Continuing the discussion of Christ as High Priest, the author of the letter speaks of the relationship between Him and the faithful as the essence of what the prophets of Israel called the new covenant. Indeed, the essence of any covenant-union consists...
Continuing the discussion of Christ as High Priest, the author of the letter speaks of the relationship between Him and the faithful as the essence of what the prophets of Israel called the new covenant. Indeed, the essence of any covenant-union consists, in the final analysis, in a person's sanctification by God, in the effect God has on a person, changing his spiritual life and sometimes even his nature. And the new union, that very new covenant first mentioned by Jeremiah, implied not only the Torah written in the heart, but also a measure of the Presence in the life of an individual person and of the people of God such as had never existed before.
This fullness of the Presence was connected with the person of the Savior, and therefore the author of the letter calls Him High Priest with a capital letter. But no measure of the Presence, even an absolute one, guarantees a person salvation, cleansing, sanctification, or anything else. A person is free, and in the final analysis everything is determined precisely by his choice.
The author of the letter reminds his readers that a sin committed consciously is irreparable in the sense that it is impossible to get rid of its consequences. It had always been so, and even Yahwistic purification offerings were powerless here, though God's presence at the Yahwistic altars was an unquestionable reality. The coming of Christ changes the situation qualitatively in this respect: now it is possible to be freed even from the consequences of sins once committed consciously, because, having entrusted himself to Christ, a person no longer stands alone before God with his sins.
Now Christ Himself is ready to help a person deal with the consequences of his sins, if only the person repents of what he has done and trusts his Savior. But if a person, having become a Christian, considers conscious sin possible for himself, this is equivalent to apostasy and denial of Christ, as the author of the letter reminds his readers.
And then returning back can become very, very difficult: by sinning consciously and of his own free will, a person is in fact opposing his Savior. The Savior is doing everything to free the person from the power of sin, while the person himself is at the same time handing himself over to sin's power, and doing so quite consciously. Such a life puts a wall between a person and Christ, even if previously that same person had turned to Christ quite sincerely and become His disciple. It is these foundational matters of Christian life that the author of the letter reminds his readers about.
10
10:19 Having finished the doctrinal part of his epistle, the apostle now proceeds to exhortation deduced from what has been treated of Heb 5:4, which he begins by a brief recapitulation. Having therefore liberty to enter, -
10:20 By a living way - The way of faith, whereby we live indeed.Which he hath consecrated - Prepared, dedicated, and established for us. Through the veil, that is, his flesh - As by rending the veil in the temple, the holy of holies became visible and accessible; so by wounding the body of Christ, the God of heaven was manifested, and the way to heaven opened.
10:22 Let us draw near - To God. With a true heart - In godly sincerity. Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience - So as to condemn us no longer And our bodies washed with pure water - All our conversation spotless and holy, which is far more acceptable to God than all the legal sprinklings and washings.
10:23 The profession of our hope - The hope which we professed at our baptism.
10:25 Not forsaking the assembling ourselves - In public or private worship. As the manner of some is - Either through fear of persecution, or from a vainimagination that they were above external ordinances.But exhorting one another - To faith, love, and good works.And so much the more, as ye see the day approaching - The great day is ever in your eye.
10:26 For when we - Any of us Christians. Sin wilfully - By total apostasy from God, termed "drawing back," Heb 10:38.After having received the experimental knowledge of the gospel truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins - None but that which we obstinately reject.
10:28 He that, in capital cases, despised (presumptuously transgressed) the law of Moses diedwithout mercy - Without any delay or mitigation of his punishment.
10:29 Of how much sorer punishment is he worthy, who - By wilful, total apostasy. It does not appear that thispassage refers to any other sin. Hath, as it were, trodden underfoot the Son of God - A lawgiver far more honourable than Moses. And counted the blood wherewith the better covenant was established, an unholy, a common, worthless thing. By which he hath been sanctified - Therefore Christ died for him also, and he was at leastjustified once. And done despite to the Spirit of grace - By rejecting all his motions.
10:30 The Lord will judge his people - Yea, far more rigorously than the heathens, if they rebel against him. Deu 32:35, etc
10:31 To fall into the hands - Of his avenging justice.