The Supremacy of God’s Son: A Study in Hebrews
Hebrews 10:26-39 – The Danger of Not Holding Fast
(This lesson is adapted from sermons and commentaries by John MacArthur, http://www.gty.org and J. Ligon Duncan, http://www.fpcjackson.org)
This week we move to Hebrews 10:26-39, a passage about which much has been written.
J. Ligon Duncan says that it is “a passage with very stern warnings.”
John MacArthur says about these verses are “the negative response to the New Covenant.”
A.W. Pink says about this passage…
…one of the most solemn and fear-inspiring passages to be found not only in this epistle, but in all the Word of God. May the Holy Spirit fit each of our hearts to approach it in that godly trembling which becomes those who have within their own hearts the seeds of apostasy. Let it be duly considered at the outset that the verses which are now to be before us were addressed not to those who made no profession of being genuine Christians, but instead, unto them whom the Spirit of truth owned as “holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling” (Heb. 3:1).
I felt lead to entitle this lesson, “The Danger of Not Holding Fast.”
Look back with me to one of our verses from last week…
Hebrews 10:23 – Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
This verse is closely related to Hebrews 3:14, “For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”
What is the “original confidence” or the “confession of our hope?”
This is what we believed at the beginning. It is what we believed went God, by His Holy Spirit, called us to Himself through His Son. It is the truth of the Gospel that was declared to us and for the first time, God opened the eyes of our heart so that we could see ourselves for what we really are and be drawn to the only solution to our dilemma; the only hope to escape the righteous judgment of God.
Remember who these believers are…the first century Jewish Christians who were beginning to feel the heat of persecution and were tempted to turn away from the Gospel truth and return to the perceived safety of the Jewish community. The writer of Hebrews begs them…”don’t do it!” “Hold fast to the truth of the Gospel.”
Beginning in verse 26, the writer begins to answer the question, “what happens if you’re not holding fast to the confession of your hope? What happens if I don’t live out what I confess to believe?
Hebrews 10:26-39
26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. 35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 37 For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; 38 but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
This morning, I want us to look at four key points related to the consequences of not holding fast.
1. There are eternal consequences for not holding fast and sinning deliberately. vv.26-27
26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
There is a distinct danger in failing to hold fast to the truth of the Gospel and sinning deliberately.
What does it mean to “go on sinning deliberately?” Two important points to remember:
1) There are no sinless Christians. 1 John 1:8/10 – 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
2) If any believer sins, God’s grace is sufficient to cover those sins.
1 John 1:9/2:1-2 – 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
As the writer of Hebrews has said so many times, forgiveness can no longer be found in the sacrificial system because Jesus has become our once for all time sacrifice. It’s important to understand that the writer of Hebrews is addressing the specific sin here of rejecting or sinning against the work of Jesus on the cross. Through verse 31, he is referring to rejection of Christ as our all sufficient sacrifice. These are the people he is speaking to…
J. Ligon Duncan -
This is basically a person who has made a profession of faith in Christ and yet who at some point has decided that the work of Christ is not necessary for them in order to enjoy fellowship with God forever and they have deliberately and despicably utterly rejected the sacrifice of Christ for them. They have turned their back on Christ and returned to some other form of religion in approaching God and fellowship.
The writer of Hebrews is basically saying, “where will you turn if you reject Jesus Christ?”
If you reject Him, there are eternal consequences…”a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.” (v.27)
Jesus Himself was very clear about the dangers of professing Him as Lord, but not serving Him as Lord.
Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
There are eternal consequences to rejecting Jesus as the once-for-all-time sacrifice for our sins.
2. The justice of the Gospel is more demanding than the justice of the Law. vv. 28-31
28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
There has been no relaxation of the penalty for sinning under the Law. In fact, the penalty for sin under the New Covenant surpasses the penalty for sin under the Law of the Old Covenant. Under the Old Covenant, two or three witnesses were required to prove that you had sinned and the punishment for many of the points of the Law was death. The author poses the question of how much more severe it will be under the New Covenant to reject Jesus. In fact, he says to “spurn the Son of God” or “trample Him under your feet.”
Matthew 18:23-35
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. 23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
What did the king give the servant? Unmerited favor…grace. Yet, the servant rejected that grace as evidenced by the fruit of his life. He trampled that grace under foot.
So, the writer of Hebrews is telling his listeners and us that rejection of God’s grace in the person of His Son is a serious matter.
3. We must reflect on God’s grace as a means to preserve. vv.32-34
32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.
As we’ve said before, these Jewish Christians had already faced trials and persecution for their faith. The writer now calls on them not to forget how God had been gracious even in the midst of these times of suffering. He is saying that this should drive them toward persevering in the faith. This is the means by which that might continue on in producing the fruit that shows to the world that you are Jesus is Lord of your life.
J. Ligon Duncan -
He says, “I want you to recollect that and then reflect on it. I want you to think about the significance of that because if you persevered in that, you also ought to persevere in this time, even though you have friends who are saying, ‘Oh, you don’t need to be a Christian. You can come back and be a Jew and go through the Jewish ceremonial system and have fellowship with God that way just as easily as you could in your Christian profession.”
John MacArthur calls this kind of reflection a “deterrent to apostasy.” The writer of Hebrews wants to warn believers, but as you can see in these verses, he also wants to encourage them. He does not want their faith to falter. He does not want them to remember to the Old Covenant system. He wants to return to what they know…the Gospel and the grace of God manifested in their suffering.
How often do we reflect on God’s grace in our lives? Do we become too consumed with the “what have you done for me lately” attitude?
J.C. Ryle – “The true cure for self-righteousness is self-knowledge.”
If we see ourselves as God sees us, we know where we stand…sinners saved by His grace. Sinners, not saved by the sacrifice of animals, but saved by the blood of Jesus. That is our only hope in the judgment as we stand before a holy, righteous judge. We need to turn to these passages..
Romans 5:1-11
5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
So, the author of Hebrews is saying keeping trusting in Christ by remember God’s grace in salvation and perseverance.
4. We must stand in confidence and faith until Christ returns. vv.35-39
35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 37 For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; 38 but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
He is telling these Jewish Christians that no matter what comes, you must continue to endure until the end. Your endurance must be in the hope that is grounded in that gift of faith from God and the confidence that He will do what He said He will do.
J. Ligon Duncan -
The main point is that we are to endure in the faith, and what is Hebrews 11 going to be. It is a gigantic illustration of people in the Old Testament who endured in their faith. So there is a perfect logical connection between this section of Hebrews and Hebrews 11. Having given this exhortation, now the author of Hebrews is going to say, “Let me give you an example of some people who went through difficult things and they endured in the faith.” And he begins to list them and down that list he goes, telling a little about the things they went through.
