of the atonement
which is for him And the third confession of sin for the whole of Israel is made over the goat
which is to be driven away. He utters the name (of God) three times in each of these confessions.
What, then, is the tenor of his words? "O Jehovah! I have sinned, have failed in my duty, and
committed wickedness before Thee. O Jehovah! Be propitiated for the sins, failings, and
wickedness whereby I and my house have sinned, failed in duties, and committed wickedness
before Thee; as it is written (Leviticus 16:30), 'For on that day he shall make an atonement for
you to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before Jehovah.'" Consequently he
uttered three times the name of God, and the same in the other two confessions; and when he
casts the lot for the atoning goat, he says, "A sin-offering to Jehovah." Thus on this day he utters
the name of God ten times, and utters it every time as it is written, that is, the full name of God.
In earlier times he raised his voice at the name of God; but an abuse of this practice crept in, and
he spake it in a subdued voice, and allowed it to die away into a kind of singing, so that it was
not audible even to his fellow-priests.
Halacha 7. All, both priests and people, who stood in the forecourt, so soon as they heard the full
name of God proceed from the high priest in holiness and purity, knelt down, and, casting
themselves prostrate on their faces, called out, "Praised be the name of the glory of His kingdom
for all eternity!" for it is written (Deuteronomy 32:3), "Because I utter the name of the Lord,
ascribe ye honour to our God." In all three confessions he endeavoured to finish speaking the
name of God simultaneously with the words of praise, and then he spake to them, "Be ye
purified." The whole day is valid according to the law for the confession of sins for the day of
atonement, and also for the confession of sins over the bulls which were to be burnt.
THIRD SECTION
Halacha 1. On one of the two lots was written, "For Jehovah;" and on the other, "For Azazel." It
was permissible to use any material for them, either wood, stone, or metal. It was not, however,
allowed for one to be large and the other small, one of silver and another of gold; but they must
be both alike: they used to be of wood, and in the second temple they were made of gold. The
two lots were to be thrown into one and the same vessel, in which there was room for both
hands; yet so that the two hands were pressed together, so that he could not choose one of the
two lots. This vessel possessed no sacred attribute; it was made of wood, and was called qalapi.
Halacha 2. Where is the lot cast? On the eastern side of the fore-court, on the north of the altar,
the urn was put down, and the two goats were placed by it, with their faces turned to the west,
and their backs to the east. The high priest now approaches having the consecrating priest on his
right, and the chief of the ministering priestly family on his left; and the two goats stand before
his face, the one on his right, the other on his left.
Halacha 3. He now dips his hands hastily into the urn and draws out the lots, one in each hand,
in the name of the two goats, and then opens his hands. If that for Jehovah has been brought out
in the right hand, the consecrating priest says "My lord! high priest! Elevate thy right hand!?' If,
however it is brought out in the left hand the chief of the ministering priestly family says to him:
'"My lord! high priest! Elevate thy left hand!" He now places the two lots on the goats, that in his
right hand on the goat on his right, and that in, his left hand on the goat on his left; nevertheless,
if he does not lay the lots upon them, the whole matter is not prejudiced, only he has not so fully

281. completed the prescribed action. For the laying on is a command which is not a necessary
condition; but the drawing of the lots is, on the contrary' a necessary condition, although it is
not an act of divine service. Therefore this laying on is valid, if done by one not a priest, hut the
drawing the lots out of the urn would be invalid if thus performed.
Halacha 4. And he ties a scarlet stripe, two selas in weight, on the head of the goat which is to be
driven away, and places it opposite to the door at which it is to go out; but the goat which is to be
slain (he binds a stripe) around its neck, and then slays the "bull of atonement which is for him,"
and (after that) the goat on which the lot has fallen "for Jehovah."
Halacha 5. And he brings their blood into the temple, and from the blood of the two he makes
forty-three sprinklings; rings; the blood of the bull he sprinkles eight times in the holiest of
holies, between the poles of the ark, within a hand's breadth of the mercy-seat. For it is written,
"He shall sprinkle it before the mercy-seat," etc. he sprinkles it therefore, once above, and seven
times beneath. They have learned by tradition that in the Scripture term "seven times" the first
sprinkling was not to be included; and therefore he reckons, "once and one, once and two, once
and three, once and four, once and five, once and six, once and seven."
