Hebrews 10:22

Heb_10:22-24

Let us draw near

A triplet of exhortations

I.

DRAWING NEAR. Observe by way of contrast

1. Moses at the burning bush. Draw not nigh hither. Fire symbolic of judgment. God cannot thus be approached unto.

2. Children of Israel of Mount Sinai. The injunction given to stand off from the mount, God present in holiness, requiring perfect obedience to His law. This man could not render. Therefore there was no hope of being reconciled to God by the law.

3. Yet now the apostle says, Let us draw near. How is this? Because

(1) Christ hast fulfilled the law--He has become a daysman between us and God,

(2) God has drawn near to us.

(3) He Himself has invited us to draw near-Come unto Me, &c.

II. HOLDING FAST. A very necessary injunction in these days of apostasy from the faith.

1. What not to hold fast

(1) Human traditions. These are useful in so far as they are in accordance with Divine revelation, but are to be specially shunned when they make the Word of God of none effect.

(2) The speculations of theologians. These vary as the wind, and are not to be relied upon.

2. But

(1) The profession or confession of our faith without wavering--If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus thou shalt be saved.

(2) The faith itself once delivered to the saints. Why? That others may see the good works that spring from a lively faith, and be led to ask for the old paths.

III. CONSIDERING ONE ANOTHER.

1. HOW may we do this?

(1) By loving rebuke--not from the love of fault-finding. Faithful are the wounds of a friend.

(2) By showing love to our fellows. Christs new commandment: Love one another.

(3) By obeying the injunction--Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Bear one anothers burdens. Wash one anothers feet.

2. What would be the result of thus considering one another?

(1) More unity among believers.

(2) More power in the Church.

(3) More blessing in the world.

(4) More glory to God.

Application:

1. To the sinner. You are yet afar off. Christ invites you to Him. He will abundantly pardon.

2. To the believer. You need, every day--yea, every hour--to be coming to Christ for blessing. (H. Whittaker.)

Christian life

I. "LET US DRAW NEAR. Us. All Christians. Christianity is a spiritual democracy. Near. The middle wall is gone; Jews and Gentiles are near to each other. How?

1. With the heart. Some honour God with their lips, bug their heart is far from Him. You meet an acquaintance, and complain that he was distant, i.e., he was not hearty.

2. With sincerity. A true heart. We may be hearty without being honest.

3. With faith. Note the relative position of this. Only hearty and honest seekers will ever be true believers, such always will in an honest and good heart receive the word. Bug though faith is placed after heartiness and honesty, let it not be overlooked-otherwise our coming is vain.

4. With a pure heart. Sprinkled from an evil conscience, &c. Conscience no longer accuses; our sins are forgiven. Conscience no longer sleeps, allowing us to sin, but is restored to its original office. Conscience is no longer defiled; it is washed, purged. Outward life is, therefore, right--Our bodies washed with pure water.

II. LET US HOLD FAST.

1. What to? The profession of our faith, or, the confession of our hope. This is a better rendering. Christianity is a hope--Christ in you the hope of glory. That is Christianity in a sentence. The confession is the outward sign of the invisible hope. Duty to confess, and to hold fast to the confession.

2. Hold fast. A drowning man, holding a rope, brings all the nervous force of his system into his hands, and clings for dear life. Put all the force of the soul into faith, and so cling to Jesus.

3. Without wavering. Very fashionable now to doubt; and we are told if, we certainly believe anything we cannot grow. Be it so. We can only be safe, happy, strong, or useful, by being fully decided--by ceasing to waver.

III. LET US CONSIDER. A Christian man is a thoughtful man. From the nature of his position--saved from the wreck--he is in a position to look around--to think.

1. To provoke one another. Not to say: I am safe, or, I shall enjoy religion; but to consider the work of your fellows and the wants of others. Not to say: How little can I do, but how much.

2. Provoke one another.

3. To love and good works. Who shall love most, who shall do most, is the only question worth asking- the only provocation Christianity allows. (J. Colwell.)

Faith, hope, and love:

The apostles great argument is concluded, and the result is placed before us in a very short summary. We have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way; and we have in the heavenly sanctuary a great Priest over the house of God. On this foundation rests a threefold exhortation.

1. Let us draw near with a true heart, in the full assurance of faith.

2. Let us hold fast the profession of hope without wavering.

3. Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, labouring and waiting together, and helping one another in the unity of brethren. Faith, hope, and love--this is the threefold result of Christs entrance into heaven, spiritually discerned.

A believing, hoping, and loving attitude of heart corresponds to the new covenant revelation of Divine grace.

1. Having received, through Christs sacrifice and Christs present priesthood boldness, a full right of access into the holy of holies, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. The privilege is right of access unto God, the duty is that of approach; and no man values the right of access who does not desire to approach. There can be nothing which really satisfies the heart of any man in being told that he is at liberty to approach God, if he has no inclination to approach unto God. We can only approach with our heart, and by faith, which has its seat in the heart; with a heart which is in earnest, true, and purposeful in this very work of approach. God desireth truth in the inward part. A true heart is a heart which accepts the testimony of God, which distrusts itself, which believes Gods Word, declaring our sin, guilt, and helplessness, and which responds simply, and without reservation, humbly and joyfully to the Divine gospel of the gift of God, eternal life through the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. A true heart is a heart purified by trust in Jesus. A true heart is a heart which desires to be with God and to live unto Him. What is meant by full assurance of faith? Nothing else but faith in full, vigorous, healthy exercise. Faith in what? Not faith in our having faith, in our being accepted; but faith that we have a right of access, that Jesus is the living way, and that He is the High Priest in the holy of holies. The object of faith, of the weakest and smallest spark of faith, as much as of faith in plenitude or full assurance, is not ourselves, but Christ in His person and work. The eye does not see itself; faith is not to stand on itself; your full assurance is to be that Christs blood is precious, and that He has entered as the Forerunner. Then you are at peace. Faith means trust, reliance, confidence, leaning. There is no other worthy of trust, none else reliable but Jesus. But if you wish to have an additional object of faith in your own progress and spirituality, you are, like Peter, looking away from Jesus unto the unstable sea. Nor have I any other proof of my faiths genuineness yesterday, but my exercising faith this moment. It is an ever-present tense--He that believeth hath eternal life.

2. We are exhorted to hold fast the profession of our hope without wavering. Before the First Advent believers looked forward in faith and hope to the good things to come. Believing the promise, they expected in hope the glory of Messiahs reign. With us this unity of faith and hope is substantially the same; but it appears now in a twofold manner. Faith rests on the past, the accomplished work of Jesus; hope looks to the future, the return of our Saviour. And the more we realise Jesus as the living Lord, the more shall we look forward, waiting for His coming, and going forth to meet Him. If we believe that He has come, we also hope that He will come. The profession of our hope is most practical and testing. Hereby we profess that we are strangers and pilgrims upon earth, that we are seeking heavenly things, labouring for heavenly rewards, laying up for ourselves heavenly treasures. We must forsake the sins, pleasures, and honours of Egypt; we must purify ourselves, as Christ is pure. If we profess hope, we must also rejoice, though we be in tribulation; we must view the sufferings and trials of this present life as not worthy to be compared with the coming glory. Then hope, resting on faith, supports faith, and fills us with courage and patience. Till I come, is the voice of the Saviour, when faith beholds His dying love; and going forth to meet Him, going forth out of the worlds sin, bondage, gloom, is the response of the bride.

3. But in thus drawing near unto God, and holding fast the profession of our hope, we must bear in mind that we are called to be a brotherhood, and that faith and hope are to be exercised in love. We are the body of Christ, and members one of another. We are to please not ourselves, but our brother unto edification. We are to consider one another as fellow pilgrims; to study our brothers need and sorrow, difficulty and trial; to exercise our mind on our duty and relation to him, that thus we may be helpful to him in his course, and stimulate and encourage him to good works. To consider one another in the right spirit is to look above all at the Christian character of our brother; to regard him, not so much in the light of his natural disposition; to love him, not so much on account of qualities congenial and pleasing to us; still less to exercise criticism, and to cherish suspicion and uncharitable judgment; but to fix our thought on the one great fact of brotherhood in Christ. And running together in a holy rivalry the same race, we should behold in our brother features of Christian character and activity in which we are deficient. And in this spirit of love we should cherish Christian communion; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. Christianity is eminently an individual heart-affair; but it is also eminently social. The promise of Christs presence is to the assembly gathered in His name. (A. Saphir.)

Drawing near to God

I. WHAT IS IMPLIED IN THIS, Let us draw near.

1. Sin has set us at a distance from God (Isa_59:2).

2. Sinners stand at a distance from God till they be called, and that powerfully (Joh_6:44).

(1) Insensible sinners will not (Joh_5:40).

(2) Sensible sinners dare not (Luk_5:8).

II. WE MAY DRAW NEAR TO GOD. Glad news this to poor sensible sinners! Come in, ye blessed of the Lord; why do you stand back? you may draw near to God. For

1. God is on a throne of grace in Jesus Christ (2Co_5:19).

2. There is a way to the throne never trod, nor designed to be trod, by any but sinners such as you, and the like of you. This is no back entry, but the most glorious way to the throne. Adam had a way to it, but that is blocked up; there is a new and living way consecrated for us (Heb_10:20).

3. He is a friend of ours who is set over the house of God (Heb_10:21).

III. WE OUGHT TO DRAW NEAR: Let us draw near. For

1. It is the command of God (Jam_4:8).

2. If we do not draw near to God, we dis-honour His Son, and so dishonour Himself, in so far as we frustrate the great design of the mystery of Christ (Joh_5:23).

IV. PRACTICAL IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUBJECT, in an use of exhortation.

1. Come back, sinners, draw near towards God and duty. What have you gained by going from Him?

2. Not only draw towards God, but come forward, and draw near to Him as a God in Christ. You may get near to Him ere you come to heaven; in His ordinances in the lower house, there you may have access to Him. Particularly, let us draw near to Him

(1) In prayer (chap. 4:16).

(2) In the holy sacrament of the supper. God is again coming to us in that ordinance: an ordinance appointed for the most special nearness out of heaven (1Co_10:16).

3. Let us draw near in these ordinances

(1) As rebels accepting the Kings peace, indemnity in the blood of His Son; draw near, and welcome (Isa_27:5).

