Hebrews 10:21 Study Bible: and having a great priest over the house of God,

◄ Hebrews 10:21 ►

and since we have a great priest over the house of God,

and since
This phrase serves as a continuation of the thought from the previous verse, indicating a logical progression. The Greek word "καὶ" (kai) is often used to connect ideas, suggesting that what follows is built upon what has been previously established. In the context of Hebrews, this conjunction ties the assurance of faith to the reality of Christ's priesthood, emphasizing the continuity of God's plan from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.

we have
The phrase "we have" (Greek: ἔχοντες, echontes) implies possession and assurance. It reflects the confidence believers can have in their relationship with God through Christ. This is not a future hope but a present reality, underscoring the immediate access and privilege Christians possess because of Jesus' mediating role.

a high priest
The term "high priest" (Greek: ἀρχιερέα, archierea) is central to the theology of Hebrews. In the Jewish tradition, the high priest was the mediator between God and the people, entering the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement. Jesus, as our high priest, surpasses the Levitical priesthood, offering a once-for-all sacrifice. His priesthood is eternal and perfect, fulfilling the requirements of the law and providing a new way to approach God.

over the house of God
The "house of God" (Greek: οἶκον τοῦ Θεοῦ, oikon tou Theou) refers to the spiritual household of faith, the community of believers. In the Old Testament, the house of God was the temple, the dwelling place of God's presence. In the New Covenant, the house of God is not a physical structure but the body of Christ, the church. Jesus, as the high priest, presides over this spiritual house, ensuring its sanctity and guiding its members. This phrase highlights the intimate relationship between Christ and His church, where He is both the foundation and the head.

Persons / Places / Events

1. High Priest
In the context of Hebrews, Jesus Christ is identified as the High Priest. This role is significant because it connects the Old Testament priesthood with the New Covenant, emphasizing Jesus' unique and eternal priesthood.

2. House of God
This term refers to the spiritual household of believers, the Church. It signifies the community of faith that Jesus oversees as the High Priest.

3. Hebrews
The letter is addressed to Jewish Christians who were familiar with the Old Testament laws and priesthood, providing them with a deeper understanding of Christ's fulfillment of these roles.

Teaching Points

Understanding Jesus as Our High Priest
Jesus' role as High Priest is central to our faith. He intercedes for us and provides a direct connection to God, unlike the temporary and imperfect priesthood of the Old Testament.

The Significance of the House of God
As members of the house of God, believers are called to live in unity and holiness, reflecting the character of Christ in their lives.

Confidence in Our Faith
Knowing that Jesus is our High Priest should give us confidence in our relationship with God. We can approach Him with boldness, knowing that our sins are forgiven.

Living as a Spiritual Community
The concept of the house of God emphasizes the importance of community. Believers are encouraged to support and encourage one another in their faith journey.

Perseverance in Faith
The assurance of having Jesus as our High Priest should motivate us to persevere in faith, even amidst trials and challenges.

Bible Study Questions

1. How does understanding Jesus as our High Priest change the way you approach God in prayer and worship?

2. In what ways can you contribute to building up the "house of God" in your local church community?

3. How does the role of Jesus as High Priest provide comfort and assurance in times of personal struggle or doubt?

4. What are some practical ways you can live out your identity as part of the spiritual house of God in your daily life?

5. How can the understanding of Jesus' priesthood help you encourage others in their faith, especially those who may be struggling?

Connections to Other Scriptures

Hebrews 4:14-16
This passage also speaks of Jesus as the great High Priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses, encouraging believers to approach God's throne with confidence.

1 Peter 2:5
This verse describes believers as a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, connecting the concept of the "house of God" to the community of believers.

Ephesians 2:19-22
Paul speaks of believers as members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone.

