Salvation to the Uttermost¹

John Owen

Hebrews 7:23-25. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: but this [Man] because He continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.

And they truly were many priests. By the appointment of God there were many priests; it is the high priest only – Aaron and his successors – of whom the Apostle speaks, and it is with respect to their succession one to another that he affirms they were “many”.

Because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death. In order to show the people of Israel the nature of the priesthood, and to manifest that the everlasting Priest was yet to come, God commanded Aaron to die in the sight of all the congregation. There is such a necessity for the continual administration of the sacerdotal office, in behalf of the Church, that the interruption of it by the death of the priests was an argument of the weakness of the priesthood.

But this Man because He continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. The sole reason the Apostle here insists on – why the Levitical priests were many – is that they were forbidden by death to continue. This is sufficient therefore to prove the perpetuity of the priesthood of Christ, that He “continueth ever”. Thus His administration of it is perpetual and uninterrupted. He always remained so from the first moment He was a Priest, without interruption or intermission. It follows then that He has an “unchangeable priesthood”, a priesthood that does not pass from one to another.

Observations: 1. The perpetuity of the priesthood of Christ depends on His own perpetual life.

1. The perpetuity of His priesthood, as unchangeably exercised in His own Person, is a principal part of the glory of that office.

2. The addition of sacrificing priests,² as substitutes unto Christ in the discharge of His office, destroys His priesthood as to its principal eminence above that of the Levitical priesthood.

¹Here are an exposition of, and observations on, Hebrews 7:23-25, taken with editing from “An Abridgement”, by M J Tryon, of Owen’s Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews.

²Owen is referring to Roman Catholic priests, who blasphemously claim to offer Christ up repeatedly as if His sacrifice on Calvary was insufficient, in spite of, for example, the statement in Hebrews 9:26: “Once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself”.

Wherefore He is able to save them to the uttermost. The Apostle now applies all that he has said concerning the excellence of the priesthood of Christ to encourage the faith and hope of them that endeavour to go to God by Him. What is said to be in this Priest is power and ability – and ability of office, not of nature, is intended. The Apostle does not press His ability absolutely, but as the High Priest of His Church. The offices of King, Prophet and Priest, as united in Christ, did perfectly answer all that belongs to the redemption, sanctification, protection and salvation of the Church. “He is able to save”; a salvation supernatural, spiritual, eternal is meant by this word save. This is to save from sin, with all its consequent misery in the curse of the law and the wrath to come; and to save to an estate of present grace and a right to future blessedness, with the enjoyment of it in the appointed time.

This salvation is called “great” and “eternal”. It is good to secure this first ground of evangelical faith – that the Lord Christ, as vested with His offices, is “able to save” us. He is able to save to the “uttermost”. This may respect the perfection of His work, or its duration. He is able to save completely as to all parts, fully as to all causes, and for ever in duration.

That come unto God by Him. To come to God is to believe. Believing is a coming to God; unbelief is a refusal to come unto Him. “Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life.” Our access to God in worship is coming unto Him, drawing nigh unto God. We come unto God “by Him”; as a High Priest, as it is at large explained by the Apostle (Heb 10:19-22). To come “by Him” is to come in obedience to His authority, with faith in His Person and mediation.

Seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. It is a matter of strong consolation to the Church that Christ lives in heaven for His people. He lives for ever to send the Holy Spirit to the Church; on this depends all saving light to understand the Word of God, all habitual grace, all supplies of actual grace, all spiritual gifts, and all comfort and consolation. “He ever liveth to make intercession.” This intercession was typified under the Old Testament by the living fire that was continually burning on the altar; by the daily sacrifice, morning and evening, for the people; and by the incense that was burned in the sanctuary. The actual intercession of Christ in heaven is a fundamental article of our faith, and a principal foundation of the consolation of the Church. This intercession of Christ is what becomes Him who sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high. In John 17 He gives us the best representation of His present intercession that we are able to comprehend.

It must be granted that there is no use for words in the immediate presence of God; here we need words for many reasons, but in the glorious presence

of God we shall not need words in order to express ourselves to Him in prayer or praise. The virtue and efficacy of the intercession of Christ flows from His one sacrifice of Himself. The safest conception that we can form of His intercession is His continual appearance for His people in the presence of God, where by virtue of His office as a “High Priest over the house of God” He doth ever represent the efficacy of His sacrifice – accompanied by tender care, love, and desires for the welfare, supply, deliverance and salvation of the Church.

Three things concur with this: (1.) The presentation of His Person before the throne of God on their behalf. This renders it a priestly act; His appearance in Person for them is required. (2.) The representation of His death, oblation and sacrifice for them, which gives life, power and efficacy unto His intercession. He appears “in the midst of the throne” as “a Lamb as it had been slain” Both these are required to make His intercession a priestly act. But (3.) There is moreover a putting up, a requesting, and an offering unto God of His desires and will for the Church, attended with care, love and compassion, without which He could not be said to make intercession.

Observations: 1. In His intercession He has respect to every individual believer and all their special occasions; “if any man sin, we have an Advocate”.

1. His intercession has respect to the application of all the fruits, effects, and benefits of His whole mediation to the Church, whereby the continual application of all the benefits of His death, and all the effects of the promises of the covenant, shall be communicated to us, to His praise and glory. But I do not know what belongs to the manner of the transaction of these things in heaven.

2. So great and glorious is the work of saving believers unto the utmost, that it is necessary that the Lord Christ should lead a mediatory life in heaven for perfecting and accomplishing it. The sure foundation of our salvation is laid in His death and resurrection. The security of it rests upon the unchangeable love, care and power of Jesus Christ gloriously to accomplish the work which He had undertaken. For had He left that work when He left the earth, it had never been finished, for great was that part of the work which yet remained to be perfected.

3. Neither could the remainder of the work be committed unto any other hand. Who can express the opposition that continues to be made unto this work of completing the salvation of believers? What power is able to conflict and conquer the remaining strength of sin, the opposition of Satan and the world? God alone knows how great is the work of saving sinners to the utmost; He alone knows how it may be perfected unto His own glory. He saw that the continual intercession of Christ was needful and expedient unto

the salvation of the Church and His own glory. The good Lord help me to believe and adore the mystery of it.