(2) As petitioners to the King.

(3) As servants of the house, to serve our Lord, to wait upon Him, and behold His glory (Psa_116:16).

(4) As friends; friends of God, to have fellowship with Him, who may freely converse with Him: to unbosom ourselves to Him, and to be let into the secrets of the covenant (Joh_15:15).

(5) As children to a Father in Christ, to receive the portion of children.

(6) As a spouse to a husband, for our Maker is our Husband. Let us embrace Him in the arms of faith, give the love of the heart to Him a full Son_8:6).

4. But how must the business of our drawing near to God be managed? The apostle here lays down four directions:

(1) Draw near to God sincerely. Hypocrisy is a disease in the vitals of religion; it pretends one thing and intends another.

(2) Draw near in the full assurance of faith. Faiths special object is the blood of Christ.

(3) Get your hearts beforehand sprinkled from an evil conscience. Are you to come to His table? pray that all controversies be done away between you and Him. If you are to appear before the Lord, go, dip, wash, bathe in the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness (Zec_13:1) that you may be clean.

(4) Let your outward conversation be blameless, free from scandalous sins Psa_24:4). (T. Boston, D. D.)

Drawing near to God

I. THE DUTY HERE ENJOINED. To draw near to God, in the sense of our text, is to seek Him in the use of the appointed means of grace, that we may be restored to His favour and image, and enjoy a heartfelt sense of that restoration.

1. We draw near to God when we engage properly in the solemn exercise of public worship.

2. Again, we draw near to God when we engage properly in the exercise of social worship.

3. We also draw near to God, in a peculiar sense, when we engage properly in the exercise of secret devotion.

II. How THIS DUTY MAY BE ACCEPTABLY PERFORMED. TO draw near with a true heart, means to worship God with sincerity, which is an indispensable ingredient in Christian piety. But do not confound sincerity with worthiness: that is another thing altogether. If we wait for a blessing at the hand of God till we are worthy of it, we shall die unblessed, and be lost for ever. We have nothing to plead but the worthy name of Jesus, and we need no other; and while we pray in His name, we may know ourselves sincerer however unworthy. The assurance of faith is a firm persuasion, a satisfactory evidence, that God does accept, pardon, save, and bless us, for Christs sake; and this firm persuasion, this satisfactory evidence, arises, not only from the exceeding great and precious promises of His Word, but chiefly from the direct influence of His Spirit, bearing witness with our spirit that we are His children. Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. There are some evils from which a man may escape; but shall a man flee from a guilty conscience? As well might he endeavour to escape from his shadow when the sun is shining. Wherever he goes, or whatever he does, he feels self-reproach and a sense of the displeasure of the Almighty. Now let us accept the call of grace, be sprinkled from an evil conscience, and restored to the favour and image of God, that, like the apostle, we may have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men. And our bodies washed with pure water, in Christian baptism. Water baptism is an outward sign of the inward grace of purification.

III. A FEW BRIEF, PRACTICAL INFERENCES.

1. The first inference from the whole subject is, whoever neglects the means of grace, deprives himself of religious enjoyment.

2. The next inference is, they who use the means of grace will profit thereby.

3. Finally, we infer from this text, what is elsewhere plainly declared, Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. (T. A. Morris, D. D.)

Approach to God

On one occasion the Reformer paid a pastoral visit to a young scholar who was in his last illness, and one of the first inquiries made was, What do you think you can take to God, in whose presence you are so shortly to appear? With striking confidence the youth at once replied, Everything that is good, dear father--everything that is good! But how can you bring Him everything good, seeing that you are but a poor sinner? anxiously asked the Doctor. Dear father, at once added the young man, I will take to my God in heaven a penitent, humble heart, sprinkled with the blood of Christ. Truly that is everything good, answered Luther. Then go, dear son; you will be a welcome guest to God. (Anecdotes of Luther.)

Abiding in the holiest of all:

Some speak as if the Let us draw near meant prayer, and that in our special approach to God in acts of worship we enter the holiest of all. No; great as this privilege is, God has meant something for us infinitely greater. We are to draw near, and dwell always, to live our life and do our work within the sphere, the atmosphere of the inner sanctuary. It is Gods presence makes holy ground; Gods immediate presence in Christ makes any place the holiest of all: and this is it into which we are to draw nigh, and in which we are to abide. There is not a single moment of the day, there is not a circumstance or surrounding, in which the believer may not be kept dwelling in the secret place of the Most

High. (Andrew Murray.)

The effect of dwelling in the holiest of all:

Enter into the holiest of all, and dwell there. It will enter thee, and transform thee and dwell in thee.

And thy heart will be the holiest of all, in which He dwells. (Andrew Murray,)

Full assurance of faith

Assurance of faith, and assurance of salvation:

The full assurance of faith is a firm and full reliance on God and on. Christ, founded on a firm conviction that what is made known to us in the gospel is true. It has nothing to do with a belief in, or persuasion of, our own personal salvation. No one need wait, then, for this before he approaches God in prayer. Without any thought of self, except as we are conscious of weakness, of want, and of unworthiness, we may with boldness enter in the holiest of all, if we have a firm faith in God and in Christ. Is there, then, some may be ready to ask, no such thing as assurance of personal salvation? Granting that this is not to be confounded with that full assurance of faith of which the apostle speaks, may there not, nevertheless, be such a thing as this personal assurance of salvation, and may we not speak of it under other and more appropriate phraseology? To this I reply at once that there is such a thing, and that Christians may not only speak of it, but ought to seek earnestly, each one for himself, to attain to it. Christians are enjoined to examine themselves, so as to ascertain whether they are in a state of salvation or not; to be very earnest and diligent to certify their calling and election of God; to desire and aim at the attainment of firm and steadfast hope of eternal blessedness: and to regard the possession of joy in the Lord as a blessing to be asked of God, and a state of mind to be continually cherished by the believer. But obviously all this would be in vain if it be not possible for Christians to have some well-founded assurance that they are in a state of salvation. But whilst this seems unquestionably true, and whilst, therefore, there is such a thing as personal assurance of salvation, the doctrine has often been presented in such a way as to engender serious mistakes and lead to very dangerous errors. To some of them I must now advert.

1. It is an error to suppose that assurance of personal salvation does not admit of degrees; in other words, that it may be as full and strong in one just entering on the Christian life as it can be in one who has kept the faith for many years, and has passed through the varied experience of the Christian course. In ordinary cases, says a man eminent for his ability, piety, and experience, I entertain a better opinion of the modest, doubting, and fearful professor than of the bold and assured one.

2. Another error on this head is, that assurance of personal salvation is essential to salvation. This is held by those who teach that the faith which justifies is a confident assurance that the individual is himself in Christ, and so saved; and it is involved in the opinion of those who teach that every man who is in Christ knows this, and so is assured of his own safety. Now nothing can be more unscriptural than such doctrines. In all the New Testament there is not a single instance in which the apostles indicate, in the most distant way, that saving faith is a mans belief in his own salvation. No; their invariable cry was, Repent, and believe in Christ; accept the offered salvation through faith in Him. Trust in Him; rest on Him; come unto God through Him and be saved. It is no doubt true that to believe in Christ is to trust in Him for our own individual salvation, for the forgiveness of our own sins and the salvation of our own souls. But to trust in Him for our salvation is a very different thing from believing that we are actually saved in Him; to have assurance that His work affords a sufficient ground for us to rest upon as well as others, is a very different thing from having assurance that we are actually resting on that work for salvation; to know that Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, is a very different thing from knowing that He loved us and gave Himself for us. Nothing, says the sagacious Andrew Fuller, can be an object of faith except what God has revealed in His Word; but the interest that any individual has in Christ, and the blessings of the Gospel, more than another is not revealed. God has nowhere declared concerning any of us, as individuals, that we shall be saved; all that He has revealed on this subject respects us as characters. He has abundantly promised that all who believe in Him, love Him, and obey Him shall be saved; and a persuasion, that if we sustain these characters we shall be saved is doubtless an exercise of faith; but whether we do or not is an object not of faith, but of consciousness … The grand object on which faith fixes is the glory of Christ, and not the happy condition we are in as interested in Him … If we be concerned only for our own security, our faith is vain, and we are yet in our sins. To these wise and weighty words I can add nothing, and nothing needs to be added.

3. The last error I notice is, that we can arrive at assurance of our own personal salvation otherwise than by means of a holy life. This is the criterion which Scripture everywhere proposes; and when any other is proposed, the door is opened for all manner of delusions and fanaticism. If men imagine they can directly see the existence of faith in their souls, or if they suppose that a conviction of their being of the number of the elect is borne in on their souls by the Holy Spirit, or if they infer from some pleasant feelings in their own minds that they are the objects of Gods favour, they are either deluding themselves with what is impossible, or they are trusting to what may be a mere fancy or passing emotion of their own minds. The only sure evidence of our being in a state of grace, is our being in heart and life holy. From this two things follow. The one is, that no man can in this life be absolutely sure that he is sated, because no man in this life can become perfectly holy; the other is, that as holiness of heart and life is salvation, it is only in proportion as this is attained that we have any real ground for believing that we are personally saved. By their fruits, said our Lord, ye shall know them. The great thing for us is to apply the right test to ourselves, and to look for those signs of salvation in ourselves which our Lord and His apostles have laid down, that we might try ourselves by them. (W. L. Alexander, D. D.)

Full assurance of faith:

Not with a quarter or half wind, but with full assurance, such a gale of faith as fills the sails of the soul, and makes it set up its top-gallant as it were. (J. Trapp.)

Hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience

Sins of ignorance and weakness:

Among the reasons which may be assigned for the observance of prayer at stated times, there is one which is very obvious, and yet perhaps is not so carefully remembered and acted upon as it should be. I mean the necessity of sinners cleansing themselves from time to time of the ever-accumulating guilt which loads their consciences. We are ever sinning; and though Christ has died once for all to release us from our penalty, yet we are not pardoned once for all, but according as, and whenever each of us supplicates for the gift. By the prayer of faith we appropriate it; but only for the time, not for ever. Guilt is again contracted, and must be again repented of and washed away.

1. First consider our present condition, as shown us in Scripture. Christ has not changed this, though He has died; it is as it was from the beginning--I mean our actual state as men. The history of redemption, if it is to be effectual, must begin from the beginning with every individual of us, and be curried on through our own life.

(1) When this is borne in mind, how important the Jewish Law becomes to us Christians! important in itself, over and above all references contained in it to that gospel which it introduced. To this day it fulfils its original purpose of impressing upon man his great guilt and feebleness. Those legal sacrifices and purifications which are now all done away, are still evidence to us of a fact which the gospel has not annulled--our corruption.

(2) Next, to pass from the Jewish law, you will observe that God tells us expressly in the history of the fall of Adam, what the legal ceremonies implied; that it is our very nature which is sinful. Herein is the importance of the doctrine of original sin. It is very humbling, and as such the only true introduction to the preaching of the gospel. Thy first father hath sinned: this is the legend on our forehead which even the sign of the Cross does no more than blot out, leaving the mark of it. This is our shame; but I notice it here, not so much as a humbling thought, as with a view of pressing upon Tour consciences the necessity of appearing before God at stated seasons, in order to put aside the continually-renewed guilt of your nature. Who will dare go on day after day in neglect of earnest prayer, and the Holy Communion, while each day brings its own fearful burden, coming as if spontaneously, springing from our very nature, but not got rid of without deliberate and direct acts of faith in the Great Sacrifice which has been set forth for its removal?

(3) Further, look into your own souls and see if you cannot discern some part of the truth of the Scripture statement, which I have been trying to set before you. Recollect the bad thoughts of various kinds which come into your minds like darts; for these will be some evidence to you of the pollution and odiousness of your nature. Even if you reject them, still do they not answer Satans purpose m inflaming your mind at the instant, and so evidence that the matter of which it is composed is corruptible?

2. Again, reflect on the habits of sin which we super-added to our evil nature before we turned to God. Instead of checking the bad elements within us, perhaps we indulged them for years; and they truly had their fruit unto death. Then Adams sin increased, and multiplied itself within us; there was a change, but it was for the worse, not for the better; and the new nature we gained, far from being spiritual, was twofold more the child of hell than that with which we were born. So when, at length, we turned back into a better course, what a complicated work lay before us, to unmake ourselves! And however long we have laboured at it, still how much unconscious, unavoidable sin, the result of past transgression, is thrown out from our hearts day by day in the energy of our thinking and acting!

3. Further, consider how many sins are involved in our obedience, I may say from the mere necessity of the case; that is, from not having that more vigorous and clear-sighted faith which would enable us accurately to discern and closely to follow the way of life. We stand before God as the Israelites at the passover of Hezekiah, who desired to serve God according to the Law, but could not do so accurately from lack of knowledge; and we can but offer, through our Great High Priest, our sincerity and earnestness instead of exact obedience, as Hezekiah did for them. What I have said is a call upon you, in the first place, to daily private prayer. Next, it is a call upon you to join the public services of the Church, not only once a week, but whenever you have the opportunity; knowing well that your Redeemer is especially present where two or three are gathered together. Christ died once, long since: by communicating in His Sacrament, you renew the Lords death: you bring into the midst of you that Sacrifice which took away the sins of the world; you appropriate the benefit of it, while you eat it under the elements of bread and wine. (J. H.Newman, D. D.)

Healing the evil conscience:

Suppose that all the people in the place where we live had some disease of the eye, and that in consequence some were not able to see at all, while none of them were able to see anything clearly. What a sad state of things this would be! We read of persons in the Bible who were just in this condition (2Ki_6:1-33.). It is a good thing that we have no such trouble with our bodily eyes; but the soul has an eye as well as the body. God has put these eyes in our bodies that we may see where to go and what to do. And so God has given to our souls that which we call conscience, and which shows us what is right and what is wrong--what we ought to do and what we ought not to do. But the apostle speaks in our text of an evil conscience. This means a conscience that has been injured like a diseased eye, so that we cannot see clearly.

I. WHAT IS THE USE OF CONSCIENCE?

1. To guide us and keep us from doing wrong. You know we have reins for our horses to keep them in the way they should go; and our consciences are the reins by which God guides us, and if we only mind the reins we shall save ourselves from sin and sorrow.

2. To keep an account of what we do. Conscience is Gods scribe or private secretary; it writes down all that we do, or say, or think, or feel. During the reign of Queen Mary, Bishop Latimer was brought to trial for conscience sake. In the room in which the trial took place was a curtain, and behind this curtain a man writing. Whenever the bishop answered a question he heard the sound of this mans pen as he wrote down each word that was spoken. The bishop said that the sound of that pen made him very careful to say nothing but what was strictly true. And this shows us how we should act at all times. Conscience, Gods secretary, is writing down everything that we do, whether it be good or whether it be evil. And the book in which this is written is the book of Gods remembrance, of which the Bible tells us, and out of which we are to be judged at last.

3. As a detector, to find out sin after it has been committed. You know we have what are called detective police. When a robbery has taken place, or a murder has been committed, the business of these men is to try and find out the guilty ones. And God makes use of conscience as His detective police to find out those who have sinned secretly.

II. How MAY CONSCIENCE BE INJURED?

1. By not giving it good light. We have compared conscience to the eye of the soul. We may also compare it to the window of the soul. A window is of use for letting light into room, and also for looking through, that we may see what is outside of the window. But if we wish to have a correct view of the things that we are looking at through a window, what sort of glass is it necessary to have in the window? Clear glass. Suppose that the glass in the window instead of being clear is stained glass--one pane red, another blue, another yellow, and another green. When we look through the red glass what colour will the things be that we are looking at? Red. And so, when we look through the blue glass all things will be blue, they will be yellow when we look through the yellow glass, and green when we look through the green glass. But suppose we have thick, heavy shutters to the window, and keep them closed. Can we see anything through the window then? No. And can we see anything in the room when the shutters are closed? No; it will be dark. And conscience is like a window in this respect. We must keep the shutters open and the windows clean, so that plenty of pure light can get in if we wish to see things plainly. Gods blessed Word, the Bible, gives us exactly the kind of light we need in order to have a good conscience. Let us be careful that we do not injure our consciences by not letting in this light.

2. By not minding what they say. The apostle Paul speaks in one place of mens consciences, which, he says, have been seared with a hot iron 1Ti_4:2). Notice how thin and tender is the skin on your hand or face. It is so delicate that it can feel the slightest touch. Not even a feather can rest upon it without your feeling it. But suppose you should have a red-hot iron applied to your hand. It would burn the skin off, and make a sore which would give you great pain. Afterwards it would heal over, and the skin would grow again, but the new skin would be very different from that on your hand now. Instead of being smooth and tender like this, it would be rough and hard, and have very little feeling. And the apostle means to say that if we do not mind what our consciences tell us we shall injure them just as the skin of our hand is injured by being seared with a hot iron. You know what an alarm-clock is. It is a kind of clock made to wake persons at a particular hour by making a loud noise. Suppose you have one of these clocks, and you wish it to waken you so that you can rise every morning at four oclock. You wind it up at night and set the index-finger on the dial-plate pointing to four. The clock keeps on through the night, ticking away, till four oclock in the morning. Then it begins to strike and ring, and makes such a racket as is sure to wake any ordinary sleeper. This is a very convenient way of being roused from sleep. Yes, it is a sure way, if you only mind the clock, and get up when it calls you. But if you turn over and go to sleep again for two or three mornings, the alarum-clock will lose its power, or rather you will lose your power of hearing it or of being awakened by it. No change will take place in the clock, but a great change will take place in yon. The clock will continue to sound the alarm at the proper hour, and it will make as much noise as ever it did, but it will lose its effect. You will sleep quietly on, just as though the alarm had never been given. Now, conscience is Gods alarum-clock. If we stop when it says stop, if we do what it tells us to do, then we shall always hear it; but if we get into the habit of not heeding its warning, and not doing what it tells us to do, then by and by we shall cease to hear it.

III. How MAY AN EVIL CONSCIENCE BE HEALED? The answer to this question will depend upon the way in which we injure our consciences. We may injure them by doing wrong to those about us, or by sinning against God. And this must be taken into account in saying how the injured conscience can be healed. Suppose we feel distressed in our consciences on account of some wrong done to a friend or neighbour; then the way to get rid of this trouble, and heal our injured conscience, is to go and tell that friend of the fault--to say that we are sorry for it, and ask his forgiveness, thus making up for the wrong we have done. But if our consciences are troubled on account of our sins against God, then how are they to be healed. How are we to get rid of this trouble? Oh, it is dreadful to feel that God is angry with us I When we know that this is the case we never can be happy till our sins are pardoned and our consciences are healed; and it is for this reason that the Bible tells us of Jesus as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. He shed His precious blood and died for us on purpose that our sins may be pardoned, and we may be at peace with God. And this is what the apostle refers to in the text when he speaks of having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. (R. Newton, D. D.)

The cure for an evil conscience

Of course, the expression sprinkled is metaphorical. It means that we must receive into our hearts a sense and full belief of the efficacy of the death of Jesus Christ to cancel all our guilt and condemnation, and of the power of the Holy Spirit to make us yet good and holy and fit for the presence of God. And when we use the word sprinkled, it is to convey the excessive strength and efficacy and virtue of the grace of God--so that even though we may not yet be flooded with that spiritual blood and that spiritual water, its very drops will do the work I And if only you let your heart be imbued with the love of Jesus Christ and the faith which is in Him, and if you accept the gentle distillings of the Holy Ghost upon your soul, you shall be saved--saved from the torment of your own conscience now, and from the worm that dieth not, and the fire that never shall be quenched hereafter--because then the conscience that you are in Christ--and the conscience which God will give you of His perfect pardon and love--will entirely neutralise and destroy all power to hurt and distress you--in the conscience of all the sins you have ever done; and the sprinkled heart will kill the venom of an evil conscience. That gnawing canker! that dogging fear! that burden too heavy to be borne! that black future! There they are! Who sent them?

God. And why did He send them? Because He loves you. And who shall take them away? God. Only God. Place yourself under the sprinkling; if you cannot, ask Him to place you. Beg the great High Priest to sprinkle you; to do it at once, because you are at the worst, and just going to die. The water and the blood are always in His hand. And He is always pouring them out. Only lay bare your secret. Then open your heart of hearts to take it in. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

An evil conscience:

When the compass loses its proper polarity at sea, the whole course of the vessel might be altered by it; and when the conscience loses its right direction, its responsibility to God, its deference and inclination to His law, by its continued violation of the higher duties, the heart is filled with fears, the dispensations of Providence are suspected to be judgments, when they may be real and satisfying mercies.