And why does he reckon thus? Lest by error the first sprinkling should be reckoned among the
seven. Then he sprinkles the blood of the goat between the poles of the ark, once above, and
seven times below, and reckons in the same way as with the blood of the bull. Next he sprinkles
the blood of the bull eight times in the temple on the veil, once above, and seven times below: for
it is written with regard to the blood of the bull, "On the mercy-seat, and before the mercy-seat."
and he reckons in the same way as he did inside. Then he sprinkles again the blood of the goat
eight times on the veil, once above, and seven times below: for it is said with regard to the blood
of the goat, "He shall do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull:." and he reckons in
the same way as he did within. In all these sprinklings rings he endeavours not to sprinkle above
or below, but does it like one who is in the act of scourging. Next he mixes the two bloods, the
blood of the bull and the blood of the goat. and sprinkles it four times on the four horns of the
golden altar in the temple, and seven times on the middle of this altar.
Halacha 6. In all these forty-three sprinklings he dips his finger in the blood for each sprinkling
separately one dipping is not sufficient for two sprinklings. The remainder of the blood he pours
out on the ground to the west of the outer altar.
Halacha 7. He then delivers over the living goat into the hands of a man who stands by ready to
lead it into the wilderness. In a legal point of view, any one is fitted for leading it away; but the
high priests have made a rule, not to allow any Israelite [that is, no one who was not of the tribe
of Levi] to lead it away. And tents were set up from Jerusalem to the edge of the wilderness. in
which one or several men abode over the day, so as to be able to accompany the man conducting
the goat from one tent to another. At each tent it was said to him, "Here is food, and here is
water!" And if he was exhausted, and it was necessary for him to eat, he might do so; yet this was
never the case. The people at the last tent remained standing at the end of the Sabbath-limit,
and surveyed his action from afar. And what did he do? He divided into two the scarlet stripes
on the horns of the goat: one-half of the hand was placed on the rock, and the other half between
the two horns of the goat, which he then pushed backwards, so that tumbling over it rolled
down, and all its limbs were smashed to pieces ere it reached a point half- way down the hill. He
that led the goat now goes and sits down in the last tent until it is night. Watch-towers were set
up, and signals displayed, in order that it should be known when the goat had reached the
wilderness.
After he (the high priest) has delivered over the goat into the hands of him who was to lead him
away he turns to the bull and the goat whose blood he had sprinkled within; and cutting them
up, and taking therefrom the sacrificial portions, which he places in a vessel in order to take

282. them to the fire on the altar, he cuts up the rest of the flesh into great pieces, all connected with
one another, without sever ing them, and delivers them up into the hands of others to take them
away to the place of burning, where they were cut in pieces still in the skin. . .
Halacha 8. As soon as the goat had reached the wilderness, the priest went out into the woman's
division of the fore-court in order to read from the Torah; and whilst he was reading, the bull
and the goat were burnt in the place of ashes. Whoever, then, saw the high priest whilst he was
reading, could not witness the burning of the bull and the goat. The latter operation could be
performed by any common man.
Halacha 9. This reading is not a performance of divine worship; so he can read either in his own
ordinary white garments or in the high-priestly white robes, just as he pleases for he is allowed
to make use of the priestly robes at other times than those of service.
Halacha 10. And what were the circumstances attending the reading? He sits in the woman's
division of the fore- court, and all the people stand in front of him. The minister of the
synagogue takes the book of the Torah, and gives it to the ruler of the synagogue, who gives it to
the consecrating priest the consecrating priest gives it to the high priest, who receives it standing
up; and standing up he reads . . . (Leviticus 16) and . . . (Leviticus 23:27) . . . . He then rolls up
the Torah, and, placing it in his lap, says, "More is here written than that which I have read to
you," and recites to them from memory the section . . . in Numbers up to the end of the division.
And why does he not read the latter portion out of another roll? Because the same man must not
read out of two rolls (one after the other), lest he should cast suspicion on the first.
Halacha 11. Before and after the reading he pronounces the benediction in the way in which it is
done in the synagogue, but adding the following seven benedictions "Be well pleased, Jehovah,
our God," etc.; "We confess to Thee," etc.; "Forgive us, our Father, for we have sinned," etc. With
these he pronounces the concluding formula: "Thou are praised, Jehovah, Thou that pardonest
with mercy the sins of Thy people Israel."
