Being Made Holy
Hebrews 10:5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. 7 Then I said, 'Behold, I have come-- In the volume of the book it is written of Me-- To do Your will, O God.' " 8 Previously saying, "Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them" (which are offered according to the law), 9 then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God." He takes away the first that He may establish the second. 10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (NKJV)
The early Eastern Church (Dionysius and Clement, both of Alexandria), from the second century, claimed Paul was the writer of Hebrews. The Western Church later agreed.
Luke translated the letter to the Hebrews into Greek, according to Clement in the second century. Luke was with Paul during his second Roman imprisonment and was his amanuensis during Paul’s final days (2 Timothy 4:11).
It is likely that Luke was also Paul’s amanuensis for this letter. My conclusion is that this was Paul’s last writing, written in late 67-early 68 A.D.
In this letter, Paul is writing to Hebrews who have converted to Christianity from Judaism. Family and friends are pulling at them to return to Judaism, so Paul is ministering to these Hebrew Christians of the superiority of Christ.
In the preceding passage Paul proclaimed the inadequacy of the Old Testament sacrificial system. He wrote “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins”.
Animal sacrifice only covered sin, making it possible for the people to come to God for worship. It did nothing to remove sin, or the guilt that comes from sin in our lives.
So in this passage, the writer gives us the remedy for the problem. Paul begins by writing “Therefore, when He came into the world” (v. 5a). The remedy presented itself when Christ came into the world.
Verses 5b-7 are taken from Psalm 40:6-8. This Psalm, written by David, is classified as a Messianic psalm.
A Messianic psalm clearly refers to Christ, either quoted by Christ himself or by a writer identifying it as depicting Christ in the Old or New Testament. In this case Paul clearly identifies this psalm as depicting Christ.
Paul continues with “He said: ‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire’ “ (v. 5b). Christ is identified as saying that God never desired “sacrifice and offering”, from the Old Covenant system of animal sacrifice. It was never God’s long term solution.
Paul continues with “But a body You have prepared for Me” (v. 5c). So, at the perfect time in history, God moved. He prepared “a body”, the incarnate body of Christ, to be the permanent sin sacrifice, once and for all.
Next, Paul writes “In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure” (v.6). God was not pleased with burnt offerings and sin offerings.
The system of animal sacrifice was inadequate to remove sin and guilt. It was not a permanent solution, but it would have to do until the real thing came along. It was not yet the time in history for Christ to come.
Paul writes Then I said, 'Behold, I have come—" (v. 7a). Then, at the perfect time, Christ came to earth from Heaven.
Paul continues with “In the volume of the book it is written of Me-- To do Your will, O God" (v. 7b). Christ came to do the will of the Father. He came to be the perfect sacrifice, as written of in the Scriptures.
Next, Paul writes “Previously saying, ‘Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them’ (which are offered according to the law)” (v. 8). God was not pleased with animal sacrifices, but “the law required them to be made.
Next, Paul writes “then He said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.’ He takes away the first that He may establish the second” (v. 9). It was the Father’s will that The Old Covenant be replaced by the New Covenant.
The word for covenant and testament is the same Greek word, “diatheke”. God set aside the first to establish the second.
So, now, with the coming of Christ, God could replace the inadequate system of the Old Covenant, the Old Testament. Under the Old Covenant men could not become holy. They could not be sanctified.
Animal sacrifice had no power. It was only ritualistic, symbolic of the real sacrifice to come.
It did not have the power to change hearts. The cleansing was an outside cleansing, not the inside cleansing of the heart.
Paul concludes this passage with “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (v. 10). By the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross we Christians have “been sanctified”, made holy, “once for all”.
The phrase “once for all” refers to the sacrifice, not the sanctification. Christ was sacrificed once for all those who believe in Him, for those who make Him the Lord of their life and their Savior.
The sanctification referred to here is “positional” sanctification. We also are “progressively” sanctified throughout our Christian-walk as we approach perfection, holiness, through the progressive work of the Holy Spirit within us.
As we walk in obedience to the Lord, the Holy Spirit is able to work in our lives to progressively sanctify us. Perfection, holiness, is never completed in this lifetime. We only reach holiness in Heaven.
This is not to say that we should not attempt to become as holy as possible in this lifetime. That is God’s will for us.
However, disobedience stalls that work. The work of the Holy Spirit is quenched by sin in our lives.
Sin slows our progression and grieves the Holy Spirit who wants to perform a good work within us. So, we should always have as our goal to walk in obedience.
It all starts with reading and studying the Bible so that we know what to obey. It always comes back to the word of God, the Bible.
Art Toombs Ministries
Online Bible Commentary