Hebrews 10:26
I get asked more questions on Hebrews 10:26 than any other verse in the Bible. Evidently, this is a verse that troubles many Christians:
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left. (Hebrews 10:26)
Whoa, that looks scary! Let’s take a quick survey. Please put your hand up if you have lived a sinless life since accepting Jesus as your Savior. Hmmm. I don’t see any hands. I have been saved for decades and – if I’m honest with you – I cannot say my performance has been flawless throughout that period. I’m pretty sure I sinned this one time back in 1987…
Ha! It’s easy for me to make jokes. I’ve been set free. I no longer mine at the pits of religion with condemnation. I’m drawing from the wells of salvation with joy!
The wrong way to interpret Hebrews 10:26
All jokes aside, Hebrews 10:26 is an oft-abused scripture. If you wanted to use this verse to scare people, there are a couple of angles you could take:
1. You could use this verse to present a “balanced” view of God, like this: “He is a God of grace and He is a God of judgment. He’s not some senile Santa in the sky. He’s a God of vengeance and a consuming fire. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
2. You could also use this verse to preach works: “You will be judged according to the light of your revelation and those who have received the knowledge of the truth will be held to the highest standard. It’s time for judgment to begin in the house of God. If you fall away it is impossible to be brought back to repentance!”
What is the problem with these messages? Listen to the first one you’re going to come away thinking that God is schizophrenic, at war with His own nature. He loves you, but He doesn’t. It’s unconditional love – with conditions. And if you listen to the second you will either end up a religious fraud or a nervous wreck. You may even wish that you had never heard the gospel because ignorance is bliss.
The tricky part with these false messages is that they are composed of true statements. Our God is a consuming fire. But the interpretation is all wrong. They are anti-cross and anti-Christ. Any message that tells you that God is double-minded or that the good news is bad news ought to be rejected. You know that, right? Good. So how do we read Hebrews 10:26?
Trampling the Son of God under foot
A key to unpackaging this scripture is to recall the audience. Hebrews was written for – surprise, surprise – Hebrews. It was for those who have grown up with the “elementary teachings” of the Old Covenant. In other words, the author writes for an informed audience. They know all about the law, sacrifices, and high priests. But what they may not appreciate is that the law was only a shadow of the good things to come. The law points to the true high priest Jesus and His eternally perfect sacrifice.
Hebrews was written to reveal Christ and His work so that we may “enter through the new and living way,” “go on to maturity,” and “draw near to God.” That last bit is the key. How do I know the two sermonettes above are carnal nonsense? Because neither will inspire you to draw near to God. Indeed, they will have the opposite effect.
Hebrews 10:26 describes those who have received the knowledge of the truth (i.e., they have heard the gospel) but they have rejected it. The writer compares those who reject grace with those who reject law:
Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? (Heb 10:28-29)
This passage is not talking about Christians but those who, like Judas, have heard the truth and spurned it. Judas spent time in the company of the Lord. He not only heard the truth, he saw Grace and Truth in the flesh. But Judas rejected Jesus as Lord. He never saw Jesus as anything other than a rabbi. Calling Jesus “Rabbi” is a bit like calling the President “Mister,” only infinitely more so. It’s not just insulting, it’s unbelief.
Jesus came to give His life for Judas but Judas wasn’t interested. He preferred his own sinful life of greed and betrayal. I am sure Judas had many opportunities to repent (i.e., change his mind) and put his faith in Jesus, but he never did. He rejected the grace of God that could empower him to say no to sin.
Jesus died for Judas. What more could He do? There is nothing! There is no more sacrifice for sins other than the one Jesus provided. To reject Jesus as Lord is to trample the Son of God underfoot and treat the blood of the covenant as unholy.
How do you insult the Spirit of grace?
If I was to give you a free car out of the generosity of my heart, but you insisted on paying for it, I would be insulted. Similarly, we insult the Spirit of grace by trying to pay, with works and sacrifices, what God has freely given us. We may call it “proving our salvation” or “appropriating what God has given” but it is unbelief. It is like saying, “I don’t believe Jesus has done it all. I need to finish what He started.”
The wrong way to read Hebrews is to think that God is judging us on our performance. Over and over again Hebrews tells us that it is Jesus and His performance that matters. It is His sacrifice that made us holy, indeed, perfect forever (Heb 10:10-14). How can we interpret Hebrews 10:26 as a warning against sin when Hebrews 9:26 says that Christ appeared once for all “to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself”? Is His a finished work or isn’t it? If it is, then sin is no longer the problem. Where there is remission of sins, “there is no longer any sacrifice for sin” (Heb 10:18). The good news is that the Son of God is the once and final solution for sin. Because of Jesus, both God the Father and God the Holy Spirit choose to remember our sins no more (see Heb 8:12, 10:17).
The warning of Hebrews
In a forthcoming post I will look at Hebrews 6:4-6, which is another passage that bothers some. But the punch-line is the same. The main warning of Hebrews is not in regard to sin but unbelief:
So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. (Heb 3:19)
The Hebrews of Moses’ day never entered God’s rest because they hardened their hearts to His voice. In the New Testament era, many Jews were doing exactly the same thing. They received the knowledge of truth, they heard the gospel of grace, but they rejected it. They may not have said so in so many words, but by their actions they revealed their distrust.
For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. (Heb 4:2)
The author of Hebrews writes to stir up faith. Without it we cannot please God. With it we can come boldly to the throne of grace.
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. (Heb 10:39)
Some people hear the good news of God’s grace and shrink back. They cannot believe it. “It’s too good to be true,” they say. “I’d better cover myself by doing works.” Do you see the danger? You cannot cover yourself. This is idol-worship. You are elevating yourself to co-savior with Christ. You are insulting the Spirit of grace by trying to pay for what God has already given you. This is why sermons that put the emphasis on you and your performance are dangerous. Don’t buy into any message that purports to give you a list of keys or steps that will help you achieve/accomplish/appropriate what you already have. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and the sweat of men to take away sins and it is faithless to strive for what you already have (every good thing!).
According to Hebrews there are only two kinds of people; those who don’t enter because of their unbelief and those who believe and are saved. Sin is not the variable; faith is. Where does faith come from? Jesus! He is the Author and Perfecter of our faith (Heb 12:2).
Fix your eyes on Him.
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Escape to Reality 
lovely..i am so blessed: “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth,
no sacrifice for sins is left” – Hebrews 10:26
– Deliberately or Not Deliberately sinning does not invoke a sacrifice
– No Sacrifice for sins is left because Jesus once and for all did the a final sacrifice.
this verse simply means, because all your sins has been forgiven, there is no need for Jesus to die at the cross again. Paul, I would love to hear what you say about verse 27. grace and peace
V.27 tells us it’s a very bad idea to reject grace. R.F. Capon says it like this: “The outrage of law violated is nothing compared to the white-hot fury of grace spurned.”
What about a baby Christian who backslides almost immediately for 8 years, comes back and googles “losing salvation” to then get back multiple skewed views and not knowing better start to freak out and beg for mercy and cry and feel that the work at the cross wasn’t enough for YOU, everyone else yes, but you NO because your such a bad child.. I did this for a few months until now not knowing what I was doing about not accepting grace can you get back under grace or is it once you adopt a dumb idea in your mind about you needing to prove yourself and begin to lean in that direction that you wake up and are like no I refuse to think anything in my flesh is good. Because I accidentally went under the law is that it for me am I never to find rest in Jesus again? 8 years of running away and I’m still a baby Christian.. I basically feel like I’m a dog chasing my tail and on then end of it is Gods abundant grace. It’s all about grace through the ultimate atonement which is the ultimate, almost too hard for the human mind to grasp, act of grace.. Why am I not joyful? If I did fall from it can I come back or knowing the Word is the truth do I need to or accept HEB 10: 27-29 and HEB 12:16-17
You are not joyful because you are not resting in God’s grace – you’re trusting in Google! Get off the internet and start talking to your Father. Cast your cares on him for he cares for you. Believe it. “Can I come back?” Read the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11ff). Jesus told it just for you.
Aaron you did not trample the blood of Christ under foot simply because you are so conscience of your sin. You are counting the blood of Christ as a holy thing or this wouldn’t be bothering you so deeply. Romans 8:1 says there is no condemnation for those who walk in the Spirit, sounds difficult especially when you’ve had such a hard time already right? Jump down to verse 9. If you believe in Jesus, who He is and what He did for you, then you belong to Him and are already in the Spirit and are no longer under condemnation. Not because of how you act but because of Who you put your faith-trust in.Your soul is crying Abba Father. God is not going to ignore that. I second studying the prodigal son story just remember that throughout the whole thing he was still a son and the father never disowned him.
Paul, I agree with almost everything you said but I believe the writer IS talking to believers because of verses 30 and 31. but the judgement is not talking about losing salvation but suffering sever chastisment even to the point of death. Even most of the Israelites who were saved out of Egypt died and did not make it to the promise land, but I believe we will see them in heaven.
I don’t believe God disciplines us with death. How could we learn from that? And if he were punishing us, then he is unjust for punishing the same sin twice. All sin was condemned on the cross.
I think we can still be punished for our sins on Earth. When Peter struck down Ananias and Sapphira, he didn’t discipline them (i.e. let them learn from their actions), he punished them (i.e. let others learn from their actions). He did not remove their place before God, but allowed the consequences of their sin to take full effect on Earth.
Hey I thought you all may like the mirror version by Francois du Toit Hebrew 10:26 to know the truth, as we now do, and still persist in deliberate sinning is to openly discard God’s provision in Christ, But unlike the old sacrificail system, no further sacrifice can be offered in the new.
Thanks Paul for this and all you do for the Gospel
The Scripture is plain and clear. No need to write long page-long explanations. The Bible is clear. Be Holy. Obey the Commandments. Fear GOD. The only thing you’re doing is putting souls to sleep making them think they are free to sin all they want. If you die in unrepentant sin you burn in Hell. YAHUSHUA MESSIAH can save and forgive, but HE is not mocked or manipulated. GOD isn’t a slave to the man-made doctrine of Once Saved Always Saved.
So I rebuke you false teacher in the Name of YAHUSHUA ha MASHIACH, and I Pray that souls will WAKE UP! Don’t listen to Christian theology, 99% of it is polluted. Let the HOLY SPIRIT teach you…
Right Kirby, I’m free to sin all I want… but…. because there’s so much grace over my life, I JUST DON’T WANT TO SIN!
Living IN Yahushua ha Mashiach and He in me is just too much, you should try it!
Sin?! What’s that?!
Kirby, even if we didn’t commit any single sin in our life from the day we were born up to the day we die, we still will perish.
it’s useless to tell people to stop sinning because stopping sin does not bring us salvation.
Hi Kirby,
Be Holy? Its Christ in us that makes us holy, Rom 11:16. The thief on the cross was holy and that without perfect obedience to the law, as you suggest.
Obey the commandments? Christians do obey both of them. See 1John 3:22,23
we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another
BTW, the sin the world is convicted of is unbelief in Jesus, John 16:9. This sin of unbelief applies to those who preach that obedience to the law is required for righteousness.
Whatever the law says it says to those under it, Rom 3:19.
Your suggestion that sin is transgression of the law does not apply to Christians as we’re not under the law, Rom 8:2, Rom 10:4, Gal 3:24, Gal 5:18, 1Tim 1:9.
Kirby, it seems that your preaching the law. If so then you need to repent of your sin of unbelief
You are right he is not mocked or manipulated and your self righteousness has no value only his righteousness has value and you can not afford it , it only comes by faith in what he has achieved for you.There is unfortunately no sacrifice left for you the perfect lamb has been slain Yahushua. His name The laid is righteousness, not me not you.We could never save ourselves but you still try.
‘obey the commandments’..?..good luck with that one. No one on this earth CAN keep the commandments…why, do you suppose Christ came to die for the sins of all who believe in Him?….past, present and future sins…..legalism is DEAD…..Christ is alive.
You miss the point of Grace. I lived under law for years and was on all soughts of anti depressants because of bad doctrine that made trapped in sin and condemned and intro spective instead of Christ spective. I had these teachings 10 years ago. Remember the law was through Mosses but Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Grace reached out to me in my worst point and now I feel more free to enjoy reeding the word and living for Him because I generally love Him.
Great post Paul. Since I discovered the real meaning of hebrews this one of the most gracious letters in the bibel.
To sin has to do with violating the will of god. When he says:”By his WILL, we are made perfect forever.” (Hebr. 10,10), than to go and
start the DIY-program….would be sin.