Conscience

Neighbour Jones has a conscience that looks forward and keeps him from doing wrong. But neighbour Smiths conscience is of the ex post facto order, never manifesting itself till after the wrong deed is done, and then acting as a terrible avenger. How many there are of this kind, always sinning and always repenting! No class of men, in a moral point of view, suffer so much as they.

An evil conscience

When Professor Webster was awaiting his trial, he brought against his fellowprisoners the charge of insulting him through the walls of his cell, and screaming to him, You are a bloody man! On examination it was found that the charge was wholly groundless, and that these accusing voices were imaginary, being but the echo of a guilty conscience. If such things can be done in earths prisons, what are sinners to look for in a future world? Oh, what taunts and curses shall pierce the ears of these who lie down in hell! Conscience will have a terrific power of starting such accusations, and then an ear of keen sensibility to receive the echoes as they roll back upon the soul What an occupation for eternity! What inconceivable agony to be shut up with the ghostly memories of past sin, and to hear, through long centuries of gloom and despair, only the uttered and echoed curses which sin brings down upon the soul! Oh for that grace which sprinkles our hearts from an evil conscience!

Saved from an evil conscience:

The sailors on the French coast have a legend, that beneath the waters as they lap the shore, deep down, there are the ruins of a buried city, and that on still, quiet nights it is possible for a voyager to overhear the music of the church bells as they gently sound fathoms deep. So in the heart of every man there is, deep down, the buried power of conscience, and in days of pain and sickness and loneliness and bereavement, of holy ministry and quickening, the voice of conscience, fathoms deep, is heard in the breast of man, speaking for God and truth, and of judgment to come. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)

Hold fast the profession of our faith

Holding fast our profession:

I. WHAT WE ALREADY HAVE by the grace of God. If we read the text according to our present authorised translation, we have faith. We have made a public avowal of our faith. We have obtained what the apostle calls like precious faith: it is a rare jewel, and he is rich that possesseth it. But another reading--and a very good reading too--runs thus: The confession of our hope. If we have faith we have hope. We will take both renderings; for they are both correct in fact if not in the letter. We have a blessed hope, a hope most sure and steadfast, which entereth into that which is within the veil. The day of our Lords appearing will be the day of the redemption of the body from the dust with which it mingles. We have a joyful, glorious, blessed hope which purifies, and comforts, and strengthens, and sustains us, and this hope is in us now. Are we not enriched with the grace of God? Where faith and hope are found, love cannot be far off; for the three Divine sisters are seldom separated. Let us love the Lord who has given us the first two.

II. We have made A PROFESSION OF OUR FAITH, AND A CONFESSION OF OUR HOPE, By the memories of the day when you made that profession, be firm in it to the end. If you were not false then, if you were not deceivers then, hold fast the confession of your hope without wavering, for He is faithful that promised. Let us remember also the many times in which we have repeated that profession of faith, that confession of hope; for instead of retracting it, we have gone on to repeat it. We have been marked anew with the Kings name. If you ask how you have renewed your vows, I reply: you have done it many a time at the table of communion. You have repeated your profession in the shop, and in the market, and in the place of business, and among your friends, and in your family, and to the partner of your life. Those around you know you to be professedly an heir of heaven, a child of God: it is well that they should. We have considered how we began this profession, and we have also seen how often we have made it since. Let us think for a minute what it has cost us. Religion has cost many of its disciples somewhat dear: but it has cost nothing compared with its worth. What bashfulness it cost you to make the first confession of your faith! What a struggle it then appeared! You cried to God about it and you obtained courage; and now you wonder how you could have been so foolishly timid. Do not in future fall into the same fears. But perhaps some of you lost the friendship of many by becalming disciples of the Lord Jesus. I know one who became a member of this Church: she had moved in high and fashionable circles, but she said to me, They have left me--everyone of them. I said, I am very thankful; for it will save you the trouble of quitting them. They will do you no good if they profess to be your friends; and they will do you less harm by giving you the cold shoulder. It is about the best thing that happens to a Christian man when worldlings cut his acquaintance.

III. WHAT ARE WE NOW TO DO?

1. We are called upon to hold fast the profession of our faith.

(1) Of course this includes the holding fast of your faith.

(2) Hold you next to your hope.

2. But that is not the text. It is hold fast your profession of faith, your confession of hope; that is to say, stand to what you have done by way of avowment of these things. Constantly keep up your confession. You made it once. Renew it.

IV. WHY ARE WE TO DO THIS? We are to hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, because He is faithful that has promised. Have you found Him faithful? Has the Lord failed you? Has the Lord been untrue in His promises to you? If He has, then do not hold fast your profession. If, after all, it has been a mistake and a delusion, then give it up. But if He is faithful that has promised--if till this moment you have proved the power of prayer, the wisdom of providence, and the truth of the Sacred Word, then deal with my Lord as He has dealt with you. Be not faithless to the Crucified. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The Christian profession

I. THE PROFESSION REFERRED TO.

1. It is put on when we become the members of His visible Church.

2. It is one part of religion itself.

3. It will expose to difficulties and sufferings.

(1) Assaults of Satan.

(2) Opposition of world.

(3) Indisposition of our own hearts.

II. THE DUTY ENJOINED.

1. There must be decision of character. Not halting between two opinions. Not half-hearted. All our powers surrendered to God.

2. There must be constancy of spirit. Heart established, mind fixed, soul stayed upon God. Constant in duties; especially prayer, praise, reading the Divine Word, etc. Always setting the Lord before us, etc. Not as the morning cloud and early dew, &c.

3. There must be perseverance in practice. We only retain our hold by pressing onwards, etc. Not weary, but faithful unto death.

4. In short, we must hold fast our profession.

(1) By the exercise of vigorous faith.

(2) By the constraining influence of Christs love.

(3) By the cheering attractions of a lively hope.

(4) By the supporting and staying effects of holy patience.

(5) By the continual use of all the appointed means of grace.

III. SOME MOTIVES BY WHICH THIS DUTY MAY BE ENFORCED. Love to Jesus is a powerful motive. Gratitude for past mercies. Our present happiness, and our prospect of eternal felicity. But Christs faithfulness is here laid down as the great motive.

1. He has promised to give us grace to hold fast our profession; and He is faithful.

2. He has promised to acknowledge our profession; and He is faithful.

3. He has promised to reward our profession; and He is faithful.

Application:

1. Learn that religion requires both the devotion of the heart and the profession of the life.

2. The way to heaven is associated with conflicts.

3. Stedfastness is essential to our final salvation.

4. God has provided abundant resources for our comfort and safety.

5. The end will amply recompense for the trials of the way. (J. Burns, D. D.)

An unwavering confession:

Admiral Foote, of the American navy, was a very godly man. While pacing the deck at night, on the lonely seas, and talking with a pious shipmate, he became convinced of his need of a Saviour and became His disciple, remaining true to his profession to the last. He used to be called the Stonewall Jackson of the Navy. He often preached to his crew on Sundays, and was ever forward in doing good. (H. O.Mackey.)

Steady to the pole:

Late observations have shown that under many circumstances the magnetic needle, even after the disturbing influence has been removed, will continue wavering, and require many days before it points aright and remains steady to the pole. So is it ordinarily with the soul, after it has begun to force itself from the disturbing forces of the flesh and of the world. (Coleridges Aids to Reflection.)

Standing.fire:

Some time ago, in one of our great ships of war, there was a solitary sailor who was not ashamed to own himself a follower of Christ. For a long time he was alone; no other sailor joined him. His place of prayer was amid the noise and din of the sailors. One evening he perceived a shadow by the side of the gun. Another Jack Tar was creeping along, and said, May I come? Oh, the joy of the young sailor to have a comrade with him! They met for many nights behind the gun, reading and praying. They became the butt of the men in two or three messes, but still continued, bearing and forbearing. It came to the ears of the commander, who was a Roman Catholic--but I mention this to his honour. The moment he heard that two of his sailors were meeting for reading and prayer behind one of the guns, he sent for one of them, and instantly ordered a portion of the lower deck to be curtained off, and gave orders that no one should molest them. For some nights they were the only occupants, but by and by the curtain was opened, and a blue-jacket said, May I come in? He was welcomed. Another came, and another, and the last account I heard from that ship was this, that every night thirty-two were meeting for prayer, thirty of them believed to be converted characters. And there, by standing fire, by standing firm, true to what was his duty, God has blessed that solitary sailor, and made him a spiritual father to at least thirty of the men on board the ship.

Confidence in death:

In the reign of Queen Mary of England, a man named Palmer was condemned to die. Before his death he was earnestly persuaded to recant, and among other things a friend said to him, Take pity on thy golden years and pleasant flowers of youth before it is too late. His beautiful reply was, Sir, I long for those springing flowers which shall never fade away. When in the midst of the flames he exhorted his companions to constancy, saying, We shall not end our lives in the fire, but make a change for a better life; yea, for coals we shall receive pearls.

He is faithful that promised

A sure promise

1. We have a promise. We are secure; when one that is able hath passed his word, and by promise bound himself unto us, then we make sure thus far of the thing promised. The thing which we desire, and which is promised unto us, is not only the reward of eternal glory, which is the object of our hope, but power and ability with assistance to do all things necessary for the attainment thereof; for in the gospel, not only the reward, but power to perform our duty, are promised (Eph_1:16-19).

2. This promise is not the promise of any man or angel, but of God; this is more than if all the best men and all the holy angels had bound themselves unto us and given us all security, which possibly they could. The reason hereof is that His power is absolute and almighty, and nothing can resist or hinder it if once it begin to work. Besides, Gods mercy is like His power, and as He is able, so is He willing to do what He hath promised, and He hath signified His will and purpose, through faith, by His power to preserve us unto salvation.

