Hebrews 10:8-10

Hebrews 10:8. “Above when he said, Sacrifice, and offering, and burnt-offerings, and [offerings] for sin, thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure [therein] ; (which are offered by the law;) then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once [for all].”

The use and signification of most of the words of these verses have already in our passage been spoken unto.

There are two things in these three verses:

1. The application of the testimony taken out of the psalmist unto the present argument of the apostle, Hebrews 10:8-9.

2. An inference from the whole, unto the proof of the only cause and means of the sanctification of the church, the argument he was now engaged in, Hebrews 10:10.

As to the first of these, or the application of the testimony of the psalmist, and his resuming it, we may consider,

1. What he designed to prove thereby: and this was, that by the introduction and establishment of the sacrifice of Christ in the church there was an end put to all legal sacrifices. And he adds thereunto, that the ground and reason of this great alteration of things in the church, by the will of God, was the utter insufficiency of those legal sacrifices in themselves for the expiation of sin and sanctification of the church. In verse 9 he gives us this sum of his design, “He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.”

2. The apostle doth not here directly argue from the matter or substance of the testimony itself, but from the order of the words, and the regard they have in their order unto one another. For there is in them a twofold proposition; one concerning the rejection of legal sacrifices, and the other an introduction and tender of Christ and his mediation. And he declares, from the order of the words in the psalmist, that these things are inseparable; namely, the taking away of legal sacrifices, and the establishment of that of Christ. 3. This order in the words of the apostle is declared in that distribution of ἀνώτερον and τότε , “above” and “then.” ᾿Ανώτερον, “above;” that is, in the first place, these his words or sayings, recorded in the first place.

4. There are in the words themselves these three things:

(1.) There is a distribution made of the legal sacrifices into their general heads, with respect unto the will of God concerning them all: “Sacrifices and offering, and whole burnt-offerings, and sacrifice for sin.” And in that distribution he adds another property of them, namely, they were required according to the law.

[1.] He had respect not only unto the removal of the sacrifices, but also of the law itself, whereby they were retained; so he enters on his present disputation with the imperfection of the law itself, verse 1.

[2.] Allowing these sacrifices and offerings all that they could pretend unto, namely, that they were established by the law, yet notwithstanding this, God rejects them as unto the expiation of sin and the salvation of the church. For he excludes the consideration of all other things which were not appointed by the law, as those which God abhorred in themselves, and so could have no place in this matter And we may observe, that,

Obs. 21. Whereas the apostle doth plainly distinguish and distribute all sacrifices and offerings into those on the one side which were offered by the law, and that one offering of the body of Christ on the other side, the pretended sacrifice of the mass is utterly rejected from any place in the worship of God.

Obs. 22. God, as the sovereign lawgiver, had always power and authority to make what alteration he pleased in the orders and institutions of his worship.

Obs. 23. That sovereign authority is that; alone which our faith and obedience respect in all ordinances of worship.

(2.) After this was stated and delivered, when the mind of God was expressly declared as unto his rejection of legal sacrifices and offerings, τότε, “then he said;” after that, in order thereon, upon the grounds before mentioned, “he said, Sacrifice,” etc. In the former words he declared the mind- of God, and in the latter his own intention and resolution to comply with his will, in order unto another way of atonement for sin: “Lo, I come to do thy will, O God;” which words have been opened before.

(3.) In the last place, he declares what was intimated and signified in this order, or in those things being thus spoken unto; sacrifices, on the one hand, which was the first; and the coming of Christ, which was the second, in this order and opposition. It is evident,

[1.] That these words, ᾿Αναιρεῖ τὸ πρῶτον, “He taketh away the first,” do intend sacrifices and offerings. But he did not so do it immediately at the speaking of these words, for they continued for the space of some hundreds of years afterwards; but he did so declaratively, as unto the indication of the time, namely, when the “second” should be introduced.

[2.] The end of this removal of the “first,” was “the establishment of the second.” This “second,” say some, is the will of God; but the opposition made before is not between the will of God and the legal sacrifices, but between those sacrifices and the coming of Christ to do the will of God. Wherefore it is the way of the expiation of sin, and of the complete sanctification of the church by the coming, and mediation, and sacrifice of Christ., that is this “second,” the thing spoken of in the second place; this God would “establish,” approve, confirm, and render unchangeable.

Obs. 24. As all things from the beginning made way for the coming of Christ in the minds of them that did believe, so every thing was to be removed out of the way that would hinder his coming, and the discharge of the work he had undertaken law, temple, sacrifices, must all be removed to give way unto his coming. So is it testified by his forerunner, Luke 3:4-6, “As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” So it must be in our own hearts; all things must give way unto him, or he will not come and make his habitation in them.

Hebrews 10:10. “By the which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once [for all.]” From the whole context the apostle makes an inference, which is comprehensive of the substance of the gospel, and the description of the grace of God which is established thereby.