Sermons

A New and Living Way	J. C. Cumming, D. D.	Hebrews 10:19-22
A New and Living Way	R. W. Dale, LL. D.	Hebrews 10:19-22
Approaching God	D. Young	Hebrews 10:19-22
Entering into the Holiest	James Kidd, D. D.	Hebrews 10:19-22
Objective Religion Necessary	H. Bushnell, D. D.	Hebrews 10:19-22
The Christian's Access to the Holy Place	W. Jones	Hebrews 10:19-22
The Christian's Exalted Privilege	J. Burns, D. D.	Hebrews 10:19-22
The House of God and the Way to It	W. Pulsford, D. D.	Hebrews 10:19-22
The New and Living Way	G. Lawson.	Hebrews 10:19-22
The New and Living Way Opened by Jesus	F. Rendall, M. A.	Hebrews 10:19-22
The Priesthood of Christ	R. Watson.	Hebrews 10:19-22
The Rent Veil	C. H. Spurgeon.	Hebrews 10:19-22
The True Worshipper	J. W. Reeve, M. A.	Hebrews 10:19-22
The Way to God Should be Inquired About	Gideon Ouseley.	Hebrews 10:19-22

People

Hebrews, James

Places

Jerusalem

Topics

Authority, Priest

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Hebrews 10:21

7024 church, nature of

Hebrews 10:19-22

     1065   God, holiness of
     6511   salvation
     6636   drawing near to God
     7317   blood, of Christ
     7396   Most Holy Place
     7922   fellowship, with God
     8106   assurance, nature of
     8202   boldness
     8271   holiness, purpose

Hebrews 10:19-23

5914 optimism
8214 confidence, basis of

Library

July 17. "By one Offering He Hath Perfected Forever them that are Sanctified" (Heb. x. 14).
"By one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified" (Heb. x. 14). Are you missing what belongs to you? He has promised to sanctify you. He has promised sanctification for you by coming to you Himself and being made of God to you sanctification. Jesus is my sanctification. Having Him I have obedience, rest, patience and everything I need. He is alive forevermore. If you have Him nothing can be against you. Your temptations will not be against you; your bad temper will not be against …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Twenty-Eighth Day. The Way into the Holiest.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by the way which He dedicated, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh: and having a great Priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart, in fulness of faith.'--Heb. x. 19-22. When the High Priest once a year entered into the second tabernacle within the veil, it was, we are told in the Epistle to the Hebrews, 'the Holy Ghost signifying that the way into the …
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

Twenty-Sixth Day. Holiness and the Will of God.
This is the will of God, even your sanctification.'--1 Thess. iv. 3. 'Lo, I am come to do Thy will. By which will we have been sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.'--Heb. x. 9, 10. In the will of God we have the union of His Wisdom and Power. The Wisdom decides and declares what is to be: the Power secures the performance. The declarative will is only one side; its complement, the executive will, is the living energy in which everything good has its …
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

June the Fourteenth the Law in the Heart
"I will put My laws into their hearts." --HEBREWS x. 16-22. Everything depends on where we carry the law of the Lord. If it only rests in the memory, any vagrant care may snatch it away. The business of the day may wipe it out as a sponge erases a record from a slate. A thought is never secure until it has passed from the mind into the heart, and has become a desire, an aspiration, a passion. When the law of God is taken into the heart, it is no longer something merely remembered: it is something …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Provoking Each Other to Love and Good Works.
(New Year's Sermon.) TEXT: HEB. x. 24. "Let us consider one another, to provoke unto love and to good works." THIS day is usually regarded more as a secular and social than a religious holiday, and given up to the enjoyment of family and external relationships. But when we assemble here on this day, we surely do so in the belief that everything pleasant and joyful in our working and social life during the past year, for which we have had to thank God, had its source in nothing but the spiritual good …
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher

The Death of the Saviour the End of all Sacrifices.
(Good Friday.) TEXT: HEB. x. 8-12. DEEPLY as our feelings may be moved on a day such as this, deeply as our hearts may be affected with a sense of sin, and at the same time filled with thankfulness for the mercy from on high, that planned to save us by God not sparing His own Son, we can only be sure of having found the right and true use of the day, when we bring our thoughts and feelings to the test of Scripture. We find there a twofold treatment of the supremely important event which we commemorate …
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher

The Exercise of Mercy Optional with God.
ROMANS ix. 15.--"For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." This is a part of the description which God himself gave to Moses, of His own nature and attributes. The Hebrew legislator had said to Jehovah: "I beseech thee show me thy glory." He desired a clear understanding of the character of that Great Being, under whose guidance he was commissioned to lead the people of Israel into the promised land. God said to …
William G.T. Shedd—Sermons to the Natural Man

The Only Atoning Priest
I purpose, this morning, to handle the text thus. First, we will read, mark, and learn it; and then, secondly, we will ask God's grace that we may inwardly digest it. I. Come, then, first of all to THE READING, MARKING, AND LEARNING OF IT; and you will observe that in it there are three things very clearly stated. The atoning sacrifice of Jesus, our great High Priest, is set forth first by way of contrast; then its character is described; and, then, thirdly, its consequences are mentioned. Briefly …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 18: 1872

Christ Exalted
The Apostle shews here the superiority of Christ's sacrifice over that of every other priest. "Every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but this man," or priest--for the word "man" is not in the original "after he had offered one sacrifice for sins," had finished his work, and for ever, he "sat down." You see the superiority of Christ's sacrifice rests in this, that the priest offered continually, and after he had slaughtered …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

Perfection in Faith
I have been turning this text over, and over, and over in my mind, and praying about it, and looking into it, and seeking illumination from the Holy Spirit; but I was a long time before I could be clear about its exact meaning. It is very easy to select a meaning, and then to say, that is what the text means, and very easy also to look at something which lies upon the surface; but I am not quite so sure that after several hours of meditation any brother would be able to ascertain what is the Spirit's …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

Hebrews x. 26, 27
For if we sin wilfully, after that we have received the Knowledge of the Truth, there remained, no more Sacrifice for Sin: but a certain fearful looking for of Judgment, and fiery Indignation, which shall devour the Adversaries. I HAVE, in several Discourses, shewn you, from plain and uncontestible Passages of the New Testament, what those Terms and Conditions are, upon which Almighty God will finally pardon, accept, and justify, those professed Christians, who have been, in any Sense, or any Degree, …
Benjamin Hoadly—Several Discourses Concerning the Terms of Acceptance with God

The Inward Laws
I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them. Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.' (Hebrews x. 16, 17.) The beginnings of religion lie in the desire to have our sins forgiven, and to be enabled to avoid doing the wrong things again. It was so with David when, in the fifty-first Psalm, he not only cried, 'Have mercy upon me, O God, and blot out my transgressions', but 'Wash me, cleanse me from my sin'. Sin is a double evil. On the one hand, it creates …
T. H. Howard—Standards of Life and Service

Like one of Us.
"But a body Thou hast prepared Me."-- Heb. x. 5. The completion of the Old Testament did not finish the work that the Holy Spirit undertook for the whole Church. The Scripture may be the instrument whereby to act upon the consciousness of the sinner and to open his eyes to the beauty of the divine life, but it can not impart that life to the Church. Hence it is followed by another work of the Holy Spirit, viz., the preparation of the body of Christ. The well-known words of Psalm xl. 6, 7: "Sacrifice …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Getting Ready to Enter Canaan
GETTING READY TO ENTER CANAAN Can you tell me, please, the first step to take in obtaining the experience of entire sanctification? I have heard much about it, have heard many sermons on it, too; but the way to proceed is not yet plain to me, not so plain as I wish it were. Can't you tell me the first step, the second, third, and all the rest? My heart feels a hunger that seems unappeased, I have a longing that is unsatisfied; surely it is a deeper work I need! And so I plead, "Tell me the way." …
Robert Lee Berry—Adventures in the Land of Canaan

A Farewell
For I am long since weary of your storm Of carnage, and find, Hermod, in your life Something too much of war and broils which make Life one perpetual fight.--Matthew Arnold, Balder. What a long talk you have been having!' said Eutyches, when David and Philip came out of the study. 'Tell me all about it.' Well, first you told us all about St. Felix and the Bishop of Nola.' You witty fellow!' said Eutyches. Then you pulled my ears, for which you shall catch it.' It was less punishment than you deserved.' …
Frederic William Farrar—Gathering Clouds: A Tale of the Days of St. Chrysostom