The audience is commanded to rest in what god has done, which is just believing it.
another life-changing message straight from the throne of grace. thanks so much Paul, keep them coming!
Great post
Who hasn’t committed a willful sin? There is a head of a ministerial association that comes to our church every year and preaches this as well as the other text you are going to write about. His whole concept of the Grace of God gets skewed from a premise that redemption is conditional based on our loyalty to God as we are faithful to the end
Even for those that try to argue that the book of Hebrews is written to all Christians-you still have to read that scripture in context in light of all the letter and the only sin that the writer is talking about is unbelief
“I no longer mine at the pits of religion with condemnation. I’m drawing from the wells of salvation with joy!” Love it! I have Christian friends who have been laid on my heart again by this teaching. I just do not know how to approach them anymore. They are members of a church that teaches law to the nth degree and it is so sad because they are missing out on their Saviour’s love.
Great! Very helpful understanding here. Thank you brother !
Sorry. I must be thick, but I still don’t understand the Right Way to read this verse. Can you explain, once more for me? (I’m really sincere. I’ve read the post a couple times, but still don’t get it.)
Thank you
Bob, the short version: If we will not be satisfied and rest in the finished work of the cross (i.e., we carry on as we did before we received the good news, unrepentant and unbelieving), then nothing can save us. There is no other sacrifice for sins other than the cross. I will develop this more in my next post on Heb 6.
Paul, one week new to your site and loving it. Several teachers and preachers on TV, radio and print say that when we confess our sins as Christians we are to ask forgiveness from God. Does this fall into the same issue as spoken in the above post? I believe in confessing and agreeing with God about my sinfulness and it always sets me free but if I was to ask forgiveness everytime wouldn’t I be insulting the Spirit of Grace? God Bless
Paul, I think confession and agreeing with God is wonderfully liberating. But confessing-to-be-forgiven is pure law. You may be interested in my post, 12 reasons why you don’t need to confess to be forgiven.
Loads of thanks, Paul
Dear Paul just wanted to let you know how good it is to read Heb 10: 26 without feeling like I’m on death row! Am eternally grateful.Keep up the good work:)
Thank you Tina.
Paul, do you have a post that deals with 1John 2,3-6? I would be interested in your view.
God Bless Paul
Hi Paul, I don’t. But I do have a few posts on the commands of Jesus. If you can handle those then you should have no problem with the commands of John.
Paul, thanks so much for the post, the commands of Jesus. It and the follow-up post set me free indeed on these and the verses I had ask about. Growing up my wife and I were taught that we are now new creations, old things have passed away, all things are new…sort of sounds the way you believe…so that being said we were taught that the new creation does not sin. Well my wife and I have to admit that leaves us out. Anyway how do you explain your total new creation, no sin nature, no flesh and still believe Paul was a Christian in Rom. 7,14-25. Or maybe you don’t. My family and I are learning so much from your teachings in such a short time. God Bless
Great message Paul.
I liked your reference to Hebrews 10:18 “Now where remission of these (sins and iniquities) is, there is NO MORE offering for sin”
Romans 3:25 confirms this “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are PAST”
It was our PAST sin that was dealt with. Now there is NO MORE sin for Christians. We “cannot sin” because his seed (Christ) is in us (1John3:9).
As you said, Hebrews 10:26 refers to those who have “received the knowledge of the truth” (the gospel) but turn to works of he law instead.
Sin is transgression of the law (1John3:4) and what the law says it says to those UNDER IT (Romans 3:19).
BUT Christians are not under the law (1Tim1:9, Rom 8:2, Gal 5:18) and where there is NO LAW there is NO TRANSGRESSION aka SIN (Rom 4:15).
BUT if someone rebuilds the law in their lives they make themselves a transgressor/sinner (Galatains 2:18).
To do this is tredding underfoot the Son of God (Heb 10:29). It is forsaking the right way (2Pet 2:15).
2Peter 2:20-22 “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”
Dear Paul, I did go through the above article you wrote on Heb.10:26. But could not find any explanation about the word ‘we’ that was used by the writer of Hebrews. This word implies that the verse is talking about the believers since the writer himself is a believer. Did I miss it in your article or you did overlook it? If I missed it please point me to that. If you overlooked it then it is significant and consequential. Thanks for your answer.
It could have been talking about the “we” of being Hebrew since that is who the book it written to. The Jews could not go back to the temple sacrifice system because none of those scrifices were acceptable after Jesus. It’s not the Jesus sacrifice that was no more but the levitical/temple sacrifice had ended. They could not reject Jesus then cling to the old covenant sacrifices to get their sins covered.
Paul covers this is the section under the heading “Trampling The Son of God Underfoot” I think.
“But Judas rejected Jesus as Lord” Paul, by this statement do you believe Judas had the option to choose Jesus as lord or was he not enlightened by God to believe and if he had the option to choose then must he had to make Christ lord…Lordship Salvation…to be saved? Also, how does a person that is spiritually dead understand spiritual things. How would Judas see Christ as Lord or understand all the spiritual things in this chapter without life. God Bless
I don’t agree with your interpretation at all. The verse plainly states that if one continues to willfully sin after receiving the truth, their is no salvation for them. Likewise, Satan knows the truth, and he fully believes it… is there salvation for him? No, because he willfully continues to sin. Many Satanists know the truth, and fully believe it… is there salvation for them? No, because they continue to willfully sin. It’s really not that difficult. If you claim to be a Christian, and you’re willfully continuing in a sinful lifestyle, the work of the cross is mute for you, and hell awaits. Jesus said “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and FEW there be that find it.” It’s your responsibility to walk the narrow path.
CB, am I right in thinking you’re one of those people who never sins? Not ever?
Hebrews Simply says this once we have received the truth there is no sacrifice we can make for our sins all that remains is mercy and grace and we know where we get grace. this is not talking about sin after the truth but addressing sacrifice after the truth.
The book of Hebrews was written by a Hebrews to Hebrews, what was to become of their doctrine of sacrifice after accepting Yeshua. This gives the answer there is no sacrifice left.
It makes the assumption that it is obvious what happens to sin.
“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left (Heb 10:26)” – This verse seems self explanatory to me. To Paul Ellis: Yes I sin, every day. Do I deliberately sin? I certainly try not to. I pick up my cross daily, and bear it. I’m trying to walk the narrow path that leads to life. It’s not an easy thing to do. – To Chris: “All that remains is mercy and grace”… Mercy and grace for you to willfully practice sin? The reason people don’t like the plain interpretation of this verse is because it places the onus of responsibility squarely on them, and people are not fond of responsibility. If you’re willfully living in sin, Hebrews 10:26 should concern you. And another: “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. (Phillipians 4:12)”.
Hi CB Jesus says my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” its not an easy thing to do ?”it seems you believe there there is some sacrifice other than pride left for us.Pride is the essence of what man has become. Read Mathew 12;7 and 9;13 . Sin has only ever had three destinations : Gods judgement, sacrifice, forgiveness by Gods grace and mercy.
Jesus made the perfect and complete sacrifice for SIN, so there is no sacrifice for SIN left, There is sacrifice left for us but it has nothing to do with sin. Read Samuel 15;22, Psalm 40;6, Psalm 50:8, Jeremiah 7;22, Mark 12;33, Hebrews 10;11.There are now only two destinations left for sin, sacrifice for sin may now lead to judgement.
I can assure you sin is a responsibility to heavy for us to bear.We could never carry Jesus,s cross, do we have a cross to bear? yes.
Working out our salvation with fear and trembling is coming to the place where we realize we cannot save ourselves, liberation is finding salvation.
The narrow road is easy to follow,the wide road can have you walking around in circles.
To Chris:
I don’t believe it takes a Bible scholar to understand the vast majority of scripture. The plain interpretation is usually the correct one.
The verse is clearly stating that if one deliberately keeps on sinning after they have received the Gospel, then they have effectively rejected the work of the cross. And there is no other sacrifice to fall back on.
We don’t have to be perfect, but we have to resist. We have to focus. Resisting is the opposite of willfully sinning.
Let me just add that sin happens all the time. It’s in our fallen nature. Some Christians backslide from time to time. However, Hebrews 10:26 is addressing something more serious, it’s addressing willful, deliberate, and continued sin. The author wants the wavering believer to know what is at stake. To suggest otherwise would be complicating the text.
God showed his grace upon us with his work on the cross. Jesus’ sacrifice is the key that unlocks and opens the door for us. Once we make the decision to walk through the door, it’s our responsibility to walk that narrow path. – And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:62)
We can’t just cherry pick the scriptures that make us feel good. We are instructed to properly divide the word of God… all of it.
Hebrews 10:26 is a warning, not a reminder of grace.
But it is not a warning to the saints. Either there is “no condemnation” to those in Christ Jesus or there isn’t. You can’t be in and out, saved and unsaved at the same time. You can’t have it each way. Stop judging on the basis of behavior – that’s old covenant – and make a proper judgment.
I’m not judging anybody. God will be the judge on the basis of behavior.
You’re right in a sense. It’s not a warning to the saints, because the saints don’t deliberately continue in sin. If one is remaining in sin, it’s a sure fire sign that they’re not being led by the Holy Spirit. Just because someone prays the sinners prayer doesn’t mean that they’re saved. Jesus said we must “endure to the end”. Another valuable quote from James chapter 2- “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action (works), is dead. In other words, if you don’t have righteous behavior, then you don’t have the faith that saves. James states: “I will show you my faith BY my works”. Do you think Jesus’ faithful disciples were willfully continuing in sin? You, me, and everyone else are going to be judged based on our works. There is no way around it…
So much for the grace of God then. We stand and fall on our performance. I don’t know why Jesus even bothered showing up.
Sigh.
Hi Paul.
I believe the If used in 10;26 is conclusive if as used in if God be for us who can be against us.
Sorry Paul my translation 10;26. We will deliberately keep on sinning and after receiving the truth there is no sacrifice for sin left.
Paul,
Im not sure if I am underatanding your interpretation clearly, but in my opinion the grace of God doesn’t allow us to continue in a life of sin. If it did it wouldn’t be gracious at all. Or saving. Or reedeming. Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Romans 6:6 “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” Romans 6:12 “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey it’s passions.” I do not think I have earned my salvation by my human efforts, only by the grace of God I am saved, but works are evidence of my salvation and if I were to willingly continue a life of sin I am ignoring the power of the cross and Christs freedom. Your interpretation seems extremely appealing because if you are right my life doesn’t have to change and I can continue to choose to do whatever I want under the umbrella of grace and I think thats why so many want to interpret this verse in that way. You mention Judas rejecting Christ and turning to his sinful greed, but what is the difference between that and someone who has heard the truth yet deliberately sleeps around or steals or actively lives in any other sin? Do you think Christ saved us from the punishment of sin or the power it has in our lives? I might be completely wrong in what you are saying, but I do think faith without works (behavior) is dead and is not a saving faith.
The grace of God is the only thing that can empower us to sin no more – not rules, not expectations regarding standards of behavior, but grace alone. The reason some persist in sin is because they have had the law preached to them and the law inflames sin.
I get a lot of hypotheticals like this and they all deal with other people, often imaginary other people. Other people are not your concern or mine. You are your concern. What have you done with grace? Have you wrapped it up in ribbons of rules and made it into something it isn’t? Or have you trusted that grace will change you on its own terms?
In my experience, when you fall in love with Jesus, you fall out of love with sin. That’s not a hypothetical but a real testimony from one who has lived it.
Hello Paul,
I like what you’re saying but where I’m still stuck at is v. 29. It says that “the blood of the covenant sanctified them.” If they were sanctified, doesn’t that mean they were saved? From this perspective it sounds like they “deliberately kept on sinning” and lost their salvation. Or maybe they “deliberately kept on sinning” by going back to the old covenant?
There are two ways to read Heb 10:29: (1) It’s referring to Christians who have become apostate. (This is the traditional interpretation, which I disagree with.) (2) In Hebrews, everything to do with the finished work is described in the past tense and as applying to everyone – even if that work is not believed.
– “But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Heb 9:26). The sacrifice was not just for believers but all.
– “And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb 10:10) It is the will of God to sanctify men.
– “But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God” (Heb 10:12). The sacrifice was not just for believers but all.
When Moses confirmed the covenant (Ex 24:6-8) he did it on behalf of the whole camp – including those who would subsequently reject the covenant be cut off. Similarly, when Jesus made a covenant with the Father, he did it on behalf of the whole world – including those who would subsequently reject the gift of the covenant through unbelief and be cut off.
