Some Scriptures keep many Christians awake at night. One, in particular, causes many to fear they have lost their salvation. A pastor named James lived terrified of this. He would get so overwhelmed with his sin failures, he started believing he had reached his sin limit and was going to hell. To cope with his fear, rather than feel his terror, he would indulge in some sins he never did otherwise. He was in a cycle he couldn’t get out of until he came to Grace Life and discovered the truth.
Here’s the Scripture he and many others struggle with. Hebrews 10:26-27 says, For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Some might say, “It’s only for people with deliberate sins.” Guess what? Every sin we commit is deliberate! We are tempted and we choose to live contrary to who we are in Christ. At these times, we fail because we have fallen for Satan’s lies that certain sin patterns of our flesh will meet our God-given needs. If the above verse means that continuing to sin over and over means we are going to hell, then we are all going to hell!
However, here’s the really great news. This verse was not written to Christians. It’s always important we read the Bible in context and it’s essential here. The entire book of Hebrews was written to Jewish people who had already heard the gospel. There were three distinct groups of Jews: those who placed their faith in Jesus Christ as the Messiah (Savior) and left the Old Covenant behind; those who knew the facts about Jesus Christ as the Messiah but rejected Him and put their hope in the Old Covenant instead; those who heard about Jesus Christ as their Messiah but were struggling to let go of the Old Covenant. All of them were under persecution for even considering Jesus Christ alone for their salvation.
Hebrews 10:26-27 is written for the last two groups. The Holy Spirit was writing through the author warning them if they turned away from Christ, the Old Covenant sacrifices weren’t enough to save them. Jesus Christ was the final and superior sacrifice. There were no more! That is why the veil in the temple which surrounded the Holy of Holies was ripped in half. This revealed the sacrificial system was defunct and the way to God was now open to all through Jesus Christ’s death for sins.
Don’t live in fear that you might finally sin so much that God will kick you out of His family. If you are in Christ, you have all the forgiveness you will ever need for every sin. This is what Ephesians 1:7 assures us when it says, In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace. Do you see it? Our complete forgiveness is already ours by virtue of us being “in Christ”. God will never kick us out of His family because there is no sin that His forgiveness doesn’t cover. Believe it and enjoy the fruit of being at peace.
Please don’t misunderstand. God does not approve of our sinning. He wants us to live dependent on Christ in us so we will be enabled to live obedient to Him. Don’t forget! Obedience to God is simply living like who we are as His sons and daughters!
Of course, for those who hear the gospel but reject Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, there are no other sacrifices which Our Father will accept, whether you are Jewish or a Gentile (non-Jew). If that’s you, place your faith in Jesus Christ right now! Don’t delay thinking you will do it later. You are not promised tomorrow.
Live Free in Christ,
Mark Maulding, President and Founder