3. Yet one may be able, and for a time willing, and yet upon several reasons and motives change his mind, for the mind and will of man or angel is not absolutely immutable; and so, though perhaps they will not, yet it is possible, they may fail us. But God will not, God cannot, for God who hath promised is faithful; for as He cannot forget or be hindered by any contrary power, so He cannot change His will. If He say the word, it must be done; if He pass His promise, He will perform. This faithfulness presupposeth His power and His promise, and it is the immutability of His will, for as He is unchangeable in His being, so He is in His promise (1Sa_15:29; Mal_3:6). So that all is sure on Gods part, and man hath no cause to waver, except he neglect his duty; and if he perish, his destruction must be of himself. And shall we, who have so great advantage, so many helps, so blessed an opportunity, and the promise of a faithful God, neglect and injure ourselves so much as to lose this glorious and incomparable prize? Shall we come out of Egypt, and come so near the borders of the heavenly Canaan, and turn hack? or refuse to go forward? Let us detest and eternally abhor to waver; let us go on whatsoever it may cost us. (G. Lawson.)

The faithfulness of God the Christians support in life and death

I. IT IS A FACT--He is faithful that promised.

1. Of whom it is that our text speaks. He is faithful that promised. Our text points to Him who fills the throne itself; we are contemplating Him as engaged to us by a covenant ordered in all things and sure; and as having communicated in consequence exceeding great and precious promises, while He is faithful to each and every promise which He has thus made.

2. We regard the Divine promises themselves. These promises are not mere movements of the Divine mind arising only under the exigencies of new circumstances or of events which spring up in the progress of time, but they flow from the deep fountains of His own grace and love; they embrace all that which is involved in the gift of His dear Son, the great work of the Saviour, the communications of the Divine Spirit, and in the application of every blessing which God has engaged to bestow on His Church on earth. They are all written with His own hand, they are all stamped with His own authority; and in His own Word they stand out in all their truth and in all their fulness.

3. We now consider the faithfulness of God to His promises. The first promise was that the seed of the woman should arrive in the fulness of time, and that He should bruise the serpents head; that He should give Himself as a ransom, and purchase the Church with His own blood. That promise has been fulfilled. Then, the promise of the Holy Ghost. The Redeemer ascended up on high; and He has poured forth the Divine Spirit: it has been granted and it is still continued to the Church.

II. As IT IS THE EXPRESSION OF THE CHRISTIANS EXPERIENCE--He is faithful that promised. When you are brought by the Holy Spirit to a just consideration of your own state as sinners, and with your eyes fixed upon the Infinite One, and stripped by transgression of all the rights with which you were originally invested, and when you see the manner in which God bestows everything out of His own fulness, and supplies your daily and your hourly wants; it is not on yourself or fellow-men that you can depend, for they are weak and evanescent as you are. It is not on your own works and your own productions that you can repose. It is not on your toil, your labour, your skill, or your acquisitions, that you can depend; for whatever your gains, they may take to themselves wings and fly and leave you desolate and utterly worthless. But the eye of faith contemplates the Infinite Being. It takes hold of God through His gracious word of promise; it looks at the atoning sacrifice of Jesus; it stands by that sacrifice, and embracing that Saviour as the only hope, the soul contemplates a faithful God. (Owen Clarke.)

The security of the promise

I. THE NATURE OF THE PROMISES.

1. They flow solely from the free and sovereign good pleasure of Jehovah.

2. They have all an immediate connection with the Lord Jesus Christ (2Co_1:20).

3. The form in which they are directed is not always the same, but sometimes assumes a more absolute, and sometimes a more conditional, appearance.

4. None of the promises, how conditional soever in their form, are altogether beyond the reach of sinners, so long as they are in the land of the living and place of hope.

5. They are many and various, every way suited to the numerous and diversified wants both of saints and sinners.

II. SOME CONSIDERATIONS TENDING TO ESTABLISH OUR CONFIDENCE IN THE DIVINE FAITHFULNESS AS A SECURITY THAT THE PROMISES WILL BE FULFILLED.

1. Faithfulness is an essential perfection of the Divine nature. The name of the Lord is faithful and true.

2. The promises upon the accomplishment so much of our comfort depends are promises of grace.

3. The truth of God is pledged in the most solemn manner for the accomplishment of His promises.

4. Nothing unforeseen or unexpected can occur as a reason why we should doubt the Divine faithfulness.

5. God is omnipotent, and therefore it is not the want of power that can render Him unfaithful.

6. God is unchangeable both in His nature and purpose; it is impossible, therefore, that He can ever disappoint the hopes that His goodness has raised. (G. Campbell.)

Divine promises:

The doctrine of the Incarnation is a promise; it assures us that God has become man to save us from sin. The doctrine of the Atonement is a promise; it explains the ground on which God grants the pardon of sin. The doctrine of Justification is a promise that the penalty of sin may be cancelled; the doctrine of Sanctification, that the power of sin may be destroyed. (R. W. Dale, LL. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10:22 sincere hearts: Under the new covenant, believers have transformed hearts (8:10; 10:16; Jer 31:31-34). • fully trusting him: Christ’s work on our behalf gives us confidence that God will welcome us into his presence. • our guilty consciences have been sprinkled . . . our bodies have been washed: Christ’s sacrificial death has provided complete cleansing from sin (see 9:13-14, 19-23).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Heb 10:22. Προσερχώμεθα, let us draw near) by that way.—ἀληθινῆς) which (heart) has thoroughly imbibed the truth, Heb 10:26.—πίστεως, of faith) Hope and love are added, Heb 10:23-24. These three remain. Faith and hope often stand on the same footing (have the same aspect or relation): wherefore they are here also closely united, and coalesce in the following passages: ch. Heb 11:1 [Heb 12:18, Heb 13:1], etc.—ἐῤῥαντισμένοι, being sprinkled) So ch. Heb 12:24, Heb 9:13; Heb 9:19; Heb 9:21; 1Pe 1:2.—τὰς καρδίας, hearts) Both the hearts and the body, Heb 10:23, are cleansed. It is not necessary to supply κατὰ; for as it is said, διδάσκω τὸν υἱὸν, I teach my son, so, διδάσκομαι τὸν υἱὸν, I take care that my son should be taught, and so ῥαντίζομαι τὴν καρδίαν, λούομαι τὸ σῶμα, I take care that my heart be sprinkled and my body washed.—ἀπὸ, from) An abbreviated expression, to which the necessary word is easily supplied, sprinkled and (supply) delivered from an evil conscience.—συνειδήσεως, conscience) ch. Heb 9:9, note.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Heb_10:22. Προσερχώμεθα] let us then draw nigh, sc. to this ἅγια, Heb_10:19, and this ἱερεὺς μέγας, Heb_10:21, or, what is, as regards the matter itself, not different, to God; in such wise that προσερξώμεθα is here, like τοὺς προσερχομένους, Heb_10:1, used absolutely, or else receives its supplementation from the τοῦ θεοῦ immediately preceding. Comp. Heb_7:25, Heb_11:6; also Heb_4:16.

μετʼ ἀληθινῆς καρδίας] with true, i.e. sincere heart, so that we are really in earnest about the προσέρχεσθαι.

ἐν πληροφορίᾳ πίστεως] in firm conviction of faith, firm inner certainty of faith. Comp. Heb_6:11. Epexegesis of μετʼ ἀληθινῆς καρδίας, for the clearer defining of the contents thereof.

ἐῤῥαντισμένοι τὰς καρδίας ἀπὸ συνειδήσεως πονηρᾶς] inasmuch as our hearts have been sprinkled from an evil conscience, so that we have been delivered from the same (see Winer, Gramm., 7 Aufl. p. 577). Indication of the subjective qualification for the προσέρχεσθαι, while Heb_10:19-21 contains the objective qualification for the same. What is meant, is the justification of Christians through Christs bloody sacrificial death (Heb_9:14), after the analogy of the sprinkling with blood, whereby the first Levitical priests were consecrated and qualified to approach God. Comp. Exo_29:21; Lev_8:30.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Heb 10:22 . Being thus secure of an acceptable entrance προσερχώμεθα , “let us keep approaching,” that is, to God (Heb 7:25 , Heb 11:6 ); a semi-technical term. μετὰ ἀληθινῆς καρδίας , “with a true heart” ( cf. Isa 38:3 ), not with a merely bodily approach as if all were external and symbolic, but with that genuine engagement of the inner man which constitutes true worship. Chrysostom has χωρὶς ὑποκρίσεως . Davidson has “with fundamental genuineness”; but it is the genuineness which is elicited in presence of realities. καρδία is interpreted in 1Pe 3:4 , ὁ κρυπτὸς τῆς καρδίας ἄνθρωπος . It is the inevitable qualification of one who comes ἐν πληροφορίᾳ πίστεως , “in full assurance of faith,” believing not only that God is (Heb 11:6 ) but that a way to His favour and fellowship is opened by the Great Priest. To engender this full assurance has been the aim of the writer throughout the Epistle. ῥεραντισμένοι … λελουσμένοι . These participles express not conditions of approach to God which are yet to be achieved, but conditions already possessed, “our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our body washed with pure water”. Both participles must be construed with προσερχώμεθα . The obvious connection of “heart” and “body” forbids the attachment of λελουσμένοι to κατέχωμεν . To connect both participles with κατεχ . is equally impossible. “ προσέρχεσθαι is a technical liturgical word, and sprinkling and washing are liturgical acts of preparation” (Delitzsch). Possibly the mention of sprinkling and washing is an echo of the injunctions of Exo 29:4 ; Exo 29:21 ; Exo 30:20 ; Exo 40:30 , prescribing similar preparation for the priestly functions. Our heart or inner man by the application of the αἷμα ῥαντισμοῦ ( cf. 1Pe 1:2 ) is delivered from the consciousness of guilt (Heb 9:14 ); out body by the application of the purifying water of baptism becomes the symbol of complete purity. “Sprinkled with that blood which speaketh evermore in the heavenly sanctuary, and washed with baptismal water sacramentally impregnated with the same, we are at all times privileged to approach by a new and living way the heavenly temple, entering by faith its inner sanctuary, and there presenting ourselves in the presence of God” (Delitzsch). Cf. especially Psa 51:6-7 , and Plutarch, Isis and Osiris , c. 80 (p. 383) where ceremonial purifications are explained on the principle that the Pure and Undefiled must be worshipped by the pure in body and soul.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This is it which the Lord saith, Be ye holy, for I am holy.

