See note Heb. 10:11¹.

Lit., unto perpetuity. So in v. 14.

The priests in the old covenant stood daily and offered the same sacrifices again and again, because what they offered could never remove sins. But Christ put away sin (Heb. 9:26) by offering Himself to God as the one sacrifice for sins, whereupon He sat down forever on the right hand of God (v. 12). His sitting in heaven is a sign and proof that the removing of sins has been accomplished. His sitting there is forever. Hence, He no longer needs to do anything for sin. He did it once for all. His sitting down forever after having offered one sacrifice for sins is in contrast to the priests' standing daily to offer often the same sacrifices.

The main thought in vv. 1-18 is that Christ has removed sins, accomplishing what all the Levitical sacrifices were unable to do. Having put away sin once for all, Christ has now imparted Himself into us as the divine life so that through the working of this divine life we may become the corporate reproduction of Himself.

The first here refers to the sacrifices of the first covenant, the old covenant; the second refers to the sacrifice of the second covenant, the new covenant, which sacrifice is Christ. Christ came into the world that He might, according to the will of God, put away the animal sacrifices of the old covenant and establish Himself as the sacrifice of the new covenant.

The will of God here was to take away the first, the animal sacrifices of the old covenant, that the second, the sacrifice of Christ of the new testament, might be established. So in vv. 9-10.

The Old Testament gives us a full record of Christ, either by plain words or by types (Luke 24:27, 44, 46; John 5:39, 46).

Or, completed. Christ has already perfected and completed us through His one offering.

The Holy of Holies today is in heaven, where the Lord Jesus is (Heb. 9:12, 24). How, then, can we enter the Holy of Holies while we are still on earth? The secret is our spirit, referred to in Heb. 4:12. The very Christ who is in heaven is now also in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22). As the heavenly ladder (Gen. 28:12; John 1:51), He joins our spirit to heaven and brings heaven into our spirit. Hence, whenever we turn to our spirit, we enter into the Holy of Holies. There we meet with God, who is on the throne of grace. See note Heb. 4:16¹.

Lit., recently opened.

This is the second veil (Heb. 9:3) within the tabernacle, which veil typifies the flesh of Christ. When Christ's flesh was crucified, this veil was rent (Matt. 27:51), thus opening the way for us, those who were alienated from God, who is signified by the tree of life (Gen. 3:22-24), to enter into the Holy of Holies to contact Him and take Him as the tree of life for our enjoyment. This implies that because our old man was crucified with Christ, we have an open way to contact and enjoy God in our spirit as our life and life supply.

For the Hebrew believers, at their time and in their situation, to abandon their own assembling together would have been to abandon the new covenant way of contacting God, to abandon the church and return to their old religion — Judaism. This would have broken God's administration of grace, thus constituting a serious sin before God (v. 26).

Come forward (to the Holy of Holies) is in contrast to shrink back (to Judaism) in vv. 38-39.

Both the bodies and the pure water here are figurative, like the spot, the wrinkle, and the water in Eph. 5:26-27. The body refers to our visible outward being, just as the heart refers to our invisible inward being. The pure water refers to the Lord's living word that cleanses our outward conduct and walk (cf. John 15:3).

Both the bodies and the pure water here are figurative, like the spot, the wrinkle, and the water in Eph. 5:26-27. The body refers to our visible outward being, just as the heart refers to our invisible inward being. The pure water refers to the Lord's living word that cleanses our outward conduct and walk (cf. John 15:3).

Our assembling together as Christians. In those days the Hebrews who believed in the Lord had come out of Judaism and had formerly gone to the gatherings in Judaism. When they believed in Christ and became Christians, they attended Christian gatherings; this equaled their being separated from Judaism. Therefore, if any of them had gone back to the gatherings in Judaism, that would have been equivalent to their being separated from the proper Christian assemblings, which are according to God's New Testament economy. Hence, Paul exhorted them not to abandon their own assembling together as Christians.

To sin willfully here means to abandon one's own assembling together with the church. The Hebrew believers had been instructed to abandon Judaism and remain under the new covenant. If they had still returned to Judaism, they would have abandoned their own assembling with the church. This would have constituted a willful sin in the eyes of God, in that it would have been committed after they had received the knowledge of the truth, after they had come to know that God had abandoned Judaism, which was formed according to the old covenant, and had initiated the new and living way of contacting God according to the new covenant.

Truth here refers to the things disclosed in the foregoing chapters and verses; those things afforded the Hebrew believers the full knowledge that God had annulled the old covenant and had established the new.

