secured ; and secondly, tliat the victims tlien offered, having no iniierent dignity or worth, could not take away sin ; they could not purge the conscience from the sense of guilt, or bring to the end contemplated (reAeiwo-at) those for whom they were offered, and hence had to be continually repeated. In Hebrews ix. 9, it is said
SSpa T€ Koi BvariaL .... /xtj Suva/xci at Kara cwei'Sv^crti' reXawcrai tov Xa-
rpevovra, i. e., says Robinson, " which could never make full expiii- tion for the bringer, so as to satisfy his conscience."
5. The Aaronic priesthood and sacrifices were, therefore, tempo- rary, being the mere types and shadows of the true priest and the real sacrifice, promised from the beginning.
6. Christ, the Eternal Son of God, assumed our nature in order that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. That is, to make expia- tion for sin. The word used is IXdaKOfxat^ propitium 7'eddere ; which in the Septuagint, is the substitute for "i5? (to cover guiW)^ to hide sin from the sight of God. In the New Testament, as in the Septu- agint, lAao-Ko/xat is the special term for sacerdotal expiation, and is not to be confounded with aTroKaraAAarreo-^at, to reconcile. The latter is the effect of the former ; reconciliation is secured by ex- piation.
7. Christ is proved, especially in Hebrews v., to be a real priest ; first, because He has all the qualifications for the office. He was a man, was a substitute, had a sacrifice, and was able to sympathize with his people ; secondly, because He was called of God to the priesthood, as was Aaron ; thirdly, because He actually discharged all the functions of the office.
8. The sacrifice which this great high priest offered in our be- half, was not the blood of irrational animals, but his own most pi'ecious blood.
9. This one sacrifice has perfected forever (TereXetWei', made a perfect expiation for) them that are sanctified. (Hebrews x. 14.)
10. This sacrifice has superseded all others. No other is needed; and no other is possible.
11. Those who reject this method of salvation certainly perish. To them there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. (Hebrews x. 26.)
It can hardly be questioned that this is a correct, although feeble statement of the leading ideas of the Epistle to the Hebrews. With this agree all other representations of the Sci'iptures both in the Old Testament and in the New, and therefore if we adhere to the doc- trine of the Bible we must believe that Christ saves us, not by