For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged 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 fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:26-31)
In the last post, we began looking at Hebrews 10:19-39. We said that now, because of God’s great love for us and the work of Christ on the cross, we can approach God with confidence and others in love and encouragement. In fact, we are told to press forward, moving toward God and others. In this post, we’re going to talk about the danger of shrinking back. This passage, Hebrews 10:26-31, has caused much debate in the church through misunderstandings of what it does and does not teach.
The Danger of Shrinking Back
The first statement of this passage may at first seem like an abrupt change of subject to the modern reader. We might be tempted to ask, “Who said anything about continuing to deliberately sin?” But, the author of Hebrews is making a contrast. He is contrasting the exhortations in the previous section (vv. 22-25) with “continuing to sin deliberately.” So, to state it simply,
Drawing near to God, holding fast to our faith, and encouraging each other
is in direct contrast to
Continuing to deliberately sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth
There is an important implication here that we need to think about. Based on these passages, we can say that those exhortations in vv. 22-25 (drawing near to God, holding fast to our faith, and encouraging/loving one another) are natural and expected behaviors for Christians. This is a section, like many of the more practical parts of Paul’s letters, that say, “This is what a Christian, one who has been washed by Christ’s blood, looks like.” If there is never any movement in those directions by a professed believer, then there is a problem.
Now, let’s look at that first statement fully. The author of Hebrews writes, “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries” (emphasis added). We need to be careful in understanding this sentence. First, notice what the author does not say. The author does not say there will not be forgiveness, but instead that there is no more sacrifice for sin. Why is this? Because Christ’s sacrifice was sufficient for all sin. And it’s because of Christ’s sacrifice that the believer is changed and empowered to grow in Christ.
Basically, the author of Hebrews is saying, “God has done all He can. He has provided everything we need to change and live in relationship and fellowship with Him and others.” Peter echoes this thought when he writes,
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. (2 Peter 1:3–4)
And Paul further adds,
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11-14)
God has given us His grace for the specific purpose of training us in righteousness and to help us avoid unrighteousness. He has given us all we need, not the least of which is His very presence. Thus, anyone who continues to willfully live in sin after receiving His grace is spurning both the grace of God and the sacrifice of Christ. What does the author say about such an attitude? There is no more sacrifice for sins. It’s as if the offernder is saying, “That’s not enough God,” but God has done everything possible.
This is why the author writes that the only thing left is “a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.” Now, we need to avoid a couple of extremes here. One extreme would say, “You lost your salvation [or were never a believer at all].” The other extreme would say, “It doesn’t matter, all sins are covered by grace.” Both are contrary to the sense of the text. Notice that verse 30 says, “The Lord will judge His people.” Here, as with all the NT letters, the writer is communicating to those who at least profess the name of Christ. He sees His audience as God’s people.
To reinforce this, look at verse 29, which contains these words:”. . . . the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified” (emphasis added). Notice that the writer speaks of this one of having been sanctified by Christ’s blood. He is one of God’s people. Thus, God does judge His people. He does discipline us, to train us in righteousness (we’ll talk about that in the next post). This is why both of those extremes are in error.
Now, let’s talk about why this judgment is merited. The author of Hebrews makes an argument from the lesser to the greater. He reminds the people that those who rebelled against the law of Moses were executed without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses (v. 28). Then he asks, “How much worse punishment will be deserved “the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?” (v. 29) The one who continues to sin deliberately, shrinking back from what God has called him to, has (as we said above) essentially told God, “What you did was not enough, and I reject it.”
How to Live Without Shrinking Back
The problem with teaching about or reading passages such as this is that it’s too easy to focus on the judgment and fear. It, no doubt, is a warning against abusing the grace we have received from God. At the same time, as we commit our hearts to positively and actively following Christ, we need not fear that jdugment. Discipline? Yes. God disciplines all of us, to train us. Discipline is not always punishment, though.
The thing is, we have to remember that God describes Himself as patient (Exodus 34:6), and the writers of both the Old and New Testaments agree. 2 Peter 3:9 tell us that God is patient toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all reach repentance. Psalm 103:14 tells us that God remembers our frame, He nows that we are but dust. My translation of that is, “He knows He has to pick up our slack.” But He knows our hearts also. He knows who is His, and He knows the desire of our hearts. As our hearts are turned toward Him, He will grant our desires to obey and follow Him. We will press forward and not shrink back.
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