Hebrews 10:26
“For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.”
– English KJV
“Εκουσίως γὰρ ἁμαρτανόντων ἡμῶν μετὰ τὸ λαβεῖν τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τῆς ἀληθείας, οὐκέτι περὶ ἁμαρτιῶν ἀπολείπεται θυσία.”
– Greek Text
“Ekousiōs gar amartanontōn ēmōn meta to labein tēn epignōsin tēs alētheias ouketi peri amartiōn apoleipetai thusia”
– Greek Pronunciation
Of all the verses in the Bible this one could debatably be one of the most nerve-racking. However, it is important that we look at this verse with good exegesis.
Exegesis and Eisegesis:
Exegesis is when we get the meaning of the text from the text. This is done by taking into account the following: The context of the verse and passage. The history and origin of the text. The historical and traditional backgrounds for the author, the text and the audience. The classification of the types of literary genre present in the text, and an analysis of grammatical and syntactical features in the text itself.
Eisegesis is the opposite. This is when the reader inserts or forces their own interpretation onto a text. Eisegesis is the main reason why cults form. They force their own interpretation on text in order for the Bible to fit their doctrine (rather than having the Bible determine their doctrine).
The biggest problem with paraphrase Bibles is the problem of eisegesis. When translating thought for throught, the author will interpret a specific verse according to his own understanding, which could be in error. Proper biblical study requires proper use of exegesis. Unfortunately, most Christian denominations have some form of belief or doctrine that comes from eisegesis. (However, we will not be going into any of that today).
The Bible is the inspired Word of God. Although it has been written by many human writers, it only has one author. Therefore, when we study Biblical passages we must keep the rest of Bible in mind, since the author intended it to be written as one book. For good exegesis we need to place this verse (as well as any other verse) in context of the passage as well as the entire Bible.
“For if we sin willfully”
What exactly is willful sin? It is when a person knows that something is a sin, yet they plan to do it anyway. This is rebellious sin. When we purposefully plan to rebel against God.
God is not mocked, He knows our thoughts and we cannot fool Him… If our plan is to sin and repent afterwards, that repentance will count for nothing!
This verse is telling us about the real unpardonable sin. However, we need to understand this passage in relation to the rest of the Bible. 1 John 1:9 is a key verse. It clearly says that IF we repent for our sins, then our sins will be forgiven and we will be cleansed of ALL unrighteousness (injustice and moral wrongfulness of character, life or act). So how can one verse say that if we repent we will be forgiven and another say that we will not be forgiven?
We know that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and therefore it does not contain contradictions or errors. Contradictions and errors are found only in our own understanding. Therefore, we need to look at this closely… The key in 1 John 1:9 is “if we repent”. If we repent any and all sins will be forgiven. So how does this fit in with Hebrews 10:26?
Here is an example: A certain man knows that stealing is a sin, however, he does not care and is planning to steal money from someone. He then follow this plan through and steals the money. A few days later he repents of stealing the money. Do you think that he has been forgiven?
According to this scripture the answer is NO.
But does that not mean that 1 John 1:9 is lying?
No, there is no contradiction here. Our understanding is wrong. Understand that this man may have repented for stealing the money, but that was only one part of his sin. The sin that he has not repented of is rebelling against God! He has not repented of purposefully planning to sin. The reality is that, to be forgiven, he should feel such guilt and sorrow for planning to sin, that the sin itself should come second in his mind.
We must acknowledge that we planned to sin, confess this (confess planning and performing the sin) to God and repent (turn away from doing this again). If we truly do this then 1 John 1:9 applies to the situation. God knows our hearts, we can lie to people, but not to Him. He will know whether we truly repented of both. Our actions that follow should also be an example of our repentance. In our example, the man would need to return the money if at all possible.
There are a lot of people who are concerned that they have sinned willfully and therefore will receive no grace. However, that concern within you is the proof that 1 John 1:9 can apply to you! It is the feeling of regret within you that proves you have the heart to repent and that is what God is looking for. If you feel bad for committing a willful sin then you can truly repent thereof. Those who 1 John 1:9 does not apply are the people who feel no regret and have no intention of repenting for their rebellion against God. The “Willful Sin” referred to in this passage is total apostasy, a sin for which there is no forgiveness because there is no repentance.
“after that we have received the knowledge of the truth”
Did you know that we can know the truth without having the knowledge of the truth?
We know that we should not sin (this is the truth), however, we do not always know what is sin and what is not (the knowledge of the truth). Few Christians know every law within the Bible, however, that does not mean we do not need to follow them.
This is known as ignorant sin, which is not what this verse is referring to. Ignorant sin is where we are unaware that we are committing a sin (for example: when we refuse to forgive someone for something). When we sin out of ignorance we still need to repent of it (Lev 4:13). Some Christian denominations have accepted the unscriptural idea that ignorant sin is fine. However, ignorant sin is still a sin and all sin will be judged. A good idea is to ask God to reveal the sin that is harbored in our life. As we grow closer to God we discover sin in our lives that we never realized was there. Sometimes you notice it yourself, other times it is revealed to you through others. It is very important that we study the Word of God in order to learn His laws.
This verse is also not referring to accidental sin. Accidental sin is when, for example, you tell a lie and you immediately realize that what you did was wrong. These sins must also be repented of. This is the kind of sin that people struggle with after they gave their heart to the Lord. Remnants of the old self that need to be done away with.
“there remains no more sacrifice for sins”
There are many people who say that Leviticus is a great cure for insomnia. This may be the case if it is read at night when one is tired, however, the book is really interesting if we pay attention! It gives us the foundational knowledge of sacrifices (among other things). It is good to understand the different sacrifices in order to understand the complete role of Jesus’ sacrifice. It is very enlightening to take some time and study the rules regarding sacrifices.
If we are not repentant of our actions (which is what this scripture is actually about), there can be no sacrifice. We need to repent in order for the sacrifice to apply to us. Those who commit this total apostasy have no interest in the forgiveness of God and therefore there will be no sacrifice to save them, they will face the judgment without a substitute.
Jesus died for our sins only once. This covers all sin that we repent of. If we choose to ignore this sacrifice we must understand that there are no other sacrifices that we can grasp onto. God has no other plan for saving those who regard Christ’s sacrifice as useless!
Many people read passages like this and go into depression when there is no need to do so. God knows that we are sinners. He gave Jesus so that we could be free and promised that if we truly repent He will save us! The key is to repent with our hearts, we must be honest, we cannot lie to God.
The key is true repentance. This means we need to acknowledge that we have sinned and that we deserve nothing less than an eternity separated from God. We must also acknowledge that Jesus died so that we may be forgiven and avoid this terrible fate. We must confess our sins to God and ask forgiveness with genuineness and promise to turn away from our sins, accepting Jesus as Lord of our life. When this is done our actions afterwards will follow the decision we made in our hearts. If our repentance was honest our lifestyle will change (it is impossible not to change once we have repented) and God will be evident within your life.