Whether you receive it or not, the work of forgiving and sanctifying you was accomplished at the cross. Of course it won’t benefit you unless you receive it by faith – as Hebrews makes clear elsewhere – but the point of Heb 10 is that there is no Plan B. There is one, and only, sacrifice that sanctifies the unclean. If you reject it and treat it as unholy, there is no hope for you.
I could say more but I think you get my drift.
Hi CB
There are two options either you have overcome sin or Jesus has.
If Jesus , God, The Holy Spirit, the Cross, The Gospel , Has empowered you to overcome sin, The Glory will never be yours.
It will never be because you have a good heart, it will be because God has given you a new heart.
It will never be because you have resisted, it will be because the Holy Spirit has enabled you to resist.
If you have walked the narrow path it will be the Holy Spirit that guided you along the narrow path.
If you could not do the work before the cross what has changed.
The cross changed everything, and I agree with 90% of your post, but being a Christian is not a one time event that takes place, and then you’re set for life. It’s a personal relationship with your creator and savior. Every relationship comes with responsibilities, and you must uphold your end of the bargain. Christ paved the way on the cross, now we are responsible to NOT CONTINUE IN WILLFUL SIN… and I agree that it is the Holy Spirit enabling one to do this, but that doesn’t negate the fact that it still needs to be done. If we are not constantly striving to enter in at the narrow gate, then we are neglecting our responsibilities. All relationships fall apart when someone neglects their responsibility. You can’t treat the cross like a “get in to heaven free” card. – “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13) This verse is laying out part of your responsibility as a Christian. Putting to death the deeds of the body… If you’re willfully continuing in sin, then you are living according to the flesh… and you will die. The point of this whole thing is that Hebrews 10:26 is a clear warning to the wavering believer that if he doesn’t stop the sinful lifestyle, he will not be saved.
“You must uphold your end of the bargain.” You have just given a perfect and concise summary of the old covenant. Well done! You may also want to add those scriptures from Lev 4 that distinguish willful from unintentional sin. Then, when you’ve done that, ask yourself “what changed as a result of the cross?” Your answer is, evidently nothing.
We don’t constantly strive to enter the narrow gate. Once you’ve entered you’re in. I do not doubt your ability to filter what you read through an old covenant lens, but your premises are all wrong. The cross actually did change everything. The new covenant isn’t between you and God but between God the Father and God the Son. Your responsibilities and your faithfulness don’t come into it – and thank God they don’t CB because you’re just not good enough.
Paul, triple LIKE your reply 🙂
CB
Can you describe your idea of what is meant by the terms used “willfully continue in sin”? How would you best describe the intent of that statement? How do you define sin? Old covenant vs new covenant?
You said….
“Do you think Jesus’ faithful disciples were willfully continuing in sin? You, me, and everyone else are going to be judged based on our works. There is no way around it…”
I am thinking the works based righteousness was from the the Mosaic Covenant…Old Testament. But that(the Law) was given to show that MAN could NOT perform satisfactorily in that role. Perhaps, as with many Christians, you have a misunderstanding of “Works”
Also obviously the Apostle Paul had issues with sin in his life. Check out Romans 7. Was that willful sin? I’m not sure.
Hi CB
Paul had no issues with he had a great relationship with Sin and a complete understanding of it and what empowers it Romans 7:21 When he tries to overcome it it overpowers him ,then in the end he gives the answer to the power to overcome sin Romans 7:25. Jesus Not striving, if you could put to death the deeds of the body there would be no need for Jesus it is the power of the spirit that testifies of Jesus that enables you to overcome the body. Not your own power. You quote Romans 8:13 then immediately deny it by saying it is your responsibility implying that it is not the power of the Holy Spirit.
You are blown about by the wind and keep on contradicting yourself.
I speak to you as a very blessed man, in that I have no works for salvation and therefore have nothing that requires Judgement.
Hi CB,
Let’s consider God’s definitions of sin to help understand Heb 10:26.
Here’s a few examples.
1:Unbelief in Jesus, John16:9. Christians do not commit this sin.
2:“all unrighteousness is sin”, 1 John 5:17 Our faith is counted for righteousness, Rom 4:5. So here we do not sin.
3:“Sin is transgression of the law”,1 John 3:4
Christians cannot be accused of sin here as we are not under the law of sin and death. Even here we do not sin as we are not under the law, Rom 8:2, Rom 10:4, Gal 5:18, 1Tim 1:9, Gal 3:24.
In fact nobody, not even Satan the accuser, can lay anything (even sin) to the charge of those God has justified, Rom 8:33.
So Christians truly have “ceased from sin”, 1Pet 4:1, “cannot sin”, 1John 3:9.
So how does one “sin willfully”, as Heb 10:26 speaks of?
Considering God’s definitions of sin lets read Gal 2:18
” if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.” (Sinner).
So if we turn back to the law then we make ourselves a transgressor/sinner. This means we are transgressors of the law (Satan can charge us with sin again) which thus means we’re unrighteous and in unbelief.
This is what Heb 10:26 refers to.
hi Harold. I agree. this is only conclusion I can come to that makes sense.
Hi everyone,I just had a question.I got baptized in 2009.I have been a Christian since then and in 2011 I fell into temptation and sin.I started struggling with sexual immorality and addictions and was sinning even though I did know the truth.I have since 2012 repented and turned back to Christ.What does this mean for me?does it mean I won’t make it into Heaven and that I won’t be forgiven for my sins even though I repented?Someone please reply.
Hi Cassandra,
You are misunderstanding what “sin” is and also what Heb 10:26 refers to. Please read the beginning of this page. Paul explains what Heb 10:26 is about.
The “truth” Heb 10:26 refers to is the gospel of grace. Believing in Jesus.
The “willful sin” refers to going back under the law for righteousness. This is unbelief, denying the work of the cross and instead, establishing your own righteousness by works of the law.
Gal 2:18 tells us that those who rebuild works of the law for righteousness, they make themselves sinners. These are the ones who are in “willful sin”.
Heb 10:26 does not refer to the temptations you gave in to. Whilst what you did was detrimental to your quality of life, it is not “sin” as described in scripture.
If you believe in Jesus then you’re justified by faith and nobody (not even Satan) can charge you with “sin”, Rom 8:33
So will God forgive me?
for sure He does, Cassandra, you repented. You could fall into temptation again, but as you grow in your Christian walk you will learn to walk in His grace, His power to overcome those temptations. As long as we live we are a “work in progress”. Continue what you’re doing: love Jesus, desire to do His will, get to know Him more and more. It is an exciting life!
Cassandra, consider this. He already forgave your the things you described. He only waits patiently for you to repent, but by repent He means change your mind, your way of thinking. You did those things because you still think they hold some value for you. Whatever you think you got out of that “sin” should have been fulfilled by Him.
The transformation is learning to rely on and trust in him to fulfill whatever need you reached for by sinful means. You are taking a new step on the lifelong journey of learning to trust him. Whatever you did, if you review it from Christ’s point of view, you will see that He was the answer to the “need.”
Someone once said you get rid of a love (idol) by replacing it with a bigger Love (for God). In a way this can be a good thing, because it drives you back to Him and your utter dependence on him. The prodigal son got a hug and a party, not a whip or even a stern look.
Heb 10:26 speaks of the “willful” sin of unbelief in Jesus after knowing the truth of the gospel. This “willful” sin is not forgiven.
As for the unhelpful lifestyle choices we all make at times (including what you described of your circumstances), we are not condemned because of them.
Consider King David who committed adultery and murder. He was not condemned because of this. God put away his sin just as He put away yours and mine. But King David was disciplined. So we will not profit from doing wrong.
Consider also the thief on the cross who called Jesus “Lord”. His salvation was not based upon the fact that he was a criminal. Instead, we see he believed in Jesus and was saved.
None of us have perfect lifestyles, so praise God our salvation is NOT determined on how good a lifestyle we live. We are saved by grace, instead.
The sin the world is convicted of is unbelief in Jesus, John 16:9. So always continue to believe in Jesus.
I suggest study God’s word and ask Him to give you understanding. Trust in Him.
Hi every one, I only got in on this discussion and here is my story: my Christian husband, and a teacher of the Word left me some years ago after more than 30 years of marriage for a young woman(also a Christian). They have asked the Lord for forgiveness, but continue their liaison inspite of him still being married to me. The grief over this is indescribable, because I believe, unless there is true repentance with fruit showing of a change of mind and therefore changed lifestyle, they are on their way to hell.I believe Hebrews 10:26 calls a spade, a spade and we as Christians can stray back on that broad road that leads to destruction.
Hanneke, I can only imagine your pain at this betrayal. I hope and pray that God’s grace will, in time, heal this very real hurt. That said, I don’t think your healing will be helped by judging your husband. What he did was indisputably wrong but it’s not up to us to decide who goes to hell or not. If Hebs 10:26 was saying we who are saved can yet go to hell for sinning, then harboring unforgiveness would be just as damning.
Leave your husband in the Lord’s hands and deal with your own genuine need for healing. Your healing may not come from the man who hurt you, but it can certainly come from the One who knows what it is to be betrayed and treated unjustly by those he loved.
Hi Hanneke, I understand your grief as I have experienced similar. But our salvation is not determined by how good a lifestyle we live. We should be careful about being lured back to judging righteousness by works of the law. Nobody is living a perfect lifestyle. But, if we judge another as hell bound because of their lifestyle then we likewise can face the same judgement for our imperfect lifestyle.
Consider King David with his adultery and murder. He was not sent to hell for this. But he was disciplined by God. The same applies to your husband and his girlfriend. Their liaison, even should they marry one another, will never be blessed by God. Christians do not profit by dong wrong.
Can I suggest you read the article Paul Ellis wrote about repentance.
Repentance is a once only thing, (Heb 6:4-6). And what we repented of was dead works of self-righteousness, Heb 6:1.
But when we receive Jesus, having repented of our dead works of self-righteousness, then it’s our faith that is counted for righteousness (Rom 4:5), instead.
So scripture shows that repentance is not referring to physical failings, as is commonly misunderstood. Hence, Heb 10:26 is referring to those who turn back to dead works of self-righteousness, judging righteousness under the law, Gal 2:18. Any who turn back to the law are in sin of unbelief, John 16:9.
Thank you, Paul and Harold, for your reply. I don’t think I am judging my husband though, the Word of God does. There are enough Scriptures referring to those who will not inherit the Kingdom of God, the sexual immoral are amongst them. Our prayers for my husband and his girlfriend are always for restoration.
Only a few days after my husband left, the Lord showed me about true forgiveness. It was the last thing I wanted to hear, but knew I must do FOR MY OWN GOOD. And by HIS GRACE I can forgive and love my husband. But it a choice, and daily I totally rely on Him to enable me to walk in love and forgiveness( Grace).
King David was a heart broken man when confronted by the prophet Nathan, and Ps 51 shows us a changed man. That’s what pleases God, and we should want to please Him if we truly love Him. Jesus became the source of eternal salvation for all who OBEY Him(Heb 5:9). Yes, God is a God of mercy and grace, salvation is by grace. And our Christian life is lived by His grace. Repentance from dead works is once, but after that there hopefully is more often repentance, not from dead works in order to obtain salvation, but rather a change of mind/direction because of conviction of sin. If we do not respond to the Holy Spirit’s leading in this area, we bring judgement upon our selves, whatever that judgement entails,and ultimately that could be Hebrews 10:26.
The problem is with labeling. John said there are manifestation’s of being a child of God, 1 John 3:10. For God’s child walks in light, 1 John 1:6, sins not, 1 John 3:6, does righteousness, 1 John 3:7, and so forth! So, to call someone a Christian that does not show Christ likeness, is not kosher!
Christ dealt a death blow to sin, so if one continues in sin after supposedly believing Christ did this, they can not truly “know” him, or rather be known by him, Matthew 7:23. For, “How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?”, Romans 6:2. Truly “our salvation is not determined by how good a lifestyle we live”, but our life style should show forth this grace that brings salvation! As Hanneke said; “salvation is by grace. And our Christian life is lived by His grace.” Titus 2:11, Ephesians 2:8.
Hi Hanneke
It is unfortunate that your Husband was unable to teach himself , as he was a teacher I would be interested to find out how he justifies his actions.
From your post I see that even through the circumstances your concern is still for him and his ? I don,t know what you would call her.
All advice I can give you is that ensure that all your focus is on you and who you are, my concern is not for him or her but you. You cannot change Him but you can ensure that you do not change.
