Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Hebrews 10:14

"For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." — Hebrews 10:14 (ASV)

“Because” introduces the reason for the statement in v.13. Again the writer emphasizes that Christ has offered “one” offering that perfects the saints. So important is this for him that he comes back to this theme over and over. The writer does not say that Christ’s sacrifice perfects the people but that Christ does this. His salvation is essentially personal. We have seen a number of times that the author is fond of the idea of making “perfect” (GK 5457). He applies it to Christ and also to his people. The process of salvation takes people who are far from perfect and makes them fit to be in God’s presence forever. It is not temporary improvement that he is speaking of but improvement that is never ending.

As in v.10, the author uses the concept of sanctifying, or making holy (GK 39), to characterize the saved. The present tense in “those being made holy” poses a small problem. Some see it as timeless; others think of it as indicating a continuing process of adding to the number of the saved; still others claim that it refers to those who in the present are experiencing the process of being made holy. The last-mentioned view is not likely to be correct because, as we have noticed (see comment on v.10), the idea of sanctification as a continuing process does not seem to appear in Hebrews. But either of the other two views is possible. Those Christ saves are set apart forever for the service of God. The writer, then, is contemplating a “great salvation” (2:3), brought about by one magnificent offering that cannot and need not be repeated—an offering that is eternal in its efficacy and that makes perfect the people it sanctifies.