The work of Christ

[StephenMartyr]

Hey again all!

I was at a Bible study tonight and this one guy has been saying something. He said it once before and then said it to me again as I drove him home. He brought up this verse:

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,

The question comes: Did Christ die for only my "caught-off-guard" sins, or my "willful" sins too?

Yes, that passage is probably talking about something else but the guy was taking that verse to mean "willful" sins. He stated that Christ can only redeem you once (that's pretty close to a quote). I should talk to him again more about it.

Anyways it just had me thinking. Anyone know of any passages dealing with willful sins in the Bible? As well, anyone know of any books or sections in systematic theologies that deal with Jesus dying for my willful sins as well? I should actually ask the question, do people here believe that Christ died for willful sins as well?

Let's talk about Peter when Paul dealt with that issue in Galatians.

Gal 2:12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.

Was this a "caught-off-guard" sin or a "willful" sin? In the end, if Christ died for both, I suppose it doesn't really matter.

I believe Christ died for both. But I'm looking at trying to kindly deal with this person's stance. I'd like to ask him more about it and where he gets it from, more deeply.

Any resources?

 

[PezLad]

For if we sin wilfully
] Which is not to be understood of a single act of sin, but rather of a course of sinning; nor of sins of infirmity through temptation, or even of grosser acts of sin, but of voluntary ones; and not of all voluntary ones, or in which the will is engaged and concerned, but of such which are done on set purpose, resolutely and obstinately; and not of immoral practices, but of corrupt principles, and acting according to them; it intends a total apostasy from the truth, against light and evidence, joined with obstinacy.
Gill takes these person to be unregenerate, yet the author is speaking to the whole congregation, sheep and goats, for the sheep they heed the warning and cling to Christ, for the goats it is prophetic and they cling onto their lusts and do not let go.

 

[timfost]

From Calvin's Institutes 3.3.23:

"Therefore, when he speaks of those falling away "who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted of the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come," we must understand him as referring to those who, with deliberate impiety, have quenched the light of the Spirit, tasted of the heavenly word and spurned it, alienated themselves from the sanctification of the Spirit, and trampled under foot the word of God and the powers of a world to come. The better to show that this was the species of impiety intended, he afterwards expressly adds the term willfully. For when he says, "If we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins," he denies not that Christ is a perpetual victim to expiate the transgressions of saints, (this the whole Epistle, in explaining the priesthood of Christ, distinctly proclaims), but he says that there remains no other sacrifice after this one is abandoned. And it is abandoned when the truth of the Gospel is professedly abjured."

 

[Regi Addictissimus]

Hey again all!

I was at a Bible study tonight and this one guy has been saying something. He said it once before and then said it to me again as I drove him home. He brought up this verse:

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,

The question comes: Did Christ die for only my "caught-off-guard" sins, or my "willful" sins too?

Yes, that passage is probably talking about something else but the guy was taking that verse to mean "willful" sins. He stated that Christ can only redeem you once (that's pretty close to a quote). I should talk to him again more about it.

Anyways it just had me thinking. Anyone know of any passages dealing with willful sins in the Bible? As well, anyone know of any books or sections in systematic theologies that deal with Jesus dying for my willful sins as well? I should actually ask the question, do people here believe that Christ died for willful sins as well?

Let's talk about Peter when Paul dealt with that issue in Galatians.

Gal 2:12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.

Was this a "caught-off-guard" sin or a "willful" sin? In the end, if Christ died for both, I suppose it doesn't really matter.

I believe Christ died for both. But I'm looking at trying to kindly deal with this person's stance. I'd like to ask him more about it and where he gets it from, more deeply.

Any resources?

My apologies, but I only have time to share what some have written on this verse.

