HEBREWS 10

Hebrews 10
11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

Hebrews is an interesting book in that it contains some of the strongest words of assurance of our faith as well as some of the harshest warnings.  Chapter 10 contains some of the most affirming words for the security found in the entire New Testament. 

• Christ offered a single sacrifice for all-time for sins (v.11)
• Christ's sacrifice HAS PERFECTED those who are being sanctified (v. 14)
• We have CONFIDENCE to enter the holy places (v. 19)
• We can draw near with FULL ASSURANCE of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean and our bodies washed with pure water (v. 22)
• We can hold fast to the confession of our hope WITHOUT WAVERING, because HE WHO PROMISED is faith (v. 23)

When you put all of that together, just from this one chapter we learn that if we have faith in Christ, all of our sins have been forgiven, and he has made us perfect.  We've been cleansed and can draw near to God with confidence and full assurance of our faith without wavering because He is faith.

Those are some incredibly assuring words.  ...then just a couple of verses later we get to verse 26...

Hebrews 10

26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 

At first glance it may appear that these verses conflict with one another.  The first section of the chapter seems to build the case that those of us that have put our faith in Christ can have assurance of our salvation, but then verse 26 seems to indicate that if you continue willfully sinning you face judgment because there's no sacrifice left for you.

How do we reconcile these texts?  

One of the best pieces of advice I received at Bible college regarding interpreting the Bible is: Always use clear passages of scripture to interpret unclear passages of scripture.  In this case, the author spent 25 verses in just this chapter developing a theology of salvation. We're given more than five reasons that we should believe that our salvation is secure.  

The warning wasn't intended to scare true believers into doubting their faith.  The warning was intended to give a test to reveal whether someone has a saving faith.  

My Story in Short

I struggle to pinpoint when exactly I was saved.  I grew up going to church, and my mother taught my sister and me Bible stories from a very early age. So there has never been a time in my life when I didn't believe in God, Jesus, and the Bible.   I suspect this is true of most children raised in the church.  

When I was 6 years old I "Prayed the Prayer" with a babysitter and then again a couple of weeks later with my mother.  But nothing really changed that day.  I didn't have a change of beliefs.  I didn't have a change of heart which led to surrender.  My babysitter said I needed to pray a prayer with her to be a Christian, so I did.  

Just forward 6 or 7 years to my first summer participating in Backyard Bible Clubs.  I was learning about how to share my faith and discovering what true surrender to Christ looked like.  My faith was no longer just an intellectual exercise.  It was something I was living out.  There was transformation and repentance.  

As an adult who works with teenagers, many of whom have stories similar to my own, I honestly don't know where to pin point the moment of my salvation. I believed in Christianity my entire life, but there wasn't evidence of my faith until middle school.  

Why Do I Say All of This?

As I look back over the whole of my life, it's so easy to see the milestones of spiritual growth.  At times I've grown quickly, and other times at the speed of a snail.  But I can have assurance in my salvation because I see the changes Christ has made in me over time.  

The challenge for each of us is to make sure we have a faith which is transforming our lives; a true saving faith.  Because as this chapter warns, there is a way to receive the knowledge of truth, but not be transformed by it.  It tells us in James 2 that even the demons believe in Jesus, but they don't put their faith in Him.  And a saving faith is a faith which leads to action.  

Over the next few days the chapters we will be reading will paint a picture of what true saving faith looks like.  

  SEAN CHANDLER  |  Associate Pastor 

Sean has been a part of the association of Hill Country Bible Churches for over twenty years. He received Christ as a youth while attending Hill Country Bible Church Austin. He attended Hill Country Bible Church NW from 1989 to 2002. At that time he began attending HCBC Pflugerville. He served as a student ministry intern there for two years. In 2008, Sean graduated from Columbia International University with a double major in Bible and Bible teaching. Sean married his wife, Jennifer, in 2006. Their first child, Liam, was born in 2012.

He blogs regularly at seanchandler.net.