FAQ on Hebrews 10: 26 - 29

 

I am one of those Social Media users that just scroll and scroll other people's contents, and rarely like, share or comment. And on many of such internet journeys, I have come across this portion of scripture being used as a tool to whip Christians who have not yet overcome their temptations and are prone to sin, into proper (supposedly) godly shape. Heb 10: 26 - 29

Heb 10:26  For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 

Heb 10:27  But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 

Heb 10:28  He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 

Heb 10:29  Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? 

I have read kinder comments on same portion of scripture, and I just had not yet agreed with the explanations people had given for it. This morning my perspective of this scripture changed dramatically when I received insight on its meaning. It is by no means a mistake or an aberration, it in fact flows along with the inclination and intention of the writer of the book of Hebrews, who in my own opinion is the Apostle John... (just because he is my favorite).

Now, it is important not to miss the first and most obvious truth about the book f Hebrews - it was written to the Hebrews (Jews, Israelites) to convince them to become Christians. This is the most important foundation.

Most of us are gentile-Christians, we and our forefathers had no inkling about God Almighty, the God of the Israelites, nor of the way the Jews worshipped him. The Promise, the Priesthood and the Temple - The Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, the Covenant and so on were discussed in the book of Hebrews in an abridged version thus making the book of Hebrews relevant to the gentile-Christian as well.

Okay so lets dig into it shall we:

Heb 10:26  For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 

Heb 10:27  But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 

If we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth" here the knowledge of the truth the writer speaks of is the knowledge that the old covenant and all its tenets is obsolete and the new covenant has replaced it. Also, it speaks of that the old priesthood where the priests offer sacrifices once a year for purification of the flesh is now moribund. Read more of these in Chapters 7 - 9 of the book of Hebrews. (I use the NRSV version of the bible). 

Now the willful sin for the Jew is if after they have heard about the message of Jesus Christ being the promised messiah and they still refuse willfully to believe in him. That is the willful sin the writer is discussing, nothing else.

There remaineth no more sacrifice for sins means that the Jews who have heard the message of Jesus and still willfully choose to continue in the Mosaic Covenant must know that there the sacrifice for sins by their high priest has lost its efficacy, and also that there is no other messiah coming to sacrifice his life for their sin.

But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. means that they are now on their own because they have refused to leave the old covenant to enter into the new covenant. They are now a people without covenant. Hence, there is only judgement and fiery indignation from God because they have now become his adversaries.

The next two verses

Heb 10:28  He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 

Heb 10:29  Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? 

He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: What this verse is talking about is the experience of the Israelites in the saga of the Promised land. We know the story, 12 spies were sent to spy the promised land, All said the land was good, but 10 spies said they cannot take the land because of the current inhabitants will have them for breakfast. the remaining 2 spies said not so, by God, we will have them for breakfast. But the people chose to believe the 10 spies and that really pissed God off. Such that he declared that none of the Israelites will step foot in the promised land except the 2 spies Caleb and Joshua. Now this is interesting, the Israelites realizing that God was mad pissed at them decided to go and take the land-they quickly did a turnaround, but God was having none of it, he told them through Moses, that if they go to war, they would die. But they didn't listen, so they went to war and they were slayed. Read in Numbers 13 vs 24 - Numbers 14.

This is the story of how the Israelites despised the law (words) of Moses and died without mercy because of the witnesses of Joshua and Caleb. The promised land typified the new covenant. Those Israelites that refused to enter into the new covenant have no mercy from God waiting for them. There is no amount of sacrifices they will offer that will amount to mercy for them.

Heb 10:29  Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? 

This last verse shows that if they refused Moses law (words) and paid so dearly, what do you think would happen to those Israelites that refused to take the words of Jesus and treated the Son of God with disdain? How pissed do you think God is with such a people?

This is the meaning and significance of these verses; it does put the fear of God in one, doesn't it?

What it does not mean is that a Christian sins willfully and that one is a goner. Every Christian is welcome to come to the throne of grace again and again. The truth is the more you meet with Jesus, the more you are transformed into his image and the lesser the hold of that temptation on you. Satan does not want you coming to Jesus, so he makes you feel through wrong messages that Jesus is no longer for you because you sinned willfully. Satan does not reign in your life a gain through sin once you are a Christian that knows to run to Jesus on the slightest of reasons. Hebrews 7: 25 says "Consequently Jesus is able to save those who approach God through Him, since he always lives to make intercession for them"...  unless you by yourself stop coming to Christ for purification of your soul and body. 

The only caveat for the Christian is that once God has circumcised your heart, don't in your heart disclaim him and say he is not God. It is a matter of the heart. Remember that this was the sin of Judas Iscariot. He completely did a turn around on Jesus in his heart. He obtained no mercy. Peter's case was he was afraid for his life, he still believed, but was too fearful at that time to defend his faith. My prayer is none of us will have to face the challenge Peter faced, Amen.

And to the other 'Called' gentiles - who are yet to become Christians. The same danger the Jew faces is there for you as well. Especially, when you have been preached to and it really touches your heart, but you push it away, it's a dangerous thing. 

Also, don't say I was born in the church to Christian parents and that automatically makes me a Christian... No! you still have to make that choice and choose Christ as your Lord and Saviour by yourself. It is a matter of the heart! It is a personal relationship!!