In a majestic passage on
encouraging one another, the writer of Hebrews
brings us to the last warning passage in Hebrews
10:26-31. It is similar to the one in 6:4-8.
What are the consequences
of rejecting Jesus Christ?
"For if we go on sinning
willfully after receiving the knowledge of the
truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the
fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.
Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies
without mercy on the testimony of two or three
witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think
he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son
of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the
covenant by which he was sanctified, and has
insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who
said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.' And again,
'The Lord will judge His people.' It is a terrifying
thing to fall into the hands of the living God"
(Hebrews 10:26-31, NASB95). Unless otherwise noted
all Scripture quotations are from New American
Standard bible, 1995 Update.
Jesus declared, "I am
the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes
to the Father but through Me" (John 14:6). And the
apostle Peter finished a powerful sermon on the
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ saying,
"There is salvation in no one else; for there is no
other name under heaven that has been given among
men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
The death of Jesus Christ
is the all-sufficient payment for sin, and if a
person rejects it for whatever reason there is only
the judgment in the end.
In contrast to the
Christian's perseverance in the previous paragraph,
the author now takes a serious look at apostasy.
Here is a strong warning against rejecting the
truths of God's atoning sacrifice by Christ.
God is the God of
Grace
The writer of Hebrews
believed Christians can have full assurance of their
salvation because they rest their faith in the
perfect atoning sacrifice of Christ.
The book of Hebrews
teaches us about the God of grace. Because of what
Christ has accomplished for us on the cross, and His
presence before the throne of God in heaven as our
high priest we can come boldly before His throne of
grace. We have access into the presence of God to
offer praise to Him for our salvation, and in our
time of need. This whole section of Hebrews
(7:1-10:18) has been about the saving grace of God,
the atoning sacrifice of Christ and His priesthood.
We have access to God based upon the blood of Jesus
(9:12, 14; 10:19, 29; 12:24; 13:12, 20). Jesus'
death was an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Christians are participants of the new covenant with
God based on the death of Jesus. Hebrews places
great stress upon this new covenant as opposed to
the old covenant under Moses.
The author of Hebrews
reminds us of 1 John 5:11-13. "And the testimony is
this, that God has given us eternal life, and this
life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life;
he who does not have the Son of God does not have
the life. These things I have written to you who
believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you
may know that you have eternal life" (1 John
5:11-13).
There is coming a day
when we must each give an account of ourselves to
the Lord God. "Not forsaking our own assembling
together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging
one another; and all the more as you see the day
drawing near. . . . For yet in a very little while,
He who is coming will come, and will not delay"
(Hebrews 10:25, 37).
The readers of Hebrews
had received the knowledge of the gospel. There is
no hint of any deficiency in their knowledge. We
will assume as in the other warning passages these
readers understand these truths.
God is Holy
This warning passage
echoes the previous passages.
"For if we go on sinning
willfully after receiving the knowledge of the
truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the
fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries"
(Hebrews 10:26-27).
"Sinning willfully"
catches our attention immediately. The present tense
prevents us from identifying this as isolated acts
of sin. Other passages of Scripture clearly teach
there is forgiveness for sin for Christians who sin.
"If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet
walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the
truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is
in the Light, we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all
sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving
ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess
our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us
our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a
liar and His word is not in us" (1 John 1:6-10).
"My little children, I am writing these things to
you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we
have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for
our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those
of the whole world" (1 John 2:1-2). "Brethren,
even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who
are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of
gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that
you too will not be tempted" (Galatians 6:1). Christ
is our great high priest who is interceding for
believers who sin (Heb. 2:17-18; 4:15-16).
Since the Scriptures do
not contradict themselves, in this context the
sinning referred to in verse 26 is continual,
willful, voluntarily and deliberately intentional.
In this context it is the once-for-all rejection of
the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for sin. For this
reason we are told there is no sacrifice available
for this willful rejection of Christ. Verse 25 also
strengthens this interpretation. There is simply no
other place to go for cleansing for sin. Jesus alone
paid the full price for our redemption. This would
especially be true of Jewish people who were tempted
to go back to the Temple rituals. They were
departing from the living God by abandoning the
atoning sacrifice of Christ. The "willful sinning"
is an apostasy from the Christian faith. It is a
willful rejection of Christ.