Having affirmed, in Christ's own words, that he came to do the will of God, he shows what was that will of God which he came to do, what was the design of God in it and the effect of it, and by what means it was accomplished; which things are to be inquired into: as,

1. What is the will of God which he intends; “By the which will.”

2. What was the design of it, what God aimed at in this act of his will, and what is accomplished thereby; “We are sanctified.”

3. The way and means whereby this effect proceedeth from the will of God; namely, “Through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ,” in opposition to legal sacrifices. 4. The manner of it, in opposition unto their repetition; it was “once for all.” But the sense of the whole will be more clear, if we consider,

1. The end aimed at in the first place, namely, the sanctification of the church. And sundry things must be observed concerning it:

(1.) That the apostle changeth his phrase of speech into the first person, “We are sanctified;” that is, all those believers whereof the gospel church- state was constituted, in opposition unto the church-state of the Hebrews and those that did adhere unto it: so he speaks before, as also Hebrews 4:3, “We who have believed do enter into rest.” For it might be asked of him, ‘You who thus overthrow the efficacy of legal sacrifices, what have you yourselves attained in your relinquishment of them?'‘We have,'saith he, ‘that sanctification, that dedication unto God, that peace with him, and that expiation of sin, that all those sacrifices could not effect.'And observe,

Obs. 25. Truth is never so effectually declared, as when it is confirmed by the experience of its power in them that believe it and make profession of it. This was that which gave them the confidence which the apostle exhorts them to hold fast and firm unto the end.

Obs. 26. It is a holy glorying in God, and no unlawful boasting, for men openly to profess what they are made partakers of by the grace of God and blood of Christ. Yea, it is a necessary duty for men so to do, when any thing is set up in competition with them or opposition unto them.

Obs. 27. It is the best security in differences in and about religion, (such as these wherein the apostle is engaged, the greatest and highest that ever were,) when men have an internal experience of the truth which they do profess.

(2.) The words he useth are in the preterperfect tense, ἡγιασμένοι ἐσμέν, and relate not only unto the things, but the time of the offering of the body of Christ. For although all that is intended herein did not immediately follow on the death of Christ, yet were they all in it, as the effects in their proper cause, to be produced by virtue of it in their times and seasons; and the principal effect intended was the immediate consequent thereof.

(3.) This end of God, through the offering of the body of Christ, was the sanctification of the church: “We are sanctified.” The principal notion of sanctification in the New Testament, is the effecting of real, internal holiness in the persons of them that do believe, by the change of their hearts and lives. But the word is not here so to be restrained, nor is it used in that sense by our apostle in this epistle, or very rarely. It is here plainly comprehensive of all that he hath denied unto the law, priesthood, and sacrifices of the old testament, with the whole church-state of the Hebrews under it, and the effects of their ordinances and services; as,

[1.] A complete dedication unto God, in opposition unto the typical one which the people were partakers of by the sprinkling of the blood of calves and goats upon them, Exodus 24.

[2.] A complete church-state for the celebration of the spiritual worship of God, by the administration of the Spirit, wherein the law could make nothing perfect.

[3.] Peace with God upon a full and perfect expiation of sin; which he denies unto the sacrifices of the law, verses

[4.] Real, internal purification or sanctification of our natures and persons from all inward filth and defilement of them; which he proves at large that the carnal ordinances of the law could not effect of themselves, reaching no farther than the purification of the flesh.

[5.] Hereunto also belong the privileges of the gospel, in liberty, boldness, immediate access unto God, the means of that access, by Christ our high priest, and confidence therein; in opposition unto that fear, bondage, distance, and exclusion from the holy place of the presence of God, which they of old were kept under. All these things are comprised in this expression of the apostle, “We are sanctified.”

The designation of such a state for the church, and the present introduction of it by the preaching of the gospel, is that whose confirmation the apostle principally designs in this whole discourse; the sum whereof he gives us, Hebrews 11:40, “God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”

2. The whole fountain and principal cause of this state, this grace, is the will of God, even that will which our Savior tendered to accomplish, “By the which will we are sanctified.” In the original it is, “In which will;” “in” for “by,” which is usual. Wherefore we say properly, “by which will;” for it is the supreme efficient cause of our sanctification that is intended. And in that expression of our Savior, “Lo, I come to do thy will, O God,” it is evident,

(1.) That it was the will, that is, the counsel, the purpose, the decree of God, that the church should be sanctified.

(2.) That our Lord Christ knew that this was the will of God, the will of the Father, in whose bosom he was. And,

(3.) That God had determined (which he also knew and declared) that legal sacrifices could not accomplish and make effectual this his will, so as the church might be sanctified thereon. Wherefore the will of God here intended (as was intimated before) is nothing but the eternal, gracious, free act or purpose of his will, whereby he determined or purposed in himself to recover a church out of lost mankind, to sanctify them unto himself, and to bring them unto the enjoyment of himself hereafter, See Ephesians 1:4-9.

