Yet again the writer of Hebrews sounds the alarm for those who might fall away from their faith in Jesus. When he speaks about those who “deliberately go on sinning” he is not speaking about doing bad things. ‘Sin’ has a much deeper meaning than this. To live in sin is not just to have sinful habits but to consciously live in spite of God’s absolute claim upon us. The writer of Hebrews is addressing those who wanted to forsake Jesus because of the persecution they were suffering; specifically, Jews who wanted to go back to living as pious Jews without Jesus. The writer of Hebrews is hammering it through to them that to live without Jesus is to forsake God’s ultimate and only way of salvation. There were some who, in weak moments, denied Jesus in times of pressure. The writer of Hebrews isn’t addressing this sort of thing. He is addressing those who, having witnessed and tasted the truth of the new covenant blessings, consciously decide to forsake Jesus. You can be forgiven for any amount of failure if you turn to Jesus. But if a person turns away from him then there is no possibility of salvation. The imperative therefore is clear: hold on to the saviour who holds on to you. Your grip might fail but his won’t. But be sure that whenever you do fail you keep going back to him. He will never drive you away no matter what you do or how far you stray. Just make sure you keep coming back to him.
Thank God for his salvation in Jesus Christ.
Read Hebrews 10:26-39