From what I read it is evident that you are a awesome person. God,s Reward is sometimes delayed but it always comes.
With a name like Hanneke you must be Dutch or Afrikaans
So Groete en liefde
Chris
Hi Hanneke,
I agree that having to forgive under such offensive circumstances is the last all of us would want to hear. But, like you said, forgiving is also something we do that is for our own good.
As for Heb 10:26, note that scripture is SPIRITUALLY discerned, 1Cor 2:14. If we read it as a natural man would then we will misunderstand it and be condemning others to hell.
The sexual immorality that scripture refers to is, SPIRITUAL.
Believers are one spirit with the Lord, 1Cor 6:17. Hence we should “flee fornication”. To abstain from fornication is part of God’s will for us 1Thes 4:3. This is NOT speaking of physical fornication.
As we are one spirit with the Lord, who is it that we should flee fornication from?
It’s Hagar/the law, Gal 4:24. And it’s this spiritual fornication that Heb 10:26 refers to.
To turn back to Hagar/the law, is to make yourself a sinner, Gal 2:18. And, as Heb 10:26 says, to willfully sin like this after having the knowledge of the truth of the gospel of Christ, has dire consequences.
Thank you, Chris,and yes indeed I am Dutch. I knew from the moment I found out about this illicit relationship that I needed to keep my heart right before God. “Create in me a clean heart, oh Lord,” is often my prayer. As is often the case, in our darkest hour we draw closer to our Heavenly Father. There is nothing else left. I am blessed though, with a wonderful family, children and grandchildren, good Christian friends who will pray, laugh and cry with me.
As for my husband, he is in God’s hands.We serve a supernatural God and NOTHING is impossible for Him.
Het allerbeste Chris, and God’s zegen
Hanneke
Hi Harold, well I don’t get that to be honest. We don’t condemn anyone to hell, unfortunately people do that to them selves because of the choices they make in this life. A lot of sexual immoral Christians would like your version: it is all spiritual, so we can continue in our merry way. In 1 Cor. 6:18 Paul urges his readers to flee from sexual immorality and I believe he does mean the physical kind. Read Jesus’s words in Matt 5:29-30, which refers to dealing with sin in our lives, for the consequences are pretty grim otherwise. Bless you
Hi Hanneke,
Seems we have a little Dutch speaking group here, as I also understand the Dutch words you used. I’m an Australian, but my parents are Dutch so I understand some words.
Unfortunately the doctrine you suggest about sexual immorality, would condemn all Christian divorcees who marry again (Mark 10:11,12) and all those who even looked lustfully at another (Matt 5:28). Under such a doctrine there would be virtually no Christians entering paradise. Under such a doctrine, salvation by grace is negated by works of the law, Rom 11:6.
We as Christians are to be found by God to be “without spot and blameless” 2Pet 3:14. But this is NOT referring to physical behavior (or else we’d all be lost for being imperfect). Instead it refers to the commandment of the gospel (believing in Jesus), 1Tim 6:14.
So how does a Christian get themselves spotted and blamed? They turn back to the law to determine righteousness. In other words they fornicate with Hagar/the law.
We should therefore beware not to be be leading others astray into works of the law, as anyone teaching such, face stricter judgement, James 3:1. We cannot mix grace with works of the law, Rom 11:6. “Does a fountain bring forth both sweet water (grace) and bitter (works)?” James 3:11.
Blessings.
Hi Harold, I totally agree with you that salvation is by grace only. All Christians love Jesus as Saviour, but what about Him as LORD?? When we are saved and Jesus becomes Lord of our lives we will learn to live a life according to the Spirit and not to our sinful nature (Rom 8). It is not something I have to do(law), but what I WANT to do, because I love Jesus. .
The Bible is very clear about how believers are to live and how to relate to each other and it is all for our own good! Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness- His right way of doing life. We be wise not to rebel against that.
I am not suggesting any doctrine, I suggest we read the Word, study it, and allow the Holy Spirit to teach us in the way of righteousness. Dying to self.
Please explain to me Mark 11:25, “And where ever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, and let it drop(leave it let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you…”. When we trespass against someone or vice versa, when we do not forgive them we are not forgiven or they do not forgive us we are not forgiven. How does that coincide with God forgiveness at the cross. Maybe I am missing something here. Help.
Good question Glenn. An answer can be found here and here.
Hi Hanneke,
The “sinful nature” you spoke about refers to those in unbelief, establishing righteousness by dead works. “Sinful nature” does not refer to bad behavior. If it did then none would be saved as nobody is perfect in behavior.
When we receive Jesus we see different levels of improvement in behavior, but never perfection. Some even have no improvement to show as they received Christ on their death bed. No doubt you are not perfect in behavior. So why would any Christian (forgiven and saved by grace) then argue that others are lost because their behavior does not match up to some minimum standard?
What is that minimum standard of behavior that determines whether we are righteous enough to enter paradise?
The thief on the cross next to Jesus found out. He believed in Jesus and his faith was counted as righteousness, and that without any improvement in behavior. We are saved by grace alone. Hence we should not be lukewarm in mixing works with grace.
You are right, there is no minimum standard of behavior in order to enter paradise. The whole discussion was about those who deliberately and willfully sin once saved, not about our imperfections and the slip-ups we have and are often not even aware of. It is about rebellion against the Holy Spirit.
There is a difference between those who genuinely desire to be free from sinful behavior and slip up many times in the process, and those who deliberately and willfully continue in sin, even after being spoken to. ( as in my husband’s case) And ultimately the core issue is maybe unbelief, only God knows. In 1Cor. 5, Paul talks about expelling a brother for immoral behavior. What would the reaction be if that happens in our churches??
PS The thief on the cross didn’t get much of a chance to live for Christ and Praise God for salvation on deathbeds!
God bless
Heb 10:26 and 1Cor 5 are both similar regarding the sin they speak of.
The willful sin Heb 10:26 speaks of is referring to those who turn to the law to determine righteousness (Gal 2:18). This is what I was referring to regarding the doctrine you seem to follow.
Likewise 1Cor 5 speaks on the same subject, describing it as one having his father’s (the devil, John 8:44), wife (Hagar/righteousness by the law, Gal 4:24). This is the spiritual fornication Christian’s should abstain from, 1Thess 4:3.
We should not be judging anyone’s salvation (even your husband and his girlfriend) based on their wrong behavior. Just trust in God and leave it to Him to deal with them. God did so with King David.
Satan is the source of many of life’s trials, such as marriage breakdowns, and the trap is to lure Christians back into judging righteousness/salvation by how good a life we live.
The simplicity that is in Christ is the gospel/believing in Jesus. Don’t let your mind be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ, 2Cor 11:3.
holy smokes I’ve never heard it all connected like* this thanks wow what a brilliant post thank you.
*fornicating with the law, determining our righteousness by it not by grace, etc…wonderful!
Harold,
Your posts are reminding me of the freedom I once had in Christ. I never worried about whether I was saved, I simply believed that Jesus saved me no matter what I did.
However, I made the mistake, after returning from misplaced anger toward God and terrible sinful behavior, of falling for the lie of and believing in Lordship salvation. It was apostasy. Returning to the law. The anxiety and fear I felt was terrifying. For almost 2 years I barely slept and struggled with trying to be good enough, repent enough, repent genuinely enough, correcting ALL my actions as best I could, scouring the bible for answers and finding nothing but fear. Now for the past year, the gospel of Jesus and Gods tenderness toward me because of Jesus is beginning to show through to me again, but I still struggle at times with “forgetting” and slipping back into the fear and worry the I have trampled the blood of Christ and His gift is no longer available since I returned to trusting in the law instead of Christ.
The peace I once had is gone and a struggle persists. I can easily see that Belief in Jesus is the only way. It’s so simple. Just believe in Jesus. I did at one time purely, completely and innocently and later fell from believing in Him alone to believing I had to follow him and “get things right” to earn salvation while I tried to understand why I would walk away from God and sin against Him so terribly. I no longer believe this thought process is correct.
I see the errors of my wrong thinking and how I got off the rails of true faith. But now the scriptures about continuing in faith, persevering, not giving up my confidence in Christ all point to the fact that I did not persevere, shipwrecked the faith God gave me, threw away my confidence, so now I stare at the beautiful gift of Jesus and fear I rejected Him. Have I reversed any possibility to claim Jesus as my inheritance by accepting the law which I know I can’t fulfill? Do you think its possible for someone like me to struggle and waffle back and forth in and out of true faith in Jesus and the terrible idolatry of legalism and yet be saved still? do you think there is a spiritual legal transaction that has taken place that prevents me now from claiming Jesus blood over the law of sin and death in my life when I fell from pure faith in Christ thus preventing me from pure faith in Christ? Or do I simply have to get back up, confessing Jesus and know that His forgiveness will cover even this unbelief and insult to the Holy Spirit for trampling His blood and go forward in faith in Christ?
Hi Harold, I think we have to come to a place of agreeing to disagree. 1 Cor 5 to me clearly talks about physical immorality as do many other Scriptures and they admonish the believers to flee from it.
For centuries there have been those that do believe in once saved, always saved and those that believe that you can lose your salvation. However, one will virtually have to come to a state of apostasy , I think, for that to happen.
It isn’t the law of God that keeps me moral. It is the Holy Spirit, my love for Jesus and it grieves me to see so much damage done to the Body of Christ because of sin and the lack of conviction thereof. But, praise God, prodigals do come to their senses and return to their Father. Only possible because of His mercy and grace.
Hanneke, Here is a scripture you were thinking of, 1 Corinthians 6:15-19 “ Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? know you not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, say’s he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man does is without the body; but he that commits fornication sins against his own body. What? know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?”
And 1 Thess. 4:3. The one Harold say’s is spiritual, actually relates to 1 Corinthians 6:18, proving it is very physical. 1 Corinthians 5:9-13, tells us we are to judge such, and this is along the line’s of your only grounds to divorce such a one. “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” (TNIV, Matthew 19:3-9). Adultery is the exception, but reconciliation is best!
Its been awhile now, I hope you are in a better situation. I just now think of, Romans 8:28.
I need help. I gave my heart to Jesus about 8 years ago and for three weeks was overflowing from the Holy Spirit, but I backslid quickly as soon as my eyes got taken off of my Saviour and I wanted desperately to fellowship again with the Trinity. It led to me quickly doubting my salvation, like maybe I didn’t make the team so-to-speak… I was young and a baby Christian whom was never disciples. So the doubt turned to fear, which turned to life controlled by sin. Now I’m repented and trying not to try. I know it takes a strong man to be not strong in the ways of the world. I went through a few months of begging for mercy to forgive me and I didn’t even realize I was insulting grace. I googled things I shouldn’t have and they threw scripture together out of context which led to me feeling more condemned and unknowingly insulted spirit of grace even more like a vicious cycle, I want faith and nothing else I know works don’t get you to heaven, I know it’s not our righteousness, but His righteousness, but after so many years of disobedience I feeling so condemned, not so much now I’m forcing my eyes up and on the cross and not looking back but how do I know I didn’t pass the apostate point of no return so to speak. I mean I was feeling so condemned and begging and crying and by doing that I’m saying r i what He did wasn’t enough,, but it’s a vicious cycle to not know where you stand? Did I fall away? I don’t know and the more I wonder the more sorry I feel and then it makes me want to ask for forgiveness again.. Would I have been better to take time and confess all sins I could thing of last 8 years then to ask forgiveness? I now see the difference and how UGLY SIN REALLY IS.. no temporary gratification is worth this! I guess is what I’m asking is can you come back from this. I just felt like such a horrible child. What child quiets the Holy Spirit, not on purpose, but then sink into more sin then before you were born again to the point it becomes like second nature. Am I a lost cause?
You are not a lost cause!!! I can relate to your pain. One time it got so bad for me that I lost a lot of weight, couldn’t eat or sleep, major depression/anxiety, etc. Today I have incredible peace and joy. This same awakening that happened to me has also happened to millions of “Christians” who are struggling with the kind of theological questions you are. And this awakening can happen in an instant. For me it happened watching a Joseph Prince sermon on the internet. If you want someone to bounce questions off of, my email address is rickdavis@ccgvp.com. Please watch some Joseph Prince messages. Also, read this blog a lot (Escape to Reality). I’ve been reading it for a few months and it has helped me a lot. There are lots of other great blogs. You have a lot to learn. You will learn new Truths that will set your soul free. To find out where I’m coming from, you can read my blog at http://www.betterthanexpected2013.wordpress.com. My blog is all about coming out of the kind of the pain your describing and into peace/joy.