And this act of the will of God was,

(1.) Free and sovereign, without any meritorious cause, or any thing that should dispose him thereunto without himself: “He purposed in himself.” There are everywhere blessed effects ascribed to it, but no cause anywhere. All that is designed unto us in it, as unto the communication of it in its effects, were its effects, not its cause. See Ephesians 1:4, and this place. The whole mediation of Christ, especially his death and suffering, was the means of its accomplishment, and not the procuring cause of it.

(2.) It was accompanied with infinite wisdom, whereby provision was made for his own glory, and the means and way of the accomplishment of his will. He would not admit the legal sacrifices as the means and way of its accomplishment, because they could not provide for those ends; for “it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.”

(3.) It was immutable and irrevocable, it depended not upon any condition in any thing or person without himself: “He purposed in himself.” Nor was it capable of any change or alteration from oppositions or interveniencies.

(4.) It follows hereon that it must be infallibly effectual, in the actual accomplishment of what was designed in it, every thing in its order and season; it cannot in any thing be frustrated or disappointed. The whole church in every age shall be sanctified by it. This will of God some would have not to be any internal act of his will, but only the thing willed by him, name]y, the sacrifice of Christ; and that for this reason, because it is opposed to legal sacrifices, which the act of God's will cannot be. But the mistake is evident; for the will of God here intended is not at all opposed unto the legal sacrifices, but only as to the means of the accomplishment of it, which they were not, nor could be.

Obs. 28. The sovereign will and pleasure of God, acting itself in infinite wisdom and grace, is the sole, supreme, original cause of the salvation of the church, Romans 9:10-11.

3. The means of accomplishment and making effectual of this will of God, is the “offering of the body of Jesus Christ.” Some copies after ἡγιασμένοι ἐσμέν read οἱ, and then the sense must be supplied by the repetition of ἡγιασμένοι in the close of that verse, “who by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ were once sanctified.” But there is no color for this supply, for the word “once” doth directly respect the offering of Christ, as the following verses, wherein it is explained, and the dignity of this sacrifice thence demonstrated, do prove. Wherefore this article belongs not unto the text, for it is not in the best copies, nor is taken notice of in our translation. Why and in what sense the sacrifice of Christ is called the “offering of his body,” was before declared. And “by which,” διὰ τῆς, refers not to the cause of our sanctification, which is the will of God, but unto the effect itself. Our sanctification is wrought, effected, accomplished by the offering of the body of Christ,

(1.) In that the expiation of our sin and reconciliation with God were perfectly wrought thereby:

(2.) In that the whole church of the elect was thereby dedicated unto God; which privilege they are called into the actual participation of through faith in the blood of Christ:

(3.) In that thereby all the old legal sacrifices, and all that yoke, and burden, and bondage wherewith they were accompanied, are taken out of the way, Ephesians 2:15-16:

(4.) In that he redeemed us thereby from the whole curse of the law, as given originally in the law of nature, and also renewed in the covenant of Sinai:

(5.) In that thereby he ratified and confirmed the new covenant, and all the promises of it, and all the grace contained in them, to be effectually communicated unto us:

(6.) In that he thereby procured for us, and received into his own disposition, in the behalf of the church, effectually to communicate all grace and mercy unto our souls and consciences. In brief, whatever was prepared in the will of God for the good of the church, it is all communicated unto us through the offering of the body of Christ, in such a way as tendeth unto the glory of God and the assured salvation of the church.

This “offering of the body of Jesus Christ” is the glorious center of all the counsels of the wisdom of God, of all the purposes of his will for the sanctification of the church. For,

(1.) No other way or means could effect it:

(2.) This will do it infallibly; for Christ crucified is the wisdom of God and the power of God unto this end. This is the anchor of our faith, whereon alone it rests.

4. The last thing in the words gives us the manner of the offering of the body of Christ. It was done ἐφάπαξ : “once for all,” say we, once only; it was never before that one time, nor shall ever be afterwards, “there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.” And this demonstrates both the dignity and efficacy of his sacrifice. Of such worth and dignity it was, that God absolutely acquiesced therein, and smelled a savor of eternal rest in it: and of such efficacy, that the sanctification of the church was perfected by it, so that it needed no repetition. It also made way for the following state of Christ himself, which was to be a state of glory, absolute and perfect, inconsistent with the repetition of the same sacrifice of himself. For, as the apostle shows, verses 12, 13, after this sacrifice offered, he had no more to do but to enter into glory. So absurd is that imagination of the Socinians, that he offered his expiatory sacrifice in heaven, that he did not, he could not enter into glory, until he had completely offered his sacrifice, the memorial whereof he carried into the holy place. And the apostle lays great weight on this consideration, as that which is the foundation of the faith of the church. He mentions it often, and argues from it as the principal argument to prove its excellency above the sacrifices of the law. And this very foundation is destroyed by those who fancy unto themselves a renewed offering of the body of Christ every day in the mass. Nothing can be more directly contrary unto this assertion of the apostle, whatever color they may put upon their practice, or whatever pretense they may give unto it.

Wherefore the apostle in the next verses argues from the dignity and efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ, by its difference from and opposition unto the legal sacrifices, which were often repeated.