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According to prevailing evangelical teaching about grace, it should be difficult
if not impossible to “insult the Spirit of grace.” We are saved
by grace through faith, not by works. Therefore as long as we truly believe,
our sins are forgiven and we are saved. Our works, whether good or bad,
have little or no part in salvation since eternal life is free and by grace.
Therefore by definition it is difficult to “insult the Spirit of
grace” and thus lose our inheritance from the Lord.
According
to the epistle to the Hebrews, however, the picture of salvation
as drawn above is not quite balanced. Hebrews
contains a blend of both
comforting assurances regarding what God has promised to us, and also
contrasting warnings against failing to persevere and falling away
by sinning. In Chapter 10, where we find the expression “insulting
the Spirit of grace,” we see a cross section of this blend. Let’s
take a look at some verses from this chapter.
Hebrews
10:11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly
the same sacrifices, which can never take
away sins. 12
But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His
enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected
forever those who are being sanctified. 15 But the Holy Spirit also
witnesses to us; for after He had said before, 16 “This is the
covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD:
I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write
them,” 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds
I will remember no more.” 18 Now where there is remission of
these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the
blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for
us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest
over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience
and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession
of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
Through
his suffering, Jesus was made perfect as our High Priest. By his
death on the cross he has perfected us forever.
He has made
a new and better covenant with us by which he has written his laws
on our hearts and minds. Because of this we can boldly enter the Holy
of Holies and draw near in full assurance of faith. “He who promised
is faithful.” This is most comforting to believers.
But then the writer adds disturbing caveats in the verses which immediately
follow.
Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up
love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,
as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the
more as you see the Day approaching.
There
appears here to be an element of suspense here with the approach
of the great and terrible Day of the Lord. It is
important to stir
and exhort one another to love and good works as if, if we failed to
do these things, there might be some doubt about what the Lord has
promised us for that Day. In many churches today, the teaching instead
focuses on how to maximize God’s various blessings for the believer
in this life. But this is clearly not the primary focus of New Testament
teaching. The writer of Hebrews continues with…
26 For
if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth,
there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a certain
fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour
the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without
mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse
punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled
the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which
he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of
grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says
the Lord. And again, “The LORD will judge His people.” 31
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
If we
as followers of Christ willfully sin, whether through loss of faith
or the commission of sinful acts, we will have
insulted the Spirit
of grace. For such believers there will be a certain fearful expectation
of judgment and fiery indignation. To their regret they will understand
what it means to fall into the hands of the living God. “The
Lord will judge His people.”
32 But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated,
you endured a great struggle with sufferings: 33 partly while you were
made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while
you became companions of those who were so treated; 34 for you had
compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering
of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession
for yourselves in heaven. 35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence,
which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that
after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
37 “For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and
will not tarry. 38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone
draws back,
My soul has no pleasure in him.” 39 But we are not of those who
draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the
soul.
The writer
speaks of believers drawing back from the Lord because of sufferings
due to persecution, of failing to endure
to the end.
Such conditions prevailed in the early days of the Church. But in the
absence of such persecution, such as we see in western or in “Christian” countries
today, it is still possible to fall away. In such countries the primary
danger to believers is spiritual complacency due to the worries of
this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the love of this world.
Believers can and do fall away because of these temptations. If believers
who fall away because of suffering and persecution face fiery judgment
from the living God, how much more believers who fall away in “good
times” through complacency and apostasy?
There are not a few church-going Christians who do not live holy lives
and who fail to produce good works for the Lord. If they do not repent
and turn away from their sins, there will no longer be a sacrifice
for them.
Unfortunately,
the Church has taught that “Christians are not
perfect, just forgiven.” It takes a degree of exegetical gymnastics
to come to such a conclusion from studying Scripture, especially Hebrews.
Some teach that God loves us unconditionally and that we can do nothing
to make Him love us more, or for that matter, make Him love us less.
Not a few churches teach week after week that God wants to bless us
on earth with success in every area of life and teach how we can achieve
that success. But there is little equipping in the area which has to
do with eternal life in the next age---producing good fruit in our
personal lives as the outward evidence of our truly being saved and
possessing eternal life.
A believer
once wrote us for help. The believer claimed to have the Holy Spirit
and spent hours each day studying Scripture, in prayer
and in worship.
But every week or so the believer would engage in sin over the internet.
Revealingly, the believer wondered if the sinful thoughts and behaviour
had been tolerated because there was little fear of the believer losing
salvation. But verses from Hebrews 10 above warn us that believers
can in fact
find themselves facing certain expectation of judgment. The Lord might
say to us, “I don’t know you or where you are from. Away
from me, all you evildoers!”
Such is the fruit of current evangelical teaching on extreme grace
leading to complacency in the Church.
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