A most grave exhortation, wherein which he showeth how that sacrifice of Christ may be applied to us: to wit, by faith, which also he describeth, by the consequence, to wit, by sanctification of the Spirit, which causeth us surely to hope in God, and to procure by all means possible one another’s salvation, through the love that is in us one toward another.

With no double and counterfeit heart, but with such an heart as is truly and indeed given to God.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(Heb 4:16; Heb 7:19.)

with a true heart--without hypocrisy; "in truth, and with a perfect heart"; a heart thoroughly imbued with "the truth" (Heb 10:26).

full assurance-- (Heb 6:11); with no doubt as to our acceptance when coming to God by the blood of Christ. As "faith" occurs here, so "hope," and "love," Heb 10:23-24.

sprinkled from--that is, sprinkled so as to be cleansed from.

evil conscience--a consciousness of guilt unatoned for, and uncleansed away (Heb 10:2; Heb 9:9). Both the hearts and the bodies are cleansed. The legal purifications were with blood of animal victims and with water, and could only cleanse the flesh (Heb 9:13, Heb 9:21). Christ's blood purifies the heart and conscience. The Aaronic priest, in entering the holy place, washed with water (Heb 9:19) in the brazen laver. Believers, as priests to God, are once for all washed in BODY (as distinguished from "hearts") at baptism. As we have an immaterial, and a material nature, the cleansing of both is expressed by "hearts" and "body," the inner and the outer man; so the whole man, material and immaterial. The baptism of the body, however, is not the mere putting away of material filth, nor an act operating by intrinsic efficacy, but the sacramental seal, applied to the outer man, of a spiritual washing (Pe1 3:21). "Body" (not merely "flesh," the carnal part, as Co2 7:1) includes the whole material man, which needs cleansing, as being redeemed, as well as the soul. The body, once polluted with sin, is washed, so as to be fitted like Christ's holy body, and by His body, to be spiritually a pure and living offering. On the "pure water," the symbol of consecration and sanctification, compare Joh 19:34; Co1 6:11; Jo1 5:6; Eze 36:25. The perfects "having . . . hearts sprinkled . . . body (the Greek is singular) washed," imply a continuing state produced by a once-for-all accomplished act, namely, our justification by faith through Christ's blood, and consecration to God, sealed sacramentally by the baptism of our body.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 22. Let us draw near] Let us come with the blood of our sacrifice to the throne of God: the expression is sacrificial.

With a true heart] Deeply convinced of our need of help, and truly in earnest to obtain it.

In full assurance of faith] Being fully persuaded that God will accept us for the sake of his Son, and that the sacrificial death of Christ gives us full authority to expect every blessing we need.

Having our hearts sprinkled] Not our bodies, as was the case among the Hebrews, when they had contracted any pollution, for they were to be sprinkled with the water of separation, see Nu 19:2-10; but our hearts, sprinkled by the cleansing efficacy of the blood of Christ, without which we cannot draw nigh to God.

From an evil conscience] Having that deep sense of guilt which our conscience felt taken all away, and the peace and love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto us.

Our bodies washed with pure water.] The high priest, before he entered into the inner tabernacle, or put on his holy garments, was to wash his flesh in water, Le 16:4, and the Levites were to be cleansed the same way, Nu 8:7. The apostle probably alludes to this in what he says here, though it appears that he refers principally to baptisms, the washing by which was an emblem of the purification of the soul by the grace and Spirit of Christ; but it is most likely that it is to the Jewish baptisms, and not the Christian, that the apostle alludes.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. Let us draw near with a true heart, etc. As he shows that in Christ and his sacrifice there is nothing but what is spiritual or heavenly, so he would have what we bring on our part to correspond. The Jews formerly cleansed themselves by various washings to prepare themselves for the service of God. It is no wonder that the rites for cleansing were carnal, since the worship of God itself, involved in shadows, as yet partook in a manner of what was carnal. For the priest, being a mortal, was chosen from among sinners to perform for a time sacred things; he was, indeed, adorned with precious vestments, but yet they were those of this world, that he might stand in the presence of God; he only came near the work of the covenant; and to sanctify his entrance, he borrowed for a sacrifice a brute animal either from herd or the flock. But in Christ all these things are far superior; He himself is not only pure and innocent, but is also the fountain of all holiness and righteousness, and was constituted a priest by a heavenly oracle, not for the short period of a mortal life, but perpetually. To sanction his appointment an oath was interposed. He came forth adorned with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the highest perfection; he propitiated God by his own blood, and reconciled him to men; he ascended up above all the heavens to appear before God as our Mediator.

Now, on our part, nothing is to be brought but what corresponds with all this, as there ought to be a mutual agreement or concord between the priest and the people. Away then with all the external washings of the flesh, and cease let the whole apparatus of ceremonies; for the Apostle sets a true heart, and the certainty of faith, and a cleansing from all vices, in opposition to these external rites. And hence we learn what must be the frame of our minds in order that we may enjoy the benefits conferred by Christ; for there is no coming to him without an upright or a true heart, and a sure faith, and a pure conscience.

Now, a true or sincere heart is opposed to a heart that is hypocritical and deceitful. By the term full assurance, πληροφορία the Apostle points out the nature of faith, and at the same time reminds us, that the grace of Christ cannot be received except by those who possess a fixed and unhesitating conviction. The sprinkling of the heart from an evil conscience takes place, either when we are, by obtaining pardon, deemed pure before God, or when the heart, cleansed from all corrupt affections, is not stimulated by the goads of the flesh. I am disposed to include both these things. What follows, our bodies washed with pure water, is generally understood of baptism; but it seems to me more probable that the Apostle alludes to the ancient ceremonies of the Law; and so by water he designates the Spirit of God, according to what is said by Ezekiel, “I will sprinkle clean water upon you.” (Ezekiel 36:25.) The meaning is, that we are made partakers of Christ, if we come to him, sanctified in body and soul; and yet that this sanctification is not what consists in a visible parade of ceremonies, but that it is from faith, pure conscience, and that cleanness of soul and body which flows from, and is effected by, the Spirit of God. So Paul exhorts the faithful to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, since they had been adopted by God as his children. (2 Corinthians 7:1.)

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(22) Let us draw near.—See Heb_10:1; also Heb_4:16; Heb_7:25; Heb_11:6.

With a true heart.—“True,” the word used in Heb_8:2; Heb_9:24, a real—i.e., a sincere heart. As in Hebrews 6 we read of “full assurance,” or rather, “fulness of hope,” so here of fulness of faith. “Without this there could be for us no “living way” (Heb_10:20) for entering into the holiest place. The thought of the whole verse connects itself with the priestly character of those who are the people of God (Exo_19:6; Rev_1:5-6). It is as priests that they enter the house of God, sprinkled with the blood of atonement (Heb_12:24; Heb_9:14; Lev_8:30; 1Pe_1:2), and with all defilement washed away (Lev_8:6). “Sprinkled from an evil conscience:” that is, freed by means of the “sprinkling” from a conscience defiled by guilt. In the last words there is a clear allusion to baptism, as the symbol of the new life of purity (Eph_5:26; Tit_3:5; 1Pe_3:21).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. Let us draw near] We have seen throughout that the notion of free access and approach to God is prominent in the writer’s mind.

in full assurance of faith] See Heb_6:11.

having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience] That is, having our souls—our inmost consciousness—sprinkled as it were with the blood of Christ (Heb_9:14, Heb_12:24, 1Pe_1:2) and so cleansed from the consciousness of guilt. So the Jewish priests were purified from ceremonial defilement by being sprinkled with blood (Exo_29:21; Lev_8:30).

and our bodies washed] The perfect participles in these clauses—“having been sprinkled,” “having been washed”—imply that it is to be done once and for ever. All Christians are priests to God (Rev_1:5-6); and therefore Christian Priests, before being permitted to approach to God, must, like the Jewish Priests (Exo_30:20), be sprinkled with the blood of Christ, and bathed in the water of baptism (Eph_5:26; Tit_3:5; 1Pe_3:21).

with pure water] “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean” (Eze_36:25).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And let us consider one another,.... Saints should consider one another as men, that they are but men, of like passions and infirmities; they should consider their different tempers, and make allowance for them, and their outward state and condition in the world: they should consider one another as saints, partakers of the same grace; as that they are all loved with the same love, all conceived and brought forth in the womb of God's eternal electing grace, interested in the same covenant, redeemed by the same blood, and have the same graces and privileges, and an equal right to glory; having one and the same Spirit, the same grace of faith, the same righteousness, the same fountain to wash in, the same fulness to partake of, the same throne of grace to go to, and the same inheritance to enjoy: they should consider one another as church members, the grace and gifts of the another, their different age and standing in the church, their relation to each other as brethren; they should consider them under suffering or sorrowful circumstances, under afflictions, temptations, desertions, declensions, and as attended with infirmities and sins: and the end of such consideration should be,

to provoke unto love; to brotherly love, to stir it up, and stir up to it, which is apt to wax cold, that so it may be rekindled, and give a most vehement flame; for this is Christ's new commandment, the bond of perfection, the evidence of regeneration, that which makes the saints' communion comfortable and delightful, and without which a profession of religion is in vain.

And to good works; not for justification before God, and in order to procure salvation; but that God may be glorified, the Gospel adorned, the mouths of gainsayers stopped, faith evidenced to the world, and gratitude to God for his benefits shown, and for the profit and advantage of fellow creatures, and fellow Christians.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

22 Let 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.

Ver. 22. Let us draw near] Come, for the Master calleth, Mar 10:49.

With a true heart] That is, with a heart truly and entirely given up to God, uprightly propounding God’s service in prayer, and that out of a filial affection, delighting to do his will, and therefore well content to wait, or, if God see good, to want what it wisheth, desirous rather that God’s will be done than our own, and that he may be glorified though we be not gratified; acknowledging the kingdom, power, and glory to be his alone. This is a true heart.

In full assurance of faith] πληροφορια. Not with a quarter or half wind, but with full assurance, such a gale of faith as fills the sails of the soul, and makes it set up its top-gallant, as it were.