If a person willfully
goes on rejecting Christ the only prospect is
nothing left but "a terrifying expectation of
judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume
the adversaries" (vv. 26-27). It is an eternal
judgment that awaits those who reject Christ.
God is a God of
vengeance. God hates sin, and therefore must judge
the sinner. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay," is a
truth we must accept if we accept the truth that God
is holy. "The Lord will judge His people."
I have observed that most
people don't want to accept the fact that God is a
holy God because they don't like the idea of
judgment and wrath of God. Salad bar theology is
unrealistic. We do not have the privilege of picking
and choosing what we want to believe and reject what
is inconvenient or not appealing. A lot of
motivational preaching in our day tells people what
they want to hear, but has no gospel at all. It
appeals to the flesh and worldly-minded Christians.
It is a pure self-help pop-psychology program of a
gospel of felt needs, but void of Biblical theology.
It is lacking in balanced truth.
God is just; He does
forgive sins; He does turn away His wrath based upon
the sacrifice of Christ. But He does it on His
terms, not ours.
God's wrath
"It is a terrifying thing
to fall into the hands of the living God." We cannot
escape the truth in this great passage that divine
judgment and the wrath of God are real.
It is "a terrifying
expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which
will consume the adversaries" (Hebrews 10:27). It is
a just act of a righteous judge, and is therefore
judgment that is frightful in itself. It is a
terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the
living God. It is a judicial act standing before a
righteous God. His wrath is seen as "the fury of a
fire," literally it is "a zeal of fire" or "zeal
(furry) of fire." It is the holy fire of God's
presence. It is the picture of the fiery passion of
God against all sin. This fire is described as
consuming the adversaries.
The truth of the gospel
of Jesus Christ should cause us to tremble at the
power and the wrath and judgment of God. The wrath
of God is a raging fire of holy righteous
indignation and anger at sin.
It would be bad enough
for a Jewish person to reject the covenant of God
and suffer the punishment according to the Law of
Moses (Deut. 17:2-7). But here the author speaks of
those who trample under foot the blood of the new
covenant, the blood of the Son of God. How far worse
it would be to reject the Son of God. This
individual is treating the blood of Jesus as
something common, just like the blood of a
malefactor who died with Jesus on the cross. Such a
person considered the blood of Jesus cheap, and not
the once-for-all sacrifice for sin. He considered it
as unclean. This would be to treat the death of
Christ as blasphemy.
"Anyone who has set aside
the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony
of two or three witnesses" (Hebrews 10:28).
Those who rejected the Law of Moses were put to
death. Since that was true, "How much severer
punishment do you think he will deserve who has
trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded
as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was
sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?"
(Hebrews 10:29)
Listen to the warnings in
Hebrews of the day drawing near. . . terrifying
expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which
will consume the adversaries. . . severe punishment.
. . vengeance is mine, I will repay. . . the Lord
will judge His people. It is a terrifying thing to
fall into the hands of the living God.
That is serious stuff. If
you are a true believer in Jesus Christ it makes you
want to do business with God now, not later. It
brings conviction of the soul to make sure all
things are right with Him.
Sin is what God is
angry about.
When is God a consuming
fire?
The Bible does not teach
annihilation.
"How much severer
punishment do you think he will deserve who has
trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded
as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was
sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?
For we know Him who said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will
repay.' And again, 'The Lord will judge His people.'
It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of
the living God" (Hebrews 10:29-31).
It will be a dreadful,
terrifying day of judgment for the sinner unless he
has been forgiven by faith in Christ.
For whom is there no
longer any sacrifice for sin?
Let's go back to verse
26. It is "a terrifying expectation of judgment and
the fury of a fire which will consume the
adversaries" (Hebrews 10:27). There is a terrifying
expectation of judgment if we reject God's truth.
The whole book of Hebrews has presented only two
options. God has provided one perfect sacrifice for
our sins in the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
If we accept that sacrifice by faith God will
cleanse, forgive and pardon us. The other option is
if we reject His offer of grace through faith in
Christ we will face the terrifying judgment of God.
