Hebrews 10:22

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(22) Let us draw near.—See Hebrews 10:1; also Hebrews 4:16; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 11:6.

With a true heart.—“True,” the word used in Hebrews 8:2; Hebrews 9:24, a real—i.e., a sincere heart. As in Hebrews 6 we read of “full assurance,” or rather, “fulness of hope,” so here of fulness of faith. “Without this there could be for us no “living way” (Hebrews 10:20) for entering into the holiest place. The thought of the whole verse connects itself with the priestly character of those who are the people of God (Exodus 19:6; Revelation 1:5-6). It is as priests that they enter the house of God, sprinkled with the blood of atonement (Hebrews 12:24; Hebrews 9:14; Leviticus 8:30; 1Peter 1:2), and with all defilement washed away (Leviticus 8:6). “Sprinkled from an evil conscience:” that is, freed by means of the “sprinkling” from a conscience defiled by guilt. In the last words there is a clear allusion to baptism, as the symbol of the new life of purity (Ephesians 5:26; Titus 3:5; 1Peter 3:21).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:19-25 The apostle having closed the first part of the epistle, the doctrine is applied to practical purposes. As believers had an open way to the presence of God, it became them to use this privilege. The way and means by which Christians enjoy such privileges, is by the blood of Jesus, by the merit of that blood which he offered up as an atoning sacrifice. The agreement of infinite holiness with pardoning mercy, was not clearly understood till the human nature of Christ, the Son of God, was wounded and bruised for our sins. Our way to heaven is by a crucified Saviour; his death is to us the way of life, and to those who believe this, he will be precious. They must draw near to God; it would be contempt of Christ, still to keep at a distance. Their bodies were to be washed with pure water, alluding to the cleansings directed under the law: thus the use of water in baptism, was to remind Christians that their conduct should be pure and holy. While they derived comfort and grace from their reconciled Father to their own souls, they would adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour in all things. Believers are to consider how they can be of service to each other, especially stirring up each other to the more vigorous and abundant exercise of love, and the practice of good works. The communion of saints is a great help and privilege, and a means of stedfastness and perseverance. We should observe the coming of times of trial, and be thereby quickened to greater diligence. There is a trying day coming on all men, the day of our death.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Let us draw near with a true heart - In prayer and praise; in every act of confidence and of worship. A sincere heart was required under the ancient dispensation; it is always demanded of people when they draw near to God to worship him; see John 4:23-24. Every form of religion which God has revealed requires the worshippers to come with pure and holy hearts.

In full assurance of faith - see the word used here explained in the notes on Hebrews 6:11. The "full assurance of faith" means unwavering confidence; a fulness of faith in God which leaves no room for doubt. Christians are permitted to come thus because God has revealed himself through the Redeemer as in every way deserving their fullest confidence. No one approaches God in an acceptable manner who does not come to him in this manner. What parent would feel that a child came with any right feelings to ask a favour of him who had not "the fullest confidence in him?"

("This πληροφορια plērophoria, or full assurance of faith, is not, as many imagine, absolute certainty of a man's own particular salvation, for that is termed "the full assurance of hope," Hebrews 6:11, and arises from faith and its fruits. But the full assurance of faith is the assurance of that truth, which is testified and proposed in the gospel, to all the hearers of it in common, to be believed by them, unto their salvation, and is also termed the full assurance of understanding; Colossians 2:2. Though all that the gospel reveals, claims the full assurance of faith, yet here it seems more particularly to respect the efficacy and all-sufficiency of Christ's offering for procuring pardon and acceptance." - McLean.

Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience - By the blood of Jesus. This was prepared to make the conscience pure. The Jewish cleansing or sprinkling with blood related only to what was external, and could not make the conscience perfect Hebrews 9:9, but the sacrifice offered by the Saviour was designed to give peace to the troubled mind, and to make it pure and holy. An "evil conscience" is a consciousness of evil, or a conscience oppressed with sin; that is, a conscience that accuses of guilt. We are made free from such a conscience through the atonement of Jesus, not because we become convinced that we have not committed sin, and not because we are led to suppose that our sins are less than we had otherwise supposed - for the reverse of both these is true - but because our sins are forgiven, and since they are freely pardoned they no longer produce remorse and the fear of future wrath. A child that has been forgiven may feel that he has done very wrong, but still he will not be then overpowered with distress in view of his guilt, or with the apprehension of punishment.

