Now we come to a crucial point. The writer warns the Hebrew believers not to forsake the church to sin willfully, that is, to go back to Judaism to offer the sacrifice for sin which has been terminated (vv. 25-26, 18). Verses 25 and 26 say, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the custom with some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day drawing near. For when we sin willfully after receiving the full knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.” For the Hebrew believers to shrink back to Judaism and offer again the sacrifice for sin would be to do something which God had terminated. For the Hebrew believers at their time and in their situation to forsake the assembling of themselves together would have been to forsake the new covenant way of contacting God, to forsake the church, and to return to their old religion—Judaism. That would have broken God’s administration of grace, thus constituting a serious sin before God. It would have been to “sin willfully after receiving the full knowledge of the truth.” Truth here refers to the things disclosed in the foregoing chapters and verses, which affords the Hebrew believers the full knowledge that God has annulled the old covenant and has established the new. To sin willfully means to forsake the assembling of ourselves together with the church. The Hebrew believers had been instructed to abandon Judaism and remain under the new covenant. If they had returned to Judaism, they would have forsaken assembling themselves with the church. This constitutes a willful sin in the eyes of God after receiving the knowledge of the truth, after knowing that God had forsaken Judaism, which was formed according to the old covenant, and had established the new and living way of contacting God according to the new covenant.
Verse 26 says that “there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” for those who sin willfully. If the Hebrew believers had forsaken the church and returned to Judaism, there would have remained no sacrifice for sin in the economy of God, for all the sacrifices of the old covenant have been altogether replaced by the one sacrifice of Christ. Since Christ has once for all offered Himself as the real sacrifice for our sins (7:27; 10:10, 12), the sacrifice for sin has ceased (10:2), having been taken away by Christ (10:9). Many Christian teachers misinterpret verse 26, saying that if we sin willfully after being saved our sins cannot be forgiven because there is no more sacrifice for sin. This interpretation is terrible! As we have seen, the willful sin mentioned here is forsaking the church and shrinking back to the old covenant after knowing that God had annulled it and established a new one. Forsaking the church to return to Judaism to offer the sacrifice for sin when there was no longer any such thing, was, in the eyes of God, a willful sin.
Verse 29 says, “By how much do you think he shall be thought worthy of worse punishment who has trampled under foot the Son of God.” In the new covenant the Son of God replaces all the sacrifices of the old covenant. If the Hebrew believers would still return to Judaism to offer any of the old sacrifices, they would in effect be trampling under foot the Son of God. They would be despising Him, disregarding Him, and putting Him under their feet.
Verse 29 also speaks of regarding the blood of the covenant a common thing. If the Hebrew believers would have returned to Judaism to offer the old sacrifices and rely on the blood of the slain animals, they would in effect have regarded the precious blood of Christ a common thing. That would have been a serious disregard of the unique redemptive work of Christ. Since animal blood was common, it could be offered again and again. However, if, after receiving Christ, the Hebrew believers returned to Judaism to offer again the sacrifices for sin, they would have been making the blood of Christ the same as animal blood. This is an insult to Christ.
This verse also mentions insulting the Spirit of grace. Under the new covenant, through the redeeming blood of Christ, the Hebrew believers had become partakers of the Holy Spirit (6:4), the Spirit of grace. If they had returned to Judaism to offer the sacrifices for sin, this would have been against the work of the Spirit of grace who was indwelling them and working in them and who would have been insulted by their willful sin. The Spirit of grace would never have agreed with this and would have reacted within them. This is serious.
In verses 38 and 39, the writer told the Hebrew believers to live by faith and not shrink back to ruin. For the Hebrew believers to shrink back to Judaism was to shrink back to ruin, which is not eternal perdition but punishment by the living God (vv. 29-31). The ruin mentioned here is the punishment, as mentioned in verses 27 through 31, of those who forsake the new covenant and return to Judaism, thus trampling underfoot the Son of God, regarding Christ’s precious blood common as animal blood, and insulting the Spirit of grace.
By now, we all should be able to understand this fourth warning. The economy of God has been presented clearly. We have seen the old way and the new way, and we have been warned to come forward along the new way and not to shrink back to the old. To shrink back to the old way after having such a clear word is to commit a willful sin. At the time this epistle was written, to shrink back meant to forsake the new testament church and to give up the new testament dispensation and economy of God. This was not a small matter; it was a very serious willful sin. The writer warned them that if they did such a thing, they would suffer punishment.
According to God’s economy, all the old sacrifices have been terminated and the old way has been closed. If the Hebrew believers would have shrunk back to the old way to offer sacrifices according to the law, it would have been in vain, for, in the eyes of God, such a thing had been terminated. This is the correct meaning of this warning. However, many Christians misinterpret it, saying that if you sin after you are saved, you are sinning willfully and there is no possibility of having your sins forgiven. Under the Lord’s light, we have seen that to sin willfully is to give up God’s economy and to go back to the old way of traditional religion. Here, at the end time, the Lord has presented us with His up-to-date economy. We know what is the old way and what is the new way. The old way has been closed, and the new way has been freshly slain. For the sake of the Lord’s recovery and God’s economy, we must come forward to take the new way.