WILLFUL SIN
CHECK IT OUT
By John W. White
Hebrews 10:26-31
"For if we sin wilfully after
that we have received the knowledge of
the truth, there remaineth no more
sacrifice for sins,
27. But a certain fearful
looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the
adversaries. 28. He that despised
Moses' law died without mercy under
two or three witnesses:
29. Of how much sorer punishment,
suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy,
who hath trodden under foot the Son of
God, and hath counted the blood of
the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done
despite unto the Spirit of grace?
30. For we know him that hath
said, Vengeance
belongeth unto me,
I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again,
The Lord shall judge his people.
31. It is a
fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
"WE":
The personal pronoun
"We" includes the author and those to whom he is writing. This warning is to
the saved that have been weaned from the milk of the Word.
"SIN":
This word is a present
active plural participle. The present
tense indicates that this sin is
practiced.
"WILFULLY":
The word "willful"
carries the same meaning and attitude of an elder in
1 Peter 5:1-2 "The
elders which are among you I exhort,...
2. Feed the flock ..., taking the
oversight...
willingly; ... of a ready mind;" An elder takes the oversight of a
flock because it is the right thing to
do. The willful sin is a sin that one believes is the right thing to do
and that he has the right to do. The
willful sin is sin(s) practiced by those who are lawless. This is
lawlessness!
"AFTER":
For there to be "No more
sacrifice for sins" a certain level of knowledge and maturity must be attained through study of the
scriptures. Hebrews 5:14 "..Strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age,
even those who by reason of use have
their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."
The warning is to those who have attained to this level of maturity.
Hebrews 5:13 "For
every one that useth milk
is unskilful in the word of
righteousness; for he is a babe."
"KNOWLEDGE":
The word "knowledge" is
the Greek word
ejpi>gnwsiv.
This word is a compound word having the preposition
ejpi>
"upon," and the noun
gnw~vis "relatively high knowledge."
A description of the knowledge of the truth is found in
Hebrews 6:4-5 "...Those who were
once enlightened, and have tasted of the
heavenly gift, and were made
partakers of the Holy Ghost,
5. And have tasted the good word of God, and the
powers of the world [age] to come," The children of Israel tasted
the fruit of the land as proof that what God said about the land was true.
Numbers 13:27
"...We came unto the land ..., and
surely it floweth with milk and
honey; and this
is the fruit of it." Ten spies caused Israel to despise and
blaspheme the Word of God when in
Numbers 13:32 "...they brought up
an evil report of the land which
they had searched unto the children of Israel..." Israel repented in
Numbers 14:40-41 "Lo,
we
be here, and
will go up unto the place which the
LORD hath promised: for we have sinned.
41. "...Moses said, Wherefore now
do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper."
Israel sinned wilfully at Kadesh and spent the next forty years
dying in the wilderness
without mercy. When a child of God
matures in the meat of the word there is a greater accountability for what has
been learned. Luke 12:48
"...Unto whomsoever much is
given, of him shall be much required..."
Numbers 20:12 "And the LORD spake unto Moses ... ye believed me not, to
sanctify me ... therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land
which I have given them." One act of disobedience disqualified Moses from
entering the land of Canaan.
"THE
TRUTH": In verse 29
there are three areas of knowledge that is more than the milk of the Word.
These are "The Son of God," "The blood of the covenant," and "The spirit of
grace." Revelation 21:7
"He that overcometh (spirit
of grace) shall inherit (blood of
the covenant) all things; and I will be his God, and he shall
be my son (Son of God)." The deeper knowledge of the truth is like
salt Matthew 5:13 "...if the salt
have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for
nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot (same word found in Hebrews 10:30) of men." Salt
that is savory is valuable. When salt has lost it saltiness then it is good
for nothing, therefore it is cast out, and trodden under foot. When a child of
God becomes lawless, the value of being an overcomer, having an inheritance,
and being proclaimed a son of God drops so low that he can walk on them.
"NO
MORE SACRIFICE FOR SINS":
Under
the law of Moses there were sins that a child of God could commit and be
forgiven by a sacrifice or offering; and there were other sins that required
the death penalty. The
presumptuous sin in Numbers 15:30
required death by stoning. There was not a sacrifice or offering that could be
offered to spare the life of the guilty person and restore him back in the
camp and fellowship. Eli, the priest, honored his sons more than the Lord and
Eli was judged in 1 Samuel 3:14 "And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that
the iniquity of Eli's house shall
not
be purged with sacrifice
nor offering for ever."
Hebrews 9:22 "And
almost all things are by the law
purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission."
"Almost all" means there are some things that are not cleansed with blood, yet
without the shedding of blood there is no deliverance and liberty for the
child of God. Not all of the sins of the saved will be forgiven
until after there is a new heaven
and a new earth. Matthew 12:32
"... whosoever speaketh against (blasphemes) the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in
this world [aijw>n,
age], neither in the
world to come [present active,
the one coming]."
