John Calvin Commentary Hebrews 13:9

"Be not carried away by divers and strange teachings: for it is good that the heart be established by grace; not by meats, wherein they that occupied themselves were not profited." — Hebrews 13:9 (ASV)

Diverse doctrines, etc. He concludes that we ought not to fluctuate, since the truth of Christ, in which we ought to stand firm, remains fixed and unchangeable. And undoubtedly, variety of opinions, every kind of superstition, all monstrous errors, in a word, all corruptions in religion, arise from this: that men do not abide in Christ alone; for it is not in vain that Paul teaches us that Christ is given to us by God to be our wisdom.

The meaning of this passage, then, is that for the truth of God to remain firm in us, we must acquiesce in Christ alone. We therefore conclude that all who are ignorant of Christ are exposed to all the delusions of Satan; for apart from him there is no stability of faith, but innumerable tossings here and there. Wonderful then is the acuteness of the Papists, who have contrived an entirely contrary remedy for driving away errors, even by extinguishing or burying the knowledge of Christ! But let this warning of the Holy Spirit be fixed in our hearts, that we shall never be beyond the reach of danger unless we cleave to Christ.

Now the doctrines which lead us away from Christ, he says, are diverse or various, because there is no other simple and unmixed truth but the knowledge of Christ; and he calls them also strange or foreign, because whatever is apart from Christ is not regarded by God as his own. And by this we are also reminded how we are to proceed, if we would make proper progress in the Scripture, for whoever does not take a straight course to Christ goes after strange doctrines. The Apostle further intimates that the Church of God will always have to contend with strange doctrines and that there is no other means of guarding against them than by being fortified with the pure knowledge of Christ.

For it is a good thing, etc. He now comes from a general principle to a particular case. The Jews, for instance, as it is well known, were superstitious as to distinctions in meats; and from this arose many disputes and discords; and this was one of the strange doctrines which proceeded from their ignorance of Christ. Having then previously grounded our faith on Christ, he now says that the observance of meats does not conduce to our salvation and true holiness. As he sets grace in opposition to meats, I do not doubt that by grace he means the spiritual worship of God and regeneration. In saying that the heart may be established, he alludes to the word, carried about, as if to say, “It is the spiritual grace of God, and not the observance of meats, that will truly establish us.”

Which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. It is uncertain to whom he here refers; for the fathers who lived under the Law undoubtedly had a useful training, and a part of it was the distinction as to meats. It seems then that this is to be understood as referring rather to the superstitious, who, after the Gospel had been revealed, still perversely adhered to the old ceremonies.

At the same time, were we judiciously to explain the words as applied to the fathers, there would be no inconsistency; it was indeed profitable for them to undergo the yoke laid on them by the Lord, and to continue obediently under the common discipline of the godly and of the whole Church; but the Apostle means that abstinence from meats was in itself of no avail. And undoubtedly, it is to be regarded as nothing, except as an elementary instruction at the time when God’s people were like children as to their external discipline. To be occupied in meats is to be taken as having a regard to them, so as to make a distinction between clean and unclean. But what he says of meats may be extended to the other rites of the Law.