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Hebrews 10:26-31 - Close Enough Doesn't Count

  • Writer: Chad Werkhoven
    Chad Werkhoven
  • 4 hours ago
  • 5 min read

Your sins have been paid for, but that payment comes with an obligation.

 

Hebrews 10:26-31 (NIV)


26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” q and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

 

Canons of Dordt

Point 2 - Limited Atonement


Article 1: The Punishment Which God’s Justice Requires


  1. God is not only 

    1. supremely merciful, 

    2. but also supremely just. 

      1. This justice requires 

        1. (as God has revealed in the Word) 

        2. that the sins we have committed against his infinite majesty 

          1. be punished with both temporal and eternal punishments, 

          2. of soul as well as body. 

  2. We cannot escape these punishments unless satisfaction is given to God’s justice.

 

Summary


We live in a culture in which close enough is good enough. On the interstate, 75 MPH seems close enough to the speed limit of 70. As the end of a work day draws near, 4:55 seems close enough to 5 PM to pack up and go home. Since the effects of bending the speed limit a bit or knocking off a few minutes early don't seem catastrophic, we often apply the same attitude toward keeping God's law. Keeping eight of the commandments seems close enough to keeping all ten.


But we don't have a 'close enough' God. Because He defines the very concept of goodness, He must defend it by responding with holy wrath against anything that infringes upon or even slightly compromises that which He has decreed to be righteous.


He will respond with a raging fire that will consume His enemies - even those enemies who kept 80% of His law but rejected the rest. Many of the Israelites who experienced God's justice as they wandered through the wilderness kept most of God's law, but anyone who rejected the law of Moses (even a little bit) died without mercy.


So often it seems like God doesn't care that much about sin; after all, so many people completely ignore God's Law and are doing just fine. Even the prophet Jeremiah wondered why the wicked prosper (Jeremiah 12:1). But the writer to the Hebrews reminds us what God has said, and therefore what God will do: He will avenge, repay, and judge His people.


And in one of the most haunting lines of scripture, we're told that it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.



  Dig Deeper  


But as a Christian - that is, one who has been given the knowledge of truth, you need not fear God's holy wrath, despite your sin. This is because a sacrifice has been made on your behalf. Literally translated, One was killed and offered His blood in order to satisfy God's justice on account of your sin.


So far this year we've come to understand that we've experienced God's grace because He unconditionally elected us to receive it. The next stage in our journey is understanding that we've been made right with God because a payment - an atonement - was made on our behalf. Christ's blood of the covenant has sanctified you (made you holy and acceptable to God).


Quite literally, you were bought at a price and now you belong, as the Heidelberg Catechism begins so beautifully, in body and soul, in life and in death, to your faithful Savior Jesus Christ. So if you deliberately keep on sinning, you are rejecting Christ's ownership over your life and as a consequence, no sacrifice for sins is left.


A lackadaisical, 'close enough' attitude towards God's Law is tantamount to trampling the Son of God underfoot. The best way to free yourself from the fearful expectation of judgement that rejecting Christ results in is to live every moment of your life demonstrating your gratitude for Christ's atoning for your sin by keeping God's good and perfect commandments.



  • ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who will consume His enemies in judgment and raging fire;

  • ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that the Holy Spirit will cure you from having a 'close enough' attitude towards keeping God's Law;

  • ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

 

Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Matthew 16

 
 
 

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