I figured out last night why I’ve been struggling with my own depravity versus God’s grace. Even though I know this isn’t true, my brain has somehow convinced me that there’s a limit to God’s grace and I’ve reached it. The verse that comes to mind whenever I cognitively think about this is Hebrews 10:26-27: “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”
I’ve read that the author of Hebrews was talking about a return to the law here, but I’m not convinced. This verse has always confused me and, more often than not, I’ve ignored it simply because I don’t understand it.
I found this posted at grace unzipped:
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!
What do you think?
Tags: Christianity, Grace
That is a really good interpretation. It’s interesting to see how the Law was totally connected to the presence of Jesus. Once Jesus came on the scene, the Law was completely nullified. Isn’t He good?
“Fulfilled” might be a better word than “nullified”, but yes, He is good!