We have had the will of God as the source of our salvation, and the Saviour's work as the efficacious means. There now follows the no less indispensable witness of the Holy Spirit as the unfailing power of bringing our souls into the possession and knowledge of the blessing. Thus each person of the Godhead has His appropriate place and all contribute to this end as worthy of God, as needed by man.
The dignity of Him Who testifies is an essential part of the boon conferred on the Christian. None less than a divine person was in accordance with the purpose of God or the accomplisher of His work, His own Son, for Whom, with whatever imperfect light, all saints had waited from the first. Now that His will was done by Christ to the glory of the Father, a competent and suited witness was requisite; and this was no other than the Holy Spirit Who ever gave energy to what God took in hand. Nor was it less imperative if we were to receive and to enjoy that certainty of acceptance with God which is essential to Christian communion, worship, and walk. Faith had ever been the condition of all that pleased God in men; now that Christ is in heaven, it has a pre-eminent value: we walk by faith, not by sight. But faith is only another way of expressing divine certainty. It receives on His word what He reveals.
It is interesting also to observe how carefully scripture avoids the error of assuming that the new covenant expresses our standing. The blood of it is shed; the spiritual blessedness of it is ours who believe. But its strict and full import awaits the house of Israel and the house of Judah at a future day, as we saw in Heb. 8. Then all its terms will be verified; not only what the heart needs, and the mind, with full pardon, its principle, though neither has yet bowed to the Messiah. But as His work is done and accepted, so the Spirit attests the full remission of sins in His name: God will remember them no more for those that believe. And where this remission is, there is no more an offering for sin. Such is Christianity in contrast with Judaism. It is founded on Christ's sacrifice which has so completely taken away the sins of believers that no offering for them remains.
“Having therefore, brethren, boldness for entering into the holies by the blood of Jesus, the new and living way which He dedicated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh; and [having] a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our body washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of the hope unwavering, for He is faithful that promised; and let us consider one another for provoking into love and good works; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as [is] customary for some, but encouraging, and so much the more as ye see the day drawing near” (Heb. 10:19-2519Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21And having an high priest over the house of God; 22Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10:19‑25)).
But Christ's work avails much more. It gives present entrance into the holies. What took away our sins rent the veil; and those who believe are invited and free of the innermost sanctuary even now. Boldness to enter there on any pretension of our love or holiness, of nature or even divine ordinance, would be mere and shameless presumption. Here it is calmly claimed for Christians, who are exhorted in the strongest terms to approach by faith God's presence without a doubt or a cloud, now that their sins are gone. Boldness to enter there is due to the blood of Jesus. Only unbelief hinders. It is a new and living way which He dedicated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh: We honor Him by using it in the fullest confidence that it pleases God.
Nor this only: we have a great Priest over the house of God. His is the title. He is Son over God's house, which even Moses was not, but only a servant in it; and His house are we if we hold fast our boldness instead of shirking or giving it up. In heaven itself Christ now appears before the face of God for us, who through His sacrifice have no more conscience of sins, as He there is the proof that we are perfected unbrokenly. He is above to maintain us, spite of our weakness and exposure here, according to the cleansing of His blood and the nearness it confers.
Hence we are told to “approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” Never could we deserve such a privilege. His glory and His work alone entitle us; but they do so completely; and we honor Him and appreciate the grace of God by approaching not with fear or hesitation but with a true heart in full assurance of faith. God Himself has wrought by His Son and in the Spirit that we might be fully blessed even here and enjoy already this access to Himself in the sanctuary. What an indignity tradition puts on every person of the Godhead alike, on the grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ, when it drags souls back to the dread and distance of Judaism! For there is no humility so genuine as that which is the fruit of faith, sees itself so unworthy as to deserve only condemnation, and bows in everlasting gratitude to God and the Lamb, Whom the Holy Spirit teaches us to be worth all our thoughts and affections, our worship and service.
The figures employed are drawn from Levitical institutions, but express a settled condition which far transcends what could be then: “having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our body washed with pure water.” The sons of Aaron outwardly were washed and sprinkled for priestly service. Elsewhere we find provision for failure, as in John 13 and 1 John 2:11My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (1 John 2:1); here we have only the fundamental ground which abides. This it was the more necessary to insist on, as in an epistle for those who had been Jews ever used to failure and provision for it, to whom the new and living way was unknown with its eternal and fullest blessings. And now souls in Christendom need to be weaned from those Jewish elements to which they have been so long in bondage. Even Christians generally need the truth of the gospel to deliver them from human thoughts and ways. When they are established in grace, other wants claim their place.
Again, the word is, “Let us hold fast the confession of the hope unwavering,” that is, without its wavering, not through our strength or courage, but “for He is faithful that promised.” Power of continuance is in looking to and for Christ. In the A. V. of verse 23 “faith” is a strange if not unaccountable mistake. “Hope” is here right, as “faith” in verse 22.
Then comes the call to “consider one another to provoke unto love and good works.” When set right before God as to the present and the future, we are in a condition and are exhorted to seek the good one of another. And, in order to promote the affection and deeds worthy of Christians, it is important to hear the caution, “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is customary for some, but encouraging.” For this is well, rather than an abjuratory tone, which provokes neither to love nor to good works. Our gathering together is of great moment: none can neglect it without snare and loss.
As responsibility is here in view, it is “the day” or appearing of the Lord that follows, when our fidelity or the lack of it will be manifested. Conscience should be the more in exercise, because of the grace wherein we stand; but flesh would take advantage of grace for carelessness. The assembly has its serious place and claim according to God's word, as well as the soul. Difficulties increase, as the day approaches; but His word is authoritative for such as fear Him, and never misleads where the eye is simple. The Holy Spirit effects this by directing us to Christ. Then scripture tells on the heart as well as on the conscience; the new man answers to the word of the Lord, and lives in obedience.