Sinning Willfuly

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 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 10:26-31

Ah yes, Hebrews! If you read any of the info I sent you yesterday you will realize that the letter written to the Hebrews can be so easily twisted out of context. Grabbing a passage, like the one above, MUST be referenced to what has been established in the letter up to that point - and even beyond it - to see WHY in the world it would have been written. There are, of course, numerous realities of Jesus that can be gleaned by simple observation and reading, but most of our glaring confusion, guilt and condemnation often taught using this letter occurs by simple carelessness and haphazard assumptions. There is no doubt that many of our current viewpoints attached to this letter are difficult to shake because they have been entrenched through many, many years of law-bound preaching and teaching. We read the passage and simply can't see any other way around it.

For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth,Hebrews 10:26

What meaneth the "willful" sin? The answer is so simple that we overlook it. Our confusion multiplies by an examination of that bogus effort to determine the difference between "willful sins" and "non-willful sins" in our desperate attempt to justify as many sins as possible under the excuse that we didn't know we were sinning!! Our insanity in this is incredible!! How do we so easily by-pass the previous amazing demands that Christ has taken care of EVERY sin so that there is now NO MORE REMEMBRANCE OF SIN? And if there is no more remembrance of sin there is no need for any more sacrifices for sin.

Why did the writer use this term, "sinning willfully", if not to distinguish between "willful" and "non-willful" sins? Because he was driving the truth home that a return to the LAW is a return to SIN. Law puts sin back in the forefront of the consciousness so that it FORCES a willful choice to follow sin. You can turn to the left, or you can turn to the right, but you CANNOT stay on the path held out to you by the Law. Those who thought they did not stray had only been proven to be deceived by their own self-righteousness - hence, the words Jesus so powerfully spoke to the people about hypocrisy. What law really holds forth to the flesh is nothing more than a choice to SIN, one way of the other!!

The believing Jews in Israel that were not dispersed by the persecution against them over the years had found themselves surrounded by MANY who had come to "claim the name of Jesus" because it had become the thing to do. Plain and simple, many of those in Israel had adapted their religion to INCLUDE Jesus, but had not experienced any real deliverance from his Spirit because they had not received him. It was merely a religious conformity.

And because of this, those who did believe were encouraged to adapt BACK into a system that had rejected the same Christ it was now including as part of their "talk" and rituals. So, the question begs to be asked: what kind of a "savior" were the believing Jews perceiving Jesus Christ to be at this time in their lives? A return to that old sense of "need" for the old sacrifices tells all. For what had the Law turned those believers' experiences into? They were living as though life was merely a succession of choosing one sin after another!! "For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth". This was their current bogus lifestyle!

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

But the writer not only declares there is no more NEED for another sacrifice, he states that "there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins". Offerings of bulls and goats were bogus and never had any effect - even during the time of the Law. In other words, the Jews' attempt to go back under the displaced Law left them no recourse through the sacrifices that pointed to the one who would do away with ALL sin, for he had already come and had finished the job.

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 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 10:28-29

If the purpose of the Law had been fulfilled in Christ then all that remained of the Law was FEAR and JUDGMENT ... but NO MERCY!! Going back to the old sacrifices was no longer an option. Under the Law, it WAS an option, the ONLY option, because it testified of the soon-to-be REMOVAL of sins. After the removal of sins was taken care of, a returning to what had become a dead, lifeless HUSK of the TRUE sacrifice was a "trampling under foot of the Son of God". BEFORE Christ, an observance of those sacrifices was a TESTIMONY of the only effective sacrifice that was to come, but ONCE Christ had completed his sacrifice the same observance became a denial of the very thing they had spoken of. It was an INSULT to the Spirit of grace.

Don't miss the very important fact that the believers felt compelled to observe the old sacrifices for one reason, and only one reason: SIN, once again, had become an issue among them because of the working of the Law, which forced them to reconsider doing something about it. And where else would they turn? NOT to Christ, but to the LAW. Why would they turn to Christ, except in name only, when they were attempting to deal with something that he was supposed to have taken care of?

I'll repeat myself to make sure this gets across. With the former mercy (the sacrifice to come) removed from the Law, all who approached that empty shell (because going there was a rejection of everything it was about) were left with judgment, without mercy!! Why? Because the coming of Christ WAS the mercy. The Jews had not only rejected Jesus and his one and only sacrifice, they had rejected EVERYTHING the Law testified to.

The comparison/contrast between the Law of Moses and the Son of God is established all through the whole letter as Jesus is shown to be SUPERIOR in every way to the Law. That's why it's brought up again here. The writer is not suggesting that the believers were bound for punishment, but instead was revealing that Israel, as the "people of God", were doing the same thing they had done when they had approached the promised land and yet would not enter into God's rest (as described in the earlier portion of the letter). They were UNBELIEVING except for a very, very small minority (like TWO). The letter to the Hebrews was demanding that it was happening again!!

The real questions to the believers among them was pretty simple and straightforward: Why do you insist on hanging with those who have rejected not only their own Law but the ONE of who their Law testified to? Here is what came before the passage in question:

Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 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. Hebrews 10:19-25

Do you see the CONFIDENCE he speaks of? Do you realize WHY he mentioned the thing about "not forsaking our own assembling together"? I don't think the writer is speaking of the oft assembling for those blood sacrifices, do you? The "holy place" they had entered into was not found in the temple or in the tabernacle. I think the picture's pretty clear, and I'm certain he was referring to a gathering of those who were REJECTING this denial of Christ by those who claimed to have been "sanctified" by the blood they were at the same time "trampling under foot".

Now, this statement below comes AFTER the passage in question.

But we are NOT of those who shrink back to destruction, but OF THOSE WHO HAVE FAITH TO THE PRESERVING OF THE SOUL. Hebrews 10:39

Do you see the writer's true encouragement to those who had received the Spirit? He had interjected a similar encouragement in chapter 6:

But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning YOU, and things that accompany salvation, THOUGH WE ARE SPEAKING IN THIS WAY.Hebrews 6:9

The author of this letter was presenting his case so that those who were "of faith" would remove themselves from among the hostile religious atrocity.

For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. For they could not bear the command, "IF EVEN A BEAST TOUCHES THE MOUNTAIN, IT WILL BE STONED." And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, "I AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling." But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. Hebrews 12:18-24

Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. Hebrews 13:12-14

See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. Hebrews 12:25

He was calling out to those who had ears to hear. Some were already believers who had been caught up, some were right then being called out. He wrote as if to say:
"Get out from among those who only APPEAR to be following the Law AND Christ, for they neither follow the Law nor Christ! Do not let them intimidate you from gathering together in thanksgiving to the ONE who has ALREADY completed the once for all sacrifice for all time. Come OUTSIDE the camp, for Christ himself had to suffer outside and away from the acceptance of the crowd. Do not fear the rejection of those around you who count you unworthy, as those who reject the Law, for in accepting the reality of Christ you are the ONLY ones who also accept the testimony of the Law. Do not concern yourself with listening to man, but to 'Him who is speaking'."