And our bodies washed with pure water - It was common for the Jews to wash themselves, or to perform various ablutions in their services; see Exodus 39:4; Exodus 30:19-21; Exodus 40:12; Leviticus 6:27; Leviticus 13:54, Leviticus 13:58; Leviticus 14:8-9; Leviticus 15:16; Leviticus 16:4, Leviticus 16:24; Leviticus 22:6; compare the notes on Mark 7:3. The same thing was also true among the pagan. There was usually, at the entrance of their temples, a vessel placed with consecrated water, in which, as Pliny says (Hist. Nat. lib. 15:c. 30), there was a branch of laurel placed with which the priests sprinkled all who approached for worship. It was necessary that this water should be pure, and it was drawn fresh from wells or fountains for the purpose. Water from pools and ponds was regarded as unsuitable, as was also even the purest water of the fountain, if it had stood long. AEneas sprinkled himself in this manner, as he was about to enter the invisible world (Aeneid vi. 635), with fresh water.

Porphyry says that the Essenes were accustomed to cleanse themselves with the purest water. Thus, Ezekiel also says, "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean." Sea-water was usually regarded as best adapted to this purpose, as the salt was supposed to have a cleansing property. The Jews who dwelt near the sea, were thence accustomed, as Aristides says, to wash their hands every morning on this account in the sea-water. Potter's Greek Archae. i. 222. Rosenmuller, Alte und Neue Morgenland, in loc. It was from the pagan custom of placing a vessel with consecrated water at the entrance of their temples, that the Roman Catholic custom is derived in their churches of placing "holy water" near the door, that those who worship there may "cross themselves." In accordance with the Jewish custom, the apostle says, that it was proper that under the Christian dispensation we should approach God, having performed an act emblematic of purity by the application of water to the body.

That there is an allusion to baptism is clear. The apostle is comparing the two dispensations, and his aim is to show that in the Christian dispensation there was everything which was regarded as valuable and important in the old. So he had shown it to have been in regard to the fact that there was a Lawgiver; that there was a great High Priest; and that there were sacrifices and ordinances of religion in the Christian dispensation as well as the Jewish. In regard to each of these, he had shown that they existed in the Christian religion in a much more valuable and important sense than under the ancient dispensation. In like manner it was true, that as they were required to come to the service of God, having performed various ablutions to keep the body pure, so it was with Christians. Water was applied to the Jews as emblematic of purity, and Christians came, having had it applied to them also in baptism, as a symbol of holiness.

It is not necessary, in order to see the force of this, to suppose that water had been applied to the whole of the body, or that they had been completely immersed, for all the force of the reasoning is retained by the supposition that it was a mere symbol or emblem of purification. The whole stress of the argument here turns, not on the fact that the body had been washed all over, but that the worshipper had been qualified for the spiritual service of the Most High in connection with an appropriate emblematic ceremony. The quantity of water used for this is not a material point, any more than the quantity of oil was in the ceremony of inaugurating kings and priests. This was not done in the Christian dispensation by washing the body frequently, as in the ancient system, nor even necessarily by washing the whole body - which would no more contribute to the purity of the heart than by application of water to any part of the body, but by the fact that water had been used as emblematic of the purifying of the soul. The passage before us proves, undoubtedly:

(1) that water should be applied under the new dispensation as an ordinance of religion; and,

(2) that pure water should be used - for that only is a proper emblem of the purity of the heart.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

22. (Heb 4:16; 7:19.)

with a true heart—without hypocrisy; "in truth, and with a perfect heart"; a heart thoroughly imbued with "the truth" (Heb 10:26).

full assurance—(Heb 6:11); with no doubt as to our acceptance when coming to God by the blood of Christ. As "faith" occurs here, so "hope," and "love," Heb 10:23, 24.

