Access to God (Heb. 10:19–23. (118)
God desireth truth in the inward parts, and therefore, “Son, give Me thine heart” Prov. 23:26. There must be “a true heart”: a sincere, genuine, honest desire and determination to render unto Him that which is His due. Beautiful language designed for the ears of men, or emotional earnestness, which is only for effect, does not deceive God. “God is spirit; and they that worship Him, must worship in spirit and in truth” Jn 4:24.
- “In full assurance of faith”: which means, without doubting or wavering, and with unshaken confidence—not in myself, nor in my faith, but in the merits of Christ, to draw near unto the thrice holy God. Eph. 3:12, Jas. 1:6. 1Jn. 3:19, 21, 22. “Full assurance of faith” points to the heart resting and relying upon the absolute sufficiency of the blood of Christ which was shed for my sins, and the efficacy of His present intercession to maintain my standing before God. Faith looks away from self, and eyes the great Priest, who takes my feeble praise or petitions, and purifying and perfuming them with His own sweet incense Rev. 8:3-5. But let not Satan deter any timid child of God from drawing near unto Him because fearful that he neither possesses a “true heart” or “full assurance of faith.” No, then let him earnestly come into the throne of grace for them.
- “Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” Here we have a description of the characters of those who are qualified or fitted to enter the Holiest. The individual must have been both justified and sanctified. Here those two Divine blessings are referred to under the typical terms which obtained during the old covenant. “Having your hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience.”12:24, Num: 19:18, 19, Ez. 36:25, 1Pet. 1, 2.The Jewish cleansing or “sprinkling” with blood related only to that which was eternal, and could not make the conscience perfect Heb. 9:9; but the sacrifice of Christ was designed to give peace to the troubled mind and confidence before God. An “evil conscience” is one that accuses of guilt and oppresses because of unpardoned sin. It is by the exercise of faith in the sufficiency of the atoning blood of Christ—the Spirit applying experimentally its efficacious virtue, the conscience is purged. “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God.” We are freed from a sense of condemnation, and the troubled heart rests in Christ, 1Jn. 3:20. Pink Arthur W
- “And our bodies washed with pure water.” Eze. 16:9; 36:25, Jn. 3:5; 13:8–10, Eph. 5:26. This figurative language is an allusion to the cleansing of the priests when they were consecrated to the service of God Ex. 29:4. The antitypical fulfillment of this is defined in Titus 3:5 as “the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” But here the emphasis is thrown on the outward effects of regeneration upon the daily life of the believer. We need both an internal and an external purification; therefore, are we exhorted, “let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” 2Cor. 7:1, Rom. 12:1; 1Cor. 6:16, 20.
The first reference of the 22nd verse refers to the cleansing of the conscience and the washing of the body be to the initial experience of the Christian at his new birth, yet they are by no means to be limited thereto. There is a constant cleansing needed, if we are to consciously draw near to the holy God. Daily do we need to confess our sins, that we may be daily pardoned and “cleansed from all unrighteousness” 1Jn. 1:9. So too our walk needs to be incessantly washed with the water of the Word Jn. 13. The Levitical priests were not only washed at the time of induction into their holy office but were required to wash their hands and feet every time they entered the sacred sanctuary Ex. 30:19, 20. “Due preparation, by fresh applications of our souls unto the efficacy of the blood of Christ for the purification of our hearts, that we may be meet to draw nigh to God, is required of us…” (John Owen).
