Hebrews 10 [moved]

[Inagony]

Need opinions on Hebrews 10:26-31.

I’m really scared this is me.

 

[Friedrich Rubinstein]

Let's look at it in the context of the whole book of Hebrews. There is a few parts that belong to this same topic, for example Hebrews 6:4-6
"It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace"
and Hebrews 3:14
"We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end".

The part you quoted as well as Hebrews 6:4-6 say that we can receive the Holy Spirit and be forgiven our sins, and then fall away still, return to our old, sinful lifestyle and "crucify the Son of God all over again". You can accept Jesus in your life and one day turn your back on Him and live life your own way as if you never knew Jesus.
But the Bible says in many occasions that the chosen ones, the people who are saved, can never lose their salvation, nothing can snap them out of God's hand! Is this a contradiction?
It is not a contradiction. Look at Hebrews 3:14: it says "if" we hold... firmly to the very end, only then we have come to share in Christ. In other words: Once you are saved, you are always saved. But whether you had been saved is only the case if you stay firm to the very end, until Jesus comes back. Hebrews 6:4-6 says you can receive the Holy Spirit yet not be saved. Only if you endure to the end you had been saved the day you accepted Jesus in your life.
Should you worry now? Could it be that you are not saved? Well, as long as you worry about it you have not fallen away All of us have times closer to God and times further away from God, times in light and times in darkness. When you sin as a Christian it doesn't mean that you are not saved, you can always repent and turn back. Hebrews talks about those people who turn away from God on purpose and make no effort to repent anymore, who don't want to turn back to God.

 

[paul1149]

For if we are sinning willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, -Heb 10:26​

The verb "sinning" there is a present participle in the Greek, emphasizing the ongoing nature of the activity. "If we keep on sinning willfully" would be a very clear understanding of what it says. For this reason many modern translations render it something like "if we go on sinning..." It's talking about a harden heart's committed pattern of willful rebellion against God, not about slipping once in a while, or about missing the mark too often but being heartsick about it.

Every time the writer of Hebrews lowers the boom like this you will see him turn around and encourage his readers. Here he tells them not to cast off their confidence, which has great reward. He will shortly tell them that the kind of faith that pleases God believes He rewards those who seek Him. So do what he says - take the warnings seriously, but don't cast off your confidence in God. If you depend on Him He will see you through to the victory side.

Verses like this should not be taken by themselves without context, and if it is important always look to the original languages, because it is amazing how many translations fail to carry the sense through.

 

[plain jayne]

If you are a Christian, this need not worry you as it is talking about the sin of unbelief.

Hebrews 10:29 explains what the "sin" is that no other sacrifice can cover.

"...who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace.."

Let me simplify the whole passage starting with verse 19: - it's important to start there:

• Verses 19-25 = This is a call for persevering in the Christian faith. Stay firm and don't fall away, draw near to God, meet with other Christians on a regularly basis - not forsaking that, spur each other on to live right and do right, hold on to hope.....and more. This is about what faith should look like.
• Verse 26 = If we stay in sin - by rejecting Jesus Christ [as explained by verse 29] - even after the truth has been told to us and we understand it - then who or what else could be sacrificed for us that would override the sacrifice of Christ? In other words - if you reject Christ, to whom will you go? There is none.
• Verse 27 = All that is left for one who rejects Christ is hell.
• Verse 28 = In the Old Testament, if a person rejected the law of Moses, then with 2-3 witnesses, then they died without mercy.
• Verse 29 = If the Old Testament were that harsh in the rejection of God's law, then how much MORE harsh will it be for someone who rejects God's SON!! By "insulting the Spirit" and "treating the Son and his blood covenant as an unholy thing" and "trampling him underfoot"
• Verses 30-31= The author says, "We know" that God says he will avenge and will repay. And that God is the final and only judge. How frightening for a lost person to fall into the hands of this living God!

 

[JohnDB]

If you are a Christian, this need not worry you as it is talking about the sin of unbelief.

Hebrews 10:29 explains what the "sin" is that no other sacrifice can cover.

"...who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace.."

Let me simplify the whole passage starting with verse 19: - it's important to start there:

• Verses 19-25 = This is a call for persevering in the Christian faith. Stay firm and don't fall away, draw near to God, meet with other Christians on a regularly basis - not forsaking that, spur each other on to live right and do right, hold on to hope.....and more. This is about what faith should look like.
• Verse 26 = If we stay in sin - by rejecting Jesus Christ [as explained by verse 29] - even after the truth has been told to us and we understand it - then who or what else could be sacrificed for us that would override the sacrifice of Christ? In other words - if you reject Christ, to whom will you go? There is none.
• Verse 27 = All that is left for one who rejects Christ is hell.
• Verse 28 = In the Old Testament, if a person rejected the law of Moses, then with 2-3 witnesses, then they died without mercy.
• Verse 29 = If the Old Testament were that harsh in the rejection of God's law, then how much MORE harsh will it be for someone who rejects God's SON!! By "insulting the Spirit" and "treating the Son and his blood covenant as an unholy thing" and "trampling him underfoot"
• Verses 30-31= The author says, "We know" that God says he will avenge and will repay. And that God is the final and only judge. How frightening for a lost person to fall into the hands of this living God!

I like what you have to say here...

I would further add that this letter is addressed to the Jews who were likely not giving up on the sacrificial system.

If Jesus' blood wasn't sufficient for forgiveness of sins then no animals would be...and where a Pharisee might not feel comfortable without being under the sacrificial system treating Jesus' sacrifice as if it wasn't good enough is blasphemy.

 

[plain jayne]

I like what you have to say here...

I would further add that this letter is addressed to the Jews who were likely not giving up on the sacrificial system.

If Jesus' blood wasn't sufficient for forgiveness of sins then no animals would be...and where a Pharisee might not feel comfortable without being under the sacrificial system treating Jesus' sacrifice as if it wasn't good enough is blasphemy.

Thank you for that addition. Right on target. That's the whole purpose of Hebrews. Comparing Jesus to angels, priests, and more and proving him sovereign over all and not the same as anything else.

 

[Uriah123]

Those other guys are 99.999999% right or 100% right.