Maintaining Strength Until the End

For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries... It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God... Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God you may receive the promise... Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

A real warning, a binary choice, and an eternal reward for those who endure to the end.

A 500-Year Debate Over Salvation

For the last 500 years there has been an ongoing debate within the Christian community surrounding the doctrine of salvation. The debate is not so much over who gives salvation—most Christians understand that salvation is of God—but over how it is received, how it is maintained, and whether maintenance is even needed.

There are basically two groups, each identified by the primary teachers who launched these views during the Protestant Reformation. One group calls themselves Calvinists, followers of John Calvin. They believe God elects, by His own choosing, individuals for salvation, and that those individuals will persevere in their faith until the end. They hold to the sovereignty of God in salvation, commonly referred to as eternal security, or "once saved, always saved."

The other group calls themselves Arminians, after the teacher Jacobus Arminius. They believe we must by our own will receive Christ and His salvation, and that once received, we must maintain it and hold onto it, lest we lose it by our own sin or inaction. They hold to man's responsibility in salvation, and might phrase it: "once saved, always saved, if you don't fall away."

Each group has its favorite ammunition—its proof texts. As we come to Hebrews 10:26-39, we come to one of the favorite proof texts of the Arminian camp. Many of these are found in Hebrews—chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 6, and now chapter 10. So those who lean toward the sovereignty of God may find this text uncomfortable, while those who lean toward the responsibility of man may find it encouraging.

Not a Calvinist, Not an Arminian—A Christian

I want to begin by saying I believe in the sovereignty of God in salvation, and I believe in the responsibility of man in salvation. Within this church we have people who lean both directions, because we seek to maintain a balanced position, since both views are taught in the Bible. The fact that both groups can find proof texts shows us that both positions are taught.

Not only are both positions taught in the Bible—sometimes they are taught in the same chapter, even the same sentence. In Philippians 2:12-13 Paul says, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling"—that sounds like the responsibility of man. The very next breath: "for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure"—that is clearly God's sovereignty. These two things that seem to compete are brought together as one. There may be a paradox there.

So over the years I've said, I'm not a Calvinist and I'm not an Arminian—I'm a Christian. That infuriates my friends on both sides. When I teach through Romans 8-11, the sovereignty folks are thrilled with their "Calvinist pastor." When we come to Hebrews 3, 4, 6, and 10, my Arminian friends are thrilled. But we're just teaching the Bible here at Cross Connection. It may be a paradox to us, a mystery to us, but it's not a mystery to God. He knows exactly how His choosing and our responsibility work together. Saying I'm "just a Christian" doesn't get me out of going through hard passages like this one.

The Little Word "If"

The big, important word to focus on first in Hebrews 10:26 is the little word if—the second word in my Bible. "For if we sin willfully." When a person who leans toward the sovereignty of God comes to this text, they have to explain it, and they generally do so in one of two ways.

The first explanation is that this is a warning to a person who is not yet a Christian—someone who has been intellectually convinced that the Christian faith is true but has not yet put their trust in Jesus. An almost-Christian, not fully baked. One of the most prominent Calvinist teachers of our day, John MacArthur, holds this view, saying these are stillborn, not-yet-born-again people who at some point turn away.

I find it a huge stretch to say these warnings—here in Hebrews 10 and in 3, 4, and 6—are addressed to individuals who are not yet believers. So did the great prince of preachers, who happened to be a Calvinist, Charles Spurgeon. Preaching on this very section, he said, "If you read the likes of Dr. Owen and almost all the eminent Calvinistic writers, they all of them assert that these persons are not Christians." But Spurgeon adds, "Now it strikes me that they would not have said this if they had not had some doctrine to uphold." He continues, "A child reading this passage would say that the persons intended by it must be Christians. If the Holy Spirit intended to describe Christians, I do not see that He could have used more explicit terms." And, "With all deference to these learned doctors... I humbly conceive that they allowed their judgments to be a little warped." I agree with Spurgeon. The individuals spoken of in Hebrews 10, 6, 4, and 3 are Christians.

