Hebrews 10:26

Heb_10:26-27

If we sin wilfully

Apostasy

I.

THE PREVIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES ESSENTIAL TO THE COMMISSION OF APOSTASY.

1. An accurate and extended acquaintance with the disclosures of the gospel.

2. A decided conviction of the truth and authority of the gospel.

3. A partial experience of the power and excellence of the gospel.

4. A distinct and open profession of the gospel.

II. THE PECULIAR FEELING INVOLVED IN THE COMMISSION OF APOSTASY. It must be done wilfully.

1. From sin committed through want of due information and conviction.

2. From sin committed through hasty inconsideration.

3. From sin committed through powerful and unexpected temptation.

4. From the occasional falls of the true believer, which are subsequently followed by deep, and perhaps speedy repentance. Apostasy is not one act of sin, but a continued state of mind and conduct. It is a falling away, persevered in to the close of life, and issuing in a state of hopeless wretchedness.

III. THE AWFUL CONSEQUENCES RESULTING FROM THE COMMISSION OF APOSTASY.

1. It occasions a necessary exclusion from the attainment of mercy.

2. It induces a terrifying apprehension of coming wrath. (Essex Remembrancer.)

Left without a sin-offering:

For those that abandon their Christian profession--sin wilfully after that they have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. They could not return to the temple, and plead with God for mercy over the offerings which their fathers had presented to Him. The old covenant had passed away. Its priests had lost their consecration. Its altars had lost their sanctity. Its sacrifices had lost their power with God. There was now only one atonement for sin which God would regard; and if they turned away from that, there was nothing for them but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. For a Jew to be left with all his sins upon him, and no sin-offering by which to invoke the Divine pardon, was for him to be condemned to intolerable despair. (R. W. Dale, LL. D.)

The danger of apostasy

1. The apostle is net here speaking of the common infirmities which may attend the godly, but of wilful transgressions; or, as David calls them, presumptuous sins, from which he prayed to be delivered (Psa_19:13).

2. Neither are sins of ignorance intended, but such as are against light and strong conviction. To sin against knowledge is one of the greatest aggravations, and that which leads on to perdition.

3. The text speaks not of sins in general, though knowingly or presumptuously committed, but of some sin in particular, and such as excludes from the hope of salvation. Now this appears to be no other than an absolute and entire rejection of the truth which had been professedly received. Those who cast the Son of God from His throne must expect that He will cast them into hell. They divest Him of His glory, and He will cover them with disgrace.

I. THE DEATH OF CHRIST WAS A REAL AND PROPER SACRIFICE FOR SIN. The sacrifices under the law were figurative: this was real and effectual. They were shadows: this was the substance.

II. THE DEATH OF CHRIST IS THE ONLY SACRIFICE FOR SIN.

III. THOSE WHO REJECT THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST ARE LEFT WITHOUT HOPE.

1. If Christ became a sacrifice, this will account for the treatment He met with both from the hands of God and man.

2. If the death of Christ be the only sacrifice for sins, let us not only hold fast this doctrine, but actually build upon it as the foundation of all our hopes and comfort.

3. As the passage which we have now considered speaks terror to these who either never embraced the doctrine of Christs atoning sacrifice, or who have shamefully apostatised from it, so it speaks terror to them only. Such indeed are running a dreadful risk of unpardoned guilt and Divine displeasure, and it behoves them to take warning. But let those who put their trust in Christ crucified, and who know no other hope, rejoice and be exceeding glad; for He is able to keep that which they commit unto Him until that day. (B. Beddome, M. A.)

The knowledge of the truth

Receiving the truth

1. By the truth is meant the true, pure and most certain doctrine of the gospel concerning Christ already come, faith and salvation. This is called truth because it is true, and most eminently and infallibly true, which is noways in anything false and erroneous, as being at first immediately revealed from God, the God of truth. It is called also the truth by way of eminency, as the most excellent truth revealed for mans eternal happiness.

2. Truth may be truth, and yet not known to any man or angel, and the truth was first known only unto God; yet it pleased Him, out of His great mercy, to reveal His mind to man, and in particular this truth of the gospel by Christ and His apostles, who made it known unto others, who by that means came to know it. This knowledge was not mathematical, physical, political, or metaphysical, as some use to speak, but theological and Divine, and a light above the light of nature. The word may signify not only knowledge, but acknowledgment of this truth, by a full assent upon conviction. And this might be caused, not only by outward revelation, information, and miracles, but also by the illumination o! the Spirit, and supernatural gifts for God goes far with man, and doth much to save him: He many times penetrates his inward parts, and by His Divine light and power enters into his very heart, and all this to convert him.

3. They received this knowledge. God did not only offer it, but give it, which He might be properly said to do when they received it. They had it not by nature; for it is far above the natural man. They acquired it, but not by their own power and industry; neither did they merit it. Yet in this receiving they were not merely passive, yet passive because they could be active. God must do something without man, before he can actively receive, He must prevent him by revelation and information without, and by illumination and operation within, and this done, man may be active. For, to receive it is certainly an act not only of the understanding which assents, but of the will which approves. So that he both wittingly and willingly receives, and that with some delight, and proceeds to profession, and continues for a while to believe, approve, profess. Though this receiving of knowledge may seem only to be acknowledgment, yet it is something more. Truth is opposed to error, knowledge to ignorance, acknowledgment to dissent, approbation to rejection of this truth. (G. Lawson.)

Fearful looking for of judgment

Fiery judgment

I. The word judgment may inform us that this justice is not legislative, but judicial; and, as judicial, not remunerative, but vindictive, which presupposeth crime and guilt in the party to be judged. This judgment is the decree of condemnation which determines the penalty: and to signify how dreadful it is, it is said, metaphorically, to be fiery indignation. The words may be translated, the heat, or boiling, or burning of fire; that is fiery heat. By these terms the Spirit informs us of Gods high displeasure against apostasy, and the severity of His justice, whereby He is resolved most fearfully to punish that sin, which is not barely a disobedience of some particular law, but a plain revolt.

II. The parties that must suffer are adversaries: adversaries are apostates, who are not merely disobedient subjects, but revolters.

III. There remains a certain fearful looking for of this judgment.

1. Though they never fear it, nor think of it, yet they are obnoxious to it.

2. This will certainly be their doom; and as they are obnoxious by law, they shall certainly suffer that which they have deserved.

3. If they ever seriously reflect upon themselves, and remember what they have done; as conscience will now and then lash them, and mind them of their crime, they must needs expect it, and their fear will be very great. For as they apprehend the peril, so will their fear be; and they cannot apprehend the judgment, but as very grievous, pressing hard upon them, and unavoidable, and so it will torment them before the time of execution. (G. Lawson.)

Foreboding of the judgment day:

Traverse the earth--enter the gorgeous cities of idolatry, or accept the hospitality of its wandering tribes--go where will-worship is most fantastic, and superstition most gross--and you will find in man a fearful looking for of judgment. The mythology of their Nemesis may vary--their Elysium and the Tartarus may be differently depicted--the Metempsychosis may be the passage of bliss and woe--still the fact is only confirmed by the diversity of the forms in which it is presented. (R. W. Hamilton.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Heb 10:26-27. For, &c. — As if he had said, It concerns us to use all means to ensure our perseverance, because apostacy is so dangerous; if we — Any of us Christians; sin wilfully — By total apostacy from God; (see on Heb 6:4;) after we have received the knowledge of the truth — As it is in Jesus, namely, an experimental and practical knowledge thereof, so as to have been made free thereby from the guilt and power of sin; there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins — None but that which we obstinately reject. “As the apostle, in the former part of the epistle, had proved that the sacrifices of the law were all abolished, and that the only sacrifice for sin remaining was the sacrifice of Christ, it followed that apostates, who wilfully renounced the benefit of that sacrifice, had no sacrifice for sin whatever remaining to them.” But a certain fearful looking for — Φοβερα δε τις εκδοχη, a kind of fearful expectation: intimating something inexpressible, such as no heart could conceive or tongue describe. Thus St. Peter, 1 Epist. 1Pe 4:17-18, What shall be the end of them who obey not the gospel? Where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Of judgment and fiery indignation. The apostle refers both to the final judgment of the great day, when apostates from the religion of Jesus, as well as those who obstinately rejected it, shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, &c., 2Th 1:9; and also to the dreadful and fiery indignation which God was about to bring on the unbelieving and obstinate Jews, in the total destruction of their city and temple by sword and fire, devouring them, as adversaries to God and his Christ, of all others the most inexcusable. The reader should observe that the apostle lays it down here as certain, that God will not pardon sinners without some sacrifice or satisfaction. For otherwise it would not follow, from there remaining to apostates no more sacrifice for sin, that there must remain to them a dreadful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation. In these last words, the conflagration of the heaven and the earth at the day of judgment seems especially to be referred to.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES

Heb_10:26. Sin wilfully.—Such sins contrast with sins of ignorance, frailty, and error. Involving the will, they put men outside the influence of remedial or recovering agencies. No more sacrifice for sins.—Lit. “no sacrifice for sins is any longer left to them.” They wilfully reject that, and there is no other for them. It is distinctly assumed that the man keeps in this wilful mind. If he comes to a better mind, he comes within the range of the sacrifice that has been provided. “The writer does not say that they have exhausted the infinite mercy of God, nor can we justly assert that he held such a conclusion; he only says that they have, so long as they continue in such a state, put themselves out of God’s covenant, and that there are no other covenanted means of grace.”

Heb_10:27. Fiery indignation.—R.V. “a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire.” Lit. “a jealousy of fire.” The Hebrew suggests “vehement displeasure.” Compare Heb_12:29; Psa_79:5. Devour the adversaries.—Not sinners generally, but specifically the impenitent Jews and the wilful apostates from the Christian faith, “All who oppose themselves to the character, claims, and kingdom of Christ.” Farrar’s hint concerning the limitation of this threatening deserves careful consideration: “It is at least doubtful whether the writer meant to imply anything beyond that prophecy of doom to the heirs of the old covenant which was fulfilled a few years later, when the fire of God’s wrath consumed the whole system of a Judaism which had rejected its own Messiah.”

Heb_10:29. Punishment.—Here the word used (τιμωρίας) means “vengeance,” or “retribution.” “Vindictive punishment can only be attributed to God by the figure of speech known as anthropopathy, i.e. the representation of God by metaphors drawn from human passions.” Trodden underfoot.—A strong figure taken from our way of treating a thing that we despise. Blood of the covenant.—See Heb_13:20. Done despite unto.—Openly insulted; ἐνυβρίσας, only here in New Testament; treating with spite, malignity, or contempt. Spirit of grace.—The Spirit who bestows grace, i.e. gospel favours and privileges. It is not, however, quite clear that the Holy Ghost is referred to.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Heb_10:26-31

The Judgment of the Wilful.—If others remind the Jewish Christians of the authority, inspiration, and value of the Mosaic ceremonial system, this writer will remind them of the solemn sanctions of that system. If he has proved to them that the dispensation of which Christ is the head is in every way superior, it follows that the sanctions will be found altogether more searching and severe.

