COVENANTS AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES
71
This simple balance sweeps aside the idea entertained by some that `all of one' refers to Adam, or to God. Verse
10 speaks of two parties, `many sons' and the `Captain'. The perfecting of the Captain can only bear upon the many
sons if they are united in some way. Verse 11 says they are, both Sanctifier and sanctified, `all of one'.
What therefore happens to the Captain is communicated to the host. We must remember the limitations imposed
upon the scope of `all' by the word `sanctified'. `All of one' does not here speak of the human race although Luke
traces the genealogy of Christ back to Adam, and Paul uses the same expression (ex henos) in Acts 17:26 when he
speaks of `every nation of men'. Neither does the passage speak of redemption from sin and its penalty. The
Exodus, so far as Hebrews is concerned, is already accomplished. The union here is with `the things which
accompany salvation'. The Israelites were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea after redemption. This
oneness is limited to sanctification. We must therefore seek a true meaning for this term before we can appreciate
the teaching of this passage.
Hagiazo `to sanctify' - occurs seven times in Hebrews. It is therefore a keyword and carries an important
message:
Sanctify
A a 2:11. He that sanctifieth. The one perfected through suffering
b 2:11. They that are sanctified.
B 9:12-14. Blood of bulls ... flesh.
Blood of Christ ... conscience.
C 10:9,10. The will of God The offering of The body once.
B 10:14.
Perfected for ever (cf 10:1) by One Offering.
A
b 10:29. The blood wherewith He was sanctified.
a 13:12. The people sanctified by His blood without the gate.
Sanctification is uppermost in Hebrews 1:3 where purification for sins, and not redemption is the aspect of truth
presented. This aspect is sustained in 9:12-14 where the blood of goats and bulls is linked with the ashes of an
heifer, which were not used as a `ransom' or for `redemption', but for sprinkling the unclean, and results in a
sanctification, or the purifying of the flesh which had come into contact with some form of death. Christ's
sanctification cleanses the conscience from dead works, the spiritual counterpart. Hebrews 10:10 and 14 cannot be
understood apart from the earlier verses.
The word translated `continually' in 10:1 is the same as is rendered `for ever' in verse 14, and should in both
cases be translated `unto perpetuity'. Chapter 10:1,2 should be rendered:
`For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those
sacrifices which they offered year by year make the comers thereunto PERFECT UNTO PERPETUITY. For then
would they not have ceased to be offered? Because the worshippers, once having been cleansed, should have
had no more conscience of sins'.
Verses 10 and 14 are the answer to this, just as verse 14 is the answer to verse 13 in chapter 9. Chapter 10:29
speaks of the awful possibility of counting the blood wherewith He was sanctified unholy, and of doing despite to
the Spirit of grace, which is opened up in an intensely practical way in the verses that follow, where the drawing
back from suffering and trial is a parallel. The last reference shows the Captain of our salvation suffering outside
the gate. The oneness between Sanctifier and sanctified is expressed in the words:
`Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but
we seek one to come' (Heb. 13:13,14).
These last words are full of light for us as to the underlying idea of this sanctification. The pilgrim character, the
wilderness pathway, the whole theme of race and crown is involved in the word. Its association with `perfection' or
maturity would teach students of Philippians that much. See also another link between sanctification and pilgrim
character. Those who are sanctified suffer the spoiling of their goods knowing that in heaven they have a better and
an enduring substance. They have here no continuing city, but seek one to come. Like Abraham: