Truly it is a terrible thing for a man who has done this to fall into the hands of the living God! Hes given then a very stern warning in verses 26 to 31, but if you look at verses 32 to 34, the fourth part of his unfolding of this argument is actually an encouragement. Now if we sin deliberately after we have known and accepted the truth, there can be no further sacrifice for sin for us but only a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fire of Gods indignation, which will one day consume all that sets itself against him. All that is needed is that Scripture takes second place in our calculations. The author of Hebrews is telling us, Dont put the promises of God in second place in your calculations. You begin the Christian life by faith in Jesus; you continue in the Christian life by faith in Jesus. The greatest crescendo we could possibly experience in life is to be called by God into his kingdom and enjoy his beauty forever. Now the challenge that these Hebrew Christians were facing are a little bit different than the challenge that we saw set before us in the book of Jeremiah chapter 36 this morning. We choose them. What destroys the soul, what puts it beyond forgiveness in verse 26 is not sin per se, but an eager, deliberate, willing, persistent, settled pattern of sin. My righteous one shall live by faith. How do you go on in the Christian life? Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. And I just happened to walk into the room as Churchill was responding on the floor, this audio version of him responding on the floor of the houses of parliament in Westminster saying, We gave you the choice between honor and war. You see the second step of the argument, dont you, in verses 28 and 29. For if we sin willfully after having received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. This passage makes very clear that the author intends this section as a warning to believers, not a blast against apostates. Preference cookies enable a website to remember information that changes the way the website behaves or looks, like your preferred language or the region that you are in. 28He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29Of 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? For if we choose to go on sinning after we have learned the full truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. But until then, we fight sin by faith, and we can experience assurance inside the fight. John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. But now hes beyond forgiveness. We have, in that case, rejected Christ, the only sacrifice for sin. Probably not many of us would cut up our Bibles and throw them in the fire. Dont look away. Repent and believe and I will save you! And the king cut the message up and burned it. Unclassified cookies are cookies that we are in the process of classifying, together with the providers of individual cookies. In other words, failing to put your faith in Jesus and persisting in that unbelief. Sinclair Ferguson says, We persevere through faith and never apart from it. In Jesus name, amen. What if we keep sinning on purpose? Is there something I am not seeing within these verses?. Hear it, beginning in Hebrews 10 verse 26: 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. For if we sin wilfully after having the knowledge of the truth, there is now left no sacrifice for sins. Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word. Copyright 2002-2022 Got Questions Ministries. The whole Christian life gets down to Jesus, doesnt it? Lets pray. And the author of Hebrews is saying very clearly here that if a person willfully and knowingly rejects Jesus, the one real sacrifice for sins, there is nowhere else for him to turn. A friend of mine was a solicitor in the foreign office of the British government in London, and his office was in a building very close to the Imperial War Museum in London. Dont put the coming of the Savior in second place in your calculations. Heres the main point of the message and the first step along the way as the author of the Hebrews brings home this truth. Here, he takes you right to Moses, because you remember, these people are tempted to go back to some form of Judaism, perhaps Essene Judaism. For we -- willfully sinning after the receiving the full knowledge of the truth -- no more for sins doth there remain a sacrifice. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. What a day that will be! Which leads to todays question from Josh. First, the word deliberately translates the Greek hekousis. That Jesus is better. For if we sin willingly after that we have received and acknowledged that truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. Dont find a hope somewhere else because it will be a false hope. There remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. Dr. Ligon Duncan | July 21, 2013. And he wants them to reflect on those times and use them as a basis from which to continue on in faith in Christ. In both cases, one could argue that the elders are in fact exercising their will to shepherd the flock of God. Live the Christian life in light of the coming of Jesus. What is the pastoral problem that the author of Hebrews is addressing? Now getting the answer to that question right is key to your understanding this passage and either being wrongly discouraged by it or rightly encouraged by it. Look at verses 30 and 31. In other words, this person is walking away from Christ and his church. New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition, New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition, New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition. There are two passages, Hebrews 10:14 and Hebrews 3:14. 
