The sin of Apostasy .
The Danger of Turning Away: Understanding Apostasy
This wilful sin must be defined in its context. It will not do to ignore the historical background of this book and its analysis, and then put an arbitrary meaning upon the words. That is not exegesis, namely, taking out of the text what is there, but eisegesis, putting into the text what is not there. The sin which the book warns against is that of a Jew of the first century who left the temple sacrifices, identified himself with the visible Church and made a profession of Messiah as High Priest, renouncing that profession and returning to the temple sacrifices.
Now the writer introduces his fourth grim warning. As in the previous cases, it is a warning against apostasy, here described as a deliberate sin.
As has been indicated, there is considerable disagreement among Christians as to the real nature of this sin. The problem, in brief, is whether it refers to:
1. True Christians who subsequently turn away from Christ and are lost.
2. True Christians who backslide but who are still saved.
3. Those who profess to be Christians for a while, identify themselves with a local church, but then deliberately turn away from Christ. They were never truly born again, and now they never can be.
We believe that the third view is the correct one because it is most consistent with the over-all teaching of Hebrews and of the entire NT
Here in verse 26 apostasy is defined as sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth. Like Judas, the person has heard the gospel. He knows the way of salvation; he has even pretended to receive it; but then he deliberately repudiates it.
For such a person, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. He has decisively and conclusively rejected the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ. Therefore God has no other way of salvation to offer to him
There is a sense in which all sin is willful, but the author here speaks of apostasy as a willful sin of extraordinary seriousness.
The fact that the author uses we in this passage does not necessarily mean that he includes himself. In verse 39 he definitely excludes himself and his fellow believers from those who draw back into perdition.
The doom of the lawbreaker in the OT is now introduced to form a backdrop against which to contrast the greater doom of the apostate. A man who broke Moses’ law by becoming an idolater died without mercy when his guilt was proven by the testimony of two or three witnesses (
10:29 The apostate will be counted worthy of much worse punishment because his privilege has been much greater. The enormity of his sin is seen in the three charges that are leveled against him:
1. He has trampled the Son of God underfoot. After professing to be a follower of Jesus, he now brazenly asserts that he wants nothing more to do with Him. He denies any need for Christ as Savior and positively rejects Him as Lord.
In Japan there is a crucifix which was used by the government in days of persecution. It was placed on the ground, and everybody had to tread on the face of the Crucified. The non-Christians did not hesitate to tread on His face; the real Christians refused and were killed. The story goes that the face of Jesus was worn down and marred by people trampling on it.
2. He has counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing. He counts as useless and unholy the blood of Christ which ratified the New Covenant. He had been set apart by this blood in a place of external privilege. Through his association with Christian people, he had been sanctified, just as an unbelieving husband is sanctified by his believing wife (
3. He has insulted the Spirit of grace. The Spirit of God had illuminated him concerning the good news, convicted him of sin, and pointed him to Christ as the only Refuge of the soul. But he had insulted the gracious Spirit by utterly despising Him and the salvation He offered.
Willful repudiation of God’s beloved Son is a sin of immense magnitude. God will sit in judgment on all who are guilty of it. He has said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay” (see
If it causes difficulty to think of apostates being spoken of as His people, we should remember that they are His by creation and also for a while by profession. He is their Creator though not their Redeemer, and they once professed to be His people, even though they never knew Him personally.
Nothing in this passage of Scripture was ever intended to disturb and unsettle the minds of those who truly belong to Christ. The passage was purposely written in its sharp, searching, challenging style so that all who profess the name of Christ might be warned about the terrible consequences of turning away from Him.