Having our hearts sprinkled, &c.] Faith ever purgeth from sin, and worketh repentance from dead works.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Let us draw near with a true heart - In prayer and praise; in every act of confidence and of worship. A sincere heart was required under the ancient dispensation; it is always demanded of people when they draw near to God to worship him; see Joh 4:23-24. Every form of religion which God has revealed requires the worshippers to come with pure and holy hearts.

In full assurance of faith - see the word used here explained in the notes on Heb 6:11. The “full assurance of faith” means unwavering confidence; a fulness of faith in God which leaves no room for doubt. Christians are permitted to come thus because God has revealed himself through the Redeemer as in every way deserving their fullest confidence. No one approaches God in an acceptable manner who does not come to him in this manner. What parent would feel that a child came with any right feelings to ask a favour of him who had not “the fullest confidence in him?”

(“This πληροφορια plērophoria, or full assurance of faith, is not, as many imagine, absolute certainty of a man’s own particular salvation, for that is termed “the full assurance of hope,” Heb 6:11, and arises from faith and its fruits. But the full assurance of faith is the assurance of that truth, which is testified and proposed in the gospel, to all the hearers of it in common, to be believed by them, unto their salvation, and is also termed the full assurance of understanding; Col 2:2. Though all that the gospel reveals, claims the full assurance of faith, yet here it seems more particularly to respect the efficacy and all-sufficiency of Christ’s offering for procuring pardon and acceptance.” - McLean.

Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience - By the blood of Jesus. This was prepared to make the conscience pure. The Jewish cleansing or sprinkling with blood related only to what was external, and could not make the conscience perfect Heb 9:9, but the sacrifice offered by the Saviour was designed to give peace to the troubled mind, and to make it pure and holy. An “evil conscience” is a consciousness of evil, or a conscience oppressed with sin; that is, a conscience that accuses of guilt. We are made free from such a conscience through the atonement of Jesus, not because we become convinced that we have not committed sin, and not because we are led to suppose that our sins are less than we had otherwise supposed - for the reverse of both these is true - but because our sins are forgiven, and since they are freely pardoned they no longer produce remorse and the fear of future wrath. A child that has been forgiven may feel that he has done very wrong, but still he will not be then overpowered with distress in view of his guilt, or with the apprehension of punishment.

And our bodies washed with pure water - It was common for the Jews to wash themselves, or to perform various ablutions in their services; see Exo 39:4; Exo 30:19-21; Exo 40:12; Lev 6:27; Lev 13:54, Lev 13:58; Lev 14:8-9; Lev 15:16; Lev 16:4, Lev 16:24; Lev 22:6; compare the notes on Mar 7:3. The same thing was also true among the pagan. There was usually, at the entrance of their temples, a vessel placed with consecrated water, in which, as Pliny says (Hist. Nat. lib. 15:c. 30), there was a branch of laurel placed with which the priests sprinkled all who approached for worship. It was necessary that this water should be pure, and it was drawn fresh from wells or fountains for the purpose. Water from pools and ponds was regarded as unsuitable, as was also even the purest water of the fountain, if it had stood long. AEneas sprinkled himself in this manner, as he was about to enter the invisible world (Aeneid vi. 635), with fresh water.

Porphyry says that the Essenes were accustomed to cleanse themselves with the purest water. Thus, Ezekiel also says, “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean.” Sea-water was usually regarded as best adapted to this purpose, as the salt was supposed to have a cleansing property. The Jews who dwelt near the sea, were thence accustomed, as Aristides says, to wash their hands every morning on this account in the sea-water. Potter’s Greek Archae. i. 222. Rosenmuller, Alte und Neue Morgenland, in loc. It was from the pagan custom of placing a vessel with consecrated water at the entrance of their temples, that the Roman Catholic custom is derived in their churches of placing “holy water” near the door, that those who worship there may “cross themselves.” In accordance with the Jewish custom, the apostle says, that it was proper that under the Christian dispensation we should approach God, having performed an act emblematic of purity by the application of water to the body.

That there is an allusion to baptism is clear. The apostle is comparing the two dispensations, and his aim is to show that in the Christian dispensation there was everything which was regarded as valuable and important in the old. So he had shown it to have been in regard to the fact that there was a Lawgiver; that there was a great High Priest; and that there were sacrifices and ordinances of religion in the Christian dispensation as well as the Jewish. In regard to each of these, he had shown that they existed in the Christian religion in a much more valuable and important sense than under the ancient dispensation. In like manner it was true, that as they were required to come to the service of God, having performed various ablutions to keep the body pure, so it was with Christians. Water was applied to the Jews as emblematic of purity, and Christians came, having had it applied to them also in baptism, as a symbol of holiness.

It is not necessary, in order to see the force of this, to suppose that water had been applied to the whole of the body, or that they had been completely immersed, for all the force of the reasoning is retained by the supposition that it was a mere symbol or emblem of purification. The whole stress of the argument here turns, not on the fact that the body had been washed all over, but that the worshipper had been qualified for the spiritual service of the Most High in connection with an appropriate emblematic ceremony. The quantity of water used for this is not a material point, any more than the quantity of oil was in the ceremony of inaugurating kings and priests. This was not done in the Christian dispensation by washing the body frequently, as in the ancient system, nor even necessarily by washing the whole body - which would no more contribute to the purity of the heart than by application of water to any part of the body, but by the fact that water had been used as emblematic of the purifying of the soul. The passage before us proves, undoubtedly:

(1)That water should be applied under the new dispensation as an ordinance of religion; and,

(2)That pure water should be used - for that only is a proper emblem of the purity of the heart.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Let us draw near with a full and firm faith, our hearts being cleansed and sprinkled from sin. He again alludes to that ceremony, by which the high priest of the Jews on the feast, called of expiation, sprinkled the people with the blood of the victim offered. (Witham) --- Greek: En plerophoria pisteos. The Protestant version gives erroneously, in full assurance of faith. See Ward’s Errata.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Let us draw near; this contains the duty grounded on, and enconraged to, by the former privileges, viz. the spiritual motion of his church, using Christ for their coming home to God, in prayer, and all parts of worship and conversation: see Heb 4:16; 7:25.

With a true heart; with sincerity and integrity of heart, both as it is the subject of actions, and exercising them as such in all acts of worship and service unto God, when the mind and heart is fixed to perform all strictly, according to God’s will, for matter and manner, so as to reach him glory, and to obtain from him a blessing, Psa 37:31.

In full assurance of faith; believing in, and being fully assured and confident of, Christ’s merits and God’s promise, which is trne, faithful, and immutable, to all who perform the duty required by it, Heb 6:11; Col 2:2; Jam 1:5-7.

Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience; having the soul in all its rational faculties, the inward man, the prime efficient of all actions, and here under bond to the law of God, purged and cleansed; alluding to the Aaronical rite of purifying by sprinkling of blood, as souls are to be now by the blood of Christ when they are justified, Rom 3:23-26, that God may admit them into his presence, hear them when they worship him, Heb 10:19,20; so as they may be free from an accusing or, condemning conscience, on the acconnt of the guilt of sin gnawing them, and making them obnoxious to punishment; as also of the stain and pollution of sin, making them unfit for any communion with God, Heb 9:14.

And our bodies washed with pure water; the body (as the priests were under the law washed before their service) is the outward man, which is, as well as the soul, to be sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and cleansd from all filthiness of flesh: these corrupt members of the old man must be put off, and mortified by the Spirit of God, before they can be fit to approach to worship him, Eze 36:25; 1Co 6:11,19,20; 2Co 7:1; 1Jo 3:3.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. Having so magnificent an access as stated in 19-21, our author now, in the following three verses, exhorts us with a let us thrice presented: namely, let us draw near, let us hold fast, and let us consider one another. The first regards our free access to God; the second, our firmness in profession; the third, our use of the communion of saints in maintaining the previous two, namely, our gracious access and our firm profession. The first let us is, let us gladly draw near. God in his holy place may be freely and boldly approached; who will not hasten to draw near? And so in this verse we have a delightful picture of the adorer in this new temple sweetly approaching a loving God. Heart, conscience, and body are all pure.

A true heart—True in its freedom from all insincerity or wavering; true in its fidelity and firmness.

Full assurance—Not only firmness, but exultant and aggressive assurance. The temple imagery is beautifully preserved throughout. It was by blood sprinkled upon them that the priests entered before God; that sprinkled blood implying their purification by atonement.

Exo_29:21; Lev_8:30. And Aaron and his sons washed their hands and feet in the brazen laver. Exo_30:20; Exo_40:30-32.

On the great day of atonement the high priest washed his whole body with water. Lev_16:4.

Evil conscience—As we say, “a guilty conscience;” that is, a personal consciousness of being guilty.

Bodies washed—It is unexegetical, with Alford and others, to find here a distinct allusion to baptism. The thought is not of a material body, literally washed with water, any more than of a material heart, literally sprinkled with blood; or any more than the house of God (Heb_10:21) is a material house. The heart is here spiritually sprinkled, as the image of interior purity; the body, spiritually washed, is the image of external rectitude of life. This verse, both in the Greek and the English, is a fine specimen of rhythm.

It is a very important fact that our author ascribes this privilege of immediate access to every Christian. Each for himself approaches to, and communes with, God. No human substitute stands in his place before God, or stands in God’s place before him. No one offers a sacrifice for him, and he, offers no literal sacrifice for himself. The one priest is Christ, and the one sacrifice is that of himself, once for all.