These three benedictions are the normal ones He then pronounces a benediction for the
sanctuary separately, with the purport that the sanctuary might continue, and that God would
abide therein with the concluding formula: "Praised art thou, Jehovah, Thou that art enthroned
on Zion." Also a separate benediction for Israel, with the purport that the Lord would help
Israel, and that the royalty might not depart from it, with the concluding formula "Praised art
Thou, Jehovah, that Thou chooses" Israel." Then for the priests a separate benediction, with the
purport that God would accept their actions and ministry graciously, and would bless them, with
the concluding formula "Praised art Thou, Jehovah, Thou that sanctifies" the priests." Finally he
offers prayer devotion, singing, and supplications, act cording as he is practiced therein, and
concludes: "Help, O Jehovah, Thy people Israel, for Thy people needs Thy help. Praised art
Thou, Jehovah. Thou that hearest prayer."
FOURTH SECTION
Halacha l. The successive order of all the actions of this day was as follows: -- About midnight
they cast lots for the carrying away of the ashes, duly prepared the altar-fire, and took the ashes
from the altar following entirely the usual mode of procedure in the order we have already
described until they came to slaying the daily sacrifice. When they were about to slay the daily
sacrifice, a cloth of linen was spread between the high priest and the people And why of linen?
In order that he may perceive that the service of the day is to be performed in linen robes. He
now takes off his ordinary clothes, bathes himself, and puts on the golden robes. After
consecrating his hands and feet, he cuts through the greatest part of the two neck-pipes of the
daily offering; and leaving to another the completion of the act of slaying, catches the blood. and
sprinkles it upon the altar according to precept. After this, he goes into the temple and looks to
the early fumigation with frankincense, cleanses the lamps, and places on the altar-fire the

283. pieces of the daily offering, and also the meat-offering and drink-offering in the same order as in
the daily sacrifice of any other day, as already described. After the daily sacrifice he offers the
bull and the seven lambs as the feast-offerings of the day, and consecrating his hands and feet,
takes off the golden robes; then having bathed himself, he puts on the white robes, and,
consecrating his hands and his feet, approaches his own bull. The latter is placed between the
porch and the altar, the head towards the south and the face towards the west the priest stands
on the east of it with his face turned towards the west, and laying both hands on the head of the
bull pronounces the confession of sins. And thus he speaks: "O Jehovah, I have sinned,
committed transgressions, and wickedness in which I have sinned, transgressed, and done
wickedly before Thee, I and my house; as it is thus written in the law of Moses Thy servant: 'He
shall make atonement for you to cleanse you, that ye may be cleansed from all your sins before
Jehovah.'"
Then he casts lots over the two goats, fastens a scarlet stripe on the head of the goat which was
to be sent away and places it before the door at which it was to go out. On the head of the goat
which was to be slain (he fastened a band) in the region of the neck: and approaching his own
bull a second time, lays his hands upon his head, and pronounces a second confession of sins.
And thus he spake: "O Jehovah, I have sinned, transgressed, and committed wickedness before
Thee, I and my house, and the sons of Aaron, the people of Thy sacred things. O Jehovah, let
atonement be made for the sins, transgressions, and wickedness whereby I have sinned,
transgressed, and done wicked- ly before Thee, I and my house' and the sons of Aaron, the
people of Thy holy things, as it as written in the law of Moses Thy servant: 'For on this day,'" etc.
Hereupon he slays the bull, and catching the blood, gives it to some one, who shakes it, lest it
should coagulate; then, placing it on the fourth row of pavement outwards from the temple, he
takes the incense-pan and shovels into it the fiery embers from the altar those indeed which lie
to the western side; as it is written, "from the altar of Jehovah." He then descends and places
them on the pavement in the fore-court; and there is brought to him out of the utensil-chamber
the ladle and a vessel full of the very finest frankincense: of this he takes two handfuls, neither
levelled nor heaped up, but just handfuls, whether he be large or small in his bodily proportions,
and places them in the ladle.
