What is “sinning deliberately”?

Explanation:

The author of Hebrews states that those who carry on deliberately sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth will face God’s judgment. We know from Hebrews 10:18 that Jesus’ sacrifice forgives our sins, so there must be a difference between the sin that Jesus covers and the sin that causes one to fall under God’s judgment. In fact, the author offers two clues as to the character of the sin that Jesus’ sacrifice will not atone for, with the adjective deliberate and the present participle of to sin.

First, the adjective deliberate is often used in the Old Testament in connection with free-will offerings not required by the law.⁵ It can also refer to willing obedience to the law, spontaneous praise, voluntary labour, voluntary suffering, and willful service in the Christian community. Further, the term is also used to denote willful sin.⁶ All told, the adjective has to do with intentional action.

What is important to note is that the author of Hebrews has placed the adjective at the beginning of Hebrews 10:26. By placing the adjective first, he emphasizes it.⁷ And it modifies the participle of to sin. The author is drawing attention to the fact that the type of sin that will not be atoned for is committed deliberately.

Second, it is important to point out that sinning is in the present tense. The present tense is used for ongoing action, so together with the adjective deliberate this renders the translation, ongoing intentional sin.⁸

Since the sinning is intentional this implies that the person committing the sin understands that what they do is contrary to God’s will. Further, since the sin is ongoing, this implies a conscious rejection of God’s provision.⁹ Finally, this ongoing sin is committed after receiving a knowledge of the truth. Knowledge of the truth is a repeated phrase in the New Testament, equivalent to something like accepting the content of the gospel (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Timothy 2:25; see argument 2) response to counterargument). This means that the deliberate sin of Hebrews 10:26 is ongoing deliberate sin that is conducted by a person who has accepted the content of the gospel.

Barring repentance, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:26).

Counterargument:

How can one who has a knowledge of the truth ever sin against God? It seems impossible to grasp the good news of the gospel, and then to subsequently reject it.

Response to counterargument:

The author of Hebrews is not engaged in a conceptual inquiry into the nature of faith and perseverance. Rather, he is explaining the facts on the ground. And what does he explain? He explains that no sacrifice for sin remains for those who have accepted the content of the gospel and continue to sin in willful disobedience. He does not explain how it is possible for one to accept the gospel and then reject it, only that it would transpire if one were to continue in deliberate sin. Further in the same passage he states that because it is possible to deliberately sin and forfeit one’s sacrifice after accepting the gospel, we need endurance (Hebrews 10:34).

Explanation:

The author of Hebrews not only warns against sinning deliberately but he states the consequences of such sin. He writes that if one goes on deliberately sinning after receiving a knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sin remains but a fearful expectation of judgment (Hebrews 10:26–27). The type of sin that forfeits Christ’s sacrifice for sin can be categorized as apostasy for two reasons.

First, there is scriptural warrant for the notion that deliberate sin that forfeits one’s sacrifice for sin is apostasy. Evidence comes by way of Matthew 12:1–50 where Jesus explains that if a person speaks a word against the Son of Man, he will be forgiven, but a person who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. In other words, if we speak against the Holy Spirit, no sacrifice for forgiveness remains.¹⁰

Second, this sin can be shown to be apostasy through the logical structure of salvation.

1. Human beings have sinned against God.

2. All who have sinned against God require reconciliation or will face God’s judgment.

3. Through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, sinners are reconciled with God.

4. All who receive Christ’s sacrifice through faith are reconciled.

5. Those who reject Christ’s offer are not reconciled and therefore face God’s judgment.

Based on the logical structure of salvation, we can see that those who reject Christ’s offer for salvation no longer have any sacrifice for sin.¹¹

Counterargument:

There are two issues with this argument. In the first place, the author of Hebrews has nothing to say about the Holy Spirit in Hebrews 10:26. This implies that there is no strong connection between Hebrews 10:26 and Jesus’ warning against apostasy in Matthew 12:22.

Second, the conclusion of the logical argument carries thoughts that are not stated in the text. For if we take 2) and 5) together, this amounts to the fact that those who reject Christ’s offer for salvation will face God’s judgment, not that they will lose their salvation. In other words, the conclusion assumes that only those who are apostates will face God’s judgment, but the text does not state this. Rather, it states that those who sin deliberately will face God’s judgment.¹²

Of course, the end is inevitable because God is the source of all being and he will call each of us to account. There is no escape. The ones who accept Christ’s sacrifice will be reconciled, and the ones who reject it will face God’s wrath. What this means in terms of salvation is simply not stated.¹³

Further, apostasy is the notion that the perpetrator deliberately rejects their belief. Again, this is not how the situation is characterized by the author of Hebrews. In fact, he states that those who have received the knowledge of the truth, and deliberately continue sinning, will face God’s wrath. We might suggest that apostasy is a type of sin, in fact, the worst type of sin, because it implies an explicit rejection of salvation. Hebrews 10:26 says nothing about deliberately rejecting salvation; rather, it characterizes the sin as deliberate sin, while knowing the truth.

Response to counterargument:

While it is true that Hebrews 10:26 does not explicitly state that the sin is the deliberate rejection of salvation, and therefore apostasy, it gives us all of the ingredients for apostasy. In other words, we cannot say that the passage is not about apostasy; rather, we can say that it is about implicit rather than explicit apostasy.