If the Hebrew believers had abandoned the church and returned to Judaism, there would have remained no sacrifice for sins in the economy of God, for all the sacrifices of the old covenant had been altogether replaced by the one sacrifice of Christ. Since Christ offered Himself once for all as the sacrifice for our sins (Heb. 7:27; 10:10, 12), the sacrifice for sins ceased (v. 2). It was taken away by Christ (v. 9), who offered Himself to God as the real sacrifice for our sins.

This better and abiding possession is the eternal inheritance (Heb. 9:15) and the incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading inheritance that is kept in the heavens (1 Pet. 1:4). Under the old covenant the Jewish people inherited earthly things as their possession; but under the new covenant the believers inherit the heavenly riches as their possession. This better and abiding possession was a great incentive to the Hebrew believers to suffer the loss of earthly things.

A show exposed to the public, a gazingstock. The same thing happened to the apostles (1 Cor. 4:9).

This is different from suffering the second death, which is to perish in the lake of fire for eternity (Rev. 20:6, 14; 21:8). Although believers cannot be lost, they may suffer some dispensational punishment for their failures. This punishment will be worse than that received by those who broke the law of letters.

In the new covenant the Son of God replaces all the sacrifices of the old covenant. If the Hebrew believers had returned to Judaism to offer any of the old sacrifices, they would have been, in effect, trampling underfoot the Son of God.

If the Hebrew believers had returned to Judaism to offer the old sacrifices and thus rely on the blood of slain animals, they would have been, in effect, considering the precious blood of Christ a common thing. This would have been to seriously disregard the unique redemptive work of Christ.

Under the new covenant, through the redeeming blood of Christ, the Hebrew believers became partakers of the Holy Spirit (Heb. 6:4), the Spirit of grace. If they had returned to Judaism, the Spirit of grace, who dwelled in them and worked in them, would have been insulted by their willful sin.

The Greek word conveys no thought of vindictiveness; rather, it implies a full meting out of justice to all parties.

After this verse and the next, ch. 11 gives a full definition of faith.

For the Hebrew believers to shrink back to Judaism was for them to shrink back to ruin, which is not eternal perdition but punishment meted out by the living God (vv. 29-31). See next note.

The ruin here is the punishment mentioned in vv. 27-31, which will come upon those who forsake the new covenant and return to Judaism, thus trampling underfoot the Son of God, regarding Christ's precious blood a common thing, like animal blood, and insulting the Spirit of grace.

The reward is something in addition to eternal salvation. Eternal salvation is obtained through faith, having nothing to do with our works (Eph. 2:8-9), whereas the reward is given for the work that we do after we are saved (1 Cor. 3:8, 14). We may not receive a reward but may suffer loss, even though we are saved, because we are void of the work that the Lord approves (1 Cor. 3:15). The reward will be given to us at the Lord's coming back, according to our works (Matt. 16:27; Rev. 22:12; 1 Cor. 4:5). What we receive will be decided at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10) and will be enjoyed in the coming kingdom (Matt. 25:21, 23). The apostle Paul strived to gain the reward (1 Cor. 9:24-27; Phil. 3:13-14; 2 Tim. 4:7-8). Even Moses looked away to the reward (Heb. 11:26 see note Heb. 11:26^3e). Here the Hebrew believers were charged not to miss the reward — the coming Sabbath rest (Heb. 4:9), the enjoyment of Christ and the reigning with Christ in the coming kingdom.

The will of God here for the Hebrew believers was that they take the new covenant way (vv. 19-23) and remain with the church (v. 25), not shrinking back to Judaism (vv. 38-39) but suffering persecution from Judaism (vv. 32-34). For this they would receive the promise of a great reward (v. 35) at the Lord's coming back (v. 37).

The promise here is the promise of the Sabbath rest mentioned in Heb. 4:9, a rest in which we will reign with Christ in the coming kingdom. That will be the great reward mentioned in v. 35, which is the gaining of the soul mentioned in v. 39. This promise is conditioned on our endurance and our doing the will of God. It differs from the promise in Heb. 9:15. See note Heb. 9:15².

Or, saving, preserving, possessing. Our being is of three parts — spirit, soul, and body (1 Thes. 5:23), and our soul is different from our spirit. At the time that we believed in the Lord Jesus and were saved, our spirit was regenerated with the Spirit of God (John 3:6). But we must wait until the Lord Jesus comes back for our body to be redeemed, saved, and transfigured (Rom. 8:23-25; Phil. 3:21). Concerning the saving, or gaining, of our soul, it depends on how we deal with our soul in following the Lord after we are saved and regenerated. If we lose our soul now for the Lord's sake, we will save it (Matt. 16:25; Luke 9:24; 17:33; John 12:25; 1 Pet. 1:9), and it will be saved, or gained, at the Lord's coming back (v. 37). This gaining of the soul will be the reward (v. 35) of the kingdom to the overcoming followers of the Lord (Matt. 16:22-28).