John Calvin Commentary Hebrews 10:32

"But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were enlightened, ye endured a great conflict of sufferings;" — Hebrews 10:32 (ASV)

But call to remembrance, etc. To stimulate them and rouse their eagerness to go forward, he reminds them of the evidences of piety they had previously shown. For it is a shameful thing to begin well and to faint in the middle of our course, and still more shameful to regress after having made great progress. The remembrance then of past warfare, if it was carried on faithfully and diligently under the banner of Christ, is ultimately useful to us—not as an excuse for laziness, as if we had already served our time, but to make us more active in finishing the remaining part of our course. For Christ has not enlisted us on the condition that after a few years we should ask for a discharge like soldiers who have served their time, but that we should pursue our warfare even to the end.

He further strengthens his exhortation by saying that they had already performed great exploits when they were still new recruits. It would then be more shameful for them if they now fainted after having been long tested. For the word enlightened is to be limited to the time when they first enlisted under Christ, as if he had said, “As soon as you were initiated into the faith of Christ, you underwent hard and arduous contests; now practice should have made you stronger, so as to become more courageous.” However, he also reminds them at the same time that it was through God’s favor that they believed, and not through their own strength. They were enlightened when immersed in darkness and without eyes to see, unless light from above had shone upon them. Therefore, whenever those things which we have done or suffered for Christ come to our minds, let them be to us as goads to stir us on to higher attainments.