I. The sanctions of the Jewish dispensation (Heb_10:28).—Moses’ law was most considerate and merciful in dealing with sins of frailty, lapses through inadvertence, weakness, and ignorance. Its rites and ceremonies provided for all kinds of sin arising out of human infirmities. Its severity is often dwelt on; its mercifulness is far more remarkable than its severity. But for wilful sin based on knowledge that what was done was sin it had no sacrifice. Let it be fully proved by witnesses that a man has wilfully done what he knew to be sin, and then he is recognised as a man who has set at nought Moses’ law, and he must die without compassion. Every care must, however, be taken to ensure that the man’s wrong was persistently wilful, and that it was intelligently wilful, being based on knowledge. It is necessary to press this point very closely, because upon it the comparison of this paragraph depends.

II. The sanctions of the spiritual dispensation.—Merciful in all matters of frailty, it also is severe, with a yet intenser severity, in all matters of wilfulness upon and after knowledge and experience. Lapses or slidings from the faith in Christ are not dealt with here, but wilful departures from the faith after having confessed it. Apostasy which implies resolute wilfulness is here indicated. “If we sin wilfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth.” In the passage four things are presented for our consideration:

1. The true significance of such wilful apostasy. It might seem only giving up one particular phase of religion, and falling back upon an older. It might be represented as a loosening of hold on the uncertain, and gripping tight that which had been the confidence of men through long ages. But all such representations only obscured the solemn truth, and confirmed men in their wrong-doing. See the wilful departure from Christ aright, and it has a most terrible threefold significance, which the writer does indeed present in the line of Old Testament figures and associations, but which readily impress their solemnity on every heart. It really is such an insult to Christ, as

(1) would be involved in treading underfoot the Son of God. It is such an awful meanness as

(2) counting the blood of the covenant, by which the man was sealed over to Christ for ever, a thing to be lightly trifled with—an unholy thing. It is even

(3) doing despite unto the Spirit of grace. In the common associations of men it is thought an insulting thing for a man to throw up his membership. What must it be to apostatise from Christ, after a man has professed to have obtained through Him eternal salvation?

2. The hoplessness of such apostasy regarded as a moral condition. For it should be clearly seen that no merely intellectual doubting is here dealt with. The apostasy is a settled feeling of the heart, and a resolute determination of the will. It is a hopeless moral state, which may find expression in a specific act. It is hopeless because it is immoral. The bringing of further proofs may persuade the intellect; but if the sacrifice of Christ has made its persuasions of the heart and the will, and then that persuasion is put away, refused, and resisted, it is plain that that sacrifice can no longer be used as persuasion; and there is no other, no higher moral force that can be exerted upon the man; and so his case has become necessarily a hopeless one—unshielded the man stands exposed to the full blasts of the Divine indignation. “There remaineth no more a sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries.”

3. The punishment of such apostasy which is inevitable. He who ventures outside the shelter stands exposed to the storm. Figures alone, such as that of fire, can convey to human minds fitting ideas of Divine indignation and wrath. All punishment is necessarily relative to the being punished; and we have to realise what punishment of a spiritual being, such as man is, may possibly be. Scripture uses two words, both of which are of awful significance—“eternal punishment,” and “eternal death.”

4. The warning which the possibility of such apostasy should prove to those who are exposed to malign influences and subtle temptations. Take heed lest you yield even a step; it may be putting your foot upon a slide, and before you are aware you may have drifted away. See how “fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God,” as you must if you are found outside that shelter and resting-place which you have in Christ. Hold fast your profession. Help one another to hold fast. For Christ’s sake, for your own sake, for each other’s sake, hold fast.

Note on “sinning wilfully.”—The word “wilfully” stands in contrast with sins of weakness, ignorance, and error. If the writer meant to say that, after the commission of heinous and wilful sins, “there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,” this would not only be the most terrible passage in Scripture, but would do away with the very object of redemption, and the possibility of any forgiveness of sins. It would, as Kurtz says, “be in its consequences truly subversive and destructive of the whole Christian soteriology.” But the meaning rather is, “if we are willing sinners,” “if we are in a state of deliberate and voluntary defiance to the will of God.” He is alluding not only to those sins which the Jews described as being committed presumptuously “with uplifted hand” (Num_15:30; Psa_19:13—see Heb_6:4-8, Heb_12:16-17), but to the deliberate continuity of such sins as a self-chosen law of life; as, for instance, when a man has closed against himself the door of repentance, and said, “Evil, be thou my good.” Such a state is glanced at in 2Pe_2:20; Mat_12:43-45.—Farrar.

SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES

Heb_10:26. No other Sacrifice.—There remaineth no longer a sacrifice for sins, so far as they are concerned, because that offering of Jesus which they deliberately reject has abolished all the earlier sacrifices. The observances and ceremonies of Judaism, which had been full of meaning while they pointed to Him that was to come, have lost all their virtue through His coming. Nay more, for such sin as this, the sin of knowing and wilful rejection of the only Sin-offering, God has provided no other sacrifice.—Dr. Moulton.

Apostasy is Perdition.—If you make defection from Christianity, and renounce your hope and trust in the atoning sacrifice of Christ, no other is provided, or can be provided, for you—no other makes real atonement for sin; this being renounced, therefore, your case is desperate. The sacrifice under the new covenant is never, like the Jewish offerings, to be repeated. Apostasy from your present religion, then, is final perdition.—Moses Stuart.

No Sacrifice for Some Sins.—There were some sins under the law for which no sacrifices were provided; but yet if those who committed them did truly repent, though they might not escape temporal death, they might escape eternal destruction; for Christ would come, and make atonement.—Matthew Henry.

Only One Atoning Sacrifice.—They have rejected the work of Christ, and it cannot be done for them over again. There is one atoning sacrifice, and that they have repudiated. He does not say that they have exhausted the infinite mercy of God, nor can we justly assert that he held such a conclusion; he only says that they have, so long as they continue in such a state, put themselves out of God’s covenant, and that there are no other covenanted means of grace. For they have trampled underfoot the offer of mercy in Christ, and there is nosalvation in any other (Act_4:12).—Farrar.

Falling from Grace.—He only who stands high can fall low. A lively reference in the soul to what is good is necessary, in order to be thoroughly wicked; hence man can be more reprobate than the beasts, and the apostate angels than apostate man.—Tholuck.

Heb_10:30. God the Hater of Sin.—God stands between the right and the wrong, not looking pleasant on the one and equally pleasant on the other; not looking as the sun looks, with a benignant face on the evil and on the good; and not as man looks, with only a less benignant face upon the evil. He stands with all the fervour of His infinite love and all the majesty of His unlimited power,—approving good, and legislating for it on the one side; and disapproving evil, and abhorring it, and legislating it down to the dust, and beneath the dust, into infamy and eternal penalty on the other side. And if there be one truth that speaks throughout the Bible like the voice of God, and resounds with all the grandeur of Divine intonation, it is the truth that God does not look with an equal eye upon the evil and the good, that He is a discriminator of character, a lover of that which is right, and a hater of that which is wrong.—H. Ward Beecher.

Vengeance.—To our minds this word conveys a meaning which makes it unsuitable for application to God. It is hardly possible for us to separate personal feeling, and unrestrained passion, from it. The Bible idea of the term is best understood by thinking of the family goël, avenger, or as it is in Numbers 35, revenger of blood. That family revenger took vengeance; he was bound to take vengeance; but he imported no personal feeling into his vindication of outraged family sanctities. Vengeance was the solemn duty of his position, office, and relation. With such an association we may rightly conceive of vengeance as applied to God.

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 10

Heb_10:27. Fear of the Judgment.—Jerome used to say, that it seemed to him as if the trumpet of the last day was always sounding in his ear, saying, “Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment.” The generality, however, think but little of this awful and important period. A Christian king of Hungary being very sad and pensive, his brother, who was a gay courtier, was desirous of knowing the cause of his sadness. “Oh, brother,” said the king, “I have been a great sinner against God, and know not how to die, or how to appear before God in judgment.” His brother, making a jest of it, said, “These are but melancholy thoughts.” The king made no reply; but it was the custom of the country, that if the executioner came and sounded a trumpet before any man’s door, he was presently led to execution. The king, in the dead of the night, sent the executioner to sound the trumpet before his brother’s door; who, hearing it, and seeing the messenger of death, sprang into the king’s presence, beseeching to know in what he had offended. “Alas! brother,” said the king, “you have never offended me. And is the sight of my executioner so dreadful? and shall not I, who have greatly offended, fear to be brought before the judgment-seat of Christ?”

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

II

The heaviest and inevitable judgment of God falls upon apostasy from acknowledged Christian truth

Heb_10:26-31

26For if we, sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more [a] sacrifice for sins, 27But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and [a] fiery indignation, which shall [the glowing fervor of a fire that is about to] devour the adversaries. 28He that despised [set at naught] Moses’ law died [dieth] without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29Of 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 [common, unhallowed, κοινόν], and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him that hath [om. hath] said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord.14 And again, The Lord shall [will] Judges 15 his people. 31It is a, fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

[Heb_10:26.—ἑκουσίως γάρ, for voluntarily, ἑκουσ, emphatically standing before the Part.—ἁμαρτανόντων ἡμῶν, we sinning, in case of our sinning—the present Part. denoting an habitual and abiding state; but nothing seems to require us to transfer it, with Alf., to the actual day of judgment. It seems much more forcible, as well as more natural, to refer it to the condition, in the present life, of one who has completely apostatized from God.—μετὰ τὸ λαβεῖν, after receiving.—τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν, the recognition—more than the mere γνῶσις—the knowledge to which the mind has been consciously directed, and borne, as it were, its attestation.—ἀπολείπεται, there remaineth as a logical result: καταλείπεται, there is left behind as a historical fact, see Heb_4:1; Heb_4:4.

Heb_10:27.—Πυρὸς ζῆλος ἐσθίειν μέλλοντος, an indignation, or, fervor of fire that is about to devour.

Heb_10:28.—ἀθετήσας τις, any one, after setting at naught.

Heb_10:29.—ὁ καταπατήσας, who trampled on—κοινόν, common, that of a common man (De W., Del., Alf., etc.), or (as Thol., Lün., Moll, etc.),=ἀκάθαρτον, unclean, impure.—K.].

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Heb_10:26. For if we sin wilfully, etc.—That the reference here is not to deliberate and heinous sins in general, but to apostasy from Christianity after regeneration, is clear from the entire phraseology. Ἑκουσίως stands in contrast with ἀγνοοῦντες and πλανώμενοι, Heb_5:2 : the pres. ἁμαρτανόντων marks habitual in contrast with transient denial: the apostasy is preceded by the ἐπίγνωσις τῆς ἀληθείας, at once a theoretical and practical recognition of the truth, and deliberate and conscious embracing of it, and is followed by a failure of any further expiatory sacrifice, and instead of it (ἀπολείπεται, as Heb_4:6) an ἐκδοχή, whose fearfulness is heightened by the rhetorical τὶς. Πυρὸς ζῆλος is not to be taken as a single conception=fiery zeal or jealousy (Luth., etc.), since the following Part, takes the case of πυρός, which is treated as a person, as at Heb_12:29 God Himself is called πῦρ καταναλίσκον. Ἐσθίειν points not to a destroying=annihilating, but to the sensible conscious suffering of the fiery infliction. The expressions remind us forcibly of Isa_26:11 in the Sept. The words in Heb_10:28 refer evidently to Deu_17:6, which refer in like manner not to the transgression of individual commandments, but to a breaking of the covenant, and abandonment of God for idol-worship. Hence the ground for the following parallel.

Heb_10:29. Of how much sorer punishment think ye, etc.—Δοκεῖτε lays the decision regarding the case, about which there can be no doubt, on the judgment of the readers: ἀξιωθήσεται represents God as Him who weighs the greatness of guilt, and hence awards the τιμωρία according to the facts of the preceding (Aor. Part.) sins. The words ἐν ᾧ ἡγιάσθη (as read uniformly except by A. and Chrys.) designate the blood of the covenant as that whose sanctifying influence—i.e., an influence which, in virtue of the atonement and purification, consecrates to a true covenant fellowship with God and His people—had been already experienced. Hence κοινόν here, doubtless, denotes impurity (Vulg., Luth., Grot., Thol., Ebr., Lün., Riehm, etc.), not commonness (Pesh., It., Œcum., Theophyl., Bez., Schlicht., Beng., Bl., De W., Bisp., Del., etc.). By πνεῦμα τῆς χάριτος Bl., De W., Lün. understand the Holy Spirit as the gift of grace; but more correctly acc. to Heb_13:9; Heb_13:25 (comp. Zec_12:10). Böhm., Del., Riehm, etc., understand it as the efficient principle of grace. The first citation is from Deu_32:35; the second from Deu_32:36 (repeated Psa_135:14). In both passages the sentiment is, that Jehovah, by His judicial sway, will vindicate the rights of His people against His enemies. This meaning of the original is also here to be maintained, since τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ denotes in the conception of the writer the church of God of the New Covenant (Del.), which is overlooked by Bl., De W., Lün., who understand the words of a judgment upon the people, instead of for them. The first citation deviates from the Heb. text, and still more from that of the Sept.; but accords with Rom_12:19, which contains also the λέγει κύριος that is wanting in the original. Hence Bl., De W., Del., Reiche infer that the citation was taken at second hand from Romans; while Meyer (Rom_12:19; Rom_12:3 d ed.) regards the paraphrase of Onkelos, Lün., on the contrary, a current proverbial form of the expression, as the common source of the citation both here and in Romans.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. The most immediate inducement to follow the injunctions that in their rightful claim have just been laid down, is the great danger of apostasy from Christ, and the fearfulness of its consequences.

2. The penitent sinner may indeed, with resigned spirit, choose rather to fall into the hands of God than of men, 2Sa_24:14; Sir_2:18. But the covenant-breaker and apostate, who has come into a hostile and radical gainsaying of the truth which he had before acknowledged, cannot be again renewed to repentance, Heb_6:4-8, and cannot possibly henceforth obtain forgiveness of sins. The offerings of the law bring no true propitiation; self-originated offerings have not even the character of type and of promise. If the only true atoning sacrifice, the Son of God and His blood, have in view of the earlier experience of its sanctifying power, been rejected as useless, and the Spirit of grace spurned and scorned, not only is there nothing to replace the sacrifice thus rejected and dishonored, but this itself can no longer exercise a saving influence upon him who has made wilful and wanton wreck of all the previous influences of grace.

3. The distinction of peccatum deliberatum and ignorantiæ is a less fixed and rigid one than is commonly supposed: there is in sinning a knowledge of the right, which the sinner refuses to allow to assert itself. The veil of the lying excuse which is drawn over the conscience would fain lift itself, but is held fast with convulsive power. Such a character of the inward struggle and gainsaying of truth must we particularly insist on when Christian truth, once attested by the Holy Spirit, is, in an apostasy which has grown out of lesser acts of infidelity, not only denied, but blasphemed. The conflict regarding objective truth becomes all the more fierce in proportion as there is, at the same time, a conflict against the truth which still in a measure asserts itself within the bosom of the apostate (Thol. comp. Stud. und Krit., 1836, Heft. 2).

4. Rightfully and justly after such an apostasy, nothing remains to be expected but judgment, which will be executed by God with the full living energy of His holy nature, just as inevitably as His undeceiving word has infallibly declared it; and its fearfulness will stand proportionate to the richness of the grace, and the fulness of the revelation, of the New Covenant.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

To the greatness of the grace which has been received we find standing in direct relation the guilt of apostasy, and the fearfulness of the punishment.—The hands of God reach through time and eternity, and to apostates bring no less of terror and destruction, than comfort and assistance to believers.—The judgments of God come slowly but surely; yet they are preceded by the proffer of grace and the announcement of punishment upon the despisers.—He who turns the grace of God into wantonness has nothing further to hope from His compassion.—The looking for of the Divine judgment, without faith in the expiatory sacrifice of Jesus Christ, is a foretaste of damnation.—The wrath of God burns as hotly as His love, and strikes no less surely than justly.

Starke:—Were there to be another sacrifice, there must also be another Messiah; and God must lay through Him an entirely new foundation for salvation; must institute an entirely different economy for attaining it; and must consequently, at the same time, Himself take away the way which has been disclosed, and the foundation which has been laid, through Christ. Inasmuch, therefore, as this is absolutely impossible, it is also equally impossible that any one should be saved out of Christ; and that any other propitiatory sacrifice should be made on his behalf.—Not only is the judgment of God terrible in itself, but terrible is also the tormenting fear and foretaste of it which the ungodly feel in themselves as a hell even upon earth.—Great sins deserve great punishments; he therefore who allows himself in their commission must not be surprised that he receive his reward (Jer_2:19).—Against the apostate there are three witnesses: the Father, who hath given to him His Son; the Son, whose blood he tramples under foot; and the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of grace, to whom he does despite.—Seest thou the apostate and ungodly walking secure, believe that he will not remain unpunished; God does all precisely at the right time; he will thus speedily remember him (Nah_1:2).

Hahn:—According to the greatness of His grace, is the severity with which God visits His wrath upon the contempt of it.

Rieger:—To the Lord Jesus is ascribed a long-suffering patience (Heb_10:13), but to believers a hopeful waiting (Heb_9:28): unbelievers, on the contrary, fall into a fearful apprehension, wherein many a word of God that had been heard without fear, returns with terrible power.—The unfruitful vine before every other tree is given as food to the fire (Eze_15:6-7); and thus abused love and neglected grace awaken all the greater wrath.—It is a great deception of our hardened and insensible heart that the death-punishments threatened in the law, stoning, etc., affect us more than the sorer punishment which takes effect only in the realm of the future and invisible.—“He who eats my bread, tramples me with his heel,” is the just complaint of Jesus in regard to His betrayer.

Heubner:—There is a more subtle and a more open apostasy.—The abandonment of the only Saviour and Propitiator takes us out of the reach of propitiation.—The apostate suffers a twofold punishment; first, in awaiting it, and then in the actual experience.—We hear in this case an earnest testimony to the guilt of careless and unprincipled changes in religion.

Menken:—In that the Lord judges His people He will avenge and deliver them.—Vengeance is a prerogative of the Divine majesty. This we are not to assume, but rather to refrain from all private vengeance, and, feeling the love of Jesus Christ, are to commend to the Divine compassion those who in thought and act oppose themselves to Christianity, and who are our enemies for the Gospel’s sake; and this all the more from the fact that they who from this cause, hate, calumniate and abuse us, unless they cease from their unrighteousness, will not escape the Divine retribution.

Footnotes:

[14]Heb_10:30.—The words λέγει κύριος are wanting, indeed, in Sin. D*. 17,23*, 67**, and most ancient translations, but have the authority of A. D. E. K. L. Philox., and are added by a later hand in Sin. Comp. Expos, of Heb_10:29, conclusion.

[15]Heb_10:30.—Instead of the lect. rec. κύριος κρινεῖ, we are to read κρινεῖ κύριος after Sin. A. D. E. K. 31, 73, which MSS., except Sin. and A., have also ὅτι preceding, as Sept., Deu_32:36; Psa_135:14. In the Sin., the change has been introduced by the corrector.

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

ARGUMENT 12

ADMONITORY OF HOPELESS COLLAPSE.

26... “Perfect knowledge of the truth.” The Greek here is epignoosi, which means sanctification, whereas gnoosis is regeneration.

27. This verse is alarming in the extreme, setting forth the hopeless doom of the apostate.

28, 29. Here the doom of the apostate far transcends that of the malefactor under the law of Moses whose penalty was death, “having trodden under foot the Son of God and counted the blood of the covenant with which He was sanctified common, and insulted the Spirit of grace.”

30, 31. These verses set forth the appalling doom of the hopeless apostate having fallen into the hands of an infinitely just and holy God, with no Christ to intercede for him. This paragraph, and Heb 10:26-31, vividly describes the hopeless doom of the Palestinian Christian who repudiates Christ and apostatizes to Judaism. The rank and file of the Jewish church, with their pastors and official members, unfortunately rejected Christ, endorsed His crucifixion as a malefactor, plunged into idolatry and hastened to their awful doom of destruction and slavery under the invasion of the Roman armies which followed the writing of this letter in a few years. A most powerful combination of social, ecclesiastical and consanguineous influences were brought to bear on the Palestinian Christians to lead them into this awful apostasy with their Jewish brethren. Where your English says, “counted the blood of Christ an unholy thing,” the Greek says “common.” Whereas, the Palestinian Christians had trusted the blood of Jesus to sanctify them, their brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, influential friends and relatives, church-members and pastors, ridiculed them, certifying that Jesus was nothing but a sinner like other men, and that instead of His blood possessing saving virtue, it was nothing but common blood, like that which dropped down from the wounds of the two thieves on either side of Him, and that it was the silliest chimera to think that the blood of Jesus could wash away their sins. Now see the meaning of this paragraph. Here are the sanctified Palestinian Christians, trusting the blood of Jesus to cleanse them from all unrighteousness and keep them clean. Now suppose they yielded to the clamorous criticisms and terrible persecutions of their Jewish brethren, and gave up the Christhood of Jesus, acquiescing in the popular verdict of the Jewish Church, that He was nothing but a wicked impostor, utterly powerless to save, and that His blood was simply crimson blood like that of any other man. You see how in the very nature of the case there is no possibility of their salvation, since they have rejected the only Savior of the world. In their attitude there is nothing for them but hopeless damnation, since there is “no other sacrifice for sin.” Doubtless you see the application of this awful paragraph to the Hebrew Christians who utterly reject Christ and conclude, with their Jewish comrades, that He is an impostor. But how does it apply to the Apostolic Christians of the present day? Precisely as it applied to the fallen Hebrews. If we repudiate the Christhood of Jesus, recognizing Him as an impostor, and His blood nothing but “common” human blood, utterly destitute of all saving efficacy, we are certainly at the end of our row, hopelessly doomed to damnation, “since there is no longer a sacrifice for sins,” as we have rejected the only one God ever made. You see from this Scripture how utterly inconsistent it is to conclude that an ordinary backslider out of the sanctified experience can never be reclaimed and sanctified. If such au one repudiate the Christhood of Jesus, and then turn infidel, of course there is no reclamation. But did you ever know a case of the kind? I never did. Backsliders, as a rule, believe in the Christhood of Jesus as much as they ever did. They have simply inadvertently fallen away through unwatchfulness. In an evil hour Satan has dropped his lasso around head, hand or foot, or perhaps the whole body, and dragged them away into sin. Since they have not rejected the Christhood of Jesus, nor counted His blood “common,” they still have access to the mercy-seat, through the intercession of the blessed atoning Savior, who pleads for them at God’s right hand. The conclusion that an apostate from the sanctified experience who still believes in the Christhood of Jesus can not be restored to sanctification and eternally saved in heaven, is in no way deducible from this paragraph. If you will let it alone where the Holy Ghost has put it you will have no trouble with it.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10:26-31 The author interjects a strong warning concerning the danger of rejecting God’s Son and his authoritative word. The warning challenges hearers to respond with a commitment to follow Christ.

10:26-27 deliberately: Open rebellion against God’s laws was described as “sinning with a high hand” (see study note on Num 15:30-31). Here the author has in mind specifically a rejection of Christ and his work. Christ’s sacrifice for sins has done away with the sacrificial system of the old covenant (Heb 9:11–10:18). If a person rejects the Son’s sacrifice, there is no other sacrifice—nowhere else to go—for forgiveness. A person who rejects Christ can only expect judgment as one of God’s enemies (cp. Isa 26:10-11).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Heb 10:26. Ἑκουσίως, wilfully) For after the truth has been acknowledged, the excuse of ignorance is taken away.—ἁμαρτανόντων, if we sin) To sin here means entire revolt or apostasy from GOD, Heb 10:29, ch. Heb 3:12, 2Ki 21:16; and the violation, not of the law, Heb 10:28, but of the whole economy of the New Testament, Heb 10:29. Comp. ἀθετήσας, rejected, despised, Heb 10:28, note.—μετὰ τὸ λαβεῖν, after we have received) This does not so much refer to individuals as to the state of believers of the New Testament: whence, however, the conclusion holds good to individuals, Heb 10:29.—τῆς ἀληθείας, of the truth) The truth, here, and grace, Heb 10:29, are expressions applied to the New Testament. The Spirit of grace, ibid., is called the Spirit of truth in Joh 14:17.—οὐκέτι, no more) The fruit of the sacrifice of Christ is always evident to them who do not reject it, but those who reject it have nothing else.—περὶ ἁμαρτιῶν, for sins) refers to ἁμαρτανόντων, if we sin.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Heb_10:26. Ἑκουσίως γὰρ ἁμαρτανόντων ἡμῶν μετὰ τὸ λαβεῖν τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τῆς ἀληθείας] For if we sin wilfully (i.e. against our better knowledge and conscience) after having received the certain knowledge of the truth; so that we become recreant to Christianity (comp. Heb_10:29), to which the ἐγκαταλείπειν τὴν ἐπισυναγωγὴν ἑαυτῶν forms the dangerous preliminary step. The ἑκουσίως ἁμαρτάνοντες are the opposite of the ἀγνοοῦντες καὶ πλανώμενοι, Heb_5:2,[103] and the participle present indicates the continuous or habitual character of the action.

ἡ ἀλήθεια is the truth absolutely, as this has been revealed by Christianity. The ἐπίγνωσις of this absolute truth, however, embraces, along with the recognition thereof by the understanding, also the having become conscious of its bliss-giving effects in ones own experience. Comp. Heb_6:4-5.

οὐκέτι περὶ ἁμαρτιῶν ἀπολείπεται θυσία] there remains in relation to sins, i.e. for the expiation thereof, no more sacrifice; inasmuch, namely, as the sin-cancelling sacrifice of Christ, the communion of which we then renounce, is a sacrifice which takes place only once, is not further repeated, while at the same time the Levitical sacrifices are unable to effect the cancelling of sins. Bengel: Fructus ex sacrificio Christi semper patet non repudiantibus; qui autem repudiant, non aliud habent.

[103] The assertion of Kurtz, that, if this remark were true, the author would be expressing a dogma in its consequences truly subversive, and destructive of the whole Christian soteriology, inasmuch as it would imperatively follow therefrom, that even under the New Covenant only those who transgressed from ignorance and error could find forgiveness with God for Christs sake, while all who had been guilty of a conscious and intentional sin must beyond hope of deliverance fall victims to the judgment of everlasting damnation, is a precipitate one, since the special limitation within which the expression ἑκουσίως ἁμαρτάνειν was used was naturally afforded to the reader, quite apart from the investigation already preceding at Heb_6:4 ff., even from our section itself.

Heb_10:26-31. In the ἐγκαταλείπειν τὴν ἐπισυναγωγὴν ἑαυτῶν, Heb_10:25, there was manifested a lukewarmness in Christianity, which might lead to apostasy therefrom. In warning notes, therefore, the author points out that the man who knowingly slights recognised Christian truth, and sins against it, will infallibly be overtaken by the punitive judgment of God. To be compared Heb_6:4-8.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Heb 10:26-39 . Dreadful result of falling from faith.

Heb 10:26 . Ἑκουσίως γὰρ ἁμαρτανόντων ἡμῶν .… “For if we go on sinning wilfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no more remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain dreadful waiting for judgment and a fury of fire which is to devour the adversaries.” γὰρ , introducing an additional reason for the preceding exhortation. The emphasis is on ἑκουσίως ; and the present tense of ἁμαρτ . must not be overlooked. Cf. τῶν ἀκουσίων ἁμαρτημάτων καταφυγὴν εἶναι τοὺς βωμούς , Thuc. 4:98. Wilful sin, continued in, means apostasy, repudiation of the covenant. Cf. Heb 6:6 , καὶ παραπεσόντας , and Heb 5:2 , τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσιν , and Heb 3:12 . Apostasy can only occur μετὰ τὸ λαβεῖν … a condition which is explained in detail in chap. 6. Without this preceding knowledge of the covenant its wilful repudiation is impossible. Those spoken of in Heb 10:25 , as having abandoned meeting with their fellow Christians, and possibly as having neglected, if not renounced, the confession of their hope, were perhaps alluded to here, as on their way to apostasy. They are warned that they are drifting into an irredeemable condition, for to those who have repudiated and keep repudiating the one sacrifice of Christ, οὐκέτι περὶ ἁμαρτίων ἀπολείπεται θυσία . The only sacrifice has been rejected, and there is no other sacrifice which can atone for the rejection of this sacrifice. “The meaning is not merely that the Jewish sacrifices to which the apostate has returned have in themselves no sin-destroying power, nor even that there is no second sacrifice additional to that of Christ, but further that for a sinner of this kind the very sacrifice of Christ itself has no more atoning or reconciling power” (Delitzsch). That this is the meaning is shown by the positive assertion of what the future does contain, a terrifying prospect of waiting for inevitable judgment. The expression is not equivalent to φοβερᾶς ἐκδοχὴ κρίσεως , which, as Bleek remarks, would not be so impressive. φοβερός means either “causing fear” or “feeling fear”; “scaring” or “affrighted”. Here it is used in the former sense. ἐκδοχὴ occurs elsewhere only in the sense of receiving something or of the acceptation or interpretation of a word; but Heb 10:13 and Heb 9:28 guide to the meaning given by the Vulg. expectatis . The τις by leaving the expectation indefinite heightens the terror of it. The imagination is allowed scope. κρίσεως is general, but immediately suggests πυρὸς ζῆλος μέλλοντος , the destined fire; for which see 2Th 1:8-10 . “Fiery indignation” very well renders πυρὸς ζῆλος , an anger which expresses itself in fire. The expression is derived from such O.T. phrases as Psa 79:5 ἐκκαυθήσεται ὡς πῦρ ὁ ζῆλός σου . Cf. Zep 1:18 and Deu 4:21 . This fiery anger is destined to devour the adversaries, as in Isa 26:11 ζῆλος λήψεται λαὸν ἀπαίδευτον , και νῦν πῦρ τοὺς ὑπεναντίους ἔδεται , and Isa 64:2 κατακαύσει πῦρ τοὺς ὑπεναντίους . Cf. also Isa 30:27 ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ θυμοῦ ὡς πῦρ ἔδεται , a natural figure used by Homer and others. ὑπεναντίους , see Lightfoot on Col 2:14 , who shows that it means “direct, close, persistent opposition”.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Without any cause or occasion, or show of occasion.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Compare on this and following verses, Heb 6:4, &c. There the warning was that if there be not diligence in progressing, a falling off will take place, and apostasy may ensue: here it is, that if there be lukewarmness in Christian communion, apostasy may ensue.

if we sin--Greek present participle: if we be found sinning, that is, not isolated acts, but a state of sin [ALFORD]. A violation not only of the law, but of the whole economy of the New Testament (Heb 10:28-29).

wilfully--presumptuously, Greek "willingly." After receiving "full knowledge (so the Greek, compare Ti1 2:4) of the truth," by having been "enlightened," and by having "tasted" a certain measure even of grace of "the Holy Ghost" (the Spirit of truth, Joh 14:17; and "the Spirit of grace," Heb 10:29): to fall away (as "sin" here means, Heb 3:12, Heb 3:17; compare Heb 6:6) and apostatize (Heb 3:12) to Judaism or infidelity, is not a sin of ignorance, or error ("out of the way," the result) of infirmity, but a deliberate sinning against the Spirit (Heb 10:29; Heb 5:2): such sinning, where a consciousness of Gospel obligations not only was, but is present: a sinning presumptuously and preseveringly against Christ's redemption for us, and the Spirit of grace in us. "He only who stands high can fall low. A lively reference in the soul to what is good is necessary in order to be thoroughly wicked; hence, man can be more reprobate than the beasts, and the apostate angels than apostate man" [THOLUCK].

remaineth no more sacrifice--For there is but ONE Sacrifice that can atone for sin; they, after having fully known that sacrifice, deliberately reject it.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 26. For if we sin wilfully] If we deliberately, for fear of persecution or from any other motive, renounce the profession of the Gospel and the Author of that Gospel, after having received the knowledge of the truth so as to be convinced that Jesus is the promised Messiah, and that he had sprinkled our hearts from an evil conscience; for such there remaineth no sacrifice for sins; for as the Jewish sacrifices are abolished, as appears by the declaration of God himself in the fortieth Psalm, and Jesus being now the only sacrifice which God will accept, those who reject him have none other; therefore their case must be utterly without remedy. This is the meaning of the apostle, and the case is that of a deliberate apostate-one who has utterly rejected Jesus Christ and his atonement, and renounced the whole Gospel system. It has nothing to do with backsliders in our common use of that term. A man may be overtaken in a fault, or he may deliberately go into sin, and yet neither renounce the Gospel, nor deny the Lord that bought him. His case is dreary and dangerous, but it is not hopeless; no case is hopeless but that of the deliberate apostate, who rejects the whole Gospel system, after having been saved by grace, or convinced of the truth of the Gospel. To him there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin; for there was but the ONE, Jesus, and this he has utterly rejected.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

26. For if we sin willfully, or voluntarily etc. He shows how severe a vengeance of God awaits all those who fall away from the grace of Christ; for being without that one true salvation, they are now as it were given up to an inevitable destruction. With this testimony Novatus and his sect formerly armed themselves, in order to take away the hope of pardon from all indiscriminately who had fallen after baptism. They who were not able to refute his calumny chose rather to deny the authority of this Epistle than to subscribe to so great an absurdity. But the true meaning of the passage, unaided by any help from any other part, is quite sufficient of itself to expose the effrontery of Novatus

Those who sin, mentioned by the Apostle, are not such as offend in any way, but such as forsake the Church, and wholly alienate themselves from Christ. For he speaks not here of this or of that sin, but he condemns by name those who willfully renounced fellowship with the Church. But there is a vast difference between particular fallings and a complete defection of this kind, by which we entirely fall away from the grace of Christ. And as this cannot be the case with any one except he has been already enlightened, he says, If we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth; as though he had said, “If we knowingly and willingly renounce the grace which we had obtained.” It is now evident how widely apart is this doctrine from the error of Novatus

And that the Apostle here refers only to apostates, is clear from the whole passage; for what he treats of is this, that those who had been once received into the Church ought not to forsake it, as some were wont to do. He now declares that there remained for such no sacrifice for sin, because they had willfully sinned after having received the knowledge of the truth. But as to sinners who fall in any other way, Christ offers himself daily to them, so that they are to seek no other sacrifice for expiating their sins. He denies, then, that any sacrifice remains for them who renounce the death of Christ, which is not done by any offense except by a total renunciation of the faith.

This severity of God is indeed dreadful, but it is set forth for the purpose of inspiring terror. He cannot, however, be accused of cruelty; for as the death of Christ is the only remedy by which we can be delivered from eternal death, are not they who destroy as far as they can its virtue and benefit worthy of being left to despair? God invites to daily reconciliation those who abide in Christ; they are daily washed by the blood of Christ, their sins are daily expiated by his perpetual sacrifice. As salvation is not to be sought except in him, there is no need to wonder that all those who willfully forsake him are deprived of every hope of pardon: this is the import of the adverb ἔτι, more. But Christ’s sacrifice is efficacious to the godly even to death, though they often sin; nay, it retains ever its efficacy, for this very reason, because they cannot be free from sin as long as they dwell in the flesh. The Apostle then refers to those alone who wickedly forsake Christ, and thus deprive themselves of the benefit of his death.

The clause, “after having received the knowledge of the truth,” was added for the purpose of aggravating their ingratitude; for he who willingly and with deliberate impiety extinguishes the light of God kindled in his heart has nothing to allege as an excuse before God. Let us then learn not only to receive with reverence and prompt docility of mind the truth offered to us, but also firmly to persevere in the knowledge of it, so that we may not suffer the terrible punishment of those who despise it.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(26) For.—The connecting links are the thought of the consequences to which such sinful neglect (Heb_10:25) may lead, and the awful revelation of judgment which the final day will bring. Even more clearly than in Heb_6:4-6 the state described is one of wilful and continued sin, which is the result and the expression of apostasy from Christ. It is not, “If we fall under temptation and commit sin;” but, “If we are sinning wilfully.” The descriptive words are few as compared with those of the former passage, but they teach the same lesson. Not merely the “knowledge” but the “full knowledge” (Rom_1:28) of the truth has been received by those to whom the writer here makes reference; they have been “sanctified in the blood of the covenant” (Heb_10:29). For such “there remaineth no longer a sacrifice for sins:” that offering of Jesus which they deliberately reject has abolished all the earlier sacrifices. The observances and ceremonies of Judaism, which had been full of meaning whilst they pointed to Him that was to come, have lost all their virtue through His coming. Nay more: for such sin as this, the sin of knowing and wilful rejection of the only Sin offering, God has provided no other sacrifice. In its general significance this passage does not differ from Heb_6:4-6. (See the Notes.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26–31. A solemn Warning of the Peril of Wilful Apostasy

26. For if we sin wilfully) The word “wilfully” stands in contrast with sins of weakness, ignorance and error in Heb_5:2. If the writer meant to say that, after the commission of wilful and heinous sins, “there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,” this would not only be the most terrible passage in Scripture, but would do away with the very object of Redemption, and the possibility of any Forgiveness of Sins. It would, as Kurz says, “be in its consequences truly subversive and destructive of the whole Christian soteriology.” But the meaning rather is “If we are willing sinners,” “if we are in a state of deliberate and voluntary defiance to the will of God.” He is alluding not only to those sins which the Jews described as being committed presumptuously “with uplifted hand” (Num_15:30; Psa_19:13; see. Heb_6:4-8, Heb_12:16-17), but to the deliberate continuity of such sins as a self-chosen law of life; as for instance when a man has closed against himself the door of repentance and said “Evil be thou my good.” Such a state is glanced at in 2Pe_2:20-21; Mat_12:43-45.

after that we have received the knowledge of the truth] Rather, “the full knowledge of the truth.” Something more is meant than mere historical knowledge. He is contemplating Christians who have made some real advance, and then have relapsed into “desperation or the wretchlessness of unclean living.”

there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins] Lit., “no sacrifice for sins is any longer left for them.” They have rejected the work of Christ, and it cannot be done for them over again. There is one atoning sacrifice and that they have repudiated. He does not say that they have exhausted the infinite mercy of God, nor can we justly assert that he held such a conclusion; he only says that they have, so long as they continue in such a state, put themselves out of God’s covenant, and that there are no other covenanted means of grace. For they have trampled under foot the offer of mercy in Christ and there is no salvation in any other (Act_4:12).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He that despised Moses' law,.... By breaking it wilfully, and presumptuously, for which there was no sacrifice; meaning the law which Moses was the minister of not the author; and it respects the whole body of laws given by him, from God; and is instanced in for the sake of the comparison between him and Christ, and between the law and the Gospel, and for the illustration of the case in hand. Now one that transgressed that law, either in whole, or in part, by denying it entirely, or by breaking any particular precept of it presumptuously,

died without mercy; a corporeal death; there was no atonement nor sacrifice for him, nor pity to be shown him, Deu 13:8.

Under two or three witnesses; who "stood by", or were present, as the Arabic version renders it, when the transgression was committed; or that "accused him", as the Ethiopic version; that were witnesses against him, and plainly and fully proved the fact, Deu 17:6.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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

Ver. 26. For if we sin wilfully] Against the grace of the gospel, despising and despiting it, as those that fall into the unpardonable sin. Some good souls by mistakes of this text have been much afflicted, as Master John Glover. Other odious apostates have utterly despaired. Others of the ancients have unworthily cashiered this Epistle out of the canon, because of this passage.

There remaineth no more sacrifice] For sins against the law, though against knowledge there was an atonement, Lev 6:1, though it were for perjury; but for this sin against the gospel, that repudiates the remedy, there is no sacrifice; abused mercy turns into fury.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth - If after we are converted and become true Christians we should apostatize, it would be impossible to be recovered again, for there would be no other sacrifice for sin; no way by which we could be saved. This passage, however, like Heb 6:4-6, has given rise to much difference of opinion. But that the above is the correct interpretation, seems evident to me from the following considerations:

(1) It is the natural and obvious interpretation, such as would occur probably to ninety-nine readers in a hundred, if there were no theory to support, and no fear that it would conflict with some other doctrine.

(2) It accords with the scope of the Epistle, which is, to keep those whom the apostle addressed from returning again to the Jewish religion, under the trials to which they were subjected.

(3) It is in accordance with the fair meaning of the language - the words “after that we have received the knowledge of the truth,” referring more naturally to true conversion than to any other state of mind.

(4) The sentiment would not be correct if it referred to any but real Christians. It would not be true that one who had been somewhat enlightened, and who then sinned “wilfully,” must look on fearfully to the judgment without a possibility of being saved. There are multitudes of cases where such persons are saved. They “wilfully” resist the Holy Spirit; they strive against him; they for a long time refuse to yield, but they are brought again to reflection, and are led to give their hearts to God.

(5) It is true, and always will be true, that if a sincere Christian should apostatize he could never be converted again; see the notes on Heb 6:4-6. The reasons are obvious. He would have tried the only plan of salvation, and it would have failed. He would have embraced the Saviour, and there would not have been efficacy enough in his blood to keep him, and there would be no more powerful Saviour and no more efficacious blood of atonement. He would have renounced the Holy Spirit, and would have shown that his influences were not effectual to keep him, and there would be no other agent of greater power to renew and save him after he had apostatized. For these reasons it seems clear to me that this passage refers to true Christians, and that the doctrine here taught is, that if such an one should apostatize, he must look forward only to the terrors of the judgment, and to final condemnation.

Whether this in fact ever occurs, is quite another question. In regard to that inquiry, see the notes on Heb 6:4-6. If this view be correct, we may add, that the passage should not be regarded as applying to what is commonly known as the “sin against the Holy Spirit,” or “the unpardonable sin.” The word rendered “wilfully” - ἑκουσίως hekousiōs - occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, except in 1Pe 5:2, where it is rendered “willingly” - “taking the oversight thereof (of the church) not by constraint, but willingly.” It properly means, “willingly, voluntarily, of our own accord,” and applies to cases where no constraint is used. It is not to be construed here strictly, or metaphysically, for all sin is voluntary, or is committed willingly, but must refer to a deliberate act, where a man means to abandon his religion, and to turn away from God. If it were to be taken with metaphysical exactness, it would demonstrate that every Christian who ever does anything wrong, no matter how small, would be lost.

But this cannot, from the nature of the case, be the meaning. The apostle well knew that Christians do commit such sins (see the notes on Rom. 7), and his object here is not to set forth the danger of such sins, but to guard Christians against apostasy from their religion. In the Jewish Law, as is indeed the case everywhere, a distinction is made between sins of oversight, inadvertence, or ignorance, (Lev 4:2, Lev 4:13, Lev 4:22, Lev 4:27; Lev 5:15; Num 15:24, Num 15:27-29; compare Act 3:17; Act 17:30), and sins of presumption; sins that are deliberately and intentionally committed; see Exo 21:14; Num 15:30; Deu 17:12; Psa 19:13. The apostle here has reference, evidently, to such a distinction, and means to speak of a decided and deliberate purpose to break away from the restraints and obligations of the Christian religion.

There remaineth no more sacrifice for sins - Should a man do this, there is no sacrifice for sins which could save him. He would have rejected deliberately the only atonement made for sin, and there will be no other made. It is as if a man should reject the only medicine that could heal him, or push away the only boat that could save him when shipwrecked; see notes, Heb 6:6. The sacrifice made for sin by the Redeemer is never to be repeated, and if that is deliberately rejected, the soul must be lost.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

If we sin wilfully. He speaks of the sin of wilful apostacy from the known truth; after which, as we cannot be baptized again, we cannot expect to have that abundant remission of sins, which Christ purchased by his death, applied to our souls in that ample manner as it is in baptism; but we have rather all manner of reason to look for a dreadful judgment; the more, because apostates from the know truth seldom or never have the grace to return to it. (Challoner)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

If we sin wilfully: the severe exaction which God will take upon such as apostatize from him, is further enforcing the former duty, and is introduced by the particle for, to that end; if we by a free and spontaneous desertion of Christ, and his ordinances, without a coercion by threats and persecutions; and this after we had professedly in our judgments, wills, and affections, with faith and reverence, acknowledged a love and subjection to the true gospel doctrine of the way of bringing sinners to God by Christ our great High Priest, Joh 8:31; 14:6, which was made known to them by Christ and his apostles, and confirmed by miracles and the gifts of the Holy Ghost, so as to profess a full conviction of this truth, so as to assent and consent to it.

After that we have received the knowledge of the truth; after all this, to renounce the profession of it, and to forsake the assemblies where it is held forth; this is the spontaneous and wilful sinning: see Heb 6:6.

There remaineth no more sacrifice for sins: this is unpardonable by the just constitution of God in the gospel, because no sacrifice can atone God for them, without which they cannot be pardoned; and the sacrifice of Christ, which only could do it, they renounce and desert; and so this, nor any other they can bring, can procure pardon for them, so that their sins remain in guilt and power on them, and between them and God’s wrath are they like irrecoverably to be ground to perdition.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

26. If we sin—The word sin here is to be taken as in a continuous or general present tense. The meaning is, If from saints we become sinners; that is, by total apostasy. See note on 1Jn_3:10.

Wilfully—Against clear light and knowledge, usually preceded by forsaking the assembly. How flagrant and conscious the return to sin is here supposed, is indicated by the fearful language of Heb_10:29.

Knowledge—Says Lunemann, “This επιγνωσις of the absolute truth embraces, in addition to an acquaintance with it through the understanding, also its internal power through experience and life.” It was not necessarily a one atrocious sin for which the Hebrews are so terribly condemned, for they may have apostatized by slow degrees and continuous small sins; but the special facts are, the clearness of their knowledge and the reality of their Christian experience. Our author here utters no denial that there may be Hebrews in excusable ignorance of Christ, who are perfected and saved in their own dispensation by the very Redeemer they know not. It is the man who renounces and denounces the very Christ whose redeeming love he had experienced, whose damnation is thus irrevocable and final.

Remaineth no more sacrifice—Rejecting this one Christ, there is no other Christ for him. There is but one atonement, and no salvation but by that one. If the apostate revert to the Levitical sacrifices, the blood of bulls and of goats avails nothing. All this is not quite saying that the apostate cannot return from his apostasy, and still avail himself of the one sacrifice: but for the persistent apostate there remains no more sacrifice for sins.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 26-32. Solemn warning as to the fearful consequences of apostasy.

Vers. 26, 27. For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for (ekdoch , used here only; but ekdecomai is frequent in the New Testament in sense of "expect;" e.g. supra, ver. 13. Hence there seems no good ground for disputing, with Afford, the usual rendering, "expectation") of judgment, and fiery indignation (purov zhlov), which shall devour the adversaries. The warning passage thus begun closely resembles the former interposed one, Heb_6:4-9. Both have been similarly misapplied; (see notes on Heb_6:4-9) but both have the same real meaning, which is further confirmed by comparing them together. The purport of both is the hopelessness of a state of apostasy from the faith after full knowledge and full enjoyment of privilege; both are led up to by cautions against remissness, of which the final issue might be such apostasy; both are followed by the expression of a confident hope, founded on past faithfulness, that no such apostasy will really follow. The state contemplated is here expressed by ekousiwv amartanontwn , a phrase which in itself might at first sight seem to support one of the erroneous views of the drift of the passage, viz. that all willful sin after baptism or grace received is unpardonable. But it is first to be observed that the participle amartanontwn is not aorist, but present, expressing a persistent habit; also that the whole context is sufficient to denote the kind of sin intended. For

(1) the preceding verses have pointed to laxity of allegiance to Christ, which might have further consequences;

(2) the illustration of what is meant, adduced in ver. 28 from the Mosaic Law, is (as will appear under that verse) a case of entire apostasy a sin not to be atoned for by any sacrifice, but visited by "cutting off;

(3) the description in ver. 29 of the sin intended implies total repudiation of Christ. Observe, on akousiwv siwv , the contrast to amartanein , (Lev_4:2, 27 5:15, al. ) expressive of sins of ignorance or infirmity. Not such sins, but deliberate sin with a high hand, is here intended; and further, for the reasons above given, one of this nature so heinous as to be beyond the reach of sacrifice. From all such considerations it appears that ekousiwv amartanontwn here expresses the same idea as parapesontav (Heb_6:6) and aposthnai apo Yeou zwntov , (Heb_3:12) viz. final obdurate defection from the faith. Further, the previous conditions for the possibility of arriving at such a hopeless state, set forth more at length in vers. 4, 5 of Hebrews 6, are here shortly expressed by meta to mabein thgnwsin thv alhyeiav , which is to be interpreted in the light of the other passage (see note thereon). The consequences of such falling away are differently stated in the two passages. In Heb 6, it was the impossibility of renewal unto repentance; here it is the absence of any further atoning sacrifice; and this in keeping with what has been now proved of the sacrifice of Christ having superseded all others and been "once for all." The drift is that, if this is deliberately rejected after full knowledge of it, no ether is left to have recourse to. Then the immediate mention of "judgment" is in keeping also with the conclusion of Heb 9, (see note on Heb_9:27) and is immediately suggested here by thran of ver. 25. The fire in which that day is to be revealed is a prominent figure both in the Old Testament and the New; regarded as both an assaying and a consuming fire. (cf. especially 1Co_3:13-16) The expression, puro ("zeal, or indignation, of fire"), not only expresses the vehemence of the flame, but also implies the idea of the fire itself being instinct with the Divine wrath or jealousy (as zhlov , equivalent to hagqi, is usually translated when attributed to God), of which it is the symbol. (cf. Psa_79:5, Ekkauyhsetai wv pur o zhlov mou : Eze_38:19, O zhlov mou en puri thv orghv mou : Zep_1:18, En puri zhlou autou : and infrA,Heb_12:29, "Our God is a consuming fire") (For esyiein mellontov tououv , cf. Isa_26:11, Zhlov lhqetai laodeuton kai nun pur tououv edetai))

Vers. 26-31. The guilt and doom of apostasy.

This is a terrible passage even to read. It is fitted to fill with alarm the hearts of those who refuse to "draw near" to God, or confess his Name, or hold communion with his people. It is introduced here, like the similar warning in Heb_6:4-8, as a motive to Christian steadfastness.

I THE GUILT OF APOSTASY. This tremendous sin is described:

1. Generally. (Ver. 26.) The context shows that to sin willfully" refers neither to any isolated act of apostasy, nor to any other peculiarly heinous transgression, but to the specific sin of finally abandoning Christianity. The question here is not about the destiny of the millions of heathendom, who have never heard the gospel. The Bible does not encourage curiosity regarding them. The sin spoken of is that of the man who had- received the knowledge of the truth," and who has rejected the gospel after having perceived its beauty, realized its suitableness, and in some degree experienced its power.

2. More particularly. (Ver. 29.) Saving knowledge centers in the revelation of the three Persons of the Godhead, who are seen in the gospel working together to accomplish our redemption. So the apostate is described by his conduct towards each.

(1) Towards the Father. He "hath trodden underfoot the Son of God." We can know and approach the Father only through the Son; and, therefore, "whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father". (1Jn_2:23)

(2) Towards the Savior. The apostate tramples upon him, and "counts his blood an unholy thing." The blood of Jesus must be either on the heart or under the heel. But the apostate persistently despises the new covenant. He treats its Divine Mediator as if he were a malefactor. He treads underfoot the precious cleansing blood, as if it were worthless and unclean.

(3) Towards the Spirit. He "hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace." To act thus is to deny to the Holy Ghost the reverence and adoration which are his due. It is obstinately and maliciously to reject him. It is to treat him with contempt, and thereby "grieve" him away for ever from the soul. Persistently to despise the Spirit of God is to commit the unpardonable sin.

II THE DOOM OF APOSTASY. An awful punishment shall descend upon those who sin away their souls, after rejoicing for a season in the light and love of Christ. The fearful penalty of their guilt is represented here in different aspects.

1. Negatively. (Ver. 26.) "There remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins." Those Hebrews, in professing Christianity, had renounced the Levitical sacrifices. But, should they now reject the propitiation of Christ the only possible means by which God"s justice can be satisfied and man"s guilt cancelled what would such rejection entail? It would follow, first of all, that the guilt of their ordinary sins against the Divine Law would remain unpardoned, and that even on that ground they must certainly perish.

2. Positively. (Ver. 27.) It would also follow that the guilt of their special sin of apostasy would bring upon them a heavier penalty than that which shall overtake the other "adversaries" of God. This tremendous sin may fill the soul even here with a horror of great darkness. It may destroy happiness by causing scorpion stings of con science. It may cover the horizon of life with vague anticipations of a terrible eternity. And, whether such anticipations be present or not, there remains the devouring "fierceness of fire" itself. Not elemental fire, indeed; but spiritual loss, final reprobation, eternal despair. The apostate shall be shut out forever from the presence of God, and such exclusion is itself the hell of hell.

3. Comparatively. (Vers. 28, 29.) Under the Mosaic Law any Jew who lapsed into idolatry was to be stoned to death, for "transgressing God"s covenant;" and this stern doom was admitted to be just. (Deu_17:2-7) But, asks the apostle, are not apostates from Christianity guilty of a vastly greater sin? and shall they not receive a much more dreadful punishment. He rears the matter to the judgment and conscience of his readers. To reject the gospel is a more heinous crime than to set at naught the Law. To tread underfoot, the eternal Son of God involves more aggravated guilt than to turn away from Moses, who was a merely human messenger. So if the sentence of death for rejecting the old covenant was a righteous arrangement, it is evident that the Divine justice must demand a retribution still more awful for the more terrible sin of apostasy from the new covenant.

III AN ASSERTION OF THE MAJESTY OF GOD"S JUSTICE. (Vers. 30, 31.) "We know him." The gospel itself has revealed to us his infinite power, his inflexible justice, his spotless holiness, his absolute faithfulness. We know that he has said, "Vengeance belongeth unto me," and "The Lord shall judge his people". (Deu_32:35, Deu_32:36) We know his prerogative as the Governor of the universe. We know that the principle of retribution belongs to his moral nature. And we know that he defends and. saves his people by punishing their enemies. Our nineteenth century, no less than the first century, stands greatly in need of faithful teaching on the subject of retribution, both as a principle of moral law and as a doctrine of Christianity. For:

1. The spirit of the time tempts everywhere to a life of self-indulgence, rather than to the Christian life of self-denial. And habits of self-pleasing tend to bring a man to the edge of the inclined plane which slopes towards the abyss of apostasy. "He that soweth unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption.

2. The spirit of the time tempts even true believers to misconceive the nature of the Christian life. Many speak as if after their conversion they should have no experience whatever of spiritual unrest. They forget that it is not "the primrose way" that leads to glory; and that, while the new life begins with an Eden and ends with heaven, "the great tribulation" comes between. The passage before us, in warning of the apostate"s sin and doom, reminds us of the difficulties of the Christian life.

3. The spirit of the time labors to thrust into the background the doctrine of retributive justice. But this great principle is found everywhere: in nature, in providence, in history, in systems of civil government, in the human mind and conscience, in the spiritual experience of believers, and in the inspired Word of God. The justice of the Almighty is asserted here, as elsewhere in the New Testament, with peculiar emphasis. Those religious teachers, therefore, incur a terrible responsibility who try to persuade their fellow-sinners that it is by no means such "a fearful thing" after all "to fall into the hands of the living God." The Lord Jesus Christ has not sent any such message. Rather, he has solemnly warned us to "fear him". (Luk_12:5) And, if men do not fear the living God, whom will they fear?

Vers. 26-29. The darkest sin and the most dreadful doom. "For if we sin willfully after that we have received," etc. These solemn words set before us

I A SIN OF THE GREATEST ENORMITY. TO obtain a correct view of the dark sin which is here depicted, let us notice:

1. The spiritual experience which preceded the sin. Two clauses of our text set forth a personal experience of genuine religion. "After that we have received the knowledge of the truth." The word which is translated "knowledge epignwsiv as Delitzsch points out, cannot mean an unreal or false knowledge, but a genuine and intelligent apprehension of the truth. "The sacred writer, therefore, clearly intimates by the very choice of the word that it is not a mere outward and historical knowledge of which he is here speaking, but an inward, quickening, believing apprehension of revealed truth." (Heb_6:4-8) "The blood... wherewith he was sanctified." In the case supposed the man "had advanced so far in the reality of the spiritual life, that this blood had been really applied to his heart by faith, and its hallowing and purifying, effects were visible in his life (Alford).

2. The character of the sin itself. The sin is apostasy from Christianity, after having personally experienced its power and preciousness. But see how it is here sketched.

(1) Contemptuous rejection of the Divine Redeemer. "Hath trodden underfoot the Son of God." The expression does not simply mean to cast a thing away as useless, which is afterwards carelessly trampled on by men; (Mat_5:13) but a deliberate, scornful, bitter treading down of a thing. So terribly wicked is the rejection of the Son of God which our text sets forth.

(2) Profanation of the sacrificial blood of the Savior. "Hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing." The blood of sacrifices offered under the Law was regarded as sacred, and as having cleansing power. (Lev_16:19) How much more really and more intensely holy must the blood of Christ be! (Heb_9:13, Heb_9:14) To regard this blood as common, or as the blood of an ordinary man, was not only a degradation of the most sacred thing, but also an admission that Jesus was deservedly put to death; for if his was the common blood of a mere man, he was a blasphemer, and according to the Jewish Law deserved death.

(3) Insultation of the Holy Spirit. "And hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace;" or, "insulted the Spirit of grace." The expression designates the Holy Spirit as the Source of grace, and leads us to think of him as a living and loving Person. "To contemn or do despite to this Holy Spirit is to blaspheme the whole work of grace of which one has once been the subject, and to exhibit it as a deception and a lie. It is profanely to contradict the very truth of God, and draw down a vengeance which cannot fail" (Delitzsch).

3. The aggravations of the sire. The preceding experience of the blessings of Christianity sorely aggravates so bitter an apostasy from it. But the sin is further aggravated by the willfulness, deliberateness, and continuousness with which it is committed. "The sin here spoken of is not a momentary or short-lived aberration, from which the infirm but sincere believer is speedily recalled by the convictions of the Spirit, but one willfully persisted in." "If we sin willfully." Moreover, it is not an act or acts of willful sin committed once, or more than once, and then repented of, which is here set forth; but a continuous condition of sin. The use of the present participle amartanontwn perseverance and continuance in apostasy." It is not a case of ordinary religious backsliding or declension from Christ; for then there would be some hope of repentance and encouragement to repent. (Jer_3:14 Hos_14:4) It is a case of willful, deliberate, contemptuous, persistent rejection of Christ and of Christianity, after having known his truth and experienced his grace.

II A PUNISHMENT OF THE MOST TERRIBLE SEVERITY.

1. The utter loss of the hope of spiritual reformation. "There remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins." The sacrifices of Judaism to which, in the case supposed, the apostate returns have no power to take away sins. The efficacy of the sacrifice of the Savior has not been exhausted by him, but he has deliberately and scornfully rejected it, so that for him it has no longer any atoning or saving power. And no other exists for him, or will be provided for him. When a man willfully, contemptuously, and persistently rejects the only sacrifice through which salvation may be attained, what hope can there be for him of forgiveness and spiritual renewal?

2. The dreadful anticipation of an awful judgment. "There remaineth a certain fearful expectation of judgment." The apostate looks forward with dismay, and even with terror at times, to the approaching judgment and the righteous retributions which will follow. His punishment is already begun in his alarming anticipations of the dread penalties awaiting him hereafter.

3. The infliction of a punishment worse than death. "A fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries. A man that hath set at naught Moses" Law dieth without compassion," etc. If an Israelite apostatized from Jehovah to idolatry, when "two witnesses or three witnesses" testified against him, he was to be stoned to death. (Deu_17:2-7) If one sought to seduce another to idolatry, the person so tempted was to take the lead in stoning the tempter to death, even though the tempter was the nearest and dearest relative, or a friend beloved as his own soul. (Deu_13:1-11) But for the apostate from Christ there is a "much sorer punishment" than the death of the body by stoning. The severity of the punishment will be in proportion to the clearness of the light and the richness of the grace and the preciousness of the privileges rejected by the apostate. "The wrath of God burns as hotly as his love, and strikes no less surely than justly." Yet it seems to us that nothing in the punishment of the apostate can be darker or more terrible than this, that for him "there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins." "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. W.J.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For when we - Any of us Christians. Sin wilfully - By total apostasy from God, termed "drawing back," ver. 38. After having received the experimental knowledge of the gospel truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins - None but that which we obstinately reject.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

sin

Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The sacred writer now supports his admonition by a very solemn warning:

v. 26. For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

v. 27. but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

v. 28. He that despised Moses’ Law died without mercy under two or three witnesses;

v. 29. of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot 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?

v. 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.

v. 31. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Here the dreadful result and the final consequence of falling from faith is portrayed with terrible realism: For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge’ of the truth, there no more remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expecting of judgment and of a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries. The writer is not speaking of some ordinary transgression of the Ten Commandments, such as even Christians become guilty of every day. He emphasizes that he refers to a willful sin, which consists chiefly in neglecting that to which he has just admonished, namely, that people that have come to the faith do not hold fast the confession of hope without wavering, that they neglect the means of grace, no longer attend church services, or at best very irregularly, and neither apply nor receive brotherly admonition. The denial of Christ is the sin, and the contempt of the means of grace is the road leading thereto. People that become guilty of this sin do so purposely, with deliberate intent, and they go on sinning, they persist in their transgression. Having received the knowledge of the truth, having accepted Jesus Christ and His salvation, such people maliciously and blasphemously deny the accepted facts, the truths of the Gospel. And in their case it holds true that the sacrifice for sins no longer exists for them. The very nature of their sin has this result; for, having denied the expiatory offering of Christ which they had once received in faith, they have discarded the only means of salvation. What they have to expect, therefore, is the terror of the Last Judgment, of the final doom; what they must look forward to is the fury of the fire of hell, which will consume and destroy forever, throughout eternity, the adversaries of the Lord. The intensity of this punishment is such as to make it impossible adequately to portray its fierceness.

The writer makes an attempt to do this by means of an example taken from the story of Moses: Any one that has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses; of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be considered worthy that has trampled on the Son of God and has reckoned the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified a common thing, and has insulted the Spirit of Grace? The readers of the letter were familiar with that provision of the Mosaic code which placed the penalty of death upon the sin of idolatry, Deu 17:2-7. If any person belonging to the children of Israel was found guilty of that sin, as substantiated by the testimony of two or three witnesses, capital punishment was the only punishment which was deemed adequate. For idolatry is essentially denial, a malicious breaking of the covenant existing between God and His people. In such a case, therefore, no distinction was made, there was no respect of persons: death was he penalty. Now the author lets his readers judge for themselves as to an adequate punishment for him that denies the faith in Jesus Christ in the manner here described. In order to show the heinousness of the offense, the blasphemous apostasy is characterized. It consists in trampling the Son of God under foot as a contemptible thing, not worthy of a better treatment. It includes a despising of the blood of the covenant, of the holy, innocent blood of Christ, as something common, of no more value than the blood of any ’human being. It finally goes to the extent of insulting the Spirit of Grace, the same Spirit who, in the means of grace, has given the redemption of Christ, has wrought sanctification in the heart. Such a person deliberately blasphemes. Such is the description of a man’s condition who, after having received the grace of God in conversion, now sins in such a terrible manner, and not only once and under particular provocation, but again and again, with a certain fiendish delight in shocking others by his utter recklessness. Note: There can be no doubt that the author is here describing the sin against the Holy Ghost, which, on account of its peculiar character, is outside of the pale of God’s forgiveness. But mark that he does not accuse any of his readers of having committed the sin, his only object being to warn them lest they do become guilty and be lost forever.

To bring home his warning properly, the sacred writer refers to two passages of the Old Testament: For we know who said, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay; and again, The Lord will judge His people. Terrible it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Deu 32:35-36; Psa 135:14. When God, who is faithful also in keeping His threats, will sit in judgment and execute vengeance, then it will be too late to flee from the wrath to come. Then the knowledge that it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God will no longer be able to turn the condemned person to repentance. If we believers, who are condemned by the Law, but have become partakers of the grace of God through the gift of the Holy Ghost, willfully and maliciously deny the saving truth and grace and blasphemously spurn all offers of salvation, we have no one but ourselves to blame if the terrible vengeance of God strikes us on the last day.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In these verses the apostle gives a vehement enforcement of his preceding exhortation, to an unfainting perseverance in the profession of Christianity, and this is drawn from the dreadful consequences of apostasy. We have here the nature of the sin expressed, the impossibility of deliverance from the guilt of it declared, and the punishment that will unavoidable follow upon it asserted.

Observe, 1. Wherein the nature of this sin consists, if we sin wilfully, that is, by renouncing Christianity.

Where note, How our apostle puts himself in among the number; to show that there is no respect of persons in this matter, but those who have equally sinned, shall be equally punished.

Note farther, That the apostle, by sinning wilfully, does not mean every wilful sin, and that there is no recovery after any voluntary sin committed: But by wilfully, he means obstinately, maliciously, and with despite.

Observe, 2. The season and circumstance of this sin, After we have received the knowledge of the truth, that is, after the gospel has been preached unto us, and we, upon conviction of its truth, and sense of its power, have taken upon us the public profession of Christianity: After we have dedicated our selves to Christ in baptism, and joined ourselves unto the body of his church: After all this, to relinquish and renounce the Christian profession, either for fear of suffering, or love of this present world, exposes us to a unutterable and inevitable condemnation.

Observe, 3. What the apostle charges as an aggravation of this sin, namely, that it cannot be expiated, There remains no more sacrifice for sin: For God has no other Son to offer as a sacrifice for sin, if this be rejected; and no other Spirit to make that sacrifice effectual, if the Holy Spirit be despised, and finally resisted; and therefore no ground of hope can remain for such apostates. The punishments of sins unpardonable is unavoidable: It is an eternal decree of divine justice, that the sacrifice of Christ shall never benefit that man, who finally falls away after he has received the knowledge of the truth.

Observe, 4. The dreadful and tremendous judgment here threatened to apostates, and what they must eternally expect, namely, the fiery indignation, and fearful wrath of the just and holy God.

From the whole learn, 1. That there is an inseparable connection between apostasy and eternal ruin.

2. That the minds of wretched apostates are oft-times filled with dreadful expectations of approaching wrath.

3. That the dread and terror of God’s final judgement against apostates, is, in itself inconceivable, and accordingly shadowed out by things of the greatest dread and terror in the world.

4. That God’s fiery indignation, thogh it shall devour his adversaries, yet shall it never eat them up’ it shall eternally prey upon them, but never consume them, or annihilate their being.

O mysterious fire! Whose strange property it is always to torture, but never to kill; or always to kill, but never to consume. God grant that we may never experimentally know, or feelingly find, either where hell is, or what it is.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26–31. For if we sin wilfully. Deliberately trample under foot Christ's will; apostasize from the faith in life. Remaineth no more sacrifice. We have, in that case, rejected Christ, the only sacrifice for sin.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

The writer now gives his fourth warning.

we deliberately go on sinning

"we know we are sinning but we do it again and again"

after we have received the knowledge of the truth

Knowledge of the truth is spoken of as if it were an object that could be given by one person to another. AT: "after we have learned the truth" (See: Metaphor)

the truth

The truth about God. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

a sacrifice for sins no longer exists

No one is able to give a new sacrifice because Christ's sacrifice is the only one that works. AT: "no one can offer a sacrifice for which God will forgive our sins" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

a sacrifice for sins

Here "sacrifice for sins" stands for "an effective way to sacrifice animals to take away sins"

of judgment

Of God's judgment, that is, that God will judge. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

a fury of fire that will consume God's enemies

God's fury is spoken of as if it were fire that would burn up his enemies. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

sin

know

true

sacrifice

judge

fire

consume

adversary

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

26–31. A SOLEMN WARNING OF THE PERIL OF WILFUL APOSTASY

26. Ἑκουσίως γάρ. The word “wilfully” stands in contrast with sins of weakness, ignorance and error in Heb 5:2. If the writer meant to say that, after the commission of wilful and heinous sins, “there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,” this would not only be the most terrible passage in Scripture, but would do away with the very object of Redemption, and the possibility of any Forgiveness of Sins. It would, as Kurtz says, “be in its consequences truly subversive and destructive of the whole Christian soteriology.” But the meaning rather is, “If we are willing sinners,” “if we are in a state of deliberate and voluntary defiance to the will of God.” He is alluding not only to those sins which the Jews described as being committed presumptuously “with uplifted hand” (Num 15:30; Psa 19:13; see Heb 6:4-8, Heb 12:16-17), but to the deliberate continuity of such sins as a self-chosen law of life; as for instance when a man has closed against himself the door of repentance and said “Evil, be thou my good.” Such a state is glanced at in 2Pe 2:20-21; Mat 12:43-45.

τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν. “The full knowledge of the truth.” Something more is meant than mere historical knowledge. He is contemplating Christians who have made some real advance, and then have relapsed into “desperation or the wretchlessness of unclean living.”

οὐκέτι περὶ ἁμαρτιῶν ἀπολείπεται θυσία. Lit., “no sacrifice for sins is any longer left for them.” They have rejected the work of Christ, and it cannot be done for them over again. There is one atoning sacrifice, and that they have repudiated. He does not say that they have exhausted the infinite mercy of God, nor can we justly assert that he held such a conclusion; he only says that they have, so long as they continue in such a state, put themselves out of God’s covenant, and that there are no other covenanted means of grace. For they have trampled under foot the offer of mercy in Christ and there is no salvation in any other (Act 4:12).

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26-31.] Caution, arising from the mention of that day,—which will be not a day of grace, but a day of judgment,—of the fearful peril of falling away from Christ. The passage finds a close parallel in ch. 6:4 ff., and much of what was there said will apply here.

26.] For if we willingly sin (contrast to ἀκουσίως ἁμαρτάνειν, in reff. and the ἑκουσίως ἁμαρτάνοντες to the ἀγνοοῦντες κ. πλανώμενοι, ch. 5:2. The sin meant by ἁμαρτάνειν is sufficiently defined by the connexion (γάρ) with the preceding exhortations, and by the description of one who has so sinned in ver. 29. Neglect of assembling together, and loss of mutual exhortation and stimulus, would naturally result in (as it would be prompted by an inclination that way at first) the ἀποστῆναι ἀπὸ θεοῦ of ch. 3:12; the παραπεσεῖν of ch. 6:6. It is the sin of apostasy from Christ back to the state which preceded the reception of Christ, viz. Judaism. This is the ground-sin of all other sins. Notice the present, not the aor. part. ‘If we be found wilfully sinning,’ not ‘if we have wilfully sinned,’ at that Day. It is not of an act or of any number of acts of sin, that the Writer is speaking, which might be repented of and blotted out: but of a state of sin, in which a man is found when that day shall come) after the receiving (having received) the knowledge (“It is usually said that γνῶσις is the weaker word, ἐπίγνωσις the stronger: or, the former the more general, the latter the more special: or, the former the more quiescent, the latter the more active: the truth in all these is, that when ἐπίγνωσις is used, there is the assumption of an actual direction of the spirit to a definite object and of a real grasping of the same: so that we may speak of a false γνῶσις, but not of a false ἐπίγνωσις. And the Writer, by the use of this word, gives us to understand that he means by it not only a shallow historical notion about the Truth, but a living believing knowledge of it, which has laid hold of a man and fused him into union with itself.” Delitzsch. It is most important here to keep this cardinal point distinctly in mind: that the ἑκουσίως ἁμαρτάνοντες are not mere professors of religion, but real converts, or else ver. 29 becomes unintelligible) of the truth (the truth of God, as so often in St. Paul and St. John), there is no longer left remaining (see on ch. 4:6) a sacrifice for sins (for there is but One true sacrifice for sins: if a man, having availed himself of that One, then deliberately casts it behind him, there is no second left for him. It will be observed that one thing is not, and need not be, specified in the text. That he has exhausted the virtue of the one sacrifice, is not said: but in proportion to his willing rejection of it, has it ceased to operate for him. He has in fact, as Del. observes, shut the door of repentance behind him, by the very fact of his being in an abiding state of willing sin. And this is still more forcibly brought out when, which Del. does not notice, the scene of action is transferred to the great day of the Lord’s coming, and he is found in that impenitent state irreparably. This verse has been misunderstood, 1. by the Fathers, who apply it to the Novatian controversy, and make it assert the impossibility of a second baptism: so e. g. Thl., οὐ τὴν μετάνοιαν ἀναιρῶν λέγει ταῦτα, ὥς τινες παρενόησαν, ἀλλὰ δείκνυσιν, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι δεύτερον βάπτισμα· διὸ οὐδὲ δεύτερος θάνατος τοῦ χριστοῦ. θυσίαν γὰρ τοῦτον καλεῖ, ὡς καὶ ἐν τοῖς κάτοπιν. μιᾷ γὰρ θυσίᾳ τετελείωκεν εἰς τὸ διηνεκές· τὸ γὰρ βάπτισμα ἡμῶν τὸν θάνατον εἰκονίζει τοῦ χριστοῦ. ὥσπερ οὖν ἐκεῖνος εἷς οὕτω καὶ τοῦτο ἕν. And similarly Chrys., Œc., and Augustine, Inchoat. Exposit. Ep. ad Rom. 19, vol. iii. pt. ii., Rev_2. By Theodore of Mopsuestia and others, who interpret it only of those in a state of impenitence, understanding that on penitence they will again come under the cleansing influence of the blood of Christ: οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος βίου τὴν μετάνοιαν ἀναιρεῖ, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὴ εἶναι τότε συγχώρησιν λαβεῖν τὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ πταίειν ἐνταῦθα μεμενηκότα, καὶ μηδεμίαν ἐπὶ τὸ πταίειν δεξάμενον αἴσθησιν, ἀλογίᾳ τινὶ μετὰ πολλῆς ἡδονῆς ἐπιτελοῦντα ἁμάρτημα);

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We sin willfully [εκουσιως αμαρτανοντων ημων] . JEkousiwv willfully, only here and 1Pe 5:2. Comp. Phl 1:14, kat' eJkousion of free will. See LXX, Num 14:3. The willful sin is the abandonment of Christianity for Judaism.

The knowledge [επιγνωσιν] . Only here in Hebrews. Very common in Paul. For the word, and the phrase knowledge of the truth, see on 1Ti 2:4. The truth is the revelation through Christ.

There remaineth no more sacrifice for sins [ουκετι περι αμαρτιων απολειπεται θυσια] . Of course not. For the Levitical sacrifices are abolished. It is Christ 's sacrifice or none.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

26. ἑκουσίως ἁμαρτανόντων ἡμῶν] Vulg. voluntarie (Ο. L. uliro) peccantibus nobis. The phrase includes two

hostias seepe offerre pro peccatis ( Primas. ).

Brooke Foss Westcott (1825–1901), The Epistle to the Hebrews (1889) and The Epistles of St John (1883) — public domain (pre-1929). Text recovered from Internet Archive / Google Books OCR scans. Westcott’s Gospel of John commentary is not included (its OCR lost the chapter running-heads required for reliable verse-keying). Some Greek quoted in the Hebrews volume is imperfectly rendered by the OCR.