Word for Today: Friday, January 18, 2013

Hebrews 10:26-31 Vengeance is for God.

Memory Verse: 10:30(KJV)

"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".

Yesterday’s passage we were told to hold steadfast to the confession of Hope and shouldn't forsake the assembly of the saint but encourage one another in love. Today, we are given a severe warning about wilful sinning.

The author of Hebrews gives the Hebrew Christians a stern warning in today’s passage because many of them were considering a return to Judaism. Some of them were already offering sacrifices in the temple making it clear that the sacrifice of Christ was meaningless.

Now we understand why the author took his time to expatiate on the supremacy of Jesus and the sacrifice he made to unite us to God. We have learnt a lot about Jesus that we previously didn't know. It will be foolish of us to return to our old ways and sinful lifestyle.

Sinning wilfully is a terrible sin. It is equivalent to rejecting Jesus sacrifice for sin and the result is judgement. We are being warned again the peril of continuous wilful sin. These warnings are there to prevent us from falling.

Verses 28-29 makes comparison between the punishment of those in the Mosaic times and those under grace. Those in the Mosaic times didn't know as much as we do now. They didn't even have the opportunity that we have now, yet God didn't spare them. God’s judgement on us will be worse.

According to Verse 29, when we sin wilfully we are doing the following

·      > Tramping the son of God (Jesus) under foot

·      > Treating the blood of the covenant as unholy

·      > Insulting the Holy Spirit

 God is a merciful God but he is also a God of Justice. He has called us several times to repent but if we don’t harken to him and continue in our wicked ways then his wrath will befall us. It is better to have God on your side than to have him against you. Really who is gonna save you if God chooses to deal with you?

There are great dangers of drifting away and we have been warned numerous times. The book of Hebrews contains so much warning about drifting away. It is difficult for one to return back after they have falling (Hebrews 6:4-6, 2 Peter 2:20-22)

The grace of God has been given to us freely but we shouldn’t misuse it (Rom 6:1). The grace of God will not be available forever; it will be terrible for those who misuse the grace of God on the day of Judgement.

It is really a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of God, therefore we should ensure to holdfast to the hope that we have in Christ and run this Christian race with perseverance as we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.