Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Hebrews 10:9

"then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second." — Hebrews 10:9 (ASV)

The words that Christ spoke through the psalmist about doing God’s will are there for all time and express what Christ did. The verb “sets aside” (GK 359) means “takes away” and is used sometimes in the sense of taking away by killing, i.e., murdering; it is therefore a strong word that points to the total abolition of the former way. By contrast the second way is “established” or “made firm.” The way of the Levitical sacrifices and the way of the sacrifice of Christ are being set over against each other. These are not complementary systems that may exist side by side. The one excludes the other. No compromise is possible between them.