We are not of those who yield to unbelief
- a better hope: Assurance, Heb 6
- a better high priest: He lives forever, Heb 7
- a better covenant: Heart renewal, Heb 8
- a better sacrifice: Christ’s offering, Heb 9
And, as the means to enable believers to mature in their faith and not fall away (shrink back):
- a better sanctification: Made perfect, Heb 10:1-18
Christ now lives forever to purify and renew from within the conscience which could not be cleansed by outward ceremonies. In a second part (vv19-39), Heb 10 begins to address how such faith leads to good works, depending on continuing mutual encouragement to not give up this faith (v24). For apart from Christ and enduring faith in Him, no fruit of the Spirit can grow: If those who “set aside” (lit. un-place) the law of Moses died without mercy, what punishment will deserve those who instead “trample” the Son of God and treat with contempt the Spirit of grace“, vv28-29? In other words, since no sacrifices can atone for sins and provide any hope of forgiveness other than the sacrifice of Jesus, what recompense will await those who esteem this sacrifice as ordinary? While unpacking the meaning of this threat will require great care, the writer concludes full of confidence that whatever it is, his readers who truly believe Jesus are not “of those who shrink back” (i.e. they won’t give up this saving faith).
Read: Hebrews 10:19-39
1) As this passage has received contradictory interpretations, survey first what it might be all about, i.e.:
- List all its (explicit) imperatives and commands
- Do these include a command to “never sin again”?
- How would you sum up in your own words what these exhortations are about?
2) v22: How can we comply? Does the writer explain what he means by “drawing near”?
- Heb 7:19 through a better hope (i.e. better than the one of legalism);
- cf 1 Pet 1:13 “…set your hope fully on the grace…”
- What did Heb 10 provide as a basis for such hope? vv14-17
3) Until v14, the author labored to show that one sacrifice of Jesus was sufficient once and for all to make believers holy (vv10 & 14). How does the quote from Jer 31:33-34 in vv16-17 prove this?
4) If you would not know anything about the context, how would you summarize (in less than 2 min) what vv26-31 teach?
- A challenge of ch 10 is how to interpret and apply the warning of vv26-31 without making it say the opposite of what its context is all about:
- v27: Can the fire spoken of be less than eternal condemnation (i.e. a kind of purgatory)? Why not? Can it be less than damnation if it “consumes the adversaries” (v27)?
- Can it be less than damnation if it is more severe than the judgment of those who simply rejected Moses, v29?
- Does Heb 10 therefore threaten that God may hold against you the sins that he previously promised to forget? Or did he only forgive your past sins, whereas sins overtaking you after your conversion accumulate until they are enough to throw you again into hell? Why not?
5) In discussions whether believers may still lose salvation by breaking God’s laws, why would anyone use Heb10? Is lawlessness what this chapter is warning about?
- vv26-31 are linked to the previous verses by the conjunction “For…”. What does that imply, and why does it matter? [It proves that vv26-31 are not the the main thesis, but only a subordinate clause to explain the preceding point. The main point of ch 10 is that believers should not withdraw from fellowship with Jesus and his body, and why not].
6) The point of the present passage is summed up by v38 (a quote from Hab 2:3-4) “….but the righteous shall live by faith”. How where the Hebrews tempted to “shrink back” from such faith?
- Where they tempted to “set aside the law of Moses”, v27? cf Gal 3:3 [nobody advocated lawlessness; however; like the Galatians, they were tempted to try to be saints in the strength of their own ‘flesh’ (physical and mental) instead of the Holy Spirit]
- What do we need to do to continue to live by faith?
- v32: remember
- v35 do not throw away your confidence: What would that be? [Apostasy from the gospel by returning to our own sacrifices as the means to cleanse our conscience]
- v36: we need perseverance
7) Personal and application
- Do you think it matters what we think about this text and whether or not it says that forgiveness of sins for believers is limited, somehow? Why?
- What made you ever think that God’s forgiveness may be ‘exhausted’ by your own sins?
- If you or someone you know is tempted to despair because of the greatness of their sin, is it safe to just ignore this text? Instead of simply ignoring it or doubting whether Hebrews should be in the Bible (as some did already in antiquity), how should we use this text? Why?
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