Written by R. Fowler White |
Thursday, September 26, 2024
The sin in Hebrews 10 is aggravated by the fact that the offense against Christ by the apostate in that text is worse in its character than the offenses of the crowds and the Pharisees against Christ in Matthew 12. In Matthew 12, the crowds were sinning against Him in thought and word, but it seems most probable that we’re to understand that they did so in some ignorance since the process of revealing His identity had not yet reached its culmination. On the other hand, the Pharisees were sinning against Him in thought and word too, but were also doing so in deed by conspiring to destroy Him (Matt 12:14).

Heb 10:29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
Matt 12:32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
During a recent small group Bible study, a good question came up about the two passages above. Both passages describe sins against Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Strikingly, however, the offender against Jesus in Matt 12:32 will be forgiven, while the offender against Jesus in Heb 10:29 will be everlastingly punished. Do these two statements contradict one another, or do they harmonize with each other? If they harmonize, how do they harmonize? Here’s my take.
As a first step, it might help us to refer to two passages, 2 Pet 2:20-22 and Rom 2:4-5. In 2 Peter, Peter describes apostates. What stands out to me is 2:20, where Peter states that the last state has become worse for them than the first. I understand him to mean that the last state of apostasy is worse than the first state of (simple) unbelief, and that last state is worse because there is neither renewal from nor atonement for it. Turning to Romans 2, Paul says to the hardhearted and unrepentant hypocrite that you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath (2:5). For the hypocrite who continues in unbelief, God’s wrath against him only accumulates (and presumably gets worse by being compounded) for him over time. What I gather from those descriptions in 2 Peter 2 and Romans 2 is that unbelief is a state (condition) that may vary from bad to worse.
Another step that seems to help us is to keep in mind WLC Q/A 151, in which we are taught that sins may be aggravated by who the offender is, who the offended party is, what the effect of the offense is, what its character is, or when and where it happens. These factors, I believe, assist us to sort out some differences between Matt 12:32 and Heb 10:29. As I see it, though both passages record offenses against Christ, the sin in Heb 10:29 is aggravated in three ways that are not present in the sin in Matt 12:32. Those aggravations seem to clarify why the sin against Christ in Heb 10:29 is unforgivable, but the sin against Christ in Matt 12:32 is forgivable.
Read More
Related Posts:

Christians are not to grieve the Holy Spirit with bitterness, but to be kind, compassionate and forgiving. We are to forgive as Christ has forgiven us. To sustain our marriage, we have to daily remind ourselves of the gospel of God’s forgiveness. 

What’s the best thing about marriage? I think as a teenager I would have thought that sex might be the best thing about marriage. That was what I was looking forward to. Now sex is a great gift for marriage, but it is not the best thing about marriage. As someone who has been married for over twenty years, I think companionship is one of the best things about marriage. But even this is not the best thing about marriage. The best thing about marriage is that it gives us a glimpse of the infinite love God wants people to experience in Him.
I used to read Isaiah 62:5 at weddings: “as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so your God rejoices over you.” I used to invite the congregation to look at the groom and learn. Watch him as he smiles at his bride, see him whisper in her ear and look at him as he leaves this building with her on his arm, acting like the cat that got the cream. That is just an inadequate picture of the infinitely greater love that God wants people to experience in Him.
In fact, in Mark’s gospel (2:14), Jesus takes this picture of a bridegroom for Himself. Jesus, God the Son, wants you to experience and enjoy His love.
Marriage is a Gift
Jesus has moved from Galilee to Judea. He is no longer just speaking to His disciples but a crowd. The religious leaders ask Him a question to catch Him out. How do they intend to catch Jesus out? Well, remember when John the Baptist criticised King Herod for marrying his brother’s wife. That got John’s head cut off. They are hoping Jesus might get in similar trouble with His views of marriage.
As often happens, Jesus answers a question with a question. ‘What does Moses say?’ Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. In one of those books, Deuteronomy (24:1-4), Moses gave God’s command, for that time, on divorce. A divorce law was given assumed that divorce was taking place, and it was aimed at making it harder for men to divorce their wives, so that they would not simply treat their wife as a commodity. But that law, given through Moses, was given because people’s hearts were hard. God’s original design for marriage is found in Genesis 2.
In Genesis chapter 2 God’s design for marriage as a lifelong union of one man and one woman. The man and woman are seen as equals (‘made in the image of God’) but different. They are a compliment, a fit, for each other. This is a great gift from God to people. In fact, Jesus talks of God as being the one who puts people together.
Notice, in Genesis 2, what Adam does when he is presented with his future wife. He sings. “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man” (2:23). If you want to bless your spouse, rejoice over them. Look to see their beauty. Be thankful that God has given them to you. Ask God to help you appreciate them. If you want to ruin your marriage become an expert in criticism and comparison. “Why couldn’t our relationship be like theirs?” “Why isn’t he as kind as…?” “Why isn’t she as beautiful as…?”
Like a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God rejoices over you (Is. 62:5). Don’t stop imitating God in this!
Read More
Related Posts:

Because David delighted in God’s Word, he knew that a just God punishes sin. David also knew that forgiveness was possible, because he knew God’s character through his Word. He knew God would be merciful to him because of his steadfast love. David knew God would blot out his transgressions according to his abundant mercy. 

True delight in the Law of the Lord will produce hearts of repentance. We see this clearly in David’s response to God’s Law in Psalm 19. God’s revelation reveals to us our incompatibility as sinners with the holiness of God and the way he designed his creation to operate for his glory. Scripture explicitly teaches us that the payment for sin is death; it reproves and corrects us. As David says in Psalm 19:11, God’s Law warns us. It explicitly teaches us that “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:9). And so that is exactly what David does: he confesses his sin:
12 Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
and I shall be innocent of great transgression. (Ps 19:12–13)
Have Mercy on Me
Church tradition has identified seven psalms as “penitential psalms” (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143), but several others also include themes of sorrow over sin, including 25, 39, 40, and 41.
There is perhaps a no more well-known confession of sin in all the psalms than Psalm 51. Book II of the Psalms is all about the extension of David’s rule over the nations. We remember stories of David’s exploits against the Philistines and all of the pagan nations surrounding Israel. “Saul has slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands!”
Read More
Related Posts: