For if we sin deliberately and knowingly after having received the knowledge of the truth, there is no further sacrifice for sin. Instead there is a fearful prospect of judgment, and a hungry fire which will consume the opponents. If sets aside the law of Moses, they are to be 'put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses', with no pity. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be appropriate for people who trample the son of God underfoot, and dishonor the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified, and scorn the spirit of grace? We know the one who said, 'Vengeance belongs to me; I will pay everyone back,' and again, 'The Lord will judge his people.' It's a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Sin is and has always been a touchy subject, today more than ever before. There are pressures to be politically correct both in the church by attending to traditions, doctrinal statements and other lists of 'distinctives'. As we've been discussing in Hebrews this was not at all uncommon in the Judaism of the first century and it continued to splinter off into different directions. We have seen the same thing in Christianity and though it stands in direct contradiction to Jesus prayer in John 17 the gospel has gone forth all the more. Should we go on sinning that grace may abound? May it never be.
I am not going to deal with the pressures from the 'world' here which are obvious and would take quite a bit more time to rummage through. Rather to look at those having 'received the knowledge of truth'. Sin is 'missing the mark'...an archery term. So the obvious question is what's the mark? The Sunday school answer is of course Jesus. I think we would do well to unpack that a bit though. Particularly since we are dealing with a 'fearful prospect of judgment'. Three things come to mind when I think of hitting the mark: King, Kingdom and Covenant.
The King is of course the God revealed fully in the person of Jesus. The Kingdom is the will of that God done in spirit and truth through the people that belong to the King, His will done on earth as it is in heaven. Finally, covenant is what it takes to hold citizenship in the kingdom and all the practical out-workings of faithfulness to that covenant.
The first thing then is that we must accept the royal declaration and make it our own. This is what Paul calls the Gospel of God, that is to say that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the one true Lord of all creation and that God is fully available and known in and through Jesus and the power of His death, burial and resurrection. Jesus who the author of Hebrews stated is the 'shining reflection of God's own glory, the precise expression of his very own being; he sustains all things through his powerful word.' This is the body to which we are called to be a part.
So now we have a King enthroned in our hearts and minds holding sway over any other authority in all of creation. A King who is that close to his people want's to get intimately in tune with them. He wants to care for them and protect them like a Father looks after a Son and if there are two or more of us gathered we have a Kingdom, we have a family, we have a royal priesthood. The Father's will is presence. It is taking His proper place in the lives of His people and everything else taking it's proper place through that body in relationship to a specific end goal, namely that the Father should be all and in all. That we should be one as they are one.
Finally the covenant people of God understand that we are to think and act as if we are to be judged based on the law of grace. To think and act and feel in as part of Messiah, a people empowered by his own spirit and you will know by the fruit. This is how His kingdom comes. We watch and listen and see and hear how the King interacts with people, who He associates with, who He rebukes, who He heals what His priorities are. He is a King who cannot ignore the cry of the oppressed, the beaten down those who are overcome by sin, it is outside the realm of possibility for Him. He is a King who is love, who is compassion, who is grace. If we are to come into intimate relationship with our King to offer ourselves a living sacrifice and serve the God revealed in Jesus toward His will and not our own then we would do well to pay closer attention to what we've seen and heard. The living God will not be trampled on and will not just let things slide that violate His nature and purposes. We may be saved in the end, but I tell you the truth it will be as through fire. May we turn our hearts toward the King.
Father give me the strength and wisdom today to follow wherever you would lead, to do all my work as though it was for you. Lord, let your Holy Spirit reign throughout my whole body in the things I think, speak and do. I can't do this without you, our glorious King. Teach me this day humility and patience, teach me forgiveness and grace. Keep me from the perilous trials and stand guard over me and all my house. I plead the blood of Jesus over this day, in whose name I pray.
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