The second way a Calvinist gets over this text is to say the author is presenting a hypothetical scenario of a Christian committing apostasy—departing from Christ by their own choice—a warning of a situation that cannot actually happen. That's also absurd, because the warnings are severe. John MacArthur himself says of this warning, "This is by far the most terrifying and most serious of the five warnings in the book of Hebrews. It may be the most serious warning in all the Scriptures." Yet many who hold his position say it is a warning of something that cannot actually happen—a "what if" that is completely hypothetical.

A Conditional Statement, Not a Hypothetical

My daughter Evangeline loves absurd what-if questions: "Dad, what if a giant pink bird came flying out of the sky and ripped open the car and stole me away—what would you do?" Those are fun. But this is not a what-if hypothetical scenario.

**Point one: The "if" of Hebrews 10:26 is a conditional statement and not a hypothetical scenario.** Context is important. Look at verse 25. The author is telling Christians who came out of Judaism not to forsake the gathering of the church: "not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." What day? The day the Lord returns, which we'll address at the end of the chapter.

So don't leave the safety of the body of Christ, where we are challenging, exhorting, and provoking one another to love and good deeds. The word "assembly" here is literally the synagogue, the assembly of the body. If you leave that covering that is in Jesus Christ, there is no other sacrifice for your sins. "If we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth"—this speaks to a person who has had an experiential knowledge of Jesus, who has received the gospel.

The original readers were Christians who had left the Old Covenant temple system—the sacrifices established in the first five books of the Bible, still operating until the temple was destroyed in AD 70. They had put their faith in Jesus, the better sacrifice and better High Priest. Now by some means they were being tempted to leave Jesus and go back to Judaism. The author says: if you leave the covering that is in Jesus, there is no alternative, no other sacrifice for sin.

Then comes the severe warning of verse 27: if you leave Jesus, all you have to look forward to is "a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries." Either we maintain faith in Jesus, evidenced by faithfulness, or we abandon our faith and the promise of eternal salvation associated with it—and then all that remains is the anticipation of coming judgment.

A Completely Binary Choice

Point two: The choice set before us is completely binary. It is either/or—either salvation in Christ or damnation apart from Him. There is no option C, D, E, F, or G.

Our 21st-century American culture hates this concept. The number one objection to the Christian gospel today is the exclusivity claim of Jesus—His narrow claims. When Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but by Me," our pluralistic culture recoils. People build their own constructs, taking from this and that, so nearly everyone you meet has a different approach to God. It's a choose-your-own-adventure on how to get to God. But the Bible says there is one way to God, and every other way leads to damnation. For that, Christians are increasingly labeled intolerant, narrow, even bigoted. Yet Jesus said, "Narrow is the way that leads to life; wide is the path to destruction."

Interestingly, research over the last twenty years shows that having many options is not always best. When presented with too many options, people descend into what researchers call decision paralysis. Having one or two clear options is generally best, and the Bible often presents this either/or scenario.

In Deuteronomy 30 Moses, reading the law one last time, says, "I call heaven and earth as witnesses... I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that you may live." About fifty years later Joshua does the same in Joshua 24: "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Later Elijah stands before the people in 1 Kings 18: "If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him." As the great 20th-century philosopher reminds us, you've got to serve somebody.

Eternal and Severe Consequences

Point three: The decision has eternal and potentially severe consequences. Someone may ask, is it really that cut and dried? Would God really judge a person who rejects Jesus? Many today say, "I believe in a God of love; He would never send anyone to hell. Do you really have this narrow view?"

Remember that Timothy's first readers were Christians who came out of Judaism, so he keeps taking them back to the Old Covenant, as in verse 28: "Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses." Under Judaism, if you rejected God's law given through Moses, you could be put to death—an earthly capital punishment—on the testimony of two or three corroborating witnesses.

Then he says, "Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?" And again to a Jewish audience: "For we know Him who said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord. And again, 'The Lord will judge His people.'" If a man could be put to death under the Old Covenant for transgressing Moses' law, how much worse for one who spits in the face of Jesus and insults the Spirit of grace?

Over the years people have come to me with a grave look, troubled by Matthew 12:31 and Mark 3:28-29—the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit that will not be forgiven. They fear they may have committed it. I assure them: if you had committed it, you probably wouldn't be concerned about it; you'd be indifferent. The very fact that you're concerned is evidence of the Spirit's conviction within you.

