which they do together, whether it be mystical communion with God or practical service to man. Christians, like coals of fire, cease to glow when they become separated from the group. God has promised not to for sake them (v. 23). Thus they are to exhort one another to faithfulness all the more because they see “the day approaching.” This may refer either to the second coming of Christ which is ever imminent, or it may be a ref erence to the coming destruction of Jerusalem. In either case it involved a cataclysmic development in the prog ress of the kingdom, making it all the more important that they be found faithful to their task. The Consequence of Rejecting the Human Condition (w . 26-31): Fail ure to stick to the job is not without dire consequences. In introducing this thought the author leads us to an other of his exhortations which in volve incalculable difficulties in inter pretation. In verse 26 he says that for those who keep on sinning (present parti ciple) wilfully after having received a full knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins. As in 6:4 it appears that he is speaking of those who have had a genuine ex perience of grace, but who continue to sin repeatedly and wilfully. It is im portant to note that the sin referred to here is the sin of standing off from God (6:6) as He seeks to lead them on in Christian development for service. As elsewhere we take it that there is no evidence of apostasy in the usual sense of that word. He further says that for such there remains no more sacrifice for sins (plural). Man is re deemed from sin, not sins. Israel re ceived a corresponding redemption from Egyptian bondage. But the tab ernacle sacrifices were for the purpose of removing sins which made the peo ple unfit for divine fellowship in service. Jesus redeemed His people from sin in His once-for-all sacrifice (I John 1 :7), a sacrifice which evolved into His ministry within the veil de signed to free them from the sins which violate their fellowship for
service with God (I John 2:1). Re flecting back again, we recall that Is rael’s sins finally brought about her wilful sin of provocation at Kadesh- barnea. After that there was no more sacrifice which could restore that gen eration to the divine mission. In like manner, if Christian people in any generation provoke God in sinning wilfully against their spiritual des tiny, they, too, shall be cut off from the redemptive purpose of God. Instead they shall look only for “judgment and fiery indignation” (v. 27). Reference here is sometimes made to 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10, but an examination will show that Paul has in mind the fate of the unre deemed, while our author is appar ently speaking of a redeemed people, They shall not be lost, but they shall experience divine anger marked by fire (Robertson). In support of this statement the au thor refers them to the law under the old covenant whereby those who de spised the covenant relation should die at the mouth of two or three wit nesses (v. 28; cf. Deut. 17:1-7). In Deuteronomy the specific case involves one who has gone off after the idola trous worship of the sun, moon, or the hosts of heaven. This has even ied some to suppose that the Hebrew Christians were guilty of such. We should remember, however, that the statement begins with a reference to those who transgress the covenant with God. This is the focal point in our author’s mind, not the detailed sins by which the covenant was de spised. Such sin certainly will make the sinner useless in evangelizing the pagan whose sins he had adopted. Using the argument from the lesser to the greater, our author applies his illustration to his readers. If under the old covenant one who transgressed that relation should die, how much more will it apply under the new cove nant: “Of how much sorer punish ment, 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
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