Christ or Judgment

Hebrews 10:18-39 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.

A New and Living Way

¹⁹ Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; ²⁴ and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, ²⁵ not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Christ or Judgment

²⁶ For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. ²⁸ Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” ³¹ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

³² But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, ³³ partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. ³⁴ For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. ³⁵ Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. ³⁶ For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

³⁷ For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. ³⁸ But My righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.

³⁹ But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.

For ten chapters the writer of Hebrews has expounded on the benefits and the advantages of the new covenant over the old covenant; to assure us that the once for all sacrifice of Christ is far better than the law which Christ fulfilled. In today’s text it says:  If we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.     It would indeed be a terrifying thing to fall into judgment at the hands of the living, sovereign God. Fortunately for us, as the writer said previously in Hebrews 4:14-16:   Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.   We need not be terrified, falling to an angry God, rather because of Jesus, we come boldly, not to God’s judgment but for grace and mercy. Rather than falling before God, we can climb into the lap of Abba Father, our Daddy.

If though, we reject the terms of the new covenant, if we reject Christ’s sacrifice for our sins, if we reject God’s grace, if we trample under foot the Son of God, and regard as unclean the blood of the covenant by which we are sanctified, and insult the Spirit of grace; by what terms do we expect that we should be judged?   In Hebrews 9:27 it says:  Each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment.   We have no choice as to whether our physical bodies will die. We are, by grace, given a choice of the terms of our judgment.  The text says:  If we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. What is truth some would say. Jesus says: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”(John 14:6)   Jesus is the way to the Father by grace and for mercy. Without Him we choose to stand before God by the terms of judgment based on obedience and righteousness. The writer says that if we choose willingly to continue in sin there is no sacrifice for our sin. These are not only the writers opinions nor mine. Jesus says:  “His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." (Matthew 3:12) “But the sons of the kingdom will be cast into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 8:12)  “and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”(Matthew 13:50)   These certainly sound like warnings to those who willingly choose sin and so reject grace. As we have seen, in Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus says:  “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.For assuredly, I say to you,till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceedsthe righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”

So then, in response to what Jesus says, we should heed what the writer says:    Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.   I encourage you today; choose grace. Choose Christ.

Thank You heavenly Father, Daddy; Lord Jesus Christ my Savior, The Truth and the Way and precious Holy Spirit. Because of grace and Your love, demonstrated on the cross I come to You. I willingly choose to walk in Your way, rejecting sin by the cleansing blood of Christ.  Amen.