Honest Assessment

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

HONEST ASSESSMENT

Heb 10:26-31

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. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people."   31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

NIV

These are dreadful words to consider. However, everything the preacher or the author of this letter is basing these words on is this idea of deliberately keeping on sinning. The Greek makes it fuller, as it means willingly, voluntarily, and of one's own accord. This is not giving in to a temptation from time to time, but simply returning to the way we were before we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. If we confess that we do not sin anymore then we have sinned because of both living a lie and of pride. But to live in sin, acting on every impulse, taking advantage of every pleasure of our flesh, fulfilling our every desire, then we are in danger of this judgment. No, our desire is not to sin, but we cannot keep ourselves absolutely free as we are prisoners in this corruptible body. We hate it when we fail to be perfect and when we give in to any temptation of the flesh. We know better, but we still go ahead with that sin. Sure, it may seem nothing, but having an attitude, being impatient, getting upset, having ill feelings, losing our temper, being unforgiving, holding a grudge, and many other inner feelings that are not outward sins of the body. Those would be the immoral unspeakable sins we do not even want to give credence to. The unholy behavior of living in sin would be a wrong choice we think any believer would not make. Once we turn our life over to Jesus, it is our desire to live a life that is pleasing to God. We would never purposefully trample on Jesus. We would never intentionally insult the Spirit of grace. We would never want to treat the blood of Jesus as an unholy thing. No, No, and No. Yet we also cannot say that we do not sin. The difference is that we hate it when we fall short. Because we are in Christ, assured of our salvation, and being indwelled with the Spirit, we have nothing to fear from the living God. Let us always try to live free from sin, making every effort to free ourselves from those dreadful temptations, however, with an honest understanding of the weakness within, as we live in the grace of God, rather than his wrath. Let us live to have an honest assessment of ourselves.