Hebrews 10:10-11

     10. ByGreek, "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 (fulfilment 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 (Le 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; 9:12, 26, 28; 10:12, 14).

     11. 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.

      whichGreek, "the which," that is, of such a kind as.

      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.

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