the reference to this initial act of Christ's High-priestly sacrifice. This act He accomplished dia; pneuvmato" aijwnivou . In virtue of His inseparable and unchangeable Divine Nature Christ was Priest while He was victim also. He offered Himself, living through death and in death. Epiphanius puts together the different aspects of Christ's work in His sacrifice of Himself in a striking passage: aujto;" iJerei'on, aujto;" qu'ma, aujto;" iJereuv", aujto;" qusiasthvrion, aujto;" qeov", aujto;" a[nqrwpo", aujto;" basileuv", aujto;" ajrciereuv", aujto;" provbaton, aujto;" ajrnivon, ta; pavnta ejn pa'sin uJpe;r hJmw'n genovmeno", i{na hJmi'n zwh; kata; pavnta trovpon gevnhtai ...( Haer. lv. § 4, 471 f.).
The absence of the article from pneu'ma aijwvnion marks the spirit here as a power possessed by Christ, His Spirit. It could not be said of any man absolutely that his spirit is eternal; but Christ's Spirit is in virtue of His Divine Personality eternal. By this, while truly man, He remained in unbroken connexion with God. Through this He had the power of an indissoluble life (Heb. 7:16).
The truth will become clearer if we go yet a step further. In men the spirit is, as has been said, that by which they are capable of connexion with God. But in Christ, who did not cease to be the Son of God by becoming man, the spirit is to be regarded as the seat of His Divine Personality in His human Nature. So far the pneu'ma aijwvnion included the limited pneu'ma of the Lord's humanity. This pneu'ma , having its own proper existence, was in perfect harmony with the pneu'ma aijwvnion . (Comp. ep. Barn. 7.3 uJpe;r tw'n hJmetevrwn aJmartiw'n e[mellen to; skeu'o" tou' pneuvmato" prosfevrein qusivan .)
This eternal spirit obtained complete sovereignty at the Resurrection (1 Cor. 15:45); and it is probably by reference to this fact that the difficult passage 2 Cor. 3:17 ff. is to be explained. See also 1 Pet. 3:18.
Another more obvious thought lies in the phrase. Other sacrifices were wrought by the hand, being outward acts of flesh, but this was wrought by that which is highest in man's nature whereby he holds fellowship with God, being a truly spiritual act. Chrysostom indicates this thought under another aspect: to; dia; pneuvmato" aJgivou (so he reads) dhloi' o{ti ouj dia; puro;" proshvnektai oujde; dij a[llwn tinw'n , though this is but a small part of the meaning. Comp. Euthymius: diav tino" puro;" wJlokauvtwsen eJauto;n tw'/ qew'/ kai; patri; a[mwmon kallievrhma .
For eJaut. pro". tw'/ qew'/ , compare Heb. 7:27 note, vv. 25, 28 ( prosenecqeiv" ). See also Heb. 11:4; John 16:2.
The epithet a[mwmon describes Christ as a perfect victim. That which was required outwardly in the Levitical victims was satisfied absolutely by Christ.
The word a[mwmo" is used technically in this sense in the LXX. (e.g., Ex.
29:1 : ymiT; , H9459). Comp. Philo de agric. § 29 (1.320 M.); de merc. mer. § 1
(2.265 M.)
Dei' dh; to;n mevllonta quvein skevptesqai mh; eij to; iJerei'on a[mwmon, ajllj eij hJ diavnoia oJlovklhro" aujtw'/ kai; pantelh;" kaqevsthke
. The connexion in which it stands shews that it refers here to the conditions and issue of the Lord's earthly life.
kaqariei'
...
qew'/ zw'nti
] (
shall
)
cleanse our (your) conscience from dead works to the end that we (ye) may serve a living God.
Vulg.
emundabit conscientiam vestram ab operibus mortuis ad serviendum Deo viventi.
The action of the blood of Christ is not to work any outward change but to