There are no other options. God has made the perfect
provision for escaping His righteous wrath. Don't
blame God if you choose the other option. God has
provided for the believer what we could never
provide for ourselves. He sent His own Son to die in
our place and therefore turn away the wrath of God.
The wrath of God has been propitiated by the
sacrifice of Christ. God provided that sacrifice.
Sinful man did not offer the propitiation. God did.
The wages of sin were paid in full on our behalf.
We do not have the
privilege of rejecting the wrath of God because we
want a loving, friendly deity. If there is no wrath
to escape, there is no gospel. Why should God go to
the extreme of sending His Son to die on the cross
if there was no need for it?
Christianity is no
fairytale. It is divine truth; it is the revelation
of God to sinful man. That truth includes the fact
of sin, the holiness of God, His judicial wrath, and
the atoning sacrifice of Christ for the believer.
God is a loving God of grace, but He is also a holy
God. You cannot have one without the other. Because
He is loving He has made a way to escape His wrath.
That is the good news of Jesus Christ.
That leads us to the
question for whom is there no longer any sacrifice
for sin? Of whom is the author of Hebrews speaking?
Who are these people?
They have rejected the
person of the Son of God, His work on the cross, and
the person of the Holy Spirit.
They are individuals who
go on sinning (v. 26). Note present tense in the
Greek. They go on sinning willfully. The writer of
Hebrews does not have in mind a particular kind of
sin, but the willingness to sin against the grace of
God. It is an attitude of contempt for the salvation
provided by the death and resurrection of Christ.
They have permanently repudiated God's provision for
atonement for sin. The sacrifice for sin is once for
all rejected by this person. The only sacrifice that
will deal with sin has been rejected, and there is
no other sacrifice that can atone for sin. With this
rejection there is no other name given under heaven
whereby he can be saved. He has rejected the only
means of salvation.
They are also described
as God's "adversaries" (v. 27). The wrath of God is
focused against these adversaries (hupenantios)
meaning "opposed, contrary, hostile." It will
consume them. They have rejected the grace of God,
and have become God opponents.
In verse 29 the worst
thing possible is sternly stated: they have trampled
under foot the Son of God. They very one who died as
their substitute on the cross has been treated in
the most horrible manner. They have regarded
the blood of the covenant as (koinos)
"unclean." They consider it as common, the opposite
of holy. They see the precious blood of the Son of
God as something cheap and profane. They do not
regard it as the precious blood that cleanses from
all sin. They do not see it as the propitiation that
turns away the wrath of God. It is to them no more
than any other animal. There is nothing special
about it in their eyes.
Observe also how they
have treated the Holy Spirit with scorn and mockery.
Moreover, verse 29 tells us they have arrogantly
"insulted the Spirit of grace." They have "outraged
the Spirit of grace" "Outraged" or "insulted"
(enubrizo) is a good translation. Their minds were
illuminated by the Spirit of God, they enjoyed the
benefits of Christian fellowship, but they rejected
it and chose to go on sinning in unbelief. The Holy
Spirit is the one who brings sinners to God,
accomplishes regeneration, and sanctifies them. He
is the "Spirit of grace" (Zechariah 12:10).
This is a description of
the unpardonable sin (Matt. 12:32). This person has
insulted the third person of the Trinity, and there
is no forgiveness of this sin. No Christian can
commit the unpardonable sin because the Holy Spirit
lives within Him. He is a new creation (2 Cor.
5:14-21). However, the person in the context of this
passage in Hebrews is rejecting the saving work of
Jesus Christ, and the regeneration by the Holy
Spirit. The author is not talking about doubting
one's salvation. This is open hatred of the Gospel
of Jesus Christ to the point of never trusting in
Christ as your savior.
It is to these people the
author says God is a consuming fire because there is
nowhere else to turn. There is no other means of
salvation.
Observe the severity
of the problem.
They knew the truth of
the gospel. They chose to "go on sinning willfully
after receiving the knowledge of the truth" (v. 26).
They are without excuse. They heard the gospel of
saving grace through Jesus Christ, and they turned
away. They have received the "full knowledge" (epignosis).