sprinkled from—that is, sprinkled so as to be cleansed from.

evil conscience—a consciousness of guilt unatoned for, and uncleansed away (Heb 10:2; Heb 9:9). Both the hearts and the bodies are cleansed. The legal purifications were with blood of animal victims and with water, and could only cleanse the flesh (Heb 9:13, 21). Christ's blood purifies the heart and conscience. The Aaronic priest, in entering the holy place, washed with water (Heb 9:19) in the brazen laver. Believers, as priests to God, are once for all washed in BODY (as distinguished from "hearts") at baptism. As we have an immaterial, and a material nature, the cleansing of both is expressed by "hearts" and "body," the inner and the outer man; so the whole man, material and immaterial. The baptism of the body, however, is not the mere putting away of material filth, nor an act operating by intrinsic efficacy, but the sacramental seal, applied to the outer man, of a spiritual washing (1Pe 3:21). "Body" (not merely "flesh," the carnal part, as 2Co 7:1) includes the whole material man, which needs cleansing, as being redeemed, as well as the soul. The body, once polluted with sin, is washed, so as to be fitted like Christ's holy body, and by His body, to be spiritually a pure and living offering. On the "pure water," the symbol of consecration and sanctification, compare Joh 19:34; 1Co 6:11; 1Jo 5:6; Eze 36:25. The perfects "having … hearts sprinkled … body (the Greek is singular) washed," imply a continuing state produced by a once-for-all accomplished act, namely, our justification by faith through Christ's blood, and consecration to God, sealed sacramentally by the baptism of our body.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Let us draw near; this contains the duty grounded on, and enconraged to, by the former privileges, viz. the spiritual motion of his church, using Christ for their coming home to God, in prayer, and all parts of worship and conversation: see Hebrews 4:16 7:25.

With a true heart; with sincerity and integrity of heart, both as it is the subject of actions, and exercising them as such in all acts of worship and service unto God, when the mind and heart is fixed to perform all strictly, according to God’s will, for matter and manner, so as to reach him glory, and to obtain from him a blessing, Psalm 37:31.

In full assurance of faith; believing in, and being fully assured and confident of, Christ’s merits and God’s promise, which is trne, faithful, and immutable, to all who perform the duty required by it, Hebrews 6:11 Colossians 2:2 Jam 1:5-7.

Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience; having the soul in all its rational faculties, the inward man, the prime efficient of all actions, and here under bond to the law of God, purged and cleansed; alluding to the Aaronical rite of purifying by sprinkling of blood, as souls are to be now by the blood of Christ when they are justified, Romans 3:23-26, that God may admit them into his presence, hear them when they worship him, Hebrews 10:19,20; so as they may be free from an accusing or, condemning conscience, on the acconnt of the guilt of sin gnawing them, and making them obnoxious to punishment; as also of the stain and pollution of sin, making them unfit for any communion with God, Hebrews 9:14.

And our bodies washed with pure water; the body (as the priests were under the law washed before their service) is the outward man, which is, as well as the soul, to be sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and cleansd from all filthiness of flesh: these corrupt members of the old man must be put off, and mortified by the Spirit of God, before they can be fit to approach to worship him, Ezekiel 36:25 1 Corinthians 6:11,19,20 2 Corinthians 7:1 1Jo 3:3.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Let us draw near with a true heart,.... Either to the holiest of all, into which the saints have boldness to enter; or to Christ the high priest, who is entered there; or to the house of God, over which he is an high priest; or rather to God himself, as on a throne of grace, on the mercy seat in heaven, the most holy place: to "draw near" to him is a sacerdotal act, common to all the saints, who are made priests to God; and includes the whole of divine worship, but more especially designs prayer; to which believers are encouraged from the liberty and boldness they may have and use, of entering into the holiest by the blood of Jesus; from Christ's being the new and living way into it, and from his being an high priest over the house of God: the manner of drawing near is, "with a true heart"; not with the body only, but with the heart principally; with a renewed one, one that is right with God, and is single and sincere, is hearty in its desires, and upright in its ends.

In full assurance of faith; in God, Father, Son, and Spirit; without faith, drawing near to God can neither be acceptable to him, nor of service to men; and a full assurance of faith, with respect to the object drawn nigh unto, and of the way unto him, and of acceptance with him through Christ, and of having the petitions put up to him granted, is very comfortable to believers, greatly becomes them, and is well pleasing to God:

having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience; which is blind, inactive, partial, stupid, or guilty; and it is the blood of Christ, which being sprinkled on it by the Spirit of God, purges it from dead works, cleanses it from all sin, and speaks peace and pardon to it; and such may draw near with freedom and boldness, with readiness and cheerfulness, and with reverence and godly fear:

and our bodies washed with pure water; not baptismal water, but the grace of the Spirit, which is often compared to water, in Scripture: the body, as well as soul, needs washing, and renewing; internal grace influences outward, actions, which adorn religion, and without which bodies cannot be presented holy to God. The allusion is to a custom of the Jews, who were obliged to wash their bodies, and make them clean, when they prayed. So Aben Ezra observes on Genesis 35:2

"that every Israelite, when he went to pray at a fixed place, was obliged to have , "his body pure", and his garments pure.''

So a priest might not enter into the court for service, though clean, until he had washed himself all over (z); and it is to sacerdotal acts that the reference is here.

(z) Misn. Yoma, c. 3. sect. 3. Vid. Philo de Victimas Offerent. p. 848.

Geneva Study Bible

{7} Let us draw near with a {i} true heart in full assurance of faith, having our {k} hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with {l} pure water.

(7) A most grave exhortation, in which he shows how the sacrifice of Christ may be applied to us: that is, by faith which also he describes by the consequence, that is, by sanctification of the Spirit, which causes us to hope in God, and to procure by all means possible one another's salvation, through the love that is in us one towards another.

(i) With no double and counterfeit heart, but with such a heart as is truly and indeed given to God.

(k) This is it which the Lord says, Be ye holy, for I am holy.

(l) With the grace of the Holy Spirit.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Hebrews 10:22. Προσερχώμεθα] let us then draw nigh, sc. to this ἅγια, Hebrews 10:19, and this ἱερεὺς μέγας, Hebrews 10:21, or, what is, as regards the matter itself, not different, to God; in such wise that προσερξώμεθα is here, like τοὺς προσερχομένους, Hebrews 10:1, used absolutely, or else receives its supplementation from the τοῦ θεοῦ immediately preceding. Comp. Hebrews 7:25, Hebrews 11:6; also Hebrews 4:16.

μετʼ ἀληθινῆς καρδίας] with true, i.e. sincere heart, so that we are really in earnest about the προσέρχεσθαι.

ἐν πληροφορίᾳ πίστεως] in firm conviction of faith, firm inner certainty of faith. Comp. Hebrews 6:11. Epexegesis of μετʼ ἀληθινῆς καρδίας, for the clearer defining of the contents thereof.

ἐῤῥαντισμένοι τὰς καρδίας ἀπὸ συνειδήσεως πονηρᾶς] inasmuch as our hearts have been sprinkled from an evil conscience, so that we have been delivered from the same (see Winer, Gramm., 7 Aufl. p. 577). Indication of the subjective qualification for the προσέρχεσθαι, while Hebrews 10:19-21 contains the objective qualification for the same. What is meant, is the justification of Christians through Christ’s bloody sacrificial death (Hebrews 9:14), after the analogy of the sprinkling with blood, whereby the first Levitical priests were consecrated and qualified to approach God. Comp. Exodus 29:21; Leviticus 8:30.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Hebrews 10:22. Being thus secure of an acceptable entrance προσερχώμεθα, “let us keep approaching,” that is, to God (Hebrews 7:25, Hebrews 11:6); a semi-technical term. μετὰ ἀληθινῆς καρδίας, “with a true heart” (cf. Isaiah 38:3), not with a merely bodily approach as if all were external and symbolic, but with that genuine engagement of the inner man which constitutes true worship. Chrysostom has χωρὶς ὑποκρίσεως. Davidson has “with fundamental genuineness”; but it is the genuineness which is elicited in presence of realities. καρδία is interpreted in 1 Peter 3:4, ὁ κρυπτὸς τῆς καρδίας ἄνθρωπος. It is the inevitable qualification of one who comes ἐν πληροφορίᾳ πίστεως, “in full assurance of faith,” believing not only that God is (Hebrews 11:6) but that a way to His favour and fellowship is opened by the Great Priest. To engender this full assurance has been the aim of the writer throughout the Epistle. ῥεραντισμένοι … λελουσμένοι. These participles express not conditions of approach to God which are yet to be achieved, but conditions already possessed, “our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our body washed with pure water”. Both participles must be construed with προσερχώμεθα. The obvious connection of “heart” and “body” forbids the attachment of λελουσμένοι to κατέχωμεν. To connect both participles with κατεχ. is equally impossible. “προσέρχεσθαι is a technical liturgical word, and sprinkling and washing are liturgical acts of preparation” (Delitzsch). Possibly the mention of sprinkling and washing is an echo of the injunctions of Exodus 29:4; Exodus 29:21; Exodus 30:20; Exodus 40:30, prescribing similar preparation for the priestly functions. Our heart or inner man by the application of the αἷμα ῥαντισμοῦ (cf. 1 Peter 1:2) is delivered from the consciousness of guilt (Hebrews 9:14); out body by the application of the purifying water of baptism becomes the symbol of complete purity. “Sprinkled with that blood which speaketh evermore in the heavenly sanctuary, and washed with baptismal water sacramentally impregnated with the same, we are at all times privileged to approach by a new and living way the heavenly temple, entering by faith its inner sanctuary, and there presenting ourselves in the presence of God” (Delitzsch). Cf. especially Psalm 51:6-7, and Plutarch, Isis and Osiris, c. 80 (p. 383) where ceremonial purifications are explained on the principle that the Pure and Undefiled must be worshipped by the pure in body and soul.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

22. Let us draw near] We have seen throughout that the notion of free access and approach to God is prominent in the writer’s mind.

in full assurance of faith] See Hebrews 6:11.

having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience] That is, having our souls—our inmost consciousness—sprinkled as it were with the blood of Christ (Hebrews 9:14, Hebrews 12:24, 1 Peter 1:2) and so cleansed from the consciousness of guilt. So the Jewish priests were purified from ceremonial defilement by being sprinkled with blood (Exodus 29:21; Leviticus 8:30).

and our bodies washed] The perfect participles in these clauses—“having been sprinkled,” “having been washed”—imply that it is to be done once and for ever. All Christians are priests to God (Revelation 1:5-6); and therefore Christian Priests, before being permitted to approach to God, must, like the Jewish Priests (Exodus 30:20), be sprinkled with the blood of Christ, and bathed in the water of baptism (Ephesians 5:26; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 3:21).

with pure water] “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean” (Ezekiel 36:25).

Bengel's Gnomen

Hebrews 10:22. Προσερχώμεθα, let us draw near) by that way.—ἀληθινῆς) which (heart) has thoroughly imbibed the truth, Hebrews 10:26.—πίστεως, of faith) Hope and love are added, Hebrews 10:23-24. These three remain. Faith and hope often stand on the same footing (have the same aspect or relation): wherefore they are here also closely united, and coalesce in the following passages: ch. Hebrews 11:1 [Hebrews 12:18, Hebrews 13:1], etc.—ἐῤῥαντισμένοι, being sprinkled) So ch. Hebrews 12:24, Hebrews 9:13; Hebrews 9:19; Hebrews 9:21; 1 Peter 1:2.—τὰς καρδίας, hearts) Both the hearts and the body, Hebrews 10:23, are cleansed. It is not necessary to supply κατὰ; for as it is said, διδάσκω τὸν υἱὸν, I teach my son, so, διδάσκομαι τὸν υἱὸν, I take care that my son should be taught, and so ῥαντίζομαι τὴν καρδίαν, λούομαι τὸ σῶμα, I take care that my heart be sprinkled and my body washed.—ἀπὸ, from) An abbreviated expression, to which the necessary word is easily supplied, sprinkled and (supply) delivered from an evil conscience.—συνειδήσεως, conscience) ch. Hebrews 9:9, note.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 22. - Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our body washed with pure water. "Let us draw near" (προσερχώμεθα) is a liturgical phrase, denoting the approach of the people, after ceremonial atonement, to the earthly sanctuary (cf. ver. 1, τοὺς προσερχομένους). We may now draw near to the very heavenly mercy-seat, without any sense of a bar to our doing so on the ground of consciousness of sin. In Christ we are to see accomplished all that is needed for atonement. But there are conditions also required in ourselves, expressed first by the "true heart," and the "fullness of faith," and then by the clauses that fellow. These clauses, like προσερχώμεθα have a liturgical basis - that of the blood-sprinkling (e.g. of the people with the blood of the covenant under Mount Sinai, Hebrews 9:19, and of the priests on their consecration, Leviticus 8:23) and of the ablutions before sacrificial service (Leviticus 8:6; Leviticus 16:4, 24; Exodus 30:39). Hence these two participial clauses are not to be separated from each other, and seem best to be both taken in connection with the preceding προσερχώμεθα. "Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience" means our having the inward consciousness of debarring sin removed through the blood of Christ; the "full assurance of faith" in the completed atonement, and the "true heart," being presupposed. The conjoined clause, καὶ λελουμένοι, etc., is capable also of being figuratively interpreted, in the sense that "our sinful bodies" have been "made clean," so as to be offered through life acceptably as "a living sacrifice," as well as "our souls washed through his most precious blood." And this may be taken as implied. But the terms body and water after hearts and blood certainly suggest a direct reference to baptism. And such definite allusion is in keeping with references elsewhere to the beginning of the Christian life (see Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16; Romans 6:3, 4; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:12; 1 Peter 3:21). The passage last referred to is apposite to that before us in that with an undoubted mention of baptism is conjoined "the answer of a good conscience toward God." Hebrews 10:22

Vincent's Word Studies

Let us draw near (προσερχώμεθα)

See on Hebrews 4:16.

With a true heart (μετὰ ἀληθινῆς καρδίας)

A right and genuine inward attitude toward God. For the phrase comp. lxx, Isaiah 38:3. N.T.o. For ἀληθινῆς see on John 1:9, and comp. Hebrews 8:2; Hebrews 9:24. A true heart is required to enter the true sanctuary. The phrase means more than in sincerity. Sincerity is included, but with it all that enters into a right attitude toward God as revealed in our Great High Priest, - gladness, freedom, enthusiasm, bold appropriation of all the privileges of sonship.

In full assurance of faith (ἐν πληροφορίᾳ πίστεως)

Full conviction engendered by faith. See on Hebrews 6:11. Faith is the basis of all right relation to God.

Sprinkled from an evil conscience (ῥεραντισμένοι - ἀπὸ συνειδήσεως πονηρᾶς)

This qualification for a right approach to God is stated typologically. As the priests were sprinkled with the sacrificial blood and washed with water before ministering, so do you who have now the privilege and standing of priests in approaching God, draw near, priestlike, as sharers in an economy which purges the conscience (Hebrews 9:14), having your consciences purged. Your own hearts must experience the effects of the great sacrifice of Christ, - pardon, moral renewal, deliverance from a legal spirit. On the priesthood of believers see 1 Peter 2:5, 1 Peter 2:9; Exodus 19:6; Isaiah 61:6. This idea is dominated in our epistle by that of Christ's priesthood; but it is not excluded, and is implied throughout. See Hebrews 13:15. For sprinkled, see on 1 Peter 1:2.

Bodies washed (λελουσμένοι τὸ σῶμα)

Also typological. Most, expositors refer to baptism. The most significant passage in that direction is 1 Peter 3:21; comp. Ephesians 5:26; Titus 3:5. It may be, though I doubt if the idea is emphasized. I incline, with Dr. Bruce, to think that it indicates generally the thoroughness of the cleansing process undergone by one who surrenders himself, soul, body, and spirit, to God.