The blood of Christ, according to His Word, meets perfectly every lack spoken of. If it is approach to God, this is perfect; if redemption, for securing God’s rights also, it is eternal; and now our conscience is brought up to the mark suitably for drawing near to God and for resting upon this eternal redemption. Consequently, here follows the practical effect of it: “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb. 9:1414How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14)).
It is the only place in Scripture where “eternal” is applied to the Holy Spirit, and it is introduced here as the qualifying term of the Spirit, in order to show the absolute way for everlasting issues in which the offering was then presented to God: a Man, but with this truly divine character of never-waning value. Certainly, if there is anything which marks the difference between God and the creature, it is this quality of “eternal.” Here a man on earth presents Himself in this wonderful character.
Again, He “offered” Himself without spot to God. It is not the word for bearing our sins, strictly speaking. There were two parts always in sacrifice: the one is the victim simply, presented as an offering; the other is the sins laid upon the victim. Now this word expresses only the former element.
Offering Himself “through the eternal Spirit” was the perfection of our Lord in presenting Himself. He never acted simply from His own Person, but in the power of the Spirit of God, from the time when, to commence His public ministry, He received the Holy Spirit, for Scripture is express that our Lord did receive and was anointed by the Holy Spirit. It was not only that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in coming into the world, but He was sealed by the Holy Spirit, as we know, at the time of His baptism. He is thenceforward the dependent Man; whatever He did, all was done in virtue of the Spirit, even this act of His offering Himself up as a spotless victim. The aim and the effect are eternal redemption.
W. Kelly (adapted)