Useful Bible Studies > Hebrews Commentary > chapter 10
The author of Hebrews has just warned how terrible it is to sin (do wrong things) against God’s most holy things. But Christian leaders must warn about many things. So the author adds a sentence to emphasise how important this subject is. God himself will punish the person who sins on purpose against his holy things. It is the most terrible evil deed that any person could ever carry out. And God, who is the living God, will certainly act against that person.
It is right to feel fear if we choose on purpose to offend God.
For example:
· A Christian leader who decides not to teach the truth about the Bible ought to be afraid. He has offended both against God’s holy Word and against God’s holy people.
· Someone who uses his connection with a church in order to satisfy evil desires ought to be afraid too. God’s church is holy and the people in it are holy, too. In other words, they belong to God. The person who offends against even one of them, offends God (Mark 9:42).
· Sometimes people see something that God has done by his Holy Spirit. They know that it is God’s work. But they pretend, on purpose, that it is not God’s work. Such people ought to be afraid. You can read what Jesus warned about such behaviour in Mark 3:22-29. Everything that God does is holy. And if a person laughs at it, that person insults God.
· Someone may want to have more authority in the church. So he acts as if Christ is not really important in the church today. That person speaks about the great things that he himself has done, instead of the greatness of Christ. Such a person insults God’s Son. And God’s Son is very holy. God is angry with such behaviour.
· And some church leaders are afraid of what other people may say. So they decide not to speak about Christ’s death. Instead, those leaders ought to be afraid of God. Christ’s death is very holy and it makes people holy. There is no other way that God will save people. Christians ought to declare it at every opportunity (2 Timothy 4:2). They must never neglect the message of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18).
God has many ways to warn those who do such things. But some people still decide, on purpose, that they want to do these things. They will certainly not avoid God’s punishment.
Next part: How to be strong during troubles (Hebrews 10:32-33)
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© 2014, Keith Simons.