First rejoice every sin you will ever commit was put under the blood of Jesus ONE TIME.(Hebrews 9:24-26) While verbal confession may be a good way to get it off your chest God cannot see your sins anymore as they are gone as far as the east is from the west and He promised to not remember them any more.(Psalms 103:12, Hebrews 10:17, Jeremiah 31:34)
Jesus also taught that our belief in Him is what moves us from condemnation and is what gives us eternal life. Our actions are not what puts us under or frees us from being condemned as long as we have put our faith, trust, hope belief in Jesus finished work on the cross.(John 3:15-18 & 36)
There is no apostate point. The only unforgivable sin is to not believe in Jesus. We are not saved unto eternal life because we are good, beg for forgiveness or train our selves to not sin. The biggest lie in Christianity today is that while the wages of sin are death, the wages of holy upright living are our eternal life. Romans 6:23 says that eternal life is a free gift from God because of Jesus. “Free gift” how could anyone tie conditions to that without making God look like a cheap swindler?
1 Peter 1:5 says that God keeps our salvation until the end of time for us.
There are a few books out there that will help you out. The Gospel In Ten Words by Paul Ellis(this sites author), Classic Christianity by Bob George, All of Grace & Grace God’s Unmerited Favor both by Charles Spurgeon
Take heart God will not let you go.
I have also failed and sinned many times in the past, and I will again in the future, but that’s what Jesus died for. He died for every sin you would ever commit, not just some of them. He died so that we no longer would have to see our sin, but that we can see our righteousness and do what we are called to do. I heard a minister say something that set me free from both past, present, and future sins. He said saying that Jesus’ blood can’t remove any of your sins is idolatry, because then you’re claiming that YOUR failures and sin is more powerful than Him. We idolize ourselves if we say that His blood doesn’t forgive us.
Hi Aaron
I am not going to be politically correct in what I tell you happened to you. The Jesus that called you then is the same Jesus that calls you now. The unfortunate thing is that the people who had by your authority spoken into your life, had been of the sort that although have all good intent do not allow any escape for captives, they preach conditional love, they have also been deceived. They think that by transplanting fruit onto a tree they can change a tree this fruit does not last. But when you through the truth of the Gospel by its power allow God to confirm your identity nothing can change this In this new call I would caution you as to who you allow to speak into your life God is who he says he is abundant life anything else is a lie .
Paul,s post,s on this site will help you find lasting fruit. But even then I caution you filter everything through God,s unconditional love for you in this you will find the truth. You have already receive some great replies to your concerns.
You need to get rid of the garbage spoken into your life..
Hi Aaron,
You are not alone in what you are experiencing, and as hard as I know it is for you to believe this right now, you will be more than okay because the Lord has promised to not let you go or to forsake you, and He means what He says. The reason I can say this with certainty is because I went through about 10 or more horrible years of what it sounds like you are going through right now, and thanks to the grace of Christ I’m am standing victorious on the other side. I remember back to those dark and despairing years of feeling so condemned, unforgiven, hopeless, and so utterly alone in my predicament that I even came to the point of almost committing suicide (and this was all after I had accepted Christ). The scriptures in Hebrews mentioned in this blog haunted and taunted my every waking hour and gave me many sleepless nights. Obviously (and thankfully), I didn’t follow through with my suicide plans and I’m still here, and am very happy to report that I am walking in the incredible love & grace of Christ. It took awhile for my mind to be de-programmed and renewed from all the bad teaching I had received when I was so young in the Lord. I had to turn off a lot of legalistic, poisonous programming that I had been listening to and I had to throw away many legalistic, poisonous books on my shelf and get myself rooted and grounded in the love of Christ and His finished work and nothing else. I would love to say it was easy, but it wasn’t. The enemy played havoc with my mind to the point that I thought I was literally going to go crazy at times, but the love and grace of Christ prevailed and brought me through. I know He’ll bring you through, too.
Re-read Paul’s explanation of Hebrews 10 at the top of this blog entry. I believe 100% along with him that this scripture is not referring to believers, but to those Hebrews who had followed God all their lives and up to the point of hearing the Gospel and seeing it demonstrated, but had not yet made the decision to enter into the ‘Rest’. They were basically sitting on the fence with a foot behind in the Law camp and hadn’t yet swung it up and over into the ‘Rest’ side.
I had very deep prayer today and truly humbled myself in the lord asking for forgiveness and asked for strength to overcome all my wrong doings and to fight sin with his sword…at some point today i came across hebrews 10:26 and got really scared if i have ever done something that wrong that i cant remember…would i still be feeling conviction if i was destined for hell?
ec – receive the gift of forgiveness God has given you in Christ’s death… and the gift of righteousness He gave you in His resurrection! it is not the believer’s duty to battle with sin, as Jesus has already fought that battle for us – He paid the penalty for our sins by His death… and then was resurrected victorious over both sin and death!
the battle we fight is the good fight of faith… which is believing that Jesus’s work – His death for our sins and His resurrection for our righteousness – is a complete and perfect and finished work. your sins are not the issue. the issue is whether or not you believe the truth that all your sins (the ones you remember AND the the ones you can’t… the ones you are unaware of… AND the ones you havent even done yet) were paid for by Jesus… 2000 years ago. you have been forgiven and made righteous with Christ’s own righteousness. God sees you the same way He sees Jesus – bc you are IN Him. and He is IN you! 😉
Before Jesus sacrifice the Jews had to make new sacrifices each time they sinned. This verse is not saying Jesus sacrifice won’t cover if you sin again it is simply saying that His sacrifice was the only one you will ever need. There is no more sacrifice because none are needed. Read Hebrews 9:24-26. This helps explain Hebrews 12:26.
As to the conviction and hell thing. Who in this world wants you defeated and afraid that you are going to hell? The Devil. Jesus said in John 3:18 that believing in Him is what removes condemnation from a person. It is not how well you confess your sins that saves you but who you put your faith in that saves you from hell. Jesus.
I was raised a Roman Catholic from age 7 (age of reason). Under Roman Catholic law if one sins, one must confess that sin to the priest or there is no forgiveness. So if I sinned on Friday, confessed on Saturday (now I am saved) and sinned on Sunday (now I am not saved) my salvation is like a yo-yo. What Hebrews 10:26 says is that sin that you committed after you accepted the Lord was sacrificed for at the cross. There was no line drawn with sins committed to this line in the sand are atoned for and these sins on the other side of the line are not atoned for. All the sins were covered past, present and to come unto the end of time. So Hebrews says even though you sin after a knowledge of the truth those sins are also covered. There is no second crucifixion. There is I believe no one who has not sinned after the knowledge of the truth. Not even the saints.
Hi there I have a question. In short, I became a Christin 6 months ago, quit having sex and drug and felt great. But there was a constant temptaion to have sec with my girlfriend. I kept resisting it but one day when I went to her house I just CHOSE to do it later that night. Does this mean God wont forgive me? I’ve heard for that to happen you would have to refuse Jesus all together but there are so many people who say if you choose to sin then you are done. I’m scared I’ve lost Jesus’ love but all I want to do Is please him.
Hi Cody,
The willful sin Heb 10:26 is referring to, refers to those who turn back to doing works of the law for righteousness (like the Pharisees did) after having known the truth of the gospel of grace.
Consider God’s definitions of sin to help understand Heb 10:26.
Here’s a few examples of God’s definitions of sin.
1:Unbelief in Jesus, John16:9. Christians do not commit this sin.
2:“all unrighteousness is sin”, 1 John 5:17 Our faith is counted for righteousness, Rom 4:5. So here we do not sin.
3:“Sin is transgression of the law”,1 John 3:4
Christians cannot be accused of sin here as we are NOT UNDER the law of sin and death. So here we do not sin as we are not under the law, (Rom 8:2, Rom 10:4, Gal 5:18, 1Tim 1:9, Gal 3:24) hence we cannot be charged with it’s transgression.
In fact nobody, not even Satan the accuser, can lay anything (even sin) to the charge of those God has justified, Rom 8:33.
So Christians truly have “ceased from sin”, 1Pet 4:1, “cannot sin”, 1John 3:9.
So how does one “sin willfully”, as Heb 10:26 speaks of?
Considering God’s definitions of sin, lets read Gal 2:18
” if I build again those things which I destroyed (self-righteousness by deeds of the law), I make myself a transgressor”(Sinner).
So if we turn back to the law for self-righteousness, then we make ourselves a transgressor/sinner. Being thus a transgressors of the law, Satan can charge us with sin again, which means we’re unrighteous and lost.
So Heb 10:26 is not referring to that example you gave in your post.
As Christians we need to repent of our sins. Jesus didn’t die so we could keep sinning. He died so we could stop sinning. I love you brother and Jesus forgives you, but His forgiveness should empower us to stop sinning. If we live by the Spirit we will not gratify the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).
No Hebrews 10:26 is not referring to believers. If we sin, then we have an advocate with the Father in Jesus Christ the righteous One (1 John 2:1). There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more (Romans 5:20). But this does not give us a license to sin. We now have a new nature, and it is no longer in our nature to sin.
Why did it say willful sin and not disbelief? I think you are fooling yourself – we cannot earn heaven True? TRUE! But it is our choice – no one can force us and no one can take us from God once we choose Him – but willful sin will be judged – this does not have to mean you lose your salvation – but judgment just the same (for willful – deliberate sin)
There are many different types of sin but planning out your sin (willful) will cause you to be judged – God is loving and cares just like parents for their children – punishment for disobedience is still love no matter how you slice it
Brian. “Punishment for disobedience is still love, no matter how you slice it.”
Ok, so if perfect love cast out all fear, bc fear has to do with punishment, then who’s love are you talking about? God’s perfect love took upon himself our punishment at the cross. Remember? So are you sure your idea of Gods love is correct?
You are mixing the punishment brought by Satan, for opening the door to him, and claiming its God, when its not. When we sin, we have a pow wow with Satan, and never win, he always brings punishment. But this is not God, for God is perfectly good, and gracious, as he perfectly displayed on the cross.
Yes, God will judge (separate and vindicate) , we, his children, and we should be excited!!! I cant wait!!!
Yes, God will judge , we, his children, and we should be (as Hebrews indicate) in “certain fearful looking for of,said judgment”, as this is the chastening of God. This is 1 Corinthians 11:32. So, to avoid it, one must judge themselves, verse 31, thus avoiding that fearful looking for of judgement. Brians, “. “Punishment for disobedience is still love,..” is a bit harsh, as a better term is judgment, for when we are judged we are chastened of the Lord.
It is not joyous, for sure (nothing to get excited about), but afterwards yields dividends, Hebrews 12:11.
Cant wait? Just it, don’t, as waiting will bring Gods “loving hand”, Hebrews 12:6,
Chastening is made pure. Praise God. But we are only made pure as we focus on His Love for us, and what he has done for us. Judging myself, to make sure I am in the faith, OF COURSE, making sure that I am trusting in Christ and His Love for me, apart from my works. You cannot make “judging” yourself a work, by which you must be saved. You are able to examine yourself, because it is not you that do it, but the Holy Spirit, and comes by a work of GRACE, lest any man should boast about Judging himself, but not like others do/don’t. Judgement will VINDICATE those who are “in Christ Jesus” and is a good thing. Why can’t I be excited about growing closer to the Lord. Everything he DOES IS GOOD!! If Joy, and Love are fruit of the Spirit, why would you tell me not to ENJOY IT. If Phillippians 4:4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” ALWAYS MEANS ALWAYS!!! 3842. pantote AT ALL TIMES. Not sometimes. ALL TIMES. So if you are not rejoicing, THE LORD IS GOING TO JUDGE YOU…lol… forgive my sarcasm, I am just having fun, with your negative slant, that is intented to get people into FEAR, rather than LOVE AND JOY. Tell me, do you see “fear” as a fruit of the Spirit? Why not? Why does the bible say Fear Not 365x. And why does Jesus compare the fear of the Lord with Worship?? That’s cause the Fear of the Lord is reverence, and awe and admiration for his awesomeness, but you can’t forget to BALANCE IT WITH HIS LOVE, AND MERCY. For if you are judging yourself, all the time, and somehow think that you judging yourself SAVES you, then you dont’ need THE CROSS, all you need is YOU!!! And then you have become a religious PHARISEE, telling people that in order to BE SAVED, they must judgem themselves, FORGETTING that the JUDGMENT OF GOD WAS LAID ON THE BACK OF JESUS, AND you are now EMPOWERED with the HOLY SPIRIT, BY GRACE with insight into your negative mindsets, and fearbased mindsets. So, I’ll say it again, I am not sure you are judging yourself well enough. You should do it some more, THEN, MAYBE, THEN GOD WILL ACCEPT YOU APART FROM HIS SON, AND HE MIGHT JUST SAVE YOU TOO.
Paul is speaking to “saved, blood bought,” folks. Not sure why you (sarcastic maybe) said; “I am not sure you are judging yourself well enough. You should do it some more, THEN, MAYBE, THEN GOD WILL ACCEPT YOU APART FROM HIS SON, AND HE MIGHT JUST SAVE YOU TOO.”
Where did I make allegation that ““judging” yourself is a work, by which you must be saved”? Judging oneself is done so as to not be judged, for when we are judged we are chastened by the Lord, very straight forward. But when such (chastening) occurs, it’s (not joyous to the believing Child of God) but afterwards yields “fruit of righteousness”. But, to go on in sin without a rebuke is, in actuality, far from being the design of God. Doesn’t condemn his own, rather chastens them “now” that they may not be condemned with the world, 1 Co. 11:32.
No, God loves his children so that he would have them to be as like himself, as can be, as “He leads us in paths of righteousness, for his name sake” (Psalm 23:3) and for this end he chastises, brings one near to himself in conformity and communion.
When we do not judge ourselves, and we, that carry that name, do not depart from inequity, (2 Timothy 2:19) we will be chastened for failing such directive, and so turning us back to honoring that glorious name! Galatians 5:25, “If we live in the Spirit (by faith), let us also walk (keep in step) in the Spirit.”
I ask the author of all this a simple question: Is this the same Jesus who said, “If you do not forgive your brother his trespasses against you, your heavenly father will not forgive you”….? I do agree that this is all about going back into Judaism- BUT “being made partakers of the Holy Ghost” means they were as saved as you are sir- whether or not 6:4-6 means they are now lost, we really don’t know. One of the parables also states that the “Believer” (saved) is to be carried away and then “appointed his place WITH the “unbelievers”: . That is surely a reference to hell in every single scripture reference, because “where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” completes the contextual reference. Calvinism has done more damage to the Church than has Satanism. All that said, the fact is this, like it or not: WE DO NOT KNOW WHETHER OR NOT YOU CAN “LOSE” YOUR SALVATION! So what we ought to do is live every moment with a heart that is willing to do the Father’s will and expand His Kingdom with our minds, hearts, bodies, and talents. We are no longer “sinners”- we are new creatures, so if there’s “no difference between me and the unsaved, just the blood of Jesus”….. then I suppose maybe you are not “new” at all. God calls us “Saints”. Misled people calls us “sinners”. The mind of Christ is a VICTORIOUS ONE. And so is the person with that mind. Someone needs to hear this- PTL Believe it, this will change your life as it did mine
HI Paul
new to your page. This message was preached in our church recently. and i asked a christian believer, he said if we willfully sin after knowing that is sin then there is no forgiveness at all. A married christian women fell in love with a married christian man knowing that is sin, and committed adultery on few occasions, now after hearing this message repented, but she and he understood that there is no more forgivenss from God to both of them as they commited it knowingly. they are devasted. they want to repent and live right with God with their own families. They both decided to be good friends, help and encourage each other to grow in faith together with their families. But they are not sure if they will get forgiveness from God and they are not sure if they will be given eternal life when they die (after repenting and living according to theword of God). Still commited to repent and live right with God.
What should i tell them, i am confused because a preacher preached that there is no forgiveness at all. I need the best answer to tell them.
Lisa
Hey Lisa, Have you ever willfully sinned since being a Christian? Have you ever told a lie, had an impure thought, or been angry at someone since being a Christian? I have, and I think we all have.
David committed murder and adultery, he was forgiven of his sins, and this was in the Old Testament. If he was forgiven of these awful sins under the old covenant, how much more should we be forgiven under the new covenant? The blood of Jesus is sufficient. This isn’t cheap grace, for His grace teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions. God has unlimited patience with us, and He will keep forgiving us until His grace empowers us to stop sinning. “Neither will I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”
Hi Lisa,
King David committed adultery and murder. God put away his sin. But David was chastised for what he did.
Below is a copy of one of my earlier posts above.
The willful sin Heb 10:26 is referring to, refers to those who turn back to doing works of the law for righteousness after having known the truth of the gospel of grace.
Consider God’s definitions of sin to help understand Heb 10:26.
Here’s a few examples of God’s definitions of sin.
1:Unbelief in Jesus, John16:9. Christians do not commit this sin.
2:“all unrighteousness is sin”, 1 John 5:17 Our faith is counted for righteousness, Rom 4:5. So here we do not sin.
3:“Sin is transgression of the law”,1 John 3:4
Christians cannot be accused of sin here as we are NOT UNDER the law of sin and death. So here we do not sin as we are not under the law, (Rom 8:2, Rom 10:4, Gal 5:18, 1Tim 1:9, Gal 3:24) hence we cannot be charged with it’s transgression.
In fact nobody, not even Satan the accuser, can lay anything (even sin) to the charge of those God has justified, Rom 8:33.
So Christians truly have “ceased from sin”, 1Pet 4:1, “cannot sin”, 1John 3:9.
So how does one “sin willfully”, as Heb 10:26 speaks of?
Considering God’s definitions of sin, lets read Gal 2:18
”if I build again those things which I destroyed (self-righteousness by deeds of the law), I make myself a transgressor”(Sinner).
So if we turn back to the law for self-righteousness, then we make ourselves a transgressor/sinner. Being thus a transgressor of the law, Satan can then charge us with sin again, which means we’re unrighteous and lost.
So Heb 10:26 is not referring to what you described in your post.
True words sir…took my time to read this….we believers need to cease from our works and focus on HIS FINISHED WORK.
When I first read this scripture I was startled because there have been times when I have deliberately sinned against god because I know that he has forgiven me. But reading this helped me realize that my salvation is not about my performance but about my faith. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with me through this post.
One more question though: what about Christians who have accepted Jesus as their lord and savior but then take advantage of the gift of grace. What if they say “well god has forgiven me so it’s okay to commit this sin.” can these christians who use grace as a license to sin be forgiven if they are convicted and repent
Please see the post “Is grace a license to sin?“
Thank you so very much, Paul. I have been a Christian since the 80’s and have never read Hebrews 10:26. I did last night and it has been the worst hours of my life. Until I found this, and you have shined a light on this. Still, after what I went through last night and this morning it makes me realize I can still work on my relationship with God and serving Him. There’s endless room for my spiritual growth I see this now… I felt so hopeless, but you have brought me peace. Bless you
After I was converted in 1984, I walked faithfully with the Lord for about a year (1984-1985), but then I backslid for a short time. I think it was about a month… But then I repented. Shortly after that, the warning passages in Hebrews 6:4-6, 10:26ff, and 12:17 really scared me. I struggled with them, thinking they surely applied to me and that I was beyond hope. Not long after that, I backslid again for a short time but then repented again. Like before, those warning passages deeply disturbed me and I struggled with them. No matter what anyone said to me, I couldn’t seem to be convinced that they were not talking about me. Eventually, the mental struggle over the issue, the fear, the sense of despair, and thinking that God had finally rejected me once and for all—all these things led to my turning away from the Lord again. This time I turned away for a long time—several years—thinking that as long as I was not trying to live the Christian life, I would not have to worry about those fears. It was foolish, I know, but that’s what happened. Eventually, of course, I turned back to God. That was around 1990.
To this day I still struggle with those warning passages from time to time. I am not sure if they apply to me because sometimes they seem to apply to people who did what I did (returning to a life of sin), but other times they seem to apply to people who reject Christ out of unbelief, thinking he was just a regular man, not the Messiah, etc. Certainly the epistle to the Hebrews seems to be warning about that kind of sin, since apparently those people were in danger of turning back to the Old Covenant because of persecution. Thoughts? Should I be scared? Is my case hopeless?
Hi Jeremy,
Your point that Heb 10:26 refers to unbelief in Jesus, is the correct view.
Consider God’s definitions of sin.
Here’s a few examples.
1:Unbelief in JesusJohn16:9. Christians do not commit this sin.
2:all unrighteousness is sin1 John 5:17. But our faith is counted for righteousness, Rom 4:5. So here we do not sin.
3:Sin is transgression of the law1 John 3:4
Christians cannot be accused of sin here as we are notunder the law of sin and death. Even here we do not sin as we are not under the law, Rom 8:2, Rom 10:4, Gal 5:18, 1Tim 1:9, Gal 3:24.
In fact nobody, not even Satan the accuser, can lay anything (even sin) to the charge of those God has justified, Rom 8:33.
So Christians truly have “ceased from sin”, 1Pet 4:1, “cannot sin”1John 3:9.
So how does one “sin willfully”, as Heb 10:26 speaks of?
Considering God’s definitions of sin lets read Gal 2:18
“if I build again those things which I destroyed (righteousness by works of the law) I make myself a transgressor.” (Sinner)
So if we turn back to the law to determine our righteousness then we make ourselves a transgressor/sinner. This means we are transgressors of the law (Satan can charge us with sin again) which thus means we’re unrighteous and in unbelief. If, after having received Christ, one wilfully turns back to unbelief/self righteousness (which is sin) then Heb 10 explains the consequences.
But, it is interesting what you said; “Considering God’s definitions of sin lets read Gal 2:18, “if I build again those things which I destroyed (righteousness by works of the law) I make myself a transgressor.” (Sinner)”
Thats Paul’s response to Peter’s hypocrisy.
This may fit in verse 26, but is that a stretch? Either way, its sin and needs to be dealt with, not ignored.
But just as when a man sins under the law, he has to bring a sacrifice to atone for the sin, so do we, Hebrews 7:25, “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that ‘come unto God’ by him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them.” As sin is sin, (transgression of the law). But the way we are told to “come unto God” is confession.
The difference is,
‘If we sin’, we have “an advocate”, according to 1 John 2:1. But,with ‘willfull sin’, “..there remains no more sacrifice for sins….” according to Hebrews 10:26.
Willful sin is not an ‘if we sin’, its deliberate.
1 John 1:7 (King James Version), “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Sin is darkness. Thanks brother,
Hi Tom,
You rightly define sin as transgression of the law. This is one of God’s definitions.
But remember that whatever the law says it says to those under it, Rom 3:19.
Now we all know that Christians are not under the law (Rom 8:2, Rom 10:4, Gal 3:25, Gal 5:18, 1Tim 1:9). Hence we cannot be charged with sin/transgression of the law. Thus we see in scripture that Christians cannot sin (1John 3:9), we’ve ceased from sin (1Pet 4:1)
So we see Heb 10:26 refers to those who have the knowledge of the truth of the gospel of Christ but then they willfully sin in that they’ve turned back to the law to determine righteousness. Such have fallen from grace as they have turned back to dead works of the law (Heb 6:1-6, Gal 5:4) for righteousness. Such have denied Christ by their works (Tit 1:16).
Confession/repentance is what Christians did when we received Christ. Repentance is a once only thing, Heb 6:4-6. Paul Ellis wrote a good article how repentance is once only and not a continual thing.
As for 1John 1 and 2 that you quoted, that is referring to non-believers. If we read from the beginning of the chapter you’ll see that it bears witness/declares…eternal life to the lost so that they too may have fellowship with the Father and His Son.
Note also that 1John 3:6-9 clearly states that Christians cannot sin. This contradicts the claim that 1John 1 and 2 refers to Christians.
Thanks for replying, Harold. One thing that occurred to me is the possible inadequacy of the interpretation that a person who commits this sin cannot be forgiven simply because they are cutting themselves off from the only sacrifice that can save them. So in that view, when the writer says, “there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,” all he means is that if you go back to the Old Covenant system of sacrifices, there is no sacrifice left for you because Jesus’ sacrifice is the only one that works. That certainly seems to square with earlier parts of the chapter and the epistle as a whole, but I think the writer gives other reasons why there is no longer a sacrifice for sins: he or she has “trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace.” In other words, there is no longer a sacrifice for sins because that individual has gone too far. It’s not just “no more sacrifice for sins because you’ve rejected the only sacrifice that works” but also “no more sacrifice for sins because your sin is truly that heinous.”
The view I am doubting holds out hope for people like me, but the passage seems to say more than that.
