The words contain,—First, A further description of the captain of salvation, and the sons to be brought unto glory by him, men- tioned in the verse foregoing, taken from his office and work towards them, and the effect thereof upon them, “ He that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified ;” which is the subject of the first proposition in these words. Secondly, An assertion concerning them, “They are all of one.” ‘Thirdly, A natural consequence of that assertion, which includes also the scope and design of it, “ He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” Fourthly, The confirmation hereof by a triple testimony from the Old Testament.
First, He describes the captain of salvation and the sons to be brought unto glory by their mutual relation to one another in sanc- tification. He is 6 &yit@av, “he that sanctifieth;’ and they are of ayieCowevor, “ they that are sanctified.” That it is the Son, the cap- tain of salvation, that is intended by the sanctifier, both what the apostle affirms immediately of him and them, and the ensuing testi- monies whereby he confirms it, do make evident. And as in the verse foregoing, giving an account why God would have Christ to suffer, he describes him by that property of his nature which includes a necessity of his so doing; so here, setting forth the causes on our part of that suffering, and the grounds of our advantage thereby, he expresseth him and the children by those terms which manifest their relation unto one another, and which they could not have stood in had they not been of the same nature, as he afterwards declares. Now, the same word being here used actively and passively, it must in both places be understood in the same sense, the one expressing the effect of the other. As Christ sanctifies, so are the children sanctified. And the act of Christ which is here intended is that which he did for the sons, when he suffered for them according to God’s appointment, as verse 10. Now, as was said before, to sanc- tify is either to separate and to dedicate unto sacred use, or to purify and make really holy ; which latter sense is here principally intended.
takes place in the members of the new covenant, in opposition to the relation of the natural man to God. °E& évds, ** of one;” that is, Father.— Macknight, De Wette, Conybeare and Howson, Tholuck, Ebrard, ete. TRANSLATIONS.— Ore yap &yic¢. Both the purifier and the purified. Schole- field. Ue that atoneth, and they that are atoned for.—Zurner. He who maketh expiation, and they for whom expiation is made.—Stuart. “AvyseeCopevot, lite rally, who are in the process of sanctification.—Conybeare and Howson.—ED.
VER. 11-13. } EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 43
Thus, when the apostle speaks of the effects of the offering of Christ for the elect, he distinguisheth between their reAs/wors, or “ consum- mation,” and their éyiacuds, or “sanctification:” chap. x. 14, mid Tpoopopa rerersinney rove ayialowévovg-—* By one offering he consum- mated” (or “ perfected”) “the sanctified.” First, he sanctifieth them, and then dedicates them unto God, so. that they shall never more need any initiation into his favour and service. This work was the captain of salvation designed unto. ‘The children that were to be brovght unto glory being in themselves unclean and unholy, and on that account separated from God, he was to purge their natures and to make them holy, that they might be admitted into the favour of and find acceptance with God. And for the nature of this work, two things must be considered :—first, The impetration of it, or the way and means whereby he obtained this sanctification for them; and, secondly, The application of that means, or real effecting of it. The first consisteth in the sufferings of Christ and the merit thereof. Hence we are so often said to be sanctified and washed in his blood, Hph. v. 25; Acts xx. 32; Rev. i. 5; and his blood is said to cleanse us from all our sins, 1 John i. 7, As it was shed for us, he procured, by the merit of his obedience therein, that those for whom it was shed should be purged and purified, Titus 11.14. The other con- sists in the effectual working of the Spirit of grace, communicated unto us by virtue of the blood-shedding and sufferings of Christ, as the apostle declares, Tit. iii, 4-6. And they who place this sancti- fication merely on the doctrine and example of Christ (as Grotius on this place), besides that they consider not at all the design and scope of the place, so they reject the principal end and the most blessed effect of the death and blood-shedding of the Lord Jesus. Now, in this description of the captain of salvation and of the sons, the apostle intimates a further necessity of his sufferings,—because they were to be sanctified by him, which could no otherwise be done but by his death and blood-shedding. Having many things to ob- serve from these verses, we shall take them up as they offer them- selves unto us in our procedure; as here,—
I. That all the children which are to be brought unto glory, antecedently unto their relation unto the Lord Christ, are polluted, defiled, separate from God.
They are all to be sanctified by him, both as to their real purifi- cation and their consecration to be God’s hallowed portion. This, for many blessed ends, the Scripture abundantly instructs us in: Tit. iii. 8, “ We ourselves also were sometimes fvvlish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.” A most wretched, defiled, and loathsome condition, that which justly might be an abhorrency to God and all his holy angels! and such, indeed, God describes it to be by his prophet; Ezek. xvi. 5, 6, “Thou wast polluted in thy blood, and cast