Conclusiones

29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath TRODDEN UNDER FOOT THE SON OF GOD, and hath COUNTED THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT, wherewith he was sanctified, AN

UNHOLY THING, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

Verse 26 says, "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth...." That sin couldn't just be referring to any sin, for if it just referred to any sin, then First John 1:9 wouldn't be true. First John 1:9 promises us that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.

Therefore, Hebrews 10:26 is talking about the sin of rejecting Christ. Paul (who I believe was the author of the Book of Hebrews) was originally writing to Hebrew Christians in this passage. There's a principle in these verses for all Christians, of course. But in New Testament days, the Jewish Christians were tempted to go back into Judaism because of the difficulties of following Christ.

When these Hebrews became Christians, they were ostracized and cut off from their families. They stuck together and helped one another, but they were having it rough, not only financially, but also because of great persecution.

Some of them were tempted to go back to their old life of Judaism, but to do that they would have had to deny that Christ is the Son of God. Hebrews 10:29 says the unpardonable sin is "trodding under foot the Son of God."

In other words, if those Jewish Christians had gone back to Judaism, they would have had to deny that Christ is the Messiah. If they had done that, they would have had to deny that Jesus was born of a virgin. And if they had gone back into Judaism, that means they would have counted the blood of the covenant wherewith Jesus was sanctified as an unholy thing

(Heb. 10:29). If Jesus isn't the Son of God, and He's not the Messiah, then His blood would just be like the blood of any other human being—it would not be holy.

To deny that Christ is the Son of God is the sin Hebrews 10 is referring to. It's the same as turning away from Him, rejecting Him, saying, "I don't want Jesus anymore." The Bible is saying that if mature believers willfully and deliberately deny Christ, there isn't any more sacrifice for their sins.

After all, what made you a new creature to begin with? It was receiving Jesus Christ as your Savior. It was believing in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, and that He is the Son of God. You obeyed the Bible and believed in your heart and confessed with your mouth Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior (Rom.

10:9,10).

Therefore, the sin the Bible is addressing here is denying Christ, not some other sin a Christian may commit in his lifetime. But one of the areas where Satan has wreaked great havoc in the Body of Christ is in this area of the unpardonable sin. Many mental institutions today are filled with people, even believers, who are convinced by Satan that they have committed the unpardonable sin.

Satan has used this scripture in Hebrews against people who are not knowledgeable of the whole counsel of God. He has taken advantage of their ignorance and lied to them and held them in bondage by telling them that they have sinned "willfully," thereby committing the unpardonable sin.

Throughout the centuries people have died at the stake because they wouldn't recant their belief in Jesus.

If they had recanted under great duress, God wouldn't hold that against them. But if they recanted willingly,

of course, that would be different.

Jesus said this woman in the vision also committed the unpardonable sin on the basis of this passage here in Hebrews 10:26-29. As a mature Christian, understanding fully what she was doing, she willfully trod Jesus Christ underfoot and counted His blood an unholy thing (v. 29). Therefore, there was no more sacrifice for her sin.

The devil tries to make believers think they've committed the unpardonable sin. Over the years, I've had people talk to me who thought they committed this sin unto death.

I've asked them, "Have you trampled underfoot the blood of Jesus and said that He was just a man—not the Son of God? Have you said Jesus was not virgin-born?

Have you said that His blood isn't holy and that it's the same as the blood of any other man? Have you completely rejected Jesus?"

To every one of those questions they've all replied,

"No, of course not."

"That verse doesn't apply to you then," I've answered.

People need to understand biblically about the unpardonable sin so the devil can't take advantage of them. Unless a mature Christian who meets all five qualifications in Hebrews 6 willfully says, "Jesus is not the Son of God," or "I don't want Jesus," he has not committed this sin. Baby Christians can't commit that sin by making that statement in a fit of temper or rage or in a fit of passion. In this verse the Bible is referring to a willful, conscious decision.

No matter what Christians have done, or how far away they've wandered from God, even if they have said

some things against Jesus in a moment of anger, He won't hold that against them if they repent and confess their sin to Him and turn away from wrongdoing.

That's not to condone sin because sin is wrong. But there's a provision for believers when they sin and miss it (1 John 1:9).

That's why if you get out of fellowship with God, you need to get right back in fellowship as fast as you can.

You get out on the devil's territory, and it's dangerous because the devil is out to destroy your life (John 10:10).

Actually, the sin of rejecting Jesus can happen in two ways: People can hear the gospel preached and reject Jesus and just keep on rejecting Him. After a while the Holy Spirit won't deal with them anymore about receiving Jesus as their Savior (Gen. 6:3), and those people will spend eternity in hell when they die.

The other way people can reject Jesus is if mature believers willfully and deliberately reject Him.

I asked the Lord what would happen to this woman.

He said she would spend eternity in the lake of fire and brimstone. In that vision I saw her go down into that place, and I heard her terrible screams.

I knew another person who committed the unpardonable sin. The Holy Spirit dealt with him over a long period of time, but he just kept rejecting the Holy Spirit's dealings. He never would yield to God. I personally talked to him more than once about God. He told me himself that he'd been born again and that God had called him to preach, but he wasn't willing to preach.

Finally, he just went away from the Lord and quit going to church and got off into sin. I talked to him about the Lord and tried to get him back to God. At the time, he was living in deep sin, doing just about

anything you could mention. When I'd talk to him about the Lord, he'd just weep and shake and tremble under conviction. I kept praying for him and talking to him on different occasions over a fifteen-year period, trying to get him back to the Lord.

The last time I talked to this man, he said, "I know everything you're saying is true, all right. But I'm not going to do anything about it." Then he added, "But don't give up on me. Keep on praying for me." So I kept praying for him. I remember one particular night, I was on my knees praying for him in the nighttime, and the Lord spoke to me. He said, "Get up from there!" It was so real, it startled me. So I got up. The Lord said, "Don't pray for him."

"But, Lord," I said, "he told me that he knew You when he was a teenager. He said You called him to preach. That's why I'm praying that he will get back into fellowship with You and return to You like the prodigal son of old." The Lord answered, "No, don't pray for him anymore."

"You're telling me not to pray for him anymore?" I asked. "But he's still here in this life. There's still hope for him."

"No," the Lord said, "he'll never be saved. He will die and go to hell." That came as a shock to me! I said,

"Lord, I don't understand that."

Jesus said to me, "Did you ever read in the Old Testament about Ephraim? Don't you know I finally said, 'Leave Ephraim alone. Just don't bother him anymore. Leave him alone.' Why did I say that?

Because Ephraim was joined to his idols [Hosea 4:17].

So you leave this man alone."

You see, in a spiritual sense, this man was joined

fast to his idols. He had opened wide the door to the devil, and the Lord knew he would never repent. I never did pray for him after that. I just couldn't. Others did, but the Lord told me not to and the man died at an early age. He was about fifty-four years old when he died.

I inquired of his relatives how he died. They said he died cursing God, yet at one time, he was a believer.

Isn't that terrible! But that can happen when you open a door to the devil and persist in sin and never turn from it and repent.

Was that God's will? Of course not! But, you see, it's dangerous to be in Satan's territory. The devil can mislead people, and it's possible that they can come to the place where they willfully and deliberately don't want anything to do with God.

It's dangerous to listen to the lies of the devil and get out of fellowship with God and get into sin. And it is possible for believers, if they are over in Satan's territory, to just coldly and deliberately not want anything more to do with God.

But you need to realize that there is a vast difference between believers who desire to walk with God, but occasionally stumble and fall, yet don't intend to, and those believers who just willfully and deliberately persist in wrongdoing and intentionally turn away from God and deny Him.