What bothers me is how this squares with the many other passages in the Bible that hold out mercy to those who repent and come to Christ.
Hi Jeremy,
Repentance is a ONCE ONLY event, as Heb 6:1-6 shows.
“Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance FROM DEAD WORKS (of self righteousness)………………For it is IMPOSSIBLE for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, IF THEY FALL AWAY to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
This all refers to those who reject Christ (unbelief) AFTER having been partaker of the Holy Spirit, tasted the good word of God and the heavenly gift and the powers of the age to come. It is NOT referring to whether you fail to live a perfect lifestyle.
An example of one falling away would be one who was a partaker of the Holy Spirit but then turns back to the law to determine righteousness. This is unbelief because such a person has wilfully rejected Christ’s sacrifice and turned to dead works of self righteousness through the law, instead.
Christians are NOT under the law for righteousness, Rom8:2, Rom10:4, Gal 3:25, Gal 5:18, 1Tim 1:9, hence we cannot be charged with its transgression (sin 1John 3:4). Nobody, not even Satan the accuser, can charge us with sin (Rom 8:33) when we believe in Jesus. Our faith is counted for righteousness, Rom 4:5.
Jesus set us free from sin, John 8:36. We abide in Christ (our righteousness is now by faith) and in Christ there is no sin (1John 3:5).
True talk bro paul, may GOD wisdom keep on leading you
What is sin? Whatever is not is not of faith in the person and work of Christ is sin. So the writer of hebrews was talking to a group of Jewish people who were going back to the temple practices of animal sacrifices that could NEVER take away sins. For them there remained no sacrifice for sin because they rejected the One and only sacrifice of JESUS for the forgiveness of their sins. It goes on to say they are trampling under foot the Son of GOD and have profane the Blood of the covenant and out raged the Spirit of Grace. They were rejecting CHRIST and going back under the law. This is the same thing a person does when they try to add to the finished Work of CHRIST through their own obedience. It’s only through CHRIST’S obedience to the Father that we are saved not our obedience. The Righteousness of GOD was imputed and imparted to us through the death burial and resurrection of our LORD. CHRIST is our Righteousness and we were born of Him at salvation and He cannot sin. Our New born again Spirit cannot sin. GOD sees you in the Spirit. Either in Adam dead or in CHRIST born of GOD eternally alive in CHRIST. Nothing shall separate us from the Love of GOD in CHRIST JESUS our Lord. Every sin is willful. But CHRIST took them all away. Praise GOD for His Precious Holy Son
Just a side comment: Be careful not to add to scripture. Romans 14:23(b) says, “and whatever is not from faith is sin.” You added, “in the person and work of Christ,” which changes the meaning created by the context. Paul (the apostle) is giving a principle by which we determine whether an action is sinful. If we do something because we believe whole heartedly it is what God wants us to do, then it is not sinful. If we doubt that God wants us to do it, but do it anyway, it is sinful. This applies to those instances where there is no clear cut answer in scripture. You additional words would make the verse mean that something is not sin if it is done by a Christian (that is: someone who has faith in the person and work of Christ).
Excellent post. I believe Hebrews 10 must be taken into the context of the chapter and the context of the whole book. God is not promising eternal security in other places then denying it with obscure passages like this one. Hebrews 10 is talking about the exalted finished work of Christ. The alternate is returning to the sacrificial system of bulls and goats. Jesus made that system of no effect. So to return to that system would offer no more sacrifice for sin. So therefore you would be lost forever trying to follow that system. Thank God for the finished work.
Great post. But I have always had a ;problem with the gospel of eternal security. I am yet to see any verse in the bible that guarantees eternal security once you are saved…
Then permit me to direct you to this post.
Jesus Jesus Jesus. Thats all and nothing else. Performance based relationships will always make people want to believe they have something better than others. Accept Jesus and Jesus only – no works, performances, Laws and see how your faith and interpretations of the Bible change. Check out Creflo Dollar – he will challenge your “religious” ideas with the Bible. Freedom can only be had through Jesus and Jesus only that makes the content of Hebrews 10 make sense.
would not ordinarily make a reply to a comment concerning a tv preacher,but Creflo Dollar is certainly not someone i would reccomend others to check out as someone who will help others in freedom or understanding grace.His distorted teaching on tithing shows a complete ignorance of not being under the law but under grace.If you want to see something that will make your blood boil,just go to youtube and watch Creflo Dollar “pay tithes or get shot”.
Daryl in the past I would have agreed with you but it seems Creflo has gotten hold of the Grace message of late. Even Joseph Prince has made light of this. I was floored to hear this from JP. I don’t listen to Creflo but have listened to a few of his teachings in the last several months and from what I can tell, with what little I listened to, he has shifted to more of a Grace message.
Now go listen to Ed Young at his Fellowship Church for his new 90 day challenge push. It’s all about Tithing or get your money back. I kid you not.
I wish I could believe I still had hope, but Hebrews 6:4-9 and Hebrews 10:26-29 are clear to me…. To sin willfully after you experienced Christ results in enternal Damnation. It’s clear that it’s talking about taking the blood of Christ for granted, and insulted the spirit of grace:… so much research says that these versus are the Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit…. I don’t sleep eat etc well anymore because I’m guilty…. And I knew better is what hurts the most…. I’m in agany and deep terror day and night…. So many have suggested the animal sacrifice route, but to me the scriptures are clear…..
Hebrews 6 is not about the beloved children of God, but those who have heard and rejected the gospel. Hebrews 10 is similar and is about refusing to trust Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice for sin.
Harold, I John 2:1 is speaking to those that do not make sin a routine, which would be believers. As it say’s “if” one sin’s we have an advocate! Praise God for His blood. We know that he cant be talking about the unbeliever, because they sin routinely and thus are called sinners. Also, If he were speaking to unbelievers, he would be identifying himself with these, “…’we’ have an advocate..”.
1 Peter 4:1 The first part is speaking of Christ, “has been made to cease,” has obtained it by the very fact of His having suffered once for all, a cessation from sin, which had already been lain on Him. (Ro 6:9,10) reads the same; “Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dies no more; death has no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he lives, he lives unto God.” No, Peter is saying, Christ by death is judicially freed from sin and every one, who by faith in Christ, also has nothing to do with it judicially either.
Believers ought to have no more to do with it actually. “The flesh” is the sphere in which sin has place. That’s why he admonishes us to, “arm yourselves also with the same mind….”
Again, we see Romans 6:11,12, read the same; “..recon yourselves (see in your mind) to be dead indeed to sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof.”
So, we are to, “let not sin rule in our lives”. This is speaking of resistance.
If none of this is true then, why did Paul have to admonish us in Romans 2:7, “ To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life.”
This scripture is about eternal life!
Hi Tom.
1Pet 4:1 Therefore, since Christ suffered (crucified) for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind (our old man crucified with him, Rom 6:6), for he who has suffered in the flesh (Rom 6:6) has CEASED from sin,
Christians have ceased from sin. We cannot sin, 1John 3:9.
who shall lay ANY THING (this includes sin) to the charge of God’s elect Rom 8:33
Christians cannot be charged with sin of transgression of the law (1John 3:4) as we’re not under the law (Rom 8:2, Rom 10:4, Gal 3:25, Gal 5:18). whatever the law says it says to those UNDER IT, Rom 3:19.
We cannot be charged with sin of unrighteousness (1John 5:17) as our faith is counted for righteousness, Rom 4:5.
Regarding Rom 2:7 doing good=believe on Jesus (therein we are free from the charge of sin). Believing on Jesus are the works we’re asked to do, John 6:29.
And Rom 2:8 refers to unbelief in Jesus. This is the sin the world is convicted of, John 16:9.
Regarding the point about “routine” sin, is there any scripture detailing what this is? I’ve heard such doctrine before but nobody has any scripture detailing what this is. And as this “habitual/routine” sin determines whether one is saved or not then it’s important that scripture gives specifics about it. Is it perhaps 7×70 transgressions of the law which exceeds God’s forgiveness thus excluding such from His kingdom?
Harold, I put this response in the wrong place at first, but you have used this verse at other times also. 1 Peter 4:1;
The word flesh in the former part of the verse signifies Christ’s human nature, but in the latter part it signifies man’s corrupt nature. So the sense is, “As Christ suffered in his human nature, do you, according to your baptismal vow and profession, make your corrupt nature suffer, by putting to death the body of sin by self-denial and mortification, (Colossians 3:3-5).
a Christian ought no longer to live the rest of his time in the flesh, to the sinful lusts and corrupt desires of carnal wicked men; but, positively, he ought to ‘conform’ himself to the revealed will of the holy God. Philippians 3:10.
When a man is truly converted, it is very grievous to him to think how the time past of his life has been spent in sin, but now Christian’s duty is not only to abstain from what is grossly wicked, but also from those things that are generally the occasions of sin,
In Peter saying, “arm yourselves also with the same ‘purpose’, ..” goes right along with 1 Peter 2 :21,22, ‘For you have been called for this ‘purpose’, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin,…”, telling us to not sin.
As also Both Paul and John did, 1 Cor. 15: 34, ” Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning;..”NASB 1 John 2:1, “… writing these things to you so that you may not sin. …”
Harold, I have just come back to visit what I had written last year and finally figured why you asked ; “Regarding the point about “routine” sin, ..”
Here is what I said; “Harold, I John 2:1 is speaking to those that do not make sin a routine, which would be believers.” Should have been, “Harold, I John 2:1 is speaking to those that do not make sin a routine, which would (not) be believers.” Sorry for the mistake, that would throw you, or anyone off.
But, I did mention the same thread of thought again, “We know that he cant be talking about the unbeliever, because they sin routinely and thus are called sinners.” We, of course are not to be as such, 1 John 3:10. This is how the Children of God and the children of the devil are made “manifest” (obvious). Thanks!
Tom, you correctly defined “sin” as transgression of the law. But you then applied it to Christians who are not under the law. Remember Rom 3:19, whatever the law says IT SAYS TO THOSE UNDER IT.
Consider the sin of not keeping the Sabbath holy.
I’m not sure if you have considered the implications of what you’re saying, but are you suggesting that the majority (if not all) Christians are lost because they routinely neglect keeping the Sabbath as instructed in the OT?
And as we all have different life spans does the “routine” sin doctrine offer details as to how many sins one is permitted during their individual life span. We see, for example, that the thief on the cross entered into paradise without any need to obey the law. But the “routine” sin doctrine seems to suggest that Christians who live on are required to also meet some minimum standard of obedience to the law. Can you provide scripture detailing what this minimum standard is for each individual’s life span? And can you offer scripture explaining why God requires less of those with death bed salvation compared to others?
Scripture tells us that Christians are not under the law hence we cannot be charged with this sin. where there is no law there is no transgression, Rom 4:15.
Those with death bed salvation (such as the thief on the cross) do the same works that Christians who live on for years, do. We believe on Jesus, John 6:29.
Believing on Jesus is the will of God for us, John 6:40.
Our life is hid with Christ in God, Col 3:3
Christians abide in Christ, and in him there is no sin, 1John 3:5.
Thus we cannot be charged with sin, Rom 8:33, 1Pet 4:1, 1John 3:9,
Romans 2:14 , “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:” The Gentile law is ‘contained’ in the law. They have no excuse. So, that’s why it say’s
Romans 7:5, “ For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law (or ‘contained’ in the law), did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.”
So, 1 John 3:4, “4 Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law .” 1 John 3:4, Amplified, “ Everyone who commits (practices) sin is guilty of lawlessness; for [that is what] sin is, lawlessness (the breaking, violating of God’s law by transgression or neglect—being unrestrained and unregulated by His commands and His will).”
This is true for all, Jew or Gentile. like the law of gravity
Galatians 5:18, “But if you be led of the Spirit, you are not ‘under the law’.” But, when we get out of the Spirit, not walking in it, we are then back ‘under the law’. Grieve not the Spirit, Ephesians 4:30.
This is why Paul say’s, Galatians 5:24,” And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”(Relates to Romans 7:5). But it continues, verse 25, “If we live in the Spirit (a privilege bestowed), let us also walk in the Spirit (respond to it)”. let us evidence our good principles by good practices.
You say, “Christians abide in Christ, and in him there is no sin, 1John 3:5. That’s not what it say’s! It say’s,” 1 John 3:6, “Whoever abides in Him does not sin.” Its about abiding, walking! But, 1 John 2:1, “and ‘if’ anyone sins, we have an advocate…”
It’s about a symbiotic relation.