It is the revelation of God by Jesus Christ they are
rejecting. Therefore there is no sacrifice for sins
left.
They were even considered
a part of "God's people." They associated with
Christians and the church. They had gone through all
the rituals, but were never saved. There are many in
the visible church who are not in the body of
Christ. Many have their names on church rolls who
are not Christians.
"The Lord will judge His
people" is probably best taken in the same sense as
"Not all those from Israel are Israel" (Rom. 9:6).
They have a name for themselves, but they are not
born again believers. They have never been
regenerated by the Holy Spirit. They are on the
books, but not in "the book of life." Their name is
not written down in heaven.
The writer of Hebrews
gives his readers the benefit of the doubt as those
who have professed faith in Christ. However, he is
fully aware the visible church and the true church
of God are not necessarily the same. He is not
talking about denominations, but the sovereign grace
of God.
It is interesting how he
ties in "not forsaking our own assembling together"
in fellowship and worship in verse 25 with those who
continue "willfully sinning" and turning away from
the saving benefits of the gospel of Christ.
What is the meaning of
sanctified?
How then shall we
understand the word "sanctified" in this passage?
There are a few who teach
that you can be truly born again, justified by faith
in Christ alone, and yet be finally lost by
forsaking the truth. This would be a partial
sanctification.
Another view sees it as
the judgment of believers at the judgment seat of
Christ (2 Cor. 5:10-13), not the great white throne
judgment of the lost unbelievers (Rev. 20:11-15).
The believer would lose his reward, but not his
salvation.
Most conservative
evangelical Bible scholars teach those who are truly
elect and born again will be kept from apostasy by
the work of the Holy Spirit. No person truly set
apart to God would ever apostatize. They have been
perfected for all time, i.e. set apart to God once
and for all. This is the overall message of the book
of Hebrews. Those who are of the elect of God will
take heed to the warning and persevere in faith in
Christ.
God knows who the elect
are, and they will remain faithful to Him. They have
been set apart to Him for His glory. If a person
does not hold fast to the end he is not of the
elect. His apostasy simply demonstrates that he is
not a true believer. He has never become a partaker
of Christ. He is not "in Christ."
"For by one offering He
has perfected for all time those who are sanctified"
(Hebrews 10:14). This is the true sanctification
that is sure evidence of being eternally set part to
God. The believer is perfected for all time.
The meaning of
sanctification in verse 29 is not the same as in
verse 14. Verse fourteen speaks of the once-for-all
eternal sanctification whereby we are set apart to
God permanently. In verse 29 the stress is on guilt
after apostasy. It is an outward purification, but
there is no change in the heart. It is not a real
sanctification of the heart. It is merely external.
True sanctification as in verse 14 is in the heart
and is a separation from sin and dedication to God.
Are true believers ever
guilty of complete apostasy?
I think the evidence of
the Scripture says, no. The real issue is what is
your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Only
you and God know.
I think the best approach
is to humbly come before God and realize that this
would be the outcome if a person does apostatize. It
causes the true believer to search his own heart to
make sure of his relationship with Christ. The true
believer will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. It is
a serious thing to stand before the Lord God.
Everyone will one day give an answer to the Lord in
regard to their relationship to Him, and how they
have lived this life. One day God will purge all
hypocrites. The wheat and the tares grow together.
Only the Lord God knows the difference; He judges
the heart. The living God is fully aware of every
person and their relationship with Him.
It is a terrible thing to
reject the perfect sacrifice of Christ for sin. This
is a personal choice of an evil heart of unbelief.
They openly renounce the blood of the covenant.
Let me show you a better
way. If your heart is being pierced by the Holy
Spirit as you read this Bible study let me encourage
you to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and ask Him for forgiveness, cleansing and spiritual
healing. He is ready to forgive you right now and
bring reconciliation. If your heart is sensitive to
the Spirit this is the right time for you do
business with Him. The perfect atonement of Jesus
Christ is available to you. He died for all your
sins. He wants you to experience His peace. "There
is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus." "Therefore, having been justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom also we have obtained our
introduction by faith into this grace in which we
stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God"
(Romans 5:1-2)
Title: Hebrews
10:26-31 Christ or Judgment
Series: Hebrews