Hebrews Chapter Ten, The Result Of Willful Sinning

 

Hebrews 10:27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

 

Leading out of verse 26, the writer continues his exhortation. There no longer remains an offering for sin, if one willfully sins after receiving the knowledge of the truth, but a #1) certain, #2) fearful, #3) expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

What is the alternative to believing the truth when it is received? Rejecting it, sinning willfully, knowing what your sin will require of you, and meeting God as the indignant Judge. Paul writes of such men, “who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them,” Romans 1:32. Those who reject the Savior and the knowledge of the gospel that saves have committed what Jesus refers to as the unforgivable sin. “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come,” Matthew 12:31, 32. Jesus taught that it is the Holy Spirit that convicts the world of sin and leads the lost to Christ. Paul goes so far as to relate that we cannot even acknowledge Christ as Lord, except by the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12:3.

 

One begins to see the grave error in rejecting the witness of the Spirit, or resisting Him when we receive the knowledge of the truth. Churchians, those who profess the title of Christian but live no differently because their knowledge does not translate into transformative truth, can be labeled as such. Can a man resist the Holy Spirit? The Bible expressly answers, “yes.” Peter, when speaking to the Sanhedrin, tells them, “And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him,” Acts 5:32. Peter affirms to the Jewish council that God gives the Holy Spirit ONLY to those who obey Him. What must one do to obey and receive the Holy Spirit? The Jews asked of Jesus essentially this question, saying, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” John 6:28. Jesus answered simply, that the Jews needed to believe in Him who God had sent, namely Christ, John 6:29. The Holy Spirit’s ministry is to convict the world at large of its need of Jesus Christ. When Stephen was finishing his testimony to the Sanhedrin, he chided them, stating, “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you,” Acts 7:51. It is possible to resist God the Holy Spirit, until such time that, rather than drawing you, He hardens you, so that you perish in your obstinacy for disobedience in light of the truth.

 

The unforgivable sin is the sin of refusing to cast yourself upon the Savior, and to be washed clean in His blood. Indeed, such an act tramples the Son of God underfoot, counts the blood of the covenant a common thing, and insults the Spirit of grace, Hebrews 10:29. If you refuse to ask for forgiveness, common and Biblical sense agree that forgiveness is not given. You perish unsaved, and your destiny is the Lake of Fire. This is what the author means when he says that a certain, fearful expectation of judgment awaits when the Lamb of God is rebuffed. It is certain because man has an eternal destiny. Heaven is for those who believe the gospel and receive Jesus Christ as their Savior. The Lake of Fire, while initially reserved for the Devil and his angels, has also been inherited by mankind for rejecting the offer of salvation God made in Jesus. Since man is made in God’s image, a spirit that must dwell somewhere forever, God appointed a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, a place of deep darkness, where the worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. It is the blackness of darkness forever.

 

Nothing in the human language can describe the horror that awaits those that refuse the sacrifice the Lord made on their behalf, the same horror Jesus experienced while on the cross while the Father turned from Him and He cried out, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? We read earlier in Hebrews, “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,” Hebrews 9:27. There is no Limbo, no Purgatory, and no earthbound spirits wandering about, trying to conclude unfinished business. God is Ruler of the invisible world, and the spirits are subject to Him. Because this fate is certain, it is also fearful. Fearful can also mean, “terrible, dreadful, atrocious, abysmal.” This certainty and fearfulness is expected. Expected? Man is a moral being, designed to comprehend right and wrong, however feebly. The rule of conscience has constrained many a man from being a worse sinner than he already is, Romans 2:14, 15. Referring back to Romans 1:32, Paul writes that humanity knows in its heart that the evil things we do for the sake of personal, selfish pleasure are wrong, but they turn their backs on conscience because we would rather feel good than be good. The vices we indulge (fornication, adultery, LGBTQ “lifestyle choices”, drunkenness, drug abuse, vulgar language and humor, etc.) slowly numb or insulate us from the pang of conscience. And sooner or later, as Scripture attests, when we rebel too hard for too long against the revelation of God’s truth, we are hardened, so God may show His power in us as vessels of His wrath, Romans 9:22. Mr. Walter Horton, in his book, Our Christian Faith, expresses it this way, “God never finally rejects a sinner except by that sinner’s own persistent refusal to be reconciled.”

 

Jesus sets the line of demarcation on whether or not one possessed faith demonstrated by good works (loving the brethren, etc.) as the difference between salvation and everlasting punishment, Matthew 25:31-46. Jesus says to the wicked that they are cursed, and their destiny is to depart from His presence into the everlasting fire; this same language describes the nature of their punishment. The everlasting fire and everlasting punishment because they did not, with the knowledge they possessed, use it in any beneficial way. When one is saved, God’s interests ought to become our own, to greater or lesser degree. The sheep on Jesus right hand fed, sheltered, clothed, cared for, and visited the downtrodden and needy among His brethren. The cursed did the opposite. Caring for the brethren is a hallmark of having received life, 1 John 3:18, 19, 23, 24. “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death,” 1 John 3:14.

 

God is Judge, and His fiery indignation (anger, outrage, fury) will devour the adversaries. Recall that Satan is referred to as the Adversary in Scripture. In the Jewish Bible, the Tanakh, Satan’s name is translated as the Adversary (capitalized) in the book of Job, 1:6, 7, etc. Peter calls him by that name. “Your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour,” 1 Peter 5:8. Of course, the most common definition of adversary is enemy. God’s indignation will devour the enemies. Fire and the grave are never satisfied, we are told by Solomon, Proverbs 30:15, 16. And to those who are counted as enemies of the cross, they shall suffer death eternal and the fire that will not be quenched, and this by the hand of the God whose grace they spurned. The same term, “fearful,” is found once more in Hebrews 10:31, where we read, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Are we professing saints that willfully sin, ignoring the reality of what was accomplished to ransom us from death? I pray the Lord that all of us who name the name of Jesus Christ truly know Him, and by knowing Him have eternal life in His name.