What is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? I suggest it is the rejection of the salvation and sacrifice of Jesus described here in Hebrews 10:28-31. The ESV translates the end of verse 29 as "outraged the Spirit of grace." The New Living Translation reads, "those who have... insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God's mercy to us." To reject the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, to count His death as common and unexceptional, is to outrage the Spirit of grace.

A Proper Reverence for God

Point four: A knowledge of God's true nature should produce a proper reverence for Him. Do you know God—that He is gracious, good, compassionate, loving, merciful, and forgiving? That is the God most people want to know more of. But do you also know that God is just and perfectly righteous?

The same God who reveals Himself as merciful, gracious, and loving also says, "I am just and I am holy." A holy and just God cannot overlook sin; there must be a judgment upon sin. The only way that judgment can pass over us is if it falls upon another—a substitutionary sacrifice. On the cross, Jesus stood in my place and yours as that substitute. Apart from Christ there is no mercy, no grace, no compassion. But in Christ, He is the Father of mercies, the God of all grace.

So why would anyone ever depart from Christ? He alone is our refuge, our ever-present help in time of trouble, our advocate and mediator between God and man. Why go back to the old system, which is insufficient to deal with your sin? And why go back to those who ridiculed you, excommunicated you, disowned you, and kicked you out when you put your faith in Jesus?

Do Not Forget What You Endured

This is exactly the appeal of verse 32: "But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven."

Why are we so quick to forget the bad things of our old life and only remember the good? When Israel was brought out of slavery in Egypt—out of bondage, beatings, and the killing of their own children—within a couple of months they were crying out to go back, remembering only the food. How quickly we forget the negatives and emphasize the positives.

These Christians, when they put their faith in Jesus, were disowned by their families, excommunicated from the synagogue, disavowed by their community, beaten, imprisoned, robbed, and some even killed. We experience incredible grace in this country and don't have to endure that. But there are still places in the world today—many in the predominantly Muslim world—where putting your faith in Jesus means being ousted from your community or even put to death. The decision is harder under that pressure, and these people had already endured it. Now they were tempted to go back.

Endurance and Eternal Reward

So verse 35: "Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise"—the promise of the saving of the soul, eternal salvation. "For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry."

Yes, the church has been saying this for 2,000 years, and the Lord has not returned yet, but we still believe He is coming, and we believe He has delayed because He is gracious. "Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul."

Point five: There is an eternal and abundant reward for those who live by faith until the end. Does that mean I have to hold on tightly and maintain faithfulness until the end? Yes—"work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." But didn't God promise to enable me? Yes—"for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." They go hand in hand. We have a responsibility, and we can know He is faithful, and we press on until the end.

This isn't new in Hebrews. Hebrews 3 says Moses was faithful in God's house as a servant, "but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end." And verse 14: "For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end."

That is why he says in verse 25 not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together as we see the Day approaching—because a day is coming when Jesus returns, whether for all of us at the great Day of the Lord or for each of us individually when we die. So we need to be stirred up within the body of Christ to run this race with endurance, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of God.

So let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares, just like those great men and women of faith of old whom we'll study next week in Hebrews 11, the hall of faith—Abraham, Moses, Abel, and all those who followed God by faith and obtained a good testimony both here and in eternity. May our names too, as we continue to run this race with endurance, be written as an addendum to Hebrews 11. Read ahead, be encouraged, and run this race.

Closing Prayer

Jesus, thank You for Your grace toward us—that in Christ Your grace is unfathomable, immeasurable, great, and never depleted. Lord, we are told we can come boldly before Your throne of grace to obtain mercy and grace in our time of need. Though we should have a reverence for You, may it never be a cowering in fear, because You have given us Your righteousness, and we can come before the presence of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. God, pour out Your grace upon Your church in abundance—so much that it overflows from us to other people this week. Give us the boldness not only to come and receive more grace from You, but to share the good news of grace with others, because this world's greatest need is the grace You have given. We praise You, Jesus. It's in Your name we pray, amen.