The sin is the sin of rejecting Christ, of ceasing to believe on Him in whom alone is life eternal, of failing to continue in faith in Jesus, of looking for another way to stand accepted before God than in the righteousness of Christ. What is the purpose of the warning passages in Scripture. Its my prayer that by the grace of Your Holy Spirit that You would cause every member of this congregation, in fact every friend who is with us this morning, to believe on Jesus for salvation, but not only that, to keep them believing in Jesus all the days of their lives until the very end and that You would bring them home. The point, of course, of this passage is to remind us of the awesome judgment of God and to ask ourselves the question, What in the world will enable me to escape that judgment when I stand before Him in the final of times? And if any of my answer is, My goodness, Im really in trouble; I dont know myself very well. Cookies are small text files that can be used by websites to make a user's experience more efficient. If we keep on sinning because we want to after we have received and know the truth, there is no gift that will take away sins then. This is the Word of God. Living in light of the coming of Jesus. Second, notice what he goes on to say. Now he unfolds this in an argument. What has the whole argument of this book been all the way up to Hebrews 10:26? Theyve given up on Jesus. If we do, then there is no sacrifice any more for the wrong things we do. Embrace Christ by faith and have peace with God, or turn your back on Him and reject Him or you will have Gods judgment. Didnt we hear that message in Jeremiah 36 this morning? Bible Gateway Plus makes it simple. For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. Dont put faith in Christ as He is offered in the Gospel in second place in your calculations. But then immediately after you hear Hitler speaking you hear Churchill speaking. He said, not that these are the two most difficult passages in Scripture, but that the misunderstanding of them often unsettles the hearts of believers. More insights from your Bible study - Get Started with Logos Bible Software for Free! You ought to be looking for His provision of mercy because you know that you need it. But the author of Hebrews is not trying to discourage you in that situation today. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left. The opening statement of the passage is really the theme of the whole section. For if we deliberately continue to sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. Then there is no offering for our sins. 523 My Hope Is in the Lord.. This site uses different types of cookies. The website cannot function properly without these cookies. http://archive.ligonduncan.com/mp3/07.21.2013_Dr_Ligon_Duncan_If_We_Go_on_Sinning_Wilfully_Hebrews_10_26-39.mp3. If we make the decision to sin after we receive the knowledge of the truth, there isnt a sacrifice for sins left any longer. If we give up and turn our backs on all weve learned, all weve been given, all the truth we now know, we repudiate Christs sacrifice and are left on our own to face the Judgmentand a mighty fierce judgment it will be! What does Hebrews 10:26 mean by referring to sinning deliberately (or willingly), since in one sense all sin is an act of the will and thus deliberate? In other words, were beyond salvation. May He write its eternal truth upon all our hearts. Put your hope in the promises of God and their reward. Look at verse 30 For we know him who said, Vengeance is mine; I will repay. And again, The Lord will judge his people. And then he gives a little explanatory gloss on those quotations. And again: The Lord will judge his people. 1. Scripture does not need to be denied for apostasy to begin. 2. Now heres the second thing to notice in the phrase go on sinning deliberately [or willingly or eagerly]. Its that phrase go on sinning, which is a good translation of the present tense of the Greek verb for sin. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Thats the phrase that inspired the line from Jonathan Edwards famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Whats the point? He has authored, co-authored, edited, or contributed to numerous books. I can find my hope somewhere else. There is a terrifying judgment that awaits Gods new covenant mercies when they are rejected. New International Version (NIV). 
Or something else? But to reject that, to fail to respond to the character of God by applying to His kind and free offers of mercy, no, this is an indication of the certainly of Gods judgment falling on us. For why now a sacrifice for sins is not left to us, that sin willfully, after that we have taken the knowing of truth. For where we sin wilfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains any sacrifice for sins. Here is the opportunity. Do we go on doing what is wrong after we know the truth? Third, he then quotes Scripture. Speak its truth deeply into our hearts and by Your Holy Spirit, enable us not only to understand and believe this Word, but especially and more to trust in Jesus and to keep on trusting in Jesus and to never stop trusting in Jesus and to trust in Jesus all the way to the end. This is a hard, sobering, but important passage of Scripture. Thats the clear teaching of Hebrews 3:14. For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us. And thats even more evident when you look at verses 35 to the end of the chapter. He tells you two things about God. God has warned us that hell hold us to account and make us pay. My question: What is the opposite of a willful sin? Hes saying, in this warning, positively, Keep on believing in Jesus. Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across websites. "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins," Hebrews 10:26 KJV. The intention is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user and thereby more valuable for publishers and third party advertisers. I consent to the use of following cookies: Necessary cookies help make a website usable by enabling basic functions like page navigation and access to secure areas of the website. All rights reserved. Hes saying, Dont think that if God in the days of Jeremiah and Baruch and Jehoiakim wrought His just judgment on people who turned their backs on His Word, what do you think Hes going to do when He has sent His final Word into the world, Jesus, and people say, Im not going to believe on Him. Try it FREE right now! Heres Hebrews 10:14 (see what you think): For by a single offering thats the offering of Christ [God] has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. In other words, there is a kind of being sanctified that absolutely guarantees perfection for all time. And then he goes on to turn and give a word of encouragement to this congregation. We use cookies to provide you with a great user experience. If we decide to continue sinning after we have learned the truth, then there is no other sacrifice that will take away sins.
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