Hebrews 10:26-30

 

Heb 10:26 (KJB)

For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

 

First of all it must be realized, that neither this verse or verse 27 is speaking of a loss of salvation. These verses are teaching that after a person hears the Gospel, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven. If a person rejects this method of salvation, there is no other way for them to get to Heaven. Verse 26 speaks of receiving “the knowledge of the truth” and not actual salvation. Salvation is not mere knowledge but a transformation of the sinner to Saint. They are receiving the knowledge of the truth but are rejecting it because they are dead in their sins and a dead man cannot regenerate himself nor understand spiritual truth. Nowhere in the Bible do we ever read of a Saint becoming a sinner, it is always the opposite. We go from rags to riches, never riches to rags. This is the inheritance of the Saints. Knowledge does not mean they were indwelled with the Holy Spirit. Biblical truth is only understood after a person is regenerated. Without the Holy Spirit indwelling a person, they can not understand the Bible with all its spiritual truths. When an unbeliever sits in a church and hears the true word being preached, they are receiving knowledge and because of their spiritual deadness, that is all it is, knowledge. The Hebrews which were being addressed in this book must come to grips with the reality that Christ’s sacrifice was the final one and no longer is the Levitical system in force. If they continue to turn to the Levitical system, then the reality is that there is no more sacrifice for sin because the system they have put their faith in has been abrogated by the sacrifice of Christ. God looks at those who are in Christ for salvation and not those who wilfully reject His sacrifice for the continuation of the Levitical sacrifices.

 

Heb 10:27 (KJB)

But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

 

Fearful - To become afraid or terrified

Indignation - Zeal or fervent

Devour - To consume by eating

 

The sad reality is that those who seek to find salvation outside of the Lord Jesus Christ will never find it. Salvation comes only through the Lord Jesus Christ and those who wilfully reject Him, are facing the coming judgment of God and afterward an eternal fire zealous to vindicate the holiness of God. In fact, the passage speaks of these adversaries as being eaten alive by the fire which will envelop them for eternity. The modern Jews who are still tied to the Mosaic law are being lied to by the church if they are being told that they don’t need to come to Christ. The book of Hebrews is written to the Jews of the first century telling them of the vast difference and superiority of Christ’s sacrifice over that of the temporary Levitical system which can never take away sins. The theme of the book is as apropos today as it was 1900 years ago. Anyone who thinks salvation comes by ceremony or ritual is living under a fatal delusion.

 

Heb 10:28 (KJB)

He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

 

Despised - Set aside, nullified or rejected

 

(Deu 17:6 KJV) At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. Just as in previous verses concerning comparisons between the Old and New Covenants, Deuteronomy 17:6 states that those who were found guilty of violating the law in a matter carrying the penalty of death, received no mercy because the sentence was carried out immediately. If they were convicted under the testimony of two or three witnesses, then the matter was closed once sentence was carried out. There was no such thing as an appeal. You violate, you pay!

 

Heb 10:29 (KJB)

Of 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?

 

Sorer - More severe or worse

Shall he be thought worthy - Suitable or to think fit

Hath trodden - Treat with disdain or trample on

Hath counted - Consider or think

Despite - Insult or treat contemptuously

 

Comparing the despising of the first and second covenants, the writer asks a lengthy question concerning the despising of the new covenant. If the violation of the first covenant was met with death, then those who violate or despise the second covenant, how much worse would the punishment be for that? What would be a suitable punishment for those who despised the second covenant? Keep in mind that the second covenant was ratified by the blood of Christ Himself and He was not on the same par with Moses. Moses was a servant but Christ was and is the Son of God who rules over the house of God and was not a servant like the earthly priests. So to count the blood of Christ as a thing of commonality and by doing that they treat him with disdain and while they believe these false things they are actually treating the Holy Spirit with contempt. Remember Hebrews 9:14 where the blood of Christ was offered through the Eternal Spirit, that is another name for the Holy Spirit. Christ was sanctified by the Holy Spirit to perform His sacrifice and that is why this verse teaches that a greater punishment awaits those who treat with contempt the Lord Jesus Christ because by treating Christ with contempt, they are also including the Holy Spirit and the New Covenant in that contempt.

 

Heb 10:30 (KJB)

For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.

 

Recompense - Repay or reward

 

(Deu 32:35-36 KJV) To me belongeth vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. {36} For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left. The answer to the question raised in verse 29 is a very sobering one. No longer does vengeance belong to the people who carried out the sentence under the Old Covenant, now God takes it upon Himself to carry out the greater sentence against those who despise the New Covenant since it was ratified by His own Son. This verse states that God will judge His people. First of all, God will chastise His own so they will not be like the worldly people. Secondly, God will judge His people by separating them from the unbelievers, the wheat and tares. Then thirdly, the judgment of the believers came at Calvary where they were in Christ and He took the penalty of their sins and therefore are not under eternal judgment because they were justified in Christ.

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