“When He had by himself purged our sins” (Hebrews 1:3).
· This is the work of Christ on Calvary. Salvation is a purging from sins. Sin makes one defiled. The prophets could condemn and warn about sin, but they could not cleanse anyone from sin.
· when
· Included in the verb form
· by Himself
· “by” is another use of the instrumental preposition we have seen before.
· Here it suggests the instrument or means by which a thing is accomplished.
· The Son, by Himself, purged our sins.
· The real emphasis in the phrase is thus on the “by Himself” part.
· “Himself” is a reflexive pronoun. The action of the phrase reflects back on the subject.
· It is usually rendered “He, Himself”
· Luke 23:2
2 And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.”
· Acts 25:4
4 But Festus answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself was going there shortly.
· He had purged
· Actually a combination of terms:
· A simple verb: “Made” - but a participle form in that “snapshot” past tense we’ve talked about before
· We’re meant to see this as an ongoing, active event, just in the past (The actual time is not important).
· And then the noun for “purification”, [1] speaking of spiritually cleansing or ceremonial washing
· Mark 1:44
44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
· Luke 2:22
22 Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord
· Similarly Lk. 5:14; Jn 2:6; Jn. 3:25; 2Pe 1:9
· 2 Peter 1:9
9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
· A change of verb tense focuses attention on the Son’s atoning death in history, the priestly act that cleanses us to worship in God’s presence. [2]
· Hebrews 9:14
14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
· “Purification” of sins was the work of priests; mention of it here anticipates a theme that appears later in the book. [3]
· our sins,
· “sins” is plural and so does not refer to the two non-specific meanings of the word “hamartia”.
· It speaks of sin[4] in the sense of wrong-doing
· 1 Timothy 5:22
22 Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure.
· They are “our” sins, not His.
· Specific sins for each of us sinners!
· Used 18 Times (Between LXX and NT)
· 1 Samuel 12:19
And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins the evil of asking a king for ourselves.”
· 2 Chronicles 28:13
and said to them, “You shall not bring the captives here, for we already have offended the Lord. You intend to add to our sins and to our guilt; for our guilt is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.”
· Nehemiah 9:37
And it yields much increase to the kings You have set over us, Because of our sins; Also they have dominion over our bodies and our cattle At their pleasure; And we are in great distress.
· Psalm 79:9
Help us, O God of our salvation, For the glory of Your name; And deliver us, and provide atonement for our sins, For Your name’s sake!
· Psalm 103:10
He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
· Isaiah 59:12
For our transgressions are multiplied before You, And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And as for our iniquities, we know them:
· Ezekiel 33:10
“Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: ‘Thus you say, “If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live?” ’
· Daniel 9:16
“O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us.
· Micah 7:19
He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.
· Luke 11:4
And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”
· 1 Corinthians 15:3
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
· Galatians 1:4
who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
· 1 Peter 2:24
who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness— by whose stripes you were healed.
· 1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
· 1 John 2:2
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
· 1 John 3:5
And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.
· 1 John 4:10
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
· Revelation 1:5
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
[1] Op. Cit., Swanson.
[2] Op. Cit., Whitlock, Sproul, Waltke and Silva, Reformation Study Bible, the : Bringing the Light of the Reformation to Scripture : Heb 1:3.
[3] Craig S. Keener and InterVarsity Press, The IVP Bible Background Commentary : New Testament (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1993). Heb 1:3.
[4] Op. Cit., Swanson.
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