Hey, how are you today? I have a question that troubles me. I read the article “am I sinning willfully” and it helped, but what troubles me is the verse that says if we sin willfully (knowing that we are) then there is no more sacrfice for our sins but a fearful looking for of judgment. Thank you for any help you can give me.  

P____

Hi P____,
You say:
“What troubles me is the verse that says if we sin willfully (knowing that we are) then there is no more sacrifice for our sins but a fearful looking for of judgment.”
Here is the verse you reference:

Heb 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
Heb 10:27  But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Heb 10:28  He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
Heb 10:29  Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant , wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
Heb 10:30  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.
Heb 10:31  [ It is] a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

I want you to pay close attention to the first word in this quote. The word is “For” is translated from the Greek word ‘gar,’ and it means ‘because’ or ‘for which reason…’  Here is the Strong’s number and definition:
G1063
γαÌÏ
gar
A primary particle; properly assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensification; often with other particles): – and, as, because (that), but, even, for indeed, no doubt, seeing, then, therefore, verily, what, why, yet.
The reason I make such an issue of this word is that it connects “if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins” with the previous thought. This thought of “willful sin” is “because” of what was said earlier. It is therefore imperative that we find out what “willful sin” is under discussion in verse 26. What had Paul just said that provokes him to tell us “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.”
Here now is what was said immediately prior to “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins:”

Heb 10:19  Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
Heb 10:20  By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

Heb 10:21  And having an high priest over the house of God;
Heb 10:22 Let us draw near [ to Christ in “the holiest”] with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Heb 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

All of these verses are concerned with Christ and His body and its proper function. The phrase “the house of God” in verse 21, and the phrase “the holiest” in verse 19 are one and the same. God’s house is where He dwells, and where God dwells is “the holiest.”
I once had a brother in Christ try to convince me that the ‘holy land’ was holy because God told Moses “take off your sandals because the ground on which you stand is holy.”  When  I pointed out to this brother that the ground Moses was standing on when those words were spoken was “Mount Sinai in Arabia,” he was speechless but he was still convinced that the physical land of Israel is God’s holy land:

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

My point is that it is the presence of God which makes anything holy. It is not a physical location. Anyone who thinks that a physical location or that physical descent in any way impresses God “is [ still] in bondage.”  What the scriptures tell us is that it is God’s presence which makes a thing holy. What the scriptures teach is that God’s presence and His dwelling is now in His people:

Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

This is not some future event with no present application. This is a present fact with a future application:

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

“The time is at hand” especially includes the third verse of Rev 21.
So “the house of God” is “the temple of God” in which He dwells. When does God occupy his house?  When will He dwell in His people?

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
2Co 6:16  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

So you see, it is Paul who is giving that verse which is quoted by John in Revelation, a present as well as a future application. Both Paul and John are quoting Ezekiel:

Eze 37:27  My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

There were at the time of the apostles, just as there are today, many who could not see the need for the other parts of the body of Christ. There are many to this day who see no advantage to being in contact with other brothers and sisters in Christ. Assemblies of brothers and sisters in Christ are mere Pharisaical rituals to some among us. ‘Iron sharpening iron’ is something that can be accomplished through books, audios, DVDs, etc. They prefer anything other than taking of their time and energies to actually go to be with other members of the body of the Christ.

Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is ; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Heb 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins

So “sin willfully” is connected in this verse with forsaking and neglecting the body of the Christ and its function in bringing us into “the house of God and into the holiest by the blood of Christ.” God has ordained before the foundation of the world that His work and His Word would be done through his creation. Adam was His first son:

Luk 3:38  Which was [ the son] of Enos, which was [ the son] of Seth, which was [ the son] of Adam, which was [ the son] of God.

… then Abel who was replaced by Seth, then eventually Enoch and eventually Noah. After the flood Noah had a descendant named Abraham of whom Jesus Christ was eventually born. In the New Testament we are plainly told:

Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
Eph 2:21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
Eph 2:22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

We so often read “the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone” and fail to realize how much the rest of this section of scripture means to our heavenly Father. “We also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” This is very important because without His elect, Christ has no inheritance by God’s decree:

Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Here we have the opportunity to fellowship with and minister to those who are Christ’s inheritance, and we don’t even see the need to be with these brothers and sisters who are part of us who are supposedly “builded together for an habitation of God…” Are you interested in the welfare of your brothers and sisters in Christ? Do you seek to know of and pray over their needs and trials? When you see a brother or a sister in need, do you say ‘I’m praying for you brother,’ but you don’t do anything to help? If you are able to help and don’t raise a finger to do so, that is what this verse is speaking of:

Heb 10:29  Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant , wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

How do we do those terrible sins today? The answer to this question is what provoked Paul to say this:

Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is ; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Heb 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.

What Paul is saying here is this tenth chapter of Hebrews is what John tells us:

1Jn 3:17  But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

That is what is meant by “treading under foot the Son of God, counting the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing.” That is the meaning of “sin willfully after receiving a knowledge of the truth” of what is the house of God. What is ‘the holiest’ of Heb 10:19? What is ‘despite unto the spirit of grace’ of Heb. 10:29?
This chapter of Hebrews is dealing with the same attitude amongst these Hebrews that Paul dealt with in 1Co 11:

1Co 11:21  For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.

What a sad dichotomy in the body of Christ. One brother is starving while the other is drinking to excess. That is what “not discerning the body of Christ” is all about:

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of t he afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

There, that is “the Lord’s body.” It is your brother and sister in Christ, with whom you see no need to assemble, much less share with him your bounty when you see him in need of this worlds good which you have and use in excess.

1Co 11:22 (b) … Despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise [ you] not.

It is this attitude in the body of Christ which provokes this statement in the same chapter:

1Co 11:29  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
1Co 11:30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

It is “not discerning the Lord’s body” that led the Hebrews to forsake the assembling of themselves together… treading under foot the Son of God,  counting the blood of the covenant , wherewith we were sanctified, an unholy thing, and doing despite unto the Spirit of grace?”
We are all in our appointed times guilty of these sins.
If ever we see a brother or a sister in Christ in need of this world’s goods and fail to minister to those needs, we are “sinning willfully after receiving a knowledge of the Truth.”
Of course there are very few of today’s scattered flock who are able to assemble with others. Those are not the subject of these verses. Here is the verse which is for those who cannot participate in assemblies:

Mat 18:20  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

In our assemblies we are exhorted to “consider one another to provoke to love and to good works.” Those who could assemble with their other body parts but never do so will always be lacking in the twin skills of giving and receiving. We are “the church which is His body.”
No functioning healthy body is resentful of its respective parts. If the feet are itching or sore, then the hands, without even thinking, are the first to render aid in the form of massaging or scratching or whatever is needed. The feet in turn, don’t even consider whether they ought to take the hands to do their job each day. The eye sees, the ear hears, the mouth eats and speaks, and no one thinks of comparing himself to the other parts of a healthy, properly functioning body.
Paul’s point in connecting willful sin with not assembling is that if Christ is in us, then we will be concerned for the rest of our own body. If He is not in there, then that too, will be made evident by all who “do not discern the Lord’s body.”
Of course there are many of the fruits which are being disparaged here in this tenth chapter, which are mentioned in the warnings given in the sixth chapter of Hebrews, but this warning is not just a rehash of the warning in chapter six. That is a topic for another time.
I hope you now see just how important is the body of the Christ and how important to our heavenly Father is the proper function of this thing called “the Lord’s body.” It is the veil which separates us from our heavenly Father, but when it is torn from the top to the bottom, it is through this same veil within each of us that access to our heavenly father is made available to others:

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in [ the] Christ , both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, an d what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Eph 1:22  And hath put all [ things] under his feet, and gave him [ to be] the head over all [ things] to the church,
Eph 1:23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

It is “the church which is His body” in which Christ receives His inheritance and which is the fullness of Christ who is the fullness of His Father. It is this with which this chapter deals. It is a lack of love and appreciation for this calling and this body which evokes warning of Heb 10:26.
Mike>