Hi Tom.
1John 3:5 in him there is no sin. Abiding in Christ (1John 3:6) is when we believe on him. It’s not about obedience to the law, as you suggest. In fact if we add works of the law to grace (as I understand you are proposing) then that is being lukewarm, Rev 3:15. We cannot mix works of the law with grace, Rom 11:6.
If we’re out of the Spirit then we’re back under the law, as you suggested. But we differ in understanding this. To be in the flesh and not in the Spirit is when one is determining righteousness by how well one obeys the law. This is unbelief in Jesus when we mix works with grace. It’s rejecting righteousness by faith.
Gal 2:18 If I build again those things which I destroyed, (righteousness by works of the law) I MAKE MYSELF a transgressor/Sinner. The “affections and lusts” of those walking in the flesh is that they seek to establish their own righteousness by works of the law. They refuse to submit to God’s righteousness, Rom 10:3.
BTW, have you been able to find scripture detailing what is “habitual” sin? I have yet to find anyone who can answer this question, which shows the doctrine of “habitual” or “practices” sin is error.
It is true that if we sin, we will be forgiven. No sin is too much for the blood of Jesus.
However, I find this article a little misleading because the problem with deliberate sin is that it can lead to a hardness of heart. If a Christian keeps deliberately sinning, they can reach a point in which their heart hardens and it only desires sin, so they reject the One who can save them. This is how so many Christians fall away into unbelief. It’s not because of a lack of proof or evidence for Christianity that people don’t believe, it’s because of a hard heart due to deliberate sin. Sin will harden our hearts and make us blind to the things of God. The cross is sufficient, but sin cannot be taken lightly due to its possible consequences. When we sin, we need to confess and repent right away so it doesn’t harden.
A hard heart is indeed a dangerous thing. However, sinning is not the root cause of unbelief but a symptom. The reason some Christians choose to continue in sin is because they haven’t encountered the radical grace of God that changes us.
Wow I think you’re right. I have it completely backwards. Unbelief is what leads to sin, not sin leading to unbelief. If anything it’s self-righteousness that leads to unbelief and hardness of heart. Thanks for getting my mind straight Paul! I need to read your blog more often so I don’t get into the religious mindset of the world.
You said; “The reason some Christians choose to continue in sin is because they haven’t encountered the radical grace of God that changes us.”
How can that be?, how can someone be a ‘Christian’ without “the radical grace of God”? according to 1 John 3: 5-7 and 10 those who continue in sin don’t even know God, “And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abides in him sins not: whosoever sins has not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.” Verse 10, “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil:…”
They continue in sin, because, “He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8.
just want to say Salvation is all of God…from start to finish…our doubts notwithstanding.As a young man there was a time in my life that i felt hatred towards my father,”conditionally loved”,almost wishing i had never been born.Yet even in those dark times when i was certainly willfully sinning having recieved knowledge of the truth(i am a pastors kid),i at no point ever “unbecame” my fathers son.I suppose we can convince ourselves that we are not someones child,but the blood would reveal that we are.While imperfect,my fathers love for me never changed. How much more is this true of our Heavenly Father!His love is perfect .As believers we are in Christ and he is in us.We can willfully sin and our fellowship will suffer but our relationship as a son does not cease.”How great is the love the Father has lavished on us,that we should be called children of God!And that is what we are! 1John 3:1 John later states his purpose for writing the letter was so believers may know that they have eternal life.He desires we know we have eternal security..not eternal insecurity.
Wow, Daryl. That is a great way to explain and look at this issue of grace. Thank you, for clarifying this whole thread for me (and I trust many others!). I believe that if one truly is saved (by faith, and by fire, baptized by the Holy Spirt), then one would have a sensitivity to sin. That doesn’t mean I’m under the law, it means I’m “under the Spirit” and thankfully …So that I am being compelled not of my own fleshly nature to sin, but by God’s sanctifying righteousness to continue in His way. If I fail which we do every day, I am still his son/daughter but, out of respect for the free gift of forgiveness, the book of James speaks of confessing our sins, one to the other, so we will be healed, etc. Therefore, do you see a problem, like some have in the posts above, with confessing to God and each other, when we blow it? I’m not confessing out of fear of losing my salvation, but out of “fear” (respect) of who He is and our relationship of intimacy.
shawn, i am glad you were helped by something i shared in my comments.As far as seeing a problem with confessing to God and each other as some do in other posts…im unclear as to what that means or how they are viewing confession.I personally see no problem at all with asking the Lord to forgive me when i know i have said or done something wrong.I want my fellowship with Him to be sweet and when i do not tell Him so,I just do not have peace.I think this type of “confession” is normal and healthy. I would be careful with “confessing sins one to another”.I have experienced groups that kind of “thrived” on and encouraged confessing of each others sins to the whole group and i believe that is very unhealthy and dangerous.Turns into a “flesh trip” with people getting knowledge of things that is none of their business and harmful to many who are not in the group but the “confessions” included them. This is in direct conflict with Peters words…”above all else love one another deeply,because love covers over a multitude of sins”.1peter4:8.I was in 12 step recovery and find that step 5 is a very wise step.It says to admit to g
God,ourselves,and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.I do believe their is healing in confession to another..BUT IT MUST BE SOMEONE TRUSTED,who will not share your pouring out your heart with others.Also if your “confessing”would be embarrassing or hurtful to others,that should be avoided and just talk to the Lord ,and wait for His timing.
I’m scared because my whole life up until like 4 years ago I was atheist. Then at some point I met people who being around I could no longer be an atheist and knew God is real. But I still sinned all the time very few times tried to stop certain sins or to at least turn from them but failed. Eventually just kept going in my life. I used to do drugs sexual sins homosexuality and many other sins stealing because of my addictions, but still in my mind I needed help at times but couldn’t focus on calling out to God or turning from my sin. Then one day onlad I i and a bad experience was practically unconscious and could barley tell what was happening and felt like I saw judgment nad what not and was put in hre hospital hthat night almost died. was a little scared hwhen I thought babout what happened but still didn’t understand what happened. A few months later smoked cannabis and had a panic attack flashback and thought I died and went to hell and was taken to the hospital again. This I developed anxiety after this one but still was being bad and smoked like 3 times the third I had a minor panic attack of same thing but didn’t go ot hospital but still terrifying. Eventually was starting to be scared I was going to die and was finally able to pray nad stop certain things I quit smoking cigarettes. No longer was sensual and broke up with boyfriend nad other things and finally moved to Wisconsin because that was an opportunity to be more focused on praying and around less craziness. But veventually came across all these unreasonable things nad ahave been terrified even more now in seeking God. I’m just terrified that it’s to late for me and soo scared I’ve never actually been converted just knew I needed to be saved. Now feel like I’ve been cut off and can’t ever feel gods love and.forgiveness no matter how much I pray to him I’ve stopped things I never thought I would’ve been able to stop I feel because of God but, I always get these fears and things that url never happen reading the bible is more different than it vever used to be and.im hearing my own thoughts better than I ever have before and how awful they are and just praying God will change me and make me no longer attracted to anyone.
Steven it sounds like that although you have come to know that God is real you have not met Jesus head-on and been flooded with His grace yet. Wanting to stop sinning is great but it won’t get you very far in defeating sin, satan or finding peace with God.
You don’t need to be good and give up sinning to get saved and by saved I mean having eternal-everlasting life. You just need to know you can’t be good enough for God and that Jesus death cleared the way between you. All you really need to do is believe(trust) that Jesus is God, He loves you and His death and resurrection made a way for you to be right with God even when you can’t act right for God.
Even if you have met Jesus fully you still need to keep these things in your mind because they are the main power over sin, fear and all those whispers that go through your head about not being good enough.
I’m just terrified that I don’t have a chance just when I was on the drugs that one night what I saw and felt just can’t explain but just feel that is where I’m going regardless of anything sometimes. I get nightmares too very rarely I’ve had good dreams one was when I was dreaming in the dream the grandma I live.with right nowCame and laid next to me and wrapped her arms around me but in my mind in my dream it was god as soon As her arms came around me. But people say u know a dream if it comes God u just know but I’m not sure or not and another one was when I was dreaming I was being sexual and felt awful and scared and either said Jesus save me or Jesus help me and I woke up immediately but it’s just up and down with me I get the fearful thoughts that the longer I stay alive the worse it’s gonna be for me. I feel so hopeless sometimes and then not so much but more feeling hopeless
Steven you are on the right track. What you are undergoing is the workings of the Holy Spirit. Just surrender to the promptings. Pray this prayer to God, “Dear God I believe in your Son Jesus who died for me. I receive His forgiveness and the new life awaiting me as I learn more about Him” Short and simple, but you very much need fellowship with like minded believers. The Spirit will lead you to the right fellowship. Now just trust God!
You should also thank God for this. Find “Amazing grace” on the internet and sing along and praise God Steven!
But the other parts that scares me is that Esau no matter how much he cried could not find repentance. And forgot to mention. That month we before the first scary thing when my friend was also on lsd he went into a rage and was going nuts and kept yelling things like drink water before you go to he’ll but was scared laying in closet because.of how he was acting and feel like that was.My last chance to heed any warnings.
Esau existed before Jesus went to the cross. The things Jesus bought for us with His blood were not available to Esau. What Jesus did changed everything you need to believe that. satan wants you to be terrified, doubting and feel doomed because he thinks that will keep you in bondage to him. But once you choose to trust Jesus and His promises which are ours by faith not by deeds satan is no longer your master.
Feelings are changeable based on many things from poor sleep, drugs, or even the wrong food. Trusting your feelings is like trusting sand being blown around on the ground. Grab hold of what Jesus said in John 3, what is in Romans chapters 5, 6 and 8. Jesus died for everyone not just the good people who could clean up enough to look pretty for God.
“Who wins the victory over the world? Isn’t it the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” 1 John 4:5 So do you believe? If yes then you have already won.
Yeah but in the new testament they talk about not allowing a root of bitterness to spring up that there is no immoral person like Esau that how he could find no room for repentance even though he sought for it with tears.
Steven, you need to keep in mind that the author of the book of Hebrews (that contains the comments about Esau) is addressed to (guess who) Hebrews who were sitting on the fence as to whether or not to put their faith in Christ. They had come only so far in their belief as Jews in looking forward to the coming Messiah, but had not yet crossed the line over into faith that Jesus was/is that Messiah. They were still trusting in animal sacrifices to cover their sins. The author is trying to convince them of the superiority of Christ over the old system of animal sacrifices, and how they need to put their faith in Christ for their salvation. In the full context of that passage mentioning Esau, the author is going to great lengths in comparing the old covenant system to the new and beseeching the Hebrews- his brothers according to the old covenant- to not reject the new in favor of the old, because if they did reject the new in favor of the old after all that was explained to them about it over and over again, then that was it. They had more than enough information to make up their minds now, and if they still rejected Christ after all that was said and explained to them, then there was nothing else left to say that would change their minds, i.e., no more room for repentance, and they would be held accountable to that final choice.
Steven, as Howard said, you are on the right track. If it were truly too late for you, your conscience would be totally seared and you wouldn’t even care. The fact that you do care and are so greatly tortured in your mind speaks volumes to me. I’ve been there myself. What is happening to you is not a strange thing. The evil one is throwing his fiery darts at you in the form of doubtful thoughts to paralyze you through fear and terror. It’s called spiritual warfare. God is working in your life and the enemy of your soul does not like it and is doing things to trip you up- even to the point of using Scripture against you. We’re admonished to be wise to his schemes. What you need to do is take captive every thought being served up to your mind that is contrary to what you know to be true in Christ (that He loves you and has taken all your sins away and has already forgiven you past, present and future 100%). Don’t trust your feelings. Feelings are merely responders to what you are thinking, and if you are not thinking in line with the truth of the Gospel of Christ (i.e., that ‘it is finished’, you’ve already been forgiven, and that all you need to do is rest in that fact), then your feelings are lying to you and will lead you astray, no matter how powerfully strong and/or ‘right’ they may feel to you. As hard as it is to do so, you need to resist those terrifying thoughts and accompanying feelings by focusing on Christ and the truth of what He did for you to set you free. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ, so just set your eyes like flint on the finished work of Christ. Everything else, as the apostle Paul said, is dung. As you do so, your feelings will start coming around, albeit very slowly at times. Don’t let the slowness discourage you, though- just stay focused on the finished work of Christ no matter what.
Thank you it’s so hard sometimes just gotta keep praying that I’ll believe in Jesus with all my heart and reading