We might define apostasy as the rejection of salvation. Does our passage characterize the deliberate sin as the rejection of salvation? We know three things from the passage. For one, the sin is done intentionally. This excludes ignorance; the sin is willful. Second, the sin is conducted after one receives a knowledge of the truth. The statement knowledge of the truth is an important expression that we find elsewhere in the New Testament. For example, 1 Timothy 2:4 states that God wants all to come to a knowledge of the truth. And 2 Timothy 2:25 states that God might grant some repentance that leads to a knowledge of the truth. These passages imply that the phrase knowledge of the truth has to do with the acceptance of the content of the gospel.¹⁴ Third, for those who sin deliberately after they receive the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sin remains.

To summarize, we have a person who has received a knowledge of the truth, who knows that continued deliberate sin is contrary to God’s will, but who continues to intentionally sin regardless. While this person may not commit explicit apostasy, they certainly seem to commit implicit apostasy. In either case, the deliberate sin of Hebrews 10:26 is a sin resulting in apostasy.

We know from the old covenant that there was a distinction between unintentional sin (Numbers 15:22–26) and sin with a high hand (Numbers 15:30). The sin with a high hand was deliberate on the part of the perpetrator, so no atonement was available for that person.¹⁵ So what exactly does it mean to sin deliberately in the context of the old covenant? The author of Numbers offers an example of the sin with a high hand. He explains that a man picked up sticks on the Sabbath and was stoned to death (Numbers 15:32–36). Clearly picking up sticks is an innocuous activity, so the encounter highlights the inner defiant attitude of the perpetrator.¹⁶ It is not the outward manifestation, but the inner resolve against God that characterizes deliberate sin. Thus, when the author of Hebrews states that there is no sacrifice for sin for those who continue to sin deliberately, he has in mind inner defiance against Jesus Christ.

Counterargument:

The problem with drawing parallels between Hebrews 10:26 and the old covenant distinction between unintentional and intentional sin is that the author makes no mention of Numbers.¹⁷ We should look at the immediate context for clarity on the author’s intention, and there is no indication from the immediate context that the author has Numbers 15:1–41 in mind.¹⁸

Response to counterargument:

The author of Hebrews clearly has the old covenant in mind. In fact, he has spent the entire book until this point arguing for the supremacy of Jesus as high priest, and how his ministry ushers in a new covenant (Hebrews 8:13). Thus, the broad literary context of Hebrews lends to the notion that the author has aspects of the old covenant in mind. Further, the immediate context of Hebrews 10:26 draws us even closer to Numbers 15:1–41. In Hebrews 10:28 the author reminds his audience that in the old covenant, a man would die without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. This is a clear line to the man who sinned with a high hand by collecting sticks on the Sabbath. His point is that if deliberate sin was dealt so harshly in the old covenant, how much worse for those who deliberately sin against the Lord Jesus Christ.

Possible weaknesses:

The weakness of this view is that it depends on the notion of implicit apostasy. The author never actually states that the deliberate sin is the sin of rejecting Christ’s offer for salvation. Rather, he simply states that if one continues to deliberately sin, whatever that sin may be, no sacrifice for sin remains.

Explanation:

The author of Hebrews has compared and contrasted the supremacy of Jesus’ sacrifice over and above that of the sacrificial system of the old covenant. He wants his audience to be clear: through Jesus Christ our sins are forgiven and we are completely reconciled with God. Several times throughout the address, the author has highlighted a potential blind spot of his audience. Although they know the truth of the gospel, they are neglecting spiritual things. In Hebrews 2:1 he warns the audience to pay closer attention lest they drift away. In Hebrews 5:11 – 6:1 he warns the congregation to move beyond the basic teachings of the Christian faith and into maturity, and in Hebrews 6:12 he warns against sluggishness. Along the way he has argued for the supremacy of Christ’s sacrifice so that there will be no excuse for neglecting such a valuable reality. In Hebrews 10:1–39 we encounter a similar warning against neglecting the Christian community. The author calls the congregation to stir one another up in love and good works (Hebrews 10:24) and encourages them not to neglect meeting together (Hebrews 10:25). After this, he warns them that if we sin deliberately, no sacrifice for sin remains (Hebrews 10:26).

What does it mean to sin deliberately in this context? It means to neglect spiritual nourishment such as growing in the knowledge of Christ, and meeting and serving the Christian community.¹⁹ Such neglect is not itself apostasy, but if one persists in spiritual laxity, it can easily lead to a rejection of Christ and salvation, which is apostasy.

Counterargument:

There is good sense in pointing out that we must understand Hebrews 10:26 in the context of Hebrews. Further support for the fact that the author is addressing the lack of spiritual nourishment comes from Hebrews 10:32 when the author asks the congregation to recall the former days when they first received the faith. This reflection emphasizes the notion that the deliberate sin the author has in mind is the neglect of spiritual nourishment.

At the same time, it is more likely the author is applying a general principle about the doctrine of sin to the situation of the congregation. The author realizes that it is a general principle that if one deliberately persists in sin, a sacrifice for sin is no longer available. The author presents this general principle to the congregation, lending broad scope to his warning. Through this general principle, the author not only warns against spiritual neglect, but he also warns against any persistent sin including greed, lust, anger, and malice.

Possible weaknesses:

The weakness of this view is that it identifies the author’s main literary themes through a narrow lens. It is true that the author of Hebrews has in mind to warn the congregation against spiritual neglect. Still, he also has broad themes in mind including how Christ’s ministry fulfils the whole old covenant, how his sacrifice covers sin once and for all, and how deliberate sin after conversion tramples the Son of God. In other words, the author has in mind multiple threads of thought, and this view mistakenly reduces them to one.