Remember the warning in
Matthew 6:15
"But if ye forgive not men
their trespasses, neither will your
Father forgive your trespasses."
also in 1 John 1:9
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins..." Unconfessed sins will
not put you out of the family of God but it will break your fellowship with
God. The children of Israel in the Old Testament are saved, yet God still
remembers their sins and iniquities (ajnomi>a) to this day. It is not until the nation of Israel
is raised from their graves and brought into the land that the Lord will say
in Hebrews 10:16,17 "...I will put
my laws into their hearts, and in their minds ...; Their
sins and iniquities will
I remember no more."
In the Old Testament, those who sinned presumptuous
despised the Word of the Lord and died without mercy under the law of Moses.
Numbers 15:31 "Because he hath
despised the
word of the LORD, ...that soul shall utterly be cut off; his
iniquity shall be upon him." Under
the law of Moses there was no sacrifice that would cleanse a child of God from
the presumptuous sin. Isaiah 5:24
"Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the
chaff,
so their root shall be as
rottenness, and their blossom shall
go up as dust:
because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and
despised the
word of the Holy One of Israel." The presumptuous sin and the willful sin is the sin of
lawlessness. You cannot live a lawless life and expect to stand
justified in his presence.
The warning of this passage is to believers and not
to the lost as shown in verse 30 "The Lord shall judge
his people." This passage is a warning to the children of God to
avoid the willful sin at all cost. The warning is given by the phrases: "I
will recompense, saith the Lord;" "Vengeance
belongeth unto me;" "It is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God;" "A certain
fearful looking for of
judgment;" "Sorer punishment;"
and "Without mercy." For a child of
God to sin willfully and defiantly will bring severe judgment and indignation
from God. Keep in mind that once you are a child of God, you are always a
child of God. That cannot change. Another thing to keep in mind is that this
warning is given to those who can become guilty of the willful sin.
Hebrews 10:29 "Of
how much sorer punishment, suppose
ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God,
and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an
unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" Physical death
was the sentence for those who sinned presumptuously under the Law of Moses.
In the New Testament physical death is not to be feared because of
Philippians 1:21 "For to me to live
is Christ, and to die
is
gain." The cursing and the blessing
is clear in Proverbs 13:13 "Whoso
despiseth the word shall be
destroyed: but he that feareth the
commandment shall be rewarded." To
be destroyed in the age to come is to be feared. The age that is coming is the
millennial reign of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 16:25, 27 "For
whosoever will save his life
shall lose [ajpo>llumi, perish, future tense] it...
27. For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with
his angels; and then he shall reward
every man according to his works."
Those that are lawless will
be denied an entrance into the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 7:21 "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven;
but he that doeth the will (this is
obedience and not lawlessness) of my
Father which is in heaven." 23 "And then will I profess unto them (that
were not doing the will of the Father), I never knew (He knew they were
lawless) you: depart from me, ye
that work iniquity [ajnomi>a, lawless]."
Matthew 13:41-43 "The Son of
man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all
things that offend [skandali>zw, scandalize], and them which do iniquity [ajnomi>a,
lawless]; 42. And shall cast them
into a furnace of fire: there shall be
wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43.
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun
in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." This
judgment is of the saved at the end of the church age, and before the
millennial reign of Christ. The judgment of the lost takes place after the
millennium at the Great White Throne Judgment. Revelation 20:11.
Luke 13:28
"There shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,
and all the prophets, in the kingdom
of God, and you yourselves
thrust out." John 3:3
"..., Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God." If you do the will of the Father you can enter
into, participate in the Kingdom of God, otherwise you are cast out.
Just as a child of God can go from glory to glory
by the Spirit of the Lord, 2
Corinthians 3:18 "But we all,
with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into
the same image from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord."
he can also go from lawlessness unto lawlessness
Romans 6:18-19
"Being then made free from [the]
sin, ye became the servants of [the] righteousness.
19. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your
flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to
iniquity [ajnomi>a,
lawless unto iniquity [ajnomi>a,
lawless; even so now yield your members servants to
righteousness unto holiness." The phrase "The sin" is defined in
1 John 3:4
"Whosoever committeth [the] sin transgresseth also the
law [ajnomi>a,,
lawlessness: for [the]
sin is the transgression of the law
[ajnomi>a, lawlessness]" From the
NASB 1 John 3:4
"Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is
lawlessness." The definite article "The" is before the words "Sin" and
"lawlessness." The sin is defined as lawlessness.
Hebrews 10:27 "But
a certain fearful looking for of
judgment and fiery indignation,
which shall devour the adversaries." The fiery indignation is the lake of
fire.
"SUFFER LOSS": 1 Corinthians 3:13-15
"Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it,
because it shall be revealed by fire;
and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. 14. If any man's
work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15. If
any man's work shall be burned, he shall
suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so
as by [dia>, through]
fire." Matthew 3:11 "... He
shall baptize you with [ejn,
in] the Holy Ghost, and
with
fire:" Both "Holy Ghost" and "fire" are the objects of a single
preposition "in" therefore both are to be taken literally.
Revelation 2:11
"... He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death [the lake
of fire]."
If you practice the willful sin ,lawlessness, you
will be cut off,
perish, and 1 Corinthians
3:15 "He shall suffer loss: but
... saved; yet so as
through fire." What you lose is not your salvation, but the reward of your
inheritance which includes
riches, and positions of honor and glory in the coming kingdom of Jesus
Christ.
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