The writer of the book of Hebrews is providing his Jewish audience with a revelation of how the sacrifice of Jesus did what the previous covenant could not. Jesus established a new and different covenant resulting in sins being taken away forever—to be remembered no more by God. It brought a new and living way, resulting in people being perfected, sanctified and declared holy. It has allowed for entrance with a true heart in full assurance of faith.
Within these many chapters of the letter which argue a case for all of this and more, the legal eagles will still try to turn your attention to a single Bible verse or two which seem to contradict the good news writings leading up to it … when not understood in the proper context. We take a look at Hebrews 10:26 to shine some light and erase the fear.
“For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins …”
The problem with looking at a few Bible verses by themselves is that context gets lost and it can cause unnecessary fear and a misunderstanding of the good news. Our program this week tackles the last part of Hebrews chapter ten, where legalists and others have completely missed the point of what the writer has been saying throughout the book, leading up to this passage.
The main focus here isn’t about being in danger for sins committed (because everyone has done this), but it’s about rejecting the one sacrifice for sins which Jesus provided with the sacrifice of Himself, resulting in sins being taken away. The unbelief or rejection of this is what causes one to trample the Son of God underfoot, and regards as unclean the blood of the covenant by which He was sanctified, thereby insulting the Spirit of grace. Only Jesus is the guarantee of a better covenant (Hebrews 7:22).
As we talked about a couple of podcasts ago, the writer of Hebrews was telling his readers that the animal sacrifices through the law came to an end, so they were not to go down that path anymore for forgiveness of sins, but rather they were to believe in the one sacrifice of Jesus that was sufficient for all sins for all time. If they reject the one perfect sacrifice of Jesus, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. That’s really what Hebrews 10:26 is saying.
During a discussion on social media, a statement was made by someone that the sacrifice of Jesus "does NOT cover willful sinning." That is quite a breathtaking statement - and quite sad - and it misses the entire point of the book of Hebrews. So this week we dig a little more into this controversial passage in Hebrews. We also take a look at other scriptures about sin being taken away, that have no such added conditions regarding "willful" sin. Many scriptures plainly say that we are saved by grace, through faith (by believing), and they do not add any such caveat that this isn’t true if we sin willfully. In fact, many scriptures highlight the fact that we have the forgiveness, remission and removal of ALL sin through the blood of Jesus. The book of Hebrews was not written to scare believers, but rather to assure them of the sufficiency of the blood of Jesus. The warning about "willful sin" was not directed at people who sin, but rather at people who reject the sacrifice of Jesus as the only sacrifice that takes away all their sin.
