John Calvin Commentary Hebrews 4:16

"Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help [us] in time of need." — Hebrews 4:16 (ASV)

Let us therefore come boldly, or, with confidence, etc. He draws this conclusion—that access to God is open to all who come to Him relying on Christ the Mediator; indeed, he exhorts the faithful to venture without any hesitation to present themselves before God. And the chief benefit of divine teaching is a sure confidence in calling on God, as, on the other hand, the whole of religion falls to the ground and is lost when this certainty is taken away from consciences.

It is therefore obvious to conclude that under the Papacy the light of the Gospel is extinguished, for miserable people are instructed to doubt whether God is favorable to them or is angry with them. They indeed say that God is to be sought; but the way by which it is possible to come to Him is not shown, and the gate by which alone people can enter is barred. They confess in words that Christ is a Mediator, but in reality they make the power of His priesthood ineffective and deprive Him of His honor.

For we must hold this principle—that Christ is not really known as a Mediator unless all doubt about our access to God is removed. Otherwise, the conclusion drawn here would not stand: “We have a high priest Who is willing to help us; therefore we may come boldly and without any hesitation to the throne of grace.” And if we were indeed fully persuaded that Christ is of His own accord extending His hand to us, who of us would not come in perfect confidence? Then what I said is true: that its power is taken away from Christ’s priesthood whenever people have doubts and are anxiously seeking for mediators, as though that One were not sufficient, in whose patronage all those who really trust, as the Apostle here directs them, have the assurance that their prayers are heard.

The basis of this assurance is that the throne of God is not arrayed in naked majesty to overwhelm us, but is adorned with a new name, even that of grace, which should always be remembered whenever we shun the presence of God. For the glory of God, when we contemplate it alone, can produce no other effect than to fill us with despair; so awful is His throne. The Apostle, then, so that he might remedy our lack of confidence and free our minds from all fear and trembling, adorns it with “grace” and gives it a name which can allure us by its sweetness, as though he had said, “Since God has affixed to His throne, as it were, the banner of ‘grace’ and of His paternal love towards us, there are no reasons why His majesty should drive us away.”

The meaning of the whole is that we are to call upon God without fear, since we know that He is favorable to us, and that this can be done is due to the benefit conferred on us by Christ, as we find from Ephesians 3:12. For when Christ receives us under His protection and patronage, He covers with His goodness the majesty of God, which would otherwise be terrible to us, so that nothing appears there but grace and paternal favor.

That we may obtain mercy, etc. This is not added without great reason; it is for the purpose of encouraging, as it were by name, those who feel the need of mercy, lest anyone should be cast down by the sense of their misery and close up their way by their own lack of confidence. This expression, that we may obtain mercy, contains especially this most delightful truth: that all who, relying on the advocacy of Christ, pray to God, are certain to obtain mercy. Yet on the other hand, the Apostle indirectly, or by implication, issues a threat to all who do not take this way, and intimates that God will be inexorable to them, because they disregard the only true way of being reconciled to Him.

He adds, To help in time of need, or, for a seasonable help; that is, if we desire to obtain all things necessary for our salvation. Now, this seasonableness refers to the time of calling, according to those words of Isaiah, which Paul adapts to the preaching of the Gospel, Behold, now is the accepted time, etc. (Isaiah 49:8; 2 Corinthians 6:2). For the Apostle refers to that “today,” during which God speaks to us. If we defer hearing until tomorrow, when God is speaking to us today, the unseasonable night will come, when what can now be done can no longer be done; and we shall knock in vain when the door is closed.