We have already explained elsewhere that, as regarded the blood of the sanctuary and the rest of
the ministerial actions, the use of the left hand caused a legal invalidity; therefore, in conformity
with this, he would have carried the incense-pan in his left hand, and the ladle with the
frankincense in his right hand. But nevertheless, on account of the heavy burden of the
incense-pan, and because, more" over, it was hot, he could not carry it in his left hand as far as
the ark: he therefore took the incense-pan in his right hand, and the ladle with the frankincense
in his left, and passed through the temple till he reached the holy of holiest If he found the veil
fastened up, he entered the holy of holies, until he came to the ark. When he reached the ark he
placed the incense-pan between the two poles -- in the second temple, where there was no ark,
he placed it on the "foundation stone" -- and, taking the ladle by its edge either in the tips of his
fingers or his teeth, he empties the frankincense with his thumb into his hands until they are as
full of it as they were before. and this is one of the severest ministerial duties in the sanctuary:
he then with his hand pours the frankincense in heaps upon the charcoal on the inner side of the
pan [that is, on the side farthest from him], so that the fumigation may be closest to the ark, and
removed away from his face. lest he might be burnt. He now waits there until] the temple is full
of the incense and then goes out, walking backwards step by step. his face turned to the
sanctuary, and his back to the temple. until] he came outside the veil After coming out he prays
there but a brief prayer, lest he might make the people anxious whether he had not met with his
death in the temple. And thus he prayed: "Jehovah, our God let it be Thy will, if this year should
be a hot year, that it may be blessed with rain: may the sceptre not depart from the house of
Judah; may Thy people, the house of Israel, never be wanting in support, and let not the prayer

284. of those journeying come before thee" [who pray for dry weather whilst the land is in need of
rain].
Halacha 2. During the time of the incense-burning in the holiest of holies, the whole of the
people kept away from the temple only: they had not to avoid the interval between the porch and
the altar. For the latter is done only in the daily fumigation in the temple, and during the
blood-sprinkling there. Then he takes the blood of the bull from him who is shaking it, and
going with it into the holiest of holies, sprinkles it there eight times between the poles of the ark;
he then goes out and places it in the temple on the golden pedestal which stands there. In the
next place, going out of the temple, he slays the goat, and, catching its blood, carries it into the
holiest of holies: there he sprinkles it eight times between the poles of the ark, and going out,
places it on the second golden pedestal standing in the temple. Then he takes the blood of the
bull down from the pedestal, and sprinkles it eight times on the veil opposite the ark; and
putting down the blood of the bull, he takes down the blood of the goat, and sprinkles it eight
times on the veil opposite the ark. After that he pours the blood of the bull amongst that of the
goat, and empties it all into the basin in which the blood of the bull had been so that they are
well mixed, and standing within the golden altar between the altar and the candlesticks he
begins to sprinkle the mixed blood on the horns of the golden altar going round the same
outside the horns, commencing with the north-eastern horn, then going to the north-western,
then to the south-western, and then to the south-eastern. All the sprinklings are made in an
upward direction the last excepted, which is made freely, and in a downward direction, so that
his robes may not be soiled; then he shovels aside the charcoal and ashes on the golden altar,
until the gold of it is visible and sprinkles the mixed blood on the altar now laid bare seven times
on the southern side, on the spot where the horns of the altar end; he now goes out and pours
the rest of the blood on the ground to the west of the outer altar.
Then he approaches the goat which is to be given away, and, placing both hands on its head,
pronounces a confession of sins. And he speaks thus "O Jehovah, Thy people the house of Israel
hath sinned, transgressed, and committed wickedness before Thee O Jehovah, let atonement be
made for the sins, transgressions, and the wickedness whereby Thy people the house of Israel
hath sinned, transgressed, and committed wickedness before Thee; as it is written in the law of
Moses Thy servant: 'For on this day He will make atonement,'" etc.
After this he sends the goat away into the wilderness; and taking out the sacrificial portions of
the hull and the goat, the blood of which he had sprinkled inside, and placing them in a vessel,
he sends the remainder of them to the place of ashes to be burnt, and goes out into the woman's
division of the fore-court, and there reads, after the goat had reached the wilderness. Then he
performs a consecrating washing, and having taken off the golden robes, bathes himself, puts on
the white robes, and consecrates his hands and his feet, next he sacrifices the goat, the blood of
which is sprinkled without, and forms a part of the regular feast- offering of the day, and offers
his own ram and the ram of the people, as it is written "And he shall go out and offer his
burnt-offering and the burnt-offering of the people." And having brought to the altar-fire the
sacrificial portions of the bull and goat which are to be burnt, he offers the daily evening
sacrifice. Then he consecrates his hands and feet takes off the golden robes, bathes himself, puts
on the white robes, performs the consecrating washing, and, entering the holiest of holies,
brings out the spoon and the pan. After this he performs the consecrating washing, takes off the
white robes, bathes himself, puts on the golden robes, performs the consecrating washing,
fumigates with the evening incense, and gives his attention to the evening lights, just as on other
days. Then he consecrates his hands and his feet, takes off the golden robes, and, putting on his
ordinary clothes, withdraws to his own house. All the people accompany him to his house, and
he holds a festival to celebrate his having come successfully out of the sanctuary.