I appreciate what Zwingli had to say on this verse:

“For if we go on sinning deliberately.” Both the immediately preceding statements and the thrust of the epistle make it clear that this is not said with reference to any and every kind of sin. For there is no sin, no matter what kind of deliberation or brashness were involved in its commission, that would not encounter grace and mercy in the sight of God, if only the transgressor were to repent. Therefore, this is said with reference to the sin against the Holy Spirit, which is nothing else than brazenly and abominably despising, spurning, rejecting, and opposing the truth when it is fully understood. Here Paul means sinning after the knowledge of the truth has been received, because earlier he spoke of not holding on to the confession of hope, forsaking Christ and his congregation, and not believing in Christ; for these things he says that there remains no sacrifice for sins, and no other atonement. For Christ, having been offered just once, sanctifies forever those who believe. Therefore, whoever spurns the unique offering of Christ and seeks another satisfaction and sacrifice deserves no mercy. For how could anyone obtain mercy from Christ that he does not ask of him, or not believe in? Good God, how many multitudes of people do they deceive with their papistical satisfactions? EXPOSITION OF HEBREWS 10:26.14

Rittgers, Ronald K., and Timothy George, eds. Hebrews, James: New Testament. XIII. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2017. Print. Reformation Commentary on Scripture.

Richard Phillips and many commentators agree that the author of Hebrews has apostasy in mind:

It is important to understand what the writer is talking about, and what he is not talking about. He speaks here of those who “go on sinning deliberately.” This refers to a distinction made in the Old Testament between intentional and unintentional sins. Moses spoke of this often, such as in Numbers 15:30: “The person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from among his people.”
In Hebrews 10:26 the key Greek word is hekousiōs, which occurs only twice in the New Testament: here and in 1 Peter 5:2, where it means “without compulsion.” In other Greek writings the noun form is used for those who serve as volunteers. What this verse describes is not believers who are struggling with sin, or even those who have besetting sins which plague their spiritual life and displease the Lord. Rather, this refers to those who reject God’s authority to tell them what to do, and who flagrantly continue in their sin. Proverbs had this kind of person in mind when it described those “who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways” (Prov. 2:13–15). Leon Morris comments with regard to our passage in Hebrews:

"It is clear that the writer has apostasy in mind. He is referring to people who “have received the knowledge of the truth.” … The people in question, then, know what God has done in Christ; their acquaintance with Christian teaching is more than superficial. If, knowing this, they revert to an attitude of rejection, of continual sin, then there remains no sacrifice for sins. Such people have rejected the sacrifice of Christ, and the preceding argument has shown that there is no other."

Phillips, Richard D. Hebrews. Ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2006. Print. Reformed Expository Commentary.

Calvin is always helpful:

Those who sin, mentioned by the Apostle, are not such as offend in any way, but such as forsake the Church, and wholly alienate themselves from Christ. For he speaks not here of this or of that sin, but he condemns by name those who wilfully renounced fellowship with the Church. But there is a vast difference between particular fallings and a complete defection of this kind, by which we entirely fall away from the grace of Christ. And as this cannot be the case with any one except he has been already enlightened, he says, If we sin wilfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth; as though he had said, “If we knowingly and willingly renounce the grace which we had obtained.” It is now evident how widely apart is this doctrine from the error of Novatus.
And that the Apostle here refers only to apostates, is clear from the whole passage; for what he treats of is this, that those who had been once received into the Church ought not to forsake it, as some were wont to do. He now declares that there remained for such no sacrifice for sin, because they had wilfully sinned after having received the knowledge of the truth. But as to sinners who fall in any other way, Christ offers himself daily to them, so that they are to seek no other sacrifice for expiating their sins. He denies, then, that any sacrifice remains for them who renounce the death of Christ, which is not done by any offence except by a total renunciation of the faith.

Calvin, John, and John Owen. Commentary on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010. Print.


I will close with an exhortation from the Puritan, William Gouge:

This teacheth us to hold in the reins of all manner of evil lusts, and to do what we can to keep them down. Be far from spurring them forth. We do too oft and too much grieve the Spirit of God, in our greatest watchfulness, and that by reason of our spiritual weakness, proneness to sin, and temptations whereunto we are subject. Let us not ‘add drunkenness to thirst,’ Deut. 29:19, nor ‘draw on sin with cart-ropes,’ Isa. 5:18. Let us not turn weakness into wilfulness, nor infirmity into obstinacy. We pray that God would not lead us into temptation; shall we cast ourselves thereinto?

Gouge, William. A Commentary on the Whole Epistle to the Hebrews. Vol. 2. Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; J. Nisbet & Co.; G. Herbert, 1866. Print. Nichol’s Series of Commentaries.

 

[Regi Addictissimus]

You can listen to Richard Phillips's sermon through this link:

A Dreadful Punishment

Dr. Richard D. Phillips | 2nd - Second Presbyterian Church (PCA)

www.sermonaudio.com