The apostles, the ministers of the New Testament, as not performing sacrifice and as not being substitutes, are not priests. Yet all the leading institutions of the Old Testament Church have a modified continuity in the New. The high priesthood has its eternal continuity in Christ. The predictive sacrifices are shadowed in the commemorative Lord’s supper. Circumcision is represented by baptism; the sabbath by “the Lord’s day.” And so the priesthood of the Old Testament has its representative in the ministry, namely, the apostle, the bishop, the elder, and the deacon, of the New. While no form of government is prescribed in the New Testament with Levitical precision, and large freedom is left to the Church to frame its own organization, there are nevertheless forms, sanctioned by “the New Testament and the example of the primitive Church,” which are truly preferable, the absence of which, though not an invalidation, is yet a defect in a church organization.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Let us draw near 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 draw near" (prosercwmeya) is a liturgical phrase, denoting the approach of the people, after ceremonial atonement, to the earthly sanctuary (cf. ver. 1, tounouv). We may now draw near to the very heavenly mercy-seat, without any sense of a bar to our doing so on the ground of consciousness of sin. In Christ we are to see accomplished all that is needed for atonement. But there are conditions also required in ourselves, expressed first by the "true heart," and the "fullness of faith," and then by the clauses that fellow. These clauses, like prosercwmeya have a liturgical basis that of the blood-sprinkling (e.g. of the people with the blood of the covenant under Mount Heb_9:19, and of the priests on their consecration, Lev_8:23) and of the ablutions before sacrificial service. (Lev_8:6 Lev_16:4, 24 Exo_30:3-9) Hence these two participial clauses are not to be separated from each other, and seem best to be both taken in connection with the preceding prosercwmeya . "Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience" means our having the inward consciousness of debarring sin removed through the blood of Christ; the "full assurance of faith" in the completed atonement, and the "true heart," being presupposed. The conjoined clause, kai leloumenoi , etc., is capable also of being figuratively interpreted, in the sense that "our sinful bodies" have been "made clean," so as to be offered through life acceptably as "a living sacrifice," as well as "our souls washed through his most precious blood." And this may be taken as implied. But the terms body and water after hearts and blood certainly suggest a direct reference to baptism. And such definite allusion is in keeping with references elsewhere to the beginning of the Christian life. (see Act_2:38 Act_22:16 Rom_6:3, 4 1Co_12:13 Gal_3:27 Col_2:12 1Pe_3:21) The passage last referred to is apposite to that before us in that with an undoubted mention of baptism is conjoined "the answer of a good conscience toward God."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Let us draw near - To God. With a true heart - In godly sincerity. Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience - So as to condemn us no longer And our bodies washed with pure water - All our conversation spotless and holy, which is far more acceptable to God than all the legal sprinklings and washings.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

22. Let us draw near, the altar of incense, the open veil, and to God who dwelleth in the Holiest of all. With a true heart. Sincere and pure heart. In full assurance of faith. Filled with trust in our high priest. Our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. By the blood of Christ through which we realize that our sins are forgiven. Our bodies washed with pure water. See Titus 3:5, and Acts 22:16. Alford, Prof. Stuart, Delitzch, Moll, Meyer and most commentators refer the passage to baptism. That is undoubtedly the thought of the sacred writer; the heart and spirit are cleansed by the blood of Christ and the body sanctified by washing in pure water, effecting the purification of the whole man.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

22. προσερχώμεθα. We have seen throughout that the notion of free access and approach to God is prominent in the writer’s mind.

ἐν πληροφορίᾳ. See Heb 6:11.

ῥεραντισμένοι κ.τ.λ. In verbs beginning with ρ the MSS. vary in their method of writing both the augmented and the reduplicated tenses. Thus we find both ἐῤῥιμένοι and ῥερ. The ἀπὸ means that we are so sprinkled as to be removed from the evil conscience (Winer, p. 736). The words mean “having our souls—our inmost consciousness—sprinkled as it were with the blood of Christ (Heb 9:14, Heb 12:24, 1Pe 1:2) and so cleansed from the consciousness of guilt.” So the Jewish priests were purified from ceremonial defilement by being sprinkled with blood (Exo 29:21; Lev 8:30).

λελουμένοι. The perfect participles in these clauses—“having been sprinkled,” “having been washed”—imply that it is to be done once and for ever. All Christians are priests to God (Rev 1:5-6); and therefore Christian Priests, before being permitted to approach to God, must, like the Jewish Priests (Exo 30:20), be sprinkled with the blood of Christ, and bathed in the water of baptism (Eph 5:26; Tit 3:5; 1Pe 3:21).

ὕδατι καθαρῷ. “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean” (Eze 36:25).

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22.] let us approach (προσέρχεσθαι, see ref., = ἐγγίζειν τῷ θεῷ ch. 7:19, and is a word belonging to worship. So that the participial clauses which follow are best regarded as both belonging to προσερχώμεθα, since they also describe requisite preparations for worship: see this further treated below, on ver. 23) with a true heart (χωρὶς ὑποκρίσεως, Chrys. So Hezekiah pleads, Isa 38:3, ἐπορεύθην ἐνώπιόν σου μετὰ ἀληθείας ἐν καρδίᾳ ἀληθινῇ) in full assurance (πληροφορία, subjective, as in ch. 6:11: see note there) of faith (with no doubt as to the certainty of our access to God by the blood of Jesus), having our hearts sprinkled from (pregnant construction for ‘sprinkled, and by that sprinkling cleansed from’) an evil conscience (a conscience polluted with the guilt of sin: for “if a man’s practice be bad, his conscience, in so far as it is the consciousness of that practice, is πονηρά:” see Delitzsch, Biblische Psychologie, p. 163) and having our body washed with pure water (both these clauses refer to the legal purifications of the Levitical priests, which took place by means of blood and water. At their first dedication, Aaron and his sons were sprinkled with blood, their bodies and their clothes, Exo 29:21: Lev 8:30. And so are we to be as God’s priests, having access to Him, sprinkled with blood, not outwardly with that of the ram of consecration, but inwardly with that of the Lamb of God: the first could only produce καθαρότητα τῆς σαρκός (ch. 9:13), but the second, pureness of heart and conscience in God’s sight. The washing with water also (Exo 29:4) was to be part of the cleansing of Aaron and his sons: nor only so, but as often as they entered the holy place or approached the altar, they were to wash their hands and feet in the brazen laver, Exo 30:20; Exo 40:30-32: and the high priest, on the day of atonement, λούσεται ὕδατι πᾶν τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ, Lev 16:4. There can be no reasonable doubt that this clause refers directly to Christian baptism. The λουτρὸν τοῦ ὕδατος of Eph 5:26, and the λουτρὸν παλιγγενεσίας, Tit 3:5, are analogous expressions: and the express mention of σῶμα here, as distinguished from καρδίας before, stamps this interpretation with certainty. This distinction makes it impossible, with Calvin, Limborch, Owen, Bengel, Ebrard, and the old Socinians, Schlichting, al., to spiritualize away the meaning into “Christi spiritus et doctrina, seu spiritualis illa aqua, qua suos perfundit Christus, ipsius etiam sanguine non excluso” (Schlichting); for σῶμα confines the reference to an outward act. And so Thl. (τῷ τοῦ βαπτίσματος·.… τοῦ σώματος ἕνεκα παραλαμβάνεται τὸ ὕδωρ· διττῶν γὰρ ὄντων ἡμῶν, διττὴ καὶ ἡ κάθαρσις), Thdrt., Œc., al. Böhme, Kuin., Thol., De W., Bleek, Lünem., Delitzsch, and the majority of Commentators. Still in maintaining the externality of the words, as referring, and referring solely, to Baptism, we must remember, that Baptism itself is not a mere external rite, but at every mention of it carries the thought further, viz. to that spiritual washing of which it is itself symbolical and sacramental. Notice here that the word is τὸ σῶμα, and not τὴν σάρκα, as ch. 9:13: our whole natural life, and not the mere outside surface: that in which our soul dwells and works, the seat of the emotions and desires: this also must be purified in those who would approach God in Christ. So that I would understand with Delitzsch (whose note here by all means see), that the sprinkling the heart from an evil conscience is, so to speak, intra-sacramental, a spiritual application of the purifying Blood, beyond sacramental rites, and the washing the body with pure water is purely sacramental, the effect of baptism taken in its whole blessed meaning and fulfilment as regards our natural existence. The end of his note is very beautiful: “As priests we are sprinkled, as priests we are bathed: sprinkled so that our hearts are freed from an evil conscience, and thus from self-condemnation, sprinkled with Christ’s Blood, to be sprinkled with which and to be certain of and joyful in justification before God is one and the same thing,—washed in Holy Baptism, whose pure water penetrates with its saving power not only into the depths of our self-conscious life, but also into the very foundation of our corporeity, and thus sanctifies us not only in the flesh, but in the body and in the spirit: so bringing us, in our whole personal existence, through the Blood speaking in the Sanctuary, through the Water welling forth out of the Sanctuary, into so real a connexion, so close an union with the Sanctuary itself, that we are at all times privileged to enter into the Sanctuary, and to use, in faith, the new and living way.” On the further details of the passage see Hofmann, Weissagung u. Erfüllung, ii. 234: Schriftbeweis, ii. 2. 161. The perfect participles shew that a state is spoken of introduced by one act the effect of which is abiding):

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Let us draw near [προσερχωμεθα] . See on ch. Heb 4:16.

With a true heart [μετα αληθινης καρδιας] . A right and genuine inward attitude toward God. For the phrase comp. LXX, Isa 38:3. N. T. o. For ajlhqinhv see on Joh 1:9, and comp. Heb 8:2; Heb 9:24. A true heart is required to enter the true sanctuary. The phrase means more than in sincerity. Sincerity is included, but with it all that enters into a right attitude toward God as revealed in our Great High Priest, - gladness, freedom, enthusiasm, bold appropriation of all the privileges of sonship. In full assurance of faith [εν πληροφορια πιστεως] . Full conviction engendered by faith. See on ch. Heb 6:11. Faith ii the basis of all right relation to God.

Sprinkled from an evil conscience [ρεραντισμενοι - απο συνειδησεως πονηρας] . This qualification for a right approach to God is stated typologically. As the priests were sprinkled with the sacrificial blood and washed with water before ministering, so do you who have now the privilege and standing of priests in approaching God, draw near, priestlike, as sharers in an economy which purges the conscience (ch. 9 14), having your consciences purged. Your own hearts must experience the effects of the great sacrifice of Christ, - pardon, moral renewal, deliverance from a legal spirit. On the priesthood of believers see 1Pe 2:5, 9; Exo 19:6; Isa 61:6. This idea is dominated in our epistle by that of Christ 's priesthood; but it is not excluded, and is implied throughout. See ch. Heb 13:15. For sprinkled, see on 1Pe 1:2.

Bodies washed [λελουσμενοι το σωμα] . Also typological. Most, expositors refer to baptism. The most significant passage in that direction is 1Pe 3:21; comp. Eph 5:26; Tit 3:5. It may be, though I doubt if the idea is emphasized. I incline, with Dr. Bruce, to think that it indicates generally the thoroughness of the cleansing process undergone by one who surrenders himself, soul, body, and spirit, to God.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.