Commentary on Hebrews and the Catholic Epistles John Calvin
CHAPTER 10
doctrine is general, when he says, ``This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that every one of you abstain from uncleanness''. (1 Thessalonians 4:3.) But as it was a supereminent example of obedience in Christ to offer himself to the death of the cross, and as it was for this especially that he put on the form of a servant, the Apostle says, that Christ by offering himself fulfilled the command of his Father, and that we have been thus sanctified. 168 When he adds, through the offering of the body, etc., he alludes to that part of the Psalm, where he says, ``A body hast thou prepared for me,'' at least as it is found in Greek. He thus intimates that Christ found in himself what could appease God, so that he had no need of external aids. For if the Levitical priests had a fit body, the sacrifices of beasts would have been superfluous. But Christ alone was sufficient, and was by himself capable of performing whatever God required.
Heb 10:11-18
Hebrews Chapter 10:11-18
11. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
11. Et omnis quidem sacerdos quotidie ad ministrandum adstat, et easdem saepius offerendum victimas, quae nunquam possunt tollere peccata:
12. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
12. Ipse autem una pro peccatis oblata victima, perpetuo sedet in dextera Dei;
13. From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 13. Quod reliquum est expectans donec ponantur inimici sui scabellum pedum suorum.
14. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. 14. Una enim oblatione consecravit (vel, perfecit) in perpetuum eos qui sanctificantur.
15. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,
15. Testimonium autem reddit nobis etiam Spiritus Sanctus; nam postquam praedixerat, 168"Sanctified," here, as in chapter 2:11, includes the idea of expiation; it is to be sanctified, or cleansed from guilt, rather than from pollution, because it is said to be by the offering of the body of Christ, which was especially an expiation for sins, as it appears from what follows; and the main object of the quotation afterwards made was to show that by his death remission of sins is obtained. "By the which will," or, by which will, is commonly taken to mean, "By the accomplishing of which will;" or {ἐν̀} may be taken as in chapter 4:11, in the sense of {κατὰ}, ``according to which will we are cleansed (that is, from guilt) through the offering of the body of Christ once made.'' ``Will'' here does not mean the act of willing, but the object of the will, that which God wills, approves and is pleased with, and is set in opposition to the legal sacrifices. And as there is a {οἱ} in many good copies after {ἐσμὲν}, some have rendered the verse thus, ``By which will we are cleansed who are cleansed by the offering of the body of Christ once made.'' Thus ``the will,'' or what pleased God, is first opposed to the sacrifices, and then identified with the offering of Christ's body. --- Ed