Hebrews 10:15

10:11-18 Under the new covenant, or gospel dispensation, full and final pardon is to be had. This makes a vast difference between the new covenant and the old one. Under the old, sacrifices must be often repeated, and after all, only pardon as to this world was to be obtained by them. Under the new, one Sacrifice is enough to procure for all nations and ages, spiritual pardon, or being freed from punishment in the world to come. Well might this be called a new covenant. Let none suppose that human inventions can avail those who put them in the place of the sacrifice of the Son of God. What then remains, but that we seek an interest in this Sacrifice by faith; and the seal of it to our souls, by the sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience? So that by the law being written in our hearts, we may know that we are justified, and that God will no more remember our sins.

{5} Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, (5) Although there remains in us relics of sin, yet the work of our sanctification which is to be perfected, hangs on the same sacrifice which never shall be repeated: and that the apostle proves by referring again to the testimony of Jeremiah, thus: Sin is taken away by the new testament, seeing the Lord says that it shall come to pass, that according to the form of it, he will no more remember our sins: Therefore we need now no purging sacrifice to take away that which is already taken away, but we must rather take pains, that we may now through faith be partakers of that sacrifice.

Hebrews 10:15 . Καὶ ) also . There is added, not a testimony to the arguments; for the testimonies even preceded the latter; but μαρτυρῶν to μαρτυροῦντας [the Holy Ghost witnessing in addition to those who bear witness ]. Paul had given the testimony of the Father to the priesthood of Christ, ch. Hebrews 5:10 , and of the Son, ch. Hebrews 10:5 ; now also that of the Holy Spirit: the testimony of each everywhere carrying with it the same conclusion; Hebrews 10:18 . Look back to the General View (Synopsis) of the epistle. And he presently afterwards repeats in his admonition this reference to the Holy Trinity, Hebrews 10:29 , note.— μετὰ , after ) The verb φησὶν , says He , is swallowed up in the clause, λέγει Κύριος , saith the Lord , in the following verse. But this μετὰ , after , shows that the forgiveness of sins belongs to the New Testament. Therefore the intermediate words of Jeremiah are not repeated here. The passage in Jer. is quoted Hebrews 8, on account of the word καινὴν , and ch. 10 on account of ἄφεσιν . The appellation of the Spirit of grace is consonant with this: Hebrews 10:29 .

15 . Whereof ] Rather, “But.” the Holy Ghost ] For “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” ( 2 Peter 1:21 ). for after that he had said ] There is no direct completion of this sentence, but the words “again He saith” are found in some editions before Hebrews 10:17 . They have no manuscript authority, but were added by Dr Paris (from the Philoxenian Syriac) in the margin of the Cambridge Bible of 1762.

15. The Greek, has "moreover," or "now." is a witness—of the truth which I am setting forth. The Father's witness is given Heb 5:10. The Son's, Heb 10:5. Now is added that of the Holy Spirit, called accordingly "the Spirit of grace," Heb 10:29. The testimony of all Three leads to the same conclusion (Heb 10:18). for after that he had said before—The conclusion to the sentence is in Heb 10:17, "After He had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them (with the house of Israel, Heb 8:10; here extended to the spiritual Israel) … saith the Lord; I will put (literally, 'giving,' referring to the giving of the law; not now as then, giving into the hands, but giving) My laws into their hearts ('mind,' Heb 8:10) and in their minds ('hearts,' Heb 8:10); I will inscribe (so the Greek) them (here He omits the addition quoted in Heb 8:10, 11, I will be to them a God … and they shall not teach every man his neighbor …), and (that is, after He had said the foregoing, He then adds) their sins … will I remember no more." The great object of the quotation here is to prove that, there being in the Gospel covenant, "REMISSION of sins" (Heb 10:17), there is no more need of a sacrifice for sins. The object of the same quotation in Heb 8:8-13 is to show that, there being a "NEW covenant," the old is antiquated.

(15) Whereof. —Better, And the Holy Ghost also beareth witness unto us. The Holy Ghost, speaking in Scripture ( Hebrews 3:7 ; Hebrews 9:8 )—the Scripture quoted in Hebrews 8:8-12 —beareth witness. After that he had said before.—Rather, after He hath said. The word “before” is not in the best MSS.

The assumption cleared before, the apostle now proceedeth to prove out of the Old Testament, viz. that God’s purpose was, by Christ’s one sacrifice to take away all sins for ever; therefore there was no need of the repetition of the legal sacrifices. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: the authority avouched, is the testimony of the Holy Spirit of truth, that cannot deceive nor be deceived in what it witnesseth, but confirms the truth beyond all just ground of doubting, by his amanuensis the prophet Jeremiah, Jeremiah 31:31,33,34 ; where the person that the prophet styleth Jehovah, is by the apostle declared to be the Holy Ghost; and by it is proved to be the eternal God. He testifieth to us, the church of God, in the prophet’s time, and to us all called to be members of it to this day. For after that he had said before: this contains the preface of the Spirit’s testimony, that which he spake before, the covenant, which is his evidence; and this preface is laid down, Jeremiah 31:31 . Here they are all the apostle’s words.

Verses 15-18. - And the Holy Ghost also testifieth to us: for after that he hath said, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; (then saith he), And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. The apodosis to "after that he hath said," not distinctly marked in the Greek or in the A.V., is denoted in the above rendering by " then saith he" before ver. 17. Another view is that it begins earlier in the sentence, being introduced by "saith the Lord," which occurs in the quotation from Jeremiah. But this is improbable, since (1) words in the quotation itself could not well be intended to be understood as the quoter's own; (2) the quotation down to ver. 17 is continuous, whereas the citation of ver. 17 is in the original passage of Jeremiah separated from the preceding one; (3) the logical conclusion intended to be drawn requires ver. 17 to be the apodosis. For the writer's purpose in referring once more to Jeremiah's prediction of the" new covenant" is to show from it the completeness and finality of Christ's atonement; and this, he argues, follows from this characteristic of the "new covenant" being added to the previous description of it - "Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." CH. 10:19-END. HORTATORY PORTION OF THE EPISTLE.

The great doctrine of Christ's eternal priesthood having been led up to, established by argument, and at length fully expounded, it remains only to press the practical result of a belief in it in alternate tones of encouragement and of warning. We have seen that, even in the earlier chapters, hortatory passages were frequently interposed, showing the purpose all along in the writer's mind. In the central and deepest part of the argument ( Hebrews 7:1-10:19 ) there were none, close and uninterrupted attention to the course of thought being then demanded. But now, the argument being completed, the previous exhortations are taken up again, and enforced in consequently fuller and deeper tones. The connection of thought between these final admonitions and those previously interposed is evident when we compare the very expressions in Hebrews 10:19-23 with those in Hebrews 4:14-16 , and the warnings of Hebrews 10:26 , etc., with those of Hebrews 6:4 , etc. Thus appears, as in other ways also, the carefully arranged plan of the Epistle, different in this respect from the undoubted Epistles of St. Paul, in which the thoughts generally follow each other without great regard to artistic arrangement. This, however, is in itself by no means conclusive against St. Paul's authorship, since there would be likely to be just this difference between a set treatise composed for a purpose, and a letter written currente calamo by the same author.