The Roman Conflagration and the Neronian Persecution.
"And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder."--Apoc. 17:6. Literature. I. Tacitus: Annales, 1. XV., c. 38-44. Suetonius: Nero, chs. 16 and 38 (very brief). Sulpicius Severus: Hist. Sacra, 1. II., c. 41. He gives to the Neronian persecution a more general character. II. Ernest Renan: L'Antechrist. Paris, deuxième ed., 1873. Chs. VI. VIII, pp. 123 sqq. Also his Hibbert Lectures, delivered …
Philip Schaff—History of the Christian Church, Volume I

Brought Nigh
W. R. Heb. x. 19 No more veil! God bids me enter By the new and living way-- Not in trembling hope I venture, Boldly I His call obey; There, with Him, my God, I meet God upon the mercy-seat! In the robes of spotless whiteness, With the Blood of priceless worth, He has gone into that brightness, Christ rejected from the earth-- Christ accepted there on high, And in Him do I draw nigh. Oh the welcome I have found there, God in all His love made known! Oh the glory that surrounds there Those accepted …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

An Advance in the Exhortation.
"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the way which He dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh; and having a great Priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our body washed with pure water: let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not; for He is faithful that promised: and let us consider …
Thomas Charles Edwards—The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews

The Saints' Privilege and Profit;
OR, THE THRONE OF GRACE ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. The churches of Christ are very much indebted to the Rev. Charles Doe, for the preservation and publishing of this treatise. It formed one of the ten excellent manuscripts left by Bunyan at his decease, prepared for the press. Having treated on the nature of prayer in his searching work on 'praying with the spirit and with the understanding also,' in which he proves from the sacred scriptures that prayer cannot be merely read or said, but must …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Seventeenth Day. Holiness and Crucifixion.
For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.'--John xvii. 19. 'He said, Lo, I am come to do Thy will. In which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus once for all. For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.'--Heb. x. 9, 10, 14. It was in His High-priestly prayer, on His way to Gethsemane and Calvary, that Jesus thus spake to the Father: 'I sanctify myself.' He had not long before spoken …
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

Your Own Salvation
We have heard it said by hearers that they come to listen to us, and we talk to them upon subjects in which they have no interest. You will not be able to make this complaint to-day, for we shall speak only of "your own salvation;" and nothing can more concern you. It has sometimes been said that preachers frequently select very unpractical themes. No such objection can be raised to-day, for nothing can be more practical than this; nothing more needful than to urge you to see to "your own salvation." …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

A visit to the Harvest Field
Our subject, to-night, will involve three or four questions: How does the husbandman wait? What does he wait for? What is has encouragement? What are the benefits of his patient waiting? Our experience is similar to his. We are husbandmen, so we have to toil hard, and we have to wait long: then, the hope that cheers, the fruit that buds and blossoms, and verily, too, the profit of that struggle of faith and fear incident to waiting will all crop up as we proceed. I. First, then, HOW DOES THE HUSBANDMAN …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

Brought up from the Horrible Pit
I shall ask you, then, at this time, to observe our divine Lord when in His greatest trouble. Notice, first, our Lord's behavior--"I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry": then consider, secondly, our Lord deliverance, expressed by the phrase, "He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay," and so forth: then let us think, thirdly of the Lord's reward for it--"many shall see, and fear, and trust in the Lord":--that is His great end and object, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 28: 1882

The Rent Veil
THE DEATH of our Lord Jesus Christ was fitly surrounded by miracles; yet it is itself so much greater a wonder than all besides, that it as far exceeds them as the sun outshines the planets which surround it. It seems natural enough that the earth should quake, that tombs should be opened, and that the veil of the temple should be rent, when He who only hath immortality gives up the ghost. The more you think of the death of the Son of God, the more will you be amazed at it. As much